Plant Exchange

When garden enthusiasts meet, plants do the talking! That's what our dear patron of the Selangor and FT Gardening Society, Tan Sri Chong Hon Nyan desired when he hosted yet another of our regular yearly plant exchange in his house.

You can be assured that the warmth of the lovely couple greets you, accentuated by the red glow of the red canopy above our heads. Luck was on our side  too as the incessant rain of the past weeks kept away and the sun smiled on us.

I brought two plants with a wish of finding them new homes. Specially wanted  a happy soul to take home  the vitex trifolia or the simpleleaf chaste tree. The shrub sits under  my jacaranda tree and complements  nicely with its lavender flowers. The clusters of berries rectify  hormonal imbalances in females. I extolled its virtues to our ex- president, Arthur and he  bought it. All for a ringggit 5 tag. All plants sold go towards the Society's coffers.

As usual, I was on the lookout for some new plants. Imagine for only ringgit 28.00 spent, I got myself  a custard apple sapling, lemon basil, jasmine (cestrum nocturnum), a stem cutting of a genus of the monstera, a packet of lady finger seeds and a tub of home-made pickled fruits which is our patron's wife's speciality.

The owner who parted with her Night blooming jasmine (Lady of the Night) as she was moving from her condominium told me  to expect the knockout fragrance of the plant. And for the lingering fragrance that wafts in the air even after it is plucked.

Following the do's and don'ts of  a good plant exchange, the event  went smoothly. Nothing  littered the compound of our gracious patron as unsold plants were taken home by the owners. As usual, our patron treated  the members to a delightful lunch  of kari and prawn mee, kuay teow, popiah and ice kacang which we ate heartily.

Within those brief hours, we immersed ourselves talking about our nature pursuits, the behaviour of our garden plants, composting etc. There is so much to share and learn from each other. With such wonderful garden tales, there is nothing left to do but just to fall in love over and over again with plants. They really do speak to us. Our duty is to care for them.

Food and plants go  together well !

Lovely pendulous sprays of yellow flowers in  our patron's garden which is a trove of plants everywhere you look!

The lovely delicate flowers of the vitex trifolia

Small plants to suit  a balcony garden

Tall plants that need space.

The price tag of ringgit 5  doesn't set one back in the pocket!

A nursery was invited to sell some plants.

Bonus time -  on behalf of Arthur, our president Dr Tan handed out a packet of vermicompost and a soil mix each to every member.

Arthur showing us this plant which is said to have anti - cancer properties

I bought a stem cutting

Like my plant?

Making  choices

A wealth of knowledge  lies here!

Deepavali 2011

Our day started with a visit to the Sri Kandaswamy Kovil at Scott Road, Brickfields. A brighter, more colourful look greeted us as last year the temple was undergoing upgrading. Next we gathered at my brother -in - law's house  for a home - cooked vegetarian breakfast. Through the years, Priya  has been faithfully preparing  typical South Indian dishes for a family meal to begin our Deepavali celebration. This year she added 'pukeh' (pongal sweet rice ) to her delectable dishes which we ate from banana leaves from my garden.

The tempo upped when we gathered again  for a lunch gathering of friends to celebrate the festivity at our house. In fact the buzz already started a week earlier. Priya making sure all the essential ingredients for the sambar, chutneys and the various vegetables were bought. Our brass lamps, kuthu vilakku were polished. With delight, I hung the decorative pieces I bought from my wonderful holiday in Kerala.

As for me, negotiating the streets and shops of a bustling, crowded ' Little India' of Brickfields added to the heady preparations. I lost count of the kilos of food I bought. This year, my shopping list says 2 kilos of snake gourd 'coz we wanted  the podalanga as a special salad. My maid kept sending me off to buy more onions. Luckily she was the one crying with the onions whilst I lugged 9 kgs home! Ah yes, that's one of the secrets of assured taste besides the chef who mixes the spices expertly together for that special ooomph! She's still talking about the compliments she received from one and all. How my friends envy me!

As if to add to the excitement, my hubby and I received calls/smses  from friends as far as Perlis to say that I was on TV3 on a special Deepavali news segment.  Even the residents of  Cheshire Home excitedly  recall seeing my face! TV3 chanced to catch me, an early shopper buying kurtis at the Temple of Fine Arts. I didn't catch myself there, daren't use the word 'celebrity' (ooops, I just did!).

Needless to say, we had a wonderful time with friends and family. The day went by quickly. My blogging friend, Ee Lynn joined us after her usual dedicated work at the SPCA.

May the lights of Deepavali shine on all Malaysians for a happy household.

Wenchuan Earthquake

Seeing the remnants of the Wenchuan Earthquake at Xiankou Middle School,Yingxiu  was reality hitting rock - bottom. After the beauty  of Jiuzhaigou, we made a detour on a cold, grim day to witness the devastation wrought at one of many sites of a  natural disaster of massive magnitude. The Wenchuan Earthquake ( Wenchuan was the earthquake's epicentre), similarly known as the Great Sichuan Earthquake, 2008 registered 8.5 on the Richter scale. There were 149 - 284 major aftershocks with  reports of tremors reaching  faraway  to Beijing, Shanghai, Macau, India !

Here we were in this place where a key Middle High School of 1527 student and 133 teacher  population stood. Silence reigns here with the rubble remaining. The school bell will not ever ring again. Tourists like us  make a visit . For the locals, this is a grim daily reminder . A  5.12 Memorial Clock showing 2.28 pm when the quake happened was set up to remember the loved ones on that fateful day, May 12. Behind the Memorial, the 5 storey  building  was down to ground level. This tragedy was mourned by the nation and The State Council gave order for a 3 day national mourning on May 19, 2008.

The buildings collapsed in mountains of heaps and some near falling and cracked and standing are now relics. The huge clock shows 5.12. That's when disaster struck on May, 12th. All hell broke loose. It must have. On can imagine the students' desperate cries, how the teachers must have fought in vain to rescue them and fell victims themselves.

Coming from a country spared from natural disasters, it is quite easy to forget about natural calamities.The ruins we saw can surely touch anyone. It is no more about images that flashed on tv screens.

Tibetan images in Sichuan

Faces of Sichuan 2

Through the school gate, my hubby snapped this picture of these  eager, happy  boys. It looked like school was over. Kids were also seen sweeping  the compound, unsupervised, and doing a good job. We showed the lads the picture taken and they asked  for more! Alas, our group was moving on and we had to catch up.

Anyone for a ride on the yak? This beauty attracted the attention among a few of us who paid 10 yuan to hop on the animal. Cameras clicked. This hunk of meat with  the 2 curvy, piecing horns looked docile enough!

A little nippy in the air but  anything goes for their big day. They posed by the river where  there's a huge waterwheel . We were in ShangLi Ancient Town when  I caught sight of  the bride alighting from the car. 

They wanted to be photgraphed and how they just lined themselves up!  Whaddayya say about discipline??

Giving me his cheeky smile as he saw me turning the camera lens on him.  At Hailuogou Glacier Park, we wandered around , looking out but nary a chance to see THAT glacier.  Wholly blanketed by the fog. Well, another time...

A young  lady looking after a booth  selling  food snacks at the observation platform in Hailuogou Glacier Park.

A visitor to Hailuguo Glacier Park too.  

In the town area of  Hailuogou, this girl was curious and not camera shy. Such a lovely smile for strangers!

These kids were seen playing among kids ! ( the four footed kind)

Her gloves were blackish brown as she chipped away the kernel to reveal  the walnut inside.

It was proving to be futile to snap the waiters and waitresses in this hotel as they moved about to serve the guests. Until this lady posed for us upon special request after dinner was over. I specially wanted  a momento of the uniform as the hotel is named  Long March  International Hotel.