Thursday, March 17, 2011

Enjoy the early morning walk..

MORNING WALK
It was such a joy to start my ritual morning walk again after stopping for so many months! Walking was not only my at least 3 times a week form of exercise to keep the muscles and limbs flexible and in tip top shape, but its also a way to de-stress myself from the tension, stress of everyday life. Picked my friend Noni from her house this morning as I usually do, so that we can walk together.


Always on a look-out for beautiful plants in my outing, I saw these beautiful trailing orchids on her jackfruit tree (pokok nangka). Such beauty I have never seen before. Noni said its a wild orchid picked by her husband from the forest near their dusun (orchard) in Negeri Sembilan.

Must ask Makarimi (Orchid de Dangau), the name of these beauty since he's an expert in orchids and have a large collections in his garden. I was so happy Noni offered to give the seedlings later!



So away we went walking at a popular area near Noni's house in Taman TAR near Ampang Jaya. It was a wooded area with canopies of rainforest trees, some of them were showing beautiful blooms along the road. What a breath of fresh air in the early morning...so quiet from the hustle bustle of city life!
Actually its an elite residential area where the creme of society and royalites are making their homes here, very secluded, very private gated palaces like the photos below. But its a very popular jogging or walking track along the main road. People will park their cars by the roadside and do their walk, jog, cycle or walking the dogs. The track is a winding and uneven gentle hilly slope circling a small golf club mainly catering for the residents there. Its very cooling when you walk here in the early morning.

one of the many gated palaces along the main road

this is on top of the hill, down below on the left side is the golf club



The thick wooded hills are also homes to our furry long-tailed friends, the monkey. Its an added attraction to the joggers here especially in the evenings, where food and fruits are brought to feed them. They come in hordes, granpa, granma, uncles, aunties, small babies all very friendly and eager for the free food! In the early morning, there are only a few providing company to us who walk or jog here. Noni is scared of them, so she walks with a cane, well...just in case the monkeys tease her or follow her.

GARDEN WALK



After walking, usually we will end up going for breakfast near there! You must be thinking, after all those brisk walking at least for 5 km, you put on what you lost earlier by having a hearty breakfast at a mamak stall! Hahaha...No, we were just having light one, no nasi lemak or roti canai!


dill seedlings


saw-tooth corriander seedlings



Today she followed me home to see my new vegetable garden. I gave her seedlings of okra, eggplant, local and Thai basil (which she originally gave me 'cos hers are now dying!) and also Vietnamese mint (daun kesum). She wanted to know how to grow corriander and I showed her a pot of tiny seedlings, saw-tooth corriander and also dills given by Joy of My Little Potted Garden. Thank you Joy, the babies are looking great! When I showed Malar's (MyLittle Garden)balsam plants (now 1 foot tall), sprouting all over my new flower bed, she promised to give me some other colours she had in her garden! I guess by exchanging plants we are spreading them out of our garden to other areas! Such great pollinators we are, dont you think?




my first time pak choys




arrgghh....an invited guest on my okra seedling!



Our early morning walk turned out to be more than just a walk after all! We walked, we ate, we talked, we exhanged plants and gardening tips! I felt rejuvenated again and had an adrenalin rush the whole day after such a long time and I felt so good! Will walk again next week because Im off to Penang tomorrow for the weekend!





HAPPY WEEKEND GARDENING!!!!

23 comments:

Helen Lewis said...

The orchid is gorgeous! Your neighborhood seem peaceful. Also, you don't even have to go to a zoo in order to see one of those furry animals! :)

b-a-g said...

Thanks for giving us an insight to your neighbourhood and life. I would love to live in one of those white palaces. Just reading about your walk made me feel relaxed after a long day at work.

HolleyGarden said...

What a beautiful orchid! I would love to see one of those on a walk. And monkeys! Though they look cute, I would probably walk with a cane also!

Chloe m said...

What a beautiful neighborhood you live in!
That monkey looks very cheeky!

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed coming along with you on your walk and seeing the monkey. I love walking too and find it very stress releaving. The trailing orchids in your friends tree was just beautiful.

miruku said...

That orchid is so beautiful. I have quite a lot of orchids at home but i only know them as orchid haha. Eh go Penang see monkey again ar? Hehe have fun!

Food so delicious! said...

Your neighbourhood is so peaceful!! I would love to do some walking there... heheh.. Anyway, the orchid is simply lovely.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Your friend Noni orchid is really pretty. Lucky you to have some. I will use the morning walk as an excuse to have heavy breakfast;-).

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

A nice walk...... I wonder if those in gated palaces even come out and jog like the rest..

I can see your veggie gardening is growing!!

Giga said...

Orchidea obrastająca drzewo jest prześliczna. U nas drzewo może obrosnąć bluszcz.Małpki też bym z ochotą dokarmiała. Pozdrawiam

Tootsie said...

I just can't wait till the snow finally goes away and I can see something...even a weed....sprout directly out of the ground! the greenhouse is making me so impatient for spring!

Beth at PlantPostings said...

Thanks for taking us along on your walk! And how fun to see the seedlings growing in your pots. Soon you will have lots of fresh veggies!!

kitchen flavours said...

Good for you for starting your morning walk again. I should too, but always has excuses! He! He! Nice place to go for a stroll.
The sawtooth coriander did germinate! That's fabulous. And the dill too! I'm really happy to see that my effort at collecting seeds does have its rewards! My sawtooth corianders are growing more flowers now, couldn't wait to collect the seeds and share with the rest of the 'gang'!

Anonymous said...

What a paradise you live in. The creatures and plants are so exotic for here in the US. I have to admit, I too would jog or take walks in the palace neighborhood. It looks to beautiful. So the monkeys follow you home? In Costa Rica, they used to throw fruit at us to make sure we would leave. Plus they would come and tear up the gardens. They really wanted us gone from their forest and mountain.

Alistair said...

I think even I would go for a walk if I lived in paradise, I did enjoy my virtual walk though. Love the Orchid! I am sure that guest was uninvited.

p3chandan said...

Yes Helen that wild orchid blooms are sure gorgeous, and Im going to get the seedlings too! The monkeys are an attraction there especially in the evenings.

Thanks BAG, glad you enjoyed the walk with me!

Yes Holley, not only the orchids but many more beautiful blooms are found on my morning walk.If you walk alone, you will need a cane or a stick just in case the monkeys decided to follow you or pester you for food!

Rosey that monkey came to see if we had any food for him, love to see him bringing the whole family on their morning outing!

p3chandan said...

Jennifer, glad you enjoyed the walk with me while seeing nature's gifts!

Milka, you have lots of orchids? Why never post any of your collections..would love to see them. No time to see monkeys in Penang lor, so busy with other things there, maybe next time!

Yes Food the place is quiet, secluded with a good stretch of jogging and walking tract and cool in the morning and evening.


Diana, my excuse for walking not only for the exercise but also to see Noni and go for a hearty breakfast once in a blue moon with her!

Yes Bangchik, we've met a few of those gated community doing their thing too, though most of them are at the golf club having rounds of golf or tennis.


Tootsie, not long now for spring to come, I bet you are already busy preparing for the new planting and had your hands full!

p3chandan said...

Giga..sorry I have problem in translating your comment but thank you for dropping by my small garden.

Thank you Beth, happy that you enjoyed the walk too. Hopefully all my seedlings will grow big and healthy.

Thank you Joy, they are growing well at the moment although at first they are quite slow, I thought Ive failed and wasted your precious seeds!

Donna, the monkeys are not afraid of us anymore, since some people came with food to feed them but now they are very daring to come out of the hills and climbing into people's homes! I hope they dont start attacking us walkers and joggers for food!

Alistair, yes its quite tension releaving when I go for a walk there, so peaceful, cooling and also I can enjoy the nature's fauna and flora as the hills are still with its virgin forest.

Malar said...

What a nice way to spent a day!
Your vegetables are really growing well! You have to do something on the catterpillar before they 'botak' your plants!

p3chandan said...

Malar, morning walk to start your day is so invigorating and it makes you feel good the whole day! Our hot and wet season now really help the garden so well but I have to be on the lookout for uninvited guests like caterpillars!

miruku said...

All my orchids are from my office driver- he is a orchids expert and touring around for orchid shows. He gave me a lot of babies but most of them have not bloomed yet, already 2 years dah. He said they bloom well with pig manure, but i also dunno where to get, haha. Now got 2 blooming but these days im more into veggies lor so didn't take pics. Manyak cemburu your veggie beds lah, all veggies growing so well!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful harvest. You are a very good grower of plants--it must be great to have all of that fresh straight from the garden food to eat! Your body will feel so great!

p3chandan said...

Hi Folk Farm, thank you. Ive just started growing vegetable these few months, so Im a novice gardener, gardening through trial and error. Yes it felt so good to grow and eat your own vegetables!