Hilang tak hilang...

Lama dah tak update blog, semenjak seminggu sebelum raya puasa lagi aku rasa. Memang masa tu buzy giler nak menyambut raya la kata kan...Rumah aku dah jadi tempat adek bradek berkumpul pasal aku duk pun rumah pusaka dan aku sebagai yg sulong menjadi penghuni tetap di situ ngan anak2 ku 3 orang dan seorg adek lelaki yg tak kawin. Dah 4 tahun aku duk situ dan dah menjadi tradisi adek2 berkumpul pd raya puasa atau korban atau family meeting semenjak org tua kami dah takde. Memang aku letih tahap gaban la pada tiap2 kali kami berkumpul pasal aku takde anak dara atau maid nak meringankan tangan menolong aku memasak. Bayangkan aku kena masak bila hari raya sekurang2nya 7 macam termasuk la rendang, nasi himpit/lemang/ketupat palas (walaupun instant), kuah kacang, lauk pauk 3 macam dan nasi minyak/tomato atau laksa/mee kari (bila raya pertama) utk 40 org makan...adoiiii! Nak patah pinggang rasa nye! Menu raya kedua lain pulak...Nasib baik anak2 teruna aku ringan tulang gak mengemas rumah kalau tak aku tak sanggup rasa nye..lantak la rumah bersepah janji bila dia org balik perut kenyang..bukan ape sebagai sedekah dan mengeratkan silatulrahim gak kan. Aku suka tengok dia org makan dan berseronok bila sesekali berkumpul. Adek2 pun dah biasa bila datang rumah aku mesti ade je juadah istimewa walaupun yg simple tapi mengenyangkan.

Itu yg buat aku tak sempat (pd mula nye) tapi lama2 dah malas pulak nak update blog. Sampai la kepada raya korban...

Raya Haji baru ni aku first time buat korban. Seperti biase aku bertungkus lumus di dapor masak bermula dari petang sebelum raya (rendang dan nasi himpit/ketupat palas) dan pada awal pagi esok nye nasi minyak dan 3 macam lauk pauk, ayam masak merah, dalca daging dan sayur kacang buncis goreng. Semua adek2 datang ngan family masing2 hingga larut malam. Lepas jer adek lelaki aku balik dalam jam 11 mlm aku dah mula rasa satu macam sejuk dan nak muntah pun ade. Walaupun berselimut tebal aku menggigil berjam2 hingga ngtah pukul berape...tidor tak tidor sampai ke pagi...cari panadol tak jumpa sebiji pun...Aku demam tak bangun2 hingga 3 hari. Sendi2 semua sakit felt like they turned to jelly. Mungkin kah sebab aku terlampau penat atau demam urat! Dah bertahun aku tak demam ni, sekali demam..terus KO!

Petang raya tu adek dan aku pegi berurut dan mandi lulur di sebuah salun milik org Indonesia yg juga dikunjungi ramai seleberiti dekat rumah adek aku. Dia yg dah buat appointment, aku mengekor je...Adoii mak ooiii memang sakit bile kena urut, tangan halus yg mengurut tu bagaikan bertulang besi...terpekik jugak la aku kesakitan! Tidak Kak saya hanye sentuh bukan nya tekan! Gitu la bunyi nye yg keluar dari mulut pengurut tu tiap kali aku mengadoiii..pd hal aku cam nak terkucil di buatnye..First time aku mengurut kat salun dan juga mandi lulur. Sebelum ni memang biase tapi panggil org mengurut dirumah je tapi tak la sakit macam tu sekali sampai demam, ringan je rase badan lepas tu. Aku rase last la aku nak mengurut di salun tu...tak mau lagi sakit woooo! Mahal pun mahal...

Selesai sudah cerite 2 raya ku. Harap2 aku rajin balik mengupdate blog aku lepas ni...

For all Muslims

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3 boys n a girl......

Went out to buka puasa again with my 3 boys and a girlfriend (future daughter-in-law?)

at a restaurant near Bukit Bintang, The Verandah. Adi and Alan (my youngest) were off for the weekend

while Rezza joined us later after office

Alan, Adi n his girlfriend Zara. Met her for the second time, while Alan n Rezza

have not met her before when she came to the house on Hari Raya

last year. I love n cherish the outings with my boys bcos they will

forster good relationships n comraderie spirits among themselves which will

help them go through life when I'm not around anymore next time

Creepy crawly

The shed was in a mess. All the things on the small table were on the ground and newspapers strewn all over the place. Emmm...either a very strong wind did that or our friends from the trees came to play there. Anyway nothing broken or better still, no plants or seedlings was pulled or upturned like the last time they came.

The ground was wet with pools of water everywhere. So I dont have to water the plants today. Went about with my usual routine pulling the weeds and just checking the plants. The grass had overgrown and we couldnt spray them with weed killer because of the rain, so have to do them manually. It is an eyesore for me. Was weeding a small portion when suddenly my toes felt very itchy and looked down to scratch it. Lol...a small greyish leech was stuck there! I practically did a jumping jack or a rain dance or something, to get it unstuck! Eeeewwww! It didnt get off so luckily I had my rubber gloves on and pulled that thing off and flung it so far! It was the same last week but I didnt realise it until the end when I was about to wash my feet. By that time the leech had fallen off somewhere, bloated with my blood. It is still itchy and had formed a scab until today. Eeeewwwwwww and double eeeeewwwwwwwwww! Yucks!!

Immediately stopped my weeding becos of the leech....one

disadvantage when the ground is wet

misai kucing plants

Before going home, just had a look at the kiwi plants...all the flowers had either dropped or withered and no new buds are showing. No kiwi fruits? I'm sure Prof is doing something about that. Trimmed some overgrown misai kucing near the shed and took home to try to plant them using cuttings. Bought a few flowering plants at Sg Buloh to brighten my garden at home for the coming Hari Raya.

Bazar Ramadhan

Lepas zohor ajak anak sulong aku Adi temankan aku jalan2 ke Bazar Ramadhan Mesjid India. Adoiii..lupa aku hari ni hujung minggu, jem giler ramai pulak yang nak ke sana. Cari parking jauh dari bazar pasal aku tengok nak masuk ke Jalan TAR tu pun dah jem. Ramai nye maanusia berpusu2 macam ulat, panas lagi...aku dah mula rimas dan berpeluh2, nak jalan di celah2 gerai pun jem. Aku nekad beli ape yang aku dah plan nak beli cepat2 aku ajak Adi keluar dari situ menuju ke SOGO. Ape yang aku beli? Emmm...nampaknye cita2 aku nak buat kueh raya sendiri tahun ni tak menjadi! Banyak barang yang aku kena beli, lebih tinggi kos nye lebih baik aku beli kueh yang dah siap di bazar tu...Memang rambang mata dibuat nye nengok kueh mueh dan barang2 lain di situ..macam2 adaaaa!

di Jalan TAR yg jem dgn orang dan keta...

biskut raya

kudap2 spti kerepek ubi, kueh siput, kueh gunting..

Sedar tak sedar, dah sampai ke petang kami berjalan menjenguk gerai2 di situ. Aku rase walaupun harga barang2 keperluan dah naik, masih ramai yang datang bersoping awal2 lagi. Aku hanya nak beli beberapa jenis biskut raya je, benda2 lain aku tak minat...Maklum la aku anak sulong, emak bapak dah takde, nanti adek2 datang berkumpul beraya di rumah, ngdak jugak berjamu serba sikit untuk anak2 buah aku yang makin ramai tu. Dalam pukul 6 kami mencari tempat nak berbuka, kalau nak balik dengan jem nye mungkin tak sempat. Banyak tempat dah penuh kena booking, jadi masuk je la restoran makanan Thai di SOGO...kaki aku pun dah sakit dan lenguh berjalan. Anak yg kedua Rezza datang lepas keja berbuka bersama2. Anak yang ketiga kena shift petang. Lain kali kena ajak sama berbuka nanti tak adil pulak.

Menu berbuka

Adi tak makan nasi (diet)...order chicken salad je pastu dia meratah

lauk2 lain

pandan chicken

ikan siakap kukus

asparagus goreng

tahun goreng berchili dgn daun basil

tomyam seafood

dari kiri...Adi dan Rezza

Penghuni tetap

Emmm...tengok tu ramai peminat aku duk perati aku buat keje di kebun Selasa lalu, tak sangka pulak. Ape2 pun bila sorang2 di kebun ade jugak la teman2 yang menemani aku berkeje ngan hirok pikok dan gelagat lucu dia orang. Ni la penghuni tetap kebun. Dah banyak kali aku tanya pada Prof kalau berbuah pokok2 anggur, epal, kiwi, pear, peach dan lain2 nanti berebut kita ngan depa ni, ape nak buat? Seperti biase Prof ni relaks dan cool je...takpe la dia orang pun makhluk Allah gak masing2 ade rezeki masing2...Tu yang aku tabik spring kat Prof ni. Aku lagi risau bila pokok kiwi dah berbunga dan mungkin akan berbuah dalam masa terdekat ni. Anyway ari tu ramai sungguh kaum kerabat dia orang duk perati aku...tak la sunyi sangat. Tak pun aku bukak MP3 kat henfone full volume untuk menghiburkan aku di kebun yang sunyi sepi...Aku bukan tak suka datang kebun selalu tapi memandangkan jauh perjalanan kira2 sejam 45 min tu pun kalau aku drive pelan2 la..kalau dekat memang nak datang tiap2 ari. Aku suka berkebun dari zaman sekolah lagi.

sebahgian peminat setia aku...ramai wooooo

dua pokok kiwi yg sedang berbunga...

Di kebun pun kita orang nak buat macam taman landskap yang akan di penuhi ngan pokok buah2an temperate bunga2 dan lain2, mungkin 2, 3 buah chalet ke...hah tu la idea dari Prof! Aku setuju je...insyaallah muga2 berjaya ape yang kami rancang. Ari tu aku ade la menanam sikit2 pokok yang aku bawak dari laman dirumah utk memulakan idea yang telah disebut oleh Prof tu.

dah lupa nama pokok yg macam halia ni yg boleh dibuat ubat..

menanam pegaga dan pudina di keliling pokok

timbunan batu yg ditanam pokok misai kucing, balong ayam

oleh isteri Prof...cantek kan?

Anyway, kat rumah pun aku dah mula aktif balik mengemaskini laman di luar dan dalam pagar especially raya pun dah dekat ni. Nak try buat landskap di tepi kolam dan menanam pokok2 baru di luar pagar jugak. Aku tak kisah kan nak baju baru ke kasut baru ke, dah tak penting lagi semua tu bagi aku sekarang ni. I guess our priorities change as we grow older...aku lebih suka adek2 aku bila berkumpul sekali sekala sama2 menikmati suasana kemesraan kekeluargaan di luar dan dalam rumah...makan2, minum2, borak2 sambil bersantai dengan suasana rumah dan laman yang tenang dan indah...

First flowers....

These are not photos from a magazine of an orchard somewhere in US or Australia but in our own kebun in Jeram! Would you believe it or not they are pictures of kiwi plants with their first flowers! Amazing isnt it? I was just pulling out some weeds around the plants this morning when suddenly I noticed flower buds and on closer look, a few flowers were blooming on 2 plants and swaying in the winds...I was so excited and sent words to Prof. The plants were pruned by him early August and a week later they sprouted new shoots. He was not well these few days but when he called back he sounded a lot better when he heard the good news! Alhamdulillah...

kiwi flowers

flower buds

such beauty..

Im praying that the flowers will stay on especially in these rainy seasons and will turn to our first kiwi fruits. Then finally Prof can see the fruits of his labour. Im so happy about today's event and hope to see other plants like apple, pear, grapes, olive and blackberry will also start to flower....InsyaAllah!

Ramadhan is here

All Muslims, at least in South East Asia, started their fasting month of Ramadhan on 1st September. Im thankful that I didnt get migraine on the first day of fasting anymore since last year so it was plain sailing all through out the day...no hunger pangs and no headaches! Probably because of the rains are here again to make the days more bearable or Im just too old to bother about hunger pangs anymore.

Next day started early about 10 am to Sg Buloh to buy some basic things like plastic pots and fertiliser (chicken shit) before made my way to Jeram. Reached there about 12 noon and it started raining! Finish transplanting some grape seedlings into pots while waiting for the rain to stop. The good thing was, I dont have to water all the plants!

rain, rain....

..go away, come again when Im not here...

Rain stopped after 1/2 hr later. Continued with my work there until about 3pm. Prof didnt sent any word to say that he was coming that day maybe he was busy or not feeling well...anyway told him that during Ramadhan I will come twice a week. On the way back made a quick stop at Sg Buloh Bazaar Ramadhan to buy some kuehs and of cos sugar cane water to break fast tonite. Although I was not hungry but I was soooooooo thirsty!

Made In Japan

My sis just came back from Japan and she brought these back...a cross breed of apple and pear. But dont know what the Japanese call them.

look like apples

the skin appears like pear but the colour so pale and smooth

but the fruit inside is firm, white, so juicy and so sweet with a texture

a bit like pear...

...and these are the seeds, some small, flat but one or two like apple seeds

Hopefully my fren Prof can do stratification on the seeds and plant them here.

Souvenirs from Bandung

Just came back from Jakarta/Bandung trip with Noni last Wednesday. It was a hectic 5 days and 4 nights (2 nights in Jakarta 2 in Bandung) holidays cum shopping trip because both of us are not shopping freaks. Anyway bought a few things like the rest of the group we were with. Best of all look at these beauties as Bandung is a highland like our own Cameron Highlands but cooler and larger area with a unique feature of rich black volcanic soils and their beautiful terraced padi fields. More of those beauties in my next blog.

emmm...strawberries! and the purple ones they said were raspberries

but I thought they looked like mulberries cos I have the plants

n have seen the fruits..

but those fruits were dipped in sugar..so its not their natural tastes

fascinated by the bright orange colour of their pumpkins so bought

2 small ones of different colours

avocado!..3 sizes..these are one of the largest but longish type

but I saw bigger ones which were more expensive..anyway

dont like the taste of avocado only bought them for the seeds

smallest and roundest of the lots...

medium size and rounder..green when I bought them but

changed to dark purple colour 3 days later...

strawberry plant!...the only one I found selling on Tangkuban Perahu

an active volcano in Bandung area..

MAHA 2008 MALAYSIA

MARDI tent....bought some plants and seeds here

part of the exhibition overlooking the parking area

meat and poultry sections

expensive wooohh...

fresh tomatoes and other vegetables

new innovation growing tomatoes..just like grapes

train them to climb wires or strings...

Since the last blog I was very busy indeed. Last Friday with Noni went to MAHA 2008 - Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Exhibition 2008 held in UPM Serdang from 11- 23 August 2008. Hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry and organised by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA). It is the biggest event of the year for the Industry and it showcased the latest innovations, solutions and businessess where more than 950 local and international exhibitors participated. The exhibition area was very huge and both of us were only able to visit the exhibitors nearest to our parking area.

a lot of free food samplings... by the time

we made our rounds - no lunch for us!

farm fresh eggs

To venture elsewhere, there were feeder buggies but they were too many people waiting to board them and it was not even on weekends! So we skipped it. We had our rounds of free food samplings and bought frozen ready-to-cook foodstuffs like curry puffs, samosa, steaks with gravy, roti canai, prahta, honey etc, plants and seeds from MARDI booth. Thats all...because with all the bags we had to carry, we prefer to just go home and prepare our trip to Jakarta/Bandung the next day. We planned to come again after the trip since the exhibition will still be on but looks like we are too tired..and Im not feeling well.