Up Close and Personal with animals

Once again, we are back from a long vacation. Unlike the previous one which was all about theme parks and everything artificial, spending 3 weeks in Australia and New Zealand meant the direct opposite. It was all about nature, animals and fresh air. All excellent things for the city slicker kids we have.

Since the twins are old enough, they are guesting on the blog and writing about the animals from their perspective.

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Our first encounter with nature was in Blue Mountains, an extremely beautiful place with nature everywhere.
We even heard a baby goat bleating in the distance! It was actually the neighbour's pet goat. A pet goat is called a kid. They named it Juicy. That wasn't funny. And things actually got more exciting from there.

On the first night of our stay, a possum broke into the house. We didn't know how she got in, but we have a theory that she might have come through the chimney and into the fire place. Ho Ho Ho! Very Santa Claus of her! The men then tried to lure the possum out of the house with a banana. Unfortunately, my uncle and my dad spooked the possum and it ran into my brothers' room. Eventually, they laid a trail of cereal puffs out the door to lure the possum out and it worked. We were all relieved that the possum finally got out of the house! Our parents nicknamed the possum Gretel!

The next day was my favorite day. We went horse riding! I immediately fell in love with the horses. They are such beautiful, strong creatures. On the first two rounds in the bush, I had this small but strong horse called Effie. She had a white streak down her snout, and I immediately liked her. She was stubborn, like me, and had a short temper, like me. She was always  irritated with other horses. We were a perfect match!

The most exciting part was when my grandpa's horse knocked into Effie, and that immediately set her off. She whinnied and actually galloped off. We weren't supposed to gallop, but she was out of  control. For a moment, I enjoyed it as she galloped, but she suddenly stopped and bucked. Now, that was scary! I could barely hang on. At that moment, my hands instinctively pulled the reins, hard, saving me from falling off. I was so shaken, and had trouble stifling a scream. When we got back to the stables, I was so relieved and my legs were jellified!

One thing I learnt was that horses are unpredictable! My cousin's horse also ran way, but at least the horse didn't buck her off TWICE. The second I almost got bucked me off,was actually on her horse. We switched horses for the last ride and that was such a mistake. Her horse's name called Gunner. I was nervous about Gunner for two reasons:
1. he was much bigger than Effie, so I felt unstable.
2. I was afraid that Gunner would try to buck me off, and being bigger and stronger than stronger than Effie, there would be a 75% chance that I would fall off if he tried to buck me off. Miraculously, I could hold on!

Even with all the scares, it was one of the best days of my life, getting to be with these beautiful creatures.

The rest of this is going to be written by Evan.
During our voyage on the Ovation of the seas we stopped at some islands in New Zealand including Wellington and Picton, and we had various close encounters with sea creatures, including starfish, fish, rays and even a penguin! We couldn't capture the penguin or ray on the camera, though.

 My favourites were the penguin and the ducks who were all over the place. Occasionally, we saw a goose. But the geese we saw looked like they were going to bully the ducks. Not cool.

I have seen sea stars at the aquariums but I have not seen any in the wild. Or maybe I have, in Hawaii but never so big. These were clinging on to the rocks in the pier at Picton. It was also where we saw the rays and the penguin. The water was so clear and the rays looked so lazy gliding in the water.

Ray fishing is banned by law. We were told this by some boys who were fishing on the pier. They also told us that if a fish was smaller than 30 cm, they had to release it again. They caught a small fish and wanted to do that but the hook was inside the fish's belly! Jordan tried to help and then the fish fell between the rocks. I don't know if it managed to swim away. Jordan said her hands smelt funny after that. Obviously! They smelt of fish!

                                                  

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That's that. I'll do another one on the cruise next. We'll see if the twins try to hijack that one too.

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A trio of turtles- Pet Version 2.2

Everyone around us has pets. As a result, JED want pets too. They can't see why they can't despite my pointing out to them that they still leave their clothes on the floor and their lunch boxes in their school bags on a regular basis. They don't see the connection.

Eventually, I told them we could have fish and borrowed a fish tank and fish pump from my brother. We went off to the fish shop to buy some guppies and came home with some mollies and a sucker fish. That was Pet Version 1.0.

The mollies committed suicide. They jumped out of the tank.

Then we bought some guppies and another sucker fish. That was Pet Version 1.1.

They died even more dramatically when the air pump fell into the water, cooked the water fish included. Packrat declared a moratorium on fish. He was upset. Muffin was upset. One of the cooked sucker fish was his.

The twins had opted for terrapins. They were not part of the carnage. They are Pet Version 2.1.

That wasn't without its own drama. Jordan couldn't decide on the name of the terrapin because she didn't know if it were a male or female one. Eventually she settled on Jess because it was an androgynous name.

Jess is calm and a little shy with some pigmentation on her/ his shell.

Evan named his terrapin Dribble after the terrapin in Judy Blume's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Dribble eats a lot, is very active and spends a great amount of its time 'bullying' Jess, stepping all over Jess. When we were away, JED plus pets spent the weekend at the grandparents where there was a big garden. That was when Dribble decided that its tank wasn't big enough and escaped one night leading to the flurry of texts bemoaning the lost terrapin. Eventually he was found happily exploring the shrubs.

After his sucker fish died, Muffin decided that his brother and sister got it right from the outset. Terrapins. No need for the air pump and therefore, not accidents involving electricity and electrocuting fish. 

He decided to name his terrapin the same name as he did his sucker fish. Jack. So we have Jack 2.0 as a terrapin. Muffin requested to the guy at the fish shop that his terrapin be calm and the guy gave him a more reserved one. He did give Muffin a bit of a lesson on terrapins; to only buy those that were alert and had hard shells. 

So, now, we're on Pet Version 2.2.

3 terrapins in one tank with no fish, no air pumps and filters. 

Hopefully, we won't need any more upgrades.

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Playing with Dirt

JED are coughing. Badly. And to be honest, it was my fault.

2 weeks ago, I sent them out of the house because I wanted to take a nap. It started to rain when they went down to play. And instead of coming up, they went on playing in the rain. First with boxes that they tried to shelter themselves with and when the boxes got soggy, all the pretence of caring went out the window.

Of course, I got into a lot of trouble with the maters for having got them sick. But they all came home wet, freezing with a sparkle in their eye.

I like them doing that. Not the getting sick but the other thing. I think they don't get to do it enough. My childhood memories were about walking in huge drains in my apartment complex and ending up somewhere totally obscure and having to find my own way home. I harbour memories of great resentment because my brothers used to go out in the middle of the night to walk in the cemetery with torch lights- without me. I felt I was missing out. Their excuse, our mother would have killed them if they brought me.

It's easy not to do that. The grand maters are full of fearful tales of abduction, outrage of modesty and that the world is full of bad people. They aren't allowed to take the lift up themselves and they aren't allowed to be downstairs on their own. Part of me is fearful, conditioned by them. Packrat does a great job insisting that I chill and let them be. It's not easy. It's easy to err on the side of bubble wrapping JED.

In our world, it's easy to stop them from going near anything dirty, smother them with sanitiser and regale them with cautionary tales of danger and accidents.

But even I know that it's hypocritical for me to behave that way. One day, on the way home with Evan, I stopped short and stared at, what was to him, a bush. He tugged me along but I wouldn't budge, staring at some leaves. Then I pointed out to him two leaves, stuck together and told him a spider lived inside. He didn't believe me till I gently pulled the leaves apart and there, cowering inside, was a very pretty black spider with silver stripes. He asked me how I knew that there was a spider there and when I explained to him that spiders made homes in leaves and I hunted them when I was young, he was suitably impressed and wanted to know how to do it.

The twins go out of the house on their own quite a bit and they know they have to look after Muffin if he goes along. They're usually somewhere down the corridor and downstairs playing. They know not to go anywhere near the road and they have made friends with other children in the block. They come home with treasures of swords, light sabres, spears (long sticks) and cannon balls (coconuts, don't ask.). They come back dirty, sweaty and grubby.

My plan for this holidays will be fewer paid workshops and camps and more 'free range' fun. After all, I have read too much about how the cleaner our kids are, the lower their immunity is to allergies
(I draw my line to not bathing every day though), how kids in the woods (wild) are going to be extinct soon and the need to disconnect to ignore all of it.

Some places that kids have been set free and where I've had to stop myself from actively cringing and stopping them from playing how they want to play.

1. The Green Corridor. Lots to explore. Wild chickens, squirrels, forget me nots and thick vegetation. Sticks, whacking the bushes and raising an army of insects. Only thing that is necessary, industrial strength insect repellant for the commando mosquitoes that attack in packs.

2. Botanic Gardens. 

JED know Botanics like the back of their hand. But they always find new things to do there. I'm just the driver. Recently, they spent a good hour at a spot they love, first picking out leaves and sticks from the water and stirring up the mulch from the bottom of the pond then sticking their hands into the water to try to lure fish into their hands with fish food. Evan's thrill of the day was when a fish swam into his hand and he badly wanted to close his hand around it but was worried he'd crush it. I wanted to stop them, every one of them. Dirty water. Hands in mouth. Salmonella. 

3. At home and at grandma's.

We just leave them be. Especially at Grandma's where there are flower beds, soil, drains and lots of pails set out to collect rain water. Sometimes, there's the sloshing of water, sometimes there's the sound of a shovel or their bare hands digging up the ground and sometimes there's just a lot of clomping around. Occasionally, they end up doing chores (without our asking) where they sweep up leaves in the driveway or wash the driveway or windows with collected rain water. They come in grubby and they come in wet.

I don't make many comments about it except to tell them to change out of their wet clothes, wash their feet and hands.

That's the one thing I can't quite bring myself not to do yet; to ignore the fact that they have dirty, gross hands. 

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Sailing, sailing home

Evan didn't have much of a March break. He spent 4 out of 5 days of the break in Sembawang. Boondocks, Singapore style.

He was there sailing. After the fiasco with his CCA selection and not getting into the sailing CCA, we promised that he could try out sailing for himself during the holidays.

So we went the distance, literally, and signed him up for a kiddy sailing camp that the SAF Yacht Club offered.

We barely saw him those 4 days. He left after breakfast and came home for dinner and being inebriated by the sea air and sun, he would fall asleep soon after.

But he had fun.

Highlights for him:
1. Being thrown into the sea and made to swim 50 m to shore. He imagined sharks and swamp things lurking in the water.

2. Playing with sand while he waited for his friends to return.

3. Actually being on the water and sailing.

4. Learning all the different parts of the boat. The easiest way to piss him off was to go "the left side of the boat" or the "front of the boat". That would elicit an irritated hiss, "It's the PORT side, MOMMY!" or "It's the BOW of the BOAT!"

5. Being able to master the knots he was taught.

Things he didn't like but we thought built character:

1. Theory lessons about the weather, clouds, reading the current from the waves and knot tying.

2. Being hit one too many times on the head by the boom. He learned pretty quick that he had to duck.We console him and tell him at least he didn't get hit by the boom and end up in the water like another of his course mates.

3. Sailing around in circles, literally. He got annoyed at the wind getting in the way of the direction he was meant to head. (There's a life lesson in that somewhere)

4. Getting sea sick because the patrolling power boats rocked the bath tubs they were in.

5. Having to eat chicken every day for lunch or going hungry. (He has a strange aversion toward chicken right now)

By the end of it, he was browned to a crisp and definitely had more than the FDA recommended amount of Vitamin D.

 Can he sail? According to the coaches, he sailed decently and could get the boat going the direction they were supposed to head. Will he do the next course? We don't know yet. We're hedging because it's really far. He'd hedging because he worries about being sea sick (telling him that upchucking in the sea was ok and a great way to see fish up close and personal didn't seem to appeal much to him).

We'll revisit it before the next course begins.

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We killed a caterpillar; or why we can't have pets

JED found a caterpillar. A teeny tiny one. I don't have photographs of when they first brought it home because it just did.not.occur.to.me.

Anyway, they wanted to keep it and make sure if became a butterfly. So I figured why not. After all, Muffin's perennial favourite book is still The Very Hungry Caterpillar and it seemed like an apt, post test- end of term experiment for them. And it was as short time and as unintrusive as pets came.

They were amazed at how fast the caterpillar grew and how much it ate. Muffin was wondering worriedly when it would get its tummy ache as the Very Hungry Caterpillar did. I was just amazed at how much it pooped.

Then one day it stopped eating, inched up one of the twigs that I had put into the container (thereby reminding me once again that I was in charge of the pet) and stayed still.

And that's how it stayed. And stayed.

We think it's died. That it didn't manage to metamorphise. And that was as far as it got.

Evan feels sorry for it because he always feels bad for anything that suffers. The other two seem to vacillate between hoping that it will emerge and not caring that it's died.

It reinforces my long term mantra of no pets. If we can't even keep a caterpillar long enough to help it become a butterfly, what more the other higher maintenance pets like fish? And like I said, the onus was on me to check if it was okay and to feel the loss of it because it's died.

I'm not traumatised but really, NO. MORE. PETS.

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No Nap Made Worthwhile

Every morning, I have a simple wish; to be able to go back to bed once I'm done with the morning dropoffs. Unfortunately, there is Muffin who is awake by the time I get home. On occasion, he rings me before I get home to ask if we can go out. 

This morning was no different, except that with a cough and cold that has been ongoing for 10 days, more than ever, I had a heavy head and wanted to have a lie down even if I couldn't go back to sleep. But when your four year old calls to ask if we can go to Botanic Gardens and he tells you that he's already had breakfast and his bath, everything else becomes moot. I take a deep breath, pick him up instead of park the car and swing back out. 

But I didn't regret it. Neither did I drive into a pole but that's beside the point. 

Apart from the fact that Muffin is always full of glee and joy in the gardens, we managed to see something that I don't think was an everyday occurrence. 

Muffin's favourite activity at the gardens is to feed the fish at the Swan Lake. He's used to the gazillions of fish and terrapins that await his stale bits of bread. But this morning, there was something else in the water that made both of us stop short. It looked Loch Ness like. Upon closer inspection, it was a huge monitor lizard with its head above water periscoping around. That in itself was fascinating enough as it swam near the edge of the pond and occasionally dived under. Muffin was convinced it was a crocodile or an alligator.

Truth be told, I HATE LIZARDS. Big ones, small ones, all sorts. If I had been alone, I would have run screaming in the opposite direction. As it is, when this was circulating yesterday, I had told Packrat that if there was a monitor lizard hanging from our neighbour's or our gate, he could come find me at the Starbucks across the road after the AVA had come and picked it up and promised that it was gone and good.  But for Muffin's benefit, we had stuck around. 

The last dive the lizard made was a long one. Muffin kept scanning the water to locate it. When it did surface, it had something clamped in its jaws.That leads me to another thing I shudder and would not go out of my way to look at. DEAD HELPLESS ANIMALS. And the monitor lizard had caught itself a giant catfish and was trying to make land with it so that it could probably feast on it. 

Its valiant struggles attracted a crowd and Muffin while fascinated was also a little freaked out, dragged me to follow the lizard while it tried to find somewhere it could make land. It made it half way round the circumference of the lake before the cleaner decided it had eaten enough of the catfish and removed it explaining that if he didn't do that, the fish would rot and the water would be grossly murky and stink. 

Muffin has not stopped talking about the 'vomitor' lizard and the poor catfish. He told every stranger we met all the way back to the car. He told his teachers in school. He told the helper on his school bus. I saw him gesture and show her how big it was. And he is convinced it is evil. Even though I explained to him that the monitor lizard was just hungry and needed to eat, he wasn't very convinced that the monitor lizard was 'good'. The 4 yo's world is very black and white. 

So, I am glad that we went to the park. I am glad he got to see the monitor lizard in action close up. So close up, we took a video for his siblings, who would be most jealous, to watch. I am glad he got splashed by the lizard's tail (though he was suitably miffed because the water got into his eye) and I am glad I got a chance to explain to Muffin that what he was seeing was natural and pretty much the same as what he watches on National Geographic.

Do I still wish I could have taken a nap? Definitely. It's 1 pm now and that nap feels more necessary now. But do I regret not taking that nap? Nope. I  think even if we stalked the lake every day for the rest of the year, we may not get the same opportunity as we did this morning.

 

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Achievement unlocked: Climbing a volcano

We're leaving Hawaii tomorrow. It's been 2 1/2 weeks of doing things that JED would never get to do in Singapore like hang at beaches with white sand and clear waters, waking up to the beach at the balcony and turtles swimming up to shore or seeing dolphins close up in the wild. 

They've scored many firsts this trip but the one that we are bursting with pride over is the fact that the twins, not Muffin because he had just woken up and it was too much to expect of him, trekked from the crater of a 300 000 year old extinct volcano (Diamond Head) right up to the rim of it. This meant a 2.6 km hike up to the rim and back down and that included 226 steps, much of it, steep or spiralled.

Between the two, Evan is often the one that will complain about how hot, exhausting, uncomfortable or painful any experience is. But this time, the sheer idea of being able to climb to the rim and look into the crater to where we had actually parked our car was enough to motivate him up the endless flights of stairs.

They stopped once, to drink some water but pretty much soldiered all the way up. I recently remarked that our vacation was extremely cushy and comfortable. This, after finding out that a friend of mine had taken his family to trek the Himalayas. Climbing Diamond Head doesn't really rough up our holiday much more but the fact that there was no whining, no dragging their feet and no one asking us to carry them/ piggy back them any distance of the way was enough to unlock a whole new level of achievement. And the looks on their faces, as they looked down and discovered how high up they were from where we started and how far they had trekked, showed that they had surprised themselves as well.

Their reward? Telling them we were most proud of them as well as a big bowl of shaved ice complete with that red, artificial sugar syrup drizzled all over it.

Evan has been telling us about how he has to do NAPFA in primary school and how scary and tiring it sounds. We're hoping to tell him that if he were able to climb the crater and back, he wasn't going to have any problem with any of the stations in his NAPFA test.

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Nature

Nature is majestic

 

The Kīlauea volcano in Kona. We had never been on a volcano, let alone the crater of the volcano with steaming vents. Evan was disappointed we didn't get to see some real lava flowing. The whole island is made up of lava rock and is constantly growing because of the lava flow. What struck fear in my heart was to be told that people on the island slept with half a tank of gas in their car at all times in case any one of the volcanoes erupted and they needed to be evacuated.

Nature is surprising

A 15 minute walk  from our apartment is the shoreline. It isn't manicured or disneyfied. It's raw and unadulterated. That means it's uneven and slippery rocks and extremely frightening for me to watch my mountain goat children prance from rock to rock. Amongst the rocks were tidal pools filled with little surprises for JED to discover. Sea urchins in different colours and sizes, sea cucumbers that their grandpa wanted to bring home to make soup with, living up to the Chinese stereotype that we would eat anything, hermit crabs that took walks all over Jordan's when she picked it up and I insisted had to be returned to the exact rock pool she picked it up from and tiny fish and crab that Muffin continually exclaimed about. We spent 2 afternoons there and I saw Evan, more than a few times, just stand still look out into the ocean's expanse and just smile.

Nature is whimsical

The twins discovered a large praying mantis just chilling on our rental car. Muffin fought them and insisted it was a grasshopper. They insisted Packrat remove it humanely and release it into a bush. But not before they pointed out all the differences and similarities between it and the grasshopper.

We took JED out on a glass bottom boat as well and while it was fascinating to see the coral fish in their natural habitat, the highlight of the trip was to come across a pod of spinner dolphins. They came close to the boat, they jumped, they spun and they twirled. It was an unrehearsed circus act. They stayed for ten minutes, turning around to beckon the boat to follow them. And just as soon as they showed up, they disappeared without a trace.

Nature is breathtaking

Sunset is about the most awesome time on the islands. The sky is a cacophany of colours and even though the drive was a long one back from the volcanoes, we could not help but be awestruck in wonderness by the colours in the sky.

Nature is frightening

When in Hawaii, do as the natives do. And what they do is to spend all their time on the beach. So that is what we have been doing. And the beaches are mostly lovely and inviting. JED fell in love with this beach 10 miles away from our resort called Hapuna, in Kona. So we went two days in a row; the second day with boogie boards that the twins were now itching to try. 

Unfortunately, Hawaii is also known for its huge crest waves that people surf and powerful rip currents that can pull unsuspecting swimmers underwater. And the second day we were at Hapuna, there were the ominous red flags planted all over the beach and more people on the sand than in the water. 

It took about 10 seconds to see and hear why. The waves curtaining most of the horizon were coming in fast and furious and crashing so loudly Muffin put his hands to his ears. Packrat remarked that the sea looked like Milo because of all the sand that was being tossed up by the force of the waves. 

No way was I going to let them swim but Packrat waded them a little out just to feel the remnant wash of the wave. They became pretty good at spotting the big waves and knew instinctively to run towards shore. 

My favourite snapshot of nature however can't be photographed. It's the multitude of bright stars against the black velvet night sky here. Because it's so dark in Kona, the stars really twinkle like diamonds. We even managed to see a couple of shooting stars. That has made Packrat barbeque dinner every night because it gives him the opportunity to sit and stare at the night sky while the meat cooks on the grill.

Our experiencing nature here isn't as if we were in Tibet, Nepal or trekking in the jungle somewhere. It's pretty sanitised. And even then,  in JED's words, 'it's still pretty AWESOME'.

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Heat

The most important thing that I brought to Hawaii, after our passports and money, wasn't the medicines for the kids or diapers for Muffin but sun block.

Beach heat

 In Oahu where JED literally lived in the pool and on the beach, the sun was baking them a different shade of brown. The words "Slip, Slap, Slop" (the Australian-put-on-sun-block-to-prevent-skin-cancer campaign slogan) was constantly on the tip of my tongue. Even when we weren't on the beach, the heat was formidable.

To combat the Oahu heat and mindful to prevent heat stroke attacking my extremely stoked JED, I demanded

a. They dunk their heads constantly in the sea or the pool. Muffin was most displeased when I emptied an entire toy watering can over his head.

b. Constantly dragging them out of the water to drink water. Muffin proceeded to tell me that he peed in the ocean.

c. Go back to the apartment for lunch at mid day when the sun was at its fiercest.

d. Go back to the pool that was the shadiest; though that caused Muffin's lips to turn blue. The sun really made a difference in Oahu. The temperature between sun and shade was remarkable.

e.  Wear hats when they were on the sand or out with us. Pearl Harbour was beautiful for its significance and carefully manicured surroundings but there was so little foilage that JED sought refuge in the strangest places i.e. a cactus of sorts and under a Polaris Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM).

 Desert Heat

On Big Island or Kona where we are now, the heat is different. Dry heat. The Big Island is basically volcanic rock so the air is dry, the heat is dry and the brush is dry too. the threat of bush fire is always high. Desert heat, essentially.

Evan would not let us get away with being in Kona without going to see the volcano crater. He had fantasises of seeing red, molten lava flowing.

Note to anyone who wants to go visit a volcano, remember that a volcano is many thousand metres above sea level and is therefore very, very uncharacteristically windy and cold. So despite the idea of the intolerable heat from molten flowing lava, we were stunned by the cold winds with Jordan declaring it colder than freezing Korea.

The saving grace? Steam vents emitting volcanic steam that schizophrenically blew comforting hot air on us followed by chilly winds making everyone shriek.

So this holiday has had us occasionally thankful for the heat and other times dreading it and now JED know that heat isn't generic and not all forms of heat are equal.

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