Personal Project

One of the requirements for the MYP IB programme is to complete a Grade 10 Personal Project. This is a 6-month project that involves researching, writing, and creating a product that has individual meaning for each student. Last week was the presentation of these 100 projects by Simon and his classmates. There were projects about Qatari desert camps, the evolution of the Abaya, culturally different make-up application, DIY clothing, community development art, basketball skills. Students built remote controlled planes, wrote songs, made glass vases, presented health topics to children, trained falcons, wrote books, made photo albums, cooked international desserts, and photographed food.

Simon's project was called "The Art of Fly Fishing" and it began last summer. Simon has always been an enthusiastic fisherman but while in Nova Scotia he spent time with a family friend learning how to tie flies for fly fishing. This winter he studied the technique, wrote a research paper, and practiced making two flies: the Mickey Finn and the Minnow Muddler. Last Wednesday 200 people witnessed his display. Unfortunately, his broken finger impaired his ability to demonstrate his fly tying technique.

Fracture!

This weekend Simon was injured at basketball practice. This time it was not his usual ankle injury. We thought it was a "jammed finger". By definition a "jam" is when the ligament over the knuckle joint is damaged so that the knuckle bone dislocates. Sometimes the ligament is torn and the knuckle pops up through like a buttonhole; this sort of tear is called a "boutonniere" injury (French word for buttonhole). These are a very common hand injury among basketball players and we are quite familiar with the treatment. However Simon's finger looked much worse the following day.

A quick trip to the hospital determined that he had a fracture of his middle knuckle (the proximal interphalangeal joint, PIP). A small fragment of the bone has broken off and is barely hanging onto the joint. This bone chip will take two weeks to heal in a wood splint cast. Not a bad wait except that Simon and Max are scheduled to play at an international basketball tournament in Kuwait in 10 days........  

Singapore Orchids!

Lisa's Singapore highlight was a visit to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The property contains many smaller gardens.The Bamboo Garden has beautiful large and small bamboo trees. The Kitchen Garden grows peppers, ginger, cinnamon, garlic, sweet potatoe, ginger, tapioca, vanilla, black peppercorns, nutmeg. The Healing Garden has so many plants used for their medicinal properties. We spent 5 hours walking around the park and did not see every garden.

Of course the main attraction was the National Orchid Garden where research and beauty come together. The botanists in Singapore create new orchids every year. And it takes 4 years for one new species of orchid to be produced.

There is a special garden naming all newly hybrid orchids after a world leader. Princess Diana has an orchid named after her. There are also orchids for Prince William and Kate, Laura Bush, Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Angela Merkel, and Qatar's own Sheikha Moza.

Singapore Roller Coasters

We spent a day at Universal Studios at the request of Max and Simon. It was a sunny day and great fun! The park is smaller than its North American namesake but still had enough to keep us entertained for the day.


There were several large roller coasters (Battlestar Galactica, Revenge of the Mummies) but both boys agreed that the Transformers ride was the most intense and scary. It featured several movie screens and a cart that moved through dark spaces.

The park also had a number of shows and demonstrations. Our favourite was the 4D Shrek show inside the castle of Far Far Away. 

Singapore Chinese New Year

Today is the Chinese New Year and while we were in Singapore people were getting ready to celebrate. There were many displays and decorations announcing the Year of the Monkey.

Chinatown was filled with people buying gifts for their children and food items to share with visitors.

One popular food was sweet BBQ pork. It is sold in sheets that you break apart and eat as a snack. We sampled this and loved it!

Singapore is a fine city !

Singapore is known for its hefty fines for simple offenses. It is how they keep the city looking so clean. These signs are posted in public places.

Durians are a tropical fruit with a spiky outer shell. They are forbidden in public places because they have a very rank smell that lingers for a long time. Apparently they taste OK if you can get past the smell!

Probably the most famous fine is for chewing gum -- $1000. Gum is not sold in any store and the immigration card warns against bringing chewing gum into the country.

Singapore Vacation !

Last week we took our break week in Singapore. This was one of Lisa's travel dreams so we had five days of exploring a new city. Singapore is a very crowded, but clean and efficient country. It has a fabulous subway system that allowed us to get from one end to another in minutes. We visited Chinatown, Little India, and several landmarks.

At the waterfront Merlion Park we saw the iconic statue of Singapore - with the head of a lion and the tail of a fish.

One of the biggest challenges of Singapore is the humidity. It was 32 degrees Celsius most days and 80% humidity which made it more uncomfortable. But that didn't stop us from walking many kilometres each day. It did make us appreciate a rest stop and a cold drink! In Little India we enjoyed an iced Tea Tarik (tea elaborately mixed with sweetened condensed milk) and Roti Prata (tortilla-like bread served with curry sauce).

Another spectacular sight were the SuperTrees near the harbourfront. These manmade trees reach 50 metres into the sky and have ferns and tropical plants growing up the sides. These "vertical gardens" generate solar power and collect rainwater. The solar power is used to create a beautiful display of lights every evening. The rain water is used to hydrate the gardens on the harbourfront.