Like Sweetened Lotus Seeds...

Hi All!

Ok the title may seem really weird BUT I'll explain it to you in a while alright? Once again, apologies for the long period of absence (Common Tests, School Work UGH...) been really tied down by slews of activities since the start of June and it probably would not abate till the END OF NOVEMBER. In any case, I managed to squeeze in a visit to the LOST COAST! That's right! The really isolated Eastern shore. Was expecting a long trudge through the forest and shrubs and mosquitos BUT to my HORROR, this experience was about to change entirely... :(

The characteristic open country landscape has given way to urban redevelopment! AUGH!!!

 The Lallang Fields, The Rhu Tree Forests (AKA in layman and inaccurate terms, Tropical Boreal Forests), The creek-of-no-source, ALL GONE! JUST LOOK! >:(

 Bare. Earth. Sand. Whatever. I'm Horrified.

 But to the east lies a remnant parcel of shrub-land. Interestingly, there's a unique purple flowered herb that dominates the landscape and has aromatic leaves and flowers. Anyone knows what that is...? :/

 And yea... though forests are gone, there now lies a distinct path to the shore. Here's the Northern (?) section and...

 the southern shore to the right. Lovely BUTTERFLY CLAMS of all colours, patterns and sizes litter the wrackline and a whole lot of other unusual shells hide among the shell mounds as well...

Tons upon tons of SMOOTH BEACH CLAMS, waiting eagerly for any sheller to make it his or her own. :)

 Shell sand everywhere! You'd kind of feel guilty stepping on them but they're just too darned many shells!!! Everywhere! XD

 This baby is a keeper! A PERFECT, BI-VALVED RAYED WINDOW PANE SHELL! Never before have I seen a perfect Jingle shell, let alone a BI-VALVED jingle shell! (*PLONKED INTO MY SHELLING BUCKET!*)

 Just chillin' by the coast~ (plus the darned sandflies! )

 Looks like someone just couldn't bear to part with his television... It's amazing how coastal debris of all sorts can find its way to our shores! It's important to remember that the ocean is NOT A dustbin!

 Strombus canarium , or more commonly known as the DOG CONCH or the GONG-GONG.

 The SCREW PINE! Keep away, far far away from it's leaves!

 And it's only now do we begin to question... WHERE DO ALL THESE LARGE AND EXOTIC SEASHELLS FROM!?!? like this COMMON DISTORSIO...

 Or these COMMON FIGS AND JAPANESE BONNET???

 This KITTEN PAW!? We'd almost never see these critters along our shores...

 And a huge huge huge Distorsio...

 On a side note, here's a live DOG CONCH. Threw it back into the sea since it still moved when I touched it...

 Presenting to you: LAND'S END, SINGAPORE HAHAHAHAHAHA Ok lame but yea... they look small but that's probably an understatement... they're taller than me, or twice of me I have no idea.

Hmm... An exposed root mat. Lovely. :)

 As we progressed up the shore, we approach a small bend where the water turns clearer, and the currents come into conflict...

 WELL! What do you know? A RIVER. In a recently established piece of land.

 And it is gorgeous. Give it a few more years, it would be a mangrove-lined nursery for all varieties of fishes, crustaceans (Like those in the Caribbean? :/ Who knows... :) )

 ~~~~~~

 This is one of a kind discovery that was probably thought to be impossible to find 10 years ago. Brechites penis, or the WATERPOT SHELL. In all seriousness, it's actually a BIVALVE with a pair of greatly reduced shells that no longer serve any purpose... (?) How wonderful is this?

 WATTLE WATTLE

 

And only now do we realise...

THE RECLAIMED LAND IS THE TREASURE TROVE OF THESE UNIQUE SHELLS. DOZENS OF THEM HIDDEN WITHIN THE CLIFF, WHILE COASTAL EROSION SLOWLY CHISELS OFF THE CLIFF AND REVEALS THEM! HAHA

 



 In any case, a quick shower and off to the BIODIVERSITY SHOWCASE AT VIVOCITY!

 and WHOOPS, forgot to mention the BELONGKENG SHELL found (at the expense of a muddied and soggy shoe)

And look at all these MUSHROOMS. Lost Coast is very much ALIVE!

Like Sweetened Lotus Seeds. What does that mean? Well, not sure if you have eaten these before but they are preserved lotus seeds coated with a layer of sugar. Generally bitter, the sugar injects a hint of sweetness into snack. Likewise, the Lost Coast may have been lost, but it is through this do we decide to sharpen our senses and pay more attention to our surroundings and only is it then can we find things we've never seen, hear sounds we've never heard, and experience things we've never even encountered. That's the beauty of Sweetened Lotus Seeds.

Punggol Point, Aftermath of the Monsoon

Hello Everyone,

Upon seeing the short non-rainy window on sunday, and after convincing my father that the weather was great, and after consulting the weather and tide guru, which showed an approximate 1.0m low tide, we managed to reach Punggol Point...

 So here, it's obvious that the the skies are really really cloudy... a foreshadow of a rain maybe? :P

 The usual scene: the black boulders and sand. The tide was receeding at this time... Was on the verge of rejoicing when I noticed a number of people, bending over and picking up "something"... Wanted to approach them but they didn't seem friendly so I scrapped the idea...

 The monsoons seemed to have washed up tons of mangrove seeds! The beach was littered with them! Took a rooted seed home to try my luck at growing a mangrove at home. :P

 Now, this is an interesting one. Remember fighting over that white, oval-shaped thing in your Ice Kachang? Yup, its the ATTAP CHEE or NIPAH PALM. The ATTAP CHEE (CHEE = Seed on Hokkien) actually comes from this fruit that you are looking at. The white thingy is actually embedded within this woody seed pod. So, if you ever see any of these do try to grow them! :D

 There were also lots of BEAD ANEMONIES. The squirt water when you touch them!

 A badly eroded cowrie that was possibly a OVUM COWRIE. Would have been a beauty if it wasn't eroded...

 These few men were actually collecting VENUS CLAMS and GREEN TUA TOWS... They actually collected a huge plastic bag of them... tragically, they were not the only ones searching for the animals...

 Look! some of the common residents did not fail to disappoint!The GUAM FALSE LIMPET was the most common of the 3 (or 4) shells in the photograph.

 A BURNT MUREX! What a rare visitor! We usually do not see these shells along this coast... The last time i saw one was in BINTAN (do refer to my previous few post on Bintan... :) ) Tragically, he's really eroded... (Sorry, addressed it as a "he" for fun's sake! )

Another unusual visitor, the SURF CLAM. They are usually found in high densities along East Coast Park or Changi Bay...

 And our local representative shell!!! The SINGAPORE KEYHOLE LIMPET (Diodora singaporensis... :) )

 Oyster-farmers harvesting oysters along the rocks... This is good if you actually look at the density of oysters along this coast... totally freaky

 The sun sets... Dark arrives...

 And a DOG CONCH! Another injured (I mean, eroded) citizen of our shores... Btw, they are edible. :)

 Johore Industrial Region... There"s also Serangoon Island in the background...

 Punggol Point jetty... Usually the setting off and returning point for those going to OBS (Outward Bounds Singapore) ... I've been there! ;P

 

Well, although it did not seem like a really good trip, at least I managed to obtain some specimens... :) Hope that the next trip will be fruitful!

Bintan Seashells

Hey peeps!

My dad just came back from Bintan and before he left, I kinda gave him a little "task" for his trip. Yup, it's to shell for me in Bintan. So, he has returned and given me the shell haul of his trip. It isn't alot but is all right considering the only time he shelled was the 15 minutes of spare time he had occasionally. In case you do not know where is Bintan, here's an map of the island that is 45 minutes away from Singapore. By the way, both places are world's apart so if you are planning to come to Singapore, you might want to stop by Bintan on the way. :)

 So here's a picture of the beautiful sunrise. Unlike the beaches in Singapore, Bintan boast beautiful, sandy beaches and crystal clear waters.

 This is his shell haul, Bintan Seashells. I guess the best of this collection is the miter, olive and auger. frankly speaking, I have no idea what their exact species is but will have to research and will return to you asap. :) There are also many black-lipped conches, nerites, top shells and a dog conch.

 Bintan is situated southeast of Singapore. Apparently, I think its under a scheme in which Singapore and Indonesia jointly develops the Riau islands. Another island worth taking a look is Batam, south of Singapore. This island has superb seafood such as see haam (blood cockles) as large as a fist (ok, maybe not so huge but its not less than half a fist thats for sure), live fishes, mantis shrimps. The most famous is 933, or九三三 seafood.

I'm not sure of this photo's credibility but I guess its possible, probably in some secluded area of Bintan. Enjoy :)