SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

beautiful trees surrounding the site

I have not taken photos of the School of the Arts (SOTA) for a long time now. I am glad that their Angsana trees still look amazing. The vertical greenery on the building is still there and looking good.

ORCHID

I have always have a penchant for orange orchids such as Ascocentrums and I think this is the Dendrobium chrysopterum. It looks so orangey sweet.

ROSE AND ABELMOSCHUS

this is one beautiful English standard rose

This standard rose has small orange flowers that look quite attractive.

Then there is the Abelmoschus moschatus (Synonym: Hibiscus abelmoschus; Common Name: Musk Mallow; Family: Malvaceae) with typical Hibiscus-like flowers.

Abelmoschus moschatus

close-up of flower

CORDYLINE

It is always a pleasant surprise for me to see the flowers of Cordylines. This cultivar with dark mauve foliage has interesting pinkish-mauve flowers.

TREES

a flowering Delonix

This is a showcase of 3 trees.

I was just amazed that the Delonix regia continued its flowering even though there weren't many leaves.

Terminalia

Diospyros malabarica

OTTER

These photos and video of the otter were taken quite some time ago. It was quite surreal to find an otter sort of galloping towards me before it disappeared into the bushes.

UNKNOWN TREE

I have seen this tree before but somehow I couldn't remember what it is.

SANDY

Sandy loves to nap and this is how she looked when she is half asleep. 

STERCULIA CORDATA

The Sterculia near my house had recently flowered and these are its beautiful fruits and crown of leaves.

the fruits

CHORISIA (VARIEGATED)

These are variegated leaves of the Chorisia trees at the Hub. I love the downhanging rain drops along the branches, petioles and leaves.

EDGE OF TOMORROW

Based on a Japanese novel, this science fiction movie starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt is about an alien invasion and how Major William Cage played by Tom Cruise repeatedly died more than a hundred times before he and Sergeant Rita Rose played by Emily Blunt managed to defeat the alien race.

The movie has quite an interesting storyline where a public relations Major William was knocked out and sent to the battlefield with a squad to fight the invading aliens known as Mimics when he opposed the General's orders. Unknown to them, the aliens behaved like the central nervous system when they were controlled by a central intelligence known as the Omega. William killed an attacking Alpha with a mine before he died, but not before the Alpha's blood spilled onto him, granting him the ability to temporarily take over the Omega's unique ability to reset time back repeatedly to a specific time frame. From a clumsy Major who never ventured to the battlefield to one who managed to gradually anticipate each and every move made by the aliens and avoided their attack until he was killed over and over again, he was able to reset the time loop every single time he died. He met the Angel of Verdun Sergeant Rita Rose in the process and learnt that she possessed the same ability until she lost it through a blood transfusion after getting injured in battle.

With their combined wits, they eventually realized that the Omega set a trap for them instead to reclaim its ability and sacrificed their lives to exterminate the Omega in one final attempt after William too lost his unique ability after he received a blood transfusion. Fortunately, the Omega exploded and spilled all its contents, including its blood, in the water and infused William once again before he died. The time line was reset once again to an earlier time frame when William and Rita were alive but this time with the aliens exterminated permanently. 

MALEFICENT

It was almost like so long ago since I watched this movie.

Produced by Angelina Jolie and starring her and her daughter, it was an interesting adaptation of the sleeping beauty fairy tale until I realized it was just a movie about her magnificence, not maleficence. She changed the notion of how a fairy looks like and eventually, the ending turned out different from what we used to know.

So did I enjoy it? Yes, the part where her wings were cut off by her lover and she woke up in extreme agony and howled in pain was the best, in my most humble opinion.

a black fairy with horns anyone?

her cheekbones were so high it could slice an apple into two

the wings that were so a part of her

the young sleeping beauty Aurora

the forest nymphs

AUTUMN LEAF

I am so glad that I am posting again after such a long break.

This was from some time ago too. It was the Autumn Leaf butterfly season then and caterpillars were everywhere on the host plant Pseuderanthemum reticulatum.

an empty pupa case

a pupa waiting to eclose soon

the adult butterfly

a caterpillar that left its old moult behind