Day 10 - 25 June 2011

25 June 2011

Greetings from Setiu!

Look at how fast time flies! It is already our tenth day in Kampong Mangkuk and we had completed 99% of work which we set off to do. The remaining 1% to be done is the painting of (the brown parts of) The Pink House, which we could only do tomorrow when the paint arrives.

As such, the objective of today’s programme was to experience the way of living and culture of Terengganu. Our ever so warm and friendly hosts, Kak Tak and Abang Lan drove us around and took us to our various destinations.

First stop of the day was the Watermelon Farm.

We had freshly plucked watermelon to quench our thirst immediately upon arrival. Everyone, especially the children, were happy to be chomping on the juicy sweet watermelons under the scorching morning sun. One of the farmers taught us to differentiate between the reds and yellows – yellow watermelons are darker in colour compared to the red ones.

After which, the team got down to their hands and harvested half a row of watermelons. As usual, we had fun and joke around while doing work! It is amazing how we went from strangers to good friends in a mere span of a week.

Our next destination was Permaisuri Market, which sells practically everything (imagine an al fresco departmental store)!

The first thing we did was to get a cup of drink each! The ice blended yam milkshake was simply the perfect solution to cool down in the warm weather. As we proceed further into the market, we bought an assortment of kueh kueh, fried fermented tapioca and deep fried potato. We also bought lemon grass, lime and chili padi to prepare the sauce for the clams we dug from the mangrove the day before. Kak Tak’s children, Tira and Makwang, who followed us to the market, also did quite a lot of shopping for themselves. The team took Makwang to buy a fighting fish, where he finally settled for a turquoise coloured one after carefully scrutinizing all the other fishes on display. 

In the market, we came across a stall selling turtles eggs, however we did not see any one buying any eggs from the stalls. Later in a conversation with Brendon (WWF staff), we found out that there are strict laws in place with regards to turtle conservation.

For lunch, we had Laksam and Nasi Dageng, which are both traditional Terengganu food. It was a simple yet sumptuous meal! In addition, we also feast on tropical fruits such as longan, lychee and buah salak.

Food galore aside, we gathered at the Pink House to start our Wau (kite) making session. Everyone, including River, was meticulous in following the instructions of Abang Lan and Abang Zul so as to make a kite that is able to fly. It was a tiring session but when we saw our kites flying up high in the sky, we knew the effort put in was all worth it. 

Project Orion 3 - Day 9

Today, we woke up early at 0630 for mangrove replanting. Abang Lan was tasked to fetch the few of us from the Pink House to Kuala Baru. Upon arrival, we saw the rest of our team mates who were out since last night for beach patrol. We had the company of the Pewanis Group and the Malaysia Scouts and Brownies to join us for this activity. First we had to unload the mangrove plants ‘Bakau’ from the lorry before transferring to the planting site. Each plant was wrapped in a black plastic cover at the bottom which we had to tear it off before planting. Then, we planted the mangrove plants along the stretch of Kuala Baru and each plant was well spaced apart with a distance of about 1m.  The procedure was to dig a hole using a spade and place the plant into the hole and tie it together with a supporting wooden pole. The kids were having so much fun by helping us to carry the plants around. After planting all the mangroves, our team leader Eddy decided to dig for clams. The rest of the team joined him and never did we expect to bring back a full bag of clams for our supper. We headed towards the gazebo to enjoy our sumptuous lunch which was prepared by the Pewanis group. 

 After lunch, we headed back to the Pink House for our next activity – ‘Kerepek’ Making. The ‘kerepek’ are actually fried banana chips which are used to raise funds for the Pawanis group.

The first process is to skin off the banana. Next, we cut each piece of banana into thin slices. 

Then, we coat the banana slices with rice flour, sugar, honey, and salt. Lastly, we deep fry the coated banana slices until it turns golden brown. 

After clearing up all the mess that we made in the kitchen, there was some time for all of us to relax till dinner time.

After dinner at Kah Tar’s place, we made our way to the boat jetty. It was our chance to see fireflies on the boat. Even though it was raining, we tried our best to keep a look out for them. At the end of the boat ride, we headed back to Kah Tar’s place before getting a lift back from Abang Lan. 

   

Day 8: Happy Happy Day!

Hello folks! Hope your day has been awesome! This is Gladys here! Day 8 has been a great and sunny day for Project Orion III! The weather today was sunny and big fluffy clouds filled the sky with occasional winds which cooled the air. The team finished the work needed to be done at Hatchery! In addition, we gave the Pink House a new coat of paint and it looks so bright and even pink-er now! :P

As Gladys, Shawn, Violet and Jian Hui had beach patrol last night and hence they rested till lunch time. As for the rest, they headed to the Hatchery to complete the work to be done which includes painting the Singapore Scout Association logo as well as World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s logo.

The entire team gathered at Kak Ta’s place for lunch and after which, we head back to the Pink House for house painting. The girls cleaned the walls and the guys gave them a fresh coat of paint. The house now looks really superb. We managed to give all walls a new coat of paint but the frames of windows and doors are yet to be re-painted as the color has yet to be decided. Nonetheless, we had an enjoyable afternoon painting the house while singing along to songs played on fellow team members’ music players (:

Before dinnertime, the kids came over and we played some games with them since we had already finished painting the walls by then. One epic moment of the day was I lost a badminton match with Asyraf by the score 0-15. That mischievous boy ended every single serve that I made by hitting the shuttlecock down on the ground at my feet and then happily announced each score with a huge smile on his face! He was still gloating at his triumph and never fail to remind me whenever I see him throughout dinnertime! :D

That is not all though…Today is team member Hamida’s birthday! The team feigned ignorance to this special day for her and none of us wished her at all. However, we were hatching plans in our mind as to how we can surprise Hamida and celebrate her birthday! In the end, we decided to catch Hamida by surprise by throwing flour at her when she makes her way to Kak Ta’s place for dinner! The kids joined in the fun and Hamida and gang arrived at Kak Ta’s house with flour all over their face and clothes! :P In addition, we surprised her further by presenting her with a cake after dinner and everyone in the house sang her a birthday song! Hamida then made a wish and cut the cake with well wishes from Kak Ta and family, Ah Bang Bi & family as well as members from WWF who were all present at Kak Ta’s house. We all shared the cake and had some fun when we went around applying chocolate cream onto someone else’s face! :P

POIII wishes you a Happy Birthday, Hamida! (:

Last but not least, Violet, Shawn and Jian Hui will embark on their final beach patrol and let’s wish them all the best in seeing turtles tonight! Meanwhile, the rest of the team will rest for tomorrow’s exciting day ahead which will include mangrove re-planting too! Stay tuned for more updates! J

Sweet dreams everyone! (:

Gladys

22 June 2011 (Day 7)

Good day to all!! Day 7 of the trip and the team is still going strong!! Team Orion started the day with only 3 members as the others were resting after the beach patrol the previous night.
Sighting: 1 Green Turtle at Telaga Papan (By Sharon, Sijie and Jason.) This is the first time in 3 years that our advisor Sijie has seen the turtle during the beach patrol. Congrats SJ!!!

Hatchery Painting
We had Shawn, Gladys and Hamida at the hatchery at Penarik Inn to start painting the hut. A new blue and white coat of paint has made the hatchery hut look better than before!!! Of course, with the help of Azam, one of the WWF staff, the team managed to finish the painting pretty quickly :)

Painting house 1
The painting started off after lunch when the rest of the team was deployed to the location to continue from where we left out on Monday. Under the company of the children from the neighboring houses, the environment was kept very lively and some of us even started singing to keep everyone entertained! We even arranged a K-Box session after the trip!

Storm before dinner
The weather suddenly changed for the worse while on our way back to the Pink House. We experienced strong winds and rain that attempted to flood the front of the Pink House. Luckily the water went under the house and into the sand. When we found that Shawn and Gladys are still not back from the hatchery, we “choose” Jian Hui to cycle towards the hatchery to look for them. Halfway through the journey, he turned back and below are his comments:” When I am halfway there, I saw that whatever in front of me was black. I was thinking if I should continue to go ahead.. hahaha” We were finally relieved when all our members returned safely :)

Visitors from the West
During dinner, we had 3 Caucasians joining us at Kak Ta’s place. We had Daniel, who is currently doing a conservation project in Pulau Perhantian, Mike, a masters research student from South England and Nicole Rose, a volunteer from California, US. During the conversation with them, we found that Daniel has been working on the project for about 6 years and he works with students from Alan Smith School to provide weekly English lessons, as well as create awareness for conservation of the environment. Nicole is a middle school Mathematics teacher in the States. Something interesting about her is that she volunteers herself in overseas projects every summer. Teachers in Singapore, time to consider doing so!!!

Day 7 has been a very eventful day, not forgetting Sharon, who has been our main source of entertainment so far. Stay tuned to our blog for more updates :):)

Signed off,
Jason (Jayturtle)

Day 6: Busy Day!

Hello turtle folks! The 21st June was a very busy day for all of us. First of all, those who went on Patrol last night took a half day rest till lunch before they joined the rest of the team for the day's activities. As such, Sijie, Gladys and Jason proceeded to House No. 2 for re-painting. With the few hours after breakfast till Lunchtime, the 3 of them finished painting the first coat, also known as the undercoat for the house. On the other hand, Violet and Eddy were at the neighborhood school finishing up on the Mural Painting. It is very very nice! Below are a couple of shots taken of the mural!

After lunch, the entire team went back to the Pink House for a 30 mins rest and to change into our Scout Uniform. We were going to the school to conduct some activities for the Scouts there! The couple of hours spent with them certainly made all of our days with their adorable faces and energetic vibe! We taught them the Onion Yell, clapping tactics which include the Scout Clap, as well as played games like Dog & Bone with them! The following are some photos we took during the couple of hours!

With that, we rushed back to the Pink House again and proceeded to do another round of nest excavation at the Hatchery. This was a chance for Violet, Eddy and Shawn to give a try at nest excavation as the first time the team did was when the trio went to the neighborhood school to discuss about the Mural Painting. What was unexpected was that we managed to view a hatching process! A neighboring nest had its hatchings out and we all stayed behind to watch them come out! Photos are with a few who are out on patrol now. Stay tuned for the photos then!

Good night and thank you for reading!

Day 5 : Super Hot Day!

Greetings from Setiu once again! Painting for the team continues today. The team were divided into 3 groups for work today:

Group 1: Eddy, Violet and Shawn

Group 2: Sijie, Sharon and Jian Hui

Group 3: Gladys, Jason and Hamida

Group 1 was all geared up in their Scout uniform to meet the school principal. They started their painting thereafter. Their work attracted attention by the students in Sekolah Mangkuk and many of them were around the mural area during recess. They manage to complete about 90% of the mural painting for the day. Good job guys! :)

Group 2 started off in the morning to continue with paint works at House 2. They had to touch up the doors and windows of the house. The house owner, Cik Rafeah also requested for paintings to be done at the inner part of the windows and door. The group manage to complete the painting before lunch as well.

Group 3 started work only after lunch as they were resting in the morning after their beach patrolling. Group 3 combined with group 2 to repair and replace the zinc roof of House 2. It was a challenge to the groups as this is the first time the group members had to replace a roof top. The heat from the scorching sun also slowed our prodess. However, with the help and advise of Abg Lan and Zul, the roof was successfully replaced with 7 new sets of zinc plates. Cik Rafeah was very pleased and grateful for the team to give her a new coat of paint to the house and also new roof top.

Gladys and Sharon also completed the painting works to the signboards for the mangrove planting at the later part of the day.

After dinner, night classes were held. Tonight, the team taught the children on origami. They kids made flowers, hearts and cranes. As usual, the children enjoyed themselves so much that they refuse to go home right after the end of the lesson.

Two other teams of pairs went for their Beach patrolling at Kuala Bahru and Telaga Papan. Those who went were Sharon and Jian Hui to Kuala Bahru while Shawn and Hamida went to Telaga Papan The team patrolled for whole night and NO turtles were seen to lay eggs. Only could see tracks made by the turtles.

Oh yes, beautiful rainbow seen after a passing shower J 

Tata~

Day 4: Painting Day

Hello everyone! Today is PAINTING DAY! Painting works were concurrently carried out at house no. 1 and 2, and the Penarik Inn hatchery.

Before the house was painted

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the paint we have ordered arrived much later than expected. Although it dampened some of our moods, today has been a rather productive day for all of us! House no. 2 has been painted and we’ll be touching up tomorrow, hatchery signboards have all been nicely decorated and painted.

Men in work

Interesting things happened *ehem* but we shall not go into details. =D

And as usual, children from Kg. Mangkok came over for their nightly English lessons. Violet taught them how to make face masks today. The children are still as playful, hyperactive ecstatic and lovable. =)

Animal masks!