New developments

Aside from the obvious fact that Singapore is really warming up rapidly these few days, the sudden news of 1 H1N1 case early this week and 3 more new ones appearing this evening, (causing much worry to say the least), there have at least been some interesting and exciting developments in my own place.

A lot plants sprang up outside my doorstep where emptiness once stood, and thankfully, a few of them are flowering to the delight of my mum and myself.

Hoya mindorensis

This is the reason why I like this genus so much. Also commonly known as 'wax plant', the flowers of Hoyas' all bloom in umbels (ball of flowers), and this species is one of many which actually bloom in near-circular umbels. It just bloomed yesterday, and some flowers have yet to open, but my mum was so happy to lay eyes on this ball of flowers. Although mine is not as huge and well-rounded as those found on the web, I think it's really cool to see it bloom nonetheless!

What was once in the Asclepiadaceae family, is now re-assigned to Apocynaceae which is related to the common Frangipani. They are really nice and quaint plants to keep at home, and they are really fun to admire when they flower! Some of them have fragrances ranging from perfume-grade scents to the other extreme odour of mild puke. Accompanying the aroma of fragrances, sap is also produced (although not in copious amounts, but certain species do produce loads of sap) to attract pollinators to the plant such as flies and ants. However, be warned: although the flowers are really pretty to look at, the overall plant form of most of the plants in this genus is not the traditional upright form. Most of them are climbers, creeping here and there and may look messy of not taken care of properly. However, some are able to grow upright in a shrub-like manner and are able to lignify their stems to carry the weight of the whole plant.

Brassavola nodosa

This orchid flowered for me not too long ago and is still flowering till this very day. It was a gift from Loy, and I'm glad to have made him proud by keeping it alive and flower as well. When I first got it, I was waiting impatiently for it to flower, but of course it didn't, so I had to just diligently take care of it, and one day two spikes suddenly appeared. I was so happy to see them grow slowly, but sure enough, they finally bloomed, and it was really satisfying to see them bloom. I thought the petals were of a darker shade of green, but I guess they looked nicer in the orchid books.

They too emit a certain fragrance, but mine has not been emitting any since they flowered, but I don't want to persue the matter, because they just look too beautiful to blame for not emitting any scent.
To add to this, 1 more spike also appeared at the time of this photo, so now it's about half-way from blooming. Like Mark said:"flower power man!" Yes, I totally agree with that, and I'm really proud to be a flower boy (in a way). =)

~moey out~

Birthday Mum!

There comes a time in everyone's life where you celebrate your birthday once a year. Well, today's was my dear mother's. She knew something was being planned for her, but she had no idea what was coming. Every attempt at trying to pry out information from me just resulted in a universal reply: "I don't know.*smile*"

My cousin, his mother(my aunt) and myself planned on cooking my mum a meal about 2 weeks ago, and we had to keep it a secret from her as much as possible. Calvin and I had to come up with dishes to cook, and I found it considerably harder to do it because I don't really have prior experience in cooking except for the occasional pasta or cup noodles. The first thing which popped into my head were the dishes which my mum used to cook quite often as well, so at least I had an example to work from.

So after a shopping spree for groceries with Calvin and his mum, we headed on back to start whipping up the dishes. Then Fredrick dropped by after school to help us out with the cooking as well, and it's been such a long time since the three of us cousins spent time together.

And when the birthday girl appeared, we started to plate up the dishes for the starving adults waiting at the dinner table.

Tomato-based salad - Ritz-Carlton recipe, a new and tasty dish, only a tad sour.

Lemon-grass chicken - Really good! Shouldn't have micro-waved though.

Chicken omelette wrap - Another of Ritz-Carlton's. Ingeniously delicious!

Ngoh Hiang(minced meat and water chestnut wrapped in dried flour skin) - Met Pam's high standard, only a pinch too much salt.

Curry-puff shape wantons - A lot of filling, skin too thick though.

Blueberry Cheesecake - Pam's creation. Delicious! Nothing else to comment.

So other than the cheesecake, all the other dishes were done by Calvin, Fred and myself, with the supervision of my aunt. Without her, we would have crashed and burned (the house) literally.

More cooking to come during the festive periods. =/

~moey out~

Greetings from Dubai

Included in the trip to Russia, there were also 2 free days out in Dubai, where my mum had to transfer flights. So during their time there, she and her travelling buddies enlisted the help of their old friend who is staying in Dubai with her husband. So simply put, they got a free tour guide around the place.

I just chose 1 picture to represent Dubai; that of the Burj Al Arab, also affectionately known as the only 7-star hotel in the world. Ring any bell? It might not look much, but being in such a prestigious hotel is definitely overwhelming, which of course was the case for my mum. It really depicts the grandeur of the stunning architecture of the whole contry, even in shopping centres, the ceilings and decorations are made up of beautifully crafted and arranged ornaments and oddly, there seemed to me that there is a lot of symmetry going on, but I'm not complaining, being a lover of symmetry myself, though not to an extreme extent.

Apparently you can only get in if you have reservations, have accomodation there, or of a certain level of status. So it means you can't even step foot onto the entrance carpets without a reservation, or someone of certain stature accompanying you, which was how my mum got the chance to go in. Her friend's husband works there as a consulate, so being the wife, she also has the same benefits. Sadly being a burmuda-loving individual, I was sad to hear that males and females are only allowed in if they have jeans of pants on.

Well, my mum describes how magnificent the place was, (which makes me wonder if Dubai left more of an impression rather than Russia), from the heavily carpeted floors to the gold-frame elevators. Regrettedly, my mum couldn't really describe much of the plant life around Dubai though, but since it's in the Middle East, of course the vegetation will definitely be made up of mostly drought-tolerant plants, and not to mention palms as far as the eye can see. (and it also conjours up the image of the palm island estate there as well; the very expensive and man-made island in the shape of a palm, if you don't really know what I'm talking about.)

Aside from the blistering weather, dust-encrusted vehicles(which,by the way, cost half as much there as they do here), sand everywhere and a really expensive hotel to top it all off, I think Dubai is a place which is beautiful in its own right and since I haven't been there myself, I cannot say much more.

~moey out~

After 3 years...

Graduation was on Monday and what a big day it was for everyone! It marked the end of three whole years of studying horticulture. Some will move on to further their studies while others will not, and there are still those who have not made up their minds on what path to choose yet. Whatever the case may be, everyone will definitely find their area of specialization sooner or later.

I made a lot of good friends along this journey and will not forget any of them. Indeed I will miss school, the lectures, projects and company, but I know a lot more of those await me after my National Service, so I don't think I want to experience going back to school anytime soon though. There is barely a month left before I enter the next phase of my life, and despite the gloomy days ahead, I think that such things will definitely come to pass, and there really isn't much I can do about it, but nonetheless, I know all my like-minded peers will definitely strive to do our best when any challenge comes our way, that I'm sure of!

~moey out~

Bla Bla Bla...

Mum's on a tour in the land where fighting full-grown grizzly bears is a mark of a true man, Russia! She left last weekend, and she entrusted the household to yours truly, and it's really going well so far. It forces me to be more independent as well; doing my own laundry, ironing, cleaning and there isn't a car to travel in, but other than all those homely comforts, I find that it's a good way to slowly learn how to fend for myself.

Well, since mum's not at home, I have also been keeping myself busy so that I don't have to stay cooped up everyday. Went out to look and admire the beauty and charm of plants located at the far west side of our little island. (Check out Clara's blog to find out more) Really had a great time with Clara, Loy and Mark, what with all the screaming, laughing interspersed with note-worthy nuggets of information from our ever-so-read-up Loy. Finally got a chance to catch up with Nisa as well after such a long time of not seeing her. Keep working hard and find the path which you want to follow girl!
Got my hands dirty at Sunset Avenue as well and it brought back to many memories from the attachment days, and thanks to Mark who so graciously opened up his house to accommodate me as well. =)

On a side note, it's good to know that the H1N1 virus is slowly becoming less of a threat now. However, I seem to think that it's not that simple to just forget that this ever happened. It certainly is much more severe than the common flu, and although it is easily treatable, let's not forget that it took countless lives in the Americas, and it really saddens me that such viruses cannot be contained easily. But what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, and it really woke me up from my little bubble of a home.

The weather's also been on the fritz lately, soaring temperatures in the morning and cold windy rain at night. Well, not that I'm complaining about the weather though. It certainly helps to cool everything down after the hot spell a couple of weeks back.

Graduation's just around the corner as well, I guess we will part with our beloved lecturers who have helped us love/hate this line of work in these 3 years. Whatever the case, it will be sad to not return to school to study anymore.

~moey out~

Around the world

From:

Thailand
Family: OK, let's eat crab!
Noel(my 5 year old cousin): I want to bring home the crab shells
Family: Why? You have to clean out all the meat before you can keep the shells.
Noel: I know, but I will get Aunty(their housekeeper) to wash it for me. =)

To:

Japan
My grandmother takes a plate of sushi off the conveyor belt and is about ready to munch down on sushi.
Grandfather: WAIT! You have to take out the green paper around the rice to eat!

To:

Indonesia
A plate of fried fish is served.
Calvin: Rotate the plate, I don't want to see the mouth of the fish when I eat it.
Me: *Splits the whole fish lengthwise, exposing the fried black brain of the fish*
Calvin: WAH! Can change to a new fish?

Culinary adventures all over the world during this Labour Day period. =)

~moey out~