Sunday, May 15, 2011

A (kinda) Different Mothers' Day Picnic

Scene 1: Bedroom
Time: 6.00am
Date: 8 May 2011

Mama: Angelina, wake up sleepy head...
Angelina: (one eye open) Hmmm....five more minutes, purrrlease....
Mama: If you don't get up now, I'm going to take Nikki instead of you....
Angelina: OK OK...I'm awake now....(stretch, lick, flick tail) Where are we going?
Mama: Didn't you say you wanna go for a picnic?
Angelina: Not this early....can't we go around lunch time?
Mama: Nope, we have to start early as it's about one to two hours of driving, depending on traffic.
Angelina: Wow! I love riding in the car. Are you or Dad driving?
Mama: Dad. Hey...he's still asleep.
Angelina: Wake up, Dad!
Dad: Huh???

Scene 2: In the car
Time: 7.00am

Mama: You two sure took your own sweet time to get ready, eh?
Angelina: Mama...you know...I'm a girl. I got to do heaps of girl stuff before we can go out. What's your excuse, Dad?
Dad: No comment.
Mama: Like father, like daughter.
Angelina: Relax Mama....are we going to your village, Mama? Are we going to "visit" grandma?
Mama: Yes, we are. I want you to know your roots and family too.
Angelina: Wow! I like that. Are we there yet?
Mama: We haven't even left our area.
Angelina: Sorry....I'll go snuggle in the back seat then.

Scene 3: Mama's Village (destination of the day)
Wow! Rice plants! It's fruiting now.....
This mimosa like creeping plant is edible. The locals call it kangkung puteri or susupan.
The rice ears upclose. Rice comes from this? Awesome...
Dad's hard at work...that contraption is called "kunci air" or water lock (weir???) that controls water as and when needed by the irrigation canals.
See how clever the villagers are? Instead of using concrete, they use mangrove stakes as bank reinforcement, it's organic and environment friendly too.
I used the zoom lens to capture this. That big tree with large leaves on the left hand corner is a breadfruit (local name: sukun) tree. This tree can be found in abundance in the village. 
I think this an abandoned old village type house.
Back to the rice plant - some naughty snails laid eggs here. They're pests and causing headaches to the farmers.
Dad's hard at photography work again.
Dad chatting up two guys who were spraying rat poison in the rice field. They must be thinking: rice paparazzi?
I like this shot. So, I put it here. I think this is part of the water control system.
Another nice shot I took. Dead guava tree against the blue sky.
A lonely banana tree....hey Monyet King, it needs a monyet as accessory.
We got to take some of these papayas home. They are sooooo delicious!

18 comments:

Wan Sharif said...

Picnic? one or two hours driving.. hangpa pi ke Kuala Selangor ke?.. Nice pictures..

rohaizahabas said...

Mama
kampong kat sekincan or tg karang or sabak bernam?

Yaya tak pernah ada pengalaman tgk paddy field...err actually saya pun tak pernah..huhuhu..

CATachresis said...

Angelina, you are so lucky to get to go on picnics. I only ever go in the car to go to the vets!!!

Love always, Austin xxooxx

Lili said...

Angelina,

Lucky you have a kampung to go back to...and it is such a pWetty sight! Kat mane eh, tempat ni?

Oh, aunty Lili didn't know that the mimosa like creeping plant is edible. Must try...must try. Masak apa ek sedap?
But the sukun is sure is my favourite! ;D

Katnip Lounge said...

Neat tour! Everything is so green there, quite in contrast with the Mohave desert.

Rosmawati Yusof said...

Balik Kampung...yeay, best..

meowwmania said...

cantil betul pemandangan kat kampung kamu, kat mana ni ekk...

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Ayoh Wang,
Dekat dah tu...hehehe.... purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Ezza,
Jom bawak Yaya balik kampung, lepas tu tinggalkan kat situ seminggu dua. My Mama used to do that when she was a little girl. purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Austin darrrrling,
I travel a lot, in cars especially. Hey...I've even been on an aeroplane. You must persuade your meowmum to take you places. purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Lili,
You must be careful, it's not the actual mimosa (semalu) but something called kangkung puteri or susupan. It's leaves resemble mimosa in shape and behaviour, it's stem resembles that of kangkung. Not suitable for stirfry but in gravy type of cooking. Mama has a kampung recipe of kangkung puteri + ikan puyu or ikan haruan + pisang muda - masak lemak putih with pepper....yummm.....purrr...meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Katnip Lounger,
Wait till you see the next instalment. You'll drool.... purrr...meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Rosmawati,
Kita suka balik kampung. Lain kali nak ajak Abang Madan, boleh? purrr...meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Meoww,
Kampung kita dekat je. Tak sampai sepenanak nasi. purrr...meow!

~CovertOperations78~ said...

What a lovely day outdoors in the company of Mother Nature! I have always wanted to turn one of those water weir things and let all the water out, just to see what happens next.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

CO78,
Oh dear! Won't the fish and the turtles protest? You may drown them. purrr....meow!

Sandy said...

ah...my dad's hometown is full of paddyfields too, but I'm allergic to the pollens -_-

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Tante Sandy,
Oh dear! Are you allergic to many things? Must have Telfast all the time, eh? purrr....meow..!