Singapore AirShow 2012

Saturday, 18th Feb, 2012 ~ Members of Movie Mania were invited to the Singapore AirShow 2012 & we were all so excited by this once-in-2-years event. Given Performer Passes, we attended the air show in our costume, me as usual, a KittyCat Schoolgirl. =P

A KittyCat @Singapore AirShow 2012
 
With some of my teammates.


Ran into my childhood friend who was also attending the event & we took a pic together.

With Peiwen(at left in pink), my childhood friend.


*Ranting Time!
A note about the entrance security which amount to being ridiculous. An arrogant & overzealous security team confiscated a pocket Swiss knife which belong to one of our teammate. More of a tool than a dangerous weapon, it was meant for repairing our costume's props. The fold-out knife in the tool is less than 3" & if you tries to harm someone with that silly thing, it will fold back & you will cut your fingers instead. I dunno what sort of training those part-time, ad-hoc security people got, but I'll bet those under-trained & paranoid monkeys can't differentiate between a real weapon & a harmless tool!
Another sour note is the disgusting behaviors of many foreigners at the event. They turned the indoor display area into a picnic ground, sitting, eating, chit-chatting loudly, playing games & sleeping on every open space. And they way they used their prams were like bulldozers, ploughing through the crowd. In these people's mindset, the pram is a guaranteed right-of-way. No "excuse me" or any form of politeness, they just banged the pram's wheels against anyone's feet & blatantly expect them to give way!
This is what you get when the government invited in too many uneducated foreigners who have no concept of the simplest form of courtesy. These uncivil foreigners had already out-numbered the locals & they will utterly corrupt this society!
 
Uncivil crowd

Bad-mannered people

*End of rant.

Due to those rude foreigners who were getting into everyone's way, I didn't take much pics of the indoor displays.

A Kitty & an Osprey
 
Model Aircrafts
 
A Rolls-Royce For A Lollipop? xD


It was my first time attending an air show & I was totally thrilled by the aerial displays which to me, was the best part of the whole event. The only letdown was the weather that day. Overcast & gloomy which resulted in poor quality pics of the flying aircrafts.

Republic of Singapore Air Force's F-16C & F-15SG
 
Royal Malaysian Air Force's Smokey Bandits MiG-29N
 
Blair Aerosports Rebel 300
 
Royal Australian Air Force's Roulettes
 
USAF's C-17 Globemaster III


After the aerial displays, we went to take a look at the outdoor static aircraft displays.

Outdoor Displays


Our first stop was at the F-35 Lightning II coz 1 of the costumers, Howie, was suited up as Starscream from the Transformer movie & he wanted a pic with the F-35.

Kitty with StarScream & F-35
 
Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master & RMAF's MiG-29N
 
Alenia C-27J Spartan & Piaggio P.180 Avanti
 
Ordnance, Hermes 450 UAV & Spyder Air Defense System
 
AH-64D Apache
 
C-17 Globemaster III


The C-17 Globemaster III has to be 1 of my favorite at the show & best of all, we were invited by the crew chief to 'inspect' it.

Team C-17
 
Mission Status: Ready!


Was given a personal tour by the crew chief. He even claimed that his flying truck had, in the line of duty, airlifted a killer whale & a dolphin. Wow! How cool is that?!?

Crew Briefing


Was told that beside carrying cargo, C-17s are also used to carry troops, made obvious by the pic below...

Troop Transport of the Galactic Empire? =P


After close proximate with such powerful weaponry, the Force is in me. First, I beguiled the Jedi with my lollipop. For his folly, he was mocked & murdered by his teammates for being such a loser.

Jedi's Downfall


Then I turned my charm on the Dark Side...

Confusion in the Dark Side


And when I pulled on The Helmet...

Worship Me & We Will Get Along Just Fine! =P


After conquering the galaxy, the whole universe is mine! LOL! =P

Costume Comedies =P


Disclaimer: The above story & characters in the last paragraph are frictional. Any similarity to anyone or event is purely coincidence. This author bears no responsibility for any trauma caused. May The Force Be With Me!

Happy Lunar New Year 2012

According to the Chinese zodiac, this is the year of the water dragon.

My pet water dragon & me hereby wish everyone a happy & prosperous lunar new year!

恭喜发财！

万事如意！

身体健康！

心想事成！

财源滚滚来！

XD

Happy 2012!!

Dear fans & friends,

A brand new year, brand new resolutions, love, luck, wealth, health & the prosperous list goes on...
And so, here are gifts from me to you for this new year!

Screenlock wallpaper for iPhone

Download link

Firefox Persona (Click on image to enlarge)

Download link - Mac browser
Download link - PC browser

Hope you guys like the gifts I've created for you.
Take care & have a wonderful year ahead. :D

xoxo,
Nikita Hengbok

Into The Wild @Bukit Batok Nature Park

10th Dec. 2011 ~ Another venture into the wild, this time at Bukit Batok Nature Park which is a disused quarry site.

Bukit Batok Nature Park


Half of the area consist of parkland environment which main feature is a picturesque lake below a excavated front of the quarry face.

Tranquil Lake At Quarry Face


The other half of the park consist of lush secondary forest with footpaths meandering up towards the summit of the hill where 2 transmission towers are at.

Transmission Tower


We(my guy & me) are more interested in the forested area where wild animals, especially birds, had settled since the site was transformed into a serene ambience peaceful jungle. Plenty of mosquitoes too! Well, for the love of nature & photography, I had endured worse.

Serene Ambience


As the area around Bukit Batok was also a former site of fruit plantations, there are many abandoned fruit tress growing wild. Fruiting trees includes Rambutans, Jack Fruits & Durians too!

Fruits of The Forest
 
Durian


And fruit trees attracts monkeys of which a troop of Long-tailed Macaque had made Bukit Batok Nature Park their home.

Monkeys of The Park
 
Mommy Monkey With Babies


These animals are quite bold, not afraid of humans around them & they also enjoyed the park's facilities.

Monkey Jump? =P
 
Monkey Business
 
Portrait of A Monkey


Even though they may look cute, please refrain from feeding them. There are lots of reasons for not feeding them. Mainly, it will cause more harm than good & might cause human/wild animals conflict. Yes, they are wild animals, not stray pets or zoo animals. More details on why it's not good to feed wild monkeys or any wild animals:
http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/monkey.htm

Feed The Hamster, Not The Monkeys! =P


Other than the monkeys, there isn't much large land animals around the park. Plenty of skinks though, of the Common Sun Skink variety & we saw a Clouded Monitor Lizard.

Lizards of The Park


Of creatures great & small... well, usually in a parkland, there are more of the smaller animals to be observe. Who hates creepy crawlies? Abundance of them in the forest! =P

Arachnids & Insects
 
Dragonflies & Bees


And little pretty guppies in a stream.

Half-hidden Guppy


Lots of beauties on wings too!

Butterflies (from left to right, top to bottom: Common Mormon, Common Five Ring, Branded Imperial & Malay Viscount)
 
Flutterby (from left to right, top to bottom: Malayan Eggfly, Branded Imperial, Malay Tailed Judy & Tawny Palmfly)


Bukit Batok Nature Park is a wonderful place for birding, to me anyway. Many places around Singapore are great for birding, but not readily accessible by public transport. Even though Bukit Batok Nature Park is a little far from where I stay, a 1 & a half hour journey by train & bus gets me there, so no problem. And the birds are awaiting... =D

Blue-throated Bee-eater, juvenile Blue-throated Bee-eater, Oriental Dollarbird & White-throated Kingfisher.
 
Male Pink-necked Green Pigeon, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, juvenile Orange-bellied Flowerpecker & Red-breasted Parakeet with food in claw.
 
A pair of female & male Pink-necked Green Pigeons, Mugimaki Flycatcher, juvenile Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker & Asian Brown Flycatcher.
 
Lineated Barbet, a Long-tailed Parakeet enjoying a meal, a Asian Brown Flycatcher taking off after its prey & a half-hidden Striped Tit-babbler.


Avian photography can be frustrating at times. Some of those birds are so skittish & shy making it so difficult to obtain a good pic of them, especially true of the Striped Tit-babbler! We encountered these naughty little birds nearly everywhere, but they refused to stay still even for a few seconds to be immortalized by my camera! Grrr...

The boldest among the birds at park are the flocks of White-crested Laughing Thrushes. These birds are not native to Singapore. They are escapees & had established themselves as permanent residents of the park. The population of these birds has increased and the Laughing Thrushes are easily encountered during a walk.

White-crested Laughing Thrush
 
Friendly White-crested Laughing Thrushes


Beside the popular White-crested Laughing Thrushes, Bukit Batok Nature Park is one of the places well-known for the rare Straw-headed Bulbuls. These shy, elusive birds are more often heard than seen as their loud & melodious calls resonant throughout the jungle. It's sad that due to their beautiful song, the Straw-headed Bulbuls are trapped & sold for huge amount of money, resulting in them being listed as an globally endangered species. They have virtually disappeared from their habitat in Thailand & Indonesia because of poaching.
During our visits to Bukit Batok Nature Park, besides pics of the very common Yellow-vented Bulbul, the slightly less common Olive-winged Bulbul, we had the good fortune of getting rather good pics of the Straw-headed Bulbuls.

Yellow-vented Bulbul, Olive-winged Bulbul, Straw-headed Bulbul in the open & a pair of Straw-headed Bulbuls in the bush.


Even if one is not into nature photography, Bukit Batok Nature Park is a great place for rest & relax. Hope to revisit the park many more times & hope that the wildlife there will surprise me with more great photo opportunities! =D

Take Notice


Note: Please do not feed the animals in the wild. Under the laws of Singapore, poaching of wild animals is prohibited. Except for a few pest species, almost all wild animals are protected.