From Kuala Selangor to...

..Gombak!

Yup, the ecology field trip didn't just end in Kuala Selangor. ged species. Family name: Dipterocarpaceae). Large, tall trees and the occasional swirly hanging creeper/rattan branches. Go further in the trail and you'll reach the Gombak stream, which is a pleasure to be at (with a few leeches usually). As usual, quick lunch there with the students (packed lunches - ours were self-bought/brought biscuits). Picture time!

Rattan series

Starring: Rattan branches

Keh leh fehs: Shen and Cheryl

Hug the rattan. Cheryl and the Shen.

Then came this picture that 'gik sei ngo' (Cantonese: literally translates to 'excites me to death' but no, it really means something like "utter unpleasant shock"). Initially, I thought the rattan looked quite nice, then I zoomed in and saw Shen -_- hahah

Spot the Cheryl

Fat Milipede series

Hello!

It was hard to get this guy to not move and expose his body. Thank Shen and the students for spotting this guy on the trail. Spent a good 15 minutes or so with him. hehe.

That's my fat index finger. Top section of my finger's ~ 1 inch (~2.6 cm)

This fella's a good 20 cm long

Boo!

(Dunno how long I spend korek-ing the leaves away to take a picture.. *gently gently*)

Wood
Tree trunk

Tree trunk by a tree trunk. The big "wall" behind that middle broken-holey trunk is the trunk of a large tree. A dipterocarp, so to speak.

See? The dipterocarp's anywhere between 20-35 m tall.
On the tree trunk..

Now, don't get no naughty ideas.

Ecdysis

"Ecdysis" - the process of shedding/moulting, is seen above as the full moult of a cicada was found on the tree. There actually were quite a number of these. We thought it was alive at first, till we looked real close and saw a lil hole on its back that revealed that it was but an empty shell. Actually, there was one found by a spiderweb that we can't be sure was an empty moult, or a cicada-sashimi sucked dry by a nasty arachnid (Spiders, of the order Arachnida, hence the term 'arachnid', do not usually consume their prey whole or 'eat' them. They usually pierce their prey with their sharp mouthparts known as 'chelicerae', before sucking out all its prey's juices. Liquid meals, yum.

Hello!

Masalah lens kotor -_-

Mushrooms (Basidiocarps)

From the top
And a failed picture from the side, bad focusing. Silly me.

Students hard at work (yea right). I remember this loop of a rattan branch. I took pictures of it as a year 1 field trip student, as a demo last year, and now I'm taking it yet again. Same angle too. haha

Twirly branch

I like all three of these pictures. I was supposed to post one. But I just can't choose. You decide.

Gombak Stream

Here we are, for lunch =p

*peeps*

Hmmm.... hehehehe

And that's our blonde jungle guru/lecturer, also known as Dr. Cathy.

Can you tell that he's in pain? It's okay Tajang *pat*

The series begins with the explorer, and so it ends with one.