Search This Blog

Wednesday 8 May 2013

if only i could

if only...

if only....
if only i could sew all the election banners, and flags lining along the roads into a nice comfy blanket and sent it to somalia, i am sure we could save half the nation from death and suffering during the winter season.

and what do we do with the flags?
we burn them out in the open like this is our goddamn grandpa's planet!
of only we could see that, it's the rakyat's money that has just gone into flames.

no thanks to contributing to global warming, too!
cant you see?

Tuesday 5 February 2013

tea plantation boh bharat


 




just look at the human figure compared to the vast areas of the tea plantations



tea - green the earth



those cottages look so heavenly in the midst of the green carpet of tea tree.

 
Cameron Highlands is the largest tea-growing region in Malaysia - home to vast plantations of this valuable crop that carpet the valleys in a lush sea of bright green. Tea was also one of the precursors to its development as a hill station, before its transformation into a major tourist destination. Today, the many tea plantations that dominate the valley are instrumental in drawing the multitudes of visitors Cameron Highlands receives each year. The various estates are mostly owned by Boh, the larger group established since 1929 by colonial owners; and Bharat, a slightly more recent local company that only began full-scale operations in the 1950s.


The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) is actually a tree, rather than a bush as popularly regarded by most people. If left to grow in the wild, tea can grow up to 16m in height. The current method of pruning tea plants leaves them at a manageable size for ground-level harvest, while allowing for higher yield through a more compact arrangement of bushes. The same plant is used to produce different types of tea; each undergo a different oxidation process and blend that result in their unique flavours, aroma and colour. In Cameron Highlands, black tea is the most popular variety of tea produced, followed by Oolong and green tea. The dark tint of tea is the result of its chemical compunds, chiefly being tannin leached into the water by heating.


Next to water, tea is the most popular drink in the world, beating even coffee and beer. While tea produced from Cameron Highlands is not strictly exceptional, they make extremely popular products and souvenirs by value of novelty, especially when bought while visiting shops at tea plantations or neighbouring towns. Boh has the largest tea estates, covering a total 3238 hectares, with plantations and factories open to visitors at Habu in Ringlet and Sungai Palas in Brinchang. Bharat has smaller tea fields (total 810 hectares) but more strategic positions along the main road, specifically just before Tanah Rata town and between Tringkap and Kampung Raja, allowing them to capture visitors despite inferior tourist facilities. Much smaller tea plantations can be found in Kuala Terla and Blue Valley, but some of them have been abandoned.

just in case you thought i knew so much about tea, i actually don't. i simply cheated by bringing the information directly to you from the cameronhighland.net.
however, the photos were taken by my canon 550D using programme with manual focus setting.

Monday 4 February 2013

the melayu's chuncky strawberry jam.

a friend pesan...

if i were to buy a strawberry jam from cameron highlands, purchase the ones with lots of fruits in the jam. i take it to mean - a chunky jam. we looked everywhere in the supermarkets and roadside stalls even tea shops, but alas! could not find any.

then i learned about the cottage industries by the malay villagers who went into strawberry planting and processing them into cordial, jam, toppings and shakes.

i you drive a car, coming down from brinchang, just before reaching tanah rata, you will see on the left side, a sprawl of golf course and just towards the end there is a turn off to the place called kampung sedia.

there are  3 operators that carry different names but the jam i wanted carry the label KM Jam.


strawberries planted in a pot

strawberries planted in plastic bags

awh! sweet and juicy strawberries


look at the prices in the menus. they are so affordable


food glorious food! we had mee kari & bihun sup, strawberry yogurt and shakes

eating in the farm, the strawberries tasted and smelled heaven!


each farmer has a little shop that displays and sells their products complete with a cafe. what we did was to buy cordial and strawberry fruits from one operators, jams and toppings from the other while we had our lunch, yogurt and shakes in a bistro on a strawberries farm.

wanita comel even put on her strawberry coloured dress - it's like a honeymoon for me all over again. how beautiful could that be!

Wednesday 30 January 2013

the chinese towkeh

it is not often i get to spend time alone with wanita comel.

i had a workshop up in cameron highlands and she wanted to come along. hey! this is great news. afterall, i need a good blanket and a bolster cause cameron could get very cold especially at nite.

it was a smooth ride from kelumpo to brinchang, stopping at rawang r&r for breakfast and tanah rata for lunch. while enjoying our simple lunch at tanah rata, i almost fainted when a saw something that caught my eyes so blaringly.

i almost had a heart attack!  what i thought was a cina towkeh turns out to be someone else

lots of food stalls at tahan rata

the vege was so fresh and sedap

view from my room at the equitorial brinchang.

i did not find this in kelumpo but up in the cameron. oh! it is his territory since cameron lays in the state of pahang.

Wednesday 9 January 2013

kenangan mengusik jiwa 1 - kantoi giler




aku ni sebenarnya agak pemalu dan a private person walaupun dulu berjawatan PRO. banyak benda aku simpan di dalam kekotak kaca lipatan sejarah hidupku dan untuk tatapan bukan sebarangan mata manusia lain, selain bijik mata sendiri sahaja.  maluku begitu menebal, takut cerita punya cerita, terbuka pekung di dadaku yang padat dan bidang ini (chewah!).

aku nak sambut cabaran Pakcik Almanar yang mengatakan aku terlalu banyak tidur dan culas update blog, maaf ye pakcik, tahun ni saya berazam nak rajin sikit!

sukar buat ku untuk mengukir di dada kertas dengan pena berbisa lalu melakarkan cerita kesah hidupku yang tah bila berlakunya (ketuk keyboard komputer jer!) untuk tatapan anda sume.

ok serius neh!
salah satu tugas rasmi yang aku kena buat secara paksarela ialah bangun pepagi buta walaupun tak rela berpisah dengan mimpi yang sungguh indah dan terbuai tu lalu bersiap sedia untuk keudara di ruang angkasaraya semalaya, jap lagi driver jemput kat rumah terus ke rtm. bangun nak ke studio dan bangun nak ke pejabat besar beza persediaannya, nantilah lain kali insyAllah ada masa, cerita plak pasal itu. Talk show di radio dan tv sumenye di sebelah pagi waktu drive time, gitu.

wisma radio dan bangunan angkasapuri tu memang menjadi gelanggang permainan ku untuk menyampaikan maklumat kepada pendengar melalui rancangan diskusi siap dengan pekej phone-in lagik!. aku ada rancangan tetap 2 minggu sekali, di rangkaian biru - masatu kena cakap omputeh!

kasi cantas sama dia - dipendekkan cerita selepas dinaikkan pangkat ke GRO (this is not the truth and so it is not true - jangan percaya semua yang anda baca di dada akhbar, social media kan ada!), tak buat la dah keje-keje gitu, aku kena transfer ke cawangan pj.

ada seketika tu pada bulan april, cawangan kami dibanjiri oleh ramai pelanggan yang datang dari se-entere selangor dan kelumpo untuk minta bantuan mengisi borang deklarasi mandatori mereka, maka sudah tentulah sebagai timbalan ketua cawangan, aku juga sama turun padang bergelut bertunglus lumus sampaikan comot dan berlemos membantu pelanggan.

 
gambar diciplak dari google
"encik! saya nak tanya!" tetiba seorang jejaka perkasa, persis profesyonal lagaknya berkata dengan suara yang lantang dan penuh kejantanan. "i have heard and recognise that voice!" and aku jadi terpinga, apalah salah ku dijerit sebegini rupa. orang sekeliling pun menumpukan perhatian ke arah seorang insan yang begitu kerdil lagi terpinggir di satu sudut yang terpencil lagi bingit. beribu mata menumpukan perhatian ke arah aku tanpa berkelip sedikitpun.

"dulu kat radio 4, ada seorang pegawai yang petah berbincang dan bantu ramai pendengar, dia beri nasihat di udara. saya suka sangat rancangan tu!. bila diaorang hentikan rancangan tersebut, segelintir kami telefon dan marah rangkaian biru kerana tidak menyiarkan rancangan kegemaran kami yang banyak memberi pengajaran kepada masyarakat.

dia mula berjalan ke arah ku dan sepantas kilat hatiku berdetik dan berdoa " tolonglah aku, Ya Allah!, tolonglah pengsankan orang ini kerana hodohnya keadaan rupa paras ku ini, tolonglah!....." well that didn't happen, orang tu tak pon pengsan!

dia terus membalikkan tag namaku yang ku sematkan di dada padat dan bidangku, dan dia menyebutnya #@*##, tu awak kan? saya ingat nama dan suara itu. lalu dia berpaling pulak kepada segelintar orang yang masih gagal mengelipkan mata kerana kepoh nak tahu punca pasalnya, "dia ni famous dulu, selalu keluar radio, ramai peminat dari golongan profesional dan business dengar rancangan dia, ha.....tu awak kan, kan?"

jika nak diikutkan hati, mau saja pada ketika itu bertukar jadi unggas lalu terbang bebas. sumpah! muka toreh tak berdarah. aku terus jadi hantu cina yang melompat-lompat tuh!  "sa...saya lah orang itu" lantas aku menjawab dan terasa benar besarnya kemaluan ku - err..maksudku bukan benda tu!
 

p.s. ini kesah benar, demi Allah tiada sedikitpon unsur riak.



Wednesday 2 January 2013

Alhamdulillah, aku masih bernafas di tahun 2013

thank you ALLAH, my lord
i still find myself  breathing in the dawn of 2013, so that i could carry on to be your obedient and taqwa follower.

hey! camna sambutan new year? a friend call out to me! tengok bunga api? and so i went aghast almost to the brim of dumbfounded. this is the same peer that struggle through thick and thin, some people simply have no ability to change - old habits die hard!

years ago i would have arrogantly replied " are you crazy? didn't you see me in Merdeka Square? it seems like the only cool things to do to embrace the new year. " you must be out of your mind not to be there at the - happening of the year event! not to mention the crazy heat and sweat, suffocating environment right into the ocean of unruly revellers and unbearable ear-piercing rowdy music that came from the concert on stage, until you get to the countdown part and then fireworks!

alhamdulillah now i am reduce to....simply carrying on my routine of hajat prayers ( asking god for a much more fruitful year ahead) after the magrib and listening to new year sermon or tazkirah after the isyak prayers. and mind you i am not ashamed of myself for doing what seems to be so uncool to some of you.

at the putrajaya mosque, new year was done with a touch of style. after isyak prayers, what was called TAZCERT started at the foyer. it is a combi of words tazkirah and concert. there were two speakers that delivers the tazkirah on how muslims should embrace the new year the islamic way, intertwine with coral speaking, and nasyid presentations from students of the Islamic University College. food and drinks were distributed to the listeners. the gestures has managed to pull a bit of the crowd from the life concert that was held at the boulevard near the MOF building.

there were Muslim tourists from the Middle-eastern countries that were present and one of them said they did not have anything like this in their country and so immediately my respond was "is it good or bad do you think?"
a few of them were saying that this is a good approach, listening to the sermon braided with songs that praises the mighty lord. "the mosque prepared food and drinks so that we could listen and eat leisurely, this is a beautiful mosque!" especially so the mee, meehon and ketiew goreng were real sedap!

and oh! back the tazcert! they all agreed, by saying "I like..." so congrats to masjid putrajaya! if only the tourists knew this is the first year we embarked on something new like this! well, something is better than nothing, at the very least, there was an attempt of the mindset change.

on the way out of the dataran we got smacked right into the terrible jam of these youngsters making a beeline to the precint 10 bridge that passes through precint 8 and eventually to the Wawasan bridge that faced the MOF building to witness the fireworks!

just to make sure! checking the back of the car through the looking mirror, thank god, Alhamdulillah! my three teenage sons were with me and wanita comel all along and our next important agenda was to get some sleep. the Qia-mulail starts at 4 am in the morning.

as i lay in bed, almost half-asleep, i can't thank Allah enough for blessing  me with substantial rezqi as well as yielding me with marvelous and subservient spouse and sons.
And.... there goes the sound of fireworks at the distance. ZZZZzzzzzz.......



Pages