Gallimaufry#17

Just a gallimaufry of photos ...

Hydrangea

First love (xanthostemon chrysanthus)

Skywatch from my balcony

Tang Yuan

More about the festival here — https://ofmiceandramen.blogspot.com/2020/12/tang-yuan.html

ONE FROM THE TRAVEL ARCHIVES

Cologne 2019

Dinner 

THE GREAT MALAYSIAN FLOOD OF 2021

Malaysia suffered its worst flooding caused by incessant torrential rains on December 17 and 18.

image sources — The New Straits Times and Berita Harian

36 hours of sustained heavy rainfall

 More than a month's worth of rain fell that day in most parts of the country.

                           

Thanks for the prayers and emails of concern, pallies.  We are fortunate that the area where we live was unaffected.

Brahminy Kites

Son#2 went on an eagle-feeding excursion in Langkawi.

Sharing these photos of the majestic brahminy kites.

The island of Langkawi, Malaysia, is named after the brahminy kite.

According to folklore, the name Langkawi was coined from the words lang and kawi. Lang is short for helang (eagle in Malay) and kawi is the name of a local reddish brown manganese stone, the colour of the kite's primary plumage. 

The Iban natives of Upper Rajang, Sarawak, Malaysia, believe the brahminy kite to be the manifestation of Singalang Burung. Also known as the God of War. Singalang Burung takes the form of a brahmini kite whenever he comes down to earth. 

Dataran Helang aka Eagle Square — Langkawi's iconic landmark

The 40ft tall statue of a brahmini kite poised for flight

Gallimaufry#16

Just a gallimaufry of photos ...

Yes, sunflowers in December!

 Christmas trees in a mall

From a distance, I thought these were fallen leaves ...

Turned out, they were starfruits!

Tea —  Paris-Brest 

Man on a roof

Haha, I wonder if his service is ON THE HOUSE!

Crab fest on son#2's birthday

FROM THE SHOEBOX — PHOTOS THAT RARELY SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY

Phuket 1991

James Bond Island

The island  was chosen as one of the locations for the 1974 James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun as the hideout for Bond's antagonist, Francisco Scaramanga.     

                           

Ah, Roger Moore —  my all-time favourite James Bond actor.

Who is yours?

Gallimaufry#15

Just a gallimaufry of photos ...

Blue plumbago

White angelonia

Lunch — carbonara mac dog

Skywatch from my balcony

Not sure if these are edible

ONE FROM THE TRAVEL ARCHIVES

Chapel Bridge, Lucerne 2019

Roadside coconut juice stall

There's nothing quite as refreshing as sipping fresh coconut juice straight out of the fruit on a hot day!

For Health Nuts

Spotted in a local mall ...

Gallimaufry#14

Just a gallimaufry of photos ...

Rangoon Creeper

Skywatch from my balcony

Kedondong

Noodles for dinner

Duranta Geisha Girl

The name has a nice ring to it, agree?

FROM THE SHOEBOX — PHOTOS THAT RARELY SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY

Sydney 1992

Chinese herbal tea shop

In ancient China, traditional doctors used to always carry medicines in calabashes aka bottle gourds when treating their patients. Over time, the bottle gourd became a symbol of doctors and healing. And since Chinese herbal teas are consumed for their curative effects, calabashes have become symbols of Chinese herbal tea shops. In the 1940s, each herbal tea shop had two to three golden calabash-shaped vats with taps to store the herbal tea.

Green calabash growing on its vine

image source - wikipedia