Fireflytastic!

Amazing!
I am not given to 'gushing' about experiences, especially those involving the natural world. But tonight I bore witness to what has to be one of nature's most incredible sights. It started with an innocent little Firefly, who was obviously lost, wandering on to my hand (with a little encouragement). I was astonished to see the intensity of light that this tiny disoriented insect was producing. It appeared to be knocking out an SOS signal on my forearm, so I took it to the edge of our balcony to see if it would attract more little Firefly types. Purely selfish actions on my part I'll admit, but I wanted more! Well, I was a little put out when it flew away. But as my eyes adjusted to the pitch black into which it descended, I suddenly became aware of a vaguely greenish glow emanating from the foliage below. To be honest, being a city boy, I put it down to various light sources from neighbouring villas. Then I realised that the light source was moving and swaying with the breeze. And my little bug was heading post-haste toward it. Within a split second of it touching base a bloom of green pulsating luminosity covered the branches below. It stretched, in perfect sychronicity, into the foliage beyond and within an instant was gone.
Gutted! I wasn't prepared for that and now I've seen it I want more! I'm not a patient man so waiting two hours to see it again has been a long wait..... with no result. It's amazing how something so apparently spontaneous can be so addictive. Really quite an astonishing light show. But now it's time for bed. Although half an hour more wouldn't matter. Would it?
Anyway, I'm not given to 'gushing' about stuff. But that was astonishing!
By the way yes, I'm in Indonesia, in what has been a pretty dark week for the nation. I will blog about it on my return along with the rest of my holiday (which has been packed with wildlife in one way or another). But this was just a quick note about the humble Firefly.  WOW!

Holiday!

T is finally on her half-term break, hooray. That means we're off on our much anticipated holiday to Pulau Bintan, a small island about an hour's ferry ride from Singapore. We've booked a villa which looks beautiful and with any luck, restful too (I say we, T booked it and has done all the work!). We have a pool in the villa so that should account for the kids for 90% of the time I reckon!
Getting picked up at 12pm and then off to the ferry terminal. Hopefully booking in will be straight forward then one hour to Bintan where we get picked up (again), and whisked off to the resort. That's in theory so let's hope it pans out like that. I've even packed a book in the hope of some reading time (again, that's the theory). Cocktails ahoy? I think so!
Anyway, just a quicky as we only have fifty minutes until we are picked up. Really looking forward to it. Photos to follow!

You must be choking

As I got up and out from my delightfully air conditioned room this morning I rapidly became aware of the even more acrid nature of the smoke haze. I'm not sure whether its because I had been protected from it in my chamber or whether it has got worse over night. Certainly the kids have developed snotty noses and croaky throats. According to sources on Facebook it's the worst it's been since 2006. It's definitely getting more difficult to see some of the more distant HDBs. Hopefully it won't get any worse!

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Smoking in Singapore

Singapore Zoo has to rate as one of the best places to take the family on the island. Especially as I have just discovered the splash park there. Now, I know everyone already knows about it but, for one reason or another, I hadn't had the pleasure of experiencing the wet wonderland. I've seen a few splash parks in my time, as you can imagine with two small kids, but this one takes the biscuit. The effort and design that has gone into it is extraordinary. The design is such that all ages can enjoy it. It's safe, but feels adventurous. I went equipped to get a bit damp, not to fly down the water-flumes with Z and get drenched by D shooting water cannons at me. I'm glad I took a change of shorts. More than be said of T who also got soaked by our son and had to borrow my spare T-shirt. That made me laugh! So as you can tell, great fun for young and old. I'm going to be making regular excursions there from now on. Thank goodness we bought our season ticket the other week. Not to mention being able to drive there which is a real bonus. It takes the sting out of the travelling. Nothing nicer than having to wrangle two tired, irritable kids into a taxi after a hitherto lovely day. By the end of the journey you can sometimes call your sanity into question as to why you went there in the first place. But that's all in the past. Throw the kids in the car seats, buggy in the boot and drive.

Woken up with a headache today. Could be one of three things. One, I've not drunk any beer for the last few nights. Two, my son getting up at 5am (although that's practically a daily occurrence at the moment and I don't always have a headache, just a pain in the neck!). Three, and most likely, it's the haze that has appeared over Singapore in the last few days. Last night seemed particularly bad. Indeed we had begun to think the fogging crew had turned up on the wrong day! What it is, as it turns out, it's the smoke from fires in neighbouring Sumatra. Now I remember visiting Malaysia a few years ago and experiencing the same thing but a lot worse. I believe what happens is that the Sumatran farmers set fires to clear scrub and that they get a bit, well, out of control. It would seem to happen on a regular basis. Quite why no one has thought to ask them to be a bit more careful is a mystery to me. Anyway, it's smells pretty bad and Singapore's usually good air quality has taken a nose dive. A few face masks around too I've noticed. It is fairly acrid but I'm not sure a face mask is going to do much good against it. Hopefully it won't take too long to clear although there's not a breath of wind at the moment which makes it feel even warmer than usual. Even the downpour yesterday morning hasn't made much odds. If you are really concerned you can find the "haze action plan" here.

Ah, just finished my early morning swim and will finish off the blog from the poolside before I go back to see the kids. Music class this morning. Walking there with a friend. Walking? Thought that was a thing of the past!
Ah, just discovered that the photo upload is out of order for a while so you'll just have to imagine what the water park looks like until it's fixed!

Piccys

I keep meaning to post some photos but always seem to blog on my phone. So, here we are.......

Mum and D

Boy on his b irthday bike

Getting the hang of it!

Z watching D

Enjoying the day

That's my drink

Chinese chequers in Chinatown.

Not much action at the table.

Hand-painted name plaques in Chinatown

T enjoying watching the world go by in Chintown

My biggest fans

Backstreet Chinatown

Night time with Pinnacle@Duxton in the background

Click on any of the photos to see the larger versions......

All change

Things are gonna change. We have decided to lease a car! It's going to make it a whole lot easier to get the kids out and about properly, which means they can get to see and do a lot more, which after all, is what we want to do. And after yesterday's bus/shopping/bus/walk home/arms falling off experience, its going to make other things a bit more accessible too! The SatNav is purchased so I'm ready to go. Just need the car. The chap is bringing it round to have a look at this afternoon so hopefully it will come up to scratch. We already have one car seat that we brought with us. I'm getting another one from some unknown place (which will hopefully show up on the SatNav) tomorrow evening. Quite exciting really. It's gonna make a lot of difference I think. Stay tuned for automotive adventures. I say adventures, obviously not having driven in Singapore before, it will probably be an adventure in itself. but how much worse can it be than London in rush hour? It's certainly not as busy and at least the drive on the right side!
On a completely unrelated point. I am sitting in a hawker centre having a drink and watching people eat with chopsticks. Now, I can eat OK with chopsticks, bit I never feel totally in control. But watching these guys it is occurring to me that they are holding them completely differently from the way I do. How are they doing it? I just can't tell. Hmmm, must investigate further!

Lovely

a home from home.....