2355. Travel Stories - Balkans Adventure Tour - Drinking water free or not?

DRAFT


EU Holidays - 11 days 8 nights  Noc 5-15


ITINERARY FROM EU HOLIDAYS AS BELOW:

SERBIA
BELGRADE
• ‘Skadarlija’, St. Sava Temple, Belgrade Fortress
• National Parliament of Serbia, Old Palace, National Theatre, National Museum, Terazije Square, Kralja Milana Street, Kneza Miloša Street, May 25th Museum
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
SARAJEVO
• Old Town, Sarajevo War Tunnel
MOSTAR
• Old Bridge, Cejvan Cehaj Mosque, Old Bazaar, Turkish House
POČITELJ
• Počitelj Tower
CROATIA
STON
DUBROVNIK
• Old Town, Rector’s Palace, Dubvronik City Walls, Onofrios Fountains
SPLIT
• Diocletian’s Palace (Entrance included)
• Peristil Square
• Temple of Jupiter
(Entrance included)
ZADAR
• Western Quay, Sea Organ, Monument to the Sun, St. Donatus Church, Roman Forum, St. Anastasia’s Cathedral, St. Mary’s Church, Lion’s Gate
PLITVICE LAKES
NATIONAL PARK
ZAGREB
• King Tomislav Square, Stone Gate, St. Mark’s Square, Church of St. Mark, Museum of Broken Relationships, Strossmayer Promenade, Zagreb Cathedral, Ban Jelačić Square, Dolac Market
SLOVENIA
LJUBLJANA
• Old Town, Central Market, Town Hall, Robba’s Fountain, Triple Bridge, Dragon Bridge, Ljubljana Castle, Lake Bled, Postojna Cave

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DAY 1 - SINGAPORE • BUDAPEST (Meals on Board)

Assemble at Changi airport and take-off to the capital city of Hungary, Budapest.

DAY 2 - BUDAPEST • BELGRADE (Meals on Board, Dinner)

Travel to the capital of Serbia, Belgrade and dine in the bohemian quarter ‘Skadarlija’, where many famous people and celebrities have visited.

DAY 3 - BELGRADE • SARAJEVO (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Kick off the day with a sightseeing tour of Belgrade, also known as the ‘Gateway to the Balkans’ – pay a visit to famous attractions such as St. Sava Temple, Belgrade Fortress,
the National Parliament of Serbia, the Old Palace, the National Theatre, the National Museum, Terazije Square, Kralja Milana Street, Kneza Miloša Street and last but not least, the May 25th Museum. Thereafter, cross over to Bosnia and Herzegovina and head for its capital, Sarajevo. Enjoy the rest of the day free at leisure to explore the historic Old Town and gain an insight into events of Sarajevo’s turbulent past.

DAY 4 - SARAJEVO • MOSTAR (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Make your way to the Sarajevo War Tunnel for a visceral wartime experience of the Siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s. Following that, head out to Mostar, a picturesque city spanning a deep valley of the Neretva River. Follow the tour guide and amble along the magnificent Old Bridge for an extraordinary panorama over the river, visit the oldest mosque in Mostar – Cejvan Cehaj Mosque, bask in the lively atmosphere of the Old Bazaar, and drop by the 350-year-old Turkish House

DAY 5 - MOSTAR • STON • DUBROVNIK (Breakfast, Lunch – Seafood Risotto and Oysters Tasting, Dinner)

Begin the day with a photo-stop at the Počitelj tower located in a beautiful medieval town where Mediterranean and Oriental architectural styles intertwine. Make a brief stop in Ston for a sumptuous feast of seafood risotto and oysters for lunch, before continuing along the Dalmatian coast to arrive in Dubrovnik, a late-medieval walled city fronting the Adriatic Sea. Once you arrive, breeze into the stunning Old Town where you can admire the extensive monuments of different architectural styles. Let your tour guide lead the way as you explore Dubrovnik – take in the sights of the Rectors Palace, the Dubrovnik City Walls, the Onofrios Fountains, and the Dominican and Franciscan Monasteries.

DAY 6 - DUBROVNIK • SPLIT • ZADAR (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Ramble through the Croatian countryside to wind up in Split, a town on Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast that was founded by the Emperor Diocletian in AD305 to construct his retirement palace. Have a ball of a time touring this seaside city with a guide, who will bring you to enter the massive Diocletian’s Palace and explore all its nooks and crannies, including the remains of the original palace, the Peristil Square as well as enter the Temple of Jupiter. Then, continue on to Zadar, a city built in the centre of the Croatian Adriatic with three thousand years of tumultuous history. Embark on a guided promenade about the city and visit the Western Quay for an up-close look at the Sea Organ and the Monument to the Sun, followed by St. Donatus Church, the Roman Forum, St. Anastasia’s Cathedral, St. Mary’s Church and the Lion’s Gate.

DAY 7 - ZADAR • PLITVICE LAKES NATIONAL PARK • ZAGREB (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

A drive through the Croatian highlands reveals splendid alpine scenery as you arrive in one of Europe’s most impressive national parks – the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Take pleasure in a guided tour of the beautiful landscapes within the UNESCO National Heritage park, adorned with sixteen lakes that are interconnected by a series of waterfalls and deep woodland populated by deer, bears, wolves, boars and rare bird species. Savour the riveting beauty of nature from a different perspective on the waters as you join a cruise tour, before continuing on the road to the capital of Croatia, Zagreb. Start off with a guided walking tour of the Upper and Lower Town – catch a glimpse of top attractions like the King Tomislav Square, the Stone Gate, St. Mark’s Square and the Church of St. Mark, the one-of-akind Museum of Broken Relationships, the Strossmayer Promenade, Zagreb Cathedral, Ban Jelačić Square and Dolac Market.

DAY 8 - ZAGREB • LAKE BLED • LJUBLJANA (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Make your way to Lake Bled in the Julian Alps for a scenic lunch in its clifftop castle for a picture-perfect vista of glistening waters and the surrounding natural beauty. Next, proceed towards the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. A modern capital with small-town friendliness and atmosphere, Ljubljana is a picturesque gem graced with gorgeous alabaster bridges across the Ljubljana River and decorative Baroque facades. Embark on a guided tour to see the Old Town for some of the best-preserved medieval houses
and visit the open-air Central Market, the baroque Town Hall, the beautiful Robba’s Fountain, and the grandiose Triple Bridge and Dragon Bridge. Lastly, take the funicular up to the stately Ljubljana Castle for an outstanding view over the city.

DAY 9 - LJUBLJANA • POSTOJNA • VENICE (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Journey to the town of Postojna, and embark on a unique cave tour of the renowned Postojna Cave – one of the world’s largest karst monuments. Board the unique cave railway for an exciting adventure through dark passages to the
Great Mountain, where you disembark and continue on foot across the Russian Bridge into the caves comprising of the Spaghetti Hall, the White Hall and the Red Hall. Press on further to view the renowned stalagmite in the Brilliant Passage and get a look at the Vivarium Proteus, otherwise known as the human fish. Then, you may wish to make an optional trip to the Predjama Castle before we proceed to Venice for the night.

DAY 10 - VENICE • SINGAPORE (Breakfast, Meals on Board)

Enjoy the rest of the day at leisure till it is time to transfer to the airport for your flight home. You may also wish to pay an optional visit to the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet for some last minute shopping.

DAY 11 - ARRIVAL IN SINGAPORE

We hope you enjoyed your vacation with EU Holidays and we look forward to seeing you again for your next trip

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What makes this travel interesting for me but unhappy for others are:
1. Luftansa cabin crew strike on the night of travel on Nov 5. We had to fly by SIA to Istanbul and was not delayed in our itinerary. We prefer SIA but in this Balkans Tour, we had to fly Luftansa. There was no strike on the Nov 15,return trip and so we reached Singapore from Vienna and Frankfurt by Luftansa. The cabin crew stopped striking on Nov 14. 

2. Mostar Hotel - Pellegrino.Hotel which is a small serviced apartment of around 12 units.
I like the big spacious room and big windows. The biggest room of all the hotels.
However, the Singaporeans complained about the need to push their luggages for around 10 minutes from the coach to the hotel. However, the hotel had 2 strong men to carry up the luggages to the rooms.,

The need to get 2 keys - one key for the bedroom and one for the main door (i.e. no electronic access cards), the lack of hot water, the noisy aircon compressors outside the window when they had to open the windows to get the cool air in as the air condition was not working in winter. However, my room air-conditioner worked and I had no noisy aircond compressors outside my room. l stayed in the 5th floor. I had weak knees and had to walk up 5 flights of stairs twice. One time to go to the room and another time to go back to the room after dinner. I had carried my camera and notebook computer bag and accessories which weighed around 4 kg. It is light weight if you don't have weak knees and backache sitting inside the coach for 7 straight hours at the beginning of the journey.

The dinners are usually inside hotels in this Balkan Tours unlike in Western European tours. No Chinese restaurant food which is Ok with me.

But in this Hotel, we had to walk 5 minutes to the outside restaurant. My group dared not order the water as we thought we had to pay in local currency and we did not want to keep the local coins. Or we were cost conscious or cheapskates.  We did not ask our tour leader whether water was part of the meal as he had paid for the water in an earlier meal. This reflected poor management communications to the travellers as drinking water is free in some hotels.


All waited for the dessert after the main course of chicken. None came. "Since you all did not order drinking water, you do not get dessert," I said. We had a good laugh as we walked back to the Hotel. We went inside a supermarket and since they did not accept euros, we did not buy anything.

 The tour leader may need to announce as to whether drinking water during meals is free or not. He did pay for water for us at one meal and so we should not ask for more freebies.

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IMAGES FROM THE TOUR





 Queen Astoria Design Hotel, Belgrade
A boutique hotel with a lift door that opens outwards.
Excellent dinner varieties

As Luftansa cabin crew were on strike on Nov 5, the night of our departure, we flew by SIA and arrived in Istanbul. This Aeroflot airline is rare in Singapore Changi Airport but it was operating in Singapore some 15 years ago.

 The coach was stationary while waiting for its turn to cross the Bosnia border. The sun set and this was the best of all pics taken of the sunset colours. No photography allowed at the border. The guards may get upset.

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NO IMAGES FROM MOSTAR YET 

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Nov 10, 2015

Last night, checked in the Grand Hotel Park, Dubrovnik. Serving big tour groups and modern.
Double room seaside 1,500,00-1,900,00 kn

Modern hotel with grand dining room for over 100 tables.
Large artwork on wall with unique artwork to make it memorable. Stray cats ran into lobby. No problem. Many are fed by people.




Room has all the power points and mini-bar has whisky and wine.
There is the important holder for the guest to place the heavy luggage (image), but it was hidden behind the curtain recess beside the desk (image).
Bidet as in other hotels. Surprisingly, TV screen is small.

Pastel colours of wall. Dark brown vinyl tiled like floor. Mini-bar stocked with alcoholic drinks, not just soft drinks. 
Balcony
No airconditioning as room is centrally heated. Many Singaporeans are not aware that some European hotels do not provide air con to cool the room in winter. The room is stuffy due to the central heating. Open the door in this room which has the balcony. Risk of insects coming in, but none seen.


Nov 9, 2015
Hotel Peregrino
Memorable Mostar hotel for complaining Singaporeans.
5 levels, around 14 units 
I was in room 402. Got to climb up 5 levels. No elevator. Porter carries up luggages.
No hot water in this room but some guest have it.
Central heating. Has airconditioning but the one below does not have it and complain of compressor noise when the couple opened the windows to let in cool air.
Needs a key to get out of main door of hotel. Security reasons as there are gypsies who pick-pocket tourists. Another key to lock the room. No electronic card access. Dining is out in another restaurant which did not serve dessert as expected by us.






Nov 7, 2015
Good hotel. Queen Astoria Design Hotel, Belgrade.

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Wedding pictures - Singapore

The pug has diarrhoea after completion of medication twice

Nov 5, 2015

The owner wanted an appointment with Dr Daniel as his pug, female, 4 months was first treated by him. The pug had diarrhoea and he covered after the IV drip and medication. However, the pug had diarrhoea again and was treated by me. She recovered with normal stools but today had profuse diarrhoea after completion of the medication.

Earlier, he did not want X-rays as he thought he had fed old food or given excessive carrots.

2352. No hunger to learn the tricks of the trade

Wed Nov 3, 2015

Today I had breakfast with a senior vet. The sun was orange as the haze had returned partially
The senior vet was telling me how he put a plaster onto a big Labrador with an over-extended hock, just like the Chow Chow's hind legs. He put the cast and the dog could now run and the owner was most happy.

After doing one hind leg, he asked his experienced vet assistant to do the other leg. The lady did not know how to do it but would not request for help. So he scolded her.

"There is no point scolding the workers," I said. "Veterinary technicians who want to learn all they can from you are few. They just want to pass the day happily with their colleagues. No doubt practice makes perfect, but how many of the younger generation is keen to learn by asking? They will do it their own style. If you scold them, they will be most unhappy. They may sabotage the equipment or just resign. They have to be treated gently."

This may be a stereotype. I seldom find highly self-motivated interns or assistants keen on learning. 

2351. Follow up 4 months later: FIC (FUS, FLUTD) in a cat - happy ending for the mother

Edited: Oct 10, 2018






Tuesday Nov 3, 2015

Today, the mother came to buy 2 small bags of feline CD. She is a working mother and had been considerably stressed by the cat that had been to Vet 1 and myself such that she considered euthansing him. The cat  continued to have difficulty peeing, soiling the apartment floor. This was stressful to the busy caregiver..

This cat would go wherever she goes and so, was much appreciated and loved by the woman who is in her late 40s. .


WHAT SHE DID 4 MONTHS AGO


Basically she complied with my vet instructions:
1. Separate her cat from the dominant one. The latter would eat all his food and more of this cat's food. - Cover this cat's feed bowl.

2. The affected cat stays in mum's bedroom when she goes to work. He has his own litter box (newspaper pellets), feed bowl and water bowl.

3. Add canned C/D + some commercial food  at first. Then add dry C/D in small amounts till the cat eats 100% C/D.  Ignore the cat if he is still fussy. The cat did eat out of hunger.

It was great news that this cat could recover and not euthansed.

2350. KINDLE STORIES. Unbelievable story. Did prayers get the blue-fronted Amazon home?

EDITED STORY ON 13 JUNE 2022

2350. Unbelievable story. Did prayers get the blue-fronted Amazon home?

Monday, Nov 2, 2015 Story by Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow)

A BLUE-FRONTED AMAZON ESCAPED FROM THE HDB FLAT
Did prayers get the Blue-fronted Amazon home? 
  

Part 1/2

"I don't know whether you will consider me loony," the camera salesman said to me. "After I prayed to Buddha, a big black bee appeared and landed on the crown of my blue-fronted Amazon perched in a tree opposite my 5th floor apartment. The buzzing bee gave my bird such a fright that he flapped his wings and landed onto the ground!"

I was at the camera shop to buy batteries for my Canon camera before going on a trip to Europe this Thursday.

Andrew showed me his wife's iPhone 6's image of the bird perched on the tree last Thursday, Oct 29, 2015.  This was the evidence. Now, the unbelievable story of keeping one's faith.

"I have encountered more unbelievable spiritual stories than yours and so do not consider you mentally ill," I said. "Such stories have no scientific basis but are based on faith. How did the blue-fronted Amazon escape from your apartment?"

"For the past 10 years," Andrew recounted, "I have been bathing him every morning in the corridor, outside my apartment. It is a corner unit and so I have this space to spray water to bathe him as he perched on the horizontal part of the staircase railing.

"Is he male or female?" I was shown the image of the bird at home. The blue feathers on the forehead above his beak define the blue-fronted amazon. It is also known as a blue-fronted parrot or turquoise-fronted amazon.

"It is not possible to differentiate the gender of the blue-fronted amazon from his plumage colours or size," Andrew said. 'You need to do DNA analysis."

"Why would he be flying off as his wings are clipped short?" I asked. Andrew had clipped his wings 10 years ago, but the feathers had grown back to normal. Birds cannot fly if their wings have been clipped but this must be done regularly.

"Bathing him was a routine and he had never attempted to fly away in the past 10 years, "Andrew replied. "Except on that day. Some noise had panicked him. He flapped his wings, shot out from the corridor and glided from my 5th floor across to the tree opposite."

Never take routines for granted. Be on the ball.

"Why didn't you tether his toes with a string while you spray water to bathe him?" I asked.

"Birds don't like that. My African Grey parrot was very unhappy with that and so I did not do that with this bird."

"What did you do to get him back?" I asked.

"I rushed downstairs and brought my bird cage with food downstairs and called his name. He would not come down! I had to go to work and at night, I got my cage down again. 

As the Malay family was having a wedding dinner on the void deck, a catering truck came. The engine noise frightened the bird further up the tree.

The driver asked me whether I would like to climb to the roof of his truck to get the bird down. But the bird was on a much higher level! On the 5th floor level! So his suggestion was of no use. "

"Did you contact the pest-control man?" I asked. These are private contractors engaged to clear bees, stray cats, rats, termites, bed bugs, ticks in houses and any other pests.

"My second son furiously researched the internet and a bird catcher quoted $1,000 to rescue the bird," he replied. "But with no guarantee. I still have to pay him $1,000. My elder son told me not to be hopeful of regaining my pet!"

Wow, these two young adult sons are very helpful and concerned about their father's misfortunes.

"How far away was this parrot from your apartment?" Andrew had said that his living room faces the tree where the bird was perched.

He estimated about 50 feet away as he could see the black bee landing on the bird's crown clearly. An adult blue-fronted amazon is around 38 cm or 15 inches long. I have doubts about his estimation of such a short distance. But I was not  the man on the spot.

So, Andrew went to work from 2 pm to 11 pm and his wife sent him the iPhone image of the parrot still perched on the tree. Stationary. Frightened. Breathing the poisonous particles of the haze.

"I cabled 5 long bamboo poles lengthwise and pointed them towards the bird," he hoped the parrot would simply perch on the pole and return home to "Daddy".

"That is a good idea," I replied. "But are you sure you can reach the bird so that he can perch onto it and come home?",

Bamboo poles are used by people to hang out clothes to dry, saving on the waste of money and resources in buying in a dryer. A bamboo pole is around 7 feet long and 5 of them still could not reach the bird.

"The problem was that the 5th furthest pole started to sag downwards, being pulled by gravity!"

So, there was no solution. The bird was still in the tree overnight. There was haze. A drizzle on Friday morning. The bird must be wet and shivering.

Part 2/2

"Luckily, there was no hawk or eagle to pounce on him." I said.
"If he had flown to the ground while I was not around, a stray cat may kill him too."

Life is full of dangers for a strayed pet bird. No wonder he stayed still in the tree.

On Friday morning, Andrew bathed and prayed to his 3 Buddhas for help. One was a bronze, the other was gilded gold and the third one was translucent.

"The sunshine briefly shone through the hazy grey clouds," Andrew looked out of his window after the prayer. "I saw a big black bee flying towards the parrot and landed on top of his head. My bird gave a shriek and flapped his wings landing on the ground. I sprinted downstairs and got him to safety before the stray cats kill him!"

I remembered this episode well as I was outdoors at the clinic on this Friday morning. So many days of poor visibility of the sun and buildings from the haze caused by the forest fires in Indonesia. 

So I could appreciate the sight of bright sunshine as most of the time, the morning sun was not visible or bright reddish orange.

"This happened only 3 days ago. Do you consider me loony?"

"No," I said. "I have encountered personally more divine-related stories from one of my clients.

"What happened? What happened?" Andrew asked. Business was quiet nowadays for most retail shops with no customers on this Friday afternoon. Smart phones with cameras have had killed the compact camera business, Andrew said. So, the sales people in many retail shops are fiddling their thumbs, surfing the net or texting during office hours.

"One client's mother had lung cancer. The doctor certified that the disease was incurable. The mother got her insurance money. The mother prayed with faith. The family members were active in the church. One member adopted a stray dog and that was how I met them and got their story. The family prayed for her recovery. "She did not have lung cancer," the daughter-in-law said to me. "The doctor consider this a miracle healing. I still have the doctor's letter of no chance of cure to the insurance company!"

I narrated my unbelievable story to Andrew to let him know that some events are just unscientific and unbelievable.

P.S
In Singapore, the government builds HDB (Housing and Development Board) apartments cookie-cutter style. There will be a car park between apartment blocks. Trees will be planted. Bamboo poles are used as laundry pole to dry clothes instead of dryer machines. In the lower floors, the branches of mature trees can grow quite close to the apartments as shown in the images at:

VIDEO OF THE PARROT SAFELY BACK HOME IN 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITsPqPc76kg&t=35s

MORE INFO AT:
https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2015/11/2350-unbelievable-story-how-to-get-blue.html

--------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, Nov 2, 2015 Story by Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow)

A BLUE-FRONTED AMAZON ESCAPED FROM THE HDB FLAT
Did prayers get the Blue-fronted Amazon home? 
  

"I don't know whether you will consider me loony," the camera salesman said to me. "After I prayed to Buddha, a big black bee appeared and landed on the crown of my blue-fronted Amazon perched in a tree opposite my 5th floor apartment. The buzzing bee gave my bird such a fright that he flapped his wings and landed onto the ground!"

I was at the camera shop to buy batteries for my Canon camera before going on a trip to Europe this Thursday.

MORE INFO AT:
https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2015/11/2350-unbelievable-story-how-to-get-blue.html


Andrew showed me his wife's iPhone 6's image of the bird perched on the tree last Thursday, Oct 29, 2015.  This was the evidence. Now, the unbelievable story of keeping one's faith.

"I have encountered more unbelievable spiritual stories than yours and so do not consider you mentally ill," I said. "Such stories have no scientific basis but are based on faith. How did the blue-fronted Amazon escape from your apartment?"

"For the past 10 years, I have been bathing him every morning in the corridor, outside my apartment. It is a corner unit and so I have this space to spray water to bathe him as he perched on the horizontal part of the staircase railing.

"Is he male or female?" I was shown the image of the bird at home. The blue feathers on the forehead above his beak define the blue-fronted amazon. It is also known as a blue-fronted parrot or turquoise-fronted amazon.

"It is not possible to differentiate the gender of the blue-fronted amazon from his plumage colours or size," Andrew said. 'You need to do DNA analysis."

"Why would he be flying off as his wings are clipped short?" I asked. Andrew had clipped his wings 10 years ago. Birds cannot fly if their wings have been clipped.

"Bathing him was a routine and he had never attempted to fly away in the past 10 years, "Andrew replied. "Except on that day. Some noise had panicked him. He flapped his wings, shot out from the corridor and glided from my 5th floor across to the tree opposite."

Never take routines for granted. Be on the ball.

"Why didn't you tether his toes with a string while you spray water to bathe him?" I asked.

"Birds don't like that. My African Grey parrot was very unhappy with that and so I did not do that with this bird."

"What did you do to get him back?" I asked.

"I rushed downstairs and brought my bird cage with food downstairs and called his name. He would not come down! I had to go to work and at night, I got my cage down again. As the Malay family was having a wedding dinner on the void deck, a catering truck came. The engine noise frightened the bird further. The driver asked me whether I would like to climb to the roof of his truck to get the bird down. But the bird was much higher level! On the 5th floor level! So his suggestion was of no use. "

"Did you contact the pest-control man?" I asked. These are private contractors engaged to clear bees, stray cats, rats, termites, bed bugs, ticks in houses and any other pests.

"My second son furiously researched the internet and a bird catcher quoted $1,000 to rescue the bird," he replied. "But with no guarantee. I still have to pay him $1,000. "Papa, you can say bye bye to your parrot," my elder son told me not to be hopeful of regaining my pet."

Wow, these two young adult sons were very helpful and concerned about their father's misfortunes.

"How far away was this parrot from your apartment?" Andrew had said that his living room faced the tree where the bird was perched.

He estimated it was about 50 feet away as he could see the black bee landing on the bird's crown clearly. An adult blue-fronted amazon is around 38 cm or 15 inches long. I have doubts about his estimation of such a short distance. But I was not the man on the spot.

So, Andrew went to work from 2 pm to 11 pm and his wife sent him the iPhone image of the parrot still perched on the tree. Stationary. Frightened. Breathing the poisonous particles of the haze from burning slash and burn forest fires in Indonesia.

"I cabled 5 long bamboo poles lengthwise and pointed them towards the bird," he said.

"That is a good idea. But are you sure you can reach the bird so that he can perch onto it and come home?",

Bamboo poles are used by people to hang out clothes to dry, saving on the waste of money and resources in buying in a dryer. A bamboo pole is around 7 feet long and 5 of them still could not reach the bird.

"The problem was that the 5th furthest pole started to sag downwards, being pulled by gravity!"

So, there was no solution. The bird was still in the tree overnight. There was haze. A drizzle on Friday morning. The bird must be wet and shivering.

"Luckily, there was no hawk or eagle to pounce on him." I said.
"If he had flown to the ground while I was not around, a stray cat might have killed him too."

Life is full of dangers for a strayed pet bird. No wonder he stayed safely in the tree.

On Friday morning, Andrew bathed and prayed to his 3 Buddhas for help. One was a bronze, the other was gilded gold and the third one was translucent.

"The sunshine briefly shone through the hazy grey clouds," Andrew looked out of his window after the prayer. "I saw a big black bee flying towards the parrot and landed on top of his head. My bird gave a shriek and flapped his wings landing on the ground. I sprinted downstairs and got him to safety before the stray cats kill him!"

I remembered this episode well as I was outdoors at the clinic on this Friday morning. So many days of poor visibility of the sun and buildings from the haze caused by the forest fires in Indonesia. So I could appreciate the sight of bright sunshine as most of the time, the morning sun was not visible or bright reddish orange.

"This happened only 3 days ago. Do you consider me loony?"

"No," I said. "I have encountered personally more divine-related stories from one of my clients.

"What happened? What happened?" Andrew asked. Business was quiet nowadays for most retail shops with no customers on this Friday afternoon. Smart phones with cameras have had killed the compact camera business, Andrew said. So, the sales people in many retail shops are fiddling their thumbs, surfing the net or texting during office hours.

"One client's mother had lung cancer. The doctor certified that the disease was incurable. The mother got her insurance money. The mother prayed with faith. The family members were active in the church. One member adopted a stray dog and that was how I met them and got their story. The family prayed for her recovery. "She did not have lung cancer," the daughter-in-law said to me. "The doctor consider this a miracle healing. I still have the doctor's letter of no chance of cure to the insurance company!"

I narrated my unbelievable story to Andrew to let him know that some events are just unscientific and unbelievable.

P.S
In Singapore, the government builds HDB (Housing and Development Board) apartments cookie-cutter style. There will be a car park between apartment blocks. Trees will be planted. Bamboo poles are used as laundry pole to dry clothes,  instead of dryer machines. 

In the lower floors, the branches of mature trees can grow quite close to the apartments as shown in the images below.

 

VIDEO OF THE PARROT SAFELY BACK HOME IN 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITsPqPc76kg&t=35s

MORE INFO AT:

https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2015/11/2350-unbelievable-story-how-to-get-blue.html