Autumn in March in KL

When I came back from Thailand in early March 2013, I noticed that the normally lush green view from my condo was now patchy green and brown. It looked as if Autumn had arrived.


This is the normal view -

Even though there were some days with heavy rain, the colours stayed brown. I just hope it is an 'autumn' effect and not that the trees are dying.

The cemetery was also very brown. And on 2 occasions someone was having a good bonfire! -

Songkhla March 2013

Mar 2013 saw me back in Songkhla again. As I've been several times I don't need to do sightseeing. However I like walking around the old town and also go for the free tram ride around the town which takes about 40 minutes.

Some old town photos

Dumb cane, ants and aphids

Dumb cane, or Dieffenbachia, is an aroid.

It gets the nickname dum cane because the stem contains crystals of calcium oxalate. They are needle shaped and severely irritating and if they get in the throat they cause swelling and the victim can't talk. It is a defence mechanism by the plant to avoid being eaten.

However aphids and ants live happily on the plant, which also suffers from mealy bug. The aphids manage to avoid the crystals when they feed. They drill into the stem and finds a sap channel and can then drink the sap unaffected by either latex, which exists in separate channels or oxalate spikes which are solid and remain in the stem. Sap is very low in protein however and the aphids need to drink much more sap than they need. The sap is passed out of the body as a waste called honeydew.

This honeydew attracts ants. The ants actually milk the aphids. They will also aggressively defend the aphids against predators.

My original dumb cane was covered in mealy bug and I manged to get rid of most of them, using ethanol. But then the plant outgrew itself, falling over as the stems could no longer give support. So I then cut off the tops, and replanted them, and also replanted a 'blank' piece of stem. They all started sprouting new leaves within a month.

This leaf is only a month old -

 

 

New shoots and leaves on the cut stems                                                                                            

 

 

I manged to get rid of the mealy bugs. But am fighting a losing battle with the aphids. They reproduce so fast that it is impossible to clear them. And of course they have their bodyguard ants.

many uses of sago (BT 2008)

Published on The Brunei Times (http://www.bt.com.bn/en)

Everything you meant to ask about sago

Saturday, April 19, 2008


Whether used for making foodstuff, ustensils, textiles or roofing, sago certainly lives up to its nickname of the ‘tree of a thousand uses’, writes LIZ PRICE out of Kuala Lumpur

WHEN I was a child, a typical dessert dish in an English household was sago pudding. It was simply sago cooked with milk and sugar, and eaten with a dollop of jam on top. I used to nickname it frogspawn due to its texture. It resembled tapioca pudding which had a smoother texture, but is from cassava. In Malaysia sago dishes are commonly eaten with gula melaka. However, other societies use sago as a staple food item instead of rice or potato.

Sago forms a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and Maluku (The Moluccas). The sago plant has dozens of uses, so when I was in Maluku I was able to see this for myself.

The islands of Maluku in Indonesia were originally known at The Spice Islands and even today many spices are still grown. Although not a spice, sago is an important commodity in Maluku.

Sago is a powdery starch made from the processed pith found inside the trunks of the sago palms . These palms grow alongside rivers and in freshwater swamps. The sago palms grow all over Southeast Asia, and are used as staple foods in places where there is insufficient rain to grow wet rice.

During my stay on Seram island, I was able to see the process of sago preparation right on the riverbanks. The tall palm trees grow at a rate of up to 1.5m of vertical stem growth per year. The palm builds up a store of starch during its life of about 15 years and attains the maximum amount of starch just before the inflorescence opens. Then the tree will die after flowering.

When the palm is judged to be mature, men will cut it down and divide the stem into several lengths. Each piece is split in half lengthways, and used as a container into which the pith containing the dry starch is put. Buckets of water are hoisted from the river and added to the pith, then the mixture is pounded and washed in order to free the flour from the fibres. Pieces of sago bark are used as a filter although nowadays they also use manmade materials.

When the slurry is ready, it is allowed to flow down a sloping ramp into a goti or container made from another length of the palm trunk. This wet sediment will form the sago flour. Round shaped baskets are made from sago leaves, held together by string made from sago fibres. The wet sago is put into these baskets and transported from the river. The purified starch is then dried and preserved as flour.

Just two men work on one palm tree, one pounds and one washes. It takes about seven days to extract the flour from one palm. One tree can produce 400-600kg of wet sago flour, which is is 80 per cent starch, 16 per cent water and four per cent nitrogen.

The waste fibres left over from the washing process were dumped on the ground forming a soggy carpet which squelched between my toes. However, these fibres are still rich in protein and can be fed to pigs and chickens, and can also be used to make string.

The prepared sago flour can be preserved in the form of baked biscuits. During my stay in Maluku, I saw various different types of biscuit. Some tasted OK whereas others resembled chewing a small wad of compacted sawdust! The "toasted bricks" in the market caught my eye but I never tried them. They looked like hollow, extremely thick slices of bread. No doubt they are meant to be eaten with a sauce. The slices of toast made from sago were just about edible on their own. Sago flour is nearly pure carbohydrate and has very little protein, vitamins, or minerals.

Papeda is the sago pudding which totally resembles thick glue and is eaten with fish sauce. It reminded me of glue we used to make as children for sticking papers in scrapbooks! Sago starch is used in making bread and noodles. Pearl sago is the same starch mixed again into a paste and sieved through mesh of various sizes. The finished sago pearls have a long shelf life.

Sago is also used in the textile and pharmaceutical industries, especially as a thickener. For textiles it is used to treat fibres to make them easier to machine.

The sago palm is like the coconut palm, where nothing is wasted. Traditional Maluku houses are 90 per cent made from sago palms. The roof is made from the leaves which resemble attap, but is more durable than nipa commonly used in Malaysia. The walls are made from the fronds.

The palm parts can even be useful inside the house, as the midribs are used for making brooms and baskets. The barks of the petiole are stripped and woven into mats.

So sago certainly lives up to its nickname of the "the tree of a thousand uses".

The Brunei Times

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Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/life/2008/04/19/everything_you_meant_to_ask_about_sago

Bogor Botanic Garden (BT 2007)

Published on The Brunei Times (http://www.bt.com.bn/en)

German inspiration in the City of Rain

Liz Price

Saturday, March 10, 2007


MANY people will probably have heard of the world-famous Bogor Botanic Garden in Java, Indonesia.

This is Indonesia's first and foremost botanic garden and ranks among some of the most well known gardens in the world.

The 87 hectares of beautifully kept trees, plants, flowers, lawns and ponds lie smack in the centre of Bogor, an expanding city of 300,000 people. The gardens border the Presidential summer palace.

Bogor is about 60km south of Jakarta, midway between the mountains and the heat-ridden plains.

It was an important hill station during Dutch times, from the 17th century. Today Bogor has almost become a suburb of Jakarta, but is a good base for nearby mountain walks.

Its altitude is only 290m, but it is appreciably cooler than Jakarta. Bogor has a nickname, "City of Rain", and probably has the highest annual rainfall in Java.

The city lived up to its name the day I arrived, as it deluged, but I was lucky as there was no more rain during my visit.

The Kebun Raya (Great Garden) was officially opened in 1817 during Dutch rule, having been the inspiration of Sir Stamford Raffles, who was governor of Java from 1811-1816.

The gardens were originally laid out by a German professor, with assistants from the Kew Gardens in London. The main interest at that time were plants used by the Javanese for domestic and medicinal purposes.

They collected plants and seeds from other Indonesian islands creating the Botanic Gardens. It was from these gardens that various colonial cash crops such as tea, cassava, tobacco, and cinchona were developed by early Dutch researchers during the 19th century.

The first catalogue of plants in the Garden was published in 1823 and listed 914 species.

Over the years the garden was developed, and today there are more than 15,000 species of trees and plants. Can you imagine there are more than 400 types of palms?

The garden also boasts the world's largest flower, the Rafflesia.

This plant was known to the aborigines and used in local medicine well before the 19th century when it was introduced to European scientists in 1818 by Stamford Raffles.

He had seen it in Sumatra. It's hard to believe that the largest Rafflesia flower can weigh seven kilos.

The gardens contain streams and lotus ponds, and straddle the Ciliwung River. There are large lawns, avenues and a tea house.

An avenue of plants in the colour of the Belgian flag was planted in memory of a visit by Princess Astrid of Belgium in 1928.

During the Japanese invasion in 1942, two Japanese took over the directorship of the Garden and the Herbarium, and the place was saved. During the Second World War the garden was neglected and sadly the giant Rafflesia died.

The Dutch resumed management until Independence. In the following years, research was prevalent.

There are huge forest trees, mahogany, teaks and 56 species of Dipterocarpaceae, and notably a 125-year-old Meranti.

Other areas are devoted to fruit trees, there are also bamboos, as well as gingers and other herbs and spices used medicinally. The newly renovated orchid houses have a fine collection of original and cloned species. There is a small monument in memory of Olivia Raffles who died in 1814 and was buried in Batavia (a 17th century Dutch town, now part of Jakarta).

The gardens have played a historical role over the years. A Dutch gardener who became curator of the gardens, discovered the importance of cassava (ubi kayu) as an important food source. It was originally found in Batam off Sumatra, growing as a hedge. The root tuber is a highly versatile food source all over Asia.

Between 1852 and 1854 the Garden played an important role in the introduction of quinine to Java, an extract used for treating malaria. Quinine is produced from the bark of the Cinchona tree, originally from Peru. As I travelled around West Java, I saw small forests of Cinchona trees.

Other useful plants were grown for stock and cuttings were distributed all over Indonesia, especially of tobacco, Australian Eucalyptus species, maize and Liberian coffee.

Research was undertaken on plant parasites and diseases affecting crops such as sugarcane. The laboratory attracted an increasing number of scientists.

There are four main walks within the Garden, as well as drivable roads. Most specimens are labelled.

The main gates have statues of the Hindu god Ganesh set in the pillars. The entrance leads to the Canarium Avenue, named after the Javanese almond tree. This produces edible nuts, the outside husks of which are made into key ring fobs and sold outside.

The garden houses probably Indonesia's only specimen of Ficus albipila, a huge strangling fig.

The King tree, Koompassia excelsa, has spectacular buttress roots. Nearby is a group of statues and inscriptions, believed to be of Hindu origin. They are probably 600 years old. There is a statue of Shiva and the bull Nandi. The striking red flame tree, Delonix regia, is now found all over Indonesia but was introduced from Singapore in 1848.

The garden is an important refuge for birds, more than 50 species have been recorded. Flying foxes are abundant in one or two areas, roosting high in the tree canopies.

Apart from the many tropical plant species, it has become a well-known institution for research and conservation.

The Garden is an important part of Bogor city, providing employment and a place of recreation. It is open every day, and is well worth a visit.

The Brunei Times

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Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/classification/life/travel/2007/03/10/german_inspiration_in_the_city_of_rain

Mae Hong Son misty beauty (BT 2008)

Published on The Brunei Times (http://www.bt.com.bn/en)


Misty beauty of Mae Hong Sun


City of Three Mists: Mae Hong Sun, Thailand's northern border city hidden between towering mountains, is known for its charm of scenery and culture. Above and top are some of the beautifully designed buildings in the city. Pictures: Liz Price
Liz Price




Sunday, March 9, 2008


THE mountain road was full of twists and turns, and it was pouring with rain, the mist obscuring the view. I'd been hoping to get some good photos but the weather was preventing this and the constant turning of the car meant I could never keep the camera steady enough to get a decent shot. We were on the road from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son in northern Thailand. It is a winding mountain road the whole way.

Mae Hong Son is Thailand's northern border city, hidden between towering mountains with densely forested slopes. Just 30 years ago this province was little known to the tourist world. It was home to nomadic hill tribesmen, opium armies, Burmese border patrols and the Thai military, who were involved in year round fights with the drug barons who ran opium plantations and heroin factories. Impenetrable jungle covered the misty mountains and only the tribesmen and drug caravans knew the way through.

But that has all changed and today Mae Hong Son is a peaceful tourist centre, known for its charm of scenery and culture. The drug lords moved across the border to Myanmar, and much of the province's income is derived from supplying them with rice and consumer goods.

The people of Mae Hong Son consist of the Shans who live in the city and the hill tribe people who live in remote mountain villages where their lifestyle has changed little in hundreds of years.

The Shan originated from Burma. The hill tribe people consist of Karen, Lisu, Mhong, Lahu, and Lua. Both groups have their own distinctive cultures. They have their own lilting dialect, their own architectural lifestyles, their own customs and traditions and their own delicious cuisine. Throughout the year, Mae Hong Son holds many festivals and events. There are different dances, rituals, and ceremonies, and even different foods.

The city is covered with mist all year long, and is nicknamed "the City of Three Mists". This is derived from the fact that it has dewy mist in the winter, forest fire mist in the summer and rainy mist in the rainy season. The best time to visit is between November and March as it's relatively dry then.

On our first morning we drove up the hill Doi Kong Mu to see the temple and look at the view. Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu (also known as Wat Phai Doi) is a Shan built temple sitting atop the 1,500m hill. It has two stupas dating back to 1860 and 1874.

The view from the wat is stunning. There was a sea of mist which had collected in the valley, but as the sun made an attempt to come out the fog lifted revealing a view of the town. The airport runway was devoid of life, but there are at least four flights a day to Chiang Mai.

In the southern part of town are two wats situated by a large pond. Wat Jong Kham was built almost 200 years ago by the Shan. Wat Jong Klang has some century old paintings. But in some of the areas in this wat, women are forbidden to enter, which is not unusual for Shan temples.

Mae Hong Son isn't known for its gastronomic delights, but there are many places to eat. There is also an increasing number of bakeries and other places catering for farang (westerners') food. Many farang come to this area for trekking and so there are more and more guesthouses, restaurants and tour operators opening up to serve them.

We stayed in Rooks Resort at the south end of town, and according to the guidebook it "represents the top end in town". Several European holidaymakers were enjoying the swimming pool but for me it was too cold to take a dip.

The town is mostly used as a base for activities such as trekking and rafting. The nearby Mae Hong Son River is used for rafting and boating tours. You can go for an elephant ride or for the more active, trekking is very popular. There are several guesthouses and tour agents in town which arrange treks. Typical rates for treks are 400 to 500 baht a day, with three to five days the normal duration. You sleep and eat in the hill tribe villages. The villages of the Padaung Karen with the so-called giraffe necked women are specially popular. Alternatively you can visit Karen villages without a guide by walking two hours out of town. Guesthouses will supply a map, and the roads seem to be well signposted.

Further from town are hot springs and Tham Plaa National Park with the famous Fish Cave. Some of the most beautiful scenery is along the road to Pai. You can stay in traditional Shan villages and trek through forests along mountain paths, and see clear mountain streams and stunning limestone caves. So even though the town of Mae Hong Son isn't packed with tourist attractions, there are plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy within the vicinity of town. The Brunei Times

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Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/travel/2008/03/09/misty_beauty_of_mae_hong_sun

Songkhla, Thailand (BT 2008)

Published on The Brunei Times (http://www.bt.com.bn/en)
Songkhla, Thai seat of old Malay Kingdom
















Local legend: Top, bronze statues representing Ko Nu and Ko Maew, the "Mouse and Cat Islands" off the southern Thai fishing town of Songkhla (Middle), whose prestigious Malay past is enshrined in its museum (Bottom). Pictures: Liz Price

Liz Price
SONGKHLA, SOUTHERN THAILAND

Sunday, June 1, 2008


IT WAS a tough decision each night. Should I have a local delicacy, such as a plate of fresh spicy noodles with seafood, or should I buy lots of snack items and make a picnic out of it? The food on display at the market stalls was enough to tempt the most discerning of gourmets.

I was with a friend in Songkhla in southern Thailand, and the trip was starting to turn into an eating binge. As we were on holiday we decided to indulge in our passion for food and eat our way around the town.

We had started in the bigger town of Hat Yai, where we immediately headed for one of my favourite eating-places, a small shop selling authentic Thai food, not often patronised by foreigners. A plateful of delicious spicy food costs less than RM3 ($1.26). Most Malaysians when visiting Hat Yai tend to go to expensive seafood restaurants catering for tourists, or to one of the many halal shops in the city centre. The food in these places is generally expensive and toned down for the Malaysian palate, so you don't get the kick of authentic Thai cooking.

The following day we made a day trip to Songkhla. This seaside town is the capital of Songkhla Province, not Hat Yai as many people think. We took a bus — big buses and minivans frequently ply this route. We spent the day wandering, sitting and looking. The town has a pleasant feel as it is quieter and less busy than Hat Yai, and has retained its charm with old buildings and temples.

Songkhla has an old history. The name may derive from a corruption of Singgora, which like Singapore, means "lion city". Here it refers to a lion-shaped mountain near the city of Songkhla.

Songkhla was the seat of an old Malay Kingdom with heavy Srivijayan influence until about 1400 CE, when it then became part of Nakhon Si Thammarat. From the 18th century many Chinese immigrants arrived to seek their fortune, and settled in the area. One family, the Na Songkhla became very wealthy and influential, and their residence is now used as the Songkhla National Museum.

The National Museum has to be one of the most attractive museum buildings in Thailand. It is housed in a 100-year-old building of southern Sino-Portuguese architecture, painted red and white with a curved roofline. The museum contains exhibits from all national art style periods as well as Thai and Chinese ceramics and furniture. Outside the museum is a stretch of the old city wall dating from the 17th century.

The inhabitants of Songkhla are a colourful mix of Thais, Chinese and Malays, and this is reflected in the architecture in the old part of town.

Wat Klang, also known as Wat Matchimawat, is a 17th century Sino-Thai temple and is the most important Buddhist temple in the province.

Songkhla is also southern Thailand's education centre, and this is seen in the number of universities and colleges.

Songkhla lies on a peninsula between the Gulf of Thailand and a large inland sea. This inland sea, Thaleh Sap, is a huge brackish lake stretching up to Phattalung about 90km away, where it merges with the Thaleh Noi (Little Sea). There are two wildlife sanctuaries on this inland sea, and these are important wetland areas and a haven for waterbirds.

The Tinsulanond Bridge crosses the Songkhla lake to connect the narrow land east of the lake with the main southern part of the province. At 2.6km long, it is the longest concrete bridge in Thailand.

Another attraction of Songkhla is the seafood, particularly along Hat Samila, a white stretch of beach lined with casuarina trees. At one end of the beach at the Samila cape is a bronze statue of a mermaid, similar to that found in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Near this beach are two famous islands, Ko Nu and Ko Maew (Mouse and Cat Islands). According to local legend, a cat, mouse and dog were travelling on a Chinese ship, and they tried to steal a crystal from a merchant. Swimming ashore with the crystal, the cat and the mouse both drowned and were turned into the islands, whilst the dog made it to the beach where he died and became the hill Khao Tang Kuan. The crystal turned into the white sandy beach.

When we had had enough of sitting looking at the sea, we headed into town to find a comfy cafe for a cool drink. The buildings definitely have a Chinese feel about them and it's nice just to wander the streets, absorbing the atmosphere. Then it was time to return to Hat Yai and worry about what to have for dinner.

The Brunei Times

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Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/travel/2008/06/01/songkhla_thai_seat_of_old_malay_kingdom