Gallimaufry#51

Just a gallimaufry of photos 📷

White buttercup (Turnera subulata)

Brazilian Potato Tree

SKYWATCH FROM MY BALCONY

FROM THE TRAVEL ARCHIVES

Bath 2011

St Michael's Catholic Church — The first church built in my hometown.

With its humble beginnings as a wooden shed in 1890, the present neo-Gothic building was completed in 1924.

The Sanctuary

Sunday brunch — Dim Sum 

Dim Sum in Cantonese literally translates as  'touch the heart'. The small portions are intended to merely touch the heart but not satiate the appetite. 🧡

Little plates of heaven steaming in bamboo baskets.

Traditionally, dim sum is served from wheeled carts on small plates to encourage sampling and sharing.

These small portions enable diners to try a variety of dishes. Dim sum is best enjoyed with a large group of people.

There is always something for everyone.

Oops! Don't mind the hand! The dim sum shop we frequent is always busy, and I had to snap these pictures fast without pissing off the waiters!

Fried snacks

What's your favourite dim sum? 

🥟

Gallimaufry#50

Just a gallimaufry of photos 📷

 Red frangipani aka plumeria 
In Asia, it is said that the frangipani shelters ghosts and spirits. Malays associate them with pontianak (vampires)! We grew up believing that an intoxicating scent of frangipani after dark indicates the presence of a pontianak! Whenever our little noses picked up the scent when we were out playing in the evening, we would run home for our lives!

The pontianak manifests as a vampiric pregnant woman who died in childbirth. Described as evil and  vengeful, she appears as a long-haired woman in a flowing white robe. Pontianaks steal babies hoping to replace the child they lost.

I do, every now and then, catch a whiff of frangipani at night in my living room but I am pretty sure the fragrance comes from my neighbour's dryer. Or does it??!!👻

FUN FACT

The fragrance of the frangipani intensifies at night to attract its pollinator, the sphinx moth.

Thai dinner

Goong Ob Woonsen (clay pot shrimp vermicelli)

Khao Pad Sapparod (pineapple fried rice)

Pla Krapong Neung Manao (Steamed fish in lime sauce)

Moo ping 

Gai Hor Bai Toey

Khai Jiao (deep-fried omelete)

Yes, there really is a Starbucks everywhere you look!

Pandu lalu means drive through in Malay.

FUN FACT

There are currently 30,000+  Starbucks stores in the world — 33,833 the last time I googled.

Lanterns 🏮

 😎Endless summer 🌞

Sending you tropical vibes from my corner of the world 👙👓🍦🍹🌴

SKYWATCH FROM MY BALCONY

Towering inferno?

Nah, it's just the sun's reflection.

The TM Tower as seen from my balcony, a 23-minute drive away.

TM Tower — Avengers HQ in Malaysia??!!!

image credit - says.com

In 2018, fans of The Avengers went crazy when the iconic logo was spotted on the tower.

Turned out, the projection was part of a collaboration between Marvel Malaysia and TM in a tie-in for the movie  'Avengers: Infinity War'!

The tower does kinda look like  the fictional Avengers' Stark Tower, doesn't it?

Gallimaufry#49

Just a gallimaufry of photos 📸

Pink balsam

ZEN

Koi

The age of a Koi is determined by the rings around their outer scales — one ring for every two years.

Hanako is believed to be the longest living Koi fish ever recorded. She lived for 226 years before her death in 1977. The scarlet-coloured fish was born in 1751 in Japan. The average lifespan of a scarlet koi carp is around 40 years.

FROM THE TRAVEL ARCHIVES

Pencil Tower (Blaaktoren), Rotterdam

Lotus' or Lotus's?

In school, we were taught that if a possessive noun ends in s, an apostrophe is simply appended to the noun.

When Lotus's first acquired Tesco's retail chain in Malaysia and their logo appeared on buildings, people were buzzing over the correct punctuation of the possessive noun.

Haha, turns out everyone was wrong! The apostrophe is actually a drop pin that symbolizes their "your go-to destination for all your needs and wants" slogan, and the ‘s’ represents their SMART (acronym) values!

So LOTUSS it is!

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. 🚲

Albert Einstein