Got a Grab ride home. The driver was a slim man with bald forehead and clean shaven face and hairs on his head. Oval shaped face. Thick black rimmed glasses. Fair. Face looked aged.
"How old are you?" I told him I am 72 years old.
"You think I am older than 50 years," he asked. "In National Service, my mates thought I was in my 40s" "I work 5 hours a day on weekends," he told me. "I am not able to work 10 hours daily. Hence I don't get the incentives from Grab. This requires 30 rides. Those young men who could drive 30 trips would earn around $300 daily on weekends!"
He earns gross $25 per trip on average. So his Sunday gross for 5 hours will be $125. Less petrol, maintenance, rental of own car ($$40) and petrol, he would net $50. So it was difficult to meet ends meet.
16 Feb 2023, 6 PM. To get sharp image, put camera on the arm of this rattan chair (so it is stable). Place watch on seat of chair at right angle. Focus on “10623”.
I use back focus. Take multiple shots. I tried handheld, placing watch on car bonnet. All photos blurry. In this case, the Canon R5 camera was stable, hence image is not blurry. (Somebody’s discarded rattan chair outside Toa Payoh Vets)
VET
CASE. Video 5/5. A roborovski was bullied and bitten. Lost appetite.
What to do?
The owner bought two roborovski hamsters. "Buy
two to keep each other company," the pet shop girl advocated.
But for the last 3 weeks, Roborovski 1 lost appetite and had a
balding red area on the nape of the neck. The owner consulted me (Dr
Sing K Y) on 19 Jan 2023.
"It is a bite wound infection
of the skin, hidden under the hairs," I said. "Treatment
could be either at home by you giving the antibiotics and washing the
area with disinfectant daily.
“The alternative is that I
sedate him with anaesthetic gas and clip away the infected hairs
around the nape, wash and clean the nape thoroughly. You feed the
antibiotics via the food at home for at least 10 days."
There
is NO way anyone can restrain a healthy roborovski as it is a speedy
hyperactive creature. My assistant did not want to attempt it as she
knew from experience. The usual dwarf hamsters and Syrian hamsters
are much easier to restrain, but never a healthy Roborovski.
The
owner consented to sedation and clipping. 3 weeks later, the hamster
had recovered fully. This is the 5th
and final video summarising the case study. Roborovskis rarely can
live together. Roborovski 1 had to hide and run away from the
bullying and domineering Roborovski 2, but in the confines of the
cage, he got bitten. His nape skin was inflamed and infected –
hence he lost appetite for 3 weeks before the owner consulted me. He
took another 3 weeks to recover from skin infections after treatment
and now enjoys his sand bath!
Good morning. I used to walk around 2 hours during Covid-19 pandemic taking photos of the butterflies and wildlife in Yio Chu Kang and to de-stress.
In 2022, I seldom do brisk walks as the butterflies had mostly vanished owing to end of pandemic and increase in construction. The HPB fitness tracker as recommended by Frances is free of charge. Most important it has the free online record of the steps I take daily, without me having to upload and record myself.
If you use its features, you can check whether you walk more actively as there is a graph of your Moderate and Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA). MVPA is the one useful health feature (unless you have heart conditions or illness) - 150 minutes per week. Do your MVPA as it makes your heart beats faster to circulate your blood and lymph...make use of the MVPA graph to monitor. Start with 5 min per week...
16 Feb 2023: A row of beautiful variety of healthy plants and flowers outside the tall granite wall of this big corner house under construction along Lentor Road. Somebody has paid gardener to maintain it. Such beautiful flowers promote mental wellness in passers by.
I videoed this Malayan Eggfly butterfly with
tattered wings on 2 Feb 2023 (lst sighting) in the Lentor St
Playground and garden which has no butterflies on most mornings I was
there to exercise. On 12 Feb 2023, the sky was overcast with large
grey clouds. "It would be raining dogs and cats soon", I
said to myself. Still I went with my Canon R5 to the Lentor St
Playground to exercise. This Malayan Eggfly was perched on another
tree with similar leaves, posing for me for over two minutes to take
photos and videos. A second chance. I got some good shots. PT 1/2
video will be shown separately.
This tattered-wing Malayan Eggfly danced for me, perched on a leaf 10 days ago in 2 Feb 2023. Just 6 feet away from me, without fear.
I made a video. My photos were not good due to my inexperience at such close encounters. I wished we could meet again
I wished we could meet again. She was there on 20 Feb. Same place at Lentor Street Playground.
Perched on the leaf of another tree. She twirled in delight to show off her reddish-brown wings with white spots. A few rain drops hit us. She spread her wings to fly away before the sky opened up. A second chance for me to create a better video.
ADVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. Research to learn from mistakes and be prepared when you get a 2nd chance.
In
the West, being called a shrimp is usually
an insult reserved for those who are small, weak or thin.
1. The pronunciation of prawn (haa1 蝦)
in Cantonese sounds just like haa1 (哈) as in “haha”.
On
Sunday, 12 Feb 2023, a 74-year-old Cantonese woman phoned me and said
in Cantonese: "I went to Toa Payoh hawker centre with friends to eaten haa1 蝦 noodles.
"Eating haa1 will prevent others from "haa1" me!".
She works long hours in a Kopitiam as she wants to prevent dementia by working 5 days weekly instead of staying at home alone. In Kopitiam, she has to put up with bullies and supervisors. She had shown me a Rolex watch presented to her for long service in the early years when the boss just started the business.
2. The expression caau2 haa1
caak3 haai5 (炒蝦拆蟹, literally “fry prawn, de-shell crab) means to swear
or use foul language.
Shrimp and prawns are completely different creatures. Yes, they're both decapods — which means they have external skeletons and 10 legs — but that's where the similarities end. Shrimp belong to the sub-order Pleocyemata, and prawns belong to the sub-order Dendrobranchiata.
Baan6
saai3 haai5 (扮哂蟹) is used to describe someone who is “acting like a
crab” – in other words, bragging about their achievements.
Caau2 jau4 jyu4 (炒魷魚) literally means stir-fried squid but actually refers to someone who is being fired.
