The trouble with the Balloons

Volunteer Christina organized and got many of her friends (and her sister Daisy as well) to sing us a delightful medley of songs yesterday in celebration of the Lunar new year. There were lucky draw of prizes and ang baos and colourful balloon sculpture, all to bring on a festive mood. After the celebration, the playful staff let go some of the balloons. I found one strayed balloon sculpture in the carpark before I went to bed. Lugging it back, I met Jason, my brother-in-law, half-way and got him to pluck out the blue, foiled, star-shaped, helium-filled balloon. Night staff Kumari came to put me to bed. I handed her the balloon and a problem: what to do with a floating balloon without a string? We looked around and eventually jammed the balloon in the gap between the window blinds and the wall cupboard. That was brilliant idea, we thought.
At 12.30a.m., I woke up to a series of 'bangs'. Someone was opening fire. That’s my first thought. Haha, look what reading too much mystery thrillers had done to me. The balloon was free and was banging into the rotating ceiling fan. I triggered the call bell for help. Kumari caught the balloon, feign annoyance and brought the balloon out of my room. I laughed. Kumari is one of the kind, gentle, soft-hearted girl around here. I woke up in the morning, and there, tied to an empty wheelchair is two star-shaped foiled balloons green and orange in colour.

The Palm King eclosed

Amathusia phidippus phidippus (Palm King)

=) My first time looking at this in real life. And wow, it's a big butterfly compare to the many medium and small butterflies I've ever kept. This one, with its wings folded, could just about cover the surface area of my palm. (Hmm? That puts a new meaning to its name.) It had climbed higher above the exuvia (the empty chrysalis case) to allow itself wing expansion space. So much for my worrying through the night whether I should have prop the thing higher. I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleeping excited to see the eclosure in process. But all I could do was lie and wonder about it on the bed until the morning shift staff came to put me out of bed at 6.45 a.m. The Palm King was out before I was up. Its bands of chocolate milo, creamy white and coffee milk colours conjured a delicious image of tiramisu cake in my mind. Once again, I give thanks to our Creator for delighting us with the creation of these beautiful insects. He created a myriad of creatures and took great care to put in the finest detail, down to every scale, down to every cell.

How many are your works, O LORD!

In wisdom you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures. --Psalm 104:24

A Palm King 'ripens' and brought back at last

Here's a picture of us.
That's me with Peng Mun beside me and his brother, Joseph Loke, who had came to visit. Joseph had brought along his camera and is keen to get some shots taken. Here's my opportunity to get a Palm King pupa shot in its natural surrounding. I led him outside the Home where the underpass is.

A big green caterpillar had pupated on the ceiling of the underpass near our Home. When I found out that it was a pupa of a big Palm King butterfly, I was determined to get it. In my enthusiasm, I had failed to take into account that the chrysalis is filmly attached to the cement ceiling by the caterpillar's strong silk. In the process of collecting, I regretfully caused the demise of the to-be-butterfly. What followed was a half hour spent mournfully in Chong Boon Park with Peng Mun trying his best to console me to no avail. Enroute home, I looked around and, to my consolation, found another chrysalis on the palm tree near the underpass. This time, I left it where it was but returned everyday to check on it. This morning, when I go to check on it, I took note of the colour change. The part of it where its compact folded wings are is begining to show up with a distinct colour from the rest of the body, a clear sign that the butterfly is ready to eclose the next day. If I don't bring the chrysalis home with me, I'd never be able to catch the butterfly itself. Up till today I have only seen pictures of this butterfly and have yet to see one in real life.

After some pictures are taken, Joseph readily returned with a container and a pair of scissors. The object of my attention was snipped from the tree and brought to my room. Now then, begins my eager wait for the morning.

Eclosed Hawkmoth-Enpinanga borneensis

Enpinanga borneensis is the name of this hawkmoth which Gan left on my table for me last week. It was 6 plus in the evening when I returned to my room after dinner today. Seeing that the moth had eclosed spurred me to do a double quick wash up. Then out with my camera, plastic bags (I usually get good picture results with a grey plastic bag as the background for a closeup), book-light (for backup lighting), pen or a stick to pick up my star and get it into position and a rubber non-slip mat too, to rest my hands in a steady position.

Some unusual props indeed. Anything just so I can get a good enough picture for my keeping. Since I can't hold a camera up at all, I got to count on my subject to co-operate with me. Moths are more accommodating in this than butterflies. I must add, that's for me, coz I know you can just as easily capture a butterfly, newly eclosed, on camera.

I clicked away and got a number of blurred shots. Finally I decided I spent enough time on it and let it go on a shrub outside my room. This is about the clearest shot I took.

No worry, no poos;-)

What do you visualised?

Shooting stars?

Flaming red phoenix?

This is my sister Mary's idea for this year's decoration. Paper cranes sprayed red, add on sprigs of dried flowers to the tail end and Christmas tinsel of red and gold......

Volunteers Dehong and friends put up the decoration in two Saturday afternoons before the festive season kicked in. Soon, or to most people, Christmas is over and Christmas decoration had to be taken down. But these flaming red cranes will usher in the Lunar New Year for us too. The birds are in the Hall and the Sisters ain't chasing these away. They got lisence to stay at least until after Chap Goh Meng.

Out shopping, a visit missed.

Went shopping with my sister Mary for things to put in a hamper. Mary is good at doing hampers besides being good at doing a hunred other things. We are giving the hamper to a doctor friend who is taking us out for dinner come Saturday, 27th. Dr. Yvonne Soong have known the older residents for donkey years. I only come to know her through Mary. She's been giving us free consultation.


It's fun doing shopping with Mary coz she has all the ideas of what to get. I don't have to stress my brain cells thinking about the right choice:-) My job is to jot down and calculate the prices and make suggestions to buy some things that looks yummily good. It's been such a long time since I really shop with Mary. It brought back memories of those years when I was serving as chairman of the Residents' Committee, we had to do Christmas gift shopping for 6o over residents. I was lucky to have Mary's help and a few good volunteer friends who bore with us patiently.


Returning home, I found a little gift atop a plastic container with a rolled-up leaf in it. Gan had came while I was out. A check through my cell phone revealed several sms-es I had missed. Gan had left me little gifts he got from Cameron Highlands and a hawk moth pupa in a rolled-up leaf to ignite my desire to go caterpillar hunting again.

Goodbye Joe :'(

After a morning of traditional Japanese music performed by Mr. Baisho Matsumoto and his wife, I returned to my room for a short rest before going back to doin date entry on the computer. Then, the sad news broke. Joseph Fernandez passed away at noon in the Bright Vision Hospital where he had been staying for the past 8 months.

Joe is very special to us because he is the first resident when Singapore Cheshire Home opened its doors on 23rd Dec 1957. He was 21 then, an orphan with cerebral palsy. Unable to talk but able to understand good simple English, he was helpful and did a lot to help out during the early days of the Home when staff was really limited. He had helped me too during my school days, waiting early every morning outside my room to push me out to catch a cab to school. He's so fun and cute and loves taking pictures. He has a cheeky grin and we often teased each other with monkey faces. I'm gonna miss him.

Those we love never really go away, they are in our hearts everyday...