Singapore 6 Bivalves Edition

你好!
    Haven't been going to the beach lately. Really busy with school stuff and training. But in any case, i still managed to do something with some of the shells that I have and Here it is! Presenting you the SINGAPORE 6, BIVALVES EDITION :)
So why Singapore 6? well, i guess this is the 6 most common bivalves eaten in Singapore. Firstly, if you do eat everyone of them. well, you have probably tasted much of the representative dishes in Singapore (and I will tell you why later.) Secondly, ya. I have them in my collection and the best part is, all of them can be found in Singapore waters!!! YAY :)

 THE SINGAPORE 6: Top; Perna viridis, Green Mussel
                                      Middle; Paphia alapapilionis, Butterfly Venus. Meretrix meretrix, Venus Clam or White Clam
                                      Bottom; Paphia textile, Textile Clam. Glauconome virens, Mud Clam. Anadara granosa, Blood cockle

 Meretrix meretrix (left) Venus clam or White clam. called La La "啦啦" (Hokkien). Included in many dishes like 面线 and others. Hokkien cuisine. Also, the zichar stalls, Malay and Chinese, sell this as a dish it self. Found along Punggol park, Changi, Pasir Ris
Anadara granosa (right) Blood cockle. Called Chee Haam (福建 Hokkien), krang (Malay) or See haam in other dialects.鲜蚶. one of the most delicious dishes on its own, it is also sold with fried rice and the famous 炒粿条 Char Kway Teow (潮州 Teochew), the most delicious dish in Singapore!!! Found almost everywhere but usually on mudflats. Punggol, Pasir Ris, Changi but suprisingly common near the food centre at East Coast, hmm... :P

 Paphia textile (left) Textile Clam. Sold in some Japanese soup and much of other dishes including clam. A common substitute for Meretrix meretrix. Also sold as a dish by itself with garlic :) delicious found at Changi :P
Galuconome virens (right) Mud Clam. Called 大头 dtua-tau (福建 Hokkien). This is one of the only 6 that is sold as a dish by itself with similar cooking styles as the rest but can also be cooked in chilli 辣椒大头Similar habitat as Anadara :)

Paphia alapapilionis (left) Butterfly Venus. No common names but usually called haam (general name for clams) Found in  兴化面 (HengHua Mee) or can be substituted by Paphia textile, subject to availability. Never seen in Singapore but probably on Ubin.
Perna Viridis (right) Green Mussel.才卵 or cai (二声) luan (一声) (福建 Hokkien) A common fouling organism found along the coast. Used to colonise the pier at Ubin but I guess they were removed and sold somewhere. Can be found along the northern coast of Singapore.

So there you have it, your Singapore 6. Do remember if you ever visit Singapore YOU MUST TRY THESE :D

Punggol Point Trip

Hello again! :)

Went to Punggol Point in Sunday, 19th Feb 2012 somewhere around 6p.m. there were loads of people there but only spotted and spoke to one couple who collects seashells. She explains that there is nothing much to collect there but guess what? 老天不负有心人, did manage to find two more uncommon shells but i had to sacrifice my back...walked along the whole beach to the "ulu-ulu" (less populated) part ofteh beach to find them though.

There was a pond with tilapias and guppies in it. rought a piece of bread to feed them but they did not want to eat it due to the sugar caked in it...

 Punggol park, high tide. one thing that i have learnt is that regardless of teh tides, you will stull be able to collect something at the beach... haha yeah. So many people at the beach, i was worried that it would all have been collected before i arrived! The stone that you see there are normally also seen during the usual high tides. Many coral fragments found there as well... is there a coral reef somewhere near? Opposite you can see johor, it think thats the port...

 Haha, the first shell i spotted. See haam or Blood cockle (Anadara granosa)...really common there either due to the presence of a mud-flat like seabed and weak waves or from the mangroves over at malaysia.

A Perna viridis and possibly a Meretrix over there. Did not pick up the Meretrix because it was cracked.. so sad, it had a nice purple hue :)

 HAHA!!! Found a Sea Urchin stranded along the shore. It was still alive and its spines were moving. One of the only few sealife found at the visit. Took a quick picture and immdiately placed it back into the sea.

 Surprisingly, the waters are relatively clean (for local standards) and due to the weak waves, you could actually see the sand beneath and there were many shells there :)

 Something started to move and lo and behold... a Pugilina cochlidium!!! Live! Usually you can find them along Changi and our Northern coast. Behind is also a blue sponge :)

 Sunset at Punggol... Somewhat reminds me of Bintan and really wished i could spend 3 days collecting shells, relaxing and playing!!!

 This is the eastern wing of the beach... not many seashells were found here but found one uncommon one along the shoreline. Also, this stretch is shorter than the West end and is characterised by more sandy coast so  shells usually do not het stranded here.

 What i collected!!! Not a bad haul with green Mussels, Venus clams, A sea urchin's test, keyhole limpets, barnacles, jingle shells, corals, "tua tow", Limpets, Barbatias and MOST IMPORTANTLY, A SUNDIAL AND THORNY OYSTER!!! haha, Sundial was found along the western end while the latter on the eastern end...

 Also found 3 Flower crab moults and now drying them. :)

 Another pic... :)

The 2 uncommon shells :) YAY