VISITING PORT MORESBY'S NATURE PARK ...

LAST Friday, I visited Port Moresby’s Nature Park.

In past years, it was known as Port Moresby’s Botanical Gardens and was looked after by the University of Papua New Guinea’s Waigani Campus, which is just adjacent to it to the east (and within the city).

Today, the Park it is managed as a business and the facilities have been upgraded.

There are at least two shops where you can buy snacks and drinks, one at the main entrance at the western end (next to the Port Moresby National High School) and the other from the eastern end (the UPNG side).

I heard that there is a souvenir shop too – just next to the main entrance.

Photo: The Grey Dorcopsis Wallaby having lunch in the PM Nature Park.

Parties can be hosted there in a number of locations which are equipped with barbeque facilities. (I will show you the fees in a photo later.)

Athletes and officials coming for the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby will see a bit of the natural flora and fauna of PNG if you take the time to visit the Park.

There are animals – tree kangaroos, cockatoos, parrots, hornbills and snakes, among others - kept there.

I will post pictures of some of them for you in the next couple of days.

 Photo: The shop at the eastern end with the board showing the fees charged. 

 Photo: The flora in Port Moresby Nature Park. 

Photo: A footbridge in Port Moresby Nature Park.  

Photo: A barbeque facility in the Port Moresby Nature Park. 

MASTERING A LANGUAGE LATE IN LIFE …

HELLOW. A new week starts tomorrow.
While viewing responses to a particular question posted in Quora (the Q&A social network) this evening, it was interesting to note a particular answer.

The Q had something like: “Is it too late for me that I am still struggling to do/get something right?” 

A particular response given listed people who became successful in their late 30s, 40s and 50s – including the founders of “WhatsApp”.

One that caught my attention was of a British grandmother who started learning Russian at 54 and received her PhD when she was 74 years old.

That is consolation indeed for anybody who wants to learn/try something new – a bit late in life.

About the lady: Dr Mary Hobson studied Russian at 54 so she could read the original version of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”.

Wikipedia says, at 62, she enrolled at London University.

She received her PhD when she was 74 – she did translations of a Russian author’s works as part of her doctoral thesis.

As of March 2014, Hobson, in her late 80s, continue to take on new products.

Dr Hobson’s story should be a morale booster for any of us learning a foreign language – French, Spanish, Japanese or Arabic.

May you all have a nice week.

POEM FOR THE WEEK: A BIRD I SAW

HI! I am back with a poem … and may fill in the weeks I missed in days to come.

I wrote this piece for the children’s magazine.

I started on it yesterday evening and completed it at 6.00pm today.

I have decided to sketch a pic to go with it.

Best wishes.

 

A SMALL BIRD I SAW

A small black bird I saw

It was flying awkwardly slow

And flying much too low

Oh, I could plainly see

It flew over the quiet sea

And slammed into a tree

It is silly, I thought

It might, oh, it could get caught

Boy, was the bird not taught?

But down came another

Almost the same but bigger

Oh it is its mother

It was then that I knew

It’s learning – it’s a babe new

Now its mum and it flew

 

ANOTHER MOTHER'S SONG: LA FEMME DE LA MER

THIS is the second song and is written in memory of my (late) mother who originates from a small island about 60km from the northern coast of PNG.

The verse of the song is written in PNG Tok Pisin and the chorus is in French.
(The photo of the sea below is of another place in the Pacific. For those who grew up on an island or near the coast, the sea always brings you memories and soothes you in unexplainable ways.)

LA FEMME DE LA MER

Mi bin silip, malolo i stap

Na wanpela driman em kam

Kisim tingting bilong mi …

Go bek gen long yu

Mi bin kirap hariap long bed

Na raitim dispela song

Bai mi singsing go long yu

Tingting gen long yu

Na ol arapela manmeri

Ken tingim mama blong ol

Long ol gutpela samting ol mekim

CH

Maman, la femme de la mer

Maman, cet chanson est pour toi

Maman, tu es notre chèr mere

Tes chansons sont ici encore

Tu es avec moi

TRANSLATION … THE WOMAN FROM THE SEA

I was sleeping, just resting

And a dream came to me

Took my thoughts

Back again to you

I got up quickly from the bed

And wrote this song

I will sing it to you

And think again of you

CH

Mother, the woman from the sea

Mother, this song is for you

Mother, you are our dear mother

Your songs are still here

You are with me