Bonsai gardening... an update (4)

It has been a while since I last posted about my bonsai hobby. The last post on this topic was almost a year ago when I wrote about the pair of ficus religiosa plants that I re-potted. Those plants have since grown new leaves quite vigorously to the extent that I had to prune them again a few months ago.

In this post, I'm sharing the update on a ficus retusa plant that I am styling to have an umbrella-shaped canopy with some exposed roots. I believe I've had this tree from the very start of my bonsai hobby (about 3 years now) and it has been re-potted once. It has grown quite healthily and is slowly approaching the design that I have in mind. I did some minor leaf pruning a few days ago and I'm happy to say that it is one of the better-looking bonsai plants in my collection, not that I have that many.

I am now planning to buy a more suitable bonsai pot, one that is slightly larger but shallower, with the intention of re-potting it again in a year or so from now.

Row of bonsai plants in training. Two ficus religiosa on the left, guava in the middle,
ficus retusa and bougainvillea

The ficus retusa before leaf pruning

After some minor pruning

A time to watch

Over the past year, with the enforced lockdowns and restricted travel, I have indulged in a new hobby. Collecting wristwatches. Perhaps not quite a new pastime because I have been buying new wristwatches every few years or so but I had not paid much attention to the details of the watches that I bought. Neither did I make any proper attempt to take care of them or store them in a neat way. I had mostly bought them based on looks and of course, price. All my watches are cheap, or to use a more polite term, in the budget range.

With the extra free time because of MCO restrictions, I began to read up additional information about wristwatches and viewed many Youtube videos on watch reviews. I learned many new things which I had previously not cared about. I began to understand the significance between quartz and automatic (mechanical) movements, the important case dimensions to take note of and many other aspects of a wristwatch such as dials, hands and lume. To a wristwatch enthusiast, the term 'complication' does not mean a problem. And jewels are actually bearings and not precious stones. I noted that watches can be classified into a number of types : divers, field watches, dress watches, chronographs and pilot watches, just to name the most common categories. Looking at my personal collection, I mostly have quartz dress watches and chronographs. My next target would be an automatic field watch. I already have one in mind (launched a few months ago) but am holding out until the price drops to a more affordable level.

As a first step towards organizing my collection, I bought a watch storage box made of wood with a glass top. It has 12 slots, each with a small black velvet pillow or cushion to enable the watches to be nicely displayed. Initially, the box held six of my watches and six belonging to my better half. When I bought a few more of my own, I decided that another storage box is needed. The next box that I ordered has 6 slots and is made out of PU leather. Not as classy looking as the wooden box but not too shabby either. This smaller storage now holds all of the lady watches in the house.

As of today, I have six (6) watches that are in working order and wear on a rotation basis. I have a few which are not working, either the batteries have run out or the movements are totally gone. In my younger days, I would simply throw these faulty ones away but now, with this new hobby, I will attempt to check first by replacing the batteries myself. The watch repair toolkit I ordered via Shopee arrived yesterday. I am now able to open the caseback of the non-working watches without the need to send them to a watch shop.

In this post, I do not wish to give a full list of the watches in my collection but rather, introduce the latest acquisition which I ordered online and arrived earlier this month. It is the Timex Expedition Metal Combo Black Dial TW4B17200 analog/digital quartz movement. I bought it from the Timex Official Store on Shopee because it had a huge discount during the 9/9 sales. I ended up paying less than RM300 for something that was normally sold at RM480.

To me, this watch looks great. Very suitable for day-to-day wear. It is 40mm in diameter with a lug-to-lug length of 46mm, a lug width of 20mm and a thickness of 12mm. It fits nicely on my thin wrist. The caseback is made of steel but the material of the watch casing itself is not indicated. A youtube reviewer has mentioned the case is made of brass, which gives the case a seasoned and tarnished look. It is a look that I actually like. There is a rotating black plastic bezel but since all the bezel markings are also in black, I fail to see how it can be useful. No matter, I prefer the black look anyway. But the feature that I like the most is the digital display window at the bottom. The digital component of this watch is in effect, a separate counter. We can use it to mark a second time zone, set an alarm, use it as a day-date display or utilise the stopwatch function.

Prior to buying it, I had searched Youtube for reviews of this watch. Not many of these reviews are positive but I went ahead and bought it because the discount was too good to ignore. Furthermore, this is the second Timex Expedition that I'm buying. The first Timex I own is also an analog/digital combo that has served me well for more than 15 years and still works.

Timex is an American watch company with some history. Nowadays, most of its watches are assembled outside of the USA. This particular model I believe is made in the Philippines. 

The watch originally came with a tan leather strap but I swapped it with a black nylon one. I think it looks even cooler. I am extremely happy I bought this one.

As is, out of the box

On wrist photo shot

My 1st Timex. Has undergone a few battery and strap replacements. Still reliable.

The joy of being a grandfather

Two days ago the 10th of September, was the birthday of our eldest granddaughter. Maisarah, the daughter of our eldest son, turned 3-years old.

We get to see her quite often because my son and his family live in the Johor Bahru area too. It is either our son comes by our home to visit or, if we feel we miss her, then I'd just drive over to their place. It's only about half an hour away.

Maisarah is a very bright girl. With each visit, there is always something new I find out that she has learned or is able to do. She was able to stand and walk even before her first year. By two years old, she has an understanding of basic words and I could communicate with her in a simple way. Then she learned about colours and shapes. At one visit, I found out that she knows how to count from one to ten. When we next meet her, she could count to twenty. Subsequently, she shows us her ability to sing the ABC Alphabet song. The amazement never seems to cease.

A fortnight ago, we were at our son's home. I showed Maisarah a small cut on the pinkie finger of my left hand which I sustained while doing some gardening the day before. Of course, it no longer bleeds but the cut on the skin can be clearly seen. She had a worried look on her face when she asked, `Tok Abah sakit? Ada darah?'

'Sakit sikit je. Mula-mula ada darah tapi sekarang dah kering,' I replied.

Her next question surprised me. 'Tok Abah pergi doktor?' It was her look of real concern that really warmed my heart. She was able to associate the injury with the need to seek treatment. I laughingly answered that it is only a small cut and no doctor necessary.

We met up again two days ago to celebrate her birthday. After the initial hugs and kisses, she quickly took hold of my left hand and asked, 'Tok Abah sakit?' She remembered the cut on my finger!

I showed her the healed finger with the cut no longer visible. She smiled.

As always, I would try to take selfies with Maisarah each time we meet. At a suitable time later, I plan to create a collage of the photographs, to show the progression as she grows up. I have previously done one such edition last year. This time around, I brought a camera tripod because Maisarah already understands the concept of posing for a photoshoot.

After I finished taking a number of shots using the delayed timer on the mobile's camera, I was about to pack up the tripod when Maisarah said it was her turn. She wanted to set up her phone (her mummy's old faulty I-phone which now has become her toy) on the tripod. I clipped the I-phone to the holder and was about to place the tripod when she stopped me to say, 'Maisarah buat', meaning that she wants to set up the shoot herself. She then fiddled with the tilt lever of the tripod, angled the phone to face where I sat, and then, in English, remarked, 'Perfect'. Whoa... where did she learned that expression!

She then came over and sat on my lap, and we both faced the phone in make-believe that an actual selfie is being taken. Complete with the imaginary countdown and the 'Cheese!' at the end.

Three years old and I love her to bits.

We have two other granddaughters (daughters of our second son) whom we've only managed to see once. They live in Selangor and thus we are eagerly waiting for the MCO travel restrictions to end so that we can visit them too.

Grandpa's jewel

Completion of vaccination with 2nd dose

This is a delayed post. I had my 2nd dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on 11 August 2021, which was exactly three weeks from the first shot. Apparently, the interval between injections for the Pfizer vaccine is rigidly observed and of shorter duration compared to the other types.

The overall process for this second dose is very much faster than the first. I arrived at the PPV well before the allotted time. There were not that many persons lining up for the 2nd dose and I was given a queue number without the need to wait for the actual time slot. The process was even quicker since I opted to go straight to the jabbing booth without the need for another doctor's interview since I had not encountered any major side effects from the 1st dose.

All said and done, it took just around thirty minutes for the whole process. A testament to the efficient work done by all the frontliners involved. Your hard work and sacrifice are fully appreciated.

Did not have that much time to read the book that I brought

Had a volunteer snap this final pic

1st dose of Covid19 vaccine

Around this time last week, I received a notification on my mobile phone that I have been given an appointment for the 1st dose of the Covid19 vaccine to be administered at a vaccination centre set up at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Skudai. It was a piece of welcome news after a wait of a few months although I was not duly apprehensive because I was pretty sure my turn would come. I believe the authorities have been working very hard to roll out the vaccination programme nationwide.

Yesterday 21 July 2021, I had my first dose. Pfizer.

The vaccination centre was at the Raja Zarith Sofiah Library of UTM, located about half-an-hour's drive from where I stay. Having been to the venue once before, I was not worried about how to get there. Nonetheless, I do feel for the common folk who do not possess their own means of transport. The university has a huge campus and the library is not serviced by a public bus route. This is where assistance from NGOs or community leaders would come in handy.

Reading the experiences of friends who already had gone through the process, I was expecting a smooth and quick process, around 30 to 45 minutes from arrival to exit. However, it took me significantly longer than that. But I am not complaining because I understand the tough situation the doctors, nurses and volunteers have to go through. The initial checks, screening and the actual jab were quite efficient. What took too long, for me at least, was the final waiting period while setting the appointment date for the 2nd dose. A few elderly gentlemen around where I sat were already complaining to the volunteer in charge that they had been waiting for more than an hour. I can understand their restlessness. I had come prepared with a novel to read.

It has now been about 18 hours since the dose was injected into my left arm. So far, things are looking good healthwise. I am feeling a bit of pain in the upper arm but nothing too serious, Alhamdulillah. The rest of the day shall involve taking things easy like continue reading the novel, updating a blog post and other online stuff.

Thank you to the authorities and all frontliners for doing a great job. I look forward to the 2nd dose.

At the first checking station

The 1,938th recipient for the day at 3.30pm