Day 5 - Too Fast Too Furious Day

Hi everyone,

Welcome to another daily update of Project Orion II. The day was packed with so much surprises that we did not have a chance to grasp a breather. First on the line, we went to Madam Halimah's house to do the painting. To my surprise, we did the pain-in-the-neck undercoating within 2 hours and also used the same amount of time to paint the whole house. After painting purple houses for 3 days, the light blue colour does look refreshing.

We completed painting the house in an amazing time of 4 hours, I personally believe it's the experience we have gained along the way that allowed us to complete it. After painting, it is another episode of YongLiang's "catch of the day". Well, as promised I try to catch at least an animal daily, yup I have met "AH BU" the monkey which is being tied to the tree. (poor thing right.)

Moving on, we were supposed to paint the mural in school but due to some hiccups the delivery of the paint was delayed. Thus we spent the free time making a documentary which we will try to post up when the bandwidth allows us to do so.

Coming up on the list, we were scheduled to assist in the excavation. There were 3 clutches to be excavated - 50 none hatched , 85 with only 1 hatched and 92 with 84 hatched . 2 lucky hatchlings were found alive in each of the clutches of 85 and 92.

Hey Faizal!! these are the Eggs you want so badly . but guess what we ain't going to give it to you :P

Those hatchlings that did not survive, they were preserved for educational and research purposes.

After a long day, we decided to go to pernarik inn for star gazing. But guess what, we saw hatchlings emerging from the nest. It's definitely a rare sight and its what we all have been wanting to see. There were a total of 116 hatchling being released and for the team that went for patroling found 3 clutches of eggs but 1 of it was poached by thieves. However we manage to collect a total of 138 eggs.

The malay phrase we have learnt today is:

Ambil Gambar - Take Picture

(Its essential to learn this phrase so we can deliver all these beautiful picture to you guys out there)

Yong Liang

Signing Out

---EDITED---

Day 3 - Night patrol

Monday, 28^th June 2010, was the first night which we were scheduled to do night patrolling along Telaga Papan, the beach where the World-Wide Fund for nature (WWF) monitors for turtles sightings. There are 2 sections to the beach, Telaga Papan 1(TP1) on the left, and Telaga Papan 2(TP2) on the right.

Setting off from the Pink House at 9pm, we (Jia Wei, Ding Kun and Jason) packed the necessary items which we think is important for the night at the beach. Along with us was one of the WWF interns, Aini. We were driven from the Pink House on a 10 minute ride on River’s land rover to the isolated roads of the beach without any lights along the road. As there were 2 Rangers doing the patrolling, we had to wait for both of them to arrive before setting off for the romantic stroll along the beach. After awhile of interaction with Aini both the Rangers had arrived at the beach and we were introduced to Pak Ali and Pak Leh. We were informed that there were 2 sightings of turtles which came up to lay eggs not long ago and so we set off to TP1, while the other ranger went to patrol along TP2. Supposedly, we thought that it would be a stroll along the beach, but in the end it became a brisk walk along the soft, sandy beach. As we were not used to walking along beaches with such soft sand, often our legs sank into the sand as we walked and had a hard time catching up with both Aini’s and the ranger’s paces.

After a long walk of about 3km, as told by Aini, we finally saw the two landing trails of the turtles, but sadly as both of them came up about the same time, we could only see 1 of the nests. As we reached the nesting site, the turtle had already finished laying its eggs and was sand-bathing itself before it sets off on its journey back into the sea. After about 10 to 15 minutes, the turtle began its journey back to the sea and the ranger dug into her nest for her eggs. With the experience of the ranger, an arm-deep pit was dug out in lesser than 5 minutes and the first eggs were brought out.

Turtle eggs are round and ‘fish ball’ like, and as you can see from the picture above that the eggs are made of a really thin membrane which thus allows any light to shine through.

As we counted the eggs each turtle had laid, we put the eggs nice and slowly into a pail, which after every layer had to be covered with sand in order to protect the eggs at the bottom.

After TP1, we were informed that the route was to walk from TP1 to TP2, to wait and rest, which is 6km, and then walk back to the start point. However, after resting for less than 15min at TP2, we were again informed that there was a sighting at TP1 and we had to walk back to TP1. Halfway through the route back to TP1, we coincidentally bumped into a turtle which had just come up from the sea and onto the shore to lay its eggs. Immediate action was to retreat and re-route our path to walk back to TP1 as we could not disturb and let the turtle sense our presence or else it will not lay its eggs and go back into the sea. We thus continued our walk back to TP1 on the road, which was so much easier to walk on. We had to wait for the turtle to finish digging its pit for laying eggs before we can go up and see her lay her eggs. As we had a long and tiring day, we lay down on the beach and almost instantly falling asleep with the romantic moonlight shining down and the cooling sea breeze blowing at us. Sadly we could not enjoy this but had to continue with the counting of the eggs and move on back to the last turtle which was near the start point. Finally after 5 hours of walking, we had completed our patrolling and hopped on to River’s land rover to transport the eggs back to the hatchery at Penarik Inn to be incubated and was then sent back to the Pink House. Sadly we did not take many photos because we did not bring the camera or the video camera.

Signing off,

Jason

Day 4 - Ding Kun Finds LOVE!!!

Good evening to all. The wind outside the Pink House now feels a little chilly, probably because of a heavy downpour just a couple of hours ago. This has caused the beach patrolling team today to postpone their adventure till the next day. What a pity, but I guess everyone has had fun interacting and teaching the local children during the night lesson.

However, the post today will surround the theme of 'love', where a couple of our team members have forged new friendships, and possibly other forms of relationships. For instance, Ding Kun has developed a new and blooming 'bromance' with one of the local kids. The picture below depicts a sweet moment of them holding hands while cycling. But hey, please look out for traffic behind!

Day 4 was a day for many accomplishments. Firstly, the patrolling team for yesterday witnessed the rare sight of green turtle laying eggs, not one, but three in total. The team had also managed to complete the paintwork for our third and final purple house before lunch, the fastest thus far. I guess the art of painting is accumulative, where lessons learnt from the previous days were consolidated and improved on in subsequent paintwork, resulting in greater efficiency. After lunch, we had an interactive session that comprised of singing and playing of games with scouts from the local school.

Oh, look at how adorable the boys are! Happiness, tinged with a little of playfulness, was reflected on their faces. I believe the scouts in the school had thoroughly enjoyed themselves, dancing to the tunes of 'Gako the Frog' and sweating out while having a match of 'Dog-and-Bone'. The team is indeed grateful to the school and Cikgu Sahara (the teacher-in-charge) for their hospitality and amicability.

Just before dinner, the team made a trip to the turtle hatchery situated behind the 'Penarik Inn' for excavation, in search of turtle eggshells and eggs that are either not fertilised or dead before born. It was a first time experience for all of us, and everyone got to dig their hands real deep into the holes (approximately an arm's length, in terms depth) to look out for shells and eggs gingerly. We were overjoyed to see the eggshells as the latter represents the birth of baby turtles, but were a little disappointed, or maybe sad, to know that some of them did not have the chance to open their eyes and catch a glimpse of how the world is like. That's life, I guess.

After a long and hectic day of activities, everyone was thoroughly drained with fatigue. Our beloved one and only female team mate, Ming Xian, was so tired that she hugged the pillar, like how a koala clings on to a tree, while the rest were having dinner. Oh, look at her chubby cheeks and sleepy look. Ming Xian, please rest early tonight!

The malay word we have learnt today is:

Ular - Snake (River's new pet, Mary)

It's already 1:48am now and I guess I should be returning to my comfortable sleeping bag for a good night rest. Selamat malam. (:

Jia Wei

The things that go bump in the night

So apparently, people have started talking in their sleep. And we thought it'll be funny to share it with everyone. Or maybe not. But we're too tired to be thinking straight.

Things said at night:

I want to play soccer.

I want to take pictures.

Ridiculous things seen/heard in the morning:

Ming Xian practising her swimming on the floor.

Ka Jun doing 5BX.

Yong Liang meditating.

Ka Jun seeing the word '5BX' as 'sex'.

Watch out for more such pointless but ever-entertaining snippets!

Chow Wee

Day 3 - I never thought I would be so happy to hear the words 'No Undercoat'

A very good evening to all. It is now the end of day 3 of Project Orion II and we are happy to report that we are doing well. The first picture happens to be the very view that greets us every morning. With a view like that, it's pretty hard to start any day with a foul mood.

Today, the team went off to paint our second house. A couple of things we learned: Firstly, grooves in the planks aren't all that fun at all. Secondly, front porches are a pain in the neck and lastly, we work fast when we don't need to do the undercoating. Some of the team had to head off for other duties such as meeting with the school principal to iron out some details or heading into the city (45 minutes away) to make some necessary purchases so that effectively left about 6 of us to complete the paint job. Thankfully, we managed to get it all done. And as usual, the following are your customary before and after shots. Seriously, the difference is quite astounding; or so we think.

Just before dinner, the entire team was properly schooled in the sport of badminton by a 10 year-old. Not a single one of us managed to defeat him. Such interaction time with the village kids is always much appreciated. Not only are they innocent and adorable, they're also quite talented. Certainly not like the city kids we find these days; and I mean that in the best possible way.

At night, we had our first lesson with the village kids. Language differences may have caused some slight issues, but we were aided by the arrival of Brandon, a WWF youth officer, who kindly helped us out with key translations. Apart from teaching English to the children, we also helped them with their homework and enjoyed some games with them. I'm pretty sure we learnt as much from them as we hope they learned from us. There will be ongoing lessons for the next few nights and the team is really looking forward to them.

Additionally, tonight is also the night that we start our night patrols. The first three of us (Jia Wei, Ding Kun and Jason) are currently patrolling the beach at Telagan Papan. Luckily enough, they not only managed to collect what is reportedly one of the largest clutch of eggs ever (120 eggs), they also managed to actually see the Green Turtle laying eggs. Unfortunately enough, they had no video camera and no camera; so, we have no videos and no photos. Well done.

We also managed to release another batch of hatchlings tonight. All in all, that makes it 152 hatchlings we've helped to release. We hope earnestly that at least one of them will pay the beach a visit in 25 years to lay her own eggs.

The Malay word we've learnt for today is:

Lalat - Housefly (they're everywhere)

Last but not least, the catch of the day by Yong Liang is... not a chicken, but a duck. He promises to work on the chicken tomorrow. Simultaneously, the team has issued him with the ultimate challenge of catching a crocodile in Setiu River. Yea, good luck with that YL!

Evidently, that's all there is today. Keep viewing for more updates and do tell us what you want to read about. Also, please feel free to drop us a shout-out anytime. Thanks and good night!

Chow Wee

Day Two

Greetings from Terangganu! Today marks the second day of Project Orion II. Despite the hard work and flabbergastingly hot weather, the team managed to both meet the schedule for the day and have plenty of fun along the way. Breakfast was accompanied by an excellent sideshow of Yong Liang trying so very hard to snag a lamb. Most impressively, after some initial difficulty, our resident Dr. Dolittle succeeded in what we were sure would be an impossible task.


After breakfast, we headed over to one of the villager's house to help repaint it. We were supposed to transform what was an ordinary-looking house into a brilliant purplish wonder; a high calling seeing as how many of us seldom engage in such tasks. Below, you will find a 'before' shot of the house.


The painting was divided into two stages. First, we had to apply the white undercoat. That took the entire morning. Next, we had to put on the finishing coat of purple and that, took from lunch till the early evening. What is troubling is that the house we painted today was supposedly one of the smaller abodes and tomorrow, we'll be looking at painting a bigger house. Stay tuned to see how the team fares on day three.


Nonetheless, the hard work was certainly worth it. Not only did the house look much nicer aesthetically, the owners of the place were genuinely pleased with what we had done. To see the smiles on their faces as they tried to convey their thanks to us made all the effort and trouble worth it. As you can see from the 'after' picture below, the house does look much nicer and certainly a whole lot more striking.


And of course, we made sure to take a pretty group picture before going our way. In many ways, this first house meant alot to the team. Not only was it the first official task we've completed, it also marked the start of what will certainly be a challenging journey.


After dinner, the team was in for a pleasant surprise when we learned from the WWF staff that there were hatchlings due to be released. A couple of members in the team went along for the release and experienced something truly remarkable. Watching the little hatchlings (which were very much adorable) make their way towards the boundless ocean, everyone was reminded of the words one of the researchers told us; that statistically, only one in every thousand hatchlings survive to reach maturity. It was a poignant moment as we observed them inching towards the waves, silently hoping that at least a few of them make it to one day return to that very beach to lay its eggs. More importantly, the release highlighted the importance of turtle conservation to us all. With odds like that, they could definitely use all the help they can get.



Well then, that was it in a nutshell. The team has decided to end everyday's post with a word or phrase in Bahasa Melayu; just a little something we picked up along the way and would hopefully, peek your interest. And so the word of the day (do pardon any spelling errors for the Melayu phrases) is:

Merah Jambu - Pink

In addition, we will proudly keep everyone updated with what other animals Yong Liang has promised to and will catch over the many days. Tomorrow, he's going for the chicken. I personally think it's simply not going to happen but hopefully, he'll surprise us all again with his swift movements and deft touch.

Here's hoping tomorrow will be even better than today. See you all!

Chow Wee

Day One!

First things first, the team apologizes for what will be a lack of long, descriptive posts. Due to the fact that the stars must seemingly align before we get a proper internet signal, it seems loading many images is simply out of the question.

Well then, today was Day 1 of the project! The team met eagerly in the morning at the Budget Terminal for our flight to Kuala Terengganu. High spirits abound as we quickly cleared our check-in and took the first step towards the successful completion of the project.

The airline that took us there was Firefly Airlines. Apparently, none of us have ever taken a commercial propeller plane before so that certainly was a new experience. Despite all the wise cracks about premature deaths, the flight was smooth enough and did the fine job of getting us to our destination.

In Terangganu, we eventually made our way to Kampung Mangkok; the site of the project. After that, it was a whole slew of project administration work to deal with such as the collection of our bicycles (the only mode of transport for the next 14 days), the setting up of our residential quarters (affectionately known as the Pink House) and heading out for an orientation ride of the area.

During the orientation trip, we also stopped by to visit the local Turtle Conservation Centre. There, we were guided on a tour of the centre and all managed to learn quite abit about the river terrapins. For example, difficulties such as convincing the villagers to sell the terrapin eggs to the centre were essentially explained to us. More importantly, it truly enlightened us on how hard such conservation work really is.

In addition, we also paid a visit to the hatchery along the beach. While there were no new hatchlings yet, we sincerely hope that we would see some (the locals assure us that we will) before the end of the trip. That is certainly something we are all looking very forward to.

Following that, it was a full day of sorting out the schedules for the coming days, meeting the locals and making sure our Pink House was well-stocked up. Dehydration and the hot weather aside, everyone agrees that the day has been most fruitful.

Now, I wish we could put up more pictures but as mentioned before, the internet is pretty crappy. As such, we can only ask for your understanding and patience as we seek to provide more updates and images tomorrow.

That's all for now. House-painting tomorrow and we should best get some rest. Till tomorrow!

Chow Wee

Recce Trip (7 - 9 June 2010)

The recce trip began with a 10-hour long ride to Kuala Terengganu on the 7th June. Sijie and I finally arrived at our destination in the morning and made our way to the Setiu Wetlands and Kampung Mangkuk. We were lucky enough to stay in a very decent accommodation called the 'Penarik Inn', which is situated in the heart of the kampung.

Thereafter, we hopped onto the bicycles we found at the inn and explored the surroundings. Kampung Mangkuk consists of many traditional malay wooden houses in clusters and other amenities like school and mosque. The people staying in this village are really friendly and affable. Sijie manged to catch a glimpse of some familiar faces that the previous team had worked with in Project Orion I.Although our main task is to conduct turtle conservation activities, we are also involved in the painting of some local houses (5 in total) and the pink house (also known as the house for the pewanis). The pewanis is a local group consists of women who are determined to improve the living conditions of the village. The activities they do include computer and English language classes to upgrade themselves, and also the production of the banana chips. The pink house is also a place where English night classes is being held for the local children. Oh, not to mention, we will be spending our precious nights in the pink house as well! (: It is beautiful and pretty spacious, and it comes along with a bigger than expected toilet. Below is one of the houses that we will be painting in this upcoming project.

I was indeed thrilled to see the turtle hatchery and real baby turtles crawling around during this recce trip. During the night on the second day, Sijie and I witnessed the releasing of baby turtles into the sea. The stars above us were spectacular and magnificent, and seeing the turtles made their way, little by little, really touched my heart. It is definitely a meaningful project, and I believe all of us are eager to embark on this fruitful journey. 26 June is our big day, and I hope to see everyone in great spirits at the airport! :D

Jia Wei

Last meeting before our journey starts!

Venue: Ishi Mura @ Jurong SAFRA.
Date: 18th June 2010
Time: 2045hrs - 2237hrs.

Discussion:
1) Update of successful recce trip to Setiu, Teregganu.
- 10 bicycles and 2 air pumps were purchased.
- All pre-ordered items will be sent to WWF house directly.

2) Logistics
- Yong Liang gave a final update on individual, department and our group's packing list.

3) Operations
- Activities will be planned for the Malaysian scouts in the primary school.
- Mural designs
- Teaching aids to be brought over.

4) First Aid
- Team insurance settled.
- Provide emergency contact list in Singapore to the participants' next-of-kin.

5) Others
- Name tags will be prepared so the villagers will not get confused with our names.
- Blog site to be up with immediately effect.

Search for our Mascot begins!

Right after we got back from Sentosa, Sijie suggested that we search for Build A Bear Workshop in Vivo City that makes soft toys before having lunch. However, the team was in for a surprise when the shop assistant told us that the 'turtle skin' is temporary out of stock island wide!

Next stop, Toys"R"Us! We combed the entire store for any sights of turtle but to no avail. Soon after, the team parted ways in Vivo City. On 17th June 2010, I decided to try my luck in Vivo City to search for any traces of turtle soft toys.

After half an hour of search, I finally found it in one of the shops on first floor. The turtle I bought was the second last piece. Lucky me!

Calvin Luo

Pre-event at Underwater World Singapore

In the early hours of the 6^th of June, 2010, the Project Orion II team found themselves at Underwater World Singapore (UWS) in order to participate in its pre-event portion of the Scouts of the World Voluntary Service Project component. What started as an uphill task to gather at pre-dawn hours in the morning turned into an unique experience through which all of us truly walked away with something learned and something gained.

Group photo with Professor Diong Cheong Hoong

The pre-event started with an informative and detailed lecture by Professor Diong Cheong Hoong from the National Institute of Education, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Science Education; a leading sea turtle researcher in Singapore. During the lecture, he touched on important topics that helped us to understand the subject of our conservation efforts so much better. Important information such as the migratory patterns of the sea turtles to the regional conservation efforts all provided valuable insights into sea turtle conservation work and the many barriers it faces. In addition, we were also provided with much practical advice, such as the identification and differentiation of turtle species, which would certainly help us out in the field. The odds are, anyone would probably hate to mistake a hawksbill turtle from a green turtle during the project.

Feeding the hawksbill and green turtles

After the lecture, the team received a guided tour by the kind staff at UWS. Apart from getting to feed the sea turtles (which was certainly fun), the team was also allowed to enter the quarantine area of the aquarium. This behind-the-scenes experience was one that few of us has ever had a chance to experience and it was certainly the highlight of the pre-event. Not only were we given a look at how the aquarium functioned behind all the glitz and glamour that is the face of UWS, we were also treated to the sight of young hawksbill turtles that arrived from Japan. Being able to come so close to them was indeed a thrill and a half. Additionally, we were also introduced to some of the other residents of UWS and treated to interesting stories: the turtle that wouldn’t eat until it received a good dose of sunlight. All in all, it was definitely an educational and enjoyable event.

Getting close to the young hawksbills from Japan

Perhaps what struck me most during the pre-event was the constant reminder of Ferdinand Foch’s quote, that ‘the most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire’. Passion and belief are perhaps the two main driving forces behind conservation work and those two traits were in abundance during the pre-event. From the staff at UWS who sacrificed their rest day to be with us to Professor Diong who came in specially to provide us with the lecture, everyone of them were dedicated to both the cause and to spreading the good word. It is the fruits of their labor that the Project Orion II team has truly inherited and experienced and hopefully, in our own small ways, we will be able to pass them on.

Chong Chow Wee

Ka Jun's Profile

Name: Tan Ka Jun
Unit: Cuon Scouts group
Occupation(s): Student in Singapore Polytechnic Diploma in Chemical Engineering, ASL in Cuon scout group
Hobbies: Nua-ing(Slacking), Working out, eating and doing personal research on sciences.

What are your aims for Project Orion II?
My aims for the project is for the project to be successful and to be able to make an impact on the people who are living there.

What is your purpose for taking up Project Orion II?
Firstly I want to be able to do what I can for the environment. Secondly, I want to set an example to my own unit and friends and thirdly I enjoy going on long expeditions and taking up challenges and hardships and pushing myself beyond what i can do (i'm sadist) :D

What services do you have to offer to save the environment?
Though i'm just one man i believe i can help the environment one plastic bag at a time and hopefully the rest will follow

What do you think about the environment currently?
I think the current environment is constantly being challenged and pushed to it's limits

What do you think should be done to minimize the damage our environment is facing?
I think other than looking at the usual practices of environmental protection, We should also look into using technology to help the environment. For example, by using hydroponics we would be able to save land space as well as obtain a higher yield of crops.

Jason Tan's profile

Name: Jason Tan

Unit: Southernwaves Sea Scout Group

Occupation(s): Rover Squire in Southerwaves Sea Scout Group

Hobbies: Swimming, Kayaking.

What are your aims for Project Orion II?

I aim to help who/whichever is in need of my help, with the best of my capabilities.

What is your purpose for taking up Project Orion II?

Knowing that Project Orion is a whole continuous line of projects on saving the turtles, I decided that I should also do my part in helping to save them.

What do you think about the environment currently?

I feel that the environment is deteriorating slowly from the doings of us humans. Be it little or huge, it is more of a long term effect which the environment faces. Everyone should do their part, in saving the environment which we live in.

What do you think should be done to minimize the damage our environment is facing?

I feel that everyone, knowingly or unknowingly are contributing to the pollution of the environment, be it either of the five different types of pollution, and that we should reflect on our own doings and see how we, ourselves can contribute to the minimizing of the damage to the environment.