Fresh durian from the farm

One of our small durians has finally dropped. Unfortunately, our joy was short-lived when we opened it up and found only one piece to be edible. The rest were spoiled by worms (insect larvae).

There are only two fruits on this huge tree, not been producing lots of fruits for a few years now. The last time it bore a great abundance of fruits (so many that we gave away some to neighbours) was probably about 5 or 6 years ago.

The seeds inside this newly dropped fruit were mostly too tiny to be planted. I hope that the other fruit will have some good fertile seeds for planting ‘cause the fruit from this tree is super delicious; and that coming from a non-durian fan like me, means a lot! :)

Small herb with minty roots (wintergreen)

I do not know the actual name of this small herb but I’ve heard it called “wintergreen” before, perhaps because its roots give off a strong but pleasant minty smell.

(See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wintergreen)

It’s a rather common herb which grows in the lowlands as well as the highlands; I’ve found in growing along busy roads and in disturbed, open areas sometimes covering large patches like a prolific weed. I’ve also found in growing in Mesilau, Kinabalu National Park (Sabah).

The herb growing in Mesilau, Kinabalu National Park (Sabah).

If you see one growing in your backyard, uproot it and give the roots a sniff, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the nice minty smell.

I’d love to know the real name and scientific name, if anyone knows, do leave a comment or send me a note. I wonder if it has any medicinal properties…

Here it is growing in a disturbed area together with a terrestrial orchid, Eulophia graminea, which is sometimes known as the football field orchid as it used to be easy to find it in open fields and even along roads.

~end~

Flash floods at waterfalls are very real!

Before and after (lower photo)

Beautiful morning so went hiking, visited some very beautiful waterfalls. Then it started to get cloudy…

I got up to the upper level of the three tier waterfall and was busy snapping photos when the raindrops began to fall. I quickly climbed back down to the lower level, within minutes the water volume increased drastically even though the rain wasn’t heavy. I yelled loudly at friend who was still taking photos on the other side and thankfully he heard me and rushed back to safer, higher ground.

Though the rain wasn’t heavy and lasted only a few minutes, the waterfalls turned into raging monsters and I noticed the water level rise by about a foot in a matter of minutes.

Flash floods are very real and it is always dangerous to visit waterfalls during the rainy season. The day may start out nice and sunny but the weather could turn at anytime… take caution, explorers!

Wordless Wednesday #5

Limnophila species (native aquatic plant)

Found lots of Limnophila growing in this small drain flowing through a paddy field some weeks ago. This aquatic plant is native to Borneo (and SEA) and is often found growing in rice fields. It’s actually quite an attractive plant and would make a great background plant in a planted tank. The leaves that emerge above water are broader and slightly thicker while the submerged leaves are fine and feathery.

The fine leaves underwater were unfortunately covered with a layer of mud, otherwise they would look really nice even when photographed on a dull day (with polarizer of course).

Saw lots of fish in the water; was hoping to spot a gourami or two but spotted only common rasboras.

It was a rainy day so the photos are a rather dull and dark. Though I was using a different camera than my usual outdoor cam, I was still able to get some decent shots with a circular polarizer meant for my Olympus by holding the CPL in front of the lens. It wouldn’t fit the Sony lens because of the different filter thread size.

Friend snapping some underwater shots with an Olympus Tough TG-810. :)

Photographed with CPL

Left: wtihout CPL; Right: with CPL. The polarizer didn’t fit (different thread size) as it’s for my other cam but I held it in front of the lens, better than nothing. :)