fruits and veg

Nangka ripening on the tree. Wait for its distinctive aroma to waft out which signifies that it ready to be eaten.

Freshly cut nangka.
Nangka leaves sticky white sap on the knife as it is cut. It is advisable to coat a layer of cooking oil on the knife, so that the sap can be removed easily later.

Watermelon.

My compost heap is overrun by melons grown from seeds that had been thrown in with its peel.

Pumpkin

Old cucumber.

The plight of the Orang Asal

It was supposed to be a brief talk about water issues faced by the Orang Asal (we were told they preferred being referred to as Orang Asal rather than Orang Asli), the talk went on the discuss other issues that were faced by them from contaminated water sources, sanitation issues arising from that, deforestation and encroachment and lots more...

The talk was given by a vivacious lawyer, Siti, who does pro bono work for the OAs.

JY who would usually doodle the 1 hour away during her father's Rotary meetings was all ears, mostly due to the passion that exuded from the brilliant speaker.

A series of photos were shown and some of the images evoked very strong emotions.

Suggestions from rainwater harvesting to health clinics were brought up.

In the carpark, DH was presented with a traditional headgear.

One of the OA who came along for the talk showed us his woven bracelet that cannot be removed as it was weaved directly onto his wrist. It took 2 hours.

Another bracelet, this made of seeds.

JY asked Siti for another talk, a more indepth one and was instead invited to tag along with their group of volunteers into the OA village.

Seesaw by the beach

Our very own seesaw. All materials were found by the beach.
A lot of adjustments were required to get the seesaw going and with 3 boys of unequal weight playing, they soon learnt to shift their position along the log to obtain balance.
A small lesson in physics.

Lunch by the beach

We didn't have a car, one was in the workshop, the other in Melaka. We hadn't gone marketing, so food was running low. In desperate times, we resort to being adventurous.

We packed our burner, pot, bowls and drinking water and headed for the beach. DH cycled to the village grocery shop for instant noodles and eggs and got ready to cook lunch.
It was a very windy day and the water took a long time to boil, so we started a fire.

With roaring flames, lunch was cooked in no time.

This was my lunch. Super 10, found only in PD and it is delicious. Creamy, gooey with a slight tinge of bitterness....simply heavenly.

After lunch, as the water receeded, we found hundreds of lala or soft clams. The 'kuaci of the sea'.

After a quick rinse, we boiled them in a bit of water and sprinkled in some seasoning.

Lala!

Fai burning a couple of coconuts found by the shore. They gave off a lovely aroma.

Tripod II

The moment we hit the beach, Fai went in search of wood suitable for his tripod. He found 3 approximately the same height. The much heavier piece kept toppling his tripod, so he had to go wood hunting again.

He found a suitable replacement and Han was enlisted to help support the structure.

The raffia string was found under a Casuarina tree on the way to the beach. there was so much of it, Fai could tie...

and tie...

Tripod II smoking 2 nipah fruits

Tripod

Fai was always fascinated with knots and used to tie strings around and through furniture.

After noticing his attempts at building camps out of twigs and leaves, I wanted to show him how a tepee was made after finding 3 long pieces of scrap wood. I had long forgotten the knots I had learnt in scouts but somehow managed to construct a tripod for Fai.
After making the tripod, Fai tied sticks midway and made a rack.

We had seen this contraption at a carnival in PD Army Museum and they had used it to smoke meat such as monkey and fish.

Fai placed it over the fire and Han asked for food to place on the rack.

Chairs were brought our, Fai came running in asking for a big piece of cloth. A heavily armed Han helped out.

The 3 boys having a camp out

Art from soot

Watch out Below! 22ndJuly2011

Fai who went for Robotics with his sister, missed out on making Fun with Air toys. He was excited when he saw the parachute and that got his younger brothers interested as well.

They started throwing the parachute down the stairs, experimenting with adding more plasticine or tying Thomas the train or a soldier to it just to see how it effects its speed as it descends to the ground.

Made more parachutes using a bread bag and raffia string.

The boys played soldiers on the stairs

A soldier tied to the parachute

Plasticine @ PSN 21-22July2011

Han and Ean were not interested in making any of the Fun with Air toys, instead they were totally absorbed in playing with Plasticine. Puan Maznah, the coordinator for the science workshop, noticed that and gave them a box full of plasticine.

Ean made a colourful burger

Han made an array of food - hamburgers, ice cream...

Later, we purchased more plasticine and the kids had lots of fun creating things like...

JY's teddybear

Han's volcano

Han's fish

Ean's Thomas playing peekaboo

Fai's mushrooms

Fun with Air @PSN 21stJuly2011

Another science day at PSN. We were there to make 3 toys that demonstrated aerodynamics and resistance in air

Toy1: UFO

Take a paper plate, fold into quarter, cut a slits

Continue cutting till there are 4 cross sections. Then fold up to get a UFO

UFO is done, now to make it fly

Throw like a frisbee. Watch it glide through the air.

Second toy: The hoopster made with 2 strips of cardboard and a straw. The yellow loop is half the diameter of the loop below.
The rest of the participants threw their hoopsters from the 3rd level and watched it spiral down to the floors below.

3rd toy: Parachute made from a square plastic sheet, 4 strings of equal length and a small piece of plasticine

Tie the 4 ends with string

Fold the plastic sheet into quarter, tie the ends of the strings together and stick the plasticine at the end

Fling the parachute into the air and watch it descend slowly to the ground.

Cake Competition 2011

JY has started preparing for her wedding cake competition.

Date of submission is 30th September.