Wooly night shade

Woolly nightshade

 

Solanum mauritianum fruit -  

 

This fruit tree is at the corner of my deck. Right now, in Summer, the tree is in it's different stages. There are little clusters of  purple flowerlets. There are new fruits and yellow ripe fruits.
New Zealand native birds come and eat them. Once, Rose and I tried to eat them. there are a lot of little seeds. each fruit is about the size of a small glass marble that my brothers used to play with their mates in Sibu.  We didn't dare to eat more other than to taste them. Birds eat them. It is sweet but has a slight bitter taste.
Upon close examination, there are a small set of leaves hidden inside the big leaves.
Woolly nightshade has naturalized in New Zealand. It had arrived there by 1880, and is now well established from Taupo northward. Woolly Nightshade is poisonous and handling the plants can cause irritation and nausea. The dust from the plant can cause respiratory problems if exposure is prolonged. Because of its ability to affect human health and because of its aggressive and fast growing character it is illegal in all areas of New Zealand to sell, propagate, or distribute any part of the plant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_mauritianum

http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.co.nz/

 

Tobacco plant

No! not  the plant you get your tobacco from. But a beautiful flower in summer.

a young contributor

I contributed this and earned $5.  a monthly magazine from the 1960s called "The Dolphin"? It was published by the Borneo Literature Bureau, which was a body owned by the Sarawak Government and formed in 1959.
I contributed to this and earned a princely sum of $5.  A very valuable experience for a teenager, My first paid writing. I wrote an article. The midnight feast. Was paid five dollars. Little did I know that would pave the way I would write books.

Hong Tian Wu / Red Sessile Joy Weed (红天乌)

the medicinal plant HUNG TIEN WOO. is grown in Singapore and Malaysia. Because off its burgundy red color which looks like blood, the Chinese practitioners believe that it is good to detoxify our body, cleanse our blood, relieve high blood sugar and cholesterol.

My friend told me and recommended that I try it. As I am open to anything that could be good, I went to the local wet market and bought a couple of bundles and brewed it with Chinese sugar dates. I was the only one in the family daring enough to drink it.

I asked my Sister Rose, and my sis in law. They both plant them this herb in their garden.
The native Malaysians call it DAUN KURMA MERAH and they eat them as a vegetable as well as using it as a herb.

 For five yrs we planted them in the parapet floor of our 2nd floor apartment. Now staying in HDB Executive Apartment so no place to plant. Bro'in-law scheduled for heart angioplasty but cancelled as his condition improved after drinking the HTW tea

Is it Utopia?

In 1907, my great grand father brought  his sons and families to be pioneers to develop Borneo. Some of the families remained in this hot tropical land. We have become professionals, and they in China living in a land where time has forgotten.

This year, 2017 I went back to Kwong Ning, home of my ancestors, home of the bamboo plant for the first time. Now, nobody comes to collect them even for joss sticks. My cousin chops some for firewood, and the blade like joints for firewood for cooking and heating.

We went from 26 degree in Kwang Zhou. To 16 in Kwang Ning to 10 in Guilin in three days.

Cousin Pui Hang showed me the abandoned buildings. Here, was a crude probe to the entrance. I asked Pui Hang if she ever wished her Dad never wished he had remained in Borneo.

She asked," it seems to be Utopia, but is it?"

ShiZiLou Restaurant in Nanjing

ShiZiLou

Restaurants in Nanjing

+86 25 8360 7888

Hu Nan Road ShiZi Qiao 29, Nanjing, China

Treated and dined like a queen. 28 morsels person. I ordered a normal portion of escargot. Friends from 34 years ago, hui min and Fong land wanted to show us Nanking small eat

Taste the colours of the rainbow with Gong Cha’s new bubble teas!

Media release: 21 November 2017

Taste the colours of the rainbow with Gong Cha’s new bubble teas!

Taste the deliciously sweet and savoury flavours of Gong Cha’s new range of bubble tea suited to all palettes! Served hot or cold, your taste buds are transported to the streets of Taiwan with the best tea beverages money can buy! The hardest decision you’ll have that day will be choosing which flavour to go with!

Specialising in both milk and fruit teas, Gong Cha has released thirteen new flavours to add to their already extensive collection ensuring even the most discerning palates are catered for.

Most bubble tea recipes are a tea base combined with a milk or fruit juice and shaken, then tapioca pearls (the ‘bubbles’) or fruit jelly can also be added as an option when the tea has been mixed. The mixes are made fresh in each store daily to ensure maximum freshness and flavour for all!

With the simple instructions on how to order a drink, you are able to customise each of the drinks - adding and removing toppings, choosing the sugar level and having the beverage hot or cold.

Founded in 2006, Gong Cha has quickly blossomed into one of the fastest growing tea brands in Australasia with over 600 stores across Asia, USA, Australia and now in New Zealand. Treating all customers like royalty - Gong Cha’s aim to create the perfect blend for each person that walks in the door, similar to the offering of tea to an emperor in China thousands of years ago.

For more information, visit http://gongcha.co.nz/, https://www.facebook.com/gongchanz/ or https://www.instagram.com/gongcha_nz/  

-Ends-

 

Written on behalf of Gong Cha by Impact PR. For further information or images, please contact Mark Devlin, mark@impactpr.co.nz (021509060).

 

 

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