Lean On Me

Last month our human noticed this dead tree with a split trunk and will look at it whenever remembered passing by.

There were times our human stood at the base and stared, wondering how it still stands when you can see through the split trunk above.

It was then our human realised the dead tree was leaning upright on the adjacent tree and now wondered how long it will hold.

Monkey Visit

We are experiencing daily rainy days as it is monsoon season now.

After morning walks, our human had to rid the mud stuck to the shoe soles. Sometimes our human will pick up a small twig to scrap the mud off but most time to shorten the cleaning process, our humanl just clap the two soles together though it does not clean as efficient.

You know there are times when you felt being watched. Our human looked up and saw these two inquisitive monkeys looking and then came lower down to have a closer look. The rest of the troop were further up the tree.

An amused fellow hiker walked over to ask what our human and the monkeys were chatting about.

On seeing that hiker coming nearer, the monkeys scampered up and quickly moved on to other trees.

Our human could not snap the whole troop using the cellphone but there were eight in this picture.

Can you see them?

Now, our human wonders if these monkeys recognise our human?

Chameleon Forest Dragon

Our human stopped immediately on hearing something scampering beside the path and looked around.

It was not easy to know what it was. Our human felt being watched and continued eyeing around while standing absolutely still.

And then saw it!

Our human whispered, "Hey, beautiful, I want to take your photo. Can you pose for me please?"

Previously down, it slowly curled its tail up.

Can you see it was also sizing up our human?

Split Tree Trunk

Many times we fail to notice things near or beside us.

Our human did not notice that this dead slightly tilted tree trunk beside the path has split. It was the perfect timing when the morning sun illuminated it that our human saw.

And as you can see the path is no easy walk as hikers normally look down instead of up. The path ahead is dim as sunlight do not penetrate the thick forest canopy.

As we are now experiencing daily heavy rainfall; our human will remember this spot, move a little slower and to look not only down at the path but up as well.

You may never know, a broken branch may hang delicately above and fall anytime.

Elusive Photo Subject

Our human has met and seen skinks during morning walks but they are difficult to photograph because they are so quick on their little short legs.

On hearing some soft scuffle on leaves, our human stood still and looked around.

When our human slowly took the cellphone out, that skink scurried off; our human's eyes followed. Many photos were taken; most were blur and this was the best of the lot.

Ten-Days' Tenant

Brother had to travel overseas for 10 days and left three 6-months' old kittens with our human.
At this age, felines are spunky and energetic. They kept our human very busy attending to their needs, cleaning as well as playing with them.

And they are absolute 'monkeys' as well!

Biotic Natural Resource Broom

Our human saw this male senior hiker sweeping fallen leaves on the slightly sloping ground to a corner and was intrigued by the small unusual broom he was holding.

He said he made it himself from fallen palm leaves. According to him, the broom sweeps well, even better than those purchased.

After sweeping, he would sit, listen to music on a mini radio while soaking in the green surroundings and fresh air.

The brown palm leaves on the ground were used to make the broom.

Star-Shaped Mushroom

This picture was taken a few months ago and our human has forgotten about it till some interesting fungi was sighted the last few days.

This Star-Shaped Mushroom was just beside the path next to a fallen rotting trunk.

Delicately Hanging!

Recent thunderstorms brought down many trees.
Our human saw this big broken branch and it looked like it was suspended in mid-air.

Wanting to show how big the branch was, our human placed the left hand as comparison and accidentally touched it softly.
That whole branch started swaying!
Our human quickly snapped this picture and ran off resulted in a rather blurred photo.

At a safe distance, our human stopped to see the picture to figure out how it was suspended.

Beautiful Monkeys/Langurs!

One early morning last week during the walk, our human was lucky to meet a troop of monkeys, probably a family.

These are dusky leaf monkeys, also known as Spectacled Langurs.

The brave one was in front while the others hid behind branches and leaves.

So happy to see them, our human stood still not moving a muscle and only looked up smiling (not grinning broadly for fear that it may be interpreted as a threat).

That brave one came down close to look, so close that our human could touch its long tail; still our human never moved.

It then leaped on to the next tree. One by one the rest of the troop leapt over our human sprinkling leaves, bits of bark and other stuff in the process.

Meeting them made our human's day!

Mirage!

Three people, inclusive of our human, reached the peak. The male hiker brought his wife who hikes occasionally.

After resting a while, his wife pointed and exclaimed, "monitor lizard!"

The man and our human jumped up immediately, turned to look at where her finger was pointed.

The man who has a laid-back character sauntered towards it.

Wanting to snap its photo, our human quickly whispered audibly not to frighten it. The man stopped in his tracks.

Not to spook that creature, our human started to approach cautiously moving sideways like a "crab" trying to hide and blend in with the adjacent tree trunks, ready to flee the second that creature moved.

Monitor lizards can run really fast!

A few minutes passed; it did not move. Our human and friends exchanged perplexed glances.

Decided to find out, our human and male hiker carefully crept towards it. Nearing it and upon realising what it was, both let out hearty laughs. He then told his wife, who was some distance away, that the monitor lizard's body was an exposed tree root above ground and its tail was a broken small branch brought down from the previous day's thunderstorm that fell on the right spot!

His wife laughed; the three laughed heartily together.

PS: This happened on Wednesday morning. It is good that we could laugh at our own silliness and it is better to be safe than sorry, always.

The Throne!

This is at the top of the hill (approximately 440 metres) which our human goes for daily morning walks.
Our human do not know but believed that it was probably assembled by one creative and playfully mischievous hiker.
Anyone care or brave enough to sit on this nature's 'throne'?

Avid Hiker Jack Russell

She started her first hike when she was three months' old; a tiny little thing then and was dot on by many hikers.

Now an adult, with her short muscular legs, she climbs with such ease putting many hikers to shame.

This is one of the many low steep slopes near the start of the hike with higher and steeper slopes as you ascend.

As you can see our little friend here received no help at all while humans grunted clambering up.

Our human has seen many hikers slip and fall here.

Ginger Cat and Black Cat Visitors

Two days ago there was loud feline wailings outside the house. Thinking it was the neighbours' cats fighting, our human decided to check and perhaps break up the fight.
It was between two unfamiliar strays, a completely black cat and a ginger cat outside in front of the gate. They broke up when our human repeatedly told them to 'go home'! 

Both cats had bald patches and injuries on their heads and necks.
The black cat left but not the ginger cat. It jumped up, sat on the parapet and eyed our human. Its eyes looked a bit weird; the left smaller than its right eye was probably injured by previous fights. It sauntered off after a short rest.
Both were not seen since.

Comfortably Resting?

On coming out from the nearest convenience store which is a short walking distance from the house, our human happened to look down and saw this...

...and wondered why this stray loves sleeping in the dustpan!

Eco-Friendly Directional Signage

This is an eco-friendly and most beautiful directional signage our human has ever seen.

Hope it stays on for a while without tropical thunderstorms wrecking it.

Meeting Spiny Turtle

On one morning walk during a short break while sipping water from the water bottle to wet the dry throat, from the corner of the eye, our human noticed some slow movement, immediately turned and look.
Never expecting this, the spiny turtle inched slowly towards our human.

It was probably hungry and asking for food.
One hiker ate a banana and threw the skin to which the turtle took a few bites.

Being a lacto-vegetarian, our human eat lots of greens and will bring some for it.

A Stray and A Caterpillar

Our human saw this brown female stray and fed it dog kibbles a few times.

This one time the stray was looking so intensely at the ground that our human simply had to slowly creep close to investigate. 

At first our human could not see it...

...until it moved.

The dog's nose is at top left corner of photo. Can you see it?

Sadly our human has not seen this stray lately and do not know what happened to it.

Tiniest!

This is the tiniest frog our human have ever seen (with left index fingernail for comparison).

It was on the path our human walked on.

You may ask how did our human notice it? Hiking alone in the forest, all senses and awareness must be turned on.

From the corner of the eye, our human saw a slight movement, immediately stopped, looked and saw this tiny frog.

The handphone was then slowly taken out from the waist pouch.

Not to spook it, without moving the legs, our human had to bend, stretch and contort the body all in slow motion just to snap this photo.

Twisted!

Vines climb, sometimes beautifully and artfully.
During morning walks, at times our human seek them out to appreciate their artistic climbs.

Tightly twisted like rope.

Beautiful loops.

An old vine covered with green lichen with our human's shoe for comparison. Our human saw this about 15 years ago and visits it off and on. It is off the path and our human is not telling where.

PS: Update on 'Lost Soul'!
On way home walking downhill, our human heard some noise behind and turned round. A pack of stray dogs was following. Among them, one dog had that 'Lost Soul' in his mouth. With that in his mouth, that dog trotted happily like he had the most treasured toy in the world. Our human wanted to capture that scene but by the time the handphone was taken out and camera mode switched on, 'Lost Soul' was no where to be seen.
Perhaps that dog could sense our human's intention and hid it!

Lost Soul?

On one morning walk, our human encountered this and wondered.

Some hiker lost his soul...oops, sole!

Now this is food for thought; why didn't that hiker turn back to retrieve it?

Mooncake

This kitty's name is Mooncake.

Our human realises why it is named so.

Look at that sweet round face and rotund body, just like a mooncake!

Notice those earnestly intent eyes, Mooncake must have seen a bird flying low nearby...

...and meowed in frustration when it realised it was beyond its capability to reach it.

Do you think Mooncake needs to go on a diet?

Mooncake lives in Toronto and belongs to our human's nephew.

Hardworking Beetle

Our human felt something small moving in front during morning walk, stopped immediately, looked around and saw this little beetle in the middle of the path hard at work struggling to move a round object larger than its body.
It was a dung beetle moving monkey dung.

Though it took some time, our human waited till that dung beetle slowly rolled the dung to the side of the path before continuing walking.
Our human felt lucky to have witnessed such show of effort, determination and perseverance.

Hiker Jack Russell

A friendly couple always bring their Jack Russell pet dog on their daily hikes.

Now eight, this little neutered female dog has been hiking since she was three months' old.

Using her short muscular legs, no rough terrain is impossible for her.

And she loves fresh cool clean water which she must stop to enjoy whenever there is one.

Just look at that blissful face soaking in the water from this little waterfall and feel her happiness!

Small Foot or Big Mango?

That's right! This is our human's foot used here as a comparison to the mango beside it.

A friend had a mango tree in the garden and gifted our human one.
Our human simply could not resist and took this comparison picture.
Is our human foot small or that mango huge? (It took our human a few days to consume that mango.)
That mango tree must have absorbed tons of fruiting growth fertilisers!

Morning Sun

Walking through tropical rainforest sometimes is scary as the thick layer of canopy trees blocks out light. 

But when the sun hits it at a certain angle, it is beautiful!

Look at that morning sun glow and we have not reached the rainforest yet.

It is not often that the morning sun's rays penetrate through to light up the path.

Though the path is bright and beautiful, we still have to see where we put our feet to avoid the path's obstacles and keep our ears open to listen as we do not know when or what wildlife may appear.

Eyeball to Eyeball

Our human heard and felt soft quick movements two feet in front on a recent early morning walk, and immediately stopped.

That creature climbed up the nearest tree beside the path.

Same colour as the tree trunk, this iguana perched there and eyeballed our human!

Our human slowly took out the mobile phone to capture that look. 

Under the canopy of the tropical rainforest, sunlight could not fully penetrate to light up the path and not wanting to use the camera flash, the picture is slightly blur.

Big Leaf

On one of the daily morning walks, our human saw this big leaf of a wild yam plant on the side of the path.

Wild yam plants are not found in this part but at another area. It is possible that a hiker used that leaf as an umbrella shield from the rain.

Our human's new hiking shoe here act as a comparison to how big the leaf was. The old hiking shoes lug soles were worn down and there was a crack.

Fattened before Going Home!

Once she recovered from anesthesia, her appetite was good.

Perhaps our human cheated a bit by giving her chicken pouch cat food with antibiotic pill stuffed in for her first meal every day. Each time she licked the plate clean. Kibbles was then given later which she finished as well.

Towards the end of her stay, her abdomen became plump!

Our human have not decided but may visit her in a week or two.

Kitty Recovery

She made an excellent recovery and has gone home.

Few days before that, she was prancing around, took out all the late kitties' toys and playing with it.

She ate with gusto too and finished every bit of food, wet and kibbles.

Short-Term Kitty Tenant

A female stray cat made itself at home at the house porch of our human's brother. Not wanting it to give birth repeatedly, it was sent to be spayed.

Our human decided to help look after it for a week for the cat's recovery and converted the MeowRoom into a VIP Recovery Room.

a - food area

b - bed

c - litter

blue arrow - entrances to MeowYard blocked

green arrow - scratching pole

Top picture - still groggy after the operation

Middle picture - since e-collar is uncomfortable, our human took out old kitties' clothes, sew strings on side and tie to fit this scrawny cat

Bottom picture - the late fatties' clothes kept riding up, our human decided to diy another; took out some old socks and cut holes for the legs and butt.

Right now this kitty is eating well including taking her antibiotic pill and using the litter box.

Bitten!

Our human's hand was bandaged and could not blog.

Recovered a lot now but typing is slow as the fingers are still swollen and could not straighten nor bend to hold a fist.

At first our human thought this particular dog was having his morning walk with his owner. 

Few months passed, his owner was never seen and that dog with a collar became thinner; it then dawned on our human that it could be lost or abandoned. 

When the dog's ribs were visibly seen, our human decided to give it the two small sachets of wet food in the backpack. In a hurry to squeeze as fast and as much food, some got smeared on the hand.

He was so very, very hungry!

After being bitten, our human went straight to the doctor who wanted to stitch the wounds but our human opted for skin glue to close the wound.

Our human still feed that dog on chance meet with lots of dog biscuits and each time he finished every single biscuit.

It was heart-rending when our human saw that dog being chased and bullied by a pack of strays!

Careful Where You Place Your Feet!

On morning walks, our human prefer to alone so that survival instinct is easier to kick in with senses heightened.

There were times our human just stopped walking to look around.

This time a baby brown snake was just in front on the path.

Can you see it?

A Hungry Boar!

Because of encroaching developments, wildlife during morning walks is less and less seen. Our human prefer to walk alone and silently so as not to disturb any wildlife.
And was lucky to notice this extremely hungry boar foraging for food; it did not even lift its head.

Our human quickly moved on after taking this picture so as not to attract other hikers' attention to it.

This was where the stray was hiding, peering over the tree root in the previous post.

He's into Hiding!

Our human did not meet the 'regular' strays during morning walks lately and wondered what happened.

Later it was found out that someone set off firecrackers during the recent festivities and the loud noise frightened them.

Our human stood still and eyed all round trying hard to figure out where on earth it could possible hide and be out of view...

...when up went a rump and tail wagging in the air on seeing our human.

Of course, this is a shot not to be missed!

Can you spot it?

A Short Break

Our human is taking a short break from blogging and will be back in March.

Walking Into the Vortex

On weekdays every morning our human enjoy going for morning walk...

...it feels like you are about to enter the vortex to peace and serenity.