52 Merdeka Day...

Folks, today Malaysia celebrate it 52th years of Independence. It was on August 31, 1957 that Malaya [now Malaysia] gained its independence for Britain after been colonized for some 500 years. Starting from the Portuguese in 1511, then Dutch, the Portuguese again, then the British until the Second World War when the country was occupied by the Japanese. After the Japanese surrendered in 1945 it was ruled for 14 days by the Communists before the British came back and continue to rule [Malaya] Malaysia until August 31, 1957. Merdeka! Have a nice day.

Of Okra @ Bendi or Lady finger...

In Malaysia and some other part of Asia this vegetable is known as Bendi or Lady Finger whereas in the West it is commonly known as Okra. It is one of the unique vegetable that is either you loved it or you don't; don't probably because of it stickiness. Cook or steam properly it would turn out to be a really tasty vegetable. Add it whole in a Fish Curry it would gives a distinct flavor to that curry that no other vegetable could. Chopped it up and fry it crisp in oil, it made great add on when eating rice or you just chopped it and fried like you did with the other vegetables, it would taste just as good. In fact this one vegetable could be use in so many ways to wet one appetite. I love it when it is added into a Fish Curry. It does not go well with a Meat Curry though. A simple way to enjoy this vegetable is just to boil it for a short while and eats it as a dip with sauce or Sambal Belacan [Shrimp Paste Sauce] to go with white rice. So folks try out this wonder of a vegetable that could be easily grown even in pots. The Okra is an old vegetable that has been with us since time immemorial. Above is the image of young Okra that grows in our garden with a little green bug squatting on it. I took the above images using the macro lens and sharing it here for all to enjoy. Have a nice day.

[Click image to enlarge]

Breaking of fast @ Buka Puasa...

Folks on the first day [August 22] of fasting in this month of Ramadan, the whole family, the kids, the grand kids and the son in law was at our home to break the fast [iftar] together. In our language it is refer to as the Buka Puasa. So as usual when the whole family are here grandma would prepare more foods and other spreads for that evening event. It was really nice to have all the three generations of us enjoying the foods together in the true spirit of Ramadan. Above are the spreads at the table on that day.

Before starting to enjoy the meal little Azib, our youngest grandson decided to lead the saying of a short prayer [doa] as seen in this image.

Have a nice day and do enjoy the Ramadan.

Wild fruits @ Janda Baik...

Folks, while wondering in the bushes at Janda Baik the other day I came across this wild fruits. At first glance it just look like flowers but on looking closer I saw that it is indeed a bunch of fruits. It look unique and when I took the picture using the macro lens, I saw on closeup that all the fruits has torn all over it. Even the stem has torn on it too. It look like it would be rather difficult for the bird or insect to eat it but as we often know that the animals and insects would always find a way to eat it. Well it was a really nice finding. This is the first time I saw such a fruits and do not know what this fruit is call. Perhaps someone out there could enlighten us with the name. It would surely add to our knowledge of the wild fruits/flowers. I am sharing the image here for all to enjoy. Have a nice day.[click on the image to enlarge]

Wonderland @ Janda Baik...

Just after eleven on Saturday morning we arrived at the farm of a family member; a retreat that I call Janda Baik. Situated beside a flowing river on one side and the green hills on the other side with lush greens everywhere one look; it does made an ideal place to spend the weekend away from the hustle bustle of city life. We was there last weekend to attend a family retreat of sort and had a picnic lunch with the other members of the family. A joyous day indeed.

Since it is not always that I get to this place where that are greens everywhere I decided to be more adventurous this time by getting lost in the bushes and do some photography of the floral and fauna. I took a slow walk around the bushes alongside the riverbank and feast my eyes with the wonder of nature that are aplenty everywhere I look. The tree roots, the bark of old trees, the creeper plants, the flying insects, the resilience bamboo trees, the ants and all kinds of floral and fauna are everywhere, simply countless. Then there is that thunderous roar of the river that kept reminding me to take a peep to see if there are any butterfly that often settled to drink on the sandy shore of the river or just to watch dragonfly playing its usual dance above those running water. The more I look around the more I began to notice things of beauty in nature's paradise. The bushes seem to glow with colorful leaves and flowers, turning the greens of the bushes into a kaleidoscope of colors. At this juncture the jungle is no longer neutral.

There are so many objects that one would want to photographs, so as not be taken up with so much confusing ideas that start building in my mind, I just let things goes and did not take any snap at that time, instead took the times to digest all the information as how best I could capture all those wonderful objects that seem to be everywhere I look. Mesmerized! I soon got lost of times. The whole area soon began to turn into a wonderland of sort in my mind. I was having fun and enjoying every seconds in that paradise. That peace and tranquility was soon disrupted by the noise of more cars arriving that brought me back to the real world, a different kind of world then the one that I had just been to. Getting out of the brief spell I walk out of the bushes to meet the others who had arrived for the get together.

As a Boy Scout during my school days I learned to watch nature at its best and this morning the whole area around the farm was mine to wander since the others has yet to arrived for that lunch get together. At a glance one would not notice much since in a way the jungle is always neutrals, everything seem to look green. But if one take a closer look especially with a camera one would see another world out there. A wonderland full of colors and activities. A fascinating world indeed. I brought my Macro Lens with me and managed to snaps many objects of beauty such as wild fruits, creeper plants, mushrooms, small flying insects, the decaying leaves and many other floral and fauna and of course the always busy ants that are everywhere. The more I look the more interesting the surrounding became, the old barks of the trees with parasite plants attached to it turning the dull gray color into a fresh look, so refreshing. After a while even the grass that I walked on began to shows its beauty in a multitude of colors as shown in the image above. Folks it was magic all over and I did enjoy that silence walk in the wonderland of nature with my camera. Have a nice day. [Please click on image to enlarge]

Of August and Me..

Folk, August is a special month to me for it was in this month that I was born. The year was 1939 and the date August 17. So accordingly to the year, month and date I am now seventy years old today. I am as healthy as ever and enjoying life as I goes along. With such a wonderful spouse, great kids and grand kids I am one happy man enjoying life in my golden years.

Last year I received a wonderful Birthday Card from my kids and grand kids. I believe the card is a collective project of the grand kids, five of them and from the look of it they must have done lots of thinking and times planning and getting it done, an elaborate one indeed; one of a kind that one could never get at the bookshop.

As you could see in the image above they do know what grandpa love to do at this juncture of his life and they did said it all in this wonderful collage of sort. I was extremely happy and trilled to get it and kept it as one of the special Birthday Card that I had ever had. So folk that is what living is all about and I am indeed happy to have such a wonderful family full of loves.

My advice to all those out there, enjoy life; do live in the present for the present would be with us but for a few seconds only and then it would be the past. The future we are yet to know and today is yesterday's future. So do live in the present and enjoy every seconds of it for it would soon be the past. The present is a gift and we all love gift, so do treasure it as we move along in life, for life is like that. Enjoy it for you are not going to travel that path again. Another thing folks; do gives love and be thankful for what you have got. Enjoy and Have a nice day.

Just take it easy...

Forget about the Haze and the H1N1 flu for awhile. Just enjoy this photo that I snap yesterday, someone's home away from home nearby our niece's farm in Janda Baik. Have a nice day.

Well spoken Tengku....

Folks this is a very important piece of advice from an experienced politician of our country. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s Speech at Melbourne University on August 9, 2009, Read on.

In harmony....

Above is an image of the Bougainvillea flower that blooms throughout the year in my front garden. This is one species of flower that does not produce any kind of smell at all but it does come in a multitude of colors. Since the flowers lasted for days, the blooms do make the garden colorful all the time. A part of my porch is covered with this flower that never ceased to bloom.

Give it a dose of fertilizer at a regular interval and watered it daily, this plant would blooms all the time. The image above shows the flower having a harmonious relationship with the insect as seen through the Macro Lens. The wonder of nature that continues to made our lives so very colorful. True as they say 'Flower is the keeper of our joy'. Have a nice day.

The mystic of Garlic...

Garlic, yes the garlic that we often took for granted and enjoys it when it is presence in our food. It is in fact the one ingredient the we Asian could not do without it in our food preparations. It is one of the species of the Onion family such as the onion, shallot, leek, and chive. Would that dish taste as good without this wonder of an ingredient of the Onion family? I think it would not be so. Although it is just one of the ingredients I would think that it does play a very significant and pertinent part in the fusion of creating such a tasty dish every times.

Saute it in a pan and you would get an instance aroma that no other anion would give. Unlike the other onions it does not have layers but instead it is just in bulbs that cling together by an outer layer of skin. The way garlic is used does have a different effect on the food. Chopped garlic tastes differently then crushed garlic. The mere introducing of garlic to a dish made it taste different, so in a way garlic does became sort of an integrating agent in the fusion of the other ingredients that made foods taste so good.

Garlic is more then for just an ingredient for cooking for it does have medicinal properties that are known for it various cures since ancient times. In the realms of the world of myth and superstition it is said to possess the power of eliminating the evil forces of the dark world.

Been such a special plants I thought that I would use it as an object of my Macro Photography project. Above is an image that I captured using the macro lens which turns out to be as great as the subject itself, the Garlic. Take a look again at the image above and I believe you would agree with me that somehow that image itself has an aura of mysticism.

Enjoy that image and do have a nice day.

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Just to remind....

Folks the haze is getting worst and no one is telling of the how and why that happens. Folks are getting sick, made worst by the H1N1 flu. When we first move to Ampang Jaya in 1974 the place was full of greens and the weather was beautiful. In the morning there would be mist all over and the weather was cool, where at time we had to put on a sweater. Now it is different where once there was the freshness of the mist; now the haze, although it look like the mist makes living rather uncomfortable. It rain for a while yesterday but it look like it has no effect on the weather, the haze has not gone, so folks it is best that we stay indoor as much as possible. The only way we could stay healthy. To balance that bleak news of our weather I am posting a green that grow in our front garden, the leaves of the wonderful plant, banana. Hope that it would bring some relieves to our hazy thinking. Have a nice day.

The glory of the setting Sun...

It is funny though that I never thought of this before. It is about the Sun. At both our home, the house in Ampang Jaya and the Condo at Pantai Putri in Malacca; both face the setting sun. That day when I saw the sunset in all its glory in front of our home in Ampang Jaya, it dawn in me that both the houses has the front facing the west and the setting sun. Throughout the year I could see the sun at a different position when setting. Yesterday it was on the northwest. In Ampang Jaya it is not easy to get a good shot of the setting sun because there are houses and tall buildings in front of our house. The above image shows the sun at just past seven fifteen in the evening. A magnificent glow as it faded away below the horizon. In Malacca I could watch it until it goes beyond the sea and disappeared.

I was born and bred on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and until I left Kuantan to work on the west coast, I only saw the rising sun and most of the time it rises just above the horizon on the China Sea, whereas the sunset was always ignored since on the east coast the setting sun is always around hills in some distance places. It was only when I start living on the west coast especially in Malacca that I get to watch the sunset onto the horizon at the sea off the Straits of Malacca. In Ampang Jaya, a suburban of Kuala Lumpur which is situated in the center of the country, the sunset and sunrise is different in that one does not see it rise or set like in Malacca or in Kuantan. Here it just appeared from hills and disappeared down the hills and buildings. Anyhow it is always nice to see the glow of the sun as it faded away in the evening. Especially so when it shows that amber red color as seen above is this shot of the setting sun in front of our home in Ampang Jaya. Have a nice day.

Amber....

It has been another gloomy day. Hope that this amber color flower would help in a small way to cheer everyone up. Have a nice day.

That Glorious Roses...

Folks it is the first day of August 2009. I just cannot say it is a great or a beautiful day simply because the weather outside is really not that good. The haze is back with a vengeance. The atmosphere too is as bad with many folks getting sick of that Flu. Many schools and colleges had to be closed so that students do not get sick. Anyway I hope that it would just passes by and life would return to normal again. Not to taken up with such a gloomy situation I am posting this images that is associated with a healthy living, the Roses.

Roses the one flower that we all loves for its elegance and mystic. It came in all shades of colors and sizes. Everyone loves it and it does radiate with love wherever it is placed. Elegant in vases as a deco in the house as well as bouquet presented as a gift. The above image was snap at our daughter's house nearby. Magnificent isn't it!

Cheer up folks for life is like that. Have a nice day.