SA Garden Catalogue: Tristellateia Australasiae

Scientific name: Tristellateia australasiae 
Common name: Maiden's jealousy
Family: Malpighia
Origin: Tropical Asia

The Tristellateia australasiae is a slender semi-woody vine, bearing terminal yellow inflorescences throughout the year. But the flowers last only three days. It grows very well in full sun, and propagation is by cuttings or seeds.

My good neighbour gave me a plant grown from her wall-climbing luxuriant ever-flowering vine. I grew it in a small container but never allowed it to climb high enough. After an initial burst of flowers (see above), the plant had been pruned and now is not doing too well. I might just replace it with another yellow flowering but more 'traditional' plant (Kenanga/Cananga odorata most probably).

Weather-wise we are in the middle of the inter-monsoon period (March-May), so a normal day usually begins quite bright with white clouds and blue skies. Then by midday it starts getting cloudy and grey and by late afternoon the thunderstorms occur. The intensity of the thunderstorms can sometimes be rather scary, what with the heavy rains, strong winds, loud thunder and lightning flashes. But anyway we have gotten used to this (almost), because we do have a record of having the second highest number of lightning strikes in the world! Ces't la vie!

One Fight at Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil

I have spent some time thinking about it - that I was party to being with humans urging on another two humans to pummel and hit each other hard. I, who dare not even watch any boxing or wrestling matches on TV. And there I was, a little more than a month ago, at the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fight at the Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.

If truth be told, I was bamboozled (again) into going for this event. Oh okay, there was no gun pointed at my head, but then again it did feel like so!

Here is how the event was touted, "One Championship (ONE FC), in partnership with Tune Talk returns to KL with another blockbuster event that promises a night of non-stop high-octane mixed martial arts (MMA) action. The fastest growing sport in the world today, MMA pits the best fighters from around the world against each other in hand-to hand combat within a cage. Whether you are a fan of boxing, wushu, taekwando or any other martial art, get ready to be entertained as the top fighters in each discipline prove their mettle on the largest stage in Asian MMA. You've HEARD about it, you've felt the buzz, now EXPERIENCE MMA for yourself on 13 March.

ONE FC: AGE OF CHAMPIONS will feature the first title defense of ONE FC Flyweight World Champion Adriano Moraes as he faces the Japanese challenger Riku Shibuya!. Also, Malaysian stars Peter Davis and Ann Osman return to the cage in 2 back-to-back Malaysian Warrior Super Fights to round off the night of exciting action".

Anyway I think most of the time I only looked at the 'combat cage' before any fight started. It conjured scenes of gladiators fighting to their death in the Roman Colosseum - not very 'entertaining' or 'exciting' at all. Then I would check my Whatsapp or IG status on my phone thank goodness I could then, till a fight is over and the crowd/audience at Bukit Jalil would be cheering/jeering as the case may be. I guess overall I survived the event pretty well and can tick off this 'not on my bucket list' item.

P.S. Both Peter Davies and Ann Osman won their combats. Moraes retained his title although Shibuya put up a very good fight to the finish.

ref: www.onefc.com/events/42-onechampionship.html    *The red highlights are mine.
13 March 2015    (In progress)

Snapshots: Springtime in Tokyo (2012)

Its the beginning of April and the Sakura or cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Japan. I wish I was there enjoying their transient beauty but I am not. So, I did the next best thing and looked through the numerous photos I took while there in April 2012, and post some of them here.

These were taken in Ueno Park, Tokyo.

3-12 April 2012