Strawberry flowers

Life can be marvelous. I think most Singaporeans will only be able to see strawberry flowers in countries with temperate climates. Just imagine that you woke up one day and saw a strawberry flower in your garden, wouldn't it be marvelous? Yes, I see them now in my balcony.

Strawberry flower

Strawberry flowers with 5- and 6-petals

Strawberry flowers with 5- and 6-petals

I have couple of strawberry plants in this tropical climate of Singapore. I suspect that the strawberry plants came from Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. They are quite easy to plant and take care of and very tolerant of our hot and warm climates.

When I bought them, the plants were under stress and the strawberries started to ripen. Some berries were not even pollinated and turned black. The smaller strawberries did not grow bigger and started to ripen.

Strawberry fruit blacken

Some strawberries were quite normal and the size was just right. Some strawberries were deformed and they were probably not pollinated properly.

Growing grapes in Singapore

Life can be marvelous! Growing grapes in Singapore is quite an interesting topic. Many Singaporeans will say that it is mission impossible because the weather here in Singapore is humid and hot. But if you do some researches on the internet, you will realise that grapes need many hours of direct sunlight to grow, sweeten and then ripe.

The hot and sunny weather is a key ingredient for growing grapes and that makes Singapore a great place to grow grapes. There is one Singapore staying in Yishun growing grapes along his HDB corridor. He joked that his friend said why he hanged fake grapes on the trellis!

I often visit World Farm or Hua Hng at Bah Soon Pah Road. Sometimes, if you are lucky, the World Farm might have exotic plants, flowers and fruit trees available for sales.

Recently, a blogger mentioned in his SG My Life is Good that he saw many pots of grapevines at World Farm. I was exciting as I was looking for one for some times. I quickly went to the World Farm and luckily there were about 5 pots left. I bought three pots back and hopefully in a couple of years, I will be able to have grapes at my balcony.

That is why life can be marvelous! You don't have to leave in temperate countries in order to grow grapes. If I'm successful, maybe I can grow it in a farm in Singapore?

My balcony is not big, I read that I need to build a trellis for the grapevine to climb. I'm going to DIY a trellis using materials recommended by SG My Life is Good. He had built two versions and it is very interesting. The materials can be bought from World Farm and also Daiso (every item @ $2).

My trellis will be small. Oh, I have three pots of grapes and that will take up a lot of space.

I realised that the earth's position relative to the Sun rays has changed a little. Now, my balcony is not getting any direct sunlight. The sun rays just missed my balcony. I think from March onwards, I will not be getting direct sunlight. I think the sun rays will only land onto my balcony during September period. So, from March to August, there will be no direct sunlight and from September to February, I will have plenty of direct sunlight. I hope the grapevine will continue to grow even without direct sunlight and by September, when there is plenty of direct sunlight, the grapes can flower and bear fruits.

Some bloggers or forumers are saying that the grapes need to be pruned during the first year and will not bear fruits. I don't know how since I have not grown it before and I cannot find information on people from the tropics that had grown grapes and had shown them on the internet. As I have three pots, I think I will use one pot to test the pruning as well as trellis. If they are successful, I can then duplicate the growing process on the other two pots.

Grapes

Another thing that I'm going to try is to propagate the grapevines. When I prune the grapevine, I can also plant the cuttings and see whether they will grow. It will be exciting also to multiply the grapevine and share with my friends and relatives.

Identity of the plant and flower solved! Portulaca grandiflora

I have asked for the identification of flower and plant in my blog. The mystery has been solved. Thanks to the forumers in the Green Culture Singapore. They are able to quickly identify the plant and flower within a few hours after I posted to the forum. This is very efficient and quick. I have been struggling to search for the name for the past one month. The mystery was solved within a day.

The answer is Portulaca grandiflora or Moss rose. Some forumers said it is Japanese rose. But I think the closest match is Portulaca grandiflora.

River Safari Singapore Kai Kai @ Giant Panda Forest

I think I have visited the River Safari Singapore for more than 3 times since last year. This is because I have free unlimited complimentary pass for 4 persons. Yesterday, I was at the River Safari Singapore. It was sunny in the morning and early afternoon. However, it started raining cats and dogs at around 3pm. Luckily for me, River Safari is mostly sheltered and you will not be caught in the rain.

I was at the Giant Panda Forest at around 2.30pm. Kai Kai and Jia Jia were eating at that moment. They are in separate habitats and they will be allowed to see each other probably during the mating year (when they are 5 years old). It was a good time to visit them yesterday as I could get very close up view of them eating bamboo...

Kai Kai eating bamboo

Another view of Kai Kai

Here is the video of Kai Kai eating...

http://youtu.be/V8F_22mHDkY

Raspberry Pi - XBMC box

Sometimes you hear people mentioning raspberry Pi, it isn't the pie that you can eat but the Pi that is a mini computer. I bought the Pi in 2013 and I have been using it since though not everyday. I have since bought heat sinks and new casing. I have bought Bluetooth adapter but it was not working for the Openelec XBMC software. I think the adapter works in raspbian environment but not XBMC. The intention is to use Bluetooth headphone or speakers while watching movies.

I have recommended this Pi to couple of friends and they bought it without regrets. Now there is an improved version which is using microSD card and has 4 USB ports instead of two in my version. It is the Model B+. I will wait till the new Pi is stable and most softwares for the B+ have been updated before buying one. It is cheap and will only set me back by S$60. 

My Raspberry Pi

Hunting for iPhone 6 Gold 64gb

I have been hunting for an iPhone 6 gold 64gb or 128gb for more than one month. I'm on a yearly handset upgrade contract with SingTel and in November, I can upgrade my iPhone 5S (which is still very new and in mint condition) to an iPhone 6. However, it is always sold out in the SingTel stores and I cannot lay my hands on one.

Yesterday, I was on half day leave and happened to pass by the SingTel shop in Bugis Junction. I knew that I could get one that day. As I approached the shop, I could see a white sticker standing out from a sea of reds. It was the available sticker on the Apple iPhone & iPad update board at the information counter. It showed that iPhone 6 gold 64gb available. I quickly jumped in line and asked for the queue and the iPhone 6 slip. The counter staff told me that the iPhone 6 slip is very important and must hold tightly to it as if the slip is lost, they cannot sell me the iPhone 6.

One guy was still deciding whether he wanted to get the gold version and in a few minutes, the iPhone 6 gold 64gb was sold out. He must be kicking himself then.

I asked the counter staff about the iPhone 6 stocks. She said that Apple only allocated 30 sets today and arrived at only in the afternoon. She said I was lucky to pass by and grab the last few sets. When the lady was showing me the iPhone 6, there were onlookers who were late and envying my new iPhone 6... A smile on my face... yes, I got the last one...

Well, if you want to get the iPhone 6, you probably have to go to the store at around 4pm and grab the slip from the counter. Then, you will be able to get the phone. If not, you probably have to wait till Year 2015 to get one. Now, I have to order the casing and screen protector from Qoo10. Yesterday night, I ordered the casing and screen protector which set me back by S$6.25. This is cheap compare to the one selling outside which may set you back by S$15.

Do drop me your experience in hunting for an iPhone...

Tillandsia Ionantha a.k.a. Air Plant

My air plants are growing well. They grow very slowly and you need to have a lot of patience when keeping air plant. I have three air plants that I have separated them from the mother plant. Life can be marvellous right? From one mother plant, we can get many baby plants from it. But you need to have the skill and experience to separate them properly from the mother plant without damaging them.

They are very delicate and when you first separated them from the mother plant, you will notice a lot of leaves dropping from the baby plant's base. Do not be tempted to remove them further. Just keep your hands away and place them in the bottle opening as shown below. In this way, you will not damage the air plant and there will be good air draft and circulation from the plant and the base area. Note that the air plant is very sensitive to moisture staying too long in the base area. This will cause the base to rot and slowly the air plant will die away. Make sure that you give the air plants a couple of hours to dry out completely before you place them in their enclosed container. So, if you use the same bottle that I use, the air plants will dry out completely in an hour or so.

Air plant in the bottle opening

Air plant in the bottle opening