Trumpet Tree

It looks like the trumpet trees are in bloom again. The locals call it the Sakura season. This is because the trumpet tree is known for its impressive flowering display, where the entire tree is spectacularly covered in blossoms, like the Cherry blossom in Japan. These trees are along my walk route. So, it is always a joy to see them bloom. They add so much colour to the route.

The tree’s name comes from its trumpet-shaped flowers, which range in colour from pink to white. The scientific/botanical name for the trumpet tree is Tabebuia rosea, and they can grow up to 24 meter tall.

This is just the beginning of the blooms. Some of the trees haven't start blooming yet. It will be more impressive, absolutely divine, when all the trees bloom, and are at their peak.

It was a very hazy day here yesterday, so the pictures are not very clear, which is a pity.

This is a young trumpet tree. I noticed there are quite a few of them on one end of the route. It would be great when they are grown and blooming. More colours on the walk route.

While the flowers fall, they retain their colour for a couple of days, forming a beautiful carpet of flowers around the tree. They bloom twice a year, each season lasting a week to 10 days.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Today, the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the Lunar Calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is believed that the moon is the roundest, biggest and brightest, on this day of the year.

There are many stories and legends surrounding the celebration of this Festival which started some 2,000 years ago. As with any tradition, or customs that old, the origin of the festival is always murky. You will no doubt find the stories and legends preposterous. So, we will not go there.

The version I believe in is that, once upon a time in China, farmers celebrated their bountiful harvest on this day outdoors when the moon was brightest. Families gathered to feast and make merry. They also made bean paste based pastries which they called moon-cakes. They enjoy the moon-cakes and moon gazed, as they catch up with each other.

In those days, there were no electricity, so the farmers made paper lanterns and hung them up for light. They also made small paper lanterns for the children to carry around their compound, to keep them amused.

Later on, during the late Yuan Dynasty, there was unrest. The rebels communicated the date of the revolt by hiding the message in the moon-cakes. The revolt was successful, and the new emperor, declared the moon-cake festival an official annual event.

When the Chinese immigrants headed down to South-East Asia, they brought the festival with them. Unfortunately, the meaning of this custom/tradition was lost in transition. Nowadays, most people don’t even know the origin of the story behind the celebration.

These days, people celebrate the festival, by buying moon-cakes as gifts for their elders as a gesture of respect. Friends too buy each other moon-cakes as a gesture of friendship. Companies gift them to clients, and employees gift them to their superiors to foster goodwill.

The festival is now very commercialized. Businesses cash in on this occasion to churn out all sorts of flavoured moon-cake. The packaging themselves are eye-openers. Look at the picture below. The cost of these moon-cakes will also make one open his/her eyes wide.

In Singapore, the two places that celebrate this occasion in a big way is The Gardens by the Bay, and The Chinese Garden. I have never been to the celebration in the Chinese Garden. But from reports from the press, it was more like a lantern show. There was a display of lanterns of various sizes, shapes and designs, some of which were very intricate.

I was at The Gardens by the Bay last year to take in the display. The Gardens by the Bay is a lot bigger than the Chinese Garden. There were stalls selling things that are synonymous with the celebration. There was also a performance by a Chinese Orchestra.

More On...

Change

Change is not always improvement, as the pigeon said when it got out of the net into the pie. - G. H. Spurgeon

Charity

Real charity doesn’t care if it’s tax-deductible or not. - Dan Bennett

Child

Children’s talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives. - Maya Angelou

The finest inheritance you can give to a child is to allow it to make its own way, completely on its own feet. - Isadora Duncan

Decisions

Bold decisions give the best promise of success. - Edwin Rommel

Marriage

Getting married is easy. Staying married is more difficult. Staying happily married for a lifetime should rank among the fine arts. - Roberta Flack

Money

Money may not buy happiness, but it buys the kind of misery you enjoy. - Unknown

Mystery

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. - Albert Einstein

Revolution

Every successful revolution puts on in time the robes of the tyrant it has deposed. - Barbara Tuchman

Victory

Victory is the thing of the will. - Ferdinand Foch

War

When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war. - Dwight. D. Eisenhower

Trivia

Some Trivia for you. I have no idea how accurate these are though.

The Spinning Girl

This is supposedly one of the top five optical illusion.

Look at the Spinning Girl. Is she spinning in the clockwise direction, or anti-clockwise direction?

Apparently, if you see the girl spinning in a clockwise direction, then you use more of the right side of the brain, and if you see the girl spinning in anti-clockwise direction, then you are using more of the left side of the brain.

Focus on the spinning girl, and see if you can change her direction of spinning. Some people are able to do that, while some can’t.

Perhaps the video below will help. If you focus on the spinning girl in the center, you will see all three figures spinning in the same direction. Once you shift your focus to the figure in the left or right, you will find that the spinning has changed direction. If you looked at the figure on the left, then on the right, you will see that the spinning change direction.

You-tube Video

Amazing isn't it?

Distant Cousins

"Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it." - Soren Kierkegaard

I take daily walks, weather permitting, and when I do not have other engagements. I am lucky to have a wonderful route for my walks. It is well maintained, and there are plenty of trees, plants and flowers along the route.

Today, I will share some of the fruit bearing trees/plants. Unfortunately, I do not know their names. However, they resemble the fruits I know the names of. That is why I call them 'Distance Cousins'.

This fruit looks like a persimmon . It has a very strong scent. Some walker told me they are edible. I took their word for it and tried one. I lived to tell the tale. The texture of the fruit is also like that of a persimmon. But they are not persimmon. Perhaps they are cousins - distant cousins.

These look like cherries. Again, I was told they are edible. I tried one. They are too sour and too acidic to be eaten - unless you have a stomach for that. These are probably distant cousins of the cherries - very distant.

This is another very familiar looking fruit. Perhaps I have seen it sold somewhere, or perhaps they look like the sour sop to me.

This is something I am totally clueless about.

An Art Exhibition

I am not one to go to art galleries or exhibitions. But since one of the artists is an old friend of mine, I thought I would get out of my shell and go give some moral support.

Ernest Chan is a freelance art teacher. In between teaching in schools, he hold courses for private students.

Here is Ernest Chan’s Curriculum Vitae if you are interested.

Recently, he and three of his students organised an exhibition.

The following are eleven of his works. Oil on Wood, 3 x 6 cm. The ones with a red sticker were sold - on the day of my visit. I do not know how many others were sold.

The following are some of the works of his students - collaborators of the exhibition.

Two of them were around when I went to the exhibition. They were very helpful. They explained the idea behind the collaboration, and also the ideas behind the art pieces - where and how the inspiration of the artworks came about.

Once I heard the explanation, the elaboration, behind the artists inspiration, the artworks took on new meanings, and I was able to appreciate the exhibition a lot more. I have to admit I enjoyed the exhibition.