Rainbow

Yesterday evening as I was driving out of the Church of the Risen Christ in Toa Payoh after Sunday mass I witnessed a rainbow in the sky across the road. It's not everyday that one gets to see a rainbow and it's been awhile since I last saw one. I took out my nifty mobile phone, the Sony Vivaz which have a 8MP camera in it and took a picture, a rare capture. This is the first time I've ever taken a rainbow picture. Too bad I couldn't stop to take a better full arch one because I was in a queue of moving vehicle leaving the church. I noticed a number of parishioners too whipping out their mobile phone and snapping away with great excitement.

Picture taken by me.

I've heard it many times that seeing a rainbow is good luck or something good is coming your way so I did a little research. The rainbow symbolises good news, hope, redemption and the ending of gloom. The rainbow is a bridge between heaven and earth, between your earthly self and your higher enlightened self. The gypsies believe that to dream of a brightly coloured rainbow means a happy change is coming. Whatever it is I hope that there are some truth to it.

Picture Credit: Jerome Lim

This rainbow seemed quite a 'big' one so it came as little surprise to me that a number of people have also witnessed it. One of my friend said he saw it too. On Facebook Jerome Lim posted the above shot, beautifully taken. Jerome is the winner of the Best Individual Blog 2010 Runner-Up (2nd Runner-up) - Singapore Blog Awards 2010. His blogs are filled with gorgeous photos.
http://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/ 
http://blog.omy.sg/hongkong/category/jerome/

Photo credit: Facebook group YourSingapore.

Another photo of the same rainbow posted on Facebook group YourSingapore.

RIP Elizabeth Taylor

I am saddened to receive news that the holywood actress Elizabeth Taylor has died yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 79. A woman of great beauty she is remembered by many of us for her movie role as Cleopatra and her colourful private life, which saw her married eight times to seven different men. She won two Best Actress Oscars over the course of her career. She was married to Richard Burton twice, and often referred to him as the love of her life. Elizabeth will reportedly be buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, next to her mother and father. RIP Elizabeth Taylor  

Japan Tsunami Dog

The recent tsunami on March 11, 2011 in Japan claimed the lives of thousands of people. Animals were not spared. A news team found a wet, muddied and seemingly shivering dog in the Arahama area of Sendai, Japan. The dog ran toward the cameraman to investigate when they approach. After that he returned to an injured fellow canine, lying among the debris caused by the earthquake and tsunami. It's another amazing animal story. We have all heard stories of dogs coming to the aid of humans in distress. Here we have a dog standing guard over his injured pal. This act of empathy by one dog to another of their own kind is really touching.




Translation:
We are in Arahama area. Looks like there is a dog. There is a dog. He looks tired and dirty. He must have been caught in the tsunami. He looks very dirty.

He has a collar. He must be someone's pet. He has a silver collar. He is shaking. He seems very afraid.

Oh, there is another dog. I wonder if he is dead.

Where?

Right there. There is another dog right next to the one sitting down. He is not moving. I wonder. I wonder if he is alright.

The dog is protecting him.

Yes. He is protecting the dog. That is why he did not want us to approach them. He was trying to keep us at bay.

I can't watch this. This is a very difficult to watch.

Oh. Look. He is moving. He is alive. I am so happy to see that he is alive.

Yes! Yes! He is alive.

He looks to be weakened. We need to them to be rescued soon. We really want them rescued soon.

Oh good. He's getting up.

It is amazing how they survived the tremendous earthquake and tsunami. It's just amazing that they survived through this all.

According to the Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Facebook page, both dogs were rescued and are doing well.

Monkeys business

          

I spotted a family of Macaques Monkeys at Hua Guan Avenue recently. As monkeys do, family members preening each other. Besides the business of preening each other adults mate rather freely.  I recall from my visits to Botanic Garden as a child witnessing with some degree of embarassment the mating of these primates. They are totally uninhibited nor disturbed by the presence of other monkey families or humans in the park.

There are a few popular places that Singaporean Chinese visited during Chinese New Year in the 50's and 60's; Botanic Gardens is one of them. You can buy peanuts form hawkers at the entrance to feed the monkeys. As the years goes by the monkey population increased and became aggressive. In the 70's they had to be culled after a number of reported attacks on visitors, reducing the population to a very small number.

In the year 1971 two monkeys were found dying on the roadside outside the Botanic Gardens in Tyersall Avenue. The monkey are believe to have been fed with poisoned bananas. This was most likely the work of an individual with a grudge against the animal because the authorities would not have used poison to eliminate them. I remember news reports of pallet gun being used.

Credit: National Archive of Singapore - PICAS

What you see is NOT always what you get

Yum yum, feeling hungry already? Now I am not asking which of these two photos of Grilled Salmon looks more inviting nor which photo is better taken. I happened to have dinner at Banquet Food Court at IMM yesterday evening. The first picture (top) is what I see on the menu and the picture on the bottom is what is served. I am sure many of us have experienced this one time or another; the food served appears quite different from what you have ordered (based on the picture on the menu). This really irks me. In this case I was motivated to order this dish because of the vegetable that goes with it - French Beans and Carrots. As you can see what I get is Coleslaw. I did request that French Fries be excluded and I like me greens, so I usually politely ask to have more vegetables in place of the French Fries if possible. The counter girl only explain that they do not serve French Beans and Carrots after I remarked that the vegetables aren't the same as shown on the menu. I really feel that whatever the excuse, the stall holder should at least make known beforehand any deviation from what was advertised. Adding insult to injury, the piece of fish is so thin, very unlike the one on the menu. 

To be fair the Salmon was well prepared and the price was fair.