Sunset is back
After a long way of hazy seasons.
A sky breaking sunset, unwillingly leaving the Super Tree beneath.
Sharing this beautiful moment with friends and followers. Wishing all living a life with happiness and good health under the deep blue sky.
Where was your 1st Ice Cream born?
Singapore Cold Storage Company was the 1st supermarket that manufactured ice cream in 1923. The local oldest supermarket set up in 1903, its first Cold Storage Supermarket open in the 1930s on Orchard road.
So, can you imagine how difficult to get a stick of ice cream in the olden day?
Garden city on the coins
1-cent coin – Singapore National Flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim, a special hybrid orchid.
5-cents coin – The Fruit Salad Plant (Monstera deliciosa), a dark green heavy foliage climber.
10-cents coin – The Star Jasmine (Jasminum multiflorum), a slender climber with pure star-like flower.
20-cents coin – The Powder-Puff Plant (Calliandra surinamensis), medium size shrub with hemispherical pink color headed flower.
50 cents coin – The Yellow Allamanda (Allamanda cathartica), a vine that blooms trumpet-like bright yellow flower.
$1 coin – The Periwinkle (Lochera rosa) small shrub with single stem, produces flowers in velvety purple.
Don’t you feel rich to have a garden city on a coin? Perhaps, that’s my other reason for loving our local currency.
Sing “Singapore Sling”
A bartender, Ngiam Tong Boon who worked in Raffles Hotel in 1915, created the Singapore Sling. Since then, the recipe was so valuable to the extent that it has to be locked up in the safe of the hotel for many years.
The frothy gin and juice based cocktail were combined with ingredients including gin, cherry liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice, Cointreau, Dom Benedictine and Grenadine. It’s shake up and end with a garnish of sliced pineapple topping with a cherry.
Singapore Sling has gained international fame over the years.
Actor, Johnny Depp acted in the movie ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, mentioned Singapore Sling while meeting the attorney.
The drink is pretty high in spirits content. So, if you drink, don’t drive. If you don’t drive, you can drive yourself to sing out Singapore Sling aloud!
What a hardy tree like him
The ‘greenheart’ tree grows in Guiana, South America. The scientific name, Chlorocardium, (chloro means green; cardia means heart). It is the genus family of Lauraceae.
The tree can grow up to 40m high and is one of the densest and hardest woods in the world.
Due to its extreme hardiness, standard tools cannot lay a hand on it. For that reason, it has greater commercial value for construction materials, dock and marine industry. It can also be used as a medicinal cure for reducing fever.
Misty cloud forest not to be missed!
Entering the Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay, a world highest 35-meter tall indoor waterfall welcomes its guests with mist and lush vegetation. These greens are of that from the highlands of up to 2 thousands meter above sea level.
The 42-meter “cloud mountain” can be ascended comfortably with elevator, and descended by a circular path surrounded with vertical greens and cool fresh air.
The “cloud mountain” is completely clad with epiphytes such as orchids, ferns, peacock ferns, spike, clubmosses, bromeliads and anthuriums.
At certain point, you may be so clouded with mist and wouldn’t see the person next to you.
Or what kinds of trees are fronting your eyes!
It’s a trail so wonderful and unforgettable and a trail that makes you forget about getting all drench while enjoying the walk in the mist!
For you, for sparrow, for me!
Spotted a Pacific Sparrow at MacRitchie Reservoir. It stood on the lamppost tip without assuming my presence.
Pacific Sparrow is one of the commonly seen feathered friends in Singapore. It has orange neck with short scissors tail. Vigilant and does not station at a place for long.
This feathered being seems to love photography. So much so that it allows me to snap a few shots of him in a row.
After a well-deserved break, it took off for its air show again.
When he’s done with his show, he returned for this silly photographer, asking “are you putting me up in Youtube?”
What are your 60s products?
These are the electrical products commonly used in the 60s of my country.
They are all PHILIPS’s products. I personally used transistor radios, tape recorders and record players before.
For PHILISHAVE, I was not qualified at that time…
Now, I am qualified but then they are no longer qualified in this Era.
If you have it one or more of those, keep the physical body, share the memories with the next generation.
What are the things on and above the grass field?
When space allowed, the open space grass field next to the Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) station is always able to accommodate many kinds of activity.
Pasah Malam (night market), mobile circle, exhibitions and religion ceremonies are some of those frequent activities I could remember.
This in fact is a good and smart idea for space optimization. The day in day out route draws great attention for community bond, at the same time linked up social awareness as well.
The ceremony here is held outside Eunos MRT station where a Taoism religious celebration took place. The on going Teo Chew Chinese opera performance is a form of showing gratitude to gods while audience enjoy in appreciation.
The wooden throne seats catered for heavenly gods are cart by disciples while it swings in trance. Simple decorations those days were replaced by modern days decorative technology and creativities. Seats are litten up with colors of neon and eyes-catching blinkers.
When the field is empty after the day of activities, what is the something that will draw your attention from above?
Friend 30 – Raindrops, 雨点
I’m so glad to see rainfall after 10 days of smoggy experience. The rain touches the ground, the colorless water colored the pale and grayish land where we lived.
经过十天的浓雾笼罩，今天终于看到无色的雨点，在我们这片灰土无色的地方涂上色彩。
We smell the nature gratefully. We saw the smiley plants and flowers, and the relief of the concrete floor dancing with smoke.
我们终于嗅到大自然的气息，看到植物与花朵的笑颜与地面上跳舞的水蒸气。
We saw peoples happily hiding under the roof. We heard thunder visiting by the window side, witnessed the birth of rain from the sky.
我们看见人们开心地躲进屋檐下，听见窗外的雷鸣声与雨丝如何从天空里落下。
I felt something moving in my heart. Shouldn’t we realize, shouldn’t we cherish the piece of land we are living?
这一刻，有一样东西在我心里头遄动，我们难道还没发觉，如何去珍惜这片土地？
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