Griffin Ventures' CJ Walk (22 Dec 07)

The Ventures (Scouts between age of 15-18) have been wanting to go CJ for a very long time, but just couldn't find a date. And of course, NParks' intertidal walk is always full. This time round, they decided to take the boardwalk, and I was asked by Wilson to guide them.

Earlier in the morning was our campfire debrief and after lunch at Long John, we made our way from the west to the east. Once reaching Changi Village, the rain came... and we decided to wait it out abit. Soon enough, we were on board the bumboat to ubin, and immediately hoped on a van to CJ.


Ride to CJ


Griffin Ventures

This was a chance for me to practice my guiding skills before the next public guiding, so I brought the Ventures through the same path. Here goes the journey.


The start of the journey...


Looking at fish tail palm and...


Sea almond and...


Sea lettuce.


Walking along and looking down. I realised boardwalk is better for mid-level tide, rather than low tide. As at low tide, you miss out alot on the swimming critters that seek shelter below the boardwalk.


The front and rear beacon. Notice that the line of sight for the rear beacon has been cleared. Usage of beacons - when the tips of the triangles are aligned, ships are able to pin-point their position on their navigation map. *Correct me if I'm wrong.


Looks like water spouts forming over the water in the distance.



View of the seagrass lagoon from the boardwalk at low tide.


Half-way through, the rain came again. But the Ventures decided to brave the 'drizzle' and continue with the journey.


Meeting the attap seeds' 'parents' for the first time for them.


And up we go...


For the beautiful overview of CJ. And as we were coming down the tower, the guard called out to us. Little did we realised that it was already 6pm! Out we rushed and our van uncle was already waiting for us with his doors open. Efficient service!

We went on to have a wonderful dinner at the seafood restaurant that Ria always bring us to. And of course the fried sotong was a snatch as usual. Soon the time came and we bid farewell to the beloved island, but sure to return another day.


And the Ventures did have a lot of memories and much to talk about.

*Photos courtesy of Wilson and myself.

Coral Workshop

Despite being a Science student all my life, I never had the chance to study pure biology. Almost all biology knowledge I had was either self-read or learnt from others who taught me through field trips. So when the chance of attending a coral workshop came, I would never give it a miss.

The workshop was organized by a colleague of mine, Luan Keng, in Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. Just in case, anyone who doesn't know yet - I've gotten a job as a Education and Public Relations Officer at Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research in National University of Singapore. Special thanks to Ria Tan who recommended me. Also to the people who have encouraged me not to give up in my area of interest. And last but not the least, Scouting which gave me the experience and expertise, which possibily landed me the job.

Those who attended were volunteers with Semakau and Naked Hermit Crabs, most of which I already knew. We started off with a lecture on the biology and knowledge of corals, by Jani - a coral expert. It ain't a breeze... lots of new terms and knowledge. A little daunting at first but soon it became more relaxing.

After the 'lecture', we were treated by Luan Keng to a feast of pizzas. Not forgetting the egg tarts and puffs we gotten during the tea break. And also the wonderful salad by Oi Yee, another coral expert who ,if I'm not wrong, used to work as a lab officer.



After the lunch we also had some time to mingle around and talk about corals and ways to ID them.

We were then to do our practical of looking at the specimens and testing ourselves. It was crazy... To me all corals look the same. In the field, I simply tell others things like, "This is a hard coral." Full stop. Soon I need to tell people that this is a Montipora, Acropora, Faviidae etc... Try it yourselves with the following and you will know what I mean...










Not easy eh?


We even have to peek in the microscope to see the difference for some of the corals...


We then all sat down for a screening of photos taken by some of us during our field trips. While going through them, we had to ID them. Some were easy, judging from the way we started chanting 'Acropora' and 'Faviidae', often to a halt when faced with something not familiar. Haha...

Now I've to prepare for the field trip on X'mas day to Kusu Island... It will be a coral madness day...

Griffin's Silver Jubilee

1st December 2007 marks the celebration of Griffin Scout Troop's 25th Anniversary, in conjunction with the centenary celebration of Scouting world wide. 100 years ago, Scouting was born in the hands of Lord Robert Stephenson Baden-Powell. Today, it is the largest global youth movement with 28 million Scouts, youth and adults, boys and girls, in 155 countries. And I'm proud to be a part of it.

Preparation started in June 2007, but the campfire committee had a lot of ups and downs, much of it due to the fact that majority of the members are either in NS or are having exams/'A' levels. When it came to the final stretch, effectively we only had two weeks to prepare the real stuff.

On the day itself, all of us really stretch ourselves to the limit.



Souvenir committee working, and eventually presenting unique souvenirs individualised for each troop, guest, and award.


Campfire chairman, Yuankai (right) with his band of brothers, who were all set to give a wonderful performance that night.


The 'gateway' seen in the background consists of two towers and a wide gateway with a converging visual effect. Kudos to the gateway com for working through the whole night and that day itself.


It is later decorated with banners, individualised for each troop that came. Great pieces of masterworks by Serene and her committed team of artist who stayed in school for a couple of nights to work on them.


The firepit committee with their own piece of work showing the numbers '2' and '5'. It was to be seen as '25' from either side of the pit. Thanks to Tat Lin, Badruddin and their team for all the hard work.


Soon, troops started arriving.


And the campfire ground started to fill up.


And not long after, our Guest of Honour, Margaret Anderson, District Commissioner of Clementi arrived and declared the campfire open!


What a blaze!


It was then showtime for our two dearest Emcees, Jason and Changci to get the show started!


With Cheers!


And of course, songs and games. Even special performances by CTSS guides and Serangoon Eagles!

It was believed to be the longest campfire any troop has organized, but perhaps also one of the most fun and enriching. All guests were treated to a feast of assorted pizzas for refreshment at the end of the campfire. Not bad eh? Sorry ar, no pictures since everyone was busy eating. Haha...Refreshments were arranged solely by our dear Janson. Kudos!


It was also a time for the 'oldies' to catch up on the past and current. And here's the 'old' boys and girls of Griffin.


And of course, a final shot of the Griffin Family! With many more to come. Special thanks to the two teachers, Betty and Kamal, who have been shuffling here and there for the whole day!

Team Seagrass at Pulau Semakau

I was so excited yesterday. I'd joined TSG ever since it started and been to all the CJ's sessions and several others. However, whenever it comes to P. Semakau, it always clashes with my other commitments. Not this time! And to many others who already knew me well, it came as a surprise to them that it's my virgin trip to the island too!

Andy kindly gave me a lift from my secondary school where I was having my usual Scout meeting. Then we went to Nparks BioD centre to pick up the equipments, and of course Siti, Wei Ling and Nor Aishah too. Andy had volunteered to arrange for this trip and that included buying the food so we stopped by International Plaza to grab some 'Polar' pastries.

Upon reaching Marina South Pier, most of us were there. As we were boarding, there was still one person missing - our dear Dickson... Well, eventually he made in time, but not without any consequences. He was later assigned to the furthest site and had to blog on the trip for the TSG's blog.

The boat ride was pretty long - longer than expected. Once I set foot on the island, it felt very different from others. It was very peaceful and the scenery was amazing from the pier.




In two groups, we took turns on the van to entrance of the forest. We then had to trek through the infamous 'mosquito forest'. Indeed worthy of its name...


But once out of the forest at the coastal region, the sight is surreal, considering the island is a landfill for our rubbish.

We were then to arranged into the groups for the survey. My partner was suppose to be Marcus and we were allocated Site 1, the nearest. When I thought I would have a easy time, I was wrong... Ria 'kicked' Marcus and I out. Then when Siti was arranging the rest, Marcus told me to lie low and perhaps we might escape from being allocated then we can happily explore. "Marcus!" Siti shouted and there goes Marcus into Site 2 and soon after I followed in his trails... My new partners were then Gaytri and coincidentally, Jerald, who was with me for CJ previously.


Site 2 was termed the lagoon, which I soon knew why... I had the honour to lay the transect, so off I went running the tape. Step by step, I soon start to sink deeper into the ground. Right in the middle, I was submerged up to my thighs... It reminded me of the mud sinking days where I did snake hunting with Chee Kong in Sungei Buloh, it was all mud and you can see where or what ya stepping on. But you can't see anything here at all except the overcrowded seagrass and macro algae... So have to watch where you step.

Well, I was not the only who consistently get stuck or sunk into the mud. Gaytri and Jerald did a fair job at that too. And of course, our dear Siti was not spared from the soft mud.



Site 2 also have many species of seagrasses, which made it even harder. A single quadrat could easily consists of four different species. Eventually, we managed to get used to the ID and finished almost an hour later. And off we went for the most awaited portion of the trip, shore exploration.



Enhalus acoroides (tape seagrass) was in bloom. Plenty of male flowers could be seen floating around. They were release from their bracts. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the female flowers or I'm just blind perhaps...


In the area where sponges and corals were, a few critters were found.



Like this upside down jellyfish. Due to the presence of the symbiotic algae in its tentacles, being upside down would be optimal for sun exposure required for photosynthesis.


Not one but two Discodoris boholensis were spotted. I've previously seen this at Sentosa.


I spotted this bi-valve (alive) but have no idea what it is. Doesn't look anything like what I have seen before. Anyone?


Dawn then spotted this. It's a type of sea slug but yet to be ID-ed. Anyone?


Ron then pointed this out to me. It's a sunflower mushroom coral. I've seen mushroom corals, but this has extended tentacles.


Last but not the least, Chay Hoon spotted this just before Siti yelled at us to gather back. It's a Denison's nudibranch. Rare one it seems, as Ron have never seen it on Semakau before.


As the tide rose, we returned back to the main road. This time round, no van for us so we had to walk back. Boy, it was long, but the walk allowed us to take in the beauty of the place and a chance to talk to the other seagrassers.

Although this is the last trip for the year, but I'm already looking forward to another wonderful year ahead!

More on the trip at Ron's and TSG's blog.