出淤泥的宝贝

这，要和大家分享我的植物淘宝初体验。

话说我们迷上多肉植物，决定到淘宝找一些这儿没有的品种。适逢农历新年，我们一群淘宝客难忍没得购物的煎熬，依旧上网找着看着，一开市，我不知不觉就买了两颗迷你睡莲的根块。

我们新年后的第一批网购，于三月十七日到达我家。

包装有点儿随便

块根和我想象中的有一点出入。同事说，她要看到这个样子，应该当垃圾给丢掉了。

两个块根

我找了个器皿，加土，把两个块根埋入，浇上水即可。

一个星期过后，发芽咯~ 我便把发芽后的睡莲连器皿一起放入我的小水池。

十天后，叶子都长出水面了

这是9.4.2015时我的迷你睡莲的模样：

感觉上我现有的小盆太拥挤了，于是今天决定来个搬迁大行动。首先，把原本的土呀、植物等都掏空，然后把两棵迷你睡莲分种于两个小盆，这才开始landscaping的工作。

由于这是临时决定（原本要锄地设计花床，但看风雨欲来的样子，还是找个‘半室内’project即可，这才决定小池塘大搬迁），材料有限，决定在原有的物品中变化，改天再增添。

换了个大盆，最开心的就是鱼儿们。从project完毕到现在它们还在兴奋地游上游下的，更爱在流水处戏水。这小小project可真的做对啦~

禅味十足的趣味小乌龟一定要继续用

木头假山、空凤和近乎不必照顾的翡翠木照样上场

我的迷你睡莲们和浮萍们终于有松动的空间啦~

The White House

When I was small, maybe around 4 or 5 years old, my dad used to work in Kota Bharu for a brief period. I don't have much memories about that place, only pieces here and there of the good old days.

I remembered the stairs beside dad's office that leading up to second or third floor to our hostel; I remembered my metal frame bed where I always secretly throw grape seeds into a hole on that frame, hoping for a vine bed;

I remembered the flood and some weird Malay-grammar-hokkien;

I remembered the Malay girl that always come to play with me. I spoke zero Malay or English then, and she spoke zero English or Chinese. However, we did have great time playing masak-masak and many other games that I couldn't recall now;

I remembered the banana leaf curry house. Back then, eating with bare hand, taking food from the banana leaf was a special experience for me;

And among these, the one that I had the most vivid memory is "White House". Some how, I always remembered the red-brick columns, the chairs, and the perfect half-boiled-eggs. As a 4 years old (or 5), I think my mum fed me only the half-boiled eggs and bread from this shop while they had those awesome nasi dagang.

So every time I visit Kota Bharu, I have to make sure that "White House" is in my itinerary. For nostalgic reason, and for the great childhood food.

I respect the person who did the DOE and perfected the half-boiled-eggs. Today, they are still using this traditional method of metal cup and boiled water, and yet, the half-boiled-eggs are better than those that I cook with the Tupperware half-boiled eggs cooker.

All of us ordered a set of famous half-boiled eggs + roti bakar with kaya and butter + coffee. Of course, we also sampled all the types of rice being sold there. My personal favorite is the nasi dagang. THE BEST!

Nasi Topeng

Nasi Lemak

Nasi Dagang Ikan

Nasi Dagang Ayam

We were so impressed, that we stopped here for the kaya and coffee before we traveled back to Penang. However, by the time we reached, the shop was already half-closed. We plead to the shop owner and finally they agreed to sell us a dozen bottles of kaya, and a few loaves of bread. No chance for coffee though as the kitchen was already closed.


Address: 1329-L, Jalan Sultanah Zainab, 15050, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, 15050
Phone:09-748 4119

心系东海岸

我一向来爱东海岸。喜欢那纯朴，更爱南中国海的浩瀚。

我们沿着海岸线随意地驾着，我原本想要一路驾到丁加奴去，但我们之前在双龙寺多呆了一些时间，反正自驾游，反正东海岸必不差，也就找个无人海滩，铺上picnic mat，吹着海风，感受着真正的平静。

Wat Phothikyan Phutthaktham

Based on previous experience, I tried very hard not to visit all the famous temples in Kelantan under the hot sun. I asked the rest to pick their "must go" but no response. So we ended up with only one: Wat Phothikyan Phutthaktham (also known as Double Dragon Temple). I was planning for a brief stop at this place before our half-day-beach trip. However, we ended up spending hours here, mainly due to:

The white "Guan Yin" standing marvelously under the clear blue sky

The magnificent wishing tree:

And the cuteness overloaded puppies:

Of course, some spent great effort making wish:

And most importantly, Selfie Queen took tons of Wefie photos:

Batik Workshop

Attending batik workshop is one of the highlight of our previous trip. However, we had zero expectations and preparations then, causing us couldn't maximize our experience. Besides, our 'masterpieces' were accidentally sent to an Australian family when they left Pasir Belanda Resort. It took months for them to come back to us. By the time we received, the magic and excitement were already faded.

This round, we attended the workshop prepared. I warned everyone to think of what they want to draw, and everyone googled for their favorite pictures / pattern before the workshop.

So as soon as the teacher let us start drawing, everyone immediately jump into action.

The workshop is still at the same old place. Very basic, super hot and humid! As before, I wish I can complete my batik drawing as soon as possible so that I can run away from the heat.

This round, things get even excited! We met the super huge spider. It was just behind me, hanging, while I tried my very best to pretend that it was not there.

We suspected that it is our batik guru'e pet. "If you run out of ideas, you can just watch the spider and be inspired", that's what our guru told us. A totally not useful tip.

Very kind Jass added his hand in this picture to give you better perception of the size of the spider

Here are the tools for batik drawing. As I said, super basic. First, we use pencil to sketch on a white cloth. Once done, you can start to draw with hot wax by using the custom made fixture. It was done by dipping into the hot boiling wax, and slowly let the wax flowing out from the tip and cover the drawn lines. The thickness of the wax can be adjusted by controlling the flow of the wax.  

Step 1: draw

Step 2: cover the lines with wax

This is how it looks like after covered with wax

The final step for the participants is to colour the batik. We had great fun experimenting the colour mixing / layering and various technique.

Photo session with our drawings before the workshop owner process them with chemical

The next morning, we received our end products. We couldn't help but took tons of photos :)

My end product: much better than my first trial

The proud artist

Pasir Belanda

2 years ago, we had a family trip to East Coast Malaysia. We love Kelantan, and Pasir Belanda plays an important role. This lovely resort hide in the middle of Malay kampung, just right at the river bank. We had relaxing time enjoying the simplest happiness here.

So during this recent trip, of course we have to stay at this place again. The couple stay in one chalet and four girls in another. Since you will spend most of your time outdoor enjoying the kampung lifestyle, this room is big enough for us to stay comfortably for 3D2N.

Chalet #1 - room for 4 of us

Orchid at chalet #1

Resort facility including free wifi (top priority for most people), a tiny pool, a pondok in the middle of the garden, a small play ground including a tree house, swing, seesaw and slide. You can use their ping pong table and boat for free. There are bicycles available for rent too, RM 35 per bike.

Terrace by the river

Cute little tree house

View from the terrace

I can sit there for hours......

Here are some of the new stuffs:

For you to relax at poolside

Cute van

To show how much we love this place, when we were leaving, our Selfie Queen insisted to park our car at roadside and took photos at the entrance of the resort.