My 5-Ringgit Happy Meal

Almost every other Sunday, I'll send my car for washing and normally, the waiting's long. To kill 2 birds with a stone, I usually walk across the road to the food court and order my usuals : Fried Char Kuey Teow with barbecued pork (Char Siew) and additional bean sprouts (I omit the cockles because I really don't like the taste of it) and a bowl of bean sprout in soup and fried wanton. All this for just RM5!

To those uninitiated to Malaysian street food, Char Kuey Teow is stir fried flat rice noodles in soya sauce, egg, garlic, chives and bean sprout with a good measure of pork lard and finish off with blanched cockles. The Penang variety has sambal udang in it (prawn paste).

Dragonflies...imaginary helicopters

I grew up in a rural village where life was rudimentary but pleasant in the 60s and the 70s. We children were quite content with what little we had back then and often, we used a lot of our imagination to play games. We never had toys bought for us and certainly not a lot of TVs let alone video games. In short, the only memories I have of my childhood are the long hot sunny days in the meadows and brooks playing with my siblings, cousins and neighbours. Among our favourite (but cruel, now that we are bit more conscious of our environment and Mother nature) game was playing 'helicopters'. We would quietly sneak up a resting dragonfly, pinch on its tail to hold it and tie a long thread on the tail so that the insect could fly but still be attached, like a kite. Helicopters and planes remained a very foreign object in those days ...probably explains why we had this urge to see things fly and yet be under our control...like a kind of awakening but not knowing why. And so we experimented with the only thing that was easily available...or did some adult taught us this?

Flash forward to today...the only capturing (thank God) I ever do these days is with the lenses of my faithful Nikon Coolpix P100 (upgraded that just a month back from my compact Coolpix S200).

For those 'passionate' about impressive dragonfly photos, try this blog:
http://odonata-malaysia.blogspot.com

Here's my take with my Coolpix from a morning stroll in the country:

Da Vinci at the Louvre

There are museums all over the world, great museums, fine museums and exceptional museums and there's the Louvre in Paris. No other museum comes close in comparison to its diversity and size of collection of historical relics and fine art. Then, there are artists (or rather, painters...) and there was Leonardo da Vinci... undeniably one of the greatest renaissance genius of any time and definitely the most enigmatic. His full name is Leonardo di ser Piero DA VINCI. Scores of research and papers were written about his genius and his works and there are about a dozen or so surviving paintings from the hands of the master. Of these, seven can be viewed (read this - MORE THAN HALF OF ALL existing works) at the Louvre. This alone makes it worth the while and the sole reason for visiting the Louvre. With more than 35 000 objects on display, you'll probably need a week or so (some say an entire month) to see them all. The actual size of the Louvre will actually unfold once you've passed the long queue through the glass pyramid and into the huge underground lobby...

Once inside, photos are only allowed without flash and the Italian wing housing Mona Lisa (La Joconde) is always jammed packed with photo hungry tourists. Be prepared to go through security screening and NOT to bring along any large bags as that will automatically requires you to keep them with security lockers.

The last time I took a photo with La Joconde, I was much closer (compare to the photo on my blog page). Concern for the damage caused by flashing cameras had caused the authorities to increase the viewing distance. The full title of this famous painting reads: Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francseco del Giocondo, between 1503 and 1506.

St George slaying the Dragon: sorry...forget to get the details of this one. I was practically 'running': so many paintings to see, so little time...if you are a real art buff, hire a talking guide ( a recorded guide) or follow a guided trip. Having said that, one must be prepared to spend time...

The Virgin and Child with St. Anne

Saint John the Baptist with his heavenly gesture perfectly demonstrating Da Vinci's mastery of his technique known as 'sfumato' - the blurring of contours with a light mist (actually the skillful use of transparent glazes)

The Virgin of the Rocks

Portrait of a lady

Again St John the Baptist. This painting has a rather 'sharper' edge and is attributed to Da Vinci, meaning it could have been executed by his atelier under his tutelage.


Visit the Louvre at: http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee/alaune.jsp?bmLocale=en

Flora and fauna at Gunung Brinchang

Less than a week after my initial 'reconnaissance' trip to Gunung Brinchang, I was at it again at the onset of the school holidays...

Most spectacular of the Malayan birdwings - the Rajah Brooke Birdwing (male). I rescued this one found on the tarmac in the early morning and the butterfly resurrected with the first heat of daylight.

Flowers of a heath forest tree.

Patch of moss.

Nice flowers abundant along the trail.

Rhododendron spp.

Young leaf of a fern.

Strange bright purple berries.

Black Ganoderma fungus.

Mountain senduduks crawling up a trunk (probably Medinella spp.)

One with flowers...

An epiphyte, orchid belonging to the genus Eria.

Another orchid...

The Pitcher plant, Nepenthes spp.

Wild Arum Lily.

Melanocyma faunula faunula.

Fungi in the shades.

Common roadside plant in the highlands.

Yellow Buttercups - an import?

The Blue Admiral, Kaniska canace.

Same butterfly, different place...

Jewel orchid, Ludisia spp. maybe?

Dendrobium spp.

Wild raspberries (flowers).

Mossy patch...

Impatiens riddleyii.

Hairy begonias, texture and form akin to the Iron Cross Begonia, Begonia masoniana.

Rhododendron lowii or scortechinii?