I’m not sure how many saplings were there but after an hour or so, the students managed to get the hang of it and started to pick up some speed and did some real work replanting the mangrove saplings. Though being kids, there were a few of them who played in the water more than they worked, LOL.

And when all the saplings were replanted, it was fun-time! These kids can really make something out of anything at all. Give them a log and a pool of water and here’s what they can do:

It was quite a fun day for the students, and hopefully they have a learned a little about mangroves and the roles that they play in our ecosystem. I can imagine the headache of trying to squeeze some information into a bunch of hyperactive kids who can’t sit still enough for the lesson to end, LOL. Or maybe Abang River (WWF-M staff stationed in Setiu) has a technique that can keep the students seated and not budge an inch during lessons? LOL.

It’s quite amazing that to these kids, going to the beach is almost as routine as eating dinner in the evenings. If the sea is calm enough for a swim, they will jump right into it, but if the waves are rough, they know that they are not supposed to go into the water and they would be happy to just walk along the beach, pick up useless stuff that are stranded on the beach such as broken toothbrush, broken slippers, broken plastic bottles :)

Last week as we were walking to the beach with the kids, I had a very funny conversation with 9-year-old Aman.

“Kak Chen, Kak Chen sembahyang tak?”

“Ya, saya sembahyang, tapi saya tak sembahyang lima kali sehari. Saya tak pergi masjid. Saya…” Before I could finish my sentence, he went, “HA?! Tak sembahyang lima kali?! Tak pergi masjid?!” in a very surprised way. You should have seen his face!

“Sebab Kak Chen pergi sembahyang di tokong. Orang Melayu sembahyang di masjid, orang Cina sembahyang di tokong dan orang India sembahyang di kuil, betul tak?” I asked him. But he just giggled at the explanation.

And I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be if we were all as colour-blind as Aman :)

You know, it’s pretty much like reading my blog in a feedreader :)

I have a feeling it will speed up the loading process, and hopefully keep you from tearing your hair especially when the wifi connection is not very stable (OK, it’s to keep me from pulling my own hair out).

In one of the forum threads, forumers were discussing the availability and the cleanliness of public toilets in India, and the thread quickly led to forumers sharing their toilet experiences.

It initially started as a few innocent questions:

“Are most of the toilets squat-down holes in the floor? How do you clean your… well… you know? Is there paper or water? If so how do you dry? How do you apply the water? What are toilets like on trains?”

And then a forumer came to the rescue:

“Squat toilets, no toilet paper. If you want to use toilet paper, you’ll have to carry it with you. Please do not put toilet paper into a squat toilet. Squat toilets were not designed for toilet paper and it clogs them. Throw the toilet paper into a trash can if there is one (rare) or carry ziplock baggies with you to deposit the used toilet paper in and throw it away as soon as you find a trash can. There is usually a tap with a bucket by the toilet. You can use that water to clean yourself, then you just air dry. Trains usually have Western toilets which empty straight onto the tracks. Many mid- to upper-range class homes/hotels/hostels have Western toilets, too.”

And another forumer explained the mechanics behind not using toilet paper after going to the toilet:

“Fill the small plastic cup with water from the faucet. With the right hand, pour the water on yourself at about the base of the spine, just above the “hoohah”, whilst cleaning with the fingers of the left hand. Refill the cup if you need more water. As has already been mentioned, wash your hands afterward.”

But of course, somebody also shared a link to Indax, a website that provides a more comprehensive guide to a “tissueless existence”:

“If you do feel adventurous, here are some basic tips. You’ll need about a litre of water. All Indian bathrooms have a little mug and a tap or a bucket of water. When you have finished, reach behind you and between your legs with your LEFT hand and, holding the full mug of water in your RIGHT hand, pour the water slowly into your left hand. You can pour from the front or the back – which ever feels most comfortable. Use the water in your cupped left hand to wash yourself. Repeat as many times as necessary. Air dry. When you are done, wash your hands well with soap.”

You know, the more I read, the more I laughed at the responses and how funny the thread has transpired into. In all honesty, this lack-of-public-toilet issue does put me off a little but at the same time, I am sooo looking forward to my first experience to Incredible India.

So yeah, come what may :D

So one day, I decided to tag along.

We took a short walk about 150m towards the beach, some of the younger kids cycled there but some others strolled along. As soon as we were about 20m from the sea, the boys started removing their T-shirts and were getting ready to jump into the water. And not long after, the girls followed suit :D

Kimi, the 7-year-old boy on the foreground in the picture above, is a very adorable kid. He knew he couldn’t swim very well (or maybe his parents/grandparents asked him not to go to the deeper waters) so he was seen playing only by the beach. His routine would be to run as fast as he could from the beach and jump into the water as the waves hit the beach. He would then get up, run back to the beach and repeat his “waves-breaking” act :D

The older kids would skin-dive a bit, and swim a bit but for the most part, they would just be playing in the water. Occassionally they would get onto the beach, roll on the sand, make some funny faces and then they would return to the sea.

While you think that they would enjoy themselves so much and forget about the time, these kids would surprise you by knowing when to get out of the water and go home in time for the maghrib prayers :D