The Lost Islands of Singapore

My friend, Shuyi, has written an article on "The Lost Islands of Singapore" and I thought it is a great writeup not to be missed.

"When I was reading One For The Road by local writer Julian Davison, an island called “Pulau (Malay for island) Damar” was mentioned. Davison used to visit this island with his family.

He recalled wading thigh-deep in the clear waters of the coral reefs and observing all manner of interesting marine life at his feet. A day at P. Damar was like a visit to the countryside. Little inlets, along a palm-fringed coastline led to Malay kampungs, half-hidden amongst trees. One could stay the night in a seaside bungalow fully accompanied by the therapeutic sounds of gently crashing waves and the scent of salty seaweeds.

The more I read, the more intrigued I became. Where is this island in Singapore? Why haven’t I heard of it before? Can I still visit it today?"

Read more about Shuyi's finds of some of our lost islands here:

http://chuashuyi.wordpress.com/the-lost-islands-of-singapore-2/

Sea fans overdose at Changi

At the lowest of the lowest tides ever possible, one can take a peek at what lies beneath the murky waters of Changi. Murky doesn't mean lifeless!


Look at this! I was totally overdosed with sea fans this morning at Changi! Today must be one of the most exciting intertidal trip because I am a fan of sea fans (duh). After Ria blogged about the sea fan garden, I have been waiting for today to come to see them for myself. Joining me are Agnes and Siyang. :-)

Exploring secret shores of East Coast

Earlier this month, I had a 3-hr cycle throughout East Coast Park to search for secret shores of East Coast Park. How wonderful it is to be able to find a super low tide to explore these potential spots with a small team. And altogether, four shore locations were visited!


I first went alone to check out the rocky shore found previously. Indeed, the now extensive shore during low tide is a typical rocky intertidal area with crabs like this swimming crab (Thalamita sp.).

Electric ray at Changi!

Yes, an electric ray was found this morning at Changi by Ria!


The electric ray is also known as the Numbfish (Narcine sp.). It was only sighted twice before in our shores, first by Cheng Puay at Chek Jawa in 2004 and then by Ria at Changi in 2005. We were all excited to see this special ray again today! It was electrifying enough to keep us awake for today's 2am sleepy hour field trip.

Greetings from Lembeh

Hi all! July, Juanhui, Chay Hoon, JH's friend Pei Shan and I are now in Lembeh, sharing our greetings on this short post.


This is where we are staying... NAD Lembeh

Semakau Public Walk on 12 June

6am and we are off to Semakau again! Woohoo!

My post today will be really short and sweet as I am frantically packing for my Lembeh diving trip, leaving tomorrow morning.


Before the sun actually came out from the east, there was already this glow on the cloud towards the west reflecting the rising sun's rays.

Semakau Public Walk on 11 June

5.30am and off we went to Semakau landfill departing from Marina South Pier! I bet most of you were still sleeping while the public walk kicked off.


And tada! We successfully landed at Semakau landfill and as you can see in this photo, it was still dark! But the participants in my group Great Billed Heron were all awake and excited to visit Semakau. Here we have Priscilla, Magdalene and their brothers taking a group photo.