Singapore Zoo 40th Birthday Trip - Keeping "Cool & Calm" & Passionate

Singapore Zoo celebrates 40 years

The zoo celebrates its 40th anniversary on Thursday, June 27, 2013

Home to more than 2,800 animal specimens from over 300 species, 26 percent of which are threatened, the zoo has attained a strong reputation internationally for its conservation initiatives and breeding programs. 

People take photos of "Inuka" the polar bear in the frozen tundra enclosure at the Singapore Zoo, June 27, 2013. 

Inuka was born in the Singapore Zoo and is the first polar bear to be born in the tropics. This was the result of an extensive breeding programme run by the zoo. .

Inuka  moved into his new Frozen Tundra home on 29 May, during a grand 'housecooling' party. The 2,700 sq metre exhibit features climate controlled resting areas, an expanded pool for Inuka to swim in, and two new sections for Inuka's new neighbours: raccoon dogs and wolverines.

Modelled closely after the arctic habitat, some of the innovative features of Frozen Tundra that help replicate the chilly climate of the arctic include a new, larger pool filled with giant ice blocks so Inuka can enjoy refreshing swims, and an ice cave where he can retire to, to enjoy a polar siesta. Natural substrates have also been incorporated to provide him with a rich and varied home.

Frozen Tundra is the result of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS)'s commitment to upgrade Inuka's living space and also reinforce WRS' vision of providing visitors with interactive and enriching wildlife exhibits that provide for greater knowledge of the natural world, including of the climate, wildlife and issues facing the arctic habitat.

Yn wir's Learning Journey from this trip......

1. How to Stay "Cool & Calm"

"Singaporeans should stay calm and carry on with their normal routine, even as the country faced the possibility of the haze not abating for a couple of months",  urged Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

                         How could one not feel "cool & calm" inside this "S$18 million shelter" ?

2. Passion Pays

So happy to see and learn that my favorite Customer Officer is now a confirmed staff which he deserves as...

He is cheerful, friendly, meticulously attentive, fun-loving, innovative and a born-leader.  He is passionate about his work and makes all his visitors feel at home with his proactive assistances, not only at the Zoo, also at the River Safari.  It was mine & my buddy's first separate visits to the River Safari on our birthdays.  He proactively motived his team to sing "Happy Birthday" with claps and cheers.  It not only made our day special,  it's that "happy, sunny, fun spirit" at the solemn park that we ought to cultivate.

Singapore needs more passionate service personell like him  Thank you Mr Panda, the nick-name I give him.

27 May - "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!..

Happy Birthday to Maria...ria..ahhhhhh......Happy Birthday to you"!

IN LOVING MEMORY of AH MENG

 Ah Meng (circa 18 June 1960 – 8 February 2008) (Chinese: 阿明) was a female Sumatran Orangutan and a tourism icon of Singapore. She was smuggled from Indonesia and kept illegally as a domestic pet before being recovered by a veterinarian in 1971.  She was then eleven years old and was given a home at the Singapore Zoo.

Ah Meng was the poster girl of the Singapore Zoo. Pictures of her have been used in Singapore's tourism advertisements worldwide. She has also been featured in over 30 travel films and more than 300 articles. Some of the foreign dignitaries and celebrities that visited and had breakfast with Ah Meng included Prince Philip and Michael Jackson. Due to her early years being raised by a family, Ah Meng was more approachable by humans than other primates in her clan. Due to her interactive nature, she was the first to host the Zoo's 'Breakfast With Ah Meng' programme, whereby visitors would eat their morning meal and then have a photograph taken with the orangutan.

(Left) Ah Meng was the head of her small clan, which lives in a large enclosure with about twenty other orangutans. She had five children and became a grandmother in 1990.  
(Right) With Sam, her caretaker for 36 years.

Ah Meng's Funeral/Memorial Service

On 10 February 2008, I was at the high-profile memorial service for Ah Meng. It was held before a crowd of 4000 visitors at the Singapore Zoo. A life-sized bronze statue forged in her image was also unveiled
As a tribute to her, the next orangutan born at the Singapore Zoo will be named Ah Meng Junior. 

Ah Meng's Final Resting Place - Garden with a View

                                                         10 Feb 2008 - I shall miss you Ah Meng!!

                                  27 June 2013 -   I missed you, Ah Meng!

                                      We too.....

"HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE ZOO"

Wishing you a Record-Breaking Visitors Year  with lots more surprises & the Best Customer Service Awards in the year"

TAKING A BREAK - COOK, EAT & BOND

"Instead of going out to dinner, buy good food. Cooking at home shows such affection. In a bad economy, it's more important to make yourself feel good." -Ina Garten 

Working in Harmony - Save Time & Achieve Efficieny
Each night for 5 nights, one cook and one assistant cook a 3 course dinner,  from the *NT Recipe Book, comprising a soup, main course and a desert.  Then, two others would do the dishes and cleaning.   Working on a rooster, whether cooking, cleaning, organizing or eating dinner, teamwork is important to making everything in the kitchen go smoothly. If one person does everything, the job can become tedious. With co-operation and working in harmony with those available to help in the household, you will achieve efficiency and save time. 

So give your mother/wife/domestic helper a break this Mother's Day. Gather your children/siblings to serve her breakfast in bed and do the chores for Her on this day.  

You need not be a professional cook, it need not be a 8-course dinner - the most indispensable ingredient is love & sincerity.  

So here's some ideas and simple recipes from my NT Working Holiday at Dinefwr, for a great bonding time  :-

Our 1st Dinner - Stiw Cig Oen Cymreig (*Welsh Lamb Casserole) is a traditional Welsh (Cymric) recipe for a classic stew of lamb shoulder with potatoes, leeks, swedes, Savoy cabbage and carrots cooked in lamb stock with herbs.

Ingredients

1 kg Welsh lamb

2 large leeks

2 large carrots

2 onions

2 tables of pearl barley

2.27 litres of lamb stock

1 tablespoon of thyme

Method

1. Fry off the lamb, onions and leeks in a little oil;

2, Bring to the boil and add thyme;

3. Simmer for approximately 1 hour;

4. Add the pearl barley and simmer for a further 20-30min

Simple.  It's a great traditional dish that will feed the whole family.

Dessert : Crymbl Mwyar Duon (Welsh Blackberry Crumble)

Ingredients: 450g blackberries, washed and dried; 75g brown sugar; 150g self-raising flour;75g butter; a little water

Combine the blackberries, sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes before taking off the heat. In the meantime sift the flour into a bowl and rub the flour into this until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Transfer the blackberry mixture to an oven-proof dish and spoon the crumble mixture over the top. Place the crumble in an oven pre-heated to 175°C and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top of the crumble is golden brown. Serve hot with custard.

“One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is  talking about eating while you are eating with friends. - Laurie Colwin 'Home Cooking

Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship. It is of great importance to the morale."Elsa Schiaparelli, Italian designer (1890-1973) 

COOKING UP A STORM - Singapore Curry Chicken

Being the only Asian in the team, I voluntarily cook our local favorite curry chicken using our "Prima Taste Singapore Curry Sauce Kit" with it's simple and easy-to-follow instructions.  Finger-licking Gooood.." applauds from my NT co-volunteers.  

To cook:

1. Pour 400ml water and Singapore Curry Paste into a pot.  Stir well and bring to boil on high heat, stirring occasionally.

2. Add chicken meat (720g) and potatoes (3 nos cut into chunk).  Stir well and bring  to boil.  Cover pot and lower heat.  Simmer for 10 mins on medium heat.

3. In a separate bowl, stir Singapore Curry Premix into 260 ml water.  Mix well and add to pot.  Simmer for 7 mins on low heat.  Do not cover the pot.  Stir occasionally and ensure that the gravy does not boil.

To serve: 1. Serve Singapore Curry hot with rice or crusty French loaf "Cooking is about passion, so it may look slightly tempermental in a way it's too assertive to the naked eye." - Gordon Ramsay

To All Mothers:

Coming soon ...Don't miss the Finale 
        of "Ms Yn wir at Dinefwr"

BRAVING THE ELEMENTS - "Lying Down in Green Pasture"

Where Would You Want to Live?

A Healthier Lifestyle philosophy believes that the human body was designed to be healthy, and that LIFE LIVED IN PEACE AND HARMONY WITH NATURE GRANTS HEALTH AS OUR NATURAL STATE.

When I was young I used to wake up to the chirping birds and sweet scent of blooming jasmines and feel the morning sun filling up the room in our semi-detached house.  With city developments, more highways and byways, more high-rise apartments and the hustle and bustle of city life, it's so refreshing to be back with nature as resonated in Peter Cincotti's Song "The Country Life":-

Excerpt from "The Country Life" lyrics

Time can fly and days go by
It speed we can't controll
It's been 30 years of city life
And now we're growing old

There's nothing more we needed for
And there's nothing left to do
So let's spend the autumn years ahead of us
Like the summers of our youth

Never knew how much we had back then
But it's not too late to have it all again

I wanna wake up to the music of hummingbirds and harmony
I wana feel the morning sunlight filling up the room
I wanna listen to the silence that's singing through the scenery
I wanna smell the roses of our love the day they bloomed

Let's go back and find
The simple world we knew
Coz i still wanna live again the country life with you
Country life with you

Taxi cabs and traffic jams
And subways on the ground
Don't you miss the days when all we hear
The nature's quiet sounds

MEET TEAM B - The Golden (***Green Acres) Team

***Green Acres is an  1965-1972 American sitcom starring Eddie Ablert, a New York attorney and his wife Eva Gabor who  try to live as genteel farmers in the bizarre community of Hooterville.  I could empathise with the couple as I worked on this grassland under adverse condition - the weather and the cattle...

Senior citizens need not be a burden that a grudging society has to bear. On the contrary, by channelising their maturity, experience and time towards vital social issues, elders can lighten many burdens carried by the society

To some people, walking in the rain is romantic. To others, it's invigorating.

Ode To Those Golden Years

Work

is not
what I do,
that was before,
always driven by another’s demands

Now do what I please and mostly it’s play,
taking my ease
enjoying
this day’s
“work.”

Elizabeth Crawford  

THE SUN SHINES BRIGHTER AFTER the RAIN

After the rainstorm, the sun seems to shine brighter than ever before. Visually, there's a clarity and purity in nature, as if beholding a canvas drawing coming to life. From such a scene a biblical text comes to mind: "For His anger endureth but a moment; in His favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (Psalm 30: 5).

I believe the weeping during the night spoken of by the psalmist, are the spiritual droughts we all face in our lifetime, times when we go through stormy periods; the death of a loved one, a broken marriage, depleted finances, illness, or loneliness. When there is no relief during these times, sometimes months or even years, we long for that time of refreshing for our souls to be watered by showers of blessings from above written about in the hymn by Major Daniel Whittle. When the showers come and our soul drought is ended, impurities and superfluous elements in our character are swept away, leaving behind a more strong and resilient person. The drought has served its purpose; through adversity strength has come by tenaciously holding on, and our characters made pure. And the sun does shine brighter.

LEARNING JOURNEY - Lessons from the Cows

The situation is complicated immeasurably by the fact that cows are inquisitive animals and will often approach any visitor to their field. This happened to me 2 years earlier when I was snapping photographs of the stately mansion at Dyrham Park of "The Remains of the Day".  When I raised my eyes from my camera a minute later, I froze with terror – a crowd of curious cows had built up behind me. I cried out to my friend,  6 feet away from me. He began clapping his hands, shouting loudly and stomping his feet. Eventually, they retreated.  It was not until I was at Dinefwr that I learnt that cows are extremely curious and inquisitive animals which will investigate everything and would moo when frustrated. 

Thus, I would like to share 10 lessons I learn from the cows:-

 1. Wake up in a happy moo-d instead of moo-ing over unhappy things of yesterday;
 2. Don't cry over spilled milk;
 3. When chewing your cud, remember:There's no fat, no calories, no cholesterol, and no taste!

 4. The grass is green on the other side of the fence.
 5. Turn the udder cheek and moo-ve on instead of moo-ving over it.

 6. Seize every opportunity and milk it for all its worth!
 7. It's better to be seen and not herd.  
8. Honor thy fodder and thy mother and all you udder relatives.

 9. Always let them know who's the bossy.
10. Don't forget to cow-nt your BLESSINGS EVERY DAY!

Have a mooo-velous day!

Up Next...... "EAT, PLEASURE. LEARN"