Nature at home...

I was doing a spot of gardening earlier today and came across a reptile and an amphibian enjoying their day among the leaves of my plants.

Garden snake on the stem of a potted palm

Frog taking a rest on an orchid leaf

Two weddings and a sunset

It was a packed day today. The first wedding was at Rengit in Batu Pahat while the second one was at Muar. After the second wedding, I headed out to Masjid Sultan Ibrahim by the south bank of Sungai Muar. I had hoped to catch some good sunset pics at Tanjung Emas near the river mouth but unfortunately the clouds were dark and overcast.

1st wedding : Bride is my colleague named Zurainah

Proof of attendance at 2nd wedding : gift boxes and a telur pindang

Masjid Sultan Ibrahim, Muar

Muar's second mosque, across the river

Dark clouds indicating heavy rains on the way

School child harvest

There is a small rambutan tree in the front compound of our house. It was planted by my mother quite a number of years ago, I can't remember. A few years ago it started to bear fruit but the quantity wasn't that much. Last year was not very good at all, with most of the fruits falling off the tree before they were fully ripe.

This year is different. Seems to be the best produce of all... a bumper harvest. Part of the tree's branches overhang past our front fence and the neighbourhood kids are having a field day plucking the fruits as they please. Some of them ask our permission while others do not. To those who asked, I say go ahead. There's plenty to share.

Since last Monday was a holiday and it wasn't raining continuously like previous days, I decided to do some rambutan-harvesting. My son and his cousin pitched in to help. I climbed part way up the tree to trim some of the branches using a saw. The fallen branches were then gathered by the boys who then pluck off the abundant fruits at the tips. Trimming the branches help new leaves to sprout for the next season.

As my son started to gather the branches, three of the neighbour's kids came around to help... and this kind Pakcik then rewarded them with a plastic bag-full of their pickings. I had trimmed maybe four or five small branches when I felt too tired to continue. We had already collected 2 large bucketful of the fruits. There are still plenty more up there on the tree. Maybe I'll continue the harvest this weekend.

The rambutan my mother planted is of the variety known as `anak sekolah'. Strange name for a fruit but very sweet and juicy with a reasonably thick flesh. I wondered how the name came about. According to a friend, this type of rambutan is well-known in Kelantan state since many years ago. Moktea anok skoloh, that's the way they say it.

The young man using a stick and ladder to pick the lower fruits

The plucked fruits are gathered in a bundle and then shared

Red hairy skin...

...with white juicy flesh.

The previous year in pictures

I have been going through my collection of photos taken last year (2010) and had a tough time deciding to pick one pic for each month. My personal preference has always been landscape photography but I've decided to include some pics taken during weddings and engagements. I attended quite a few of such events last year.

But the event that really makes me spoilt for choice is Floria `10 in Putrajaya. I took hundreds of shots of flowers and gardens on that day but I finally decided the photo of the yellow bee is the best of the lot.

p/s : click on the photos if you wish to view a larger image... but I guess you guys know this already...

January

Title : Sunset at Tanjung Langsat Port
Location : Tanjung Langsat, Johor
Date : 11.01.10

February

Title : Early morning catch
Location : Teluk Iskandar, Mersing, Johor
Date : 15.02.10

March

Title : Sarah's wedding
Location : Bandar Baru Uda, Johor Bahru
Date : 13.03.10

April

Title : Tropical rainforest
Location : FRIM, Kuala Lumpur
Date : 10.04.10

May

Title : Bukit Merah Lake
Location : Taiping, Perak
Date : 21.05.10

June

Title : Sotong masak lemak
Location : Restoran Nasi Padang Sofian, Kuantan
Date : 18.06.10

July

Title : Bee on yellow flower
Location : Floria `10, Putrajaya
Date : 16.07.10

August

Title : Kuala Lumpur night view
Location : Hulu Langat lookout point, Selangor
Date : 23.08.10

September

Title : Hari raya di desa
Location : Kg Sri Pantai, Mersing, Johor
Date : 10.09.10

October

Title : Fallen tree
Location : Hutan Lipur Sg Tua, Selangor
Date : 31.10.10

November

Title : Seafood lunch
Location : Pakbara beach, Satun, Thailand
Date : 20.11.10
 

December

Title : Sireh junjung at Fatimah's engagement
Location : Shah Alam, Selangor
Date : 11.12.10

Sacrifice... just a simple word

It has been more than a week since Aidiladha and my post about the qurbani celebration of this year is still not up. Just shows you how much I have been procrastinating.

Sacrifice... just a simple word. What does it actually mean? Is it a difficult thing to do? Is it actually worth doing?

Of course there are no straight answers. Sacrifice means different things to different people... and it comes in different levels. If we are to consider the historical act of Nabi Ibrahim (a.s.) offering his son Nabi Ismail for slaughter, then I have in no way reached that level of faith. Nonetheless, each and every one of us has faced tests and trials in our lifetime and no doubt, has had to sacrifice something along the way. Perhaps what makes certain levels of sacrifice a difficult thing to do is when we have to offer something of value in exchange for something that is not yet tangible or certain. In all likelihood, we may not even be able to experience or get the return we expect the sacrifice to bring. In other words, there is always the chance that we may lose. Sounds a bit like a wager, doesn't it?

But to me, it is not... because the noblest aspect of sacrifice is expecting nothing in return.

Ok then... now to what I did during the Hari Raya Korban holidays. This time around, we made a day trip to my parents in Singapore. Ar-raudah Mosque is located just across the road from my mom's flat in Bukit Batok. Every year the mosque organizes a community qurbani event where sheep are offered for slaughter. When I was younger, I helped out the organizing committee as a volunteer... basically doing simple things like herding the sheep, packing the mutton and cleaning up the place. It has been quite a while now since I last volunteered. Many of the younger generation are at hand to help out. Nowadays, I am just an observer.

Ar-raudah Mosque committee has been doing the qurbani for so many years that they have near-perfected the system of organization. From the initial registration, the import of sheep from Australia, the veterinary requirements, the temporary pen, the slaughter, the butchering, the packing of the meat, the distribution of various portions and the final clean-up and disposal. As smooth as clockwork. The following are some pics that I took of the process... except for the part where the sheep went under the knife because I couldn't get access.

Hope that your Aidiladha this year was a memorable one...

Ar-raudah Mosque front entrance

Sheep for the slaughter

Cleaning up the crap is a dirty job, but someone has to do it

Crowd at the meat distribution counter

Volunteers distributing the portions of free meat. Note the sign above...

I didn't have that level of `sabar'... so I didn't `beratur'

Those who queued for the free mutton

The mid-day heat did not deter those who have patience

The queue stretched to the outside of the mosque compound

Blooms and blossoms

A flower and garden festival is currently being held at Putrajaya. Officially named Floria `10, the event is organized by the Putrajaya Corporation at Precinct 2 along the lake waterfront. I became aware of this festival after reading a post in Mamasita's blog.

Having been to such events before in Johor Bahru, I knew that it would be a good place to experiment with some digital photography skills. The splash of colours is wonderful to see. Almost everybody was snapping pictures at all sorts of angles... here, there and everywhere. From the simple camera-phones, the compact digicam to the high-end DSLRs of the pros... the full range of cameras can be seen in use.

Previously, when I took photos using a point-n-shoot compact, I envied the guys snapping away with those classy DSLRs. Now, with a Nikon DSLR myself, I envy those who have the long telephoto and short macro lenses... never can we be ever satisfied. Anyway, here is a sample of my effort from yesterday.

The festival ends tomorrow 18 July 2010. I end this post with the opening lines of Afternoon On A Hill, a lovely poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay :

I will be the gladdest thing

Under the sun!

I will touch a hundred flowers

And not pick one.

Jungle trekking at FRIM

My previous stint working and living in Kuala Lumpur was from early 2004 to 2007. At that time, I moved the whole family from JB to KL. We managed to obtain a transfer of my eldest son from his boarding school (Sekolah Menengah Agama) in Bandar Penawar, Johor to the equivalent school in Kuala Lumpur which was SMAKL. This school is located in Bandar Menjalara in Kepong and not really that far from where we were staying at the time in Taman Melawati.

It was quite a straightforward journey from Melawati to Kepong on the MRR2. Every time I visited my son, I would pass by the junction that leads off to the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia, or better known as FRIM. I told myself that I should visit FRIM one of these days. Of course over the three years, I never did.

A few days after my transferring to the present stint here, one of my staff told me that she's organizing a jungle trekking outing to FRIM and wanted to know if I'd like to come along. I immediately said yes. It is a bit ironic that after all this time, it needed another person to give me the push to do something that I had wanted to do many years ago.

And so, yesterday morning, a group of us headed out to Kepong to enjoy the natural beauty of the rainforest right at our doorstep. The heavy thunderstorm the day before and the early morning drizzle did not deter us. In fact, the muddy trail made it all the more interesting. We had arranged for a guide from FRIM to lead us in the trekking activity. En. Nizam the guide, took us trekking along a well-marked trail and made occasional stops at different locations to give us useful and interesting commentary. For example, I now know that the research station was established by British guy named Foxworthy. And that the merbau tree yields a dark brown timber that is highly-sought for the making of musical instruments. The valuable wood means that merbau is among the favourite target of illegal loggers.

The guide told us many more stuff about the jungle but most of the time I was concentrating on recovering my breath to remember what was said. The trail took us up and down steep slopes. Being the oldest guy in the group, I had trouble keeping up but tried my best not to show it... I seriously need to exercise more often. I am still feeling the aches in my leg muscles as I type this.

The highlight of the trek is of course, the canopy walk. Walking on the suspended walkways across the top of the trees is something really worth experiencing. The view from the top is simply breathtaking.

After completing the canopy walk, we trudged downhill back to the FRIM information centre. There are other attractions available but we were too tired to continue. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful way to spend Saturday morning. Looking forward to go there again soon.

 The `about to get dirty' dozen

This view of the forest reminded me of the movie `Predator'

Canopy of kapur trees. Close, but not touching

Downhill trek

Canopy walk

Not quite the vines that Tarzan uses

Can't escape donating blood to some suckers

Sunrise and sunset at Teluk Iskandar

Teluk Iskandar is a stretch of coastline a few kilometres to the south of Mersing town. It is named after the previous Sultan of Johor and became famous some years back for the discovery of gold. Hundreds of hopeful prospectors dug up the beach at low tide, in hope of finding fortune in the form of tiny specks of yellow dust among the dark grey sands.

At the peak of the gold mining activity in December 2007, many gold-diggers camped out on the beach. The price of woks and frying pans in Mersing town shot up like nobody's business.

The bay has now returned to normal. The beach itself is not really that pretty when compared to other beaches on the east coast of Malaysia. Nonetheless, it is a good spot to practice with some sunrise and sunset photography...

Sunrise Pics :

 

  

 

Sunset Pics :