Thursday, 28 February 2008

3rd Posting

Koalas
Koalas might be born without some senses but they still have to make their journey with some help. A newborn Koala, called a joey, is born the miniscule size of a jellybean, blind, hairless and deaf. Armed with tis well-developed senses of smell and touch along with its mighty front legs, claws and gift of direction, the joey must make its way from the birth canal to its mother's pouch.
Koalas can digest tough, leathery eucalyptus leaves. The secret to this remarkable ability is actually from pap, the substance a koala mother produces when a koala is six months old. It comes from the mother's intestines and contains bacteria that the joey will eventually need as an adult to digest an adult koala's diet.
Koalas are lazy sloths. Koalas have been known to spend as many as 18 whole hours in just one day for napping and resting.
Giant Pandas
Pandas are fast eaters. Pandas eat speedily, they eat massive amounts and they spend approximately 12 hours or half a day doing so. The reason for this speed eating at mass amounts is that they digest a mere 20% or one fifth of what they eat and to begin with, bamboo lacks nutritional content.
Giant Pandas' homes are steadily decreasing. Wild Giant Pandas can only be found in the mountainous bamboo forests of Southwestern China which is shrinking quickly as people continue to farm, log and develop land higher and higher up mountain slopes which the rare Pandas call home.
Newborn Giant Pandas are tiny. Newborn Giant Pandas weigh a miniscule 85 to 113 grams, a mere 1/900th of what their mother weighs.
Cheetahs
Cheetahs are the fastest animals on land. Cheetahs can reach lightning speeds of 97 or even 113 kilometres per hour over short distances of open land.
A cheetah's footfalls cover incredible distances. When a cheetah is running at its top speed, it covers 7.3 metres in merely fouor footfalls. This is an average of 1.825 metres per footfall.
A cheetah takes a long time to regain its stamina. After a vigrous chase, a cheetah needs at least half an hour to recover its stamina before it can gorge itself on the prey it caught.
Tigers
Tigers vary in sizes. Tigers that live in the frostier mountain areas are usually larger and heavier than those tigers that live in warm, tropical areas.
A tiger's roar is amazingly loud. A tiger's bellowing roar can be heard as far as a record three kilometres away.
Tigers are different from most felines. Unlike most members of the feline family that abhorr water, tigers take to the water like dolphins. They swim well and often soak in streams or creeks to cool off after a blistering day.
Lions
Lions are like most felines, who love to laze around. Lions rest up to 20 hours a day and only wait for the coolest, darkest times to hunt which is usually in the twilight hours.
Lions have been known to be vicious. When an outsider male enters a pride, it is not unusual for him to kill cubs to ensure all future cubs have his genes.
Lions are not really that unfriendly after all. Lions are sociable creatures as long as it is amongst their own kind and they usually live in groups, known as "prides" which can be as small as 3 or as large as 40 lions.

Monday, 4 February 2008

Posting 2: My Autobiography

I was born in 1996, specifically, 23rd December around 2 am. It is pretty obvious that I cannot remember what it was like then but according to my medical records, I was breach-birth so I was born via Caeserean Section. And apparently, with mild jaundice.

A few days after my birth, my brother had a tiny accident. Pretty big, since it was his skull and all. He is four years older than me and I had just been born and I think there was a party. It might not be his autobiography but his accident was indirectly caused by me. My cousin's ex-wife was supposed to be looking after us but she was mainly distracted by me. So, my brother who, remember, was only four then wanted to be in the limelight so he clambered up the sofa in a gesture to attract attention. As he was crawling up however, he knocked over a heavy glass vase and went flying with it and therefore his head ended up embedded with glass shards and a big cut which require eight stitches. Even though he lost a few brain cells (it is very easy to tell) he survived the incident and has had no more major incidents to this date.That was the beginning of our sibling war which followed with a lot more "accidents". For example, when I was three, I think. My brother "accidentally" tossed my favourite and irreplacable teletubbies ball into the reservoir where we were taking a walk. He also "accidentally" turned my pram over when we were at that same reservoir. Did I mention about yet another incident at the reservoir. I was about five or six then and riding my brother's bike when it hit a rut and flipped causing my fragile arm to whacked onto the hard asphalt. My arm was fractured and I was sent to hospital where I was poked and prodded and attacked with balloons then smelt like strawberry. Not my favourite memory.

When I was the age for going to kindergarden, I was enrolled in Maris Stella Kindergarden. Maris Stella, if you did not know, is divided into two parts. The part on the left is where all the litle kids are which means the first level of kindergarden. It has a huge train which has seats in it and that 's where all the little kids like to play hide-and-seek in. It also has a sort of animal corner where , if I remember correctly, several birds were housed. Our teacher took us there for make-shift excursions. Our classes were named after flowers like, Tulip or Marigold. I can't remember the first stage of kindergarden but I think it was mostly spent on the toy train.Soon enough, I had crossed over to the... (dramatic pause)... other side! I cannot remember that much either but I think one of my classrooms was one of the first classes next to the end doors or front doors depending which you were facing. You had to turn sharply right and go down the stairs where you could see several chairs and tables. My other classroom was also near the front or end. You had to turn sharply left and go into the second classroom. I can only remember the outside as that was where I puked up my Honey Stars after a bumpy bus ride. There was a few shelves where we hung our hankerchiefs. Our hankerchiefs were a very important part of Kindergarden. I remember that you get different colours for every level of Kindergarden. I had a blue and an orange. Your name was written on it and if you wanted to be extravagant, there was a little elastic band sewn into it so you could hang it on those shelves. The cooler your hankerchief, the higher your status.Suddenly, I sprouted and I was on the track to Primary One. I moved houses just before I was Primary One. The house that I was born in was located in Greenleaf Grove and I moved to another house in University Road. My brother had already gone to Henry Park so I had no trouble enrolling in Henry Park. I remember on orientation day, a lot of children were blubbing and wailing. Primary One was a blur and so was Primary Two and Primary Three. Only until Primary Four was I enrolled in the best class ever. 4 Creativity or 4 Chatty was fantastic. My form teacher was Ms Kwok Hui Min. My maths teacher, Ms Eunice Chua. My Science, Ms Kwok again. My Chinese, Ms Loo Ming Jia. The most memorable party of that year wasn't the End-of-Year party but rather Ms Kwok's birthday. Her period was after recess so everyone stayed back to decorate the classroom. We even brought presents for her. Vanessa Koh and I were sent to tell her the class was upstairs and we flicked on the lights and flung confetti on her when she came in. We had two cakes, I think. Then came along, Primary Five. I was in Primary 5 Attentiveness and it passed along pretty quickly. That was where I met (well, not really, we were both in 4 Creativity) my best friend, Sarah Kow. Of course I had best friends before her. In Kindergarden, Lee-Ann (Might be li-anne not really sure, i just know her hair was huge and she lived next to me) and Tamara and Grace. In Primary One, Si Min. She went to New Zealand at the end of Primary Three, I think. In Primary Two, Anne. In a way, I think. Oh yes, and in Primary one, Nicole before Si Min. In Primary Four, Vanessa Koh at the start. Angeline in the middle. Jia Ling at the end of the year. Primary Five, Yi Han and Sarah.

How about my family. The saddest bit about my family was that my grandmother died when I was four. She was only in her sixties and died from Liver Cancer since she like to eat Chicken butts, I think. I have three hamsters and one dog. I had a hamster, two rabbits and a assortment of fish before them. Sookee, Dusti and Littely (Dont ask me about littely, Sarah named her) are my hamsters. My dog, a golden retriever, is called Lara and her birthday is in April. I have a recent update, my hamster Sookee, died.

That is about it,

ISABELLA

THE END (Hopefully, not of my life)