A Fire Hazard At A Shopping Mall
"Oh, mum! That's a beautiful dress! Let's go take a look!" I pointed to one of the shops - Prom Nitez and exclaimed to my mother.
I was a sixteen-year-old girl who was preparing for my prom night. I would never want to go shopping with my mother, but for this important occasion, I definitely needed an assitant.
Lavishly decorated boutiques occupied the four-storey edifice and these shops merchandised luxurious designer apparel, collectible watches and precious jewellery. At the centre of the shopping mall, a fountain briefly stole shoppers' attention and admiration - a sculpted cupid was perched in the middle of the fountain and from its bow shot spurts of water; an apple-cheeked little girl, with her chin resting on open palms, gazed dreamily at the cupid, perhaps seeing herself in its delightful, cherubic face.
"Excuse me... Sorry... oops! Sorry!" We finally were able to jostle our way out of the crowd and enter Prom Nitez. I glanced at all the beautiful dresses hung on the racks. It was hard for me to choose! Luckily, the shop owner arranged the dresses according to their colours, so I headed for the 'Pink' section first - I love pink. I found the dress that was on display and without hesitation, I quickly grabbed it and headed for the fitting room.
As I was trying on the glittering, hot pink dress, I thought I smelled smoke. Worried, I called out to my mother, "Mum, did you smell smoke? I did. Do you think something happened?"
"Come on, it may just be another smoker smoking near us. That's all! Don't talk rubbish! Hurry get dressed."
BOOM! The sound of a loud explosion boomed across the whole shopping mall. The impact of it rocked the building. I was halfway zipping the dress' side zip but I stopped at the thought that something terrible had happened. Suddenly, I heard screams and shouts of shoppers filling the mall ground. "Get out of there! Hurry, Shermaine! There's a fire!" my mother shouted at me. Responding to my mother's warning, I dashed out of the fitting room and my mother, the shop owner and I (still in the unpaid dress) headed to the nearest exit.
However, the exit was packed with shoppers. Luckily, with the help of the security guard, he managed to evacuate the shoppers in an orderly manner. I held on to my mother's arm as tight as I could. We quickly went to the roadside with the other shoppers, as we were instructed to. The blaring sirens of the ambulances, police cars, civil defense and fire engines tore down the road of Bukit Timah as they headed to the shopping mall, in response to the emergency call. Everyone was at sixes and sevens. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped as I looked at the thick black smoke billowing out of the building. Within minutes, the whole third floor was engulfed with fiery tongues of fire. The flames licked the walls with a vengeance as they fluttered in the wind.
It was then I caught sight of a little girl, around an age of three, scanning around the sea of faces and weeping, "Mama... Mama... Where are you?" Upon seeing that, I ran up to her and carried her to where my mother was standing. We tried to console her as she continued looking frantically amongst the crowd, finding her mother.
Within minutes, everyone had safely exited the shopping mall and the fire fighters were trying to extinguish the fire. One of them climbed up their ladder and started using a lose hose to douse the fire. It was only after an hour before they managed to extinguish it. Everyone cheered at the sight of the 'saved' building.
As my mother and I were searching around us to help the toddler, we overheard a man explaining a man explaining to the police officers about the fire hazard, "There was a short circuit, I didn't know... I just smelled smoke but I could not figure out what it was... I... I was terrified too when my whole shop burst into flames..." he stammered. I looked at his attire and saw a 'Harvey Norman' word printed on it. Above it was a gold badge with the word 'Manager'. It was then I found out that the fire had started at Harvey Norman and no one was at fault. It was an accident as it was a short circuit.
"Oh," I mumbled to myself.
"My dear Mei Mei, are you alright?" a gentle voice came from behind. I turned and saw a lady, whose soft brown curls framed her almond-shaped face running towards us. The first thought that came to my mind was: she was the toddler's mother. The toddler ran towards her mother and hugged her. They kissed each other and thanked both my mother and I for helping her to take care of her daughter during the incident.
After the chaos, everyone went their forth ways and I had no choice but to head home instead. I looked at my outfit - I was still in my pink dress. My mother and I walked up to the salesgirl of Prom Nitez and said, "Hey, sorry. I'm still in the dress, so here's your money." My mother whipped out her wallet from her Prada handbag and paid $115 for the dress.
~End~
posted by Shermaine Lau @ 5:20 AM
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传说古时候，印度有个凶残的国王。这个国王很喜欢杀人，使许多老百姓的生活十分痛苦。当时老百姓不知如何反抗他，只好向天神求救。天神知道人间有这么一个可恶的国王，便派了一名勇士把国王杀掉。国王死了，人们非常高兴，便点着火把开始手舞足蹈，热烈地欢庆。
这就是屠妖节的来源。为此，每年的屠妖节，印度同胞把家里打扫得干干净净，并点上油灯庆祝，感谢天神除掉可恶的国王。油灯为人们带来了光明，因此屠妖节也称为灯节。
posted by Shermaine Lau @ 1:51 AM
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posted by Shermaine Lau @ 7:13 PM
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posted by Shermaine Lau @ 5:34 PM
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Able to appear as venomous sole, sea snakes, lion fish, jellyfish and sea anemones, what other animal could this be? Well, this Mimic Octupus which can grow up to two feet has white and brown stipes covering its body. With its amazingly flexible body, it is able to perform its amazing contortion acts.
Bats
This mammal is able to hear frequencies between 3000 and 120 000 Hz. Using their sense of echolocation, they are able to find food (insects) up to 18 feet away and also get information about the type of insect. It is also possible for them to detect warmth of an animal from about 16 cm away using its "nose-leaf".
Polar Bears
Being the largest predators on land , they are the largest of all bears. This beautiful white mammal can swim up to 160 kilometres at one time! They use their large front paws to propel themselves through the water and steer using their back legs. They have fur and skin to help them absorb sunlight for warmth as well. They usually live along shores and on sea ice in the icy cold Arctic. They would only start moving back towards shore when the warm weather had melted the ice. Male polar bears can grow up to 3 metre in length and weigh between 363 and 771 kilograms; whereas the females often weigh between 227 and 272 kilograms. After reading this, you should know how big there are right?
River Otters
These playful creatures know how to slide, wrestle, somersault and many more, they certainly know how to play! These energetic aquatic animal live along rivers and near streams and lakes. They also prefer wetlands, such as marshes. The underwater acrobats are able to stay underwater for up to four minutes, before coming to the surface to take a deep breath. The unique thing about them is that they close their ears and nostrils when they dive, in order to keep water out. Their main diet is basically fish, which they hunt for skillfully, underwater. Otters prefer staying in the water but they do come out on land as well, usually when they are searching for mates. As they travelled on land, they could even make it fun and enjoyable as well! Check this out: after running a few steps, they would slide on their bellies which can be as long as 6 metres and reach a speed of 29 kilometres per hour. Wow, that's so cute!
Stingray
You might think that stingrays do not look like a fish with their wide, flat bodies, but they are. They are related to sharks, in the way that they do not have bones. They have broad fins that run the full length of their body, which gives them a flat, roundish shape. They move in a wavy motion that propels them through the water. Preys of stingrays includes clams, oysters, shrimps, crabs and mussels. Wow, they do eat a variety! The females give birth once a year, having 2 to 6 young at a time. The special thing about baby stingrays is that once they are given birth, they look like adults (they grow quite large and develop in their mothers' bodies) and are able to fend for themselves.
Finally, I'm done for this post. So, bye!
posted by Shermaine Lau @ 3:51 AM
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