Pandan from Kluang

Dear Mom,

The first one didn't make it. Nonetheless, the second one not only survived, but flourish like anything as can be seen from the picture on the left. So now it is ready to be harvested for culinary flavoring and as cockroach repellent in the wardrobes.

Will need to segregate out the young stems from the pot in near future :)

Wiki's description on the plant:

"It is an upright, green plant with fan-shaped sprays of long, narrow, bladelike leaves and woody aerial roots."

Keywords: Pandan leaves, pandan wangi, Pandanus amaryllifolius (Scientific name)

Calathea Lutea

2 Months ago...

After moving in for a year, CM and I finally saved enough house fund for some DIY landscaping. We consulted our interior designer, Mr Chow back then and he encouraged us to plant some plants which match the "feel" of our house architecture - modern tropical. And we can either plant some Philippines yucca or nako (resembles yucca with softer foliage and not spiky). Plants with super big leaves like Calathea Lutea are forbidden in our compound. What?

The thing is, I am a big fan for humongous leaves, sort of like a fetish. And it's our home anyway and we CAN PLANT ANYTHING THAT WE FANCY, right? So after a year, with sufficient fund, we scouted around for quality Calathea Lutea due to the following reasons:

• The plant is majectically tall and can go up to 3 metres. Big is good. Size does matter. It will form shades for Thor & Tease during the daytime.
• It has this large paddle-shaped leaves held by long stalk and can easily form graceful clumps, which will be a dramatic evergreen display all year long at our side foyer. 
• Easy maintenance, just need frequent watering.
• Cheap: RM38/plant bag for smaller stalk, RM68/plant bag for taller stalk. There will be 3-4 stalks per plant bag. 

We have learnt a trick or two from the nursery in horticulture. And the elixir to strong, healthy and fast-growing plantation is - chicken shit! Yes, the pungent tahi ayam is the all time favorite for any plants and it can be sourced from almost any plant nursery and chicken farm, at an economical price. Now, just compare the difference of the same plants two months ago and now. 

  

Now.

The transformation of the well-fed Calatheas is satisfying and overwhelming at the same time. They remind me of Dr. Bruce Banner, a sci-fi character from Marvel's comic, who turns into a green giant (The Hulk) after he was exposed to gamma rays during an experiment. 3-metre is the tolerance guys, and please stay this way forever. If you grow any bigger and make my compound look like the Amazon rainforest, you guys are going on a diet.

Now, the next thing in my mind is to find a way to propagate them for my balcony. Adios.



Keywords: Calathea Lutea, Cigar Calathea, Cuban/Havana Cigar, Pampano, prayer plants

The Animal Holocaust - Gary Yourofsky

Be a vegan, stop animal holocaust. Peace.

Website: Adaptt

Oi Cinapek, please reduce shark fin consumption!

A Threat To Our Future

View more presentations from Shark Rescue.

魚翅湯 - 一碗一碗威脅我們的未來 (Shark Fin - A Threat To Our Future) by Shark Rescue

View more presentations from Shark Rescue.

Shark Tale

After UN meeting rejected proposal to regulate shark fin trade.

Millions of hammerhead and whitetip are extracted from seas each year, mainly to satisfy a burgeoning appetite for sharkfin soup, a prestige food in Chinese communities around the world. The demand for fins has slashed populations by 90 percent in several regions.

The fish are often tossed back into the water after their precious fins have been sliced away.

Flipper

Recently watched The Cove's trailer on Facebook and I was deeply saddened by the fate of this lovely creature exposed in the documentary.

"The Cove exposes the slaughter of more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises off the coast of Japan every year, and how their meat, containing toxic levels of mercury, is being sold as food in Japan and other parts of Asia, often labeled as whale meat."

Of course, I am aware that dolphin butchering also happens elsewhere in Europe. But like what Ric O'Barry said in the documentary, if we can't stop it in this little body of water, then there is no hope to stop the slaughter in any place on earth.

If you want to see dolphins, watch them in their natural habitats.

Every divers' dream

Please watch the documentary and take part to save the dolphins here.

Let's do our part

I remembered someone recommended this film to me when I was still working in Penang, EL, if I am not wrong. As inconvenient as it can be, I think Al Gore mentioned that we have 10 years or less to turn things around before the Earth gets trapped in a frenzy chain of self-destructive mechanism and spiral all of us back to the age of dinosaurs. If whatever he advocated was true, this documentary on Gore's campaign to fight global warming (now we call it Climate Crisis to present an urgency to do some firefighting.) is already 3 years old. Meaning, we only have 7 good years left to slow down (if not stop) what we started.

What prompted this entry was a video posted by my friend on fb - The Sad Truth. And it reminded me something which I told CM a week ago. I remembered those days when I was a little boy, I would stayed with my grandparents on the outskirts for a few days during school breaks. The night will be cool, offering whiffs of refreshing breezes on and off. These days, you could still feel the breeze, but it's like the hot air blown out from a hairdryer. The situation is even apparent in the humble town which I've lived my entire life.

So, I think it's time we do our part for this planet. Some of the changes I made, viz:

• I would rather use fan than air-conditioner. But in places like Singapore, there's no way we can stay without air-cond on this stifling isle. We could still do our part by turning up the setpoint a few notches. For example, I find 28'C a comfortable setting, cool but not cold, so that I do not need to go to the loo half way through my sleep.
• I will not ask for plastic bags if I can comfortably keep it in my bag or handcarry whenever I go shopping. I think I will get a shopping bag in near future for my groceries.
• I don't smoke. And my friends out there, quit smoking ya! For the Earth and for your health.