Waterspout At East Coast

A waterspout appeared in a distance out at sea off the East Coast of Singapore in the

afternoon. I was excited to see this rare phenomena again and much closer this time.

We dropped everything we were doing and watched every moment of it evolving.

It tailed off but picked it up again and saw a second one formed from a funnel of

water rising from the sea and joined with the one on top. I think we spent about

twenty minutes or so witnessing this. We were transfixed by the sight of it twirling.

Half an hour later, it was pouring.

Totally Awesome !

Sweltering Nights

  

It's been an unusually warm month reported in the newspaper. Sure glad it wasn't about me going through some menopause or something. The heat during those couple of nights were unbelievable. I was constantly sweating all over like I was in a sauna. There was no breeze and with Jordin Sparks singing No Air on the radio fuel the irritation.

At a time like that, it is best to retreat to the air conditioned room to cool off. However the air conditioner in our home has recently decided to end its run of long service by blowing out just air. The temperature outside was at 28.3 deg C and falling asleep was not easy. We definitely have to replace the existing aircon unit with a new one. When the haze come around, we won't be breathing in smoke particles. Meanwhile, haze from Indonesia's Riau province has spread to western peninsular Malaysia. Anyone out there has a good second hand air con to give away ?

Quick cool showers and sometimes in the middle of the night helps to get back to sleep. This hot weather all I can wish for is air con, cold drinks and desserts. It was wonderful that I stumbled into this a new place for a refreshing dessert. After eating this mango pomelo crushed ice dessert made me want to go back for seconds at one sitting. It was that good. This dessert is sold at Suntec City basement, opposite Food Republic Food Court under the name of All Things N'Ice. Other offerings are the Gula Melaka Ice Kachang, Bobo Cha Cha. When they first started last year, All Things Mango cost $5.80. Then to $4.20. Maybe that's why we didn't think of stepping in to give it a try. After some reviews, they have tweaked the pricing and dessert, it's more reasonable at $3.80.
 

3 Temasek Boulevard #B1-165/166

Sitting by the edge of Fountain Of Wealth at Suntec City Mall

    

That is a nice and cool place to sit back and chill, watching the water fountain.

Refreshing Sight

We will not give this dessert cafe a miss the next time we go there. Till the next visit I pray for good weather to be upon our sunny island and the haze to stay away. Bye and take care.

how about putting my feet up  ; ) and enjoy the moment

* The dessert stall is no longer there.
   Updated on 4/2/2017 
   No more my favourite dessert. 

Rain and Hailstones ?

Hi, I'm back reporting about the weather conditions back here since I last left you with a bad haze outside my window on Thursday. The PSI stayed at unhealthy level and went on to hazardous level on Friday noon time. It surged to a new high of 401. Staying on high floor the haze was in our flat and we were breathing in polluted air. By now the low visibility and strong smell of the haze, has got everyone scurrying to get a piece of N95 mask. People queuing up for two or more just to get some. Come last Saturday morning the haze has gone down a bit and the atmosphere remain unchanged.

Fires started in Sumatra has gotten out of control. The Meteorological Services of Singapore picked up around 138 hot spots. The haze was carried across the region by winds that are part of the westerly monsoon season. Firefighters over there faced difficultly finding hot spots and also putting them out. Farmers use the slash and burn method to get rid of less productive crop, instead of machinery or hiring workers which they might not afford. It is cheaper with just 10 litres of diesel, the job gets done but what disastrous consequence comes along with it. When this is done on highly flammable peatlands, fires spread and smoulder underground making it tougher to snuff out completely. The firefighters also face daunting task of finding water source in these areas that are often under developed.
  

Once forest fires burn out of control, heavy rain is needed to alleviate this problem. This big blow out brought us to raise our concern on environmental issues with our neighbour, who then seriously stepped in to contain the situation through cloud seeding operation. Imagine their citizens constantly put up with such conditions every year, inhaling harmful particles into their lungs. Here I am, one more day of this I could scream. I missed the blue sky which I have not seen for a week. That Saturday I decided to go into pray. What else can I do ? ? But to ask God for his help. I set target for the haze to move back. As I pressed on I was encouraged to see things happening. But then I have to pray much more to see better results. When my hour of interceding was quite enough already, I thought why not start a prayer chain so I messaged the care group members to pray for winds to blow and rain to fall. Immediately after I stopped praying, the haze moved in again. I continued to believe something good will come out of it. Then the haze started to shift and some of them sent pictures of their place seeing sunshine. So excited to see a turnaround and the sky clearing. The next day, newspaper reported the winds had pushed the thick plume of haze over Singapore northwards and eastwards and the island lay under a small gap in the enveloping smoke. Awesome . . wasn't that a miracle or was it a coincidence?

Wait, I'm not finished yet. Then come the following Tuesday, when I saw that the haze was starting to creep in again. I dread to see a replay of the situation getting out of hand again after enjoying a sunny weekend. I let my fingers do the walking, I boldly messaged the care group members to pray for winds and rain to come. Very soon some of them messaged back to say that dark clouds were forming. At some places, it was already raining. When one of them sent pictures white little stones on the ground and said it was ice. We thought he was pulling our legs. It turned out to be true. It was raining hailstones in the western part of Singapore. Wow . . . we asked for rain and we also get ice cubes to put in our drinks. Obviously this is a very rare occurence. That afternoon the heavy rain brought down trees and branches. The rain we have been waiting for ever since the haze started. The hailstones were unlikely to be cause by the cloud seeding as that it too far away. I am totally awed by these two experiences. It must be God and he answered our prayers. Amen.

Well . . . we are still stuck with a little haze now and then. This weekend is going to be good and so will yours too. God Bless. Ciao


Click below to see -

Freak Hailstorm in Singapore