Piaget’s moon

Piaget’s moon
Originally uploaded by lekowala.

A revision of a previous blog Piaget and the Moon, now complete with picture.
Thanks to Piaget, I got to play a real neat game with Joshua. In “Giant in the Nursery” (Elkind 19772), Piaget describes how children perceive inanimate objects to have their own identity, so in explaining how a moon seems be overhead all the time, he said that one should just explain that the moon was following the child, anyone who explains otherwise, misses the point. So now, Josh thinks he’s special to Brother Moon and that its following him around. He got to play peek-a-boo with the moon under the canopy of a tree one clear moonlit night.

Elkind, D. (1972). Giant in the Nursery – Jean Piaget. In: RF Biehler (Ed), Psychology Applied to Teaching, Selected Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, USA. Pp 147––169.

Matt tunggu kretapi

Matt_kretapi
Originally uploaded by lekowala.

Matt is waiting for the train… where is the train papa? Where is mummy? I want mummy…

Josh duduk kretapi

Josh_kretapi
Originally uploaded by lekowala.

This is Josh’s signature goofy smile. We decided to take the kretapi KTM to Johor and do a spot of shopping. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine right now.

Otterman

Otterman
Originally uploaded by lekowala.

Siva looking relaxed last Saturday on Pedal Ubin.

Rambai

Baccaurea motleyana
Originally uploaded by lekowala.

Baccaurea motleyana, Euphorbiaceae. The rambai certainly epitomises the kampung feel of Pulau ubin. It is related to the duku langsat and tastes like it, except that it is sourish. My mum used to buy this from the market but now there are only apples and pears with the occasional regional fruits like the mangosteen or durian. Conserve our fruit heritage.

Xylocarpus granatum

Xylocarpus granatum
Originally uploaded by lekowala.

Thanks to rusty botanical knowledge, I couldn’t tell which Xylocarpus species this was. Thankfully, someone in the group had the “Guide to the mangroves of Singapore I”.
me:” eh, which xylocarpus is this; I know got two.”
hk:” according to the guidebook Xylocarpus granatum has yellowish or greenish, smooth and flaking bark (vs. dark grey, non-flaking fissured bark in X. moluccensis).”
me: “okay, easy peasy.”

Being a botanist

mangrove
Originally uploaded by lekowala.

The picture says it all. As I turned back to see how my companions were doing, all my botanical instincts went on high alert and I felt myself leap out of my skin. The mozzies were a welcome menace and the mud was spa-treatment. Yes, I have been deprived. I am an unabashed botanist.

Ximenia americana

Ximenia americana
Originally uploaded by lekowala.

A stand of Ximenes along Semakau. Ladybug mentioned that she remembered eating the sourish fruit, an orange olive-shaped drupe, as a child. She recognised it instantly when she chanced a fruiting individual. The hedge of the beach forest dominated by this species was nostalgic of island surveys I helped carry out several years back. In the hot sun and albedo, the juicy and sourish drupes were refreshing. This was pure and unadulterated beach forest.

The delight of seeing things in their natural habitat

Cerbera odallum
Originally uploaded by lekowala.

Cerbera odallum Apocynaceae. This picture of the Pong Pong tree was taken along the coast of Semakau. Along the long stretch of beach forest, there’d be several individuals and their white flowers are just so beautiful to behold. Somehow, they don’t look so good planted along the wayside.

Talipariti tiliaceum

Talipariti tiliaceum
Originally uploaded by lekowala.

Inspired by Otterman’s recent artful entries on the sea hibiscus “Blooming Sea Hibiscus” and “Flowers of the Sea hibiscus”, I couldn’t resist taking this picture at Semakau. It really is photogenic.