Amazing tree

This tree is getting very common nowadays. The hardiness of this plant is simply amazing. You can see it growing out of roof, concrete crack of building or concrete fence.

We also have one growing from the highest point of a wall and we can't seem to destroy it!
On close examination, it has tremendously strong, thin and penetration root which can suck out any nutrient from the concrete wall. It also seems to be able to control the amount of water needed to withstand "long" drought... ie, a week without rain would mean that the wall is absolutely dry and yet, it has no effect on the plant. Does it mean that this plant actually absorb water moisture from the air? Whatever,  scientist should have a study on this plant. Perhaps, on day, we have vegetable growing on walls rather than in bed of soil!
Look at the above plant, the leaves are green and healthy even without fertiliser.

Mushroom

My friend, Eric, planted some mushroom for his own consumption. Seeing how mushroom grows is very interesting....
The underside of the mushroom.

Miracle fruit - Synsepalum dulcificum Daniell

Have you heard of a fruit that could make sour turns sweet? For example, after eating this fruit, lime actually tastes sweet! Meet this most unusual fruit or rather berry from my brother's farm in Limbang.
The berry is about 2cm long and it has a seed inside. The flesh is quite thin.It is very colourful when ripe. Otherwise, it is green in colour. So, I decided to ask mousie to test it out ...

... after a bite of this lime...

yak... very sour...

... then, we told her to eat a miracle berry and the same lime is now sweet!

Timothy also agreed that it was not sour. So, we heard about the miracle berry and now, we tried it... it is indeed true as claimed! It can turn sour into sweetness! Read more about it here.

Durian Feast

On Saturday, my family went to SabaOrchard (Lambir Green) to take pictures and also to eat durian! Lambir Green has 40 acres of fruit trees and is managed by a husband and wife team (Austin and Winni). I helped them to create their blog and I used some of the pictures here still with their blog name on.
Durians everywhere! We helped to pick durians ...
... and Austin busy serving us...
... and obviously mousie had a good time!
They also have mangosteen...

.. and rambutan, etc.

If you have not seen durian flower buds before...
In addition to durian, they also have flowers ... bunga kertas.
... orchid ...
... more orchid ...
... and more! Not all orchids shown here are for sales!
If you are interested, you may go to their farm in a group, or you may organise a durian party whereby Uncle Austin will deliver the fruits to you. Please visit his blog if you are interested to contact him. Alternatively, you can visit his residence for durian!

A New Blog for my Friend

Over the weekend, I have been busy creating a new blog for my friend Winnie and Austin. They have an orchard somewhere near SOP not too far from Miri. They will have fruits, especially durian, soon. So, do check out!! Especially durian lovers, you must not miss the opportunity. The blog is still under construction. Do give me ideas as to what you would like to see on their blog.
http://sabaorchard.blogspot.com
I am now very tempted to change the format of this blog to be like his!
Thanks.

Visit to Saba's Orchard

This afternoon, my family and myself went to visit my friend Austin Saba's Orchard at Lambir. It is an educational trip plus a photography outing as I collect materials for the new blog which I will help them to start.
Uncle Austin... a happy man! He has a 40 acres orchard planted with durians and all sort of fruit trees.
Do you know that mangosteen started off as pale yellow and ended up in deep purple when ripe?
Do you know that durian grows on branches and tree trunk?
Do you know that if you are hit on the head by durian, you will only suffer severe pain but not death? (Told to me by my late mum)
Now, guess what is this?
This is baby pineapple. Do you know that it bears pretty flower?

Photos will be posted on sabaorchard.blogspot.com later.

Durian... durian ... King of fruits

The thought of durian could probably drive someone nut! It is either "love it" or "hate it". There are some who simply cannot stand the smell of it. Probably their sensory system is wired differently!Some 20 years ago, it was D24. That was the king! The most delicious and simply the best! The flesh is golden and creamy. Now, for whatever reason, D24 has lost its favour amongst people, or has it? So, now you will see the D9 series, ie, D93, 99, etc. Sound like my Nikon camera series, D90, D3, D700, etc. Anyway, I like the D series durian. There is no need to choose... everyone is good. The only limitation is the amount of money I have because they are expensive at RM16 to RM18 per KG. I wish the skin can also be eaten afterall, I pay so much for it!
... yes... my durian is the best! bring some home!
On a more serious note, my friend, Winnie and Austin has a durian farm. I will create a blog for them. So, look out! Their durian production starts in September, 2009 and you can go to her farm and eat as much as you can for just RM15 each! It is near to SOP office in Lambir.

Pineapples season

Tamu Muhibah is again filled with pineapples. They are planted mostly by the ulu people.
Prices of pineapples don't seem to go up over the last few years. In Sarawak, Sarikei is another place very famous for pineapples. They have lots of pineapples like what is shown in the picture above.

For those who wanted to eat instantly, there are some ready to go! Or you may bring them home...

... as they are simply delicious looking and also to the taste. Beside, they are also pleasing to the eyes! Miri pineapple is known to be sweet and juicy!

My favourite is nanas sawit (or palm pineapple). They are truely juicy, soft and sweet ... mouth watering good! This one is considered small at 2 KG. There are bigger ones which easily weigh more than 4KG. They cost RM5 per kg at the moment.

Haze in Miri

I was sending Ah Jon to Curtin this morning and upon reaching, I saw what I thought was haze from burning vegetation. True enough, as the car door was open, I couldn't stand the smell!
The smell was bad!

I drove back to Senadin and I could clearly see haze everywhere..

... and upon reaching JTM, I could hardly see the building! I have no idea where the burning was/is.

... but many days ago, the burning was at the road side. See what they planted... corn (maize)! Someone suggested that we should boycott the food sold at the native market of e-Mart. But should we? They are really poor people. What they really need is education and being taught how to do it properly!

Fancy this ...

My children and myself went to a vet last weekend. I asked the receptionist:
Me: How much it cost to sterile my bitch?
Receptionist: A cat or a dog?

Wah ... now I am not sure about this vet.
(Just in case, a bitch is a female canine/dog)

I was sharing with my friends the other day about the good old days, especially how male pigs and dogs were castrated! My father would prepare soot from the wok, a gunny sack and a sharp knife. My brothers and father would tie the legs of the animal, put them into the gunny sack, head first but with the backside facing outward. The "operation" would then quickly took place, apply soot and the yelling animal was free to go, minus the testis .... wah, no anesthetic... nothing. Cruel? But at that time, vet was unheard of. I suppose that was what they did to human also, especially those in the imperial court in China.
By the way, gunny sack is not required if we are dealing with small animal.
My Kayan colleague said that his father did the same but they use a sharpen bamboo to do the job. By the way, fully matured bamboo is very sharp if properly "sharpen".

Visit to the Farm

This must be the third week that Yee has been working in the farm. So we decided to pay him a visit to see how life has been like in the farm.
Wild mushroom... don't simply eat!
At the entrance to his office...
The research lab in the background...
Beetle catcher... ingenious gadgets!
Beetle larvae...this fellow is full of protein. It will transform into a black beetle about 1.5 inches long! Believe it or not, it stays in the soil.
We also had an encounter with a huge centipede...
His farm house!
Specious sitting room.
Kitchen ...
This is herbal plant. The leave is perfect for bandaging broken limb. Cut the leaves, "roast" it in hot charcoal. When it is still hot, wrap it around the broken limb. The broken bones will heal very quickly.
You think chili padi is hot? Our Indonesian friend think that you must try this.
ok, we went there from 1:00PM to 5:00PM. During that time, we dug 4 vege beds and planted some vegetables.

Yee started work in SOP

After studying Biotech in Leeds University, he decided to come to Sarawak and work in the "garden". The garden is none other than oil palm plantation which is 40 km from Miri town. Ok, he doesn't really work in the "garden" per se but in the lab. However, he has to go to the plantation to collect samples.
This is Yee... going to be a research scientist in the area of agricultural science... a field he least expected it!

... and I think this is the type of oil palm plantation he is in. You won't see the end of it.
Oh... another thing, after staying in UK for 4 years, he is now staying in the accommodation in the farm. He will sooner or later encounter lots of interesting insects, music of the jungle, birds, lizards, etc. But the air is wonderful!
Oh, by the way, he is a "uni-mate" of my three girls in Leeds.

Visit to Sibu - more photos

I mentioned earlier that food in Sibu is cheap. (Photos in this blog are arranged in chronological order)

This plate of noodle which serves 8 cost only RM10. In Miri, it would be at least RM30. The taste was great.

This is the stewed Chinese long cabbage.

Fried deer meat...

Mixed vegge

A sweet and sour fish...

A taufu soup. All for RM127, ie, GBP23 or US$36. Serves 7 adults + a couple of children.

I saw this piece of equipment. Immediately it reminded me of the 60s. It is a manual latex pressing machine. After latex from rubber trees was collected, it was poured into tin (12"x24"x5"). Formic acid was added so that the latex would set. After the latex set (about 4 hours), the tin would be flipped over on the floor and the set latex taken out. It will first be pressed by stamping on it with feet. Later, the thick "sheet" will be fed through one of these machines where the roller was smooth. After the thickness had been pressed to about 10-7mm, it was then pressed again on this "flower" roller machine. After a final press, the sheet was set out to dry under the sun. Ok, I will explain more in future.

During the good old days, the cooking stove was made of mud set in wooden frame. Some well to do family used cement instead of mud. See the huge wok on the right. Huge because we all have big families.

I visited farm in Sibu... this is flowering corn plant ...

... peanut ...

Cangkok Manis... the tender leaves are removed from the stem/vine, crushed with hands and fry with egg.

Pepper vine on belian pole. Inset is the pepper corn.

Baby cucumber with flower. By the way, cucumber flowers have distinct male and female. Male flower has no baby fruit.

Young cucumber shoot may be fried for food.

Fig ... when ripe, they turn red ...

My fourth sister in Sarikei... she is also in the agriculture business.

My eldest brother is a keen farmer too... he keeps flowers and planted vegge...

This is a kerosene lamp. I will explain how it works later.
p/s I just found a nice site about pressurized kerosene lantern/lamp. Click here.

My eldest brother and sister-in-law ...

One of the oldest part of Sarikei...

My third brother treated me to this wild durian... very nice. I forgot to take a pic of him.

Sibu is now rather modern. One of the nice complexes!

Oh, forgot to mention. I was "chased" by one aggressive bee in the farm. It insisted on giving me a sting!