Helping Hands at the TTDI Edible Project

Urban edible gardening has been growing exponentially in popularity in the last 5-10 years, less for economic/subsistence reasons, and more as a quiet, peaceful way of protesting the high levels of pesticides and chemical fertilisers in conventional vegetable farming, and the hectoring methods of big agricultural companies.

Besides, gardening is calming and therapeutic, and it is always beneficial to convert wasteland and unused land into farms that can feed humans, animals and insects, and provide shade and other ecosystem services such as pollination opportunities for insects, habitats and food sources for animals, birds and insects and improvement to air, water and soil quality.

Also, community gardens and natural spaces bring people and communities together. People get to have face-to-face conversations and share their knowledge about and experience on plants and insects and germination and cultivation methods.

 

The TTDI Edible Project is a network of volunteers and social media users that was established in December 2012. The community edible garden is located next to the TTDI Community Centre tennis courts. I have been an enthusiastic follower on Facebook, and when one of its co-founders appealed for volunteers to help clear its overgrown garden in August this year, I organised a Visit and Volunteer Session for the Green Living Special Interest Group on 26th September, since Green Living places a lot of emphasis on doing hands-on work for the betterment of our communities. I brought along my citronella mosquito repellent spray and the gardening gloves that we have been using for the past 2-3 beach and jungle cleanups. Those things do last, all they need is a good washing.

Around a dozen Malaysian Nature Society members showed up to help, and we were joined by 18 young members of the Royal Rangers, a Christian scout movement.

 

 

Volunteers hard at work clearing weeds.

 

 

Green Living subcommittee member Jack is a shining example of a diligent volunteer who is all action, zero talk.

Annieson clearing weeds from the Brazilian spinach patch.

 

 

Liza and me -- Green Living subcommittee members, represent!

 

Brazilian spinach (Alternanthera sissoo)

 

 

Ulam raja (Cosmos caudatus), one of my favourite salad vegetables.

 

 

 

A lonely drumstick bean (Moringa oleifera)

 

 

 

Terung pipit (Solanum torvum) -- perfect for curries!

 

 

 

Koon Hup found a sprouted tennis ball! So that's where tennis balls come from!

 

 

A group photo for posterity. Spot the sprouted tennis ball in the photo!

 

Green Living sponsored a waste-free breakfast for everyone (bananas, chiffon cake, banana cake, soy milk, juice) but I was unable to take photos as my hands were full and I was busy pouring drinks for everyone.

Many thanks to everyone for showing up and helping out despite the haze. For more information on the TTDI Edible Project, please visit their website and Facebook page. For more information on Green Living, please visit our official blog, our Facebook group and the Malaysian Nature Society website.

Celebrating CovertDad at the Orchid Conservatory, The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur

CovertDad celebrated his 72nd birthday in August. I took the day off to take him and CovertMum out for an afternoon tea. It was to be a surprise for him. He was thrilled with the treat. A man of uncomplicated tastes, he would have been happy even if I had just taken him out to a pizza parlour for dinner.

I made a reservation at the Orchid Conservatory of The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur weeks in advance. I knew my parents would love it since they are both avid gardeners and orchid lovers. I'm sure CovertDad knew something was up when I went back to the parental home the night before and informed them that we would be going somewhere special the following afternoon that would require them to dress up and charge their camera batteries well in advance.

It's going to be a bit difficult to top this next year, and to figure out where to take the parents for CovertMum's birthday. It must be someplace just as exquisite and memorable.

Many Happy Returns, CovertDad. Thank you for showing me what it means to be a good parent, spouse, friend, teacher and citizen. Thank you for teaching me about the environment, Web of Life and caring for the Planet. Thank you for teaching me how to write Letters to the Editor. Thank you for teaching me geography and tree identification. Thank you for being supportive of my volunteer work (well, at least some of the time, anyway). You are an excellent Planeteer!

KindMeal Review: Greenlicious @ 10 Boulevard Petaling Jaya

I live but a short bike ride away from Greenlicious Restaurant, 10 Boulevard, and dine and shop there so regularly that when requested to review the restaurant and meal deal for KindMeal.my, I agreed with the smug satisfaction of a preschooler who has just been asked to introduce his mother to his classroom.

 

 

Greenlicious is a lifestyle restaurant and cafe that not only serves food but also sells organic, vegan and health products. It is here that I get to purchase personal care products from certified vegan brands such as Florame and Living Nature NZ.

 

I downloaded the 30% Discount KindMeal voucher and invited two of my best friends, Nicole and Aravind, to join me for dinner on a Saturday evening after helping out at the SPCA shelter.

 

 

While Greenlicious is not an exclusively vegetarian restaurant, it does have a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan products and food. I believe its animal-based dishes are prepared with organic and free-range meat, but since I am a herbivore, I usually skip those parts of the menu. The menu is an incredibly helpful one, with clear coloured symbols indicating if a particular dish is vegan, vegetarian, ovo, lacto, ovo-lacto or onion-and-garlic-free vegetarian (for Mahayana Buddhists, Brahmins and Hare Krishna adherents).

 

 

The mysterious thing about the menu is that it also has symbols indicating the percentage of the dish that is organic. How does one come to the evaluation that my Lei Cha King is 90% organic, I wonder? Does it mean that out of 20 ingredients, 18 are organic, and 2 are conventionally-grown? I love their transparency and accountability to their customers by posting such information, but I ended up doing a lot of arithmetic in my head each time I dine there.

 

 

For drinks, Nicole ordered the wolfberry chrysanthemum tea (RM6.90), Aravind ordered the iced honey lemon vinegar drink (RM7.90) and I ordered the barleygrass lemon drink (RM7.90). Nic's wolfberry chrysanthemum tea is a comforting warm beverage with strong floral and herbal notes. Aravind surprised me with his choice of lemon and vinegar because he isn't usually a fan of anything sour or vinegary, but the drink was a lot milder-tasting than it sounds and was sweet and palatable. I've always loved food and drinks with strong notes of chlorophyll (e.g. wheatgrass, barleygrass, alfalfa) and the barleygrass lemon drink hit the spot with its grassy sweet flavour and citrus accent.

 

 

Nicole ordered the House Vegetarian Unagi Don (RM17.90). Aravind had wanted the individual steamboat but it was sold out, and so he opted for the Mixed Vege Beehoon Soup (RM18.90) instead, surprising me yet again with the uncharacteristic healthfulness of his choice. I asked him if he was alright, and his cryptic answer was that he was tired. This was for once justified -- we had spent most of the morning clearing weeds and rubble at the Malaysian Nature Society Urban Nature Centre in order to convert the place into a seed bank and community garden, and Aravind was probably too overcome with fatigue to eat something complicated that would take a long time to consume and digest.

I usually order Nasi Lemak Tower when on my own. I was hooked from the day my friends Sheela, Liza and Illani invited me here for my birthday in 2012. But I decided to order Lei Cha King (RM18.90) for a change, since it looked like a veritable rainbow in the menu.

 

 

Aravind's Mixed Vege Beehoon Soup would win a nutritionist's award, with its variety of organic vegetables. The soup is very clear and mild-tasting, with plump wolfberries swimming around in it. The mushrooms added texture and were perfect as a meat alternative. If ever any dish exemplified clean eating, this would be it. Aravind, true to his nature, requested chili padi in soy sauce, without which he could never eat anything.

 

 

Look at him, eating all those healthsome vegetables. I want to email this photo to his father. Uncle, look! Aravind is actually eating his vegetables! The sky is falling!

 

Nic was quite pumped up about her unagi don, and it is easy to see why.

 

 

The presentation is terrific and you have a good balance of complex carbs, proteins and lots of vitamins all in the same dish. The dome of steaming fragrant rice came surrounded by neat battered pieces of vegan unagi, tempura enoki mushrooms, salad and vegetables. Nic assumed, like most omnivores do, that it will be quite a piece of cake to finish everything on her plate, since it is all plant-based, but she underestimated how filling this dish could be flagged towards the end and I quite cheerfully finished her last chunk of unagi for her. (That's what best friends do -- stop each other from wasting food!)

I have had vegan unagi at Raku-Raku before, and the one at Greenlicious tasted quite different. The Raku-Raku one is made of soy and nori sheets, grilled with sweet soy sauce, and has a soft and slightly chewy texture. The vegan unagi chunks at Greenlicious are a combination of soy, vegetables and nori sheets and has the texture of vegetable cutlets in that it crumbles under one's fork. The nori sheets gave it the desired chewy texture similar to real unagi, as well as the complex umami flavour that makes this dish so satisfying and memorable.

 

 

  

My Lei Cha King was the perfect choice as it is a veritable rainbow of colours, scents, flavours, textures and nutrients. Lightly-cooked greens, firm cubes of tofu, cucumber, tofu, chickpeas, beans, carrots, roast shelled peanuts and preserved vegetables formed a pretty ring around a bowl of organic multigrain rice, accompanied by a bowl of thick, hot green tea soup which is so full of ground up vegetables that it had the consistency of porridge.

Eating this is like a spa for the stomach. The peanuts and preserved vegetables gave the dish a savoury crunch, while the natural sweetness of the pumpkin and carrot cubes really sparkled in this healthy dish. The green tea soup tasted sweet and minty, with its combination of green tea, vegetables and basil. This is comfort food that one can eat every day without ever feeling guilty.

The total bill for the 3 of us came up to only RM68.50 after using the KindMeal.my discount voucher, and one would be hard-pressed to find another eatery that would serve you high-quality, delicious organic food for such a reasonable price. Our all-star meal left us feeling very satisfied without feeling guilty for having indulged.
 

 

I returned another evening after work to use my KindMeal.my coupon for the Nasi Lemak Tower and organic soy milk. This is a huge combination set (RM12.80) consisting of a 'tower' of fragrant organic pandanus rice, fried nori seaweed crisps, batter-coated fried enoki mushrooms, sambal petai, creamy pumpkin paste, roasted peanuts and slices of tomato and cucumber, and a glass of warm or iced organic soy milk. I remember eating this as a birthday treat back in 2012, and it still feels like a huge treat today despite having eaten this at least a dozen times (Thank you, KindMeal.my! You make eating like a king so very affordable!) Aravind once mentioned that he found this meal a little dry. However, I don't have a tendency to drown my rice in sambal the way he does, and so I don't share the same view, although I do think it would be wonderful if the restaurant could offer a top-up of the sambal petai to customers who prefer their nasi lemak a little moister. So far, I have not attempted to ask for a refill of sambal, but I might try my luck next time.

For hygiene, ambience, price, taste, variety and nutrition, I'd rate Greenlicious 4.8 out of 5 stars.

☆☆☆☆☆

 

And now, if you would excuse me, I am off to download yet another coupon for the Nasi Lemak Tower combo set and eat this, all over again. Because not all good things need to come to an end.

 

 

Location:
Unit A-G-12, Block Allamanda, 10 Boulevard, PJU 6A, Lebuhraya Sprint, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Opens: Mon - Tue, Thu - Sun: 10.30am - 10:00pm; Wed: Closed

Tel: 03-77241109

Monthly Bucket List August 2015

The last two months have been so very hard, with the loss of two of my beloved feline children. I want to continue doing my Monthly Bucket List for August to remember the good as well as the bad, but all I can think of is how much I miss my Chloe and what a big part of my life and my schedule caring for her had become. Each day is filled both with my hopes for a better life for myself and my remaining cats in the Wee Green Flat, and at the same time the grief and sorrow that comes with the realisation that both Shadow and Chloe got to spend so little time in the Wee Green Flat, and that they are no more with us. I took care of them to the best of my means and ability, and I miss them very much. I have set up a fund to help with the vet bills of other animals in need in loving memory of Shadow and Chloe, but at the moment finances are tight, and I cannot afford to give more than RM100-200 a month to other rescuers in need of funds and assistance.

1. Make a new friend

During the course of doing the 30-Day Minimalism Challenge on Facebook with Nick and his friends, I found that I share many values and interests in common with his friends in Leicester -- Linda, Divita, Anna and Viv. We added each other on Facebook and have had a great time communicating with each other ever since. These women continue to inspire me online each day.

During our Green Living Turtle Volunteer Programme 2015, I got to know several new volunteers, including two from Klebang, Melaka -- Charmaine and Karen. We remained in touch after the Programme and they had sought my assistance in planning future volunteering trips to the Turtle Conservation and Information Centre, as they live minutes away. I gladly assisted and I know the Turtle Centre would be happy to have volunteers as giving and dedicated as them.

2. Help a stranger.

For some time now, I have engaged the children I tutor at Beacon of Hope to write postcards to children in rural hospitals. A few months ago, I learned about Love for the Elderly, a non-profit organisation set up by a teenager in the USA, Jacob Cramer, to send snailmail to senior citizens in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. I found it to be a brilliant idea and shared the cause on the Postcrossing page. I don't know if any other Postcrossers sent them cards, but I started sending 5 cards to Love for the Elderly with every 5 cards that I send for Postcrossing. I hope my cards bring the elderly some cheer.

One of the things I started to do regularly to ensure that I am able and ready to do a Random Act of Kindness each time the opportunity arises is keep a pocketful of small change ready to help someone out with. Usually I hand coins to people who do not have the right amount or denomination of coins for parking meters. In August, I gave out coins to those who needed it for parking machines and shopping trolleys. My favourite 'give' of the month was a little girl at the SPCA who had gone there with her family to adopt a puppy. She kept asking her mother for change for the SPCA coin box, but her mother didn't have any coins to spare and was busy filling up the adoption papers. I gave the generous child a handful of coins, which she happily fed into the slot. She seemed overjoyed that she managed to 'feed the doggie and kitty', and I felt glad I got to do a good turn for this kind family who had come to adopt one of our shelter dogs.

Wikipedia made one of its periodic requests for donations to keep the site running, and I didn't hesitate in making a donation by PayPal. Helping one another is what keeps our society strong and smart.

One of my friends, Sherrina, is the founder of an animal rescue organisation called the Independent Pet Rescuers. Sherrina and I had our differences in the past, but this does not stop us from working together for a common cause. When she appealed for funds to pay the vet bills of a rescued kitten called Joy, I pledged RM100 but was not able to bank it in to her until a later date due to many other financial commitments. I didn't forget, however, and Joy remained at the back of my mind like a nagging worry, so I was glad when I finally got paid for some work I did and banked the pledged sum in to Sherrina. The donation is from The Shadow and Chloe Fund for Animals In Need. I hope Joy will grow up strong and healthy and find a good family.

I have been teaching at Beacon since January and have become very invested in my students' well-being. When I found out that some of them would be sitting for their UPSR exams without appropriate pencils and school supplies, I bought boxes of exam-grade 2B pencils and erasers to give out to them.

As mentioned previously, Green Living conducted its annual Turtle Volunteer Programme in late August, and two of our volunteers, Charmaine and Karen, were very keen to bring their friends to the centre/hatchery to volunteer as well, but were not familiar with the volunteer application procedure. I was happy to help them out and draft them a set of bilingual letters, and offer to be their translator as they are unable to speak Malay and the turtle centre staff are unable to speak any English. This should be fun!

3. Eat something/at someplace new to me.

On the occasion of CovertDad's 72nd birthday, I took both parents out to afternoon tea at the Majestic Hotel's Orchid Conservatory. It was a memorable and beautiful tea party, and my parents loved being surrounded by beautiful flowers. I think this outing might warrant its own post, depending on my time and inclination. It's going to be difficult for me to top this next year.

A Kapiti Ice Cream bar opened for business next door to pub and had a 10-day buy-one-scoop-and-get-another-free promotion. I had a grand time trying out new ice cream flavours. I sampled Lemongrass and Ginger on the first day and gave the second cone to Michelle, our barmaid. I had initially planned to visit more often during the 10-day promo, however, after Chloe fell ill, my priority was to stay with her and care for her.

Earlier in the month, I visited RGB and The Bean Hive with Aravind and utilised a KindMeal voucher in order to write a review for KindMeal.

In mid-August, I had to go to Penang for work and ate at Gemini Cafe, Penang International Airport...

... As well as Purrfect Cat Cafe in George Town, which I wrote a review for.

4. Go someplace I've never been.

As listed above, in August 2015, I visited at least 3 places new to me:

Hotel Majestic's Orchid Conservatory;

RGB and The Bean Hive at Jalan Damai;

and Purrfect Cat Cafe in George Town.

Apart from that, I attended a meeting at Menara KWSP in Penang, and ended up exploring other parts of George Town and Penang Island on foot. I got to spend time at the Lighthouse Thrift Store near Cititel in George Town,

... and spotted this awesome Mondrian-inspired building on my way to the Bayan Lepas International Airport.

I've been exploring a lot of Kota Damansara on my bike as well, but it took place in the final few days of August after Chloe's passing. I needed to ride my bike to clear my mind and assure myself that I have done the best I could for my beloved Chloe, and nothing more could have prolonged her life without compromising her quality of life.

5. Learn something new.

In August 2015:

(i) I learned a new route to work that bypasses the traffic jam; (It took me almost 2 months to discover it, since I don't use Waze or a GPS, so I guess I am not that smart after all)

(ii) I attended talk by Dr Lee Grismer on herpetofauna of Malaysian karst formations on 13th August and learned about critically endangered reptile and amphibian populations; and

(iii) I attended talk on marine plastics and learned about nurdles, and anti-litter organisations such as Litterati and International Pellet Watch.

6. Declutter and cull 100 items.

I decluttered my desks both at home and at work and removed a whole stack of diaries, journals, folders and notebooks to be handed out to my students at Beacon of Hope to be used as exercise books.

Spring cleaning my desk at parental home resulted in large amounts of paper being decluttered for recycling. Three stacks of papers, magazines, newsletters and folders were removed -- one stack for recycling, one stack of magazines and books for donation, and one stack to keep.

7. Give up something for a month.

In August, I gave up trying to live with the cracked plaster skim in the kitchen, despite promising myself that I would take a break from DIY and home improvement. I cleaned it up and repainted it in just one night.

Remarkably, in August 2015, I also managed to almost completely give up drinking Red Bull. I drank only one can the entire month. I'm not sure if my health improved after giving up all that sugar and caffeine, but I certainly slept earlier and better.

8. Letter to the Editor

Upon receiving the report that the Selangor State Government would proceed with the construction of the EKVE highway through the Ampang Forest Reserve and Selangor State Park, I drafted a letter in the capacity of the Coordinator of Green Living, and it was published in The Malaysian Insider and The Star.

________________________________________________________________________________

It's been a very difficult two months for me. I hope I never have to say goodbye to another cherished feline or canine child ever again. It really is the heart that feels the pain.