Nature's garden

I wandered into a fruit farm in Desaru (Malaysia) and saw fascinating plants like...

(top to bottom)
Cat's whiskers - This has medicinal value but I've totally forgotten what the guide said.

Cultivated mushrooms - these are grown in sawdust mixed with slate lime and kept in a shade house for two months and the mushrooms bloom in two week cycle until the sawdust mixture has decayed. The mushrooms look like Shitake mushrooms and tasted good fried in batter.

Roselle plant - this has medicinal value and the drink I had extracted from the red roselle was sweet and refreshing.

Hanging bananas -this phallic looking thing is purely decorative as this species of banana isn't eaten. The locals will start wishing from top to tip - it is another version of a wishing well.

Trellis of gourds - Interesting trellis, and not only gourds are grown like that but also passionfruit.

In short, look into nature's garden and you'll find a treasure trove of health benefits in plants.

St Joseph Church, Bukit Timah

The St Joseph Church in Bukit Timah has a Chinese watch tower and Chinese tiled roof structure. Its history dates back to 1846. The Catholic church built a church to provide spiritual succour to the Chinese community of farmers and coolies in the forested Bukit Timah interior of the island.
In the 19th century the Chinese community here grew gambier and pepper for their British masters for export. As the British did not extend their jurisdiction to the interior, the community was ruled by secret societies.

View of the verdant green of the Bukit Timah rainforest from the church. In the 1850s, tigers once roamed the reserves and were known to take the lives of Chinese coolies at the rate of one a day. Famous naturalist Sir Alfred Wallace, who studied the flora in Bukit Timah, wrote in The Malay Archipelago (1869) that the area was laden with tiger pit traps made of sticks and leaves. I read on the church website that Fr Augustine Perie once protested with the British to provide a proper burial to a coolie who was killed by a tiger when the British wanted to leave his body there as bait for the tiger to return and hopefully, be shot.

A view of the church from the backyard.

Do you know what fruit tree this is? It is the butterfruit tree.

And this tree is the belimbi or cucumber tree.

No doubt the handiwork of the old church warden. It's quite rare to see these trees nowadays, so they're pleasant surprises.

That's my World

Flowers, Changi

During my walk in Changi, I took pictures of two types of flowers. Do you recognise what they are? I guessed, 'bluebell' maybe, but I was wrong. Ta da...the above flower's common name is King's Mantle. Its scientific name is Thunbergia erecta.
This is an interesting looking flower that I've never seen before. It's called Russelia (scientific name), or coral plant. Origin: Mexico.
Here's the whole bush of them with their pine like leaves. Well, hope you learn something new like I did. Actually, if not for blogging, I wouldn't be taking pictures of flowers and finding out their names. Anyway, happy to share with you out there and hope these flowers will brighten your day.

Visit Today's Flowers.

golden showers

Correct me if wrong, I think these flowers taken in the Raffles Hotel garden belong to the golden shower family. Flowers are blooming everywhere. They love the sun. I'll share more soon.

Visit Today's Flowers.