Fruit Farm Visit in Pahang, Malaysia

         

  

    

 Two friends got together and started this fruit farm in Pahang between Bentong and Raub. Primarily a durian farm, they also grow mangosteens, langsats, rambutans, papayas and some other fruits. 

                         Self-invented contraption for getting the smaller fruits.

                                              Plucking mangosteens

                                               

 Daughter was there the week before on their way back from some camp. When she called me, there was such a racket in the background. She told me some were picking fruits, some were eating, some were just playing with the fruits; some were taking the dog for rides in the scooter, some were going to jump into the pond, some were fishing, some chasing the chickens, some trying to climb trees, etc. Wonderful break for active city kids.

                                            The rambutans were my favourites

 I was rather reluctant to go as I'm not a durian eater. Sad because I think I've got some kind of allergy to the fruit, always developing sorethroats after eating no matter how small the quantity or how I drink salt water from the shell or eat copious number of mangosteens offset the 'heatiness' of the this king of fruits. 

The Westerners say the fruit looks like cream, tastes like custard and smells like shit. The durians available includes most of the popular varieties like the the D24, D101, Red Prawn and the Raja Kunyit ( Mao Sang Wong ) which is the most expensive of the lot. There was much eating coupled with extensive discussion of the texture and taste (whether creamy or bitter or less sweet is better), shape ( regular or odd or oval or round and  size ( big or small or medium ).

Eat and tao-pao ( takeaway) for durian parties. Visitors pays RM10 per head for a eat-all-you-can visit and takeaways are changed according to weight of the fruits.

                            Some brave ones want to camp the night there with 

                         only the mosquitoes and the stars for companionship.

Singapore Trip Dec 2009 Part 2

The Singapore Botanic Gardens had been around as long as I can remember. When we were young, before the onslaught of shopping malls, it was a real treat to be taken there. The main attraction for us kids there were the many monkeys swinging from tree to tree. One could buy a pack of peanuts wrapped in a newspaper and feed them. However some can become aggressive and my sister had the whole packet snatched away at one go. Years later, my son had his plastic ball snatched and tore up by an aggressive fella hoping to find food inside.  Some other complaints of additional bad behaviour got the whole lot of them moved into the zoo.

Chopin and his wife near the orchestra pit       

                                                                                    

This could be a park in summer in Australia or even Europe

             There used to be some black swans but this time, I only saw a couple of white ones.

The lovely water-lily pond                                      

               

The sun-dial

 The pavilion where we had our cell group meetings once upon a time
    

  To my great joy,  the Botanic Gardens had remained fairly unchanged except for some improvement, e.g the spice gardens, a couple of upmarket restaurants, the dearth of mosquitoes who loved me dearly. The main change is the Orchid Garden which have become a paid attraction.We did not get to visit as we were short of time. Instead we sat outside and watched the various  different varieties of doggies, some huge and furry, some tiny and yappy, others still sleek and proud accompanied by Philippino maids who also took the opportunity to fraternalise. These was no sign of the black swans which an the attraction in the 70s. Only a couple of white ones and some ducks were around.  I remember when I was staying in Raffles Hall when the University of Singapore campus was at Bukit Timah, we used to jog in the Botanic Gardens after tea each evening. Sometimes we will ask the kitchen for leftover bread to feed the swans, ducks and fishes.                                                 

                                                     

In the lovely golden afternoon sun, a stroll through the gardens;

on an old wooden bench,

me and my book. 

Forget the neighbouring bustling Orchard Road,

its hurrying crowds and fairy lights,

its dazzling shops and dollar signs;

just give me my peaceful green bit of paradise.

Regrets

On Boxing Day, we attended a Malay wedding. It was at a place called Kampong Medan near the glitzy Sunway Lagoon Resort. In 2001, this little place was the place of a racial tragedy where marginalised part of societies acted out their frustrations against each other, sparked off by a funeral, a wedding and a misunderstanding over a broken lorry window. The result: six people dead and scores of others seriously wounded and a broken trust in the racial harmony that took more than 3o years to rebuild after the horrific May 13th incident in 1969.

 However, two weeks ago, Kampong Medan was a cheerful, noisy place with many Malay weddings, parties and open houses going on. Our friend's wedding was in one of the councils' hall. It was a big affair and though not high budget, it was well-organised by relatives and friends.

All through my life, I had always enjoyed Malay weddings. I love the bersanding when one and all can admire the gorgeously dressed bride and groom. I love the bunga telor in which something so humble as an egg can be so prettily packaged and decorated. Somehow the egg always tastes better than usual. And the door gifts are always so attractively done up no matter how simple its content. This wedding was no different. As often, we were the minority of non-Malays and because of that everyone, hosts and their guests too, tried to make us feel extra-welcomed. I noticed that all the non-Malays were given an additional door gift.

Most memorable was this Malay wedding we attended in a small isolated kampong in Langkawi. We were served endless sumptuous servings of curry chicken, mutton rendang, satan vegetables and colour kueys. As we were leaving, I notice that the other guests were just sharing a bowl of curry with one piece of chicken and  vegetables at each table. It then dawned upon me how poor these people were and how hospital and generous they had been to us because we were not Malays, and really guests in their village.

 In those days, during the wedding season in Langkawi which is usually the schools holidays and after the harvest, I would often see guests going to weddings, carrying with them a gift in a plastic bag. Out of curiosity, I asked what they were giving. It turned out to be two katis of rice or two katis of sugar! Gifts that will definitely be put to good use in the months after when the next harvest season is a long way off.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to a nightmare come true. Two nights ago, my husband was going on about what the Chinese papers said about the use of the word 'Allah' and the court ruling. I shut him up unceremoniously, saying that we shouldn't make a big issue out of the whole thing now that the ruling has been made.  The truth is, I felt uncomfortable about it even though for weeks, we'd been praying in Church for a favourable ruling.   A sense of foreboding that some quarters will not let things rest, I guess. And now it has come true. Many Malaysians of all races and religions are devastated at the bomb attacks at the churches. Something so fragile, so priceless, so precious has once again been shattered. 

Once again, the Agents of Division, of Disorder, of Hatred had scored a victory in Malaysia. But now that the harmony and peace has been severely disrupted and threatened, we pray for the rise of the Defenders of Peace, Tolerance, Humanity and Justice in Malaysia.

Sometimes God works in strange ways and makes good things come out of bad. Of course Marx may regard it as a form of dialectism.

Singapore Trip Dec 2009 Part 1

This trip I'd decided to do the Orchard Road Christmas lights, something I'd shied from for years ever since I saw the large crowd spilling onto the road on Christmas eve in the 70s before they took to road closure on Christmas Eve. We made a  illegal u-turn for lucky escape from the massive human and traffic jam. But since Norah is into photography and everyone in Malaysia talks about it, I thought I'd better go. Not that different but Centrepoint and some of the others was a disappointment. Maybe cost-cutting? 

My favourite is the Christmas tree outside Ion. One could go inside, good for photo bugs.

                                                      Inside the tree

                                                

                                             In front of the blink-blink at Paragon

The most amazing thing about Orchard Road especially during the peak period (public holidays, Satturdays and Sundays) is that one can hardly find any Singaporeans there. In the trains or on the road, most of the time I can't understand what everyone around me is saying, all are conversing in foreign tongues. Where are the Singaporeans? Gone to the cheap, cheap Malaysian Sale next door? On holiday in China? In the NTUC supermarts at the heartland malls because things in town are too pricey? Or in their elitist clubs discussing the prices of properties?

Furthermore,especially for the tourist, it is also next to impossible to buy any products made in Singapore at Orchard Road.

Besides Orchard Road,  National Library and Bras Basah Complex, there's the compulsory hunt for food. Norah and I ate the teochew dried mee pok at least 5 times. 

We also ate kuay chap, wan ton mee, fried kuay teow, or chien (fried oysters and egg), chui kuey, soon kuey, kuchai kuey, sliced fish soup, mee rebus, mee siam, fried carrot cake, black fried chay tow kuay, soya bean curd, ice kacang, letow suan (green bean dessert), etc. Also the old style Polar cake with the rich butter icing which no one except me likes, hahaha.

 All in all, 2 weeks of eating hawker's fare. How thoroughly unhealthy! How simply wonderful!  Now, I'm familiar with the pricing again: localised coffee shop or non aircond  food center - $2.50; aircond food center in heartland shopping centre - $3- 3.50, food court in city shopping mall, eg Food Republic, $4.50 & above. 

No photos of these food as we pigged them out as soon as they appeared. All these plus the more up market restaurants and home-cooked meals made my food orgy complete. Burp....

         

             ( To be continued)