st andrew's cross spider

another find at bkt timah. the st andrew's cross spider
found it along the main road near to the summit. it is very very little, cream-coloured and looks as if he has only 4 legs. the fella is maybe less than 1cm in diameter. when you come down from the summit, after you passed some logs, look to your right, you will see his web on a plant at maybe just 0.5m above the ground. it is opposite the storyboard on squirrels.













Extract from Australian Museum website

St Andrew's Cross Spiders are named for their bright web decorations - zig-zag ribbons of bluish-white silk that form a full or partial cross through the centre of the orb web. Females have a silvery carapace and a silver, yellow, red and black banded upper abdomen with two longitudinal yellow stripes below. The spider sits with the legs in pairs. The brown and cream coloured males are smaller than females (body lengths 3 - 4 mm and 10 - 16 mm respectively).

responsible idiots

yang's joke of the week (as related by his mum)

one day while watching tv -
father: that is an ex-RI boy.
yang: what is RI?
mother: that was the secondary school that your father attended.
yang: what does it stand for?
Before the parents have a chance to reply,
yang: does it stand for Responsible Idiots?

the mother thought the description was quite apt as the Institution is known to churn out Public Administrators.

btw, yang is a 9-year-old boy.

I told the above to my boss cos I thought it was likely that he's an R.I. boy. He didnt seem very amused.

black lily

the black lily is in bloom! at the bukit timah nature reserve, along the taban loop. after you cross a little stream, climb up some 20 steps or more. you will see it on the left of the path.

low eq

over lunch today, lin and i concluded that if you say/do the following but don't know that you are being rude/simply idiotic, it means you have low eq:

1. "even you look better than this, ANYTIME" (while pointing to a picture of a not-so-good-looking individual)
2. similar to 1. "even you can do better than this, ANYTIME" (making reference to a stupid simple task)
3. "i am sorry but i was just stating the facts." (while trying to give a sincere apology)
4. "what are you doing?" in a perky voice while peering over someone's shoulder and looking at his computer screen at his workstation. the worst kind will even read what is on the screen.
5. remarking very loudly "wah, surfing the internet/playing computer games AGAIN!" in a happy voice, despite knowing that the boss is within earshot.
6. similar as 5. but takes it further by standing around to WATCH the person.
7. "where were you the entire morning?" spoken in a loud voice in office
8. "since so-and-so (the usual lunch partner) is not around, i shall lunch with you"
9. sending the bill to the girl with detailed calculation of how the cost is split for items that were shared after the first date.
10. to add such a line to the bill claim in 9.: "the cost is S$41.87 but just S$41.50 will do"

i am sure there are many more examples but this is all i can think of off-hand....

chef tan's famous dark chicken rice recipe

As related by chef tan...

Ingredients
1. blue ginger
2. brown sugar
3. five star spices (aka wuxiang powder)
4. black soya sauce

now you cook...
first, add 3 tablespoons of oil in the pan.
fry sliced blue ginger till fragrant
then add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, fry fry fry until melt
then add dash of wuxiang powder (machiam like wuxia pian)
add black soya sauce (agar agar 5 tablespoons) - taste, if not salty enough, add more. don't want too salty lah, it's sposed to be sweet and not so salty, undERSTAND?

(mdm tan forgot to say cook the chicken until i reminded her.....)
add the chicken (remember to wash his insides first and rub with salt to remove the smelly smell.... )
let the chicken soak in the black sauce on one side first then flip him over.
best if you stand by his side to pour the sauce over him again and again to ensure uniform coat.
after his skin looks black enough, which takes abt 10 minutes, add 2 cups of water, simmer simmer over very small fire. cover the wok. each side of the chicken shld simmer for abt 15 mins for a medium-sized chicken. everything also agar
agar.... timing is agar agar.... total time of cooking the chicken is about 1 hour. although you see the timing doesnt add up...

confused already? good.

now the rice....
prepare chicken stock using chicken bone and salt.
make sure you remove the 'dirty stuff' to get clear stock.
wash rice and let it dry
add 1.5 tablespoon of oil to the pan
fry sliced onion, garlic and Normal ginger till fragrant
add rice and fry fry fry for a while
then put everything into the rice cooker and add the
chicken stock and pandan leaf. level of rice = level of stock.
then hit the cook button.

chef says maybe there are some details left out.
those are trade secrets...

ps. agar-agar doesnt refer to the jelly thing. it is singlish for 'approximately'

running tips

running uphill puts a strain on a different set of muscles from running on level ground. as i learnt from experience in trekking bkt timah, areas to watch out for are the quadriceps, calves and buttocks. to minimise injuries and pains, be sure to do a good stretch (but not overstretch) of these muscles before and after your run.

minimum recommended stretch for uphill running:
let elvis show you how....

quadriceps stretch:
Kneel on your knees (without resting back on your heels). Lean back with your body erect and your arms to the side. Hold for 15 seconds.



calves stretch:
Stand about three feet from a wall, feet at shoulder width and flat on the ground. Put your hands on the wall with your arms straight for support. Lean your hips forward and bend your knees slightly to stretch your calves.



buttocks & lower back stretch:
Sit on the ground with your legs crossed. Lift your right leg and cross it over the left, which should remain bent. Hug the right leg to your chest and twist the trunk of your body to look over your right shoulder. Change legs and repeat (i.e. looking over your left shoulder).



another way to minimise quadriceps injuries is to strengthen the quads by doing biking or leg lifts.

information above is taken from www.coolrunning.com. do read the website for a full range of stretching exercises and causes/remedies for running injuries/pains.

mountain turtle at bukit timah

did the first training session at bukit timah today. we went down Taban Loop, Cave Path, Tiup-Tiup path, Dairy Farm Loop, Seraya Loop, Jungle Fall Path and finally, up to the Summit. click here for the map. kabs calls it the mo-gui (devil) route becos of the infinite no. of steps. khoon initially intended to run from his home (at yew tee) to bkt timah before he met us for the trek. that's before he knew how gruelling it would be..... after the trek, he said lucky he didnt run before the trek....

took off my sandals midway cos it was causing my feet to have blisters. once again conquered bukit timah on barefeet. soft clayey soil and bed of wet leaves on the feet.... nice.

on the way, we passed by a rare spiny turtle Heosemys spinosa. cute! it ranges from Burma, Thailand, Peninsula Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo to Sumatra. it is traded widely as exotic pets : (( and for food in china: ((( i hope that guy managed to get out of the footpath in time before someone else saw him. for this reason, shall not reveal where we spotted him in case he falls into bad hands. didnt have my camera with me at that time but you can find a good picture of the juvenile here. he is a forest floor dweller. that's right, a sua-ku (mountain turtle)...

bkt timah was nice and misty today.... it was raining but the forest canopy was so dense we heard the raindrops but it didnt reach us. great experience. but legs aching badly now...

resolutions

what's new year without resolutions? last year's list was something like, exercise more, read more, pick up a new skill, yadda yadda.....i ve kept to most of my resolutions. but am going to have a different list this year. something really simple:

for 2006, i resolve to:
1. Trust in the Lord
2. Rest in the Lord

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6