Monday, July 6, 2009

The simple joy of life.

Today I shall write about the simple joy of life.

How many really can enjoy these simple joys of life?

Each morning I savour these simple joys of life in my home.







The joy of planting a little longan sapling

and watching the little buds and new shoots

sprouting out
each morning.







The joy of watching the little nutmeg plant

inching itself upward ever so slowly.





It's still fragile like a baby. The joy is not

in eating the fruits of the rambutan tree,

at least not for now; but the joy of anticipation

for greater things to come.

(Post script dated 13 March 2010: Unfortunately, this plant died. I have replaced it with a chikoo plant.)








The joy of keeping the "lawn" spick-and-span.

Hard labour of wifey and mine.

Nothing of the sort of golfing green,

but the humble mixture of common grass

already growing along with the lallang

when we moved in.

Now no more lallang.

The joy of hard work and perseverance.
(Post script dated 13 March 2010 : I am slowly replacing the common grass with carpet grass.)




This is my favourite. It is flowering now.

The fragrant yellow Chempaka of the

Thai variety. Will plant another of the

common variety later.


The joy of plucking the fragrant flowers

and offer them to the Buddha Image as a mark

of respect and reverence.






On the ground are two varieties of hybrid

Hibiscus, scarlet red and sunshine yellow.

In between is the potted ice-cream

pinkish-white Bougainvillea.


The joy of colourful sights. Wait till they are

more matured!!





The "Diamond" patch!

Just cleared of weeds, now with little Japanese rose stalks

planted on the ground.

At the centre will rise the majestic palm in time to come.

Little pots here and there, awaiting their fair share.

These are my little joys of life.

With quiet solitude and tingling wind chimes

to soothe a worried mind.

I wonder whether it's real joy of life,

or is it a spent life in a home for aged mind??

You see, it's simply a matter of perception;

It's all in your mind.

**********************************************

To end this tour, let's take a dream-journey to old decadent Shanghai
in the 1930's Zhou Xuan era:


Presented by CCTV through courtesy of Youtube:
Zhou Xuan's 1937 Classic (My favourite) :
"The Wandering Songstress."














12 comments:

CheaHSan said...

Justin Wow! You have a mini orchard right at home and that would keep you and wife busy. Kindly convey my warmest regards to LC please and hello to your children J & K & of course grand-daughter Mia too. Thanks

Yap said...

Justin

You got a lovely banglow.

I would suggest you plant the Taiwanese carpet grass.

A true Malaysian said...

Wow, solid man. Nice house and soon you will be able to enjoy the fruits of your "simple joy of life".

To be able to have simple joy of life is indeed a blessing, a privilege. Keep it up with the good gardening.

I suggest you plant "Kesidang", a creeping plant where its flowers emit fragrance which is like pandan smell, but richer than that of pandan plant.

Any chance to visit you there? Hope by then I could enjoy some fruits,...

A true Malaysian said...

Justin,

Your bungalow is how many time bigger than this Toyo's Bali style mansion?

Justin Choo said...

CheahHS,

Thank you. You are welcome to visit us. When you reach Auto City, give me a call

Justin Choo said...

CheahHS,

Thank you. You are welcome to visit us. When you reach Auto City after Juru Toll, call me.

Justin Choo said...

PM,
I just took the easy way and also saved money. So common grass should be good enough, so long as I can keep them tidy.

Justin Choo said...

A true Malaysian,

"I suggest you plant "Kesidang", a creeping plant where its flowers emit fragrance which is like pandan smell, but richer than that of pandan plant.

Any chance to visit you there? Hope by then I could enjoy some fruits,..."

I don't think I could get this plant. Never heard of it. You can forward a picture to me if you have it in your house.

My house is much much bigger than Khir Toyo's, if you look up from my garden in the evening you can even see the stars. That's how big my house is.

Justin Choo said...

A true Malaysian,

Any chance to visit you there? Hope by then I could enjoy some fruits,..."

You mean you are only coming when my rambutan tree bears fruits???
Hope you visit sooner than that.

Received the CD with thanks. Haven't looked at it yet.

Yap said...

Justin

Just to share my experience. I had 2 rambutan trees one red fruit and the other yellow, Apple Mango Tree one and other types 3 trees. When they were young, nice to look at especially when they start flowering after 3 years and bearing fruit.....another 5 years later even my neighbour got fedup of eating mangos and rambutan...

Too many leaves to sweep especially the mango trees...down it went with an axe. Just 2 years ago I chopped down the 2 rambutan trees...tired of sweeping leaves.

Hope you will not have the same problems.

You mean you have to buy the grass. I am sure your friends have planted it. Just get a small patch of 6 inchs and split up the rhizome and plant them 6 inchs apart. They will spread fast less than 3 months you get a big patch.

Justin Choo said...

PM,

Yes, you are right. Perhaps 10 years down the road (if I'm still around) I would do the same thing. Life is like that; it goes round in a cycle. From birth to death, in different stages of life, we have different desires. Once these desires are satisfied, we get sick of them and seek new ones. That's what makes life tick.

As for the grass, I can get the grass, but would need to dig up all the top soil and existing grass and weeds; and to top up with good soil. Too much work for me.

Gracie said...

Dear Justin,

Aiyo, your ear rang like no other, and after seeing the doctor you complained, 'My RM 20 is gone'?

Justin ar, why so stingy wor?

My entire surgery cost RM 5151.25 and I've yet to complain! Dont ask if I have life insurance or not. Those ppl there are SO discriminative and ought to be executed...:P.

To view my post-op pics, feel free to check my blog. But make sure not to do it after meals.

Grace Chan

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