Tioman Sky

The tiny white dot is the moon!

Tioman Beach... Isn't beautiful? When was this... Hmm, this year 2011 somewhere after July. I took these about 7 am. It was a downcast morning. It later rain in the morning. I dragged my husband from his cosy sleep to walk by the beach and catch the sun rise. Well, it took me about an hour to wake him up!! Had to carry my son in his pj too.  Didnt get to catch the sun rise but manage to take the picture of the beautiful clouds. Oh, I miss Tioman already :-(

Tioman Moon

Raining on Roses

I took these pictures from my mother-in-law's flower pots. It had just stopped raining. Droplets of rain still on the petals. I love to look at these pictures because they are so fresh and the colours are gorgeous, even though the roses are over bloom :-)

Red Hibiscus - Bunga Raya

The bud

Bud open slightly

This is the red hibiscus growing near my son's playground. This red one is the common variety found here in Malaysia. Here, we grow a wide variety of hibiscus with a wide array of colours. In the houses they plant it in pots. You can plant it as a wall fence too. 

I know the leaves are very good for hair. You mash it up till all the slimy gel comes out and that slimy gel is very good for your scalp. Or you can boil the leaves in water and use the water to wash your hair. At least that was what my sister did and yup, she has the thickest, blackest hair among all of us, 8 sisters! For me, I stick to shampoo and conditioner and hair serum. Why, cuz I'm lazy to do all that stuff of picking, mashing, boiling hibiscus leaves. I will just have to rely on my Loreal products to deal with my dry hair.

Anyway you can also eat the petals and make juice out of them.

To conclude, hibiscus is not only beautiful, it has plenty of uses too. A good plant to have around your garden. Easy to grow too in the tropical climate. No fuss at all. 

Hail to hibiscus!!

Mimosa Pudica Flower

This is the flowers of the Mimosa Pudica plant. In Malay, we call it pokok semalu (meaning shy plant). Pudica in Latin means "shy, bashful or shrinking". This plant is also called Sensitive Plant and the touch-me-not. It is because when you touch the leaves they will close up (fold inward and droop when touched or shaken, re-opening later.) The leaves also close up in the evening and open again in the morning.

This plant is considered a pest in Malaysian gardens. They grow wild, on any grassy area, usually on a field, especially in Malaysian school fields. As they grow on the ground and creeping, they usually got trampled and stepped on by the kids.  

Here in Malaysia, the plant is akin to grass, i.e. nobody bothered about them at all except for curious kids. We are so used to this plant growing everywhere. They are tiny and without their flowers, they blend in with the grass.

I love the flowers and I love to bring my son to a field and let him find this plant and let him touch all of the leaves. Its a fun game and educational too! If you blow the tiny flowers, all the tiny tiny hairs that you see above will fly away and float in the air. Yup, another fun game to play with your kid.

I saw this very very tiny insect, much much smaller than a mosquito hopping and jumping about the mimosa leaves from one branch to another and you can see all the foliage closing up, like a dance. For me, it was a beautiful and memorable sight to see :-) 

Among the mimosa leaves as you can see above I found a very tiny flower. If you look closely you can see that its like an orchid, with its sepals and petals. Really interesting huh.