I'm Still Waiting.....

I'm so upset with Ikea. Remember Nikki's endorsement of their product? They still haven't called. Not a tinkle.

Come on, do they want me to sing the entire ABBA repertoire in Swedish? OK, I'm giving them one more chance. Look, I manage to secure the biggest name in F1 racing to endorse their product. Don't believe me?  Look below.

Ikea's best product - endorsed by Michael Schumacher Kidman-Cruise.

Just look at how comfy the chair is....

Angelina's note: Oh, you actually don't have my number? ooops....! purrr....meow!

Life in Malaysia: Cherries

Sakura...sakura....no? Not sakura? OK, this is the village cherry blossom.

Close up of the ripe and green fruits. yummm....

Heaps on the ground. Guess the neighbourhood doesn't have enough birdies or marauding kids.

The tree's location? At the site of Kuala Trengganu's Masjid Raja Bukit Besar construction.

More close up. The ripe fruit looks kinds translucent, eh? It's sweet...but not as nice as the cherries Down Under.

Extracted from Uncle Wiki:
"Muntingia calabura, the sole species in the genus Muntingia, is a flowering plant native to southern Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and western South America south to Peru and Bolivia. Common names include (English) Jamaican cherry, Panama berry, Singapore cherry, Strawberry tree; (Spanish) bolaina, yamanaza, cacaniqua, capulín blanco, nigua, niguito, memizo or memiso; (Indonesia) kersen; and (Filipino) aratilis, aratiles, manzanitas and sarisa.
It is a small tree 7-12 meters tall with tiered and slightly drooping branches. It has serrated leaves 2.5-15 cm long and 1-6.5 cm wide. The flowers are small ,white and slightly malodorous. It gives rise to 1-1.5 cm light red fruit. The fruit is edible, sweet and juicy, and contains a large number of tiny (0.5 mm) yellow seeds.
It is a pioneer species that thrives in poor soil, able to tolerate acidic and alkaline conditions and drought. Its seeds are dispersed by birds and fruit bats. It is cultivated for its edible fruit, and has become naturalised in some other parts of the tropics, including southeastern Asia. As a pioneer plant, it could help condition the soil and make it habitable to other plants. However, it might also be considered as an invasive species since it might out-compete indigenous plants."

Angelina's note: Mama said she used to have one of these trees in the backyard of her childhood home. The birdies will come in droves to feast on the ripe fruits. But there were no birdies when I visited this particular tree. That explains the large amount wasted on the ground. purrr....meow!

Wordless Wednesday: Flea Farmers for Sale

Best Waiter in the World

After the breakfast meeting at that mansion in the orchard (previous entry), Mama and Dad rushed back to KL as they had made an appointment to visit a school for refugee kids. As it was around lunch time when we reached the area, we decided to have lunch at a stall nearby. Since we didn't know which stall is good, we decided to choose based on their HR policy. The stall with the most handsome waiter wins our business. And we'll be back again, especially when it's the waiter's shift. Won't you patronise the stall looking at this handsome face?

Angelina's note: OK, so the pawpawrazzi went overboard with the flashy box. But, who wouldn't? His tip? Grilled catfish and manta ray cutlet. purrr...meow!

VVIP Orchard

Mama and Dad had a breakfast meeting with a VVIP in a state down south last Friday. Very early breakfast meeting as we left home before 5am. So, while they had their tete-a-tete session inside, I took the opportunity to explore the grounds...mindful of the watchful eyes of the security.

Lovely palm fruits that look like a bunch of grapes....

The entire plant...I think this is called the palmyra palm. Mama said it reminds her of the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka logo.

Another gorgeous bunch of palm fruits.

I think this is what the locals call Pinang Raja (Cyrtostachys renda Blume) or Maharaja Palm.

Aaah...lovely bloom with aromatic smell....this is called yellow cempaka (Michelia champaca), known for its medicinal properties.

Can someone help me identify these weird looking fruits?

Now...now...what's this? Organic microphones?

I'm assuming the three different colours denote three stages in these "microphones" life...can you guess what they are?

....tara! Somehow those "microphones" will become this - a bunch of stinky beans (Parkia speciosa).

Bunches of petai....known for its culinary and medicinal properties.

The whole petai tree. Apparently the tree can grow up to 50ft high. Oh, petai is also quite expensive nowadays.

The mansion palace in the orchard. Grand, eh?

Angelina's note: I won't mind living in an orchard. But in a much much smaller house. Imagine the number of servants we have to employ just to clean the toilets. purrr...meow!

Weekend Project: Spoilers

Angelina's note: I heard Mama telling Dad, "maybe I should go back to school and study veterinary science." Oh boy! All six of us were subjected to some torturous moments at home today. No flea farming in my house, Mama said. purrr....meow!

Still in Eid Mode

It's almost the end of the Shawal and yet we still get Eid Open House invitations. In fact, we could only attend a few in a day as sometimes we get so many invitations, too much for our stomachs to handle too. Anyway, to cut the story short, we attended two Open Houses today...technically, one Open School and one Open House.

In the morning, we went to Cyberjaya, a new city about an hour's drive from home. It was to Mama's old school. The school was having a 3-in-1 event - Eid party, birthday party for some current students, and a prayer session for those taking their exams in a couple of weeks' time. These are Year 3 students who will sit for their Lower Secondary Assessment (Penilaian Menengah Rendah in Malay) in early October. Good luck, girls!

We were happy to meet old friends as well as making new ones. The school had reserved a table for alumni members and even assigned some girls to be at our beck and call. OK...maybe we use the wrong term there....but we can't call them waitresses for day, right? Anyway, we enjoyed the food and the company. My only complain, we didn't get to taste the BBQ lamb. But at least we had chicken satay (again????) Aunty Ona came with us as Mama needed someone to bully in the car as Dad had to work.

Handmade cards greet us at the hall's doors.

At the alumni table....you know who with some of her seniors.

Aunty Ona (middle) with our "waitresses" of the day. You did a good job, girls. Sorry I didn't quite catch your names.

Oh yeah...it was free for all balloons at the end of the day.

Aunty Ona and you know who posing with some cupcakes. The cakes were iced pink and blue as those are the theme for the party. The dresses worn, I think, suited the theme though it was actually unintentionally done.

Aunty Ona and you know with another senior who they bumped into as well. Those cupcakes were surely tired of you know who's mishandling....

Oh yeah...the BBQ lamb. That's all left of it by the time we recce-ed the stalls outside the hall.

You know who managed to entice this young lady who's one of the birthday girls. She won the best dressed prize too.

The Eid cake.

The birthday cake....too many cakes, I tell you.

We left Cyberjaya in the afternoon and head off to Taman Bukit Teratai (Lotus Hill Garden???), Cheras, to fulfill Ayoh Wang's (he blogs here) Open House invitation. Took us about an hour as we had to negotiate some winding roads in an unfamiliar area. It was almost "closing" time by the time we reached his house. The aroma of ghee rice, chicken and lamb dishes greeted us. Phew! Thank God we didn't eat too much at the earlier party. And while we were eating, Aunty Puteri (she blogs too, here) and Uncle Mizi arrived. So we had a fun time chit chatting (as most bloggers tend to do), oblivious to the surrounding. Ayoh Wang said he was expecting Aunty Ninot (she blogs here) and family too but they must have lost their way as by the time we left, they still haven't arrived. We'll catch her some other time then.

The host with a grandniece....

Some of the food on offer, prepared by the lady of the house.

Tapai pulut - fermented glutinous rice - wrapped in daun jambu laut.

Ayoh Wang's very shy daughter refilling the layered cake's container.

....while his son was the pawpawrazzi of the day. We shot him shooting us.

Aunty Puteri and Uncle Mizi....hmmm...hogging the pappadoms?

I love that pink plush kitty....

One for album before we left...

Angelina's note: Burp! Excuse me....am too full. Mama said we should all go on diet tomorrow. purrr...meow!

Ikea's Best Product

Endorsed by Nikki Lauda Kidman-Cruise.

Angelina's note: Ikea's management purrrlease take note. Y'all should make my niece Nikki your mascot. I'm her manager, talk to me. purrr....meow!

Meet Aunty Deeb

I was helping Mama spring cleaning (it is spring in Australia!) our lappy hard disk, transferring files and folders onto the external disk, etc etc...when I came across a set of photos we took at an event last month. What's so special about the photos or the event, you might ask?

It is special because it involved my future mother-in-law, Aunty Deeb. You see, her meowson, Rajoo is my fiance #1. In fact, Aunty Deeb organised the event to raise funds for a shelter for single mothers, orphans and poor children. Am I lucky to have two mommies who just love charity work? Aunty Deeb had some of her celebrity friends to sing (for free) at the event as entertainment for the evening, besides herself. The children from the shelter also entertained us with songs and dances. The food was fabulous too. Oooh, Aunty Deeb blogs too (When the Fat Lady Sings - on my blogroll). Or, used to, as she hasn't updated for quite sometime. Must be very busy with work.

Aunty Deeb (middle) handing over the check to Mak Pah (right) from the shelter. The handsome bloke on the left is Aunty Deeb's personal assistant.

Aunty Deeb singing on stage, surrounded by kids from the shelter.

Is that boy sleeping or having a nap between bites?

Kids from shelter entertained us with their rendition of dikir barat.

Aunty Deeb is indeed popular among her little fans.

Hmm...some of the little fans went berserk...too much sweet drinks? I didn't see any nip grog.

Sensible me had just plain water.

My favourite - chicken satay....yummm....

Kiss kiss hug hug session of you know who... with Aunty Deeb before going home.

Angelina's note: Don't forget us next year, Aunty Deeb. purrr...meow!