Wildlife From Koalas To Pangolins

Now that we are back in safe & boring Singapore, we have started doing our regular Sunday hikes in MacRitchie again. Lo & Behold, a few weekends ago, I was surprised by a rare adult Pangolin crossing my path along the Treetop Walk, just after the turnoff to MacRitchie Nature Trail.

Even though you see a shaky, handheld pix taken at iso1000 in the early dawn-light, it is still better than nothing ! The conservationists amongst us are fond of using "cute" animals like the Pangolin & the Koala to promote their cause, neglecting to mention the less glamourous critters that go extinct every year in our fast-diminishing forests & jungles. But we really need to remember to balance our need for fossil fuel & human habitation against the fragile intertwined fates of every living thing on Earth. Sustainability is the new buzzword.

Sea, Sky and the Great Outdoors

After settling Calvin in, we decided to drive from Melbourne to Sydney, to visit Theresa's relatives living in a nice northern suburb called Chatswood. And in sync with our love of the great outdoors, we chose to "take the scenic route". Over a span of 12 days, we drove the Great Alpine Road, then up the Sapphire Coast towards Sydney, turning inland into the fabled Blue Mountains before staying the last 3 days at The Rocks, right in downtown Sydney. How best can we describe all that we saw adequately? In pictures of course, pictures that paint the wide-open skies, the startlingly blue seas, the beaches, forests, rocks and flora. There were seagulls aplenty but knowing that Australia has all manner of poisonous snakes, spiders & the great white shark, we avoided activities like bushwhacking & body-surfing ! However, Theresa, imbued with the Kinabalu spirit, simply had to add the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb to her climbing experiences.

Comfort In The Company OF Friends

In a strange, far-away land like Australia, there's a sense of comfort & security when you leave your first-born to study there in the company of good friends. My childhood friend, Alan Francis and his wife, Jenny certainly made Calvin feel "at home" in Melbourne @February this year. They took us walking around Williamstown, hiking the nearby Truganina Wetlands & eating in the Vietnamese enclave of Footscray.

When we drove off on our Great Alpine Road adventure, we knew that Calvin had found his second home.

RMIT & Architecture in Australia

About six years ago, our first-born son Calvin created his own blog & spoke of becoming a famous architect one day. How wonderful, now that he has embarked on that path at Melbourne's RMIT downtown campus.

If one strolls through the city, one can't help but be inspired by its vibrant, living-breathing architecture. It's buildings & landscapes are a blend of old & new, ever-changing & life-enhancing. The roads are tree-lined & cyclist-friendly, giving you the sense that the original city-planners always wanted Melbourne to be "human".

Being right in the middle of the city, the tutors at RMIT ensure that their students have no ivory-tower delusions. Thus early in his course, Calvin has been exploring the cityscape & getting involved in hands-on projects. As far as we can tell, he's loving it !