Why I Bought An Egg Incubator

I keep bantam chickens in my backyard. I have been keeping them for something like 24 years now.

Recently, I just bought myself an incubator (Note: a Lazada Malaysia affiliate link ). It wasn't an easy decision - I've always preferred letting my hens hatch eggs the natural way. There's something deeply satisfying about watching a broody hen patiently tend to her clutch, the way nature intended. But after losing three hens in the past six months and seeing a steady decline in hatching success, I finally hit panic mode. The uneven rooster-to-hen ratio (around 2:1) didn't help either.

Gone are the days when a single hatch would give me four or five healthy chicks per hen. That was 15 or 20 years ago. These days, I'm lucky if I get two chicks out of five or six eggs. At first, I wondered if something was wrong with my flock - were my hens getting older? Was there a hidden disease? But the more I thought about it, the more I kept coming back to one glaring change: the heat.

Extreme high temperatures have become much more frequent here, and I can't help but blame that for my hatching woes. Eggs are sensitive; too much heat can kill developing embryos or prevent fertilization altogether. My hens still go broody, but the results just aren't the same.

So, I caved and bought an incubator. It feels like admitting defeat in a way - like I'm stepping in where nature should handle things. But if climate extremes are the new normal, maybe a little backup isn't such a bad idea.

Ah Ngiew's Daughter?

It's very uncommon to find stray cats with long fur in my neighbourhood. In fact, I've never seen one before. Not just here, but in my entire life. So you can imagine my surprise when, on the morning of 28th March 2025, a tiny, long-furred kitten appeared on my front porch as if by magic. My first thought? Could this be Ah Ngiew's offspring?

The Uncanny Resemblance

Ah Ngiew, my male cat who disappeared six months ago, had distinct features, most notably, the extremely fine fur behind his neck, softer than the rest of his coat (a trait even his younger siblings didn't share). But this little kitten? The same.

Even the way she meows reminds me of Ah Ngiew's mother - those little audible breaks in her voice, the same hesitant, raspy tone.

I've always suspected that Ah Ngiew might have been with his own kittens when he vanished. After all, he'd always had a soft spot for his siblings when they were just days old, as can be seen in this video. He never returned last October, likely held captive - along with his mate and kittens - in a nearby house. Sometimes, I still hear seasonal male cat mating calls that sound just like his voice. This usually happens around 9 o'clock in the morning. To me, it's a sign: I still hope he'll come back to his real home one day. We all miss him, especially his bushy tail.

This kitten's age is about 6 month old, by the way, which ties in with the duration of Ah Ngiew's disappearance.

How Did This Kitten End Up Here?

The bigger question is: Why this kitten? Why my house?

Long-furred strays are rare here, so it's unlikely she was just wandering. Was she dumped? Perhaps because she's female, or because her colours aren't 'exotic' enough for someone's liking?

Or, was it fate that left her here?

What Now?

For now, this little mystery has curled up on my porch, and she's already claimed the place as her own. I bring her inside every night to keep her safe after a few tense confrontations with neighborhood cats in those first two days. Whether she stays forever or finds another home, she's already woven herself into our lives, reminding me of the strange, unseen connections between cats and the people who love them.

Has anything like this ever happened to you? A cat that seemed to appear out of nowhere, carrying a story you may never fully know?

We named her Ah Ngeow, by the way.

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Grub Dual-boot Installation - Windows 7/Linux Mint 22.1

I have been putting this off for way too long. But last month, I finally gathered enough courage to take the plunge: I installed Linux Mint 21.2 on my trusty (and slightly ancient) refurbished Lenovo M70e desktop.

Rebooting after the installation felt like waiting for the results of a high-stakes exam. Would it work? Would my computer explode into a cloud of smoke? Thankfully, none of the above happened. Everything went smoothly - no hiccups, no drama. I stuck to the default settings suggested by the installer for a dual-boot setup, and Linux Mint played nice with my existing Windows 7 installation.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. With Linux Mint 22.1 released earlier this year, I thought, "Why not? Let's upgrade!" Spoiler alert: things didn't go as smoothly as they did with version 21.2.

My 22" Phillips LCD Monitor Settings

My Dell 19" monitor has served me well. Unfortunately after 14 years, delamination is happening and I can see 'bubbles' around the sides of the monitor.

So out I went in search for a new monitor and I finally decided on the budget friendly Phillips 22" LCD monitor. Thanks to Lazada Malaysia (Note: a Lazada Malaysia affiliate link) for the discounts (with Laz coins), I paid Rm225.90 for it. This is the best price that I could find online at that time.

I have been using this 22" Phillips monitor for about a month and a half now, and overall, I am not disappointed. Let's be real. One of the most economical monitors I could find on the market, it delivers solid performance. I can get Full HD at 1920x1080 resolution on Linux Mint (version 21.2) and on Windows XP, all on my 14 year old PC via VGA connection. However, everything looks a little too small in Full HD on Windows XP. So I settled for 1440x900 resolution instead.

My Settings

Out of the box though, this monitor was *not* kind to my eyes. In fact, the initial experience was so uncomfortable that it took a whopping 12 hours for the eye strain and irritation to finally subside. Twelve hours!! I was starting to wonder if I needed to invest in a pair of blue-light-blocking goggles just to survive!

Thankfully, after some strategic tweaking and adjustments, I managed to find settings that transformed this eye-straining beast into a much more comfortable viewing companion.

Where Are You Ngiew?

It has been three long months since my beloved male cat, Ngiew, went missing on October 18, 2024, a month just shy of his second birthday. Ngiew is a gray Domestic Longhair cat with a bushy tail and stripes on his limbs. The longest he's ever been away before was about a week. So initially I didn't worry too much. He often spent time at the empty house across the street, hanging out with a female cat. It is always comforting to hear his cries from across the street when he is not at home.

But this time, there's no sign of him. I'm not sure if he's been taken in by someone, wandered off with other cats, or if his adventurous genes (his dad - and later his younger brother too - is also a neighbourhood wanderer) led him further than ever before.

GB1 GameBird 9M-GTR Spotted In Ipoh

First off, let me be clear - I am not a plane spotter. Plane spotting isn't something I've ever considered as a hobby. But something unusual happened in late November 2024 that grabbed my attention. A plane buzzed over my head, and its engine pitch and tone shifted dramatically from high to low, over and over again. This kind of sound was unlike anything I have ever heard in the skies above Ipoh.

Naturally, curiosity got the better of me. I stepped outside, looked up, and there it was: a plane performing aerobatics in the sky. It was looping, rolling, and zooming around with what seemed like effortless grace. My first thought?

"Who's flying that, and isn't it incredibly dangerous?"

This wasn't a one-time occurrence either. The plane returned repeatedly over the next few days, so often that I lost count. Sometimes it danced far off in the distance; other times, it roared directly overhead, close enough to make me stop whatever I was doing.

Finally, after several attempts, I managed to capture a few decent photo of the plane with my Canon SX530 HS superzoom camera. The markings on the fuselage read "9M-GTR." A quick Google search revealed the plane to be a GB1 GameBird with that very registration number.

Not only did I snap a photo, but I also recorded a short video of its aerobatics.

Filming a high-speed plane at such a great distance was no easy feat, and I've realised I need to polish my skills in capturing fast-moving objects overhead. But for a first attempt, I'd say it wasn't too shabby! The video was shot handheld through one of my upstairs south facing window.

Reflecting on the experience, I can't help but feel a newfound appreciation for the skill and precision it must take to fly like that. While plane spotting may not be my thing, this unexpected encounter definitely added some excitement to my week and gave me a story to share.

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Video Link - Oriental Honey-Buzzard (Tweedale Morph)

This is a follow up to my previous post on the Oriental Honey-Buzzard in my neighbourhood. I actually took a couple of videos of this bird and here is one of them that I have uploaded to my Youtube channel.

Sorry for the slight shakiness in the video as I only own a budget tripod. Video was taken with my Canon Powershot SX530HS by the way.

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Hope To See You Again Bani

It has been 3 months. The date July 14th 2024 to be exact. My male cat Bani has not been seen or heard of since then. I think it is safe to conclude now that he has left home and won't be coming back.

Good bye Bani. We are going to miss you. Pleasant journey, wherever you are going.

I hope to see you again one day.

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Oriental Honey-Buzzard - Tweedale Morph

Blyth's Hawk Eagle? That was my first thought. But no. After much digging, it turns out be be an Oriental Honey-Buzzard in what seems to be a Tweedale Morph. My lucky day.

This bird first flew onto the lamp post right in front of me while I was weeding out in my front yard on one wet Monday evening. It then flew onto my neighbour's roof some 25 feet up. I didn't pay much attention to it thinking that it was just paying a quick visit. Some 10 minutes later, it was still there. This prompted me to get some pictures of this bird - and later, some videos.

I first used my Canon EOS 800D camera. But I soon realised that I do not have the reach with my Canon EF-S 55-250mm lens. That's the longest lens that I have on my 800D. So I switch to my old Canon Powershot SX530HS. Now that's better (thus the picture above).

No doubt the Canon EOS 800D would give better picture quality. However, I just couldn't afford those long reaching birding lenses (those greater than 400mm lenses) as I do not have deep pockets. I just can't justify it for now.

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Flowering Again?

Some thing peculiar is happening. This has never happened before as far as I know.

The rambutan season here just ended about 2 weeks ago. In fact, there are still some rambutans on the two trees that I have, though they are not human edible anymore.

And last week, new flowers are blooming again! Not just on one but two trees.

Yes, we have had two rambutan seasons before within a year in the past. But normally, they are spaced out on a couple of months apart.

What's happening? What's triggering this phenomena?

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