TM trail ride 1 Jun 2008

I’m blogging from my sis’s laptop now. It has bluetooth! Therefore we have photos!

Today I had my first encounter with a steep climb and a dropoff. I crashed a few times (as usual) but did not break anything 🙂 However my back hurts now…. and I have lots and lots of washing up to do.

If you go trail riding, it’s worth it to invest in a pair of MX boots. Today my leg got trapped under my bike and I rolled a few times before stopping. If I hadn’t been wearing MX boots, I’d probably have a bad sprain or a torn tendon. Instead I was able to walk away from the bike and later get on it, start it and continue riding.

Here’s a photo of lonely Knut. I didn’t include the photos of the rest cause I didn’t ask their permission.

Public Seminar on “The Illegal Wildlife Trade in Singapore – the realities and implications for biodiversity conservation and environmental management .”

Link here.

If my sister is going, I’ll probably be tagging along.

Trip to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research: Weird stuff

Previous: Insects

Ok, kill me. I really have no idea what to call these things. Therefore, I have given them the rather inappropriate name ‘Weird stuff’. Someone help me out here?

Peanut Worms. They look just like peanuts.

Very strange looking Anchor Worms.

Blue Lion’s Mane Jellyfish. It ain’t blue, but never mind.
Now I can tell why sea animals will swallow plastic bags by accident.

Gigantic Swamp Leech! In Singapore! AAAAAA!!!!!

Next up: NO MORE NEXT UP! THE END!!! 😀 😀 😀 😀

Trip to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research: Insects

Previous: Fish and Crabs

Ok, I admit there was a bit of a delay (a very long delay in fact) but everything in the world (42 projects and a 2500 word report – not mine of course 😉 ) seemed to be getting in the way of me posting up the last two batches of photos. Or perhaps it was just me procrastinating? Hee….

Atlas Moth. The biggest moth in the world. I have seen a live one before in the canteen of my primary school. At that time, I was still in primary school so me and my friends wanted to catch it and bring it to the science lab. Thankfully we didn’t, or the poor thing would probably have died from shock and our rough handling.

Pandan-kueh moth and Caramel Custard moth. The researcher who named these must be really hungry. Pandan-kueh is a green cake flavoured with pandan leaves.

Deaths Head Hawk Moth. For those who read ‘I’m the King of the Castle’ (the book I did for GCE O-level English Literature), here’s Hooper’s favourite moth! Mwahahaha.

Wasps and ants.

A colourful stink bug.

They even have mosquitoes on sticks!

Next up: Weird stuff (there is a reason for this rather cryptic name)

Trip to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research: Fish and Crabs

Previous: Reptiles

Two more posts to go! Should be up tomorrow if everything goes as planned.

Some of the crabs (and a lobster) on display.

A crab with a weird name, the Dana’s Eyes-wide-apart Crab.

A Hairy Crab. Is this the same kind of crab that we eat? (No it probably isn’t, it’s too hairy)

Fish with weird names, the Dirty-faced Goby and the Little Warty Catfish. And you thought your parents gave you a horrible name.

Pufferfish. More specifically, Spotted-tail Frogfish, Porcupinefish, Reticulated Pufferfish and Clown(can’t read the name from the photo).

Hollow-cheek Stonefish. Stonefish are the most dangerous of known venomous fish. My sister is scared of them cause they look just like stones, but if you step on one, you suffer from shock, paralysis and death within hours if no medical attention is sought. There’s a Rhinocerous Boxfish in one of the jars beside it. Boxfish are so poisonous that they are usually kept alone, cause if they get worried by other fish, the poison they release is so toxic that it kills every fish in the tank, including the boxfish itself.

Shark teeth. You can see the rows of teeth in the shark’s mouth. If one of its teeth falls out, the ones behind move forward to replace it. That’s why sharks are never toothless.

Next up: Insects

Trip to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research: Reptiles

Previous: Assorted Small Animals

Ok, ok, 3 more posts to go.

A row of jars containing (in order) a Spiny Terrapin, a Hawksbill Turtle, a young Estuarine Crocodile and a small Clouded Monitor. Monitor Lizards are tough. I’ve seen one run across the road, get hit by a car so hard that it flips over on its back with a loud “thwap”, and then still get up and run away.

Cobras: A Black Spitting Cobra and a subadult King Cobra. Black Spitting Cobras can spit their venom into people’s eyes and blind them. If the venom gets into your eyes, you have to wash it out with water. If there’s no water, your friend will have to pee in your eye. Black Spitting Cobras are listed as common! 😡

A row of snakes. All the snakes shown here are venomous. Shown here are an Amphibious Sea Snake, a Blue Coral Snake, a King Cobra hatchling and the subadult King Cobra in the link above.

A Striped Keelback, a House Snake and a Keeled Rat Snake. This is starting to remind me of Chinese Snake wine.

A snake with a strange contradicting name, the Dog-toothed Cat Snake.

Next up: Fish and Crabs

Trip to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research: Assorted Small Animals

Previous: Creatures of the deep (and not so deep)

A display of small mammals.

Bats in jars. The white one at the bottom corner is the fetus of a Large Flying Fox.

Frogs in jars.
There was a Malayan Colugo (Flying lemur) below the frogs.

The spider and scorpion display.
Some Horseshoe Crabs beside the spiders.

The bird display, with its extremely mummified looking birds. Closeups: Common Kestrel and Barn Owl.

Next up: Reptiles

Trip to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research: Creatures of the deep (and not so deep)

Previous: Civet cats, a Cobra and a dangerous sounding Stink Badger

I’m not even sure if the links all point to the right places any more.

Sad looking coastal birds.

Here are some creatures that live in the deep sea trenches. There’s a writeup here, I highlighted some of the interesting stuff in pink.

Semi-fossilized halves of a Giant Clam. That white thing beside it is not a pearl, it’s my sister’s waterbottle.

An Elongate Giant Clam and a small Octopus.

A fiberglass Indian Coelacanth. The classic living fossil fish.
Alex found a video of the live fish in action. Thanks, Alex!

Next up: Assorted small animals (or rather, some of the leftovers from my dismal attempts at categorizing them)

Trip to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research: Civet cats, a cobra and a dangerous sounding Stink Badger

Previous: Gallery of taxidermised specimens pt II

I guess it’s pretty obvious I’m having my holiday now, that’s why I have the time to make posts like these.

Civet Cats. The Malaysian Civet and Common Palm Civet, and the Large Indian Civet. The Common Palm Civet and the Large Indian Civet can still be found in Singapore. I know this is starting to get old, but some people do eat these things. And did I mention they can spread SARS?

Adult King Cobra. King Cobras are native to Singapore. This guy was found beaten to death at the Island Country Club.

I couldn’t resist including this Stink Badger for the writeup. In case you can’t see it, it states: The black and white pelage of the stink badger, Mydaus javanensis, warns potential predators to stay away. Glands beneath its tail produce an extremely vile-smelling liquid. When disturbed, the badger squirts this liquid at its molester. People who got sprayed by a stink badger have been known to become violently sick, and have even tried to kill themselves.

Next: Creatures of the deep (and not so deep)

Trip to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research: Gallery of taxidermised specimens pt II

Previous: Gallery of taxidermised specimens Part I

I have the kind of feeling that I’m going to grow old and die before I can upload all the photos. Never mind, I’m working on it… here are a few more.

Adult Sun Bear. See its teeth! They’re real!

A Serow (wild goat)

Frigatebirds. They inflate those red things under their beaks as a courtship display.

Pangolin. Some people eat them.

A menagerie of Monkeys. Close ups: Siamang, Proboscis Monkey and Agile Gibbon (the yellow one at the front). One of them has a bald spot on its armpit.
One of my relatives cooked and ate a monkey before. She said it was like a baby
We’ve even given one of the Siamangs (the small one) a nickname. It’s called ‘shuai ge’ or ‘handsome guy’ in Chinese cause it has a handsome face. Don’t ask me how we got to that conclusion.

Head of a Sumatran Rhinoceros.

Malayan Tapir. The yellow sign says: These animals have been treated with POISONOUS chemicals. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH

A little Clouded Leopard hiding among all the Monkeys.

Greater Mousedeer. While the Lesser Mousedeer can still be found in Singapore, the Greater Mousedeer is extinct here.

A very wide mouthed Oriental Small-clawed Otter. These can still be found in Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sungei Buloh. Otters in Singapore! This is making me want to head to Sungei Buloh now.
It’s quite funny, cause I used to read these story books that mentioned otters when I was achild and I used to think that you could only find them in western countries. I only realise now that they’ve been on the same island as us all along… -_-

Next up: Civet Cats, a Cobra and a dangerous sounding Stink Badger