One of the oldest hospital in Singapore, it was established in 1938 by the British. and possesses one of the sad story during the 2nd World War. When the Japanese breached the defence up North, and came down South. The Japanese Imperial Army met resistance along the Pasir Pangjang area, though they managed to overcome the resistance, but it did not quelled their anger. They stormed into Alexandra Hospital on that fateful day 14 Feb 1942, and
massacred the medical staff and patient!
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/singapore/world_war_2_military_site/178/alexandra_hospital__lies_a_hidden_book.php
The past is gone but the memory remains. For when one enters into Alexandra Hospital, it is always good to be reminded of that Gory Past.
Now Alexandra Hospital is one of our hospital specialising in Diabetic Treatment and Care.
After renovation, Alexandra Hospital can boast to have one of the most fascinating garden of all hospitals in Singapore. It is into this Butterfly Garden that I went this rainy Saturday.
The rain has just stopped, it is still very cooling and most cold blooded creatures (insect) were still slow in their movement, thus giving me opportunity to really come up close and these shots. I am very weak in identifying insects and flowers, therefore if you can identify any of them, I am much appreciated.
The Anthurium
Family Araceae, this is a herb just like the banana. Herb refers to plants that does not have woody trunk. Most of us are very familiar with the Anthurium as they are usually used for flower arrangement. As can be seen from the pictures below, the Anthurium flower is actually the middle "stalk" called the Spadix. On this Spadix, small little flowers sprout. You can see from the pictures below, that the pollinators (flies) were having a grand breakfast of nectar. Many people tend to think that the white "petal"is the flower, that is called the Spathe which is a modified leaf.
One of the largest flower Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) in the world which emit a foul smelling odour belongs to this family
Found this lone ant foraging for food on the Heliconium.
This Red Flower (unknown ID) were attracting bees. So I set up my equipment, and managed to fire couple of shots when one of the bee flew by.
Finally the butterflies emerged and I was not properly equipped to take butterfly with my macro lens. Managed to capture these two when they landed nearby. My friend July helped with the id of these two butterflies and shared his knowledge on them.
The one at the top is the Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis vulgaris macrina) and the bottom one is the Chocolate Pansy (Junonia hedonia ida), obviously. Both of them are common in Singapore, both in the reserve as well as in the urban areas. The Chocolate Pansy flies in the usual gliding fashion of the Junonia species and can be observed basking in the sun with its wings opened flat.
This will not be my last trip here, in fact the next time I will be more prepared.
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