i think there are at least three species of mimosa in singapore. the most common is the one in the first picture - the mimosa pudica. i am still not sure if the one in the second picture belongs to a different species from the pudica. the inflorescences are smaller and they are more pink than purple. the yellow mimosa is the acacia farnesiana - at least, that is my conclusion after comparing the photograph i had taken with pictures found on the internet.
there is an explanation here on why the plant closes its leaves when you touch it.
the mimosa pudica is actually a common weed found growing in open grasslands and even in some school fields. as children, we were really intrigued by it. we liked to touch it and watched its leaves closing but we would keep our distance because of the thorns found on the plant. then we would stand aside to watch, in wonder, as this sensitive plant reopened its leaves.
the yellow mimosa tends to be found at the edge of swampy areas. it seems to prefer a damp place.
(all black and white pictures from the national archives of s'pore)
that stretch of fields bounded by balestier, tessensohn and moulmein roads known as the balestier plain used to house sports clubs representing the three major races in singapore. there were the malay football association, the indian association and the s'pore chinese recreation club. today, the malay football association - which i remember was housed in a two-storey yellow building - is no longer around. it had to make way for development - part of the central expressway.
there are other clubs like the ceylon sports club and the kamala club found within the same field. the s'pore khalsa association is located just at the edge of the plain, at tessensohn road.
i remember the malay football association building because it was close to the bus terminal at moulmein green. today, the central expressway stands over the space that it once occupied.
the s'pore chinese recreation club started off as the straits chinese recreational club and it was at hong lim park. when ymca vacated its place at balestier plain, the s'pore chinese recreation club took over the premises.
balestier plain has been designated a historic site since 2002. it is an acknowledgment of its significance as a recreational arena that has encouraged sporting activities and achievements of members of the club in its vicinity.
i remember mostly the hockey and cricket matches that were played on these grounds.
india's first prime minister jawaharlal nehru at the balestier plain
the plain also witnessed the laying of the foundation stone of ia on 17 june 1950 by pandit jawaharlal nehru, the first prime minister of india. csc was rebuilt with the aid of contributions mainly by the ceylonese community and well wishers witht he support of mr m saravanamuthu, the first ceylon high commissioner to s'pore. on 13 oct 1951, csc's foundation stone was laid by the rt. honourable mr d s senanayake, the first prime minister of ceylon. upon completion, the building was officially opened by the rt. honourable mr malcolm macdonald, governor-geneal for the united kingdom in south-east asia on 13 apr 1954.
balestier plain has evolved over time into a green lung and recreational zone. it stands not only as a testament to the sporting achievements of members of the clubs in the vicinity, but also as an icon for all s'poreans to appreciate the pioneering spirit of the early migrants to s'pore who had the vision and the drive to build social cum sports clubs in their new homeland.
i was supposed to get the pie tee cups from red lips located at gourmet east kitchen, blk 3017 bedok north st 5 #06-23. instead i got them from a market stall at chong boon market in ang mo kio. an air-tight container of 50 pie tee cups cost $10.00. i did not know that kueh pie tee is also known as 'top hat'. come to think of it, the cups do look like top hats.
the fillings consisted of shredded turnips and carrots which had been fried with shallots, hae bee (dried shrimps) and taucheo (fermented beans). a chicken cube dissolved in water was later added to the mixture. it was then left to simmer over a low heat.
the ingredients for kueh pie tee is not as many and varied as popiah and the pie tee cups can be kept for a longer period of time - about two weeks - than the popiah skin. we topped the filling with a steamed half-sliced prawn and chilli sauce. coriander leaves could be used as garnishes.
after eating kueh pie tee for two days, i suddenly realise that the craze for a certain kind of food could be determined by some shows currently screened on tv. kueh pie tee is a traditional nyonya dish, right?
since we are into nyonya food, here is a quiz question. what is the name of the nyonya/malay dessert shown below?
you can find the answer here
lotus growing in the wild (in singapore)
some other untamed places in singapore
not many people are aware that there are wild boars on mainland singapore because very few people have seen them. wild boars tend to be more active between dusk and dawn, so the chances of seeing one in the day is very rare except on the outlying islands of pulau ubin and pulau tekong. with pulau tekong being designated as a military area, the only place where people may meet up with a wild boar is pulau ubin. we saw two wild boars when we made a trip to chek jawa in december last year.
the first time when i saw four or five wild boars on mainland singapore one evening, i had imagined that my eyes were playing tricks on me. i dismissed it, telling myself that they could have been stray dogs. but when i visited 'poison ivy' a few days later and came upon a brochure which made mention of wild boars in the area, i began to think that they were indeed wild boars that i had seen.
as if to confirm it, i saw two huge ones a few weeks later. it had rained earlier and my first sighting was two small ones which quickly disappeared into the undergrowth. i drove on, along the same track, and dimmed my lights because i did not want to scare them away; i wanted to be certain of what i would see. as i rounded a bend, i saw them. they made a quick exit into the bushes.
around the same place, i have also come across four jungle fowls but they do not look like the red ones i saw at sungei buloh. i saw two pairs of the jungle fowls at two different spots. they seemed to be taller than the red jungle fowls but without any tinge of red on their body. they all disappeared before i could whip out my digital camera.
i may also be wrong about the total disappearance of fireflies in singapore. there have been reports of encounter with fireflies, especially by soldiers, at army training areas in lim chu kang and pulau tekong.
this afternoon i was at the sungei buloh wetland reserve and from the main bridge i saw six otters - four adults and two cubs - playing and hunting for food near the mouth of the sungei buloh besar. this is not my first time seeing otters in the wild. i have come across otters twice, both times at the sand-spit near platform 1 of the wetland reserve.
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