FORT CANNING PARK

It is the Arts Festival again. But I am not one who visits the festival, ever. Anyway, I was at Fort Canning Park and came across some of these eerie looking displays.

The first few photos are actually of some weird looking cows and birds. Then there were some wired ants and dancing figures, that look more like mummies, tied to trees. If someone has a weak heart, I am afraid the persons would get freaked out by these figurines when they walked around the area.

Down at the stage, they were playing Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' and there were stilt walkers and an Elvis Presley haired balloon sculptor, who posed at the camera for me.

DURIAN

This is not a PhotoShop trick but is real. I bought 4 durians last week and store some of the flesh with seeds in the fridge.


There was one durian that was slightly rotten and I did wonder whether it was safe to eat them. Since I didn't see any worms, I just ate it. So recently when I took it out from the fridge to have another round, I saw this brown worm. I didn't particularly find it disgusting and just removed the worm and continue to eat the other parts of the durian flesh not in contact with the worm. I wonder if this is the larva of a beetle?


Come to think of it, it was kind of disgusting though. But by the way, the durians were delicious!

刘子千

I read in the chinese papers yesterday that a recent new song <唸你> by 刘子千 went viral on the internet. The number of hits on the net even beat all the other established singers' albums released during the same period. But it was noticed for the wrong reasons. I read it was so bad that the large majority rated it very poorly. But who on earth is this guy?


Both to famous parents from the chinese media industry - dad is music producer, actor and director 刘家昌 and mum is the very beautiful actress and whom I regard as the prettiest chinese actress in the 70's 甄珍, the 25 year old who inherited his mum's good looks became a much bigger overnight sensation, compared to the time he released his first album and when he sang the theme song <玫瑰> from the Jay Chou movie <刺陵>.


To be fair, I just heard some of his songs online and he can actually sing, as evident by the song <玫瑰>. And he can rap too. But most of the other songs were non-catchy and boring. I read the poor album sales prompted his dad to release this new song which showcased the old style of singing, which was in fact very grating when sung by him. It could be a publicity ploy and if it is indeed so, it worked because everyone is going online to hear it and they are all repeating the first few lines of the song. They say negative publicity is better than no publicity right?


So how bad or good the songs really are? Hear them here and decide for yourselves.

BRIDESMAIDS

I didn't know anything about the movie when I went to watch it and it turned out to be better than I expected. It was simply hilarious and I basically laughed and chuckled all the way to the end of the movie. But I wasn't alone. The movie-goers were enjoying the movie as much as I do.

It is essentially sort of a sad story revolving around a single woman in her 30s, who desperately tries to find her other half amidst all the unhappiness e.g. closure of her bakery shop during the economic recession, her boyfriend left her, she is just a sex toy to a man, her best friend Lilian is getting married whilst she is still single. 


She was bundled together with the other maids of honor to plan the wedding but she found she was upstaged by Lilian's new found friend and rich socialite Helen, played by Rose Byrne recently seen in 'X-Men: First Class'. That is when all the fun and troubles began. Her low self-esteem and insecurities got the better of her in many scenes, including the part where she thought it was too good to be true and spoilt the whole thing when police officer Nathan appeared interested in starting a relationship with her after a night romp.


She was kind of vulgar at parts and she almost ruined her best friend's wedding. But all turns out fine in the end and Lilian's wedding went well with Wilson Phillips' cameo appearance as wedding singers and she getting back together with Nathan.


I guess it is a feel good movie and should supposedly inspire and motivate less than beautiful woman and handsome man, like me. The message I got was an average looking person can also get hitched, find love and lead a happy life if we are confident, believe in ourselves, look in the right places in our hearts and not try to compare ourselves and our lives with the beautiful, rich and successful ones out there. Anyway, it was the last appearance by Jill Clayburgh, who starred in 'Dirty Sexy Money' and died of leukemia in Nov 2010.

CAESALPINIA & COMMON GRASS YELLOW

I haven't been a good friend recently. I neglected my butterfly friends for a while now. So I paid tribute to the Common Grass Yellow when I saw several of them flitting around the grove of Caesalpinia pulcherrima shrubs. The common name Peacock Flower is so apt for this flamboyant flowering shrub.

TILLANDSIA

Is it easy to grow Tillandsias? I think most people will agree but I have killed countless ones now. These silver ones just thrive outdoors under the open sun and rain. Interestingly, there was no special attention given to them.

HORSFIELDIA IRYA

I posted on this uncommon tree before and now these ones are fruiting. Wow!

VIEW

This is the view from the office rooftop. The usually distant Marina Bay Sands seems just a stone's throw away.

GREEN

There was this green cockroach-like insect outside the glass. What on earth is this? Honestly, I have never seen this creature before.

ORCHIDS NAMING

It was a day of authority. Literally, since President Nathan was our VIP. It was raining and our President was touring the other parts before he came to our office to view the orchids.


The Aranda 'Lily Chong' x Vanda 'Sansai Blue' is now named after Mrs Nathan. What an elegant flower for an elegant lady. And I did mention orchids. So there was one reserved for President Nathan. The  Dendrobium 'Tristar Power' x D. lasianthera with the antelope horns is now named after President Nathan.


What a day!