My Betta Splendens

Updated Post on 5 June 2009, 6 June 2009, 7 June 2009

Last Saturday, I went to visit Fish Farms and saw the many new different breeds of Betta Fish (Siamese Fighting Fish) and thus started to keep them again.
I used to keep them at my work place many years ago because they don't need an air pump.
They are also not fussy eater and they are colourful.
Only cons is that they cannot be housed together with each other.
More regular water change is required as there is no filtration system to clean up or break down the waste.
Now my table is rather messy with different tanks and containers.
I need to think of a better way to display the tanks neatly...heehee.
I'll be going to visit the Aquarama 2009 at Suntec City later this afternoon to see the Betta competition.
And also heard from my friend that there is someone selling Betta fish there too.
Below are some of my Betta fish that I'm keeping now :

Half Moon Betta


(Photo added on 5 June 2009)
This betta enjoy blowing bubbles!


Half Moon Betta


(Photo added on 5 June 2009)


Crowntail Betta


This is my favourite photo of this fish!


Dancing!


(Photo added on 5 June 2009)


Crowntail Betta


(Photo added on 5 June 2009)


Female Betta

Female Betta


Giant Betta


(Photo added on 5 June 2009)


(Photo added on 5 June 2009)
Playful little one, likes to play with the stones.


Post Additions on 5 June 2009:
This is where I keep my bettas.
Since they do not have any filtration systems in the tank, I usually do a water change of 50% every two days.
My problem is with the aquatic plant now, it doesn't seem to last long and about 2 days, it'll start to have a foul smell.
Hence, I've removed most of the plants from the tank even though the Bettas seems to like the plants very much.
Does anyone has any recommendations for hardy aquatic plants for Bettas?


Below are a few more additions Bettas I've just brought.




Betta


Half Moon


Half Moon Plakat




Half Moon Plakat




Half Moon Plakat




Post Additions on 6 June 2009 :

Three new additions to the family.
They seemed a little stress when they were introduced into the tank.
But they started to flare at their neighbours almost instantly...aggressive little ones.

Half Moon




Half Moon Plakat




Half Moon




Post Additions on 7 June 2009:

Mini Facts about Betta Splendens
Name : Siamese Fighting Fish
Nickname : The Jewel of the Orient
Scientific Name : Betta Splendens
Family : Osphronemidae - Gourami family, (formerly classified as Anabantidae)
Originate : Thailand (Formely known as Siam)
Nature Habitat : Living in Rice paddies, muddy waters, shallow waters, slow moving streams…etc.
Species Found : approx. 150 years ago
Size for Bettas : up to 2.5 inches (6cm)
Size for Giants Bettas : up to 3.1 inches (8cm)
Species Type : Freshwater Fish
Temperature : 25 - 30 degree C.
PH : 7
Lifespan : 2-3 years
Reproduction : Males build bubble nests, the bubbles acts as a support for eggs.
During the spawn, they will be circling each other.
The male will wrap himself around the female and when she released the eggs, they are fertilized and starts to sinks.
The male will bring the eggs and spit them into the bubblenest.
Female is to remove after spawning. Males will look after the eggs.
The eggs will be incubated for 24-30 hours and hatch in 2-3 days.
About three days later, the male is to be remove from the breeding tank.
Young swimming frys can be fed brine shirmps.

The Peak and Tram

The Peak Tram (山頂纜車)Operating : 7am - 12 midnight daily
Frequency of Tram : Every 10 - 15 minutes
Sky Terrace : 10am - 11pm (Mon - Fri), 8am - 11pm (Sat, Sun & PH)
Tickets for Peak Tram (Return/Single) : Adult HK$33/HK$22, Child (age 3-11) & Senior Citzen (age above 65) HK$15/HK$8
Tickets for Peak Tram & Sky Terrace (Return/Single) : Adult HK$48/HK$37, Child (age 3-11) & Senior Citzen (age above 65) HK$23/HK$16

History of the Peak Tram1881 - Planning of the tram system by Scotsman Alexander Findlay Smith.

1882 - Proposal was granted and the Hong Kong High Level Tramways Company was born.

May 1888 - Official opening by the Governor, Sir William Des Voeux.
It was a wooden tram's haulage system that was powered using coal fired steam boilers.
Seating capacity of 30 passengers and the carriage was indivded into three classes.
Having First class with the centre compartment.
Tickets at that time cost 30 cents, 20 cents and 10 cents (First class, Second class and thrid class).

1926 - The steam power system was replaced by an electrically powered haulage gear system. Seating capacity had increased to 52 passengers.

1959 - All metal tramcar were used and seating capacity incresed to 62 passengers.

1989 to Present - A fully enclosed, lightweight, all aluminum tramcar was used and seating capacity increased to 72 passenger. It cost a HK$60 million for upgrading using the microprocessor-control technology and new tramcars.
The seating capacity has now increased to 120 passengers.
Official opening on 20 September 1989 by Governor Sir David Wilson.

Tram Capacity - Maximum 120 passengers (95 seats, 25 standing)
Steepest part of the route is the crossover tracks on May road, which is 27 degrees to the horizontal.
At the Garden Road Peak Tram Lower Terminus, a Peak Tram Historical Gallery was opened in September 2007 and exhibited more than 200 memorabilla items.
The Gallery is free admission for Peak Tram passengers.



Peak Tram technical stuffsLength of Track - 1,365 metres
Track Gradient - 4 degrees to 27 degrees
Lower Terminus - 28 meters above sea level
Upper Terminus - 396 metres above sea level
Speed - Maximum 6 metres per second

I brought a return ticket for the tram ride.
It's a interesting experience and enjoyed the ride.
Would highly recommend if you are visiting Hong kong to try this.


The Peak (太平山)
Mountain - Altitude of 552m


The view from the sky terrace at the Peak.
I was there in the evening, late March 2009.
It was very very misty and the air was very cold.
But I like it...would prefer to be cold than hot.
Sky Terrace is the highest viewing platform that offers a 360 degree view of Hong Kong.
I was up there for almost an hour and really enjoyed the scenery and cool air.
The Madame Tussaud's wax museum is also located at the Peak Tower,along with many other souvenir shops and restuarants.

Blogger's Choice Awards

Updated Post on 12 May 2009, 14 May 2009

I've received a nomination (Blogger's Choice Award) at my another blog about travel and places - Astro Galaxy Travel today from a blogger.
Still trying to explore the blogger's choice website as it has many interesting blogs to read.

As for voting on my Travel blog - ASTRO GALAXY TRAVEL, please use this link and paste it on your browser : http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/74748
Or just click below to vote at Bloggers Choice Awards!
Sincerely, Thank You!

Jack Doll

Collector's Lane Kids - Jack Doll
Size : 18"
Make : Collector's Lane
Year : 1999



Brought the Jack doll years ago even though I'm not a doll collector.
I like the various different suits of this Jack doll and his beautiful baby face.
Thus I ended up getting all the different types of suits I could find.
Jack would make a good photographing subject for me to learn portraits.
The entire clothings were all very well manufactured and also included different accessories.
Especially the shoes, it's very realistic.
The cowboy shoes was the most difficult to fit on the doll and I'll have to admit I'm quite clusmy dressing them up for photography.
My favoruite Jack's suit would be this Outdoor suit carrying a bag (below) and the Baseball player outfit suit.

Gallery of Jack :

What is happening???

Updated Post on 4 May 2009


My blog is locked!
Imagine my SHOCKED!!!
I've received an email on Friday, 1 May 2009 saying that my blog has been identified as a potential spam blog???
My blog will be deleted in 20 days if it isn't reviewed!
Dashboard blogger status also show locked!
I'll have to fill in their review form and Blogger will review my blog and unlock it within 2 business days, once they have confirmed my blog is not a spam blog.

Extract part of the E-mail from Blogger :
"We find spam by using an automated classifier. Automatic spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog like yours is flagged incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for this error. By using this kind of system, however, we can dedicate more storage, bandwidth, and engineering resources to bloggers like you instead of to spammers."

I am wondering does anyone of you ever encounter this problem with your blog?
I'm very worried and my blog is not a spam or anything...
Just hope my blog will be review fast and everything be alright again soon!

Post Additions on 4 May 2009 :
My worries are all cleared and my blog is in working order once again.
Dashboard status are back to normal now.
Thank you blogger team for your fast response!

Bleach - Kon

I've only recently started to watch Bleach.
Watch about 15 episodes now and have enjoyed it very much.
I especially like three of the characters in bleach.
They are Ichigo, Rukia and Kon.
I was glad to be able to find Kon plush (above photo) dressed up like Ichigo yesterday.
Make : Banpresto
Year : 2005
Height : 27 cm

Bleach - Kon
Kon is a modified soul in a lion plush form and a standby for Ichigo Kurosaki's body whenever Ichigo has a mission. Kon is playful and very comical!
His strong point is his running skills and high jumping acts!
Likes Rukia and maybe because he sees her as his life saver!
Kon often take advantage of his cute plush form to get girls hug him.
Loves to cry!
Kon is only 27cm in height and weighs 182 grams in the plush form,

Here's some of Kon's photo I've found on the web :

It's a HOT HOT day!

It's so hot in Singapore now and I think I'm going to "MELT"!
Wahhhhhh...even sitting in the living room with a fan blowing directly at me, I still feel the heat!
Had wanted to go swimming but I figured that I'm way too oversized to get into my wetsuit now.
Don't want to burst it, after all I've only used it only once for diving.
Cold water drink already, Ice-cream also eat already...Wah, no use!
This heat is really retarding my movements too!!
I'm sorry about all this complain but the heat is really driving me craxy!
My pet rabbit, Onyx is also molting like crazy, shedding lots of fur, I wonder if he'll be naked in the next few days. Poor rabbit!
I bathed him yesterday and it was the first time he just stay put at the sink and seemed to enjoy the bath!
What do you do when your environment is hot?
I thought of some ideas about staying cool but never did try them all.

Here some of the ideas for staying COOL :


WATCHING MOVIES - Watching movies that it related to cool environments, like "Ice Age", "March of the penguins" and maybe Christmas theme movies, afterall Christmas is in winter time!


ICE GEL PACK - Use a thin cloth, wrap it up and then put it on the forehead (as if you are having a fever).

MORE SHOWERS - I had three yesterday but it doesn't seems to help much. Maybe I'll have 5 today!!

AQUARIUM - Watching fishes!

OFF LIGHTS - Off unneccesary lights in the house.

MOPPING THE HOUSE - Add ice cubes into the pail of water before mopping. Seemed to COOL down the house.


MCDONALD - Order cold drink, ice-cream...etc. and sit there for hours to surf internet. Free Aircon!

SHOPPING CENTRE - Free Aircon but probably end up spending more money at the malls, so it's really not a good choice!

MIND POWER - Think COOL but for me, it really don't work!

If anyone have any ideas about keeping cool, please do share it here with me too! Thanks!

Central Mid Levels Escalators

Central Mid Levels Escalators (中環至半山自動扶梯)
It is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world.
Building Cost : HK$240 million
Official Opening : 15 October 1994
Type : 20 escalators
Size : 800 meters, climbs a total of 135 meters
Travel time : Approx. 20 minutes (one-way)
Operating time : 6.00am to Midnight.
Daily estimated Traffic : 55,000 people

Getting there : Take MTR to CENTRAL station - take exit C or D2.
Once out of the MTR station, you'll see road signs leading you to the escalators.


It links Des Western District in Central to Conduit Road in Mid Levels.


The escalators only runs one way each time.
The escalator runs UPHILL from 6.00am - 10.00am.
Runs DOWNHILL from 10.30am to midnight.


Hong Kong Central Police Station
This is a beautiful building structure which I saw while travelling the central mid level escalators.

Central Police Station consists of 7 blocks :
Stable Block - Built in 1925
Headquarters Block - Built in 1919
Block A, B, C and D - Built in 1910
Barrack Block - Built in 1864
The Central Police Station is a declared monument of Hong Kong.


Central Mid Levels escalators signboard!


Here, you can see different parts of the covered escalators.
Besides the escalators, there are many shops and resturants.


It's also the film location for :
Chung King Express (重慶森林) - Directed by Wong Kar Wai
Batman Dark Knight - Directed by Christopher Nolan

The first time I got to know about this Central Mid Level escalators was watching the "Chung King Express". It is one of my favourite Hong Kong movies.
I like the way Faye Wong portray the character in this movie and you'll see Faye Wong travelling on this escalators.


Central Mid Levels Escalator can lead you to the following streets:
Des Voeux Road Central (德輔道中)
Queen's Road Central (皇后大道中)
Stanley Street (士丹利街)
Wellington Street (威靈頓街)
Gage Street (結志街)
Lyndhurst Terrace (擺花街)
Hollywood Road (荷里活道)
Staunton Street (士丹頓街)
Elgin Street (伊利近街)
Caine Road (堅道)
Mosque Street (摩羅廟街)
Mosque Junction (摩羅廟交加街)
Robinson Road (羅便臣道)
Conduit Road (干德道)




I was there in the afternoon, it was the uphill route, as I've planned.
It's easier to go up by escalators and then climb down the stairs.
But in the end, I've decided not to climb down...heehee!
It was a nice experience to travel on the escalators.
A good way to see Hong Kong.
The shops, the houses, the people... it's a charming place.

What are the Keys to your Heart?

Your Heart Doesn’t Need Love Now

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is comforting. You crave a relationship where you always feel warmth and love. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage. In this moment, you think of love as something you don't need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

I was just trying to spent my time and stumble upon this testing.
I'm rather surprised with the results and I would say it seemed to have an accuracy of 80% (for myself).
It's fun, maybe you like to try it!
(Psst...they asked you lots of animals related questions!LOL!)