Mountain and Sea

Rubber - Fruit and Seed

2011-10-01T18:06:00.004+08:00

Rubber Tree (Hevea brasiliensis)
We know a lot about rubber tree, and I have seen many rubber seeds and pods strewn along the trails in Bukit Timah. Not only are the evidence everywhere, but occasionally, one can hear the noise of "explosion" of the seed pods, before you hear the soft thud on the ground as the seeds and pods land!

Then I have never give it much thought about rubber seed, and fondly remember
a. you can tease your friend by rubbing the rubber seed very hard on hard ground, and then applying it to your friend'ss bare skin.
b. in our primary school, we were introduced to seed dispersion, and one of the method utilises by plants is the "explosive action". Examples typically given by our teachers were Balsam Plant and Rubber Tree!

After the closure of the Railway Line, I decided to take a walk just like many folks here, and started my journey at Clementi Road. Walking parallel to a big canal, I came across this fallen tree, with the rubber fruits (that has turned to rubber seed pods) still hanging onto the dead branches.

Then a thought occurred to me, why don't I write about the mechanics of the "explosive action".

Picture 1 - Dried Rubber Seed Pods

Picture 2 - Stages of Fruit to Pod (tri-lobes)

First and foremost, like all fruiting trees, the fruit does have some fleshy inedible flesh covers by green skin. And as it matured, the outer skin started to dry up, and split at certain point, till it turns brownish, and eventually strip away from the Seed Pods. This can be seen from the picture 2 and 3 below.

From picture 2, as the fruit dries, the gap between the lobe increase, until the lobes are being held at two points (at the top and bottom)

Picture 3 - Drying Process causes the skins of the fruits to split.

Picture 4 - Top View of fruit that has split skins

One interesting fact of the Rubber Tree, is that it comes in THREE. If you observe the leaves, it comes in THREE. Likewise for the fruits, it is Tri-Lobe.
Imagine the fruit hanging on the branch, and the purpose of fruits and seeds are to propagate the species. Therefore, the design of the fruits is to ensure that the seeds that leave the pod, should be away from the parent tree!
With Tri-Lobe, at least 1 lobe will be facing away from the parent tree, and if not 2 lobes. Thus the probability of propagation is increased.

Therefore, for the explosive action to happen, and to ensure that the seed is flung outward, the design of the Tri-Lobe and the individual seedpod are rather interesting.Now the mechanics of the explosive action, as the fruit and eventually the pod starts to dry, the weakest part of the fruit is actually the seam of a single lobe. However, the 3 lobes are connected, and will stress each other, and the explosion is usually a occurrence of all the 3 lobes, rather than individual lobe from the same pod.

Different thickness of the lobe around the seam
Connection region between lobes must be thicker than the seam of the lobe
Dehydration is the primary factor - which is also the stress inducer.

This drying process (dehydration) will cause the shrinkage of the lobe and is likened to the process of opening a cockle. However, as each lobe is connected to two other lobes, and in that sense will be held in its place.
Once the stress level across the seam reaches the critical point, the shear stress or splitting pressure moves from the seams of the lobes to the TWO connecting points between lobes.

At the critical moment, and very fast, the final split occurred almost simultaneously in all the six connecting joints, and at the same time the seam of the lobe split open, and by virtue of the seed being connected to the inner wall, the seed is flung outward, awayfrom the centre of the tri-lobe.

Picture 5 - Individual Pod with Seed

Picture 6 - Purposely saw the Seed Pod to separate them. The Blue marking from the saw, also indicates the connecting parts of the lobes. There are 2 connecting points between lobes.

Picture 7 - Notice the whitish colour seed pod, the bigger lobe has extra seam!

To summarise the explosive action,

Different thickness of the lobe. It is thicker at the side, and thinner at the top and bottom. This is to facilitate the initial crack propagation. Cracks will occur at the top or bottom, and slowly creep to the centre.
The connecting region is thicker between lobes than at the seam. This is to ensure the the "in between lobe" fails at the last point. Otherwise it will be shooting out individual lobe, instead of seed.
All these "tearing" or "shear stress" is the result of dehydration, by design, water will not be fed to the fruit, but slowly dried under the sun.

Another observation, immediately after the lobe has opened and dropped to the ground, both halves can be easily put back (just like cockle shell), but through time, it will continue to deform due to dehydration.

Finally, this is my observation from my collections of fruits, pods, seeds, and experimenting with them, as it is very difficult to catch the explosive actions on film. And if there is any mistake or correction, kindly feedback to me.

Gunung Rinjani of Lombok

2011-07-17T22:14:00.001+08:00

Gunung Rinjani

The 3rd highest mountain in Indonesia at 3,726 m, is also one of the toughest mountain to be climbed. Located on the island of Pulau Mutiara (translated to means Pearl Island, for this island is also famous for pearls), it is commonly known as Lombok both locally as well as globally. Separated by a straits from the more famous island of Bali, this is an Island, which is a good alternative to the bustling island of Bali for vacation, not as cosmopolitan but definitely still preserves all the charm of a rustic with spartan lifestyle.

Gunung Rinjani itself is at the north of the island, and the bustling activities tends to be located as far away from this live volcano, which will be in the west and south. The island by the Indonesian archipelago standard is not big, and is dominated by this big lively volcano that can be seen from any part of this island with an unobstructed view.

Gunung Rinjani which is an active volcano that last erupted about a year ago. It so happened I was on this very mountain when it was spewing lava in July 2009, that I stood at the rim of this volcano witnessing the magmatic event, then we were not allowed to climb to the summit nor go down to the crater lake as the volcano was rumbling and whistling like a runaway steam locomotive with the escaped steam. This year (2011) it was different, this volcano is at peace within itself; just some steam spewing out from its vents, and one has to look very closely to notice these plumes.

Gunung Rinjani (July 2009) the centre black streak - that was caused by the lava flow.

Gunung Rinjani (July 2011) - the volcano is at peace

To climb to the rim, there are typically two routes, the easier one which we did in 2009 was to start and end via the Senaru Village, or the harder route which is by Sembalun Lawang. We chose the harder route for our climb, and did a crossover to the Senaru Village. For doing a crossover, this would entail the fact that you had to bring all your gears with you in your trekking.

Climbing Profile of the track. The "valley" is the crater, where we have decended, and again the upward climb to the rim before heading down to Senaru Village.

We arrived at Lombok international airport at Mataram, and were driven for hours to the Sembalun Lawang Lodge. By the time we arrived, it was almost midnight, this location is about 1200 m above sea level, and is surprisingly chilly!

One thing I have noticed about Rinjani, is that the weather is like the desert, hot in the daytime, and cold at night. This very night, the temperature dipped below 10 deg C. Though we had a long day, very few of us were in the mood for shower, after all there were no hot water in the rooms, and worse some of us had no water at all! We retired quickly for the night, as the trekking began at 5 am, as we need to reach the campsite at the rim early so as to secure a good location, for good space is limited.

Day 1 (Sembalun Lawang to Plawangan 2)

Having to start off at 5 am, and with a few winks of sleep, we were thankful that this was the beginning of the climb which is less dangerous, after all our alertness had been compromised by tiredness and lack of sleep; and one false steps can lead to the abandonment of the climb.

The journey to this campsite is most scenic, as the path crosses many interesting points.

We walked in path with long grasses; crossed bridge over gully; seen the effect of the hot weather as we saw many dried riverbed; and most majestic will be the views of the volcano itself.

Day 1 - still at the foot of the volcano, but we were already 1,100 m high. Walking through long grasses, despite the seemingly hot sensation, it was still quite cold in this early hour.

Another shot of the journey through the long grass track. (Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

Walking across dried up river bed. (Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

The beautiful scenery of valley and gorge. (Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

The second part of this day journey is an incessant long climb up. Incessant as in having round one corner, one is faced with another round of climbing, and this would go on for hours as the path will zigzag up the volcano slope till finally one reaches flat ground, and that would also be the rim of the volcano, with one side leading to the crater, and the other side the foot of the volcano.

By the time, we reached the rim, and the campsite at Plawangan 2 (2,639 m), we were so glad that the tents had been set up, and all we have to do was to plonk ourselves into the tent. But, the view here and at this hour of twilight was most fantastic. As the sun began to set, the particles in the air caused the sunlight to split from its pure form to produce the beautiful array of multiple hue of the light spectrum to give us this magnificent of dusk.

Day 1 Campsite. Though we may have started early on this day, there were many people having the same idea, and we were not the first on the rim. (picture courtesy of Loh CH)

After the last light, and the campsite was enveloped in veil of darkness, and then one lifted one's eyes to heaven, the heaven was speckled with dots of light and more amazingly the river of stars (milky way). We were witnessing our home in space, as the solar system joins the myriads of stars in our galaxy.

The sun may have set, but we were still having some of the remnants of the sun light. As can be seen, at this altitude, we were above the cloud.

Finally the last light, and the moon can be seen at the top. (This is the exact colour, picture has not been edited)

Before we retired for the evening in the unusual time of 8 pm, we were told that we would be setting off at 1:30 in the morning to catch the sunrise on the summit. This meant that we were going to have a long climb ahead of us!

Day 2 (Plawangan 2 to Summit, and then back to Plawangan 2 to Lake Segara)

We awoke with stiff muscles and back, as we had been sleeping on gravels, which is the primary substrate covering a live volcano.

Once again the climb of the previous day was to be repeated, except that the intensity had increased, as the slope is covered with loose gravels and every steps on the gravels cause one to slip! Thus the saying of for every 3 steps, you slip 2 steps. At this juncture of the climb, it was more of 3 steps with 1 slippage! Still in such environment, one's muscle must be strong for climbing on such terrain, as the ground shifts under our weight.

Initial Climb in the middle of the night. It was cold, and we were sored, but we were determined.
(Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

Final push to the summit. At this time, the sun was breaking out from the horizon. (Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

Proceeding to climb, this part of the trek is made up of 3 parts. The first part is a steep climb, and subsequently a comforting flat terrain to be followed by the final summit assault which is most demanding with steep slop. On this final slope to the 3,726 m summit, the paths are covered with loose gravels and this time the effect of 3 steps up and 2 steps slippage became a reality. But like most loose substrate, the trick of climbing with minimal slippage is to do it fast, just like walking in the swamp, the moment one stops, one will start to sink, and this is the same with such loose gravels, sinking is equivalent to slippage as one is also on a slope of acute angle (estimated to be between 45 deg to 60 deg),

Having strived, panted and possibly cursing under our breath, we arrived at the summit. At this vantage point, we were presented with a beautiful view of the island of Lombok of which this volcano sits. And even the neighbouring Bali highest peak, Gunung Agung can be seen.

A clearer view of the terrain as we pushed for the summit. Notice the loose earth and rocks. (Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

The unexpected highlight of the day was the surprise move of the proposal of a man to his beloved, at 3,726 m up and surrounded by clouds, this occasion, a rarity and most endearing to us who witnessed it. We wish the happy couple - Blessed Togetherness in the near further.

Congratulations and Best Wishes to this Happy Couple

After enjoying the view on the summit, the descent was most challenging, tiredness compounded with the unstable substrate assured a few falls for most of us. But we got the hang of it, by doing a dig, heel and slide motion. Digging into the gravels with the heel, and leaning backward as we slid downward, and thus saving energy in the process, to be repeated once the sliding stopped. Sliding has a downside and that is it is harder to control the direction of descent, and one would like to control the direction if the ridge is only about 1 to 1.5 m across. As it would be the crater or the foot of the volcano, a nasty slide of about 1,000 m on either sides. Not a comforting thought!

Observe that our foot sunk into the earth. (Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

Downward trek to our camp at the rim. At this point, the crater that we have passed during the night became obvious.

In the crater, rise another "hill", this is where the real activity of the volcano takes place. The local called this Gunung Anak Baru (the young/child mountain).

We managed to return to our campsite, and had our brunch before making another arduous descent to the crater (Senaru Lake). Today, the journey will be longer than the previous day, as we had to combine both the summit ascent as well as this descent.

Walking down towards the crater. Honestly, it was much harder going down than going up! (Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

Arriving at a good time, we enjoyed ourselves by the lake. In as much as the water was warm and inviting, we were hesitant to go into the water for it was polluted with rubbish that has been carelessly discarded. The pollutants came in many forms, and the description is best left to the imagination of the readers. However, along the shoreline, there were many avid fishermen, hoping to land themselves a carp or two!

Day 3 (Lake Segara to Pos 2)

Waking up at the normal hour unlike the last 2 days, we had to ascend from the lake and up to the rim to our next campsite. Once again, it was an incessant climb up, but definitely not as bad as the journey to the summit, or the journey down.

The beginning of this journey was most challenging, as we had to negotiate narrow walkway around the lake, holding onto roots and branches for support. As we struggled to maneuver these obstacles, the porters with their heavy load were making us looked bad as they skillfully and agilely negotiated every turns without even using their hands. Must be the poles they used for balancing!

Negotiating the narrow walkway around the lake. (Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

Having given the choice of camping at Plawangan 1 or Pos 2, we decided to choose a longer journey to Pos 2 (1,500 m) for today, as it is located at a lower altitude which provides a more hospitable environment of milder climate. Plawangan 1 (at 2,641 m) is still at the rim, and we realised that it will be cold and may be plagued with water problem.

The ultimate reason for us, is that the following day, we would have a shorter walk to Senaru village, which would be the end of this trek.

The difficult climb began after we circumvent the lake. (Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

But we were rewarded with the majestic view surrounding us.

And still we have to climb some more before we reached the rim. (Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

Day 4 (Pos 2 to Senaru Village)

Final day of trekking, we walked from Pos 2 to our lodge in Senaru Village.

But before the start of our trek, we thanked our porters, guides, and cooks for making this trip possible. After all, we were carrying our daypacks which only weighed between 5 to 12 kg, but the porters were easily handling loads of between 25 to 40 kg easily, and they still managed to walk faster than us.

Porters with the heavy load. (Picture courtesy of Loh CH)

Summary

As we reflected on this climb, most of us who had climbed various mountains, mountains that are higher than Rinjani have to admit that this is one tough mountain. On the other hand, we felt a certain triumph of being able to reach the summit. Many had harboured thoughts of giving up as the ways were tough, but for those who made it to the summit, there were much psyching of our mind over body, and possessing the ever pressing on attitude to reach the goal.

Such is our determination, and on further thoughts, we will be using this same determination with God's grace to overcome whatever challenges in any of our endeavours.

Acknowledgement
A special thanks to Lois for proof reading my draft.
And a big thank you to Loh CH, my colleague and fellow climber for sharing the pictues.

Agaricus Mushroom in Bukit Timah

2011-02-22T22:32:00.000+08:00

Why oh why are mushrooms so hard to ID!
Coming down from my trekking, near to the beginning of the Summit Trial, one can find 2 logs, and on a good damp day, it will be covered with mushrooms.

Today is no exception, I find it intriguing that one log was covered with these white fungus, and somehow the other log was pretty much spared.

Taking some close up, I believe these are the Lepiota (sp), or commonly called the Parasol Mushroom.
(somehow I can hear some giggling over this name, isn't it obvious that mushrooms usually look like parasol. Good Question which I have no answer)

So these are some of the close-ups of this species.
From the pictures, one can see the various stages of development.
With the young mushrooms with undeveloped caps just emerging from the log, to the fully bloom mature adults.

The cap of this species is rather thin, that the gills from the underside can be seen.
The stipe itself is relatively thin, with the annulus forming at midpoint.
I thought this could be a Marasmius, but then the stipe is quite long!
Or a Hygrophorus, but then the stipe is too thin!
So my conclusion that this is probably a Leipiota.

Taken from underneath, the annulus on the right specimen is pretty obvious, and the evidence of the thin cap to produce this highlighted shot.

A side view of this same specimen.

Alas, from experience, these mushrooms will disappear in about a week time, leaving behind brownish patches, and nutrients for the next generation to sprout!

Another Giant Agaricus in Bukit Timah

2011-02-10T10:41:00.001+08:00

Where there is dead log and plenty of moisture, one is guaranteed to see fungi.
Today, having finished my climb in Bt Timah, and returning to the Dairy Farm Car Park, I chanced upon this Giant Agaricus in the male toilet.

From initial observation,

it has a rather deep depression in the centre where the stipe (stem) is located
the cap is very unusual, in that it flows down like a skirt
the stipe is very short for such a big pileus (cap)

Again, I tried to ID this specimen, and the only conclusion I have is that it is a gilled mushroom of the Agaricales Order.
Initial ID seems to place this in the family of the Brittle Cap, but those have long stipes, whereas this does not!

Does this specimen belongs to the Brittle Cap family? To me, it is more like a bottle cap!

Placing a ruler, the cap spread across almost 13 cm!

Taking the underside, shows that the gills reach to the end of the cap.

Naturally, how does one justify a 13 cm size specimen to be a giant, well I looked around and saw couple of the same species growing around, and the spread of the cap was about 5 cam.

Two specimens here, with one already badly damaged. Otherwise, the cap spread is about 5 cm.

Once again, if anybody can ID this species, please do let me know.

Gigantic Agaricus Mushroom

2010-12-28T18:38:00.007+08:00

In Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, it is very easy for anyone to see fungi of many shapes, colours and sizes. However, on one such walk, I came across this huge mushroom.
How big? See my handphone which I have placed next to the stipe (stem)!

As I tried to dig further into its ID, I believe that this is most probably from Agaricus sp, as the underside shows the gill.

Another picture of this huge one without the phone to spoil the shot.

To those who are familiar with Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, look at the background - can you see the road!

TWO Days Later
I went to look for this specimen again, hoping to take better picture with flash now that I have freshly charged the battery.

This specimen has started to spread its cap.

Though there is a little budge in the centre of the stipe, othrewise it is pretty constant in the diameter!

The scales are found more towards the edges

The Gills as can be seen is not white, tends towards the brownish blackish side.

I have a strong hunch that this could be Amanita sculpta as in other literature, it was mentioned that this species can grow very large.

FOUR Days Later
Went trekking again, and once again I was monitoring on the progress of this specimen.

Between Day 2 and 4, there has not been much changes to this specimen.

SIX Days Later
I went back to check on this specimen, alas - only part of the stem was left.

From the look of it, it did not wither but rather it fell into some form of mischief from the foot of someone.
I hunt around for the cap, and was not able to find it.
Hoping that the spores would have spread somewhere, and soon another of this giant can be found.

If anyone who view this blog knows the ID of this Agaricus, appreciate if you can drop me a note.
Thanks

Sagar Matha - The Head with a White Crown

2010-11-03T09:18:00.075+08:00

Sagar Matha National Park

To the Nepalese, the highest mountain stands at 8,848 m is Sagar Matha, and to the Tibetan it is called Chomolunga, but to the world it is known as Everest. Named after a British Sir George Everest.

We have planned this trip for almost a year, and we have chosen October period as this is the best time of the year to attempt to climb to Everest Base Camp. Our journey will end here, but to those that proceed to the Everest Summit, this is just their starting point!

Having cover this journey in that many days, feeling exhausted and only up to 5,600 m, I can but have the deepest respect for these people that have attempted and will attempt the Everest Summit. Along the way, we saw many stupas, some build in remembrance of conquest, but many in remembrance of fallen heroes that somehow perished in their quest to reach the roof of the world!

Day 1 – Kathmandu (average 1,300 m) to Lukla (2,858 m) to Phakding (2,636 m)

The airport at Lukla also known as Tenzing-Hillary Airport is one of the world top 10 Extreme Airport. Known for its short runway, situated on a slope and foggy weather.

Journey to some of the highest mountain on earth, requires one to land in this airport. And this we did, with turbo-prop planes from Kathmandu.

The video below will give you a good idea on this airport. Many years ago, I read in one of the scientific magazine where they were contemplating on slope leading to the airport terminal. The slope will assist in slowing the plane down thus saving fuel, and at the same time assist in taking off when the plan rolls away from the terminal. Well Lukla airport is “designed” in such manner.

Tenzing Hillary Airport at Lukla but commonly known as Lukla Airport

The start of our journey at Lukla located at 2858 m above sea level. A quick stop for lunch, and we were off to Phakding. The profile of our journey can be seen, and it is downslope to 2636 m. Naturally, behind most of our mind was the fact that on our return journey we have to make this 220 m climb to Lukla!

Lukla is the starting point for most of the scenic routes in Nepal, and is also one of the bottleneck in all the traveller's itinerary! There is only one quick way in and out, and it is through this airport. Ever since the Maoist rebel has dropped their arms and became part of the government, the tourist industry has picked up, and making Lukla a very busy place.
Our chief guide, we learnt has to spend 3 years in Malaysia to work during this turmoil period. He was thankful to be back to his homeland and bringing city folks like us to view his beloved country.

School Children going to school. Very interesting uniform.

The team at the beginning of the trek at Lukla

At 2,800m, there is still farm

At this low altitude, trees grow in abundance, and are tall

Little local - innocent and happy

Slates with carving (probably of prayer)

Throughout the journey, one will see many prayers engraved or painted on rocks and walls.

Flowers grow in abundance despite the fact that it is Autumn!

One of the many suspension bridges that we have to cross

Suspension Bridge in Phakding, spanning the Kosi River

Dudh Kosi (Kosi River) in Phakding (taken from the suspension bridge)

Day 2 – Phakding to Namche Bazar (3,517 m)

We awoke to a beautiful morning, the ray from the sun just strike the mountain in front of our camp site, and to the early birds we were rewarded with this majesty view.

The reality of "Opening the Door to see the Mountain" - that was our reward on this morning.

Our daily routine was standard, waking up at 5:30 am, breakfast at 7 am and onward trekking at 8 am. For me it was 5:30 am as we retired early the night before. After all, what is one going to do after the last light and long walk, sleep.

The start of our climb from Phakding

Green vegetables grow very well in this altitude. In fact such will be our staple for the next 14 days! This is either cabbage or Cauliflower, both of which we have in abundance on our dining table!

A beautiful abode in the valley

There were many young ones along the way, are they deprived? Definitely not, they are not under nourished, in fact they look healthy and fit!

Again, young healthy children.

Along the trek, when the treeline breaks, the majestic mountain is reviewed. This is Ama Dablam at 6,812 m.

We criss-crossed the Kosi River in many points, at least 5 suspension bridges from Phakding to Namche.

One of the most grueling climb in this 14 days journey, thankfully the attitude is below 4,000 m, and breathing is still easy. From the climbing profile, the last 3 linear kilometer was most tough! Very little respite, as it was climb and more climb.

The beginning of the grueling climb offered us a majestic view of the last suspension bridge we were about to cross.

The final Suspension Bridge but a long way up to Namche.

The beginning of our Climb!

The Suspension Bridge up close.

The view from the bridge

Arrival at Namche Bazar, and how do you know? Because you have just arrive at a market. (Bazaar)

Day 3 – Namche Bazar (Acclimitization)

Drawn from our Kilimanjaro experience, we have to allow our body to get use to the high altitude, and we rest one day here.
Awaken to a misty morning, but a break in the fog and cloud to review the mountain peak from our camp site.

Namche Town as viewed from our camp site.

By 9 in the morning, when the mist was just lifted - the mountains surrounding Namche were reviewed.

Group Photo of the members. After breakfast and before shopping! Not too sure why they are crouching in this manner, it was not that cold!

Namche Bazar (bazaar), the place where merchants bring their goods from across the country, especially from Tibet to sell their goods. For us, it was a good opportunity to see the tribal folks coming together to buy and sell.

The many steps of our journey.

Pot and pan, just about anything can be purchased here.

Shopper Traps!

A Night Shot of Namche (Picture courtesy of Rainbow Chen)

Day 4 – Namche Bazar to Tengboche (3,858 m)

After the grueling climb, it was off to Tengboche. On this day, we were granted a fantastic view of Sagar Matha (Everest). The mist was coming over fast, most of us were fortunate to catch the glimpses of the highest peak, but not all were fast enough to capture as image.

Leaving Namche

We finally got to see Mt Everest. The first snow peak on the left. Ama Dablam is partially hidden on the right.

Mt Everest

Another View (from left to Right) - Mt Everest, Lhotse (8,500 m) and then Ama Dablam

A few seconds later, the mist was rolling over the mountain range, and soon shrouded it from our sight.

And the mist rolled in to shroud the mountains from our view!

Chorten in commendation of the Sherpas (the Tigers of the Snow)

Plaque on the Chorten

There will be many more steps in our journey! But the views are worth are fantastic.

The Local.

As it was October, the Autumn Colurs can be seen in the non-deciduous trees.

We arrived at Tengboche, where a huge monastery reside.

Arriving at Tengboche, the place was shrouded in mist. Our arrival in the foggy plain.

A summary of our climb from Namche to Tengboche.

Day 5 – Tengboche to Phariche (4,263 m)

In the wee hour of the morning, the morning will be chanting and blowing the horn, awakening those who still were asleep in their tents. Save those with ear plugs on, that required a good shake to ward off the sleepiness.

Again this morning, the Tengboche Plain was shrouded in mist.

Mist Covered Mountain

The journey to Pheriche was an exciting one, as the path was flanked by autumn colours.

Trees started to get scarce, and moss and lichen starts to dominate at this altitude.

Stone Fence

Khumbu River as we near Pheriche

Many stupas dot our trail.

Phariche - One of the few places along our route that has a Medical Centre. Once again, we have to allow our body to acclimatize to this high altitude. Phariche is extremely windy, and chill factor bring the temperature down to sub-zero at night.

Onward journey towards Pheriche. The majestic Ama Dablam is on the right, and Everest is not hidden on the left.

Ama Dablam

Another stream, and we saw this local doing his laundry. Behind him is a hut for a prayer wheel power by the stream.

You can never get tired of the view!

The last bridge to cross for the day. Bridge over River Khumbu.

Main Street of Pheriche

Our campsite, orange tents are the sleeping quarters, and the green is the dining tent.

The nice thing about Phariche is that River Khumbu runs parallel to this little town, and the scenery was most fantastic.

Day 6 – Phariche (Acclimatization)

We spent this day at the brook (River Khumbu), and attend talks on mountain sickness. It was a good reminder for all of us, as mountain sickness can strike anyone of us who is foolish to move faster than the body can adapt. Recommendation is to ascend 400m per day to let the body acclimatise.

Our Support Staff - Guides, Cooks, Yak Drivers and Helpers.

River Khumbu

Panoramic View facing direction towards EBC

Panoramic View facing direction of where we came from

Day 7 – Phariche to Lobuche (4,932 m)

For most of us, we have now exceeded our climbing altitude record, as the highest most of the members have achieved was 4,095 m at Mount Kinabalu.

Once again this morning, we were greeted by a beautiful orange cast on the mountain. As we were in the valley, the sunlight will take awhile to stream in.

Morning Greetings!

Onward Journey

Memorial Stones of those who did not make it to the summit! A humbling reminder to all of us.

Onward as we prod!

Moment of Rest - Pit Stop

At Lobuche, the air pressure is only about 60% of sea level, for us breathing was labourious but thankfully none of us were suffering from any severe mountain sickness. The occasional headache plagued us, which was resolved with paracetamol.
The climbing profile for the day, though we may have covered about 8 linear km, it is definitely more when the slopes are taken into account.

Upon arriving at Lobuche, 3 of us decided to pay a visit to the Italian Pyramid. It is an observatory build by the Italian to study the atmosphere, glaciers. This "pyramid", we came to realise is fully equipped with medical equipment to deal with mountain sickness. So beside Pheriche, if anybody is taken ill at higher altitude, there is another medical centre.

The Italian Pyramid at 5,050 m (Picture courtesy of James Chang)

Day 8 – Lobuche to Gorak Shep (5,173 m) to Everest Base Camp (5,291 m)

According to our schedule, we were supposed to rest at Gorak Shep, and then make the double ascend to EBC and Kala Patthar the following day.

Prior to our trip, it was recommended to us to head for EBC, and attempt Kala Patthar the next day. This turned out to be a good decision, as at such high altitude, to attempt two summits will definitely drained our resources.

Group Photo with the Support Staff before our push to EBC

The surrounding has turned into stones as trees no longer grow at this altitude.

The other reason for that many stones, is that we are walking on past glaciers. The continuous grinding of rocks on rocks produce the sandy path that is to be our paths.

The grooves that also formed our tracks, were probably made by rocks that have been pushed by the glacier. We walked in formation, with the slowest in front, and couple of fittest individual interspersed in between to provide support and encouragement.

On the right, it used to be glacier. The ice has disappeared, and is now strewn with rocks.

As can be seen from the climbing profile, the journey to Gorak Shep has alot of up and down.

Rounding another bend, as we walked on the side of the mountain.

The Khumbu Glacier looks dirty, but where there are cracks and crevice, the permafrost can be seen.

This picture was taken to illustrate the busyness of this track. We maybe 5,100 m high, but still it looked like a busy thoroughfare!

We arrived at our Gorak Shep campsite. From Lobache to Gorak Shep, we were fast, it took us just under 4 hours.

At Gorak Shep, we stopped for lunch, and then it was EBC!

Starting from Gorak Shep, we have to walk through this flat plain of sand, according to our map, it was a glacier. Directly opposite where there are 2 tracks leading up, this will be our track to Kala Patthar the next day.

At the end of the flat plain, we were walking on the side of the glacier.

The different tone and texture of rocks indicate that is the glacier.

When the soil is removed, the underneath is a beautiful bluish permafrost.

Round another bend

Everest Base Camp would have easily passed by us, as there was no marking of any sort, except for small flags that were hung on a big rock, and somebody has written EBC on this rock. For this period, it was quiet, as the season for climbing Everest is over.

We reached EBC at 4:15 pm local time.
It would have been great if the mist was lifted and Everest would have been right before us!

Panoramic View from EBC

Another View from EBC

It took us almost 3 hours from Gorak Shep, and we realised that we are going to walk back in darkness. Well that was what we did, we reached Gorak Shep at about 6:45 pm (local time).

While walking back, those of us who were in front, saw a light bobbing towards us, we were wondering then - who in the right mind is going to attempt the EBC at such late hour. Surprisingly, it was one of the assistant cook, who has brought to us a kettle of hot cordial. It was the sweetest drink that we ever have, not only it energised us, it also warmed our beings!

Day 9 - Gora k Shep to Kala Patthar (5,638 m) and then to Gorak Shep to Lobuche

The highlight of our trip must be Kala Patthar, as this will be the highest point that we have achieved for most of us (except for one who had make it to Kilimanjaro that is closed to 6,000 m).

The distance from Gorak Shep to Kala Patthar may be short but it was a sharp incline, but the journey for us was long.

At that altitude, it was labourious just to walk.

Today, we have a grueling task ahead, we need to ascend to Kala Patthar, after which we have to descend to Lobuche. The walk up to Kala Patthar will sap much of our energy. Unlike in the other track, this was going to be up and up.
The other 4 team members have decided to give Kala Patthar a miss, and only the 5 of us decided to make this climb.

A view of the sandy plain as taken from the Kala Patthar route. The opposite camp site is Gorak Shep.

Normally there will be climbers attempting to climb at 2 am to catch the sunrise on Everest. For us, we were simply too tired and settled for a late morning view. Mt Everest - the 2nd peak from the left.

At 5,500 m, it was slow walk as we plodded up to Kala Patthar.

Along the trek, as I turned back, I saw this Mont Blanc like mountain in the distance. It is the Ama Dablam.

Kala Patthar Peak (Picture courtesy of Rainbow Chen)

The Five of us at Kala Patthar (5,638 m or 18,497ft) summit. Officially we are now the 18ners.

After the climb to Kala Patthar, the weather started to cold foggy and rainy.
We were thankful that we have already made our climbs, and glad that it did rain at the beginning of our climb.

We broke camp, and start our descend to Lobuche. From this moment onward, it was downslope and more oxygen.

As can be seen, there were still snow on the ground, and getting very misty and cold.

Heading back to Lobuche, and Ama Dablam peak will be the direction of our heading, if only the veil of mist was lifted.

In front of us, were the memorial tablets dedicated to the fallen souls that have or were attempting the summit.

Yea... We can see Ama Dablam!

For us, especially the 5 of us, we were tired but exhilarated. But at his moment most of us were not in talking mood. Simply tired, and our objective was to go as low as possible. Praying that the weather will clear. It has been wet and cold.

Day 10 –Lobuche to Devoche (3,780 m)

On this day, we descended more than a kilometre!
We entered into Pheriche, the place with the medical centre and one of our team mate has to consult the doctor there due to bad cough.
We were there for lunch, and then we pushed on to Devoche. Pheriche was simply too windy, and still at 4,200m, may not be the wiser decision for somebody with bad cough!

It had started to rain, and our main camera have to be kept.

Wind was strong, notice the inverted umbrella. We told this team mate to put on the poncho, and throw away the umbrella.

Though wet, this autumn scenery was much appreciated by us.

Little house on the 'Prairie".

We arrived at Devoche at the last light. Tired but happy. It has been raining the whole journey. Finally, when we retired to our tent, we also realised that our bags were wet. Thankfully, our waterproofing held, otherwise we will be most miserable.

Day 11 – Devoche to Namche Bazar

As one of our member was stricken with bad cough, we have to keep getting to low altitude to minimize altitude sickness, and to speed up recovery, as temperature will not be as cold as at higher altitude.

Still it was cold!

This morning, as we broke camp. A musk deer came to visit us. Alas, the fog was there, and the picture taken was not very clear. Still you can see the teeth that jutted out of its mouth which is very characteristics of the musk deer. (Scroll down to the bottom to have a look).

It must have not been that cold, for the there are still green on this tree.

Typical 4 footed transport beside the 2 legged kind.

From Devoche to Namche, we will pass Tengboche again. Here we saw this artist painting through his artistic vision of the mountain, for where we stand, the mountain was veiled with fog, but his picture was nice!

The Entrance to Tengboche, is also our exit to Namche.

If we could carry such load! From our guide in Blue, he was telling us that 25 kg per load is nothing to them, and we struggled with 10 kg!

The Yak Express. There are no roads, and all goods (unless it is taken from the mountain) are carried on the back of yaks, horses and human!

We had lunch at this lodge, typical of the houses, a cloth curtain hangs at the doorway.

Day 12 – Namche Bazar to Phakding

From Namche Bazar, it was back to our favourite place at Phakding.

A grand river flows through here, and temperature was nice and cooling.

We were much re-charged in our strength, and the journey back was filled with songs, dance and jokes. And along the way, we were met with the same beautiful charms of the local as well as the beautiful scenery to match.

One of the many waterfall along the trail. A lodge is located here, and we have our "umplanned" lunch. Normally, the cooks and his assistants will be ahead of us, somehow due to communication breakdown, the equipment and cooks were way way ahead at Phakding, and since it was lunch time, we have no choice but to eat here. Actually, not a bad mistake!

A local harvesting harvested potatoes. As Winter is approaching, the potatoes have already been harvested, but since there is no proper silo or fridge, the potatoes are placed back in the soil, these will not bud till spring, and can be kept fresh.

Another Grand View as we headed towards Phakding

On this hill side, there are many carvings (properly of prayer chants). This is very near to the Checkpoint for climbing.

Day 13 – Phakding to Lukla

And the dreaded 220 m of up climb becomes reality! When we first started our climb on Day 1, we were conscious of the 200 m drop in our ascend to EBC, today was that day that we have to climb that 200m back to Lukla. Still with heart enlightened as we reached the end of our journey, this 200 m plus climb was nothing in comparison with what we have already done.

Back to our favourite lodge, we just cannot fathom that it was only a short moment ago, we were here eager to go to EBC!

Our campsite at Phakding

Again the mountain greeted us on the following morning as we departed for Lukla

Lukla at last. The final destination. We have done it!!!

Our last day sleeping in tent on the high mountain.
Having lived in tent and in closed proximity with one another, a special bond will develop.
Seeing each other strength and weakness, and complementing one another during this period, can only build the camaraderie for the next climb.
There is no strong or weak members in the team, for the team members foster one another, and thus through this, can climbing be more enjoyable and provide the greatest satisfaction!

I love the Mountain.

Day 14 – Lukla to Kathmandu

As mentioned earlier, this is one of the most extreme airport due to the foggy weather condition. We have arrived at the airport hoping to catch our flight to Kathmandu, but flight was delayed from Kathmandu as it was foggy. After that it was another delay because Lukla was foggy. In all, we waited almost 4 hours for weather to clear, before we could catch our flight back.

Flora, Fauna, Birds and Mammal of Himalaya

In fact most of the IDs are unknown to me. But at such high altitude, the UV light is very strong, thus making the colour of the plants to be very vibrant.

(Pictures by Rainbow Chen)

(Pictures by Rainbow Chen. Pollination by bee)

(Pictures by Rainbow Chen)

At higher altitude, when the angiosperm ceases the Lichen reigns.

(Pictures by Rainbow Chen)

Lichen covered rocks

Musk Deer - hunted for its musk to be made into perfume! This Musk Deer visited us in the morning in Devoche just as we have just broke camp to start our journey to Phakding..

Sparrow like bird taken at Gorak Shep (5,100m)

Ravens taken at Gorak Shep (5,100 m)

Acknowledgement

Thanks to Rainbow and James for allowing me to use their pictures.

Of Leeches and Dipterocapaceae Chatek

2010-07-26T22:01:00.012+08:00

In the forest of Belumut, short distant from Kluang, Johore, Malaysia, the forest floor was strewned with the winged like seeds of the Dipterocapaceae trees and another unknown species (the producer of the seed in Picture 15). It so happened that there was a shower earlier, and there must have been strong wind to bring down the many seedlings, for some of them were still green in their shade.

And in this same forest floor, being damped and wet, also live the rain forest leeches. We have walked this path many times, for this is one of our favourite training ground. And we have encountered these leeches many times. Personally for me, I have been bitten before, and for this trip, was bitten twice on the same leg!

Leeches are Annelids, meaning that they are worm with ringed body. From the picture below, the ringed body is very obvious. The locomotion of the leeches are one of caution, there are two suctions on either ends, and the leech will ensure that one of the suction is secured fastened before one of the end releases its grip to look for next grip. In a sense, they inched their way across the terrain and skin!

Picture 1 - Rainforest Leech (ID Unknown)

In this picture, the leech has twisted itself, thus showing both the top and reverse sides.

The suction end can be seen on the right, and the mouth part is to the left.

To correct much of our false concept, not all leeches suck blood. In fact most feed on decompose, and only about 10% of the 500 species feed on blood!

On the tail end, there is a suction, and on the other (business end) there are 3 jaws. This can be seen on the next picture. I called this the business end because this is the end that seeks out their prey, and suck the blood. It is said that leeches sense their prey through body heat, and probably like mosquito, the exhalation of carbon dioxide!

Picture 2 - Immersing the leech in droplet of water, allows the leech to become active. Here the leech is trying to move forward, on the left it has secured itself and thus is moving its "mouth" end. Once the mouth end has secured itself, then it will release the suction end, and move that end towards the mouth end, and the motion repeat itself.

Picture 3 - When it moves, it really can stretch!

This fat leech below, has just feasted on me (unknowingly) till it decided to release its grip, and that was when I felt a sharp pain on my foot. Upon inspecting, I realized that this leech has bite through my sock, and gorged itself, and now my sock was soaking with blood. Once the leech has bitten, there is an anti-coagulant agent in their saliva that prevent blood from clogging. Of course, this is good, for the leech will be assure of a liquid meal, but poor us will continue to see the blood oozing out of that wound.

Picture 4 - This leech of the same species as above has just feasted on me! It is bloated with my blood.

Picture 5 - Putting the bloated specimen in a plastic container, and taking both ends of the reverse side. The mouth part which is on the right, is smaller than the suction end.

Picture 6 - This is the tail end, the suction end.

Picture 7 - This is the mouth end, at this point, the mouth must be extruding from the fold of skin!

Picture 8 - Close up of the mouth, from here you can see the 3 jaws of the leech! Usually after their bite, it will leave behind a T shape marking on the wound, and that is because of the triple jaws incision!

There are many ways seeds are dispersed by tall trees, ensuring that their seeds do not fall to near to the parent tree, winged seeds are a good way to ensure distance dispersion. However, in a dense forest, most of the seeds will end up in the shadows of other mighty trees. Survivor for them in such environment is very slim, they ended up being food for squirrels and other rodents that scurried along the forest floor.

Picture 9 - Collection of Dipterocapaceae, Shorea curtisii, Vatica odorata

Picture 10 - Vatica odorata

Picture 11 - Vatica odorata in different stage of development

Picture 12 - Closed Up of Shorea curtisi - does it not looks like acorn!

Picture 13 - More Shorea curtisi

Picture 14 - Mixture

Picture 15 - Unknown Seed (ID unknown)

Appreciate if anyone who can identify these organism, kindly let me know. Thanks

Technical Notes

A macro tent was set up with white background, and flashes were set up in strategic sides of this tent. In all, 5 flashes were used, with 2 mounted on the lens.

It was not easy taking the leeches, as they moved where they want to move, and remains still if they chose to when the condition did not suit them.

I decided to use glass panel to take the suction ends, but realized that leeches find it hard to suck on the smooth surface like glass, it kept sliding down the glass. At last I decided in using a piece of plastic container, which allows the leech to hold on to its place, but cast unsightly bright vertical line.

One of them was so active, that I decided to place it in cold water, hoping to reduce its metabolic rate, and thus become docile for me to place them in a more convenient position, and that also proved futile, because it recovered quickly from its cold bath!

The other difficulty encountered was the fact that leeches need to be moist, and posing them with flashes firing was not ideal for their skin. Therefore I have to constant wet them, and wet skin unfortunately reflects light!

After what I have done to them, flashing them at closed quarter with flash, drying up their skin, immerse them in cold water, probing them so as to pose for me. They still come up resilient, the leeches are one tough spineless organism! My salute to them.

It is so much easier taking the Dipterocapaceae seeds!

Rafflesia

2010-06-17T21:03:00.006+08:00

Rafflesia – named after Sir Stamford Thomas Raffles, the founder of Singapore. It was during an expedition into Indonesia rain forest that the team discovered these giant flowers.

There are 27 species of this giant flower, and we were glad that we got to see two of them.

In our previous trekking to Poring, Sabah (near to the Kinabalu Park), we came across Rafflesia arnodii, this is the largest of all the Rafflesia species.

A pair of Rafflesia arnoldii growing in the bamboo grove of Poring (Sabah, Malaysia)

And this time while trekking in Cameron Highland, we came across the Rafflesia kerrii, which is the 2^nd largest Rafflesia in the world.

Juvenile Flower buds (R kerrii)

Quite matured R kerrii Flower Bud. The folded petal is actually quite waxy and thick to the touch. In some aborigine tribe in Thailand, the petal is used as medicine!

This bud (R kerrii) is about to bloom

Suspect this to be a week old bloom (R kerrii),

Close up of the same bloom, but filled with water and a death trap to flies!

After 2 weeks, this is the decayed remain of a magnificent bloom

The Rafflesia is a parasitic plant, with only the flower to show, it has neither branch, trunk or leaves, it simply tap into the host plant, and sponge the nutrient from its host.

Typically Rafflesia has 5 petals, but there have been evidence of 6 petals but rare. The Rafflesia flower takes between 9 to 10 months from bud to bloom, and then it will last about 2 weeks before withering. Rafflesia is a dioecious plant, meaning that both the male and female flowers (plant) grow separately, just like the papaya tree. It is still a great mystery in the life cycle of this plant, and very little is known about them.

Considering the fact that it will take about 9 months from bud to bloom, and that the male and female flowers are individual, it is not hard to wonder within a period, both male and females flowers can be in close proximity with the opportunity of pollination to take place. Well it is possible, if the area of habitat is large, and thus the probability of such event to take place is great, but the chance of this happening is greatly reduced by encroachment from human development as well as the fondness of human to pose photos as souvenir, inadvertently some of the young bud as well as the matured flower get trampled by foot; poked by inconsiderate individuals with their walking poles; and worse of all the destruction of its host habitat (the Tetrastigma vines).

Thus the Rafflesia is an endangered species, and hopefully the authority can preserve the site where this magnificent flower can be found!

Gunung Kinabalu - Birds and "Monkey Cups"

2010-04-22T13:55:00.004+08:00

For me, it seems to be an annual pilgrimage that saw us once again on our beloved mountain - Gunung Kinabalu.

Beloved for us, as it is one of the easiest accessible mountain which exceeded the 4,000 m mark from our tropical island

Last year, I was captivated by the moths, and this year I tried to do it differently by focusing on the birds and the pitcher plants.

At about 3,300 m (2^nd Montane) near to a resting point, we were visited by this bird (Mountain Blackeye Chlorocharis emiliae). This bird prefers the cool of the mountain top, and will occasionally descend to the lower plain at the Kinabalu Park (about 1,500 m) if the weather is nice and cool. Otherwise, you have to climb to their habitat.

Another commonly sighted feather friend at the Kinabalu Park is this Chestnut Hooded Laughing Thrust (Rhinocichla treachery), it was early morning about 7 am, and it was feeding time. Near to our dorminotry was couple of fruiting trees that attracted many types of birds. This hungry and definitely not shy Laughing Thrust was just at my eye level feasting on the fruits.

Kinabalu is home to about 15 different species of Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes), and occasionally it is also called the Monkey Cup, as it has been observed that monkey drinks from it. The word Nepenthes comes from the Greek for “no sorrow”, referring to an ancient drug called nepenthe.

Nepenthes are carnivorous, and the pitcher serves as a death trap to many unsuspecting insects as well as other vertebrates. However, there is the Nepenthes lowii that even collect bird’s dropping, and thus the lid will not enclosed the pitcher opening (peristoma).

In this walk up to the summit, we came across 2 different species.

Nepenthes tentaculata

Saw this species in abundance at about 2,500 m just before the Mersilau Trial merged with the Summit Trial. The unique feature of N tentaculata is the “hairiness” of the pitcher plant that “hairs” are growing from the lid as well.

Nepenthes macrophylla

In almost the same location as N tentaculata, the N macrophylla which is slightly bigger than the N tentaculata also grows in abundance.

Acknowledgement

It would have been very difficult for me to identify the birds and nepenthes as I am not familiar to this habitat, but thanks to an elderly German couple whom I spotted having breakfast with birdwatching utensils (binocular and long lens on their camera) that I intruded into their mealtime to ask them to help me to ID the birds. They were most helpful, and even go into the trouble to dig out their reference book to assist me.

For the nepenthes, the climbing guide that we have engaged to climb with us was knowledgeable in the fauna to provide me with the ID.

Tanjong Piai - Largest Ramsar Site in the World

2009-11-23T14:14:00.007+08:00

Taman Negara Johor - Tanjong Piai
This is the largest Ramsar Site in the world, this is being mentioned in the visitor information centre.

The Ramsar Treaty is a intergovernment agreement to protect wetland (fresh and sea water) to promote conservation as well as the wise use of such ecological site.

More information can be obtained from http://www.ramsar.org/

In this website is listed all the 159 signatories to this treaty, unfortunately I was not able to located Singapore among them.

Tanjong Piai is also the most southerly tip of Peninsular Malaysia, and is also known as Cape Piai, this is where the Strait of Malacca joins with the Strait of Johor.

Welcoming visitor to the entrance of the board walk, is a big growth of Sea Holly (Jeruju Putih Acanthus illicifollius). A plant that grow very well in the mangrove area, and more so when there are fresh water. The medicinal value of this plant is described on this vertical board.

In the park, there seem to be a marked absence of insects. There were flies, wasps but no constant whirring of cicada.

Came upon this pair of insect which I have seemed previously in another blog, these insects looked like they were sparring with "boxing gloves".

Blue Spotted Mudskippers (Boleophthalmus baddarti) abound in this area, notice the extra long dorsal fin - this is the male. When courting or showing aggression it will lift this dorsal fin.

On one of the Bruguiera root, was a juvenile Mangrove Pit Viper (Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus) resting or sunbathing. According to literature, this snake can be very unpredictable and is also very poisonous, however for today when this picture was taken, it was in a very lethargic mood!

We were fortunate to caught sight of the skittish and shy Mangrove Skink (Emoia atrocostata), and apparently they are not shy here, as we saw many of them, and some of them were so near to us. Unlike in Singapore, where a sighting of such a specimen would have been a rare occasion!

On the bark of many trees, we noticed white blotches and possibly lichen growing on the trunk, but what captivated me was the fungusgrowing on the bark. On close inspection - it was some kind of fungus with fuzzy ball.

It was definitely a great change and exposure coming here, though the organism here were very similar to back home, but somehow the behaviour, abundance and different setting give a very different perspective to the way we view these plants and animals.

Perhaps our own wetland authority can exchange a thing or two of ideas with Tanjong Piai National Park authority in the areas of conservation and wise use of our own wetland.

Snakes in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR)

2009-08-05T18:52:00.005+08:00

Snakes at BTNR

In my many years of trekking in BTNR, I have seen many snakes, but the problem is usually in recording that moment.

So far, with different equipment I have managed to capture 4 different snakes that I have chanced upon in BTNR.

I am not a snake expert, and will require much reading and research to ID and know these beautiful serpentines. Therefore if you can identify the unknown snakes and describe its behaviour or characteristics, it is much appreciated.

Wagler Pit Viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri)

Saw this snake up on a tree in Dairy Farm area. A nocturnal and arboreal snake, though poisonous the Wagler Pit Viper is a very docile snake.

I was able to go real close, and it simply coiled on the tree branch, letting me take all the shots.

Usually mistaken for another species of snake, the juvenile of the Wagler is green in colour, very unlike the adult.

Blue Coral Snake (Calliophis bivirgatus)

Another venomous snake and nocturnal, belonging to the elapid group - or sea snake. Usually feed on other snakes, even its own kind, but will feast on small amphibians and reptile if the chance should come around.

Came across this Coral Snake at the Forest Fall Walk, I was only armed with a phone camera. Resolution was bad, and evening has descended.

Unknown Snake 1

Came across this pretty long snake near to Rifle Range Road. It was actually sun-bathing in the morning on the bicycle track. Knowing that potentially it will be rolled over, I decided to hold it by its tail, and soon it slithered itself into the undergrowth.

From the body pattern, it seems to have two shade - a more solid colour at the tail area, as compared to the upper portion.

After performing the deed, I pondered whether this is a venomous snake!

Unknown Snake 2

Saw this snake just captured something - and has already swallowed its prey. It slowly slithered away from me at the Pipeline Reserve, but because of its meal, it wasn’t able to slither fast, and manage to capture number of shots on a compact camera.

Again, it was near to the bicycle track - and this time I have to use sticks to persuade it to move away from the track.

Again, is this a venomous snake!

Moths of Kinabalu

2009-07-01T20:17:00.010+08:00

Moths - similar to Butterfly belongs to the Order of Lepidoptera (or Scaly Wings) belonging to the Class of Insecta.

Chief differences to the other insects are

a. Sex determination is via the ZW where the ovum determines the sex of the offspring.

(Unlike the XY Sex Determination where the sperm determines the sex of the offspring)

b. Dense setae (scales) on the wings. In other insects, the wings are usually transparent

/transclusent memberanes.

c. Multi hue and pattern on the wings. The scales itself form a type of light trap where light

frequency get adjusted. Thus the colours on the wings change as one shifts one's position

when looking at them.

d. Larvae of such insect has mouth structure and glands that can secrete silk.

Spider does it but through their abdomen.

There has been many misconception about moth - that it is dull and nocturnal. On the contrary - moths are as colourful as butterflies, if not more colourful!

For these collection of Moths that you are seeing, all are from Kinabalu National Park. Why Moths and not Butterflies, well for one thing - it was easier to photograph them than attempt to chase after butterflies. With the light on, they came in drove, and then happily settle on the wall, floor, doors etc. And with the temperature dropping at night, at 1,500 m, these creatures become very docile and even by placing the camera just 2 cm away from them, does not scoot them away! And secondly, there are more variation (Family) in moths than butterflies, and thus there are more shape and size.

Notice the numbers of moths just on a single wall!

Below are the pictures of moths taken in the morning, when the moths were still in "sleepy" stupor.

Unfortunately, my knowledge of moths are not good, and I can only identify one species (attacus Atlas) - the rest I hope you can help me to identify.

Atlas Moth (attacus Atlas)

Future shape of a Steath Aircraft!

Does this moth looks like a bee or beetle?

Yellowstone - Largest Volcano in the World

2009-05-11T08:32:00.007+08:00

In the Visitor Education Centre in Canyon Village, immediately at the Reception area, this message greets the visitor.
“Yellowstone National Park is an immense, active volcano - one of the largest and most violent on earth”

But it is very hard to envisage that the Yellowstone National Park is sitting on top of a volcano, as there are no sign of crater or cauldron of magma. However, the geothermal activities in the form of geysers, fumarole, mudpot, hot spring and steam vent in Yellowstone indicate that there are underground volcanic activities.

There are many geothermal activities in countries like New Zealand, Japan, Iceland. But Yellowstone is one area that holds about 60% of all geysers around the world. The most famous and well known around the world is Old Faithful.

Scientists believed that in ancient time, a super volcano has erupted, and its magma chamber has collapsed forming a huge caldera - the size so huge that the country Singapore can be placed comfortably inside! The collapsed areas gave rise to the beautiful landscape of geothermal geysers with its beautiful colours, as well as the largest lake in US above 2000 m - the Yellowstone Lake.

The Yellowstone National Park is located on average of about 2,100 m and rivers flow down either to the Pacific or Atlantic sides. In this geothermal active zone, bedrocks plunged downward, with other places rising upwards forming the beautiful landscaped mountain ranges. Waterfalls are abundant here, and in one of the lower fall of the Yellowstone River, the rock face is Yellow in colour.

The wall acts like canvas to the Great Artist who created heaven and earth, allows the mineral to stain the wall face. Over time, the various chemical present in the water have stained the canyon walls with palette of Yellow, Pink, White and Red. But in this area, Yellow is most prevalent.

Yellowstone River - Lower Fall
Water flow through the canyon, surronded by Yellow Walls

The surface activities of the geothermal evidences produced many interesting patterns and colours in the various geyser basins.

In the geyser basin, the most famous geyser will be Old Faithful.

Old Faithful geyser - erupt on a regular basis. Geyser occurs when underground chamber contains water that has been boiled to superheated stage (high pressure with high temperature), and because of constriction in one of its chamber, the pressure continues to buildup to the point where the constriction cannot hold back the water, steam, and with a sudden release causes the water and steam to erupt.

Water is of turquose colour, resulted by the dissolved mineral. Mineral in the water calcified on the surface, and forms wall like terrace.

Volcanic activities are usually associated with toxic substance like sulphur, and in this landscape, rotten egg (Hydrogen Sulphide) is very obvious. The Hydrogen Sulphide rises from the magma, and is consumed by certain bacteria (called thermophiles) thrives in such mudpot, with the byproduct as sulphuric acid. The sulphuric acid “eats” up the rocks and solis, and turn them into mud. Amazingly, some mudpot acidity is so high, that it can easily burn the human skin.

Mudpot

Underground , the water chamber is ever shifting, due to seismic movement. What happen if death to some of the fauna which sheds its leaves and leaving behind a very bald appearance but with a very whitish appearance at the bottom of its trunk - as though it has just put on a white sock! Elsewhere, because of the diversion, suddenly the landscape becomes habitable, and plants started to take root and grow!

In this desolate plain, the ground movement has taken place, and instead of life giving water, the mineral filled water has flown into this area.

As a result, the trees in this area have died, and put on a white sock as shown at the base of the trunk. Look carefully, and you can see a lone coyote running in this desolate zone.

However, in area previously was the source of hot spring, the underground channel has shifted, and now grass is beginning to grow in this previously inhospital zone!

Panoramic view of the Hayden Valley.

Look carefully at the river, and you will notice that it is going round in bends.

In time to come, ox bow lake will be formed.

Yellowstone is a most amazing place. Scientists have determined that a major eruption is long overdue from this super-volcano. Much bigger than the Krakatoa in Indonesia. One that will envelope with ashes - turning day into night. One with the potential to split the continent into half.

Will that day come! While the seismic monitor continue to register the many quakes that occurs, and volcanologists continue in the guest to determine when it will happen.

To us, we will continue to enjoy the great scenery that Yellowstone provides.

Yellowstone River - Upper Fall

Yellowstone River - Lower Fall

Vietnam - SAPA and Fan Si Pan

2009-02-22T01:03:00.015+08:00

In the northern part of Vietnam, and bordering with China is the province of Lao Cai. And SaPa is the more prominent city of this province with its mountainous landscape with the ethnic tribes still living there. SaPa also means Sand Bank in the local language.

Forming the mountainous region of SaPa is the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, stretching from China Yunnan Highland to Vietnam Hoa Binh Province. And of the various peaks, Fan Si Pan (Fan Xi Pan) standing at 3,143 m is the highest. It is also the highest mountain in Indo-China (comprising Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos).

This is the mountain that we chose to trek after hearing so much about SaPa and the famous steps rice fields.

One ofthe prominent scene in SaPa is the cloud and mist, on the day of our arrival, it was misty and wet, and definitely not ideal for climbing, but the weather turned for the better the following days.

SaPa was discovered by the French (who was the earlier colonial master) in the early 20th Century. Looking for a place to escape from the hot and humid lowland of Vietnam, and at the same time for a quiet resort for the various government officials, soldiers and merchants, SaPa was found to be ideal, and many of the houses that can be seen there possess French architecture design.

There are 54 ethnic groups living in Vietnam, and the majority tribe is the Kinh (Viet) forming about 87% of the total population in Vietnam, but in SaPa, the Hmong forms the majority, follow by the Dao and Tay. At first it was difficult for first timer to differentiate them, till one learns to recognize their costume and headgears.

The Hmong came from Southern China, and the most recent exodus happened only about 100 years ago. Being late comers to the region, they ended up on the hilly sides of the mountain range, but gifted with agriculture skill, they have developed the side of the mountain slopes into steps, so that rice can be grown. In a way, it takes more effort to plant rice, but from the perspective of optimization of land, they have found the ideal solution. Water from the upper steps, flow to the next lower level, and continue until it reaches the stream or valley below.

The Hmong’s costume in particular is recognized by their black dressing and different colours headgears which further break down the Hmong into the Black, Red, White, Green Hmongs. For our trip, we saw mostly the Black Hmong with their typical cylindrical black headgear. The embroidery and pattern on their costumes especially on the sleeves signify different family grouping, and therefore to the Hmong, they can easily tell who is who just by looking at the pattern of the clothing. The black colour that we see is actually deep purple, the dye is derived from the Indigo flower which can be seen in most of the household.

The flower is soaked in water, and for the first 24 hours, the colour produced will be black, and by second day, it will be purple. Indigo and dyeing is so important to this tribe, that most of the time, you can see the Hmongs hands are purple in colour, demonstrating the fact that they have been soaking their hand in the dyes.

From their costumes, these 3 Black Hmong ladies came from the same tribe and apparently from different family, as the pattern on their sleeves are very different.

In this area, the woman folks are extremely hardworking, as they are responsible for looking after their siblings when they are young, and the household when they are married. Beside the rice fields, children, cooking, they also have to weave and with the many tourists into SaPa, selling souvenirs to tourists. How to they multi-tasks, well they have hemps wrapped around their necks, and while waiting for tourists, they will be busied working on the hemps. For some, they will be carrying an infant on their back otherwise a basket backpack which will be filled with goods that they will be selling in the market, or goods that they have purchased! For the manfolks, beside going into the forest to hunt, they may be working in the fields, and of course indulged in the favourite past time of consuming rice wine.

The yonger Hmongs are now more priviledge as they get to attend school. These 2 young Hmong girls have just finished their school, and on their way home.

The typical Hmong's home is usually deprived of fridge, and most foods are usually smoked by being placed just above the fire place.

The display of corns and meats are good indication of the wealth of the family.

Overlooking Sin Chai Village (this will be our starting point of our climb). The prominent building is a primary school.

Long before the advent of electricity, automation was mechanical with the water wheel carrying water and depositing to a special trough where a "see-saw" mechanism is used to pound grain out of its husks.

In the Cat Cat Village where the Black Hmong lives, there are many waterfall and streams. In this case, this beautiful fall is near to their cultural centre.

Our objective for this trip was to climb Fan Si Pan, and there are various routes to climb to the peak, for this trip we have chosen to take 1.5 days to go up, and another 1.5 days to come down.

At 3,143 m, the manifestation of High Altitude Sickness is not pronounce, and Camp 1 was only at 2,200 m which was a comfortable height to rest.

Day 1 – From Xin Chia (Sin Chia) Village to Camp 1

Taking a leisurely stroll, we started at about 09:30 hrs from Sin Chia Village.

A curious glance from a Hmong lady looking after her charge.

In most village, livestock mingled with the population.

We passed a primary school where it so happened that recess was in session, and the children were out at play. Looking at them, and recalling our own, we realized we were very fortunate. These children were attending school with the most basic attire. Looking at a pair of siblings, the younger one was naked from the bottom half, including footwear! We were touched by their sincerity, and managed to share some of our provisions with the children, nuts, raisins, biscuits, chocolate. Though these children lacked in basic needs, they have something that we can see in their eyes, joy and happiness which we rarely see in our own students, with study pressure!

How many of our students have to look after their sibling, and attend school at the same time!

Found this house to be of interest, as it is below the water level of the rice field. One wonders what will happen if the dyke breaks!

Our walk to Camp 1 required us to go through winding roads and tracks.

We passed this river, and saw this rock that has been beautifully carved out by pebbles and water.

The initial track lead us to small villages and abode of the Hmong.

Another primary school in Sin Chai, much smaller than the earlier one. Just one small building.

The tracks took us through bamboo groves, and occasionally we crossed bridges over streams and rivers. In fact, it was a most wonderful walk, though we have on many occasions were required to go up, and then down, to follow by more ups and again down. In many places of the tracks, we come across droppings from the bovine kind, huge and black, and emitting the typical dung smell. We avoided them, and as we climbed higher, these “landmines” markedly diminished.

Along the way, we came across villagers who have been out cutting bamboos, and the only way to bring back the goods, is to bring them back on their shoulders or back.

Zoom our 2nd Guide, also double up as cook. Now what is that KrisFlyer doing there!

Though we were climbing up, there were many downs. And down means more up!

In such windy and cold environment, most plants do not grow very tall, and for flowering plants they tend to hug the ground, like this one.

The track leads to beautiful forest glade.

Final approach to Camp 1

We reached Camp 1 at about 16:30 hr, with plenty of time to settle in. Camp 1 was located in a valley, and this forms a nice channel for the wind to flow through, and if one understand the venture effect, the constriction of the cross sectional area will speed up the wind flow, and this place was really windy, and cold.

Dinner was eaten in the open, which land a nice ambiance with the stars above our head. Our Guides double up as Cook, and occasionally as Porter. We were bless with Zoom, who happened to learn cooking from his father, and was a very good cook beside an assistant guide.

Zoom our guide was going to be getting married at the end of Feb 2009, and in the tradition of the tribal marriage, Zoom’s family will have to give a dowry of

− Vietnam Dong 10,000,000 equivalent to US$750
− 100 litres of Rice Win
− 1 Buffalow or 3 Pigs
− And couple more items
To the family of the Bride.

Day 2 – Camp 1 to the Summit and back

Started our climb at 08:00 hr, this part of the climb was tougher than the 1st day, as there are many places where ascends can only be made with the helps of ladders, and in other places bamboo provided good holding support in order for us to climb up.

Our makeshift kitchen was next to a stream which also double up as our makeshift basin. We have to be careful when we draw our water, otherwise our water will be filled with Colgate taste!

Camp 1 - with the various tentages for us. Now there is that KrisFlyer again. Now SIA really goes places!

For reason which I cannot explain, there were alot of dead trees in Camp 1. Was there fire in the past that killed these trees, or was it the invasion from the North in the eighties. I have no idea.

The journey became more precarious, and the cameraman has no choice but to store the camera, as it was knocking against the rock face.

Fan Si Pan lies on the Hoang Lien Son range, and from the picture it looks like the spine of a serpentine animal, which the people here believe to be that of the dragon. As one approaches the peak, the wind becomes stronger, and bitingly cold. As such, it is always comfortable to walk into the bamboo forest, when the wind is less strong, but there are many places on this trail that simply provides no shelter from the wind, and we simply have to brave through the high gale wind to reach the summit.

Going to the summit, will require us to walk on the ridge. To prevent us from falling over, the Park has build in concrete fence in the shape of bamboo.

The spine of Fan Si Pan

Bamboo grove provides shelter from the strong wind.

Finally the Summit is just there!

We reached the summit at 13:30 hr, and rest here for lunch for about half an hour.

This Steel Pyramid marks the summit.

The summit at 3,143 m was extremely windy, but the views from here were superb. To the north, one can see China, and to the west, it was Laos.

Though we were told it will take 4 hours to reach the summit from Camp 1, we took almost 5.5 hours, and realized that we are going to walk in the dark on our way down! Most of us did not bring our flash light with us, as we believe we can return to Camp 1 before 17:00 hr.

True to our prediction, the sun set early in the February month, and by 17:30 hr, the sun has set. Even in the dark (but not pitch black), the guides and porters have no problem finding their ways and footings to Camp 1. It was during this moment of walking in the dark that we caught whiff of dung smell that somehow smell good news to us, in that we were reaching our Camp.

Thankfully, all 13 of us managed to reach Camp 1 with the last group trailing in at 19:00 hr.

Exhausted but exhilarated with our ascend, we retired to our tents. Looking at the clouds, indeed it was like a sign that said “ZZZZZZZ”.

This night, the wind was extremely strong – it was difficult to sleep, as we struggled to keep the wind out of our tentage. Just as we dozed off at about 01:00 hr, suddenly we were able to see stars! Our tent has been blown away, and with it some of our bags which held our warm clothing. It was going to be a fun night!

By morning, when we surveyed the damage, only 3 tents were left standing, but barely. Couple of 2-man tents have collapsed, and some of our supplies were strewn all over the area. We seek adventure by coming to Fan Si Pan, and gotten more than the adventure to the summit.

Day 3 – Camp 1 to Hoang Lien Son National Park HQ

A 2 hours walk, and again with some ups and downs. Otherwise the walk was pleasant.
Soon we reached the Park HQ where our transport was waiting for us.

After walking to the summit, this portion of the walk is like a "walk in the park".

The end of our walk - the Hoang Lien Son National Park HQ

We have climbed various mountains, and if I have to describe Fan Si Pan, I will have to say that it is a most enjoyable climb as you get to

a. see mountain ranges, the mountain you are climbing is adjacent to other mountains
b. interact with the local tribal people, and appreciate their strength. We were fully geared with warm clothing and footwear, but the local wore their traditional costumes and wore slippers!
c. enjoy the forested areas with bamboo groves, and other fauna
d. have high success of reaching the peak as it is not very high
e. offer enough challenges of slippery, vertical, rocky slopes
f. partaking of hot meal, even up at the summit

But more importantly, the guides and porters are extremely helpful and friendly. We would not have succeed if not for them.

Sultan Shoal LIghthouse - Sentry of the West

2008-12-29T10:18:00.029+08:00

Sultan Shoal Lighthouse used to occupy a strategic location guiding ships from/to the Straits of Malacca into the Western Achorage.

While the island that the lighthouse is sitting has not moved, it is now much closer to the mainland! This is due to the major reclamation works that occurs in Tuas South as well as the creation of the Jurong Island (Jurong Island is linked to the main land by a bridge). From Google Map below, we can see with the extension of Tuas South, it looks like the Lighthouse is now in a "bay"! To the North is Jurong Island and to the West is Tuas South.

The Lighthouse was built on a small outcrop, and to prevent erosion to the shoreline, the island has been ringed with big granite boulders. Thus this island has no mangrove plants, as well as the lack of a sandy shore. However the granite boulders provide good grazing ground and provide good “hold fast” to the grazing shell-animals, especially the Neritae.

Lone Nerite among Mud Creepers

This molluscs come in many colours and sizes, and basically occupies every granite rocks that it was impossible stepping on them as we moved around to explore the organisms that thrive in this area.

On one spot, I foound these 3 Nerites but of different speciesThe whitish spot is actually Nerite's egg capsule. Each of these contains about 30 eggs. Now we know why the whole island is carpeted with Nerites.

Other molluscs that were seen here are the Rock Snail (Family Muricidae) which cling tightly to the wall, Cowrie with length span of about 6 cm. Such beautiful animals will never have the opportunity to grow to this size on the mainland, as it will be collected for its beautiful shells.

Rock Snail (Family Muricidae)

Cowrie (Cypraea arabica). The pattern on the shell looks like Arabic writing, and thus this cowrie is called as such.

Bottom view of the Cowrie

Found in abundance is the Turban Snail, the Turban Snail (Turbo sp) is also a grazer of algae, and its notable characteristics is the “trapdoor”, in some country the operculum is collected and make into buttons. One do not have to wonder why, just look at the beautiful pattern and colour.

Close-up of the shell opening and operculum

The other interesting feature of Sultan Shoal Lighthouse, is a man-made sea water pool, that provides the artificial inter-tidal area that was lacking on this island. In this pool, most of the animals were trapped as the tide receded. Those not considered traps, find this a good refuge, with soft sandy mud, and detritus left by the tide. On this field trip, we have Prof Ng to guide us on crabs.

(Previously Prof Ng guided us in Raffles Lighthouse, where we found the Jaded Pearl Crab)http://mountain-n-sea.blogspot.com/2008/08/pulau-satumu.html

In this pool, we were able to see many Fiddler Crabs, and Prof Ng pointed out the endangered and beautiful Fiddler Crab (Uca tetragonon).

Fiddler Crab

A pair of Uca tetragonon, male on the left and the female on the right

Usually in the Fiddler (Family Uca), the male is the one that is brightly colour, and the female adorns a duller shade. But not for this species, both the male and female were equally colourful, except that the male has a longer reddish pincer to attract the female as well as to ward off potential male. Uca tetragonon is extremely shy creature, and is very skittish, it will escape to its hole with the slightest disturbance in the form of light, vibration.

Close up of Uca tetragonon (Male)

Close up of Uca tetragonon (Female)

Thus this fiddler seldom strays very far from its nesting holes. Due to its skittishness, Uca tetragonon tends to build their nesting holes near to a wall or rocky outcrop. This also work to our advantage, as to take records of this crab in their undisturbed condition, means one can observe them from above. It is extremely difficult to photo them at ground level, so I climbed onto the pool walls and adopt a prone position from the top (about 4 m up). Fortunately I was using my longer macro lens (Tamron 180 mm – equivalent to 270 mm on the 35 mm scale), even with this focal length, it was not possible to fill the frame with the crabs. A lot of post cropping need to be done, for the images to be blogged!

Overhead shot of Uca tetragonon (Male) near to its nesting hole

Overhead shot of Uca tetragonon (Female) near to its nesting holes feeding on detritus

For survival, these two crabs below have found a novel way of hiding from predators. One has decided to cut a piece of sponge and wrapped around its carapace, and the other has chosen to use a dead leaf as a cover.

From the top, it looks like any piece of “debris”, but below hide this Sponge Crab. Only when it started to move, that it will give itself away.

Top View of the Sponge Crab (Cryptodromia pileifera)

Underside View of the same Sponge Crab (Cryptodromia pileifera)

The other master of camouflage, looks for suitable leaf, and with its modified claws (especially the last pair), it will hold onto suitable size leaf. Once again, until it started to move, especially against the flow of water that it will give itself away.

Notice the last pair of claw of the Leaf Porter Crab (Neodorippe callida)

Another view of the Leaf Porter Crab (Neodorippe callida)

To better understand the Leaf Porter Crab, we decided to give it a different size leaf, and somehow it find our leaf was less than ideal, and will always stick to its own! My conclusion is that the size and span of its claws must match the holding areas of the leaf, otherwise it will not be able to use the leaf effectively!

Leaf must fit to the size of its holding claws

Another specimen that was discovered by Prof Ng, was this Pseudoscorpion (Parahya submersa). It was small, and made me wonder how he managed to find it in the first place. For comparison, look at the grains of sand, in fact our estimation is that its body is only about 3 mm long. Not much is written about this marine Pseudoscorpion, and literature search on the web did not yield any interesting results!

Compare the grain of sands to the Pseudoscorpion

Blow-up image of the Pseudoscorpion

(In macro photography and depending on the lens, the distance between the lens and the object is 12 to 15 cm. Handholding and expecting to get sharp details requires very good hand holdin and breathing skill. But one technique that I find useful, is to fire rapid shot by setting the camera to continuous shooting mode, and having pre-focused (auto focus for macro is not going to work), take a number of shots. Manage to get one decent shot from about 25 shots. If you happen to be involved in excessive menial tasks before the picture taking, you will find that most of your shots will be ruined by your shaking hands!)

For other findings on this field trip, please check out

Where Discovery Begins

Manta Blog

TideChaser

God's Wonderful Creation

Autumn Colour - Preservation of Life

2008-11-03T22:27:00.007+08:00

The colourful leaves that we see in the Autumn is a result of a process whereby Deciduous trees prepared for the wintery weather, when there is less water, cold spell and lack of sunlight.

Similar to other organism, preparation for winter is most vital for their survival. Other animals migrate, and some started the process of hibernation. But for plant, which is not warm blooded, the plant has to prepare for winter in a special plant way!
The process of preparation for Winter is called Hardening, and there are 3 stages as to how trees prepared for the winter. But the method and preparation varies from species to species and are program into each of these species.

Stage 1 – Dropping of Leaves
Prior to the leaves being shed from the trees, it will have undergone a most beautiful process of colour change. To understand this transformation, it is important to go micro and understand the various cellular structure and the synthesizing of metabolic materials in the plant.

In a typical leaves, there are plastids (plant cells that are responsible for energy creation and storage). The most common plastid will be the Chloroplast that enables the plant to photosynthesis from the sun ray to create starch out of carbon dioxide. In these plastids, they contains various pigments which give rise to the myriads of colours found on leaves, the pigment in different percentage will give rise to the colour of the leaves in the various seasons.

Chlorophyll - Repsonsible for the green colours that we see on leaves, and vital for leaves to be able to photosynthesis.. This pigment absorbs the Red and Blue colours and reflect the Green. The molecular structure of chlorophyll is large (C55H70MgN4O6). Chlorophyll attached itself around the chloroplast or the chloroplast is a plastid that contains the chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is not a stable product and tends to break down under intense sunlight, and has to be continuously regenerated by the plant where light, warm temperature and water are present.

Caroteneoid - this pigment absorbs the blue and blue-green light, and is responsible for the orange colour that we see on the leaves. This pigment is also found in fruit and roots like corns and carrot. Similar to chlorophyll, the molecule is large (C40H36) but more stable than chlorophyll which gives the orangey hue to the leaves when the chlorophyll is depleted from the leaves. The carotene pigment is found in the in another type plastid called the Chromoplast.

Xanthophyll - belonging to the carotenoids group, and is responsible for the yellow colour commonly seen in autumn leaf.

Anthocyanin - unlike the above pigmentation that is being held in plastids, anthocyanin are found in the plant sap. Anthocyanin absorbs the blue, blue-green and green colours of light, and thus give the appearance of red and purple. This pigment is commonly found in fruits, giving rise to the familiar redness in apple and the purplishness in grape. The colouration of anthocyanin is very much depends on the concentration of the sap and sunlight. The stronger the light, the stronger will be the reaction. Which will explain, why apple can exhibit different colouration from dark red to light red and even green. Anthocyanin is a very strong anti-oxidant, and is extremely beneficial to us, and therefore when eating fruits, do not peel the skin away. Give it a good wash.

As winter approaches, the weather become colder, daylight is shorter, and water becomes scarce. These conditions lead to the plant hardening process of retracting and storing the food (carbohydrate) in the roots. At the same time, the leaf stalk started to swell which will restrict nutrient going to the leaf. Glucose and waste are now trapped in the leaves, and without nutrient and water, the chlorophyll diminishes and eventually disappears. With the absence of chlorophyll, the other two pigment becomes more apparent. The colours presentation will be due to the different percentage of the carotenoid and anthocyanin pigment that are left behind in the leaves.

Eventually, the leaves will drop from the tree. Now the tree is hardened for winter, and is capable of managing winter with temperature dropping to -10 deg C.

Step 2 – Further hardening of Trees
If the temperature started to drop further, and hopefully in a gradual manner, trees will have ample time to further harden itself by migrating the sap from the cell structure into the inter-cellular space. Tree sap has long molecular structure, and with long molecular structure, the tree sap has lower freezing point (called it a type of anti-freeze). However, occasionally with sudden freezing spell, trees that do not have the opportunity to harden will suffer from the freeze, and at times parts of the trees will be damaged.

The last stage which is still unknown to scientist is the transformation of ice crystal in the cell, from sharp crystal to rounded edge crystal. With this transformation, the cell will not be damaged.

Through this complicated process of hardening for winter, we can enjoy and be bewildered at the beautiful fall foliage. The deciduous trees are now ready to “hibernate” for the winter to present itself once again in its full glory in spring. But this time it will be the flowers that will paint the scenery.
http://mountain-n-sea.blogspot.com/2008/06/spring-renewing-of-lives.html

All pictures taken at West Bloomfield, Michigan, US.

Based on the principle of Chlorophyll being responsible for the green we see in tropic Singapore, we will occasionally come across autumn foliage in some of our trees (namely trees like the Sea Almond Terminalia catappa and Blind-Your-Eyes Exoecaria agallocha). During a long dry spell, the trees in self preservation will restrict water flow to the leaves, and without the water, the leaves will lose its chlorophyll and start to change its primary green colour.

With this knowledge, now one can look and be bewildered by the beautiful fall colours and fathom the processes that have gone into this transformation.

Along Clementi "River" (Holland Woods)

2008-10-30T20:59:00.007+08:00

Along Clementi Road, opposite Ngee Ann Polytechnic there is this Strom Drain which in Singapore size, looks like a river.
(Also known as Holland Woods)

I have always wanted to explore this area, and on Deepavali, it was a good opportunity as I need the sunlight to help me recover from jet lag, as I have just returned from the US.

The first activity that caught our eyes was this "fisherman", as can be seen from the picture, there are nets in the water by evidence of the styrofoam float. What fish dwell in this place, probably tilapia. But we did not hang around to find out.

With such expanse of water, one can definitely find the super agile dragonfly skirting the waterlines. Though look like 2 different species, but actually they are ONE. The Red is the Male and the Yelllow - the female Asian Scarlet Dragonfly (Crocothemis servilia)

Walking along the bank of this "river", I chanced for the second time on a lonesome Hoverfly (Family Syrphidae). Such fly is characterised by its big bulging eyes and short antennae.

For protection, it has acquired pattern to that of wasp (Batesian mimics). The belly of the Hoverfly has striped pattern similar to the wasp. But when it comes to rest, its outline is that of a fly! But some Hoverfly has "waist"to further confuse its predator.

The Hoverfly is a friend to the gardeners, as its larvae feeds on aphids.

Usually the male Hoverfly will hover on certain spot in space to attract female, and will defend this piece of 3 dimension space against other intruders that dare to encroach into its airspace.

Having to hover demand alot of energy, and occasionally the Hoverfly will have to "re-fuel" by drinking nectars from nearby flowers.

Below is a picture of a housefly, and in this condition, this housefly looks pretty nice!

There were much vegetation, and reaching the railway line, we came across this 7 Golden Candle stick (Cassia alata), with beautiful bulge and patterns, and was frequented by ants.

We have to visit this place again, especially in the morning for we have heard many birds call, and managed to catch glances as they flew off. This brown bird that flew off is a very rare Black Bittern (Dupetor flavicollis). Unfortunately I was not able to get a ground shot as we startled it when it was foraging in the marshy drain.

It has been certainly a surprise location, as this place is sandwiched between busy Clementi and Bukit Timah. Certainly we will be making another reconaissance again.

A Crab with no name on Satumu

2008-08-03T21:47:00.009+08:00

Pulau Satumu
The most Southern Part of Terra Firma in Singapore territory. Or more commonly known as Raffles Lighthouse.

Once again we were indeed grateful for the permission granted to us to do an exploratory intertidal walk on Pulau Satumu which is a restricted area.

Previously when we did our intertidal walk, we managed to see many Criniods (Feather Stars) in different colours. However, this time - the marked difference that I noticed was the numerous Nerites (Snails) that were on every rocks that we walked, and the other was the Sargassum (Family Sargassaceae) that has covered much of the intertidal areas.

Sargassum coverecd Inter-tidal areas
Nerite scavenging for foods on the rocks.

Stranded in some pocket of water, we found these two False Clown Fish (Amphiprion ocellaris), near to this pocket of water was another pocket with a Sea Anemone. Apparently, they must have strayed and landed themselves from their host. Well the next tide will bring a sweet union to these dual.

While scouting around, I chanced uon this "split" coral. I have read that as coral grows, the individual polyp will raise its base plate (which is the bottom of the coral cell), and start to build the calcium wall around it. But that is from book, now from the "split" coral, I was able to see the formation of the individual walls of each of these polyps.

Why did the coral split? It does not look like a mechanical damage, but somehow it showed that two sides of the corals decided to go their separate ways!

Any Coral experts, maybe you can enlighten me on this unusual sighting.

Refer to Ria's reply below. This is a Zoanthid, my hand must be numbed on that day, as I touch the split zone and felt that it was hard. Thanks to Ria for the correction.

On this trip, we have the priviledge of two Crab Experts in our group. We were told to look for a special crab. The instructions given were

It has a squarish carapace
It has greenish dots on its carapace
It dislikes water, and tend to be above the water line
It dwells behind rocks and boulders

The uniqueness of this crab is that it has yet to be ID, and thus has no names (scientifically or common). Its cousins have been seen in Indonesia, Taiwan and Japan, except that in Taiwan it has blusih dots instead of the greenish dots.

With these instructions, we went a hunting - alas, we were bad hunters and found none. But the expert managed to land one, and we managed to take a lot of closed-up shots of this female "model".

It has lost one leg, and we were told that crabs have certain set of muscles near to the body. Upon being threatened, they can constrict this muscles such that the legs can just dislodge itself. Possibly just like the lizard's tail whereby losing a limb (which can grow back in the next moult) is more beneficial than being eaten up.

Upper picture taken, showing the almost squarish carapace with yellowish-greenish dots.
Frontal Shots of this lady

Closed-Up of the "face
Close up of the eye - notice that there is a protrusion on the eye. This is like a hair on the eye.

Underside of this female unknown ID crab with its orange claws.

Till the ID of this crab is published, I think I am at liberty to call this crab "Jaded Pearls" Crab.
Jade tends to be green, and the dots are like pearl. So Jaded Pearls Crab in this blog.

The next time to Satumu, I will be looking up for more Jade!

Ubin Romp

2008-07-21T20:28:00.005+08:00

This is the season for durian, and Pulau Ubin has lot of Durian trees, attracting the 2 legged kinds into the plantation in the early hour of 4 am, hoping to find the ripened fruits on the forest floors.

We were there for a different reason, to explore the intertidal area, near to the sensory trial. Even in the darkness of night, we were able to discern the litters that abound on the beach at low tide, bottles, plastic bags, straws etc were carelessly thrown into the water, and ended up on the shoreline during the lowtide.

Seeing the mess, I know I will be in deep trouble as such mess on a sandy beach means lot of sandflies as I was wearing short and short sleeve Tee. I was not wronged, I was bitten in so many places despite protection of applying organic insect repellant.

Well, I will have to refrain from scratching for 1 week!

We visit intertidal area during the Full and New Moon, for this is the time of the Spring Tide, extreme low and high tides.

Flipping through rocks, we came across couple of stars - Sea Star. Was told that this was Rock Star, and plenty of crabs.

Captured in this picture was a Porcelain Crab among the eggs of Drill (probably).

Plagued with tummy problem, the night before, I was not able to join the team in foraging in the further point of the intertidal area, and choose to wait out the night.

With the first light, the birds started to rustle, and soon became very active. Greetings us were birds flying in the air, and particularly this White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster). Catching the warm air, it glided as to gain height from the heat from the ground.

Further down the road from the Volunteer Hut, we came across a disused quarry, and there Grey Herons (Ardea cinerea) roost. I was told that it used to be alot more, but somehow the population has dropped.

Picture taken through foliage, thus the blurry foreground of unfocused grass.

In a nearby bamboo clump, saw this Bulbul, and managed to snap a shot as it flew off.

The Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) is also a regular visitor to Pulau Ubin, consider truly wild, these birds though big tends to be very quiet, but their black and white body simply stands out among the green foliage.

We saw 2 pairs, and manage to catch both the male and female with my camera. The horn bill beak is topped with a CASQUE, and for the male, it tends to be bigger than the female. Though it seems to be big and heavy, but the truth is that the casque is pretty light, and is actually formed in honey-combed design in the beak structure.

Usually, they foraged in pairs, and for us, we were priviledged to witness 2 pairs foraging.

Male Hornbill with a larger casque as compared to the female below.

Walking to the Butterfly trail, we saw an Olive Back Sunbird (Nectarinia jugularis). Small bird which hovers and flies from flowers to flowers, it uses alot of energy just for this. To power its flight, it needs energy drink in the form of nectar, in the picture below, it was flying from Hibiscus flowers to the next. But occasionally, when it is rearing young, it will also catch insects.

I have been to Pulau Ubin many times, and each time, it will never cease to amaze me with its diversity, be it on land, sea or air.

Kilimanjaro Ni Mrembo

2008-07-07T17:14:00.040+08:00

Kilimanjaro Ni Mrembo
(Beautiful Kilimanjaro)

Kilimanjaro has always captivated me for as long as I knew my geography of Africa, not only this being the highest mountain in continent Africa but also the exotic nature of its settings. Down in the Savanna plain, the wild animals dwell, and the vast expanse of the land that never seem to end.

We have planned this trip many years ago, after our initial climb to Mt Kinabalu in Sabah in 2005. Climbing Mt Kinabalu took 2 days for both the ascent as well as the descent. But for Mt Kilimanjaro, it can be done in various ways, and we have opted for a 4 days ascent and 2 days descent. On hind sight, we should have made it 5 days ascent and 2 days descent.

The Preparation
Basically there are 3 areas that one has to contemplate

Physical – Fitness is a pre-requisite in climbing any mountain. And all the more so if one wants to attempt to climb Mt Kilimanjaro which stands at 5,895 m as compared to 4,095 m for Mt Kinabalu. Training includes endurance walks in Singapore, and many sessions in the gyms as well as Bukit Timah Hill.

Mental – Most of the times, we get defeated just by asking ourselves “have we arrived yet”, or “what another mountain to climb”, or “when is this going to end". If one is filled with such thoughts, then there is no point in opting for such activities. Climbing a mountain is always about the majesty of His creation and the wonders that surrounds this creation. One can only drink in the beauty and be humbled that one is so puny, but so important in His sight.

Equipment – Any mountain of such altitude will be cold and windy, and the further the mountain is from the equator, the colder it is going to get. Mt Kinabalu at its summit can easily reach sub-zero, and Mt Kilimanjaro likewise at 3,100 m onward, already reaches sub-zero at night. Most vital for us, will be proper clothing for the weather, as well as sleeping bag that can withstand the cold. Though I have brought the same winter gears that kept me warm in Detroit (where temperature can go down to -15 deg Celcius), I was still ill-equipped for the coldness on the mountain. Thermal base layers, protective outer shell, gloves, cap etc – all these gears I brought were inadequate from the cold blast of the mountain.

But the most difficult area to prepare is one endurance to AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), as far as we can understand, AMS can strike anyone! The symptoms for AMS include
* Dizziness
* Headache
* Vomiting/Nausea
* Stomach Upset
* Breathlessness (this is expected as the air is thin)
* Palpitation

And my own experience includes
* Diarrhea
* Seemingly lack of body heat. Feeling of coldness despite multi layers of clothings!

Though many doctors will prescribe Diamox, the wonder drug to combat AMS, but there are other doctors that simply refuse to prescribe this drug. Primary, this drug causes the blood to thin and at the same time make one hyper-ventilates. These two effects are supposed to provide more oxygen in one’s system to combat the lack of oxygen.

The best remedy for AMS is to ascend slowly and to spend more time at a higher altitude for the body to acclimatize to the thin air environment.

I have climbed Mt Kinabalu 4 times, and only suffered minor headache at Laban Rata Hut (3,262 m), which disappear after taking a panadol. However, this time in my climb to Mt Kilimanjaro summit, I was stricken with AMS at an altitude of 4,000 m, and finally I have to give up my climb at 4,600 m when I experienced frequent vomiting and coldness. The AMS was so bad, that it was no longer prudent to continue with my climb, and decided with the agreement of the guide to descend to a lower altitude.

The Mountain
Our guide told us that Kilimanjaro comes from 2 Chagga words. Kiliman – Hill/Mountain and Jaro – White top. It was said that when the areas was first survey for cartography, the surveyor asked the native Chagga tribe, the name of the mountain, and it was then told to the surveyor that this was “the mountain with white top”. Thus "Kilimanjaro", this name has been associated with the mountain, as well as the region around this highest mountain in Africa.

The mountains here were formed by two dormant volcanoes (Kibo and Mawenzi) and one extinct volcano (Shira). Kibo is now the highest mountain, standing at 4,895 m tall, after Shira’s top collapsed 750 years ago.

Kilimanjaro National Park is located 330 km south of the Equator in the country of Tanzania, and the park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1989. Previously, climbing on this mountain was done on an ad-hoc basis without much control, and just about anybody can climb in any direction to the summit. This uncontrolled activity has led to many unnecessary death as well as trails and summit filling with litters.

Nowaday, with controlled admission, the climb up the mountain is most pleasurable and safe. There are various Rescue Stations around the major trials for emergency evacuation in case of accidents or AMS.

The Climbs
There are various routes up to the summit, and for us (five of us), we have decided to go via the Machame Route which is much longer but provide better sceneries. A more comfortable route is via Marangu Trail which provide huts for overnight stays. Whereas all other routes requires the setting up of tents.

According to Park Regulation, each porter is only allowed to carry a load of 20 kg, therefore with the tents as well as kitchen and our personal belongings, it worked out such that for every one of us, there will be 3 porters. Since there were 5 of us, there were 15 porters, 1 assistant Guide and 1 Chief Gude.
But from the pictures you see below, I doubt very much that each of them is carrying 20 kg, it seems a lot more!

Our tracks can be seen in the Climb Profile, which indicate the linear distance covered and elevation. (The profile of the climb was captured on Garmin GPS 60CSx)

Day 1 (29th June 2008)
Machame Gate to Machame Camp (1,800 m to 3,030 m)
(Distance Covered – about 15 km in 5.5 hours)

Initially, when we first browse at the itinerary, we thought that this will be one of the most challenging trial, as we have to cover a linear distance (not taking account of slope) of 11 km, with an increase in elevation of 1,300m.

However, starting at 1,800 m, our physiques were conditioned for such long walk, and we faced no obvious tear and wear to our legs muscles. A notable observation, as we walked through the forest was the eerie silence! Not many animals stirred at this altitude, there were no external sounds saved for the noise made by our soles against the volcanic soil.

At this altitude, the vegetation was that of the rain forest, with tall trees, and since the forest is seemingly perpetually wet, moss and lichen cling to much of the trunks of the trees.
Epiphytes flourish under such condition, with much water, sunlight exposure and space to grow.

At the higher altitude of 3,100m, the sun ray is extremely harsh, as there is no cloud cover to disperse the harmful UV ray, and at night the mountain is very cold, and couple with strong winds; the plants have adapted to such harsh condition by having very short and thick leaves. Flowers are particularly bright, or maybe that is the effect of much UV reflecting off the petals.

The long distance was quickly covered, and we arrived at the Machame Camp in high spirit.
Though we have been walking at a fast pace, the porters with their heavy loads walked even faster than us, they have arrived at the camp site and have already set up the camps (our rooms) and have cooked us pop corn with tea.
By night fall, without the artificial lightings that we nromally encounter in city life, the camp site was pitched black, and that is when the marvel of the sky began to unfold. Spanning the southern sky was the milky way, the spiral end of the galaxy which our solar system resides. Millions of star dotted the sky, and I was able to identify couple of constellations that I have seen in pictures and sky maps but never have a chance to see them in our metropolitan clouded sky!

The mountain may be big, but once again in comparison with the cosmos, we realized we are even smaller.

Day 2 (30th June 2008)
Machame Camp to Shira Camp (3,030 m to 3,900 m and down to 3,840 m)
(Distance Covered – about 12 km in 5.5 hours)

Interestingly, the total time taken was about the same as the Day 1, but the distance covered was shorter. No doubt this has to do with the altitude, as it was much harder to cover the same ground in the same given time due to the slowness of our pace for lack of air.

The key word that we get to hear from our guide and porters, and also as a form of prevention of AMS is to “po-le po-le”, in Swahili it simply means slowly. Going slow is vital, as it provides the opportunity for the body to acclimatize to the altitude.

On this day, we were able to sense the towering height of the dormant volcano, and though it looked very near, it was still far away.

At this altitude, the vegetation has turned to moorland type of environment, and near to rocks, where top soil has collected, and prevented from being blown away, small shrubs take roots and grow.

An interesting “pandanus-like" shrub that grow here is the Lobelias, it has purplish flowers growing in between the leaves, and once the plant has bloomed, it will died.

Near to the highest point of 3,900 m, I started to feel the effect of AMS. I wondered whether we should have walked much slower and heed the advice of our guide to go “po-le po-le”. I have to pop 2 panadols before cloud of giddiness was dispelled.

Again, our porters were faster than us, and by the time we reached Shira Camp, they have already set up the tents, and again pop-corn was in the “galley”(another tent). On this day, we got to hear the bad news that one of our porter may have come down with Malaria, and would have to return to the lowland for treatment, and then we hear another news that one of the porter came down with AMS.

At this altitude, once the sun has set and the wind started to blow, it became very chilly and unless one is properly clothed for the cold, many of us would have to retire for the night at an unusual time of 7:30 in the evening.

Once again the night sky was filled with the myriads of stars in the vast universe. Again the milky way charmed the observers on earth.

Day 3 (01st July 2008)
Shira Camp to Barranco Camp (3,840 m to 4,500 m and down to 4,000 m)
(Distance Covered – about 12 km in 7.25 hours)

Shira Camp is located under the shadow of the summit, and though it was already 6:30 in the morning, the sun ray has yet to reached the camp. When we emerged from our “cocoon” of down sleeping bags, the cold air greeted us to sudden awakening.

It was only when the sun climbed above the summit, and the rays finally reached the camp at about seven-tish that we can peel some layers of our clothings.

The walk from Shira Camp to Barranco Camp, will be a tough one, as we have to climb to a maximum height of 4,500 m, and then descend to 4,000 m to our camp. Once again, we moved “po-le po-le”, and enjoyed a different scenery that the mountain at 4,000 m can offer. Basically, rocks and more rocks! At this altitude, it is considered high desert, and only the toughest of the plants can grow here. In particular the Giant Groundsel. Dotting the landscape near to our camp were many of this plant.

Along the way, we passed Arrow Glacier and the Lava Tower. Once upon a time (and that was less than 15 years ago), a glacier used to be around here. We were told by the guide that in those days, while sleeping in Barranco Camp, they would occasionally hear the falling away of ice chunks from the glacier. Now it is just a barren land.

Picture above - Lava Tower (4,600 m high)

The Global Warming has basically caused much of the glaciers around the world to retreat, and the glaciers in Kilimanjaro is no exception. Scientists have predicted that in another 10 to 15 years, the glaciers on Kilimanjaro will completely disappear!

Though I did not suffer from AMS on this track, but upon arrival at Barranco Camp, I realized that something was amissed. I began to feel nauseating, and started to vomit. This started a chain of event, which required me to stave off from food, as it was coming out as soon as I tried to consume them. Believing a good sleep will solve the problem, I promptly retired for the evening.

Day 4 (02nd July 2008)
Barranco Camp to Barafu Camp (a yo-yo journey from 4,000 m to 4,640 m)
(Distance Covered – about 12 km in about 10 hours)

On this day, and we knew that behind our head that on this day at night we will be attempting to go to the summit. We started our journey late, as some of us were not in the best of shape. Especially for me, where the AMS has developed into another new symptom in the form of diarrhea.

Where we have our breakfast, our guide showed us the “Breakfast Mountain”, the very beginning of our climb after breakfast. From the camp which was at 4,000 m, we would be ascending to 4,230 m which is the peak of this “Breakfast Mountain”, after which we will make our descend and to climb up again another mountain. This will go on for another two times before we reach another camp site called Karanga Camp. Unfortunately, our itinerary did not permit us to camp overnight, but we have to proceed to Barafu Camp which was located at 4,640 m.

Picture above - Breakfast Mountain (notice the white specks, these are climbers making their way up the Breakfast Mountain)

Picture above - walking among the Giant Groundsel

In my record, this will be one of the toughest climb I ever made with a partially filled tummy (due to nauseating) and sore tummy (due to diarrhea).

Upon reaching the midpoint of this trail, which is in Karanga, I managed to drink soup for lunch, as it was difficult for me to take solid food. Due to the constant throwing, I believed that the acid reflux may have caused my duodenal (the junction where the gullet meet with the stomach) to inflame. Now I have another problem, as drinking of water caused pain to my chest. Hydration is very important as it is extremely dried up on the mountain.

Trudging along from Karanga to Barafu Camp was one huge effort, and our pace slowed tremendously as I was struggling to climb the last few hundred metres to our camp at 4,600 m at 6:30 pm. Upon reaching my tent, I can only flop down, and decided to give dinner a miss. Without proper nutrients for energy, and with these AMS symptoms, I decided to play it safe by descending to a Rescue Hut at 3,900 m together with one porter and the guide.
Going down from Barafu Camp (4,600 m) to Height Camp (3,900 m) was no easy task, as we descended at about 9 pm. Interestingly, as one descends, one’s energy seemed to return! I went down to the Height Camp powered only by 2 Oreo cookies. This night happened to be the New moon, and it was pitched black, the only sources of light came from the guide’s flash light and my headlamp . I was told the journey will take about 2 hours, but at 11 pm, we have yet to reach the destination, I decided to ask the guide how much longer before we reached the rescue hut. For this, I was told that it will be another half an hour, at 11:45 pm – we were still walking. This time I just have to pray that I will reach the camp before my energy gave up. Then, I smelled the smell of urine – civilization! Was I glad of the smell for true enough, in less than 5 minutes, we arrived at the Ranger Hut in Height Camp.

Certain time in our life, we have to make certain key decision, to prod along and hopefully try to reach the summit with possible more injury to oneself or simply have the common sense to know that the mountain will still be there, and another attempt will still be possible.

On this same day, my other companions moved out of Barafu Camp at 11:00 pm to attempt to climb to the Summit.

Day 4 (02nd July 2008) and Day 5 (03rd July 2008)
Barafu Camp to Uhuru Summit (4,640 m to 5,895 m)
Uhuru Summit to Barafu Camp and down to Mweka Camp (5,895 m to 3,100 m)
(Distance Covered – about 17 linear km in about 17 hours)

I can only gather the information from what my friend has told me and from the GPS log. It is rather odd that the planning of our itinerary stressed so much activities at such high altitude.
From the time we arrived at Barafu at 6:30 pm, the team has only about 4 hours of rest before making another 12 hours of going to the summit and back to Barafu.
After which, they rested before making another 5 hours to trek down to Mweka Camp.

Unless one is very fit, this will be one daunting task!

Picture above of Kibo (the summit can be seen clearer below)
Picture above of Kibo (Barafu on the right first outcrop)
Picture above, walking away from Height Camp to Mweka Camp

In the meantime, I have already descended to Mweka Camp from Height Camp, reaching there in the early morning of 10 am. As I have much time to kill, I decided to do some birding. I stood at one spot, and recorded about 10 species of birds. The vegetation at this altitude was tall shrub and provide much coverage for the various birds. I have no idea to their ID, but the plumage was very beautiful. I suspect that due to their constant interaction with the human in this camp site, they are less shy of being seen!

Day 6 (04th July 2008)
Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate ( 3,100 m to 1,660 m)
(Distance Covered – about 15 km in 2.5 hours)

On this last day, it is customary for the Guide and Porters to present to the climbers the “Kilimanjaro Song”. Well it is in Swahili and from snatches of phrases and rough interpretation, it said something about the beautiful mountain that tourists/foreigners come to explore and to behold its beauties.

Again as one descend, and especially going away from the critical height for AMS, the body after prolonged adaption to thin air suddenly get a boost from much oxygen. We managed to descend in 2.5 hours covering almost 15 km. Joking to my friend, I told him that this was the first time, we have overtaken some porters!

The vegetation becomes very dense, and trees here become much taller and bigger. But still the quietness of the forest is very eerie! We can hear birds darting and chirping in the foliage, but it was difficult to catch sight of them. From their fine shriek sounds, I can only guess that those might be sunbirds of some sort.

Again, in the damp forest, the epiphytes of various types abound here. Clinging on to their hosts and thus giving them an uncanny furry appearance, that is in need of a shave.

Picture above - Impatiens kilimanjari

Picture above - Finally arriving at Mweka Gate

Epilogue
The name of this region and mountain is Kilimanjaro (the mountain with the white top), and with Global Warming becoming a serious threat, and with prediction that the glaciers will recede and disappear in our life time, I wonder whether the mountain will change its name to

“Kiliman-ilikua-jaro” (the mountain that used to have a white top!)

If that be the case, it will be a great lost to us all!

Brown Hawk Owl in Bukit Timah

2008-06-17T20:10:00.002+08:00

Brown Hawk Owl (Ninox scutulata)

A very rare sighting for us to have the priviledge of viewing this owl.
Actually my objective was to sight Colugo and thus our venture into the forested area in the evening.

Colugo it was not, but a chance sighting of a pair of Brown Hawk Owl delighted us, just the same.

Alas, it was evening, and my camera was on auto ISO mode, and pushed the ISO rating to 3200, and thus the noise that you see in the pictures below.

Owl is especially adapted to night flight, and have extreme keen eyesight and hearing. But on this occasion, this pair of Brown Hawk Owl was extremely obliging that they "hang" around to ensure that we have good pictures of them.

Like all birds of prey, their eyes are in front providing them with good binocular visions to gauge the distance to their preys, and at the same time to avoid obstacles once they take off.
In order to hunt effectively at night, the owl's eyes are designed such that it is like a barrel, it has no eye ball, but a continuous elongated tube. Thus the owl cannot rolls its eyes and can only look ahead. (Thus the impression that the owl is staring at you).

To make out for its inability to roll its eyes, the owls neck is made up of 14 vertebrae in the neck, double that of the human . With that many vertebrae, the owls can turn its head 270 deg. This you can see in the last picture, where it was taken from the owl's rear and the owl is still looking at me.

Its wings are also very special, in that the leading edge of the wings are made up of smaller feathers that will smooth out the air flow, and thus dampened any noise that may arise from its flight.
At time to assist them in gauging the target or to observe the surroundings, the owl can "move"its head sideway. In quick succession of these movement, it would have captured enough information on the distance, obstacles to avoid and branches to land.

Ninox scutulata obvious marking is on the face, it lackes the indentation like most owl, and thus this species is aptly named Brown Hawk because of its appearance. Another marking on its face is the whitish mark running between both eyes, and down to the beak. Bit obvious in the last picture abve.

You can see another picture of this majestic bird in
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4095711

Spring - Renewing of Lives

2008-06-09T22:29:00.005+08:00

Spring
For a person who lives in a non-seasonal condition, I simply have no idea the transformation that the 4 seasons undergo.

There is a Chinese saying "Spring arrives and 100 Flowers Bloom", this must be lost in most of us who has no opportunity to fully appreciate this saying. Well, I have a first hand encounter as I went through Autumn, then Winter and Spring in Detroit, and managed to capture the transformation of this tree.

In Winter, the tree is barren. (end Jan 2008)

But with the first sign of thawing and warm, the flowers started to bloom, turning this same tree White. (5th May 2008)

Finally, the petals dropped, and the leaves started to bud. (14th May 2008)
Final transformation, the tree is now covered with leaves. (18th May 2008)

The transformation varies from tree to trees (species to species). This Sakura (Cherry tree) was still in the flowering stage, and the leaves have yet to bud.

For the evergreen, new shoot of needles were also coming out.

Indeed, when the word Spring is coined, it definitely has connotation to indicate that

"Lives are springing back".