An enchanted late afternoon on the hills...

Last Saturday, on a late afternoon, we decided to go for a ride up the hills just to catch a breather of fresh air due to the heat in Raub. So, we drove to Fraser's Hills and came back within the hour, thanks to the one-way up and the-other-way down system that they have now...

tiny mushrooms on the moss covered bark of a pine trees...

 Flowers of a epiphytic Medinella.

 Another distant "cousin" of the Straits Rhododendron

 view under a pine grove

 the moon visible in the evening sky

under the shadow of the tree fern

 looking down the valley from the east side...the way down

 a Lesser Racquet Tail Drongo perched high on a dead branch

 view of the valley and beyond under a silvery sky

The magnificent peaks of the Benom Range in sight - the highest peak in view is Mount Benom at over 2000M.

Little Joies for the Weekend...

Couple of weeks back, I had a small dinner cooked at home for no reasons - I just happened to have half a botlle of home made tomato sauce that I made some time back in the fridge and some choucroute or sauerkraut if you like in the pantry, and so it just happened...Alsatian dish in the tropics.

 A simple starter - clams cooked in white wine, tomato sauce and dried chillies. My own-styled chilli clams. Delice...

 The pork belly was first seared in oil, stewed with vegetable stock and white wine for two hours in a casserole and then open-baked in its own stock for another few hours to get a crispy skin and and incredibly tender and juicy inside. Served on choucroute accompagnied with steamed potatoes and a sprinkle of italian parsley.

A simple but stunning salad of cherry tomatoes - simply blanche the cherry tomatoes in boiling water, peel the skins and marinate in a vinaigrette.

To prepare the choucroute (serves 4):
Strain a can of choucroute under running tap water to clean it of the brine. Set aside.
In a pan, melt some butter or vegetable oil, brown chopped lardon or smoked pork belly bacon chips, 2 cloves of garlic and then some chopped white onions if you like.
Pour in the canned choucroute, stir well and season with pepper (and salt) to taste. Keep warm.

Sungai Sia on a slow day...

On days where things seemed slow and grey, passing quiet and solitude moments on a stream surrounded by nothing except the rippling sound of the stream and cries of insects helps restore some sense of belonging to oneself...

 Meditative - a moss-covered granite boulder by the stream.

Burst of sunlight on leaves of the Saracca tree on an otherwise overcast day...

 the same ray of light over the quiet stream...

and then on the flowing water - transport me instantly into the distant childhood that I had spent playing by jungle streams...

 hypnotic...

 up on the canopy...

 denizens of the undergrowth enjoying some sun...

another jealously guarding its sentry post...

 roots of the Saracca portruding onto the stream's banks...

a bronze-green Damselfly