“All passengers please ensure that you have fasten your seat belt and remain at your seat at all times.” This is something that we often hear when the plane is going to take off. And when the plane takes off, it tends to be the time when you leave everything behind.

Colin was sitting on the right aisle so he managed to capture the view of the right wing of the air-plane and some of its track on the landing field before we take off.

Different view of the landing field and the one further is a landing field for planes that carry goods.

We are flying! At this latitude, we can still see the sea and its shore quite clearly.

Here is the view of the right wing when we were up in the sky.

This is the part that will open up like an animal’s jaw during take off and lading.

Colin has spotted some clouds. Let’s take a closer look.

This was how it looked like. It was shaped like a triangle. Bermuda Triangle, probably?!?

This one looked like waves in the sea.

This one looked like strong waves occuring in the sea. Interested in surfing, anyone? Surfing in the sky?!?

This one is splendid. If you didn’t know that they were actually clouds, what would you think this could be? I would say that it looked like snow. Do you agree?

More snow. And it was cold indeed…”out there”.

I think this one looked like an island in the middle of the sea. Any comments?

This picture reminds me of some Chinese fairy tales that I have read and seen before. The characters will ride on the clouds to travel around.

Sometimes, I feel that clouds in the sky is magnificient. They can come in many sizes and shapes. And they change rather quickly. When you look up and saw a rabbit, just a blink of an eye and the rabbit was gone. The clouds that formed the rabbit a while ago is now a tiger or other animals or something else depend on your imagination and how you look at them.

Hope that I could have the ability to ride on clouds like the fairy tales characters someday.

It is now towards the last few weeks of the dinosaur exhibition that has been held since April in Kuching. The last day will be on this 31st of December. There are lots to learn in this exhibition. Although not much dinosaurs are shown this time but it is still an enjoyable and interesting visit. I must say that the entry fee is truly reasonable and worth while!

Dinosaurs were prehistoric animals that lived on Earth approximately 230 million years ago. And they become extinct about 65 million years ago. I have always found dinosaurs very interesting and fascinating. They were once the living beings that dominated the world! I wonder how they ruled the world that time. Did they have a government or a system? How did they communicate with each other?

Dinosaur models with brief explanation.

Nowadays, dinosaurs have become topics of discussions, characters in movies, cartoons, games and so on. All these have broaden my imagination on how they lived a long time ago. I guess nobody can be really sure about their lives back then unless we can travel through time and see them for ourselves.

Dinosaur fossils. They are real, I think.

More dinosaur fossils.

Actually the paleontologists are doing an excellent job. Even though we do not see real dinosaurs moving around with our own eyes, but their researches are already bringing us back to the prehistory where we can’t possibly go anymore.

This is an interactive game for children and adults.

“May I have this dance with you?” said Dino.

Dino dance lets you stretch your body for a while if you are tired of walking around.

First, we met with a robotic Triceratops. As its name implies, there are buttons for visitors to press and see it moves.

The mighty robotic Triceratops.

Triceratops was a plant-eater. Its name is derived from the Greek, meaning “three-horned face”.

Another view of the robotic Triceratops.

It can move when the control buttons are pressed. You can compare this picture with the previous one to see its movement.

This is an Apatosaurus.

Apatosaurus is formerly known as Brontosaurus. It was also a plant-eater and it was one of the largest land animals that has ever existed. Its name is also derived from Greek, which means “deceptive lizard”.

Now, just take a look at this angry fellow…It’s better not to mess with him…

He…I must say…is the main attraction of the exhibition. Yes, indeed…He is the mighty T.rex, as in Tyrannosaurus rex. It is the main attraction possibly due to lots of movements and sounds being programmed to it and thus providing lots of visual and sound effects to the visitors. Many people stopped to take pictures or just to watch him. We took quite some pictures of him.

“I smell flesh…!” said T.rex.

Unlike the previous dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex is a meat-eater. It was known as one of the largest land predators.

“I smell flesh but I can’t move…Urghh…” cried T.rex.

Tyrannosaurus rex had large and powerful hindlimbs but their forelimbs were small. In fact, their forelimbs had only three fingers. However, they were unusually powerful for their size.

“I’m hungry!!!”

The front view of Tyrannosaurus rex.

It roars. They really did a good job on the visual and sound effect.

It is bending down.

Close-up of Tyrannosaurus rex.

Looks like real, isn’t it?

“Want a piece of me, huh?”

“You better leave before I change my mind, yound lad!”

The management also put up questions and answers and visual information about dinosaurs all around the exhibition field. I hope today’s blog gives you an apportunity to “visit” the exhibition as well. We asked the management and according to them, they will hold a similar exhibition in Kuala Lumpur with five more dinosaurs being exhibited next year.

Till we meet again, dinosaurs.

“Shoots are fresh new plant growth, they can include stems, flowering stems with flower buds, leaves. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop.” - Quoted from wikipedia.

In Tropical where there is no 4 seasons in a year, it’s totally different.  But we can create the spring season for the plant.  We can manually let the shoots come out just like in the spring season following by the great blooming.

From the picture you can see, there are no old leaves left.  Removing all of the leaves or prunning until leafless (removing the stem until no leaf) create the similar effect like winters.  Then about 1 month later the spring effect will come.  Usually it takes 2 to 5 leaves after the new shoots, then the whole plant will bloom.

The reason is because when you remove all the leaves, either manually by plucking or by the cold weather, it reduces the transpiration rate and thus reduces the needs of water.  At this time the plants are getting ready to show themselves off by having a great bloom.

But remember, not all plants allow you to remove all its leaves.  Some plants will leave you if you remove its leaves.  You can do an experiment by removing leaves on one of the branches first before removing all of the leaves.  If the new shoots is coming out and it blooms after removing the old leaves,  then you may try it on the whole plants.

These plants are called “Niu Zhuan Qian Kun” in Chinese.  It means Turning Your Luck.  I think it’s because of the curly leaves, that’s why the name was given.  I am not sure about its actual English name or the Scientific name.  If you know, please tell me ok?

I got limited stock for sales at RM6 per plant.  It’s about 15 cm in height.  The offer is until 31 December 2007.  The usual price is RM10, So quickly get one if you are interested.

If you take good care of this plant, it can grow as big as this and it grows continuously.  It will cost hundreds per plant with 2 feet in height.

This plant has a high tolerant of dryness.  If you forgot to water it, the leaves will turn soft.  In this condition, give water quickly before the leaves turn yellow and let it return to normal in a few hours or a few days time depending on its size.

This plant likes water a lot, you also don’t have to worry if you water it too much.  Actually the more water the better.

I suggest you get 2 pots of ”Niu Zhuan Qian Kun” then you can put one of them indoor and the other one outdoor.  In order to keep them healthy, you can swap them weekly.  You can put this plants beside a window, it requires a little bit of light but do not put it under direct sunlight, otherwise the leaves will turn yellow.

Get one now and turn your luck.  You won’t regret it.

Recently colinjong.com has changed a lot since it was just created.

I have added a section for educational games at the bottom corner on the right panel on this site. You can find a smaller size of this game there. It is rotated 2 to 4 times a week. There are 3 main subjecs for these games, English, Math, and Science. I got them from BBC BiteSize Revision.

Try it! Enjoy it! Love it! And come back for it!