HORTPARK - GARDENER'S DAY OUT

car park

I went for the last Gardener's Day out and bought some Tillandsias and Gesneriads.

a forest Bauhinia

English Garden

bromeliads

ENGLISH LANGUAGE - CAR PARK OR CARPARK

Today's weather - sunny






I think I should start with this post, otherwise I will spend time posting photos and this will be relegated to the back of my mind and never see the light of day.


I shall start with the easy one first. I am certain everyone knows what a car park is, so I shall not spend time explaining it other than saying it is a place or area where vehicles are parked. So is a carpark the same as a car park? Or is there really such a word as a carpark?


car + park = carpark?


I failed to find the word "carpark" in a dictionary with the same meaning. How or where does it originate? Frankly, I have often seen it being used locally in newspapers, magazines, brochures and so on. So I think it is one of those words that is unknowingly created locally and used so blatantly that it sort of became accepted here. It looks so natural together but I am inclined to think there is no such word at all. I mean, we can't put two words together to form a new word, can you? 


There are similar words e.g. artwork, waterfront, seahorse, glasshouse, walkway, like these and how many of them are really acceptable?

TIONG BAHRU ESTATE

 Today's weather - sunny

When I feel tired, I write incoherent and gibberish stuff, like some of my earlier posts. Unfortunately, my less than perfect command of the English language doesn't, or should I say didn't, help. But then again, I constantly remind myself this is not a blog posting on the English language. Instead, it is just my humble blog on the things that are close to me, in particular plants. This is my attempt at writing my own plant diary, and so I shouldn't be too hard on myself.


Anyway, I went to the Tiong Bahru Plaza for a movie recently and ended up going to the refurbished Tiong Bahru hawker center via the old Tiong Bahru estate. This is a prime area, for those who hanker for a taste of a slightly sleepy, rustic but more private residence. For those who stay on the ground floor, they have a backyard, or frontyard, to landscape, like some of these photos shown here. If one cannot afford a private terrace or bigger house, this is the next best thing, I guess. Some of the owners have a very good sense of aesthetics and amazing horticultural expertise, as demonstrated by the beautiful landscapes and healthy plants here. For instance, one owner seemed to be able to grow the Hydrangea macrophylla in a very healthy, flowering condition, with leaves that are not plagued by leaf spots and so on.


And then, there is the old hawker center with lots of good food. In fact, this was only the second time I was here. The last time I came, it was about 10 months ago. Surprisingly I saw clumps of this uncommon but established palm. Pardon me here because I do not know its identity as my knowledge of palms is really limited. They look impressively different and amazing. 


If one is lucky enough, they would have a small open space in front of their compound and can get to appreciate some of the older trees, that never lost their favour with me. I, for one, was fortunate to see the beautiful pink flower Rose of India and carpet of Yellow Flame flowers there and then. 


NB on 15 Mar 12: Yes, the very refreshing palm is Euterpe oleracea ( common name: Acai Berry).