Gallimaufry#59

Just a gallimaufry of photos 📷

Cucumber flower

Mee Siam

Mee Siam, in Malay, translates as Siamese Noodle. This dish is believed to be of Malay origin — a local adaptation of an actual dish from Thailand when the neighbouring country was then known as Siam.

Look who greeted me this morning with her melodious singing!

Zebra dove

The call of a zebra dove (merbuk) is a series of soft, staccato cooing notes. In Southeast Asia, cooing competitions are held to find the merbuk with the winning voice.

Participants and bird owners awaiting the start of the zebra dove bird singing competition at the Kebun Baru Birdsinging Club in Singapore —  Reuters photo

Crucifix Crab (Charybdis feriatus)

The crucifix crab gets its name from the cross on its carapace. Legend has it that Saint Francis Xavier, a Jesuit priest, was sailing to Malacca from an Indonesian island circa 1546 when he was caught in a storm in the Straits of Malacca. In an attempt to quell the tempest, he dipped his crucifix into the raging waters and prayed to God. Miraculously, the sea became calm again. However, the crucifix slipped from his grip and fell into the sea. When St. Francis safely reached the shores of Malacca, a crab scuttled toward him, clutching the lost crucifix between its claws. The grateful priest retrieved his crucifix, blessed the crab, and a cross appeared on the crustacean's shell!

Apparently, this crab species is found in other regions like India, Indonesia, as far off as Japan and east Africa besides Malacca. These are the places St. Francis travelled to in his missions. Coincidence?

This fresco of the crab miracle is in the Jesuit church of Il Gesú in Rome

image credit - https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/

Statue of St. Francis Xavier

Take note of the missing right hand. In 1952, a statue of St. Francis was erected in front of the ruins of St. Paul's church in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of his sojourn in Malacca. A day after the statue was consecrated, a large casuarina tree fell on it, breaking off its right arm. Incidentally, the right forearm of St. Francis Xavier, which he used to bless and baptise the thousands of converts, was detached in 1614 and displayed in a silver reliquary at the main Jesuit church in Rome!

 Polling Day

Voters turned up in droves despite the rain