This may be my last post of the year, therefore the website would like to wish everyone a happy year end holidays and a good year ahead.

Here, there are some pictures taken recently in celebration of  Christmas.

The christmas tree is decorated with some of my toys.

We were at Orchard Road on 7 November when the Christmas light up began.

Stumbled upon a few nite owls……

Ngee Ann City Christmas tree with a red ribbon on its waist.

What a huge LV !

OMG! Its snowing in S’pore!

Of course not lah! It was the foam expulsion party at Tanglin Mall.

Mr. Santa appeared reticent in this shot.

This year Orchard Road light up is more captivating than last year. I wonder maybe because there are few more new shopping centres namely Ion Orchard, Orchard Central and 313Somerset who join in to the belt of shopping centres.

Peranakan Museum

The museum was formerly old Tao Nan primary school and being 100 years old, was once Singapore’s oldest primary school. Today the premise showcases peranakan artefacts, culture, ritual and practices in the permanent galleries, as well as special exhibitions such as the on-going jewellery exhibits.

We shall take a stroll inside…..

The wedding chamber. The decorations of the room took place a few days done by the bride’s mother and the womenfolk of the family. Decorations include ornaments, beadwork textiles, embroidered silk, depending on the wealth of the family. The pillow and bolster covers are in auspicious colours with fertility motifs. Normally on wedding day, a young boy is required to roll three times on the bed hoping the couple will bear a son soon to carry on the family name.

A cloth belt for babies. This chequered cotton cloth was made of kain chaylay. Babies born were usually bathed, then oiled with warm chinese herbs and betel leaves applied to the navel before the cloth belt was wound around them. This was to prevent wind from entering the baby thru its navel.

Chewing of sireh (betel leaf) is popular among peranakan women. To chew one, a lady first take a sireh leaf on which she would place kapur (lime paste), thin slices of pinang (areca nut) and gambir (gambier). The leaf is then folded in bite size packet and chew slowly with addition of tobacco. This resulted in a blood red juice which is not swallowed but spat out. Peranakan girls were taught to fold sireh at a young age. This was part of her wedding preparation when they would serve sireh to their neo (mother in law).

Embroidery and beadwork are unique to peranakans. Crafted by the nyonyas themselves using fine quality materials imported from Europe, they created an array of items using the techniques of stringing, threading and stitching. The needlecraft and beading works portray the Nyonya skills, patience, diligence and gentility.

Tok Panjang is a feast in Peranakan associated with wedding or special occasion such as birthdays. ‘Tok’ is the Chinese (Hokkien) word for ‘table’. ‘Panjang’ is the Malay word for ‘long’. This table setting was donated by the family of Yap Ah Loy. Click here for information on Kapitan Cina Yap Ah Loy.

In a nutshell, this Peranakan museum is worth to pay a visit.

Singapore Philatelic Museum

Philately is the study of postage and revenue stamps. The first local postage stamp, penny black was put on sale in year 1840.

Postage in the colonial days are expensive. Not everyone can afford to post letters. The postal service was used mainly by the military and merchants.

1) Queen Victoria 2) King Edward VII 3) King George V 4) King George VI

Stamps under the Straits settlement managed by East India Company (EIC).

A stamp of your ownself. A corner for kids to play and learn.

Teet! Teet! You got a mail

Singapore Art Museum

In my opinion, it is not worth to pay $8 per person for admission to this museum on normal days unless you like ‘art’ very much. So please wait until those open days as I mentioned above.

Of fairies and modern stuffs……..

Martial arts combined with brush skills.

This ‘masterpiece’ was representing the tool of construction, an excavator arm with the long sharp fangs of prehistoric beast.

I certainly do not appreciate this kind of ‘art’.

The museum was formerly Saint Joseph’s Institution, a Catholic secondary school for male students. The premise was more than 150 years old.

Last but not least, the next open house for these museums will be on Christmas day. Make sure you make yourself free to enjoy the free admission!

In 1930s, Cold Storage acquired a 24 hectare plot of land north of Bukit Timah Hill (near Dairy Farm Estate), and imported a herd of cattle to start a milk production project. Initially the land was used to rear pigs but an epidemic of swine fever broke out and killed the pigs. Following the aftermath of the disease, Cold Storage opened the world’s first tropical dairy farm with 24 friesian cows that were shipped from Holland and Australia.

A cowshed.

Wallace Education Centre

The man credited as the father of biogeography was Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace explored Amazon and The Malay Archipelago to research on flora and fauna which later developed his hypothesis called Wallace effect. His interest in biogeography resulted in his being one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity.

Inspired by earlier traveling naturalists, Wallace left United Kingdom for Brazil in 1848 with the intention to collect insects and animal specimens in the Amazon rainforest to sell them to collectors back in UK. Wallace chartered the Amazon four years journeying up the river further than anyone else at that point of time. Unfortunately during his trip back to UK the ship caught fire and most of his specimens were lost. Nevertheless, with some sketches and diary salvaged, he wrote some academic papers and made connections with the other British naturalists, most significantly – Charles Darwin.

From 1854 to 1862, age 31 to 39, Wallace travelled through the Malay Archipelago or East Indies, to collect specimens for sale and to study nature.

Wallace map of Malay Archipelago.

In 1854, Alfred Russel Wallace arrived in Singapore. He mentioned Singapore was very rich in beetles and that he would have a beautiful collection. Wallace collected more than 125,000 specimens in the Malay Archipelago (more than 80,000 beetles alone). One of his better known species during this trip was the founding of the gliding tree frog, known as Wallace’s flying frog.

What Wallace saw and Darwin could not was that certain species of animals appeared only at some places, and not others. He said “In Bali, we have barbets, fruit-thrushes and woodpeckers. On Lombok side, there are no more but we have abundance of cockatoos, honeysuckers and brush-turkeys which are equally unknown in Bali….”.

In Singapore, Wallace main hunting ground was at Bukit Timah. The mission house he lived in was surrounded by wood-topped hills. The Chinese woodcutters who worked there indirectly furnished a continual supply of dry and decaying leaves and bark, together with much wood and sawdust for the nourishment of insects and their larvae. In two months of his stay, he obtained about 700 species of beetles.

While rich in flora and fauna, the forest also contain a very real and present danger-tigers. These animals once roamed freely in the forest of Bukit Timah and Wallace once wrote about hearing their menacing roars while out collecting specimens. For the record, in Singapore year 1932, the last wild tiger was shot.

The present day Wallace Trail and Dairy Farm Nature Park

The Wallace Trail.

The cow that cannot ‘mooooo’.

Inside the Wallace Education Centre.

The centre should have more exhibit to display to show the legacy of Wallace.

Orchid.

‘Shrimp’ flower.

The lotus and pink petals.

From cowshed to a refurbished centre of learning.

I am posting pictures as usual to relate the experience with you.

Taman Rama Rama, Melaka

We reached there early in the morning, just after the Ayer Keroh toll, in split of seconds, I decided to turn in to Melaka Butterfly Park. The entrance fee is relatively cheap, RM 6 per person (if you have MyKad).

We bought RM 1 of ‘kuaci’ seed to feed the birds.

The birds knew how to use their beak to break apart the seed.

My daughter enjoying a light moment in the morning.

I perceived those rocks as dinosaur eggs?

Can you tell me the name of this plant?

There is a koi pond in the vicinity. As you are getting near to it, the fishes already sense someone is going to feed them.

See how hungry they are ! I wonder their keeper has ever fed them? Or the visitors only?

White colour peacocks. Quite rare to us.

A photo of us before we left. Although it is a butterfly park, I wanted to inform there are not many butterflies around. (as I cannot show you any butterfly picture). Not surprise to say the management has to bring in other kind of animals to beef up the park.

As it was not time to check in to the hotel, I drove to Melaka Chinatown to get something to supplement our breakfast.

Melaka man made waterfall. I happened to snap this picture myself when my car stopped at the traffic junction.

I blog the other time here, that I would go back definitely to try the baba nyonya laksa.

The food eventually ended in our tummy.

We dropped by at San Shu Gong to have a drink. The bill for a cup of white coffee and supposedly refreshing lemon beverage came to RM7.70. Outrageous indeed.

Hotel Equatorial Melaka

This round we chose to stay at Equatorial. The hotel has a promotion on-going whereby a deluxe room costs RM 300 with free F&B voucher worth RM 88. You may visit here.

The room is rather cosy. You can see the confirmation from my daughter.

Swimming pool.

The lobby staircase.

View from 15th floor.

View from our room. Bandar Hilir.

Melaka Raya.

View from our room. Nearest to furthest: Melaka Raya, Pulau Melaka, Straits of Malacca.

Plaza Mahkota with Eye On Malaysia and Menara Taming Sari.

Before nightfall, we went to Portuguese Village to have dinner.

Portuguese Square.

Hotel Lisbon with a cannon at the far sight.

Baked fish portuguese style. Almost all the stalls will have its own representative approaching you to tout for business. I found it displeased.

Stroll around Chinatown

Melaka River ‘Venice of the East’. The point where the city flourished.

Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum. Entrance fee RM 8 per person (with or without MyKad, now I realised the difference and the reason behind it). A guided tour, Mandarin or English speaking guide.

A place for the Hokkien to socialise? I have seen someone singing karaoke during weekend night.

Orang Belanda Art Cafe.

Datuk Wira Gan Boon Leong gym centre.

We bought some Peranakan delicacies, must try!

If you see kueh with blue purplish colour, this where the colour comes from.

And before we wrapped up the trip, we headed to Jalan Ong Kim Wee for the uniquely Melaka satay celup.

China has had many dynasties in their period of rule with one dynasty replacing the other. Puyi the last emperor of Qing dynasty (Puyi was handpicked by Empress Dowager Cixi at her deathbed to be the emperor) was abdicated that led to the formation of a republic. The collapsed of the monarch was due to the Han sentiment “expel the Manchu, restoring the Han” plus other contributing factors such as the invasion of foreign countries which forced China to sign many treaties that substantially weaken their economy and military rule.

The prominent figure of ending the monarchy rule in China and regarded as the Father of the Nation was Sun Yat Sen.

 Snapshot on Sun Yat Sen

From Wikiquote: In the construction of a country, it is not the practical workers but the idealists and planners that are difficult to find.

Sun was also known as Sun Chung Shan (孫中山). He was born in Guangdong province. His father was a farmer by day and a watchman by night.

Necessity tools as a night guard.

The “Father of Modern China” had a significant influence in the overthrew of the Qing Dynasty and establishment of the Republic of China. Sun had education in Hawaii whereby he learned English and often quoted former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address “goverment of the people, by the people, for the people” as the inspiration for his Three Principles of the People. Sun was also influenced by Confucian philosophy. He married Soong Ching Ling as his second wife whom was the sister of Soong May Ling (live thru 3 centuries), wife of Chiang Kai Shek.

Support from Nanyang

One of Sun success in his revolution was the contributions from the Chinese community in South East Asia. These migrant workers with their sweat and blood money and the rich merchants make up large part of the funds Sun needed in his activities. That’s where in Singapore, we have the history of Nanyang Memorial Hall.

Sun at least made 8 visits to Singapore during his revolution era. One notably supporter was Teo Eng Hock, great-granduncle of now Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister, Teo Chee Hean.

Sun’s life in Singapore

According to Teo Eng Hock’s memoirs, Sun would wake up at 6am in the morning. He would tidy up his own bed without the service of his servant. He liked to read books and would place the book back to its original place after reading. He liked banana, mangosteen, pineapple, chiku, jambu. These fruits have a cooling effect in a hot country like Singapore. Because of summer throughout the year, Sun would never put on his pyjama before nightfall. Before going to bed, he must take a bath. He preferred chopsticks to fork and knife (just being a typical Chinese). He would speak Cantonese or Mandarin, but not in English unless compelled to do so.

Sun Yat Sen might had successfully brought down the Qing government, but his opportunity to rule China was very shortlived.

The Three Gorges Dam project was envisaged by Sun, a century ago who knew the benefits of flood control, power generation and improved navigation.

My visit to Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall

The scenes of early Singapore community.

Wife and Charlize with statue of Sun (when Sun was young).

The depiction of a meeting held at the very same place exactly 100 years ago?

Me and Charlize with the Sun’s statue (looks dark).

Outside of the memorial hall.

View of the mansion. The young and the elderly remember a piece of history.

Okay buddy, sit tight. We are going for a spin.

Hey good looking, give me a smooch, please.

Ooops! I drop my shoe. Can you help me?

I like to go outdoors than often staying at home.

But sometimes I am lazy to walk. So daddy has to push me around.

Now, what’s up?

Let’s go to the market.

Can you draw my facial mimic?

Come and join me for a session.

I am tired. I shall take a nap first before I talk to you again…………….ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Instead of always shopping, you can visit some parks, beaches, nature walks near the sea.

West Coast Park has an open field suitable for kite flying with continuous wind grazing through.

West Coast Park. You can bring your pets for a walk also.

Occasionally my daughter wants a piggy ride.

Siloso Beach, Sentosa.

No worries about where to clean up after a swim. They have shower areas nearby.

East Coast Park. The sea current is a bit strong. Be prepared.

East Coast Park. I recommend cycling, skating or jogging. They have many food outlets, kiosk, pubs to suppress your thirst and hunger after the exercise.

Labrador Park. Great jetty for fishing. Nice place for picnic and seaside barbecue.

Labrador Park. Behind is a chamber for machine gun post facing the south during World War 2 Japanese invasion. Too bad the Japanese came from the north.

Labrador Park.

Somewhere beyond the sea

Somewhere waiting for me

My lover stands on golden sands

And watches the ships that go sailing……………

The origin of tea.

It is believed sometime in China, year 2737 b.c., emperor Shen Nung which had a belief in hygienic water drinking was boiling water under a tree. Before he could realised, leaves from the tree fell into his open kettle and they started brewing. The aroma from the brewing led him to taste the boiled mixture and once he tasted it, tea was introduced into the world! 

The birth of a worldwide beverage.

Tea plant.

Black tea.

Black tea developed its characteristic black colour because it is allowed to ferment fully. After fermentation the tea leaves are dried.  My favourite drink during breakfast is Teh-C, black tea with evaporated milk.

Traditionally workers are deployed to pluck tea leaves in bushes about every 3 weeks when new shoots have grown. Now through innovations, machines can pluck 10 times more than by hand.

Harvesting of tea leaves by the two man hand held system.

Tea bags were discovered accidentally in 1908 by a New York merchant who sewed tea leaves in little individual silk bags to prospective retailers. When these retailers received their samples, instead of slitting the bag, they poured hot water directly onto the bag.

Britain, famous for its tea drinking habits, holds the record of being the largest importer of tea. Each Brit on average drinks 4 cups of tea each day.

Having said all the stories above, on a more personal experience, below are some pictures taken during my trip to Sungei Palas factory:

BOH plantation.

BOH factory.

Old weighing scale.

Old rolling table. To segregate or to crush tea leaves?

Antique fan with mist spray to control temperature and humidity.

Picture after a cuppa.

Tiny tree trunks on metal louvres.

Sungei Palas Tea Centre.

Weighing bridge.

Any changes, please?

The central business district consists of tall skyscrapers, the part of old landmarks with historical events in the past, the upcoming developments with integrated resort, gardens by the bay, new financial centre.

Suntec and Marina Area, Singapore Flyer, Marina Barrage at far end.

Esplanade, Gardens by The Bay, Marina Bay Sands, Floating Platform.

The Singapore River Mouth where they celebrate National Day. Notice the flat ground for the Marina Bay Sands. Today you can see the blooming three towers sticking out.

The two durians (Esplanade) again, Esplanade bridge, Padang.

The Supreme Court, City Hall, Padang, Parliament House, Boat Quay, Central Business District, Singapore River.

War Memorial Park, Singapore F1 circuit.

Northern part of Downtown Core include Boat Quay, Clarke Quay, Chinatown.

The pictures were taken when I was having a nice buffet 70 storeys above ground.

We reached Melaka early morning about 7am, headed straight to Jonker Street for the famous chicken rice ball.

Very light traffic in the morning at Jonker Street.

The early birds get to taste first. The chilli sauce for the chicken rice beats the other two famous shops, I heard.

3/4 of the steam chicken costs around RM 30. Quite pricey. This is not the best steam chicken I have ever tasted. The ones at my hometown, Gopeng is much nicer. They say chickens reared with enough days before slaughtered taste better.

Jonker Street.

Next we went to taste some dessert after some sweaty walk along Jonker Street.

Famous cendol at Jonker Street.

Peranakan cendols and laksa. Both tasted not bad. Will come back for more.

Casual visit to the Peranakan hotel where some shots of Little Nyonya took place.

Inside the hotel.

Lobby area.

Swallows can be seen near the ceiling.

I wonder the floor tiles is it built a century ago by Tan Jiak Choo? (grandson of Tan Kim Seng).

Malaysia oldest chinese temple found in Jonker Street.

Entrance to the temple.

Just before check in to our hotel, we drove to Tengkera to buy some freshly made nyonya kuih.

The narrow road outside the nyonya kuih house. My car still able to pass through otherwise have to walk in from the main road.

Freshly made nyonya kuih straight from the kitchen.

Trishaw ride.

Red square heritage zone.

Re-construct wall and re-locate cannons.

Cannons not facing the sea instead the riverbank.

Melaka river cruise.

You can walk along the riverside other than taking the cruise.

Water wheel replica.

The eye of Malaysia. We pay only half the price. 3 adults and 2 kids about RM 30. Rotated 5 times for each ride. Has some scary creaking sound when you are almost at the top. Hope they maintain it regularly.

In reminiscene of the Portuguese.

Unfortunately the right hand of the statue has broken off.

The hotel that we stayed. Private carpark for my car (on the left one).