Bougainvillea 'Raspberry Ice' and Yellow Vented Bulbuls

Bougainvillea 'Raspberry Ice' is one of the most beautiful bougy around. Its beauty lies in the beautiful contrast of the vermillion bracts against the yellow-green variegated leaves.

 
Flowers are generally terminal.


The yellow-green variegated foliage of Bougainvillea 'raspberry ice' provides a great foil for its bright red bracts.

A Yellow Vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier) perched on a thorny branch. The vicious thorns do not seem to bother it.


 


It is an alert bird and though supposedly at rest, it cocked its head this way and that to survey its surroundings.

 

They are are frequently seen in pairs though not exactly lovey dovey like love the  birds. They give each other space.

 
A cluster of colourful bracts with vegetation on the hill slopes in the background.

Some wandering branches of this blue pea flower (Ternatea Clitorea) twined on a woody bougy stem and in its midst put forth a flower with much flourish.

Bananas Galore

Dwarf banana (Musa) trees, are most ideal in a small garden. In about four to six months, this variety will start to sprout flowers, followed by fruits when the trunk is about five feet tall.

The young fruits are covered by flap-like petals.

The young fruit-bearing stalk.



These are the young green horns - immature bananas.

The shrivelled up flowers at the end of the fruits take some time to drop off.


 
I planted it for the fruits as well as the leaves which have many uses in Malaysian cuisine. The large fronds are beautiful and provide good shade.

This whole bunch of fruits is heavy and need support to hold it up. I used old broomsticks to buttress the fruit stalk.

This is part of the harvest. The rest were given away to neighbours and friends.

When ripened to a golden yellow they are delicious on its own. The home grown green mangoes are from the backyard garden of Dr AngST while the oranges are from California.

The eating experience can be enhanced with fruit yogurt, a sprinkle of toasted sunflower seeds, and a drizzle of Bailey's cream.

Prawn otak-otak.

 

A dish of prawns, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, chillies, onions, garlic, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed.

The otak-otak is yummy eaten straight from the banana leaf. It also made a delicious savoury spread on toast.

Chay kwai teow is one of Malaysia's favourite dish. It is a dish of fried flat rice noodles, bean sprouts, chives and cockles. Serving it on a piece of banana leaf enhances the eating experience.

 
A delicious custard with sweet corn kernels, java flour and coconut milk (santan).

The cooked custard mixture is wrapped in scalded banana leaf and chilled. The blue pea flower, Ternatea Clitorea is often used as a food dye.

Indigo Delight

A true blue flower is a quite a rarity in any garden, let alone one of indigo hues. The blue pea flower, Ternatea Clitorea is as lovely as it is useful. A vigorous climber, it grows in profusion and throws out numerous blooms daily. It makes a wonderful food dye. We used it abundantly in our nyonya sweetmeats and in savoury dumplings.

"He is happiest who hath power to gather wisdom from a flower"
- Mary Howitt