Thursday, December 23, 2004

On the Island

I'm currently in Singapore. Yes, the island where the Great Monkey lives.

Went to the Orchard Road area today, hoping to pick up Ian Ridpath's Stars and Planets (illustrated by Wil Tirion) as part of my growing obsession with celestial bodies, the ABRSM Spectrum collection of contemporary works for solo piano, and the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (VCD). I could only find the second.

Swam a little this morning here at my uncle's condominium, where I'm staying. Back from the pool, I had a hot shower. It reminded my of Jon's blog on "Hot Showers" (you'd better believe it!). Well that's one more that I can add to my list of 'showers' I enjoy: meteor showers, petal showers, showers of rain, showers of light... and now, hot bathroom showers.

So what do I intend to do here, besides celebrate Christmas?

- visit the National Science Centre's Observatory
- go putting
- cycle at the East Coast Parkway
- get lost in the Esplanade Library
- meet Jon!

It's been a relatively productive visit so far (I arrived yesterday), speaking from a celestial standpoint. Saw Orion, Sirius of Canis Major, Procyon of Canis Minor, Castor and Pollux of Gemini, Saturn, Aldebaran and two other stars of Taurus, Capella of Auriga, and just tonight, the star Fomalhaut and the surface of the almost-full moon.

Surface lighting (artificial light from buildings etc) is a major bane (both in KL and here) to successful stargazing. Oh well, guess I'll have to put up with it until I can set up an observatory of sorts in Borneo...

It appears I'll be blogging less these few days, and enjoying myself here instead. So do expect some randomness in my online visits ;-)

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