Growing Guzmania Plants In My Garden.

We were visiting a friend one morning and before we left, my friend passed some plants cuttings to me. Among the plants cuttings were 2 small Guzmania plants. I was very happy to receive the cuttings, especially the Guzmania plants. My Guzmania plants were planted in 2 separate pots.

 Flower of a Guzmania plant.

Guzmania twins, Plant A & B at Day 1 in my garden.

When I brought the 2 plants home, I temporary planted them in recycled polystyrene cups. 

Plant A & B at 4th months

The plants seemed to be growing very slowly even after being transferred to bigger pots.

9th months

Plant A growing more leaves.

9th month

Plant B starting to bloom!

Plant B at 9th month + 4 days later.

Plant B at 9th month + 11 days

Plant B at 10th month

The colour of the flower deepened to orangey red.

Plant B at 11th month

Plant A at 12th month

Plant A took exactly 1 year to show off its 1st bloom!

Plant A at 12th month + 14 days

The flower of Plant A is red.

This photo was taken under the shade of an umbrella! Lol!

Plant B at 12th month

The fading flower.

Plant B at about 14th month.

I found plant B growing baby plants from its sides at about 12th month.

After re-positioning some of the plants in my garden, I shifted the Guzmania plants to a more shady place. Now their leaves are greener. I noticed they look healthier and happier under the shade.

I saw this plant in the plant nursery and the leaves were so green and healthy.

Found this unique flower in the same nursery.

Linking to Floral Bliss.

No one has ever seen God.

But the unique One, who is himself God,

is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us.

(John 1:18, New Living Translation-NLT)

Choosing A Wedding Dress To Suit Your Style

Every time I passed by a wedding or bridal shop, the wedding dresses on display in the glass window never fail to attract my attention. Even at my age, I am still drawn by these dresses. Maybe it is because as a young girl, I read too many love stories with the couple happily married at the end of the story.

In the heart of every young girl, I am sure there is a dream that one day she will marry. In her dreams, she will be wearing the most beautiful wedding dress and she will be the most beautiful bride. Even in this present modern age, I am sure this is still true for many young girls out there.

For present day brides, there is no shortage of wedding dresses to choose from the many bridal shops and online bridal stores. One such bridal store is the MillyBridal at uk.millybridal.org. You can easily and conveniently choose a wedding dress from wherever you are, paid for the purchase and have it shipped to you.

You can find wedding dresses of the latest trends and styles at Millybridal UK. Check out the latest arrivals with the most updated designs and styles. Whether you are looking for a tulle ball gown or a tulle mermaid train, etc., you will find one that will enhance your figure.

If you are looking for a classic and romantic wedding dresses for a garden or a beach wedding, you can browse through the Manchester Wedding Dresses. The dresses are designed to be light and airy, perfect for an outdoor wedding. You can also find plus size wedding dresses here. 

There is also a wide selection of beautiful London wedding dresses with lavish hand beading, timeless laces and exquisite embroideries. Besides wedding dresses, you can also shop for bridesmaid dresses, mother of bride dresses, prom dresses, evening dresses, shoes, etc.

Lunch With Long Time Friends At Makan Nyonya Cafe, Ipoh.

Out of the blue, I received a whatsapp message from a long time friend. She wanted to know when I will be free to meet up for lunch with another long time friend. We have know each other for over 41 years and we were once housemates and working in the same place. Those were the good old days.

After making a few phone calls, we fixed our lunch on a Wednesday. I suggested Makan Nyonya Cafe because both my friends have not been there before. I have been there once for breakfast and I wanted to return to try the "blue rice".

 This is what I came for - the blue rice nasi lemak with chicken rendang. They use natural colouring from the blue pea flowers to colour the rice.

 The 3 of us ordered the same thing. No sharing! Lol!

 From left: hard boiled egg, cucumber slices, fried peanuts, sambal (top), blue rice (centre), and chicken rendang. All these served on a banana leaf plate.

We wanted "bo bo cha cha" (assorted sweet drink) but it was not to be.

That day, they had sweet potato boiled in palm sugar.

 This is nice but a bit sweet for me, so I added some warm water.

After polishing off the nasi lemak, we ordered 2 types of savoury desserts.

 2 pieces of Nyonya Otak-Otak

My friends found it very spicy so they shared one.

I had one whole otak-otak to myself! Yums!

 We ordered 2 pieces of Nyonya glutinous rice with dried shrimp filling wrapped with banana leaf.

 I am already missing these glutinous rice!

 We were seated next to these shelves.

 Framed painting on the wall

 An antique meat safe or kitchen safe.

 A pretty antique porcelain container.

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After lunch, we went to the nearby Tesco Extra to see if we have anything to buy.

 I have heard about Ponni rice from a friend. I bought a 1 kg packet to try.

The grain of Ponni rice is very small. Ponni rice has many health benefits. It has high fiber and good for diabetic patients.

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One of our friends has not tasted this Cendol, so we too joined the queue!

 The weather was not very hot but we still need an umbrella to cover our pretty heads.

While my friends were queuing up, I was busy taking snapshots. But the moment I held the bowl of delicious cendol in my hand, I totally forgot about taking photos.

Linking to Tuesday's Treasures & Image-in-ing.

And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement

that addresses you as a father addresses his son?

It says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,

and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son."

(Hebrews 12:5-6, New International Version-NIV)

Experimenting With New Exotic Weave Colors.

These days, wearing a weave is quite a common thing and those who wear them are not shy about it. Those days, it was only people who have scalp problem, balding or thinning problem or going through chemotherapy would be wearing hair weave. Many do not want others to know about their problem, whatever it may be.   Hair weave has now become one of the hair accessories found in the possession of many women who love to change hair styles frequently. 

Hair weaves are not only worn by celebrities such as actors, actresses, models, etc. but are now worn by everyday normal people like you and me. Modern and fashionable women everywhere experiment with hair weaves or hair extensions of various length, colours, and textures. Hair weaves or hair extensions are commonly used to add length and volume to the wearer’s natural hair.  They are also used for fashion and styling with a variety of weave colors. 

We all know that frequently dyeing or colouring of our natural hair will in the long run damage our natural hair. For the adventurous ones who are always trying out new exotic colours, it is best to try it out on the hair weaves or hair extensions. You could easily don a blondeweave to experience being a blonde! You have heard so much about blondes and you wonder how it feels to be a blonde or how you would look like with blonde hair. 

When you feel like sporting a pink hairstyle, a pinkweave will come in very handy. Later, when you feel like adding some shades of other colours, you can easily dye or colour the parts of the pink weave with the colours you want. Wouldn’t it be fun to play with colours and not worry about damaging your own natural hair?

Besides experimenting with colours, you might also want to wear your hair in various lengths. Whether it is about sporting a short hair or a long hair, a weave will save you all the trouble of having to cut your lovely long hair short or having to wait for your hair to grow long after it has been cut short.

There is a possibility that you might be bored with your natural wavy hair and wanted to wear a sleek straight hairstyle or vice versa.  Instead of applying heat or relaxers to your real hair to achieve the result, again you can use a hair weave or hair extension.

Lunch With Ex-Colleagues At Sun Hup Kee Restaurant, Ipoh.

Last Thursday evening, there was a text from an ex-colleague inviting us to meet up for lunch the next day. For those who are still working, Friday is the day with longer lunch hours for us to enjoy our meal with some time for chit chatting. 

No, no, this is not the year-end lunch that we used to have before the Chinese New Year. We still have about 2 weeks to prepare for the Chinese New Year and the "closing year lunch" will be sometime within this 2 weeks. According to the Chinese calendar, we are still in the 12th month!

The venue was only decided when we were all seated in the car. After a few suggested places, we finally agreed on Sun Hup Kee Restaurant at Jalan Leong Sin Nam, Ipoh. We ordered the following dishes for lunch for 6 people.

 Deep fried Black Pomfret with Vietnamese sauce.

A very appetizing dish.

 Steamed Pork Belly with preserved veggie (mui choy).

 Tofu with minced meat & canned peanuts with steamed egg.

Chicken with ginger and sesame oil

 A combination of long beans and eggplant,

topped with fried garlic and preserved radish (choy poh)

The lunch cost approx. MYR 150, incl. rice, drinks & 6% GST.

 Chinese New Year decoration at the UO Superstore, Ipoh

 CNY decoration at the Tea Place Cafe.

Simple CNY decoration at Tea Place Cafe.

But most of all, dear brothers,

do not swear either by heaven or earth or anything else;

just say a simple yes or no so that you will not sin

and be condemned for it.

(James 5:12, The Living Bible-TLB)