How To Make A Miniature Garden.

I think I will become a gardener soon. It has been therapeutic weeks for me to potter around the green space at home. I have been shifting pots and plants after the makeover. Suddenly I realized many plants looked boring and I had to do something creative.

I have few empty pots and several packets of black soil which I ordered through Lazada during this MCO. I should use up all the pots from now.

I rounded up some boring plants that should be planted together where their colour difference and texture might spruce up my gardening.

First I planted these stalks that have been rotting away in a water container. It belongs to my wife.

Next, I planted some leafy plant which is reddish in colour.

Then I added another plant which has stripes of red and green tones.

I added 2 more plants and placed some white pebbles around the black soil. My miniature garden is taking shape nicely.

Maybe I should place a ceramic Japanese Doll in the miniature garden to make it look interesting.

Voila! Here is my Miniature Garden that I completed in less than 1 hour. I shall name it "My Tokyo Garden".

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Extended MCO : Eat, Work, Sleep & Repeat.....

I believe this extended MCO has totally changed my thinking and rewired my brains entirely. I have become more determined to diversify my career paths to greener pastures. With my rotten bosses who drove me to the toughest edge of my life and the pandemic that added on, more salt to my injury.... I am a fighter who would battle all obstacles along the way, after all I am still alive with limbs that could work harder and toil like an elephant to shoulder all the heavy logs. No mountain is too high to climb, since I have come this far.

My stint with Nirvana Group has been a blessing as it was not a planned ambition but rather, it fell onto my lap naturally for referring cases to them. It has been giving me good pocket money monthly as everyone needs to plan their final journey. I managed to recruit 2 down lines whom one had recruited his own down lines too. I took my down line on tour of the Nirvana's Columbarium in Shah Alam for better exposure and product training.

Besides this, my ultimate aim is to bring my wife's Computational Thinking curriculum to China! I pray that it would happen since UTAR had signed MOU just half year after she opened her centre. They recognized the importance of Computational Thinking skills to bring their varsity to another level. My farsighted visions had always been right and I believe that China needs her service too.

I went to buy Thai food for our lunch from Frame Thai Restaurant at Section 17's Happy Mansion. I ordered Green Curry Chicken Set and Fried Pork Basil Rice Set. It was so delicious and spicy until my head sweated like fountains.

I had to add on the Spicy Mango Salad that burnt my tongue. My wife loved the Pumpkin Custard and Mango Sticky Rice desserts. 

My wife baked for me the Lemon Cheesecake for the first time. I would say that it was a successful attempt and I am so happy. One whole pie for myself alone! Yoohoo!

I was overjoyed that my agent managed to find a good tenant for my condo which has been vacant since the trails of mess left behind by the Gangsters of China. So I invited my wife to eat at Little Penang @ Atria since the dine-in is allowed now. There were only 2 tables of guests! We had hot & iced coffee with Durian Chendol as dessert.

We shared a plate of crispy Chicken Lor Bak with Assam Laksa and Curry Mee. The hearty dinner meal made my cravings fulfilled like a big celebration.

The Next Day.......

As if we didn't enjoy enough and returned to Little Penang again tonight for more cravings. This time my wife invited her single friend along. We ordered a plate full of Pie Tee and Kari Hantu Set which was very tasty and fragrant. The set came with Beef Curry, Lor Bak and Pucuk Manis vegetables. Yums!

We also ordered Dark Sauce Chicken Set which came with Assam Petai Prawns and Ju Hu Char. Her friend ordered Char Koay Teow. We finished off with ABC shredded ice as dessert which I forgot to snap the photo. 

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Easy Garden Makeover Ideas

In my own previous house where our tortoise was delivered by the stork, I actually put in plenty of effort and grueling hours to build a big rock garden by myself. I had planted all the exotic plants that resembled "The Mystical Gardens Of Bali" complete with the rare species of flowering Birds of Paradise, Parrot's Beak and Giant Alocasia leaves. My immediate neighbours who could peep from their balconies had complimented my rock garden as most beautiful house on the street after seeing me using a hoe and spade to dig tirelessly for many weeks & months until I was contented. It was not easy to build a rock garden of my dreams. I personally picked up all the heavy rocks of the perfect sizes, shapes and colours to match the flora & fauna during my drive, passing through various construction sites, landfills and even rubbish dumps! Silly me.

There is a messy corner of my garden where I have decided to tidy up the neglected state of my herbal plants corner. Who would believe that there are pots of healthy Daun Pekaka, Pandan Leaves, Curry Leaves, Daun Keduk, Musang Durian Tree and etc being huddled together right here? Who would believe that there were once chillies, lemongrass, mints, basil and limau kasturi plants that have all died there? It was my fault because I did not water them when I went overseas. Give me time as I have wonderful plans now to tidy up and beautify this corner so that my tortoise could enjoy quality hours to smell the green plants and dig the earth like its natural habitat.

I had to crack my head for some ideas due to the MCO lockdown where I could not find nice rocks. So I ordered few sets plastic fence from Lazada. It was delivered so fast and easy to fix.

It took me hours to pull out all the weeds and re-arrange all the plants. Finally I could water them with organic fertilizer which my sister made from the worm's water!

How do you like my blooming flowers?

I will fasten the fence in a straight line with the given pegs to hammer into the ground. I will share close-up shots of some flowers and some herbs.

My pandan leaves are very big with many little offspring now. There are Daun Keduk leaves and Curry leaves too.

Some common flowers which I only know Lavendar is on the left and has no smell. The other 2 flowers are unknown to me. Who can help to put captions for me?

I only know the Yellow Hibiscus is on the right. Who can help me with the names of the other 2 flowers?

These are my herbal plants - Oregano, Basil Leaves and Limau Kasturi.

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My Chronicles of Covid-19 & MCO Phase 4

This pandemic of Covid-19 has changed everyone in this world and forced everybody to put the same thoughts in their mind for a long time to come. It's like God is waking up everyone and remind us to live in a meaningful way again. The world has become very sick today with so much toxic pollution in the air, environment and even the human hearts. Our Mother Nature is not spared either by the heartless beings who felled the forests, pollute rivers & oceans and waged wars between countries until millions of people and animals are made homeless. This has been running in my thoughts for the past 51 days since the MCO lockdown. We should LOVE Our World.

What have I been doing after giving up being a TV couch potato, besides sweating myself with rigorous exercise? 

I tak boleh duduk diam-diam di rumah, so I went out to buy some very urgent grocery. I was surprised that the supermarket placed a scanning device that could read my temperature when my ugly face fitted their screen's facial outline for capturing. I stood about 1 meter away and have doubts about its accuracy. The airports do have them too.What do you think?

These are my urgent groceries like Horlicks and Milo beverages for our daily breakfast. Pumpkin for my wife to make her delicious Pumpkin Soup. Our daily bread and Lettuce for my TT tortoise which is so fussy. TT doesn't like broccoli, cabbage, carrots or fruits like other tortoise. Maybe it is still growing slowly and steady. It likes Daun Keduk surprisingly, so I am farming them in large quantity now.

At night I went to Texas Chicken and saw this customer who was so well protected like someone from Star Wars Sand Troopers. The counter cashier could not even hear his Darth Vader voice. Haha

I bought Spicy Chicken for my wife and a Wrap for myself. I also bought 6 pieces of Honey Butter Biscuits. MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO.... I followed Mun's style and put all the Honey Butter Biscuits into the freezer for experiment! Hihihi

There is a petrol kiosk in my area that sells so much Malay and Nyonya Kuehs from noon. It would be sold out by late evening esp during the Ramadan Month. Look at the Kueh Bingkar selling at RM2.00 for 4 pieces!!! Cheap and yummy!

My sister made Sourdough Bread several times through trial & errors. Finally she delivered one successful loaf to me to try. It was not easy to bake as she had to ferment the dough using natural yeast and loctobacilli. Have you ever eaten this Sourdough Bread?

Over the days and weeks, I was being well fed by my Chef Wife. She made Bak Kut Teh with soup and the dry version with lots of garlic.

We also had spicy & sour Tom Yum Soup and Fried Bitter Gourd with Pork Belly & Roast Char Siew. I had 2 plates full of rice!

On another day, she fried Pumpkin with dried small shrimps. The dark meat is her signature Roast Char Siew which gets 10/10 marks for its rich & flavourful taste. It could not get any lighter due to the generous coating of her own black soya sauce.

The minute the MCO was eased, I sneaked back to my old condo and got workers to polish the whole marble floor after the China's tenants tore my kitchen sink and left permanent stains on the walls and marble floor. Now the floor is shiny like brand new again. Times are bad and the guy charged me only RM550 instead of RM1000. That's probably he knew I am a good buddy with the agent who brought him many customers.

Times are really bad with the global economy sliding downwards now. Are we on the verge of having a serious global recession soon? Many properties are suddenly hanging banners FOR SALE in Uptown. Many houses are up FOR SALE in my neighborhood too. Scary!

 

Stay Safe Everyone. 

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Covid-19 : The Streets Are Back To Life (UPDATED)

Today marked the busiest day I had seen after the MCO lockdown since 48 days ago. The streets were busy with many cars running in all directions. People wearing smart office attires crossed the streets and thronged the take away food during lunch hour. The parking lots were full until many cars double parked again like before. Where did I go?

People have been jamming the pawnshops everywhere. So I went to queue up at Public Bank @ Uptown and it was real madness. It was over one hour wait to enter the bank. The sun was very hot and I was perspiring like just came out from showers.

My good OCD wife stayed at home as usual doing her multi tasking work and had Zoom meetings with 2 laptops and 1 tablet. She wore her new face shield which she bought for RM25 for 5 pieces. It was made by her friend. The quality is very good and comfortable. She managed to help her friend to sell like hot cakes to her Toastmaster's network. 

If anyone wishes to buy this shield, you can order from Shopee nut the price is slightly more because of the minimal packaging & shipment costs involved.  https://shopee.com.my/product/24096137/4530008540?v=f42.&smtt=0.0.3

I was so happy to see these colourful and yummy Nyonya Kueh desserts. By just looking at them brought joy to my heart and all my depressions evaporated into thin air. My wife bought them from SS2's Chow Yang Coffee Shop.

Look at my plants! The spring onions I planted days ago, have grown upright but I still have not cut them. I am afraid it's too much now and should I sell them in the wet market? Maybe I should deliver to Phong Hong's house and tie it around her Fei Mau Cat's neck. She will know it's from me. Hihihihi

This is the messy corner of my herbal garden. Who on earth would believe that there's Curry Leaves plant, Pandan leaves, Basil leaves, Daun Keduk, Daun Pekaka, Rambutan tree, Durian Musang King tree and even a Snake living there! Oh dear, I had to tidy and pull out all the weeds. I will show off my makeover in my next post. Stay tuned everyone especially Blogger Doctor Aiden.

I have been growing this plant for many years because I was told they are edible. It would attract lots of ants when the new flower blooms. So I plucked the petal to eat and it was sweet! Can someone tell me the name of this flower plant and how to eat them? Toss in salad? I have no idea yet I simply planted and it grew well.

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The World's Most Beautiful Memorial Park

I visited this 2 time-Award Winning Memorial Park 2 years ago. It is located in a huge sprawling land with rolling hills and natural stream that flows into their lakes complete with waterfall features within the lush green landscaping. I discovered that place by chance when I followed my team leader to observe the huge cemetery and columbarium niches which are located in a nearby area. 

I loved that place at first sight and spent hours walking & exploring around the tranquil and peaceful sanctuary.

The whole place was beautifully built with different corners and pavilions that reminded me of my many visits to China and Japan. The above photo looks like the ancient canals around Suzhou in the West of Shanghai, complete with little bridges across.

They even have several pavilions like those Chinese Palaces for the emperor to sip tea and seek inspirations to write classical poems with his brush & black ink on rice paper. I sat there for a long time and pictured my little TT tortoise swimming there happily. The water is always flowing from the natural streams further up, hence it will not be stagnant and muddy. The feng shui is excellent here.

They placed many statues of famous historical leaders with their words of wisdom being carved on the rocks. Many young couples often chose this location to shoot their wedding photographs with the scenic backdrop here. Nobody would have guessed that it's not China or Japan but at Nirvana Memorial Park - Semenyih in Selangor Darul Ehsan.

There is a big pond here with surrounding willow trees and the lotus are always blooming with pink flowers.

I believe my tortoise would love this place as it could swim across the canals to pass through all the connecting ponds, lakes and streams with lots of fresh vegetation. It's heavens on earth.

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