Jasminum sambac

After months of tlc, the jasmine plant, Jasminum sambac,  has finally decided to show its first blooms!
It's been over a week since it started flowering and there are still several new blooms each day! 
I have been taking the time to smell these flowers each morning.
Totally love it!

The Little Beauties In A Neglected Park

The Lagenda Park is actually quite a nice place for a walk or a jog or to just enjoy a few hours of nature. 

Lots of trees, particularly the spectacular raintrees, lots of birds and squirrels and dragonflies, lots of lotus plants, and lots more!  And there's even a little stretch of beach out there that's actually quite clean.  It may come as a surprise to you but this beach is actually cleaned up in the morning!  These are some of the reasons why I think this place is great!

But the park seems to be in such a state of neglect that it is quite SHOCKING!!!  In truth, the flora and fauna at the park is thriving quite well but the man-made structures are deteriorating.

This park was officially opened in 1996.  As this is one of the 'landmarks' on the tourist map, it is quite unbelievable that it would be left like this!  Some of the gazebos, a few structures, and mostly the light fixtures and toilet facilities are broken and in disrepair.  There are broken water wheels and bits of rubbish floating in some of the ponds, filled with what looks like murky, stagnant water!  What kind of an impression does it give of the park management or of the relevant authorities?

Such a shame!

I have visited this park on many occasions over the years.  For a morning run through the park, for a walk just to enjoy the outdoors on a beautiful day, for nature photography, for 'wildlife' watch and to observe dragonflies. 

Year after year, the state of the park keeps going down, down, down, downhill.

It is not that the park is abandoned.  The park grounds is not exactly small.  Granted, the layout and features of the park requires a lot of manpower for its upkeep.  There are security guards patrolling the area regularly on their motorbikes, more so towards the evening to ensure there isn't anyone loitering around after 7pm.  And then there is the landscaping crew at work most of the time.

I have often observed the handful of staff, probably contracted "landscaping crew", rake fallen leaves and rubbish on the grounds and pack them into rubbish bags. 

Sometimes, they would just be weeding . 

A lot of weeding.....

 

And sometimes, other staff would be cutting grass and the grass cuttings packed into rubbish bags as well.  Such that there is always this huge pile of bulging rubbish bags amassing outside the side entrance.  Then, from time to time, there'd be open burning in their attempt to get rid of all these rubbish.

When I see the park abuzz with all those activities, I can't help thinking that perhaps the maintenance budget is insufficient and valuable resources are being channelled to the wrong areas.  Those leaves are going to fall every day, throughout the day and night.  Each time there is a breeze rustling through the trees, more leaves will fall.  And each time it rains.....

But fallen leaves are all part of the natural surroundings.  If the leaf litter get to decompose on the ground, the process would be recycling nutrients back into the earth.  These leaves are not rubbish!  Whenever there are local visitors to the park, especially picnickers, there would be rubbish strewn everywhere!  Plastic bags and cups, styrofoam packs and cups and other non-biodegradable stuff.  Those are the real rubbish!

Imagine the amount of time and effort put into raking those leaves each day, every day!  It must seem like such a pointless, Herculean task to the people carrying out these jobs!  And I am also thinking, they must be spending thousands of ringgits purchasing all those rubbish bags and raking those leaves!  When will they even think about trying to reduce the use of these plastic bags?  What if these grass cuttings and leaves are mulched?  And composting is practiced?  What if they spend the money on maintaining the facilities instead? 

It seems that over time, more and more and bigger landmarks keep popping up in the Langkawi landscape - Marble Square, Book Village, Eagle Square, Infinity Bridge and the upcoming, massive Tower of Langkawi.  The amount spent on building these 'monuments' are astounding!  The trouble is that a few years down the line, these very same people who approved and lauded these project will then lament on the exorbitant cost of maintaining these structures and leave it to rot. 

But these same key people would have also gotten some money in their pockets by then so why would they care?

The estimated cost for building the 135-metre Tower of Langkawi is a whopping RM10 million.  At the very least!  What all these landmarks are is more concrete structures to destroy and mar the natural beauty of Langkawi. 

If there isn't going to be a budget for ongoing maintenance and upkeep in the long term, why spend the money to build it in the first place?

Will there be an end to this?

Just imagine if a fraction of that money is channelled towards the upkeep for these parks, instead of building another white elephant!  What a huge, huge difference it would make to these places!

I see the beauty of Lagenda Park in nature's little gems........

And in just a few hours, you would be feeling sated with the positive energies of nature!

These are the jewels of Langkawi.
Will these nature's gems be conserved and protected?

Why build more concrete structures that would just end up being eyesores?

A Flower..... An Orchid!

Came across this little blooming flower and buds along a trail recently...
I wonder what species could it be?

Updated 14 Aug 2011:  This species is the Geodorum citrinum of the family Orchidaceae, a beautiful ground orchid commonly found in the north of the Peninsula, Thailand and Burma.

Should be the correct id.  If I am mistaken, please kindly notify me.

Yellow Petals

One of the first things that caught my attention when I got to the stream was all the yellow petals floating on the water.  These petals must have fallen this morning as most of them still looked very fresh.

Seeing all these petals prompted me to look up...

Nice indeed.

No leaves... just all these bright yellow flowers and the buds, and perhaps even fruits, on the bare branches high above me.

Deciduous trees in our tropical forests will shed their leaves in hot, dry conditions as the tree is not getting enough water.  During this season, these trees will also have an increased propensity to flower.

I started wondering if I can find out the name of this flower?  What species of tree is this?

I looked around and found the remnant of one of the flowers that had dropped onto the ground.

Only one petal had remained intact in the fall but the sepals and stamens are still in one piece. 

An interesting looking flower.

It looks to be one of the Dillenia species (Family Dilleniaceae).

I don't have a clue which is it exactly.

Please do drop me a note if you do...

Vallaris glabra

I will always remember the fragrant scent of these flowers.

This creeper plant had grown quite luxuriantly over the shed outside my bedroom at home when I was a child.  Whenever it blooms, its fragrant scent would waft into the room through the open windows.  And you would always smell its fragrance if you walk near it... particularly in the evenings.

Growing up, we referred to this plant as "bunga nasi".

It was only in recent years that I came to learn that the correct local name of this plant should be "bunga kerak nasi".

For the longest time, this name never did have any significance to me. 
It never did hit a chord because it was one of the "first smells" in the garden that I knew as a child.  And its name was only a name to start with.




Yet, if you ask most people, they would say that the fragrance is like steamed rice.  Sometimes, even being likened to the scent of the pandanus or "pandan" leaves.

Well, is that any wonder at all?  Isn't it? 

After all, the name "bunga nasi", when translated to the English Language, literally means "rice flower", while "kerak nasi" refers to the burnt rice that's stuck to the bottom of the rice pot if you had overcooked the rice.

And "pandan" leaves are also often placed in the rice pot to make the rice more fragrant.

How apt.

But then, I have also recently learnt that its common or given name in English is actually "Bread Flower".

I wonder why?

More Species... But Not In Langkawi!

 

I have been away from Langkawi and though it was only for two weeks and I was just across the channel, it had felt as if I was in another world entirely and it had seemed like ages!

Luckily for me, I was based in an area located next to the forest fringe, there were lotus ponds, marshy areas overgrown with cattails and also padi fields nearby. 

It was dragonfly haven! 

Although I did not get to spend all day everyday observing these creatures, I did spend a bit of time watching them whenever I had the chance to do so and I did get a few photos of some common species and also of species that I have yet to encounter in Langkawi.  Other insects and plant life included!

 

Tridax daisies aplenty!

 

Rhyothemis plutonia (Selys, 1883)

 

Lathrecista asiatica (Fabricius, 1798)

 

Rhyothemis phyllis (Sulzer, 1776).  There were swarms of them!

 

Aethriamanta spp.  Need id for this dragonfly...

 

Aethriamanta spp, a pair in wheel.

 

Aethriamanta brevipennis (Rambur, 1842)

 

Aethriamanta brevipennis (Rambur, 1842), a female.

 

Acisoma panorpoides (Rambur, 1842)

 

Brachydiplax chalybea (Brauer, 1868)

 

Urothemis signata insignata (Selys, 1872)

 

Another dragonfly... need id for this fella...

 

Tholymis tillarga (Fabricius, 1798).  Found this dead dragonfly on the ground.

 

Anax guttatus (Burmeister, 1839).  Found this dragonfly with half its abdomen torn off but it was still alive and struggling.

 

Agriocnemis pygmaea (Rambur, 1842)

 

Ceriagrion chaoi (Schmidt, 1964)

 

Ceriagrion chaoi (Schmidt, 1964), a female.

 

Ceriagrion chaoi (Schmidt, 1964).  A pair in tandem with the female ovipositing into the pond plants.

 

A Stingless Bee out to collect nectar from the Sacred Lotus after the rain.

 

A colourful butterfly.

 

A mating pair of Wasp Moth.

 

A Wolf Spider on the Water Lettuce.

 

Cattails in the evening sky.

Other Odonata species spotted were:

Crocothemis servilia, Rhodothemis rufa, Orthetrum glaucum, Orthetrum chrysis, Orthetrum sabina, Orthetrum testaceum, Diplacodes trivialis and the Ischnura senegalensis.

Also, a blue damselfly.....

 

 

Pick Of The Day - A Passionflower!

 

A Stinking Passionflower is what this is called.

The flower looks strange and exotic but the smell is not!

Instead of a nice fragrance, the whole plant smells unpleasant.

Yet the ripened yellow berries are surprisingly sweet and are favourites among birds and children.

 

 

Pick of The Day!

 

If you know me, you would know that I am not a "flower person"!

And though I have worn leis and flowers on many occasions, it would not be my personal choice for an adornment.

But, flowers being flowers, all creations of nature are beautiful and amazing!

Also, no, I did not pick these frangipanis and place them there; this is as I found them when I walked by early in the morning... 

 

 

What A Week!

The week was hectic, fun, tedious, refreshing, exhausting, nice, great...  just great!

I was one among some 200-odd people who converged at a small sleepy village that lies in a valley, surrounded by mountainous ranges on the third largest island in the world, for an adventure that would get your adrenaline pumping and your heart rates racing, though I was not among the 100-odd people who were competing out there.  Hectic as the week may be, there were moments when I could just be a tourist off the beaten track, taking the time to smell the flowers, enjoy the scenery, look at a few dragonflies and, of course, take a few photos like tourists do.....

 

 

The mountain range in the early morning hours and the river that runs alongside the lodgings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The village boys who came out to watch us...

 

 

 

 

 

 

A red dragonfly perched on the barbed wire fence in the fields, the Orthetrum testaceum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another dragonfly, the Neurothemis terminata.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orthetrum testaceum, a pair in wheel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bamboo forest...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A villager and his dog walking up the steep tracks to his village that's miles away.  A lot of the villagers have to walk several hours just to get somewhere.  And the kids walk several hours in the morning over mountainous terrain to get to school each day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Possibly a Neurothemis disparilis or a female of the Camacinia gigantea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stormy skies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Athyma nefte, the Colour Sergeant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neptis hylas, the Common Sailor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bright yellow flowers growing wild next to the tracks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A close-up of the pretty bell-shaped yellow flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the villages in the valley.