Sungei Buloh

Does learning always become fun when there are no exams attached?

Maybe so!

Accompanying Jie for her plankton reading @ Sungei Buloh was an amazing opportunity to get in touch, literally, with nature. Surely, one trip to a wetland reserve would not suffice should I harbour plans to change course, considering that I spent more time taking pictures rather than actually taking water concentration readings or applying some statistical skills to it when I get home. But, it was a good chance for me to rekindle an interest in the life sciences. Yes, rekindle, and not kindle. There really was a point in my life when I considered reading marine biology at a university level. Alas, that would have prerequisited the 'triple science' combination, which I did undertake at secondary school level, only to switch completely at junior college, save for H2 Math. I blame a certain discipline, which till today I am convinced has only taught me how to exert a better force and the right angle in opening doors, for kiling my interest.

Anyway, while I contemplate on a suitable narrative to string the whole load of pictures together, here are some for a preview:

A black snake we encountered on our way back. It coursed gracefully through the undisturbed greenish water, slid up the muddy bank (time of photo capture), before it disappeared through the thick vegetation, whipping its tail about in the process.

We made coffee in the swamp.

No really. This coffee strainer look alike was one of the devices that Jie had to purchase for her honours project.
This was the furthest my phone camera could zoom to catch the monitor lizard in motion! I was amazed at myself for not screaming at the reptile, as I always do should I encounter their smaller counterparts at home. Instead, I was in a hurry to whisk out my phone before they slithered their way into the undergrowth. We spotted so many monitor lizards today, including one which was perched, posing on a rock, basking in the mid day sun.

Jie would probably have a lot to correct me about at this juncture! Is the curtain of hanging branches and leaves called an 'undergrowth'? Or are the cluster of low lying bushes atop the muddy bank to be addressed as 'vegetation'?

There is so much I do not know about the Life Sciences. Would any student of the aforementioned discipline who happens to be reading this correct me along the way (excluding Jie cause I know she would!)?

I think I would be maintaining a series of entries on my field trip journeys. Watch for more to come!