Animals:Olm

Olm

 

  Some of you might think this animal is weird because of it's name, well? It is! This unusual amphibian is blind, and lives to 100 years!

  It can also go ten years at a stretch without food! Think about how many weight you can lose if you don't eat ANYTHING for 10 years!

  It lives in the subterranean waters of Italy, Croatia and Herzegovina, where it skeeves out the locals with its strange, human-like skin. Its nickname, in fact, is the “human fish”. Unlike most amphibians, the olm lives in the water for its whole life. Another oddity of the olm: its neoteric (larval) gills.

  This animal is most notable for its adaptations to a life of complete darkness in its underground habitat. It may be confusable with the axolotl. The olm's eyes are undeveloped, leaving it blind, while its other senses, particularly those of smell and hearing, are acutely developed. It also lacks any pigmentation in its skin. In contrast to most amphibians, the olm is entirely aquatic, and it eats, sleeps, and breeds underwater. It has 3 toes on its forelimbs, but 2 toes on its hind feet (Imagine walking and carrying out your daily routine with that!). It also exhibits neoteny, retaining larval characteristics like external gills into adulthood.

  Cave-dwelling animals have been prompted, among other adaptations, to develop and improve non-visual sensory systems in order to orient in and adapt to permanently dark habitats. (Like bats who uses echo-location.) The olm's sensory system is also adapted to life in the subterranean aquatic environment. Unable to use vision for orientation, the olm compensates with other senses, which are better developed than in amphibians living on the surface. It retains larval proportions, like a long, slender body and a large, flattened head, and is thus able to carry a larger number of sensory receptors. The front part of the olm's head carries sensitive chemo receptors, mechanoreceptors, and electro receptors that make up for his blindness (Wow, that sounds really important and difficult to understand).

  Well that's all for today! And stop complaining in class that you can't see! Or that you are clumsy with your fingers, because, this animal is blind and has only 3 fingers! Imagine yourself in it's shoes!

Animal: Cow

Cow

 I have decided to show you a little more about the animal among the other 11 animal zodiacs. It is...you guessed it...the cow! (Mooo!)

Cows are cattle, even though they are commonly referred to as cows. Cattle are domesticated ungulates, which are hoofed creatures, mostly mammals. Cattle is a very useful animal, not only can they plough carts and stuff, but their skin can be made into leather for clothes, they can produce milk, and don't forget, their meet and be made into BEEF! No offence Buddhists and Indians......

Cattle in India are honored in religious ceremonies and according to Vedic scripture they are to be treated with the same respect 'as one's mother' because of the milk they provide. Many Hindus also feel that at least it was economically wise to keep cattle for their milk rather than consume their flesh for one single meal.

And here is some interesting facts about our good friend, the cow!

The male counterpart of a cow is called bull and the offspring is known as a calf. (Wow! Who doesn’t know that?) A cow can climb up the stairs, but cannot climb down, this is because her knees cannot bend properly.

A cow gives milk for the first time, only after she gives birth to a calf. A cow produces around 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime. (Holy Cow!)

A cow stands up and sits down about 14 times a day. A cow that weighs 1000 pound can produce an average 10 tons of manure (fertilizers) every year. A cow usually spends 6-7 hours in day eating cud and around 8 hours on chewing it. Almost all the cows chew at least 50 times per minute. An average cow has more than 40,000 jaw movements in a day. Cows do not bite grass; rather they curl their tongue around it.

An average cow produces 30 lbs of urine and 65 lbs pounds of feces daily. (More than I produce in a week!) Cows can drink up to 35 gallons of water a day.

Cows have a single stomach, but four digestive compartments. Cows have almost total 360-degree panoramic vision. Cows have an acute sense of smell and can smell something up to 6 miles away. Cows produce around 90 percent of the milk in the world. Dairy cows can produce up to 125 lbs of saliva a day.

And since the Lunar New Year is nearing, I feel like enlightening people a bit more about this amazing animal zodiac : the cow. (Or as the Chinese call it, the Ox.) The Ox of Chinese Astrology is no bull in a china shop. Steadfast and solid, this powerful Sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. Oxen tend to be plodding and methodical; they approach projects in the step-by-step manner that serves them best, and they never lose sight of their goal. They are tireless workers who are detail-oriented and believe in doing things right the first time.

That's it for today guys, and remember when you are taking a bite off your medium rare steak, you are taking a chunk of a "mother" to some!

A moment spent alone doing something you enjoyed (Reading)

  Normal people usually do their interesting hobbies when they are bored, like watching television, playing soccer, and other activities, but for me? I read, you must think that I am just forging a fake blog entry, and you must think what kind of teen likes to read? Well? I do.

  That day, my brother was at a school camp and my sister went to school, and my parents decided to go shopping. When the door slammed shut, an eerie silence suddenly filled the house. I liked that silence.

  "I  can finally hear myself think!" I thought

  I then grabbed my newly bought book titled "Stormrage", and began entering the fantasy world of the book.

  I imagined myself as the main character, battling demons and fighting for justice, it might sound childish to you, but I did it. My imagination ran wild!

  But, how time flies so fast when you are doing what you love, I do not know. But after what felt like a minute that had passed, I suddenly felt it hard to see the tiny words on my book. I looked out of my window and found it hard for my eyes to focus. I strained my eyes to look at the clock and was shocked, what I had thought to be a passing dark cloud that caused the lack of light was actually the arrival of the sunset!

  With a sigh and the closing of my book, I got off my comfy chair and found that it was moist from my sweat, I still could not believe that I sat there for 4 long hours!

  Sadly, good things never last in this fast paced world, but at least I had a "moment" where I spent alone doing something that I enjoyed.

A special moment you enjoyed with your family: Barbecue!!!

  My maternal cousins just arrived on Monday!!! And yesterday, we just had our barbecue, which lasted to 1 AM!!! Now I am dead tired.
 
  Flashback time!!!! After school, I quickly rushed home to finish my homework quickly as I knew there would not be any time left after 6 o' clock, which I silently proclaimed it as "B-Day" (Yes, like WW2, ha ha)

  Since our barbecue was at Pasir Ris Park, which was 10 minutes drive from my house, and since WE were the ones who organised this barbecue in the first place, we had to reach there one hour and ten minutes earlier to start up the fire, which we failed at least 15 times before we succeeded due to the strong beach winds. But luckily, we had our aunt and uncle to help us. My aunt was the one who was in charge of bringing the food such as chicken thighs (my father request), packed spicy sting rays, corn, sweet potatoes, and nuggets and etc.

  During lunch, I purposely pretended to be full to sort of "starve" myself so that i could have a hearty meal at the barbecue, I am still giggling to myself now at that scene: 
  "Daniel, do you still want more rice?"

  "Er...no thanks,I'm really full now"

  So at about 7, all my other cousins have arrived and have all given their greetings to my maternal cousins (hmm....cousins greeting cousins) alright, now let's get back on track.

  At 8.30, everyone was quite full and we were all sitting down with a drink in our hands, alcohol for adults and sweet drinks for us!!! And at that point of time, the whole family began talking and we had alot of laughs, maybe because the adults were drunk, right there and then, I somehow felt proud to be in this perfect family, and if  I had a power to stop time, I would stop it there, in there perfect scene of happiness and peace.

  But all good things must come to an end, at about 1 in the morning, we began packing up still with tears in our eyes from the continuous laughter. In my short life so far, I have seen not much things, but of all of those experiences, this was the most special, it was my special moment with my dearest family members.

Acknowledgements for Train ride of Disgust

Acknowledgements for Train ride of Disgust
Guy picking nose picture:http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=guy%20digging%20nose&imgurl=http://thewifehatessports.com/wp-content/gallery/twhs-regular-features/guy-picks-his-nose.jpg&imgrefurl=http://thewifehatessports.com/2010/02/pick-your-knows-predict-super-bowl-xliv-here/&usg=__uqUNChG2-9PBVclOf1C5gJhcyWc=&h=590&w=393&sz=42&hl=en&sig2=KWxXne3-JBeH-B2Y9UDy-Q&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Dp8SohVcX7JX0M:&tbnh=135&tbnw=90&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dguy%2Bdigging%2Bnose%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=AHsxTfX_OYiGrAfrg4S4CA&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1&start=0#tbnid=Dp8SohVcX7JX0M&start=0

Disgusted face picutre:http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=disgusted%20face&imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2lt0lqPfJwrbdML7-_r3qXtTazyJv9O2-AEcxlWnNUjjM_nZOMmlHt9X9UXm7U8DRhuw4eu4uYIejyExEGwq3HqCXq9ezICogKd8skOET_09Y1yndsrKRYx5msZRn3HyNjJ3oqjBMT_Q/s400/disgusted+face.jpg&imgrefurl=http://flirrrtymeee.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html&usg=__6htEjxRJ154LTwN2CjsT0sf1xWQ=&h=333&w=305&sz=20&hl=en&sig2=8V_S_bjVv9JPghzp1fBVvg&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Ok_esH7386pooM:&tbnh=119&tbnw=109&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddisgusted%2Bface%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=i3oxTaa3DcforQfA0Pi0CA&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1&start=0#tbnid=Ok_esH7386pooM&start=1

Something unusual that happened that day (The train ride of Disgust)

Yesterday I was on my way home from school, going through my daily routine of returning home, 2 minutes walk to the bus stop, 5 minutes wait for the bus, 3 minutes walk to the MRT Station Platform, and 20 minutes wait of staring into blank space until I reach Pasir Ris Station. But, this time, it was different. At a corner of the train cabin, there stood a man. He was looking around surreptitiously, and as I peered closer, I saw drops of cold sweat trickle down his cheek as though he was anxious about something. Then suddenly after a point of time, the "go" signal might have popped in his mind and I think he did not notice me staring at him.  

  Then, he stuck his index finger into his nose, and I can swear, what happened next made me lose my appetite for lunch. He began twirling his finger in circles in his nose, and the expression on his face almost made me laugh. His eyebrows were curled up and his face was in a serious mood as though his "gold digging campaign" was a very important thing.

  After that, he retracted his now slimy finger from his nose and had a rather large piece of dried mucus on the tip on his finger. He then moved his head and eyed it at different angles as if it was some art piece by Da Vinci!

 

  Then he started rolling it into a ball, moving his index finger and thumb back and forth like a potter shaping wet clay. After a minute, he eyed his "masterpiece" with a satisfied smile.

  And then, he did the unthinkable. I was thinking "Oh god, no don't do it!!!" But at the end, he still did it. He flicked his little ball of utter disgust away from his finger, what makes it worse, is that it landed on an unsuspecting victim's bag. I thought there and then what a nasty surprise that student would find when he returns home and checks his bag.

  After staring in horror and utter disbelief for awhile, the train shook, showing my arrival at Pasir Ris Station. As I was on my way home from the station, I just could not get that incident of my mind.

I myself think that that is a disgusting and annoying act, as it is firstly, a mucus ball from another person!!! And that it is very unhygienic.

PS: I am still having goose bumps from that disgusting incident

PPS: I STILL CAN'T GET IT OFF MY MIND!!!