Raintree

With development all around it, this 100 year old majestic and regal raintree may be feeling a little apprehensive about its future.

Miri has lots of raintrees probably planted when Miri was first founded about a hundred years ago. Later as more roads were built this species continue to find favour with the authorities.

Called Pukul Lima by the Malays the leaves droop at five. So office workers cannot miss their time going home to their love ones. Just look at the raintree's drooping leaves - time to go home.

Dove House

Perhaps the only dove house in Miri.
this belongs to the Miri Sikh Temple. Peaceful doves perching on the roof basking in the evening sun.

Dusk over Miri

Darkness is descending fast. Just able to catch the last ray of sunlight before Miri goes to sleep.

Peaceful and hopeful.

Pink Water Jambu Flowers

Little pink flowers
colour grey and brown pebbles -
nature's gift to us

A Haiku for Temburong's pebbly banks.

Roof Top of a Long House

Long house trying to receive signals from outer space?


An ingenious wind vane made out of plastic water bottles.

Honey from a hive on our durian tree

What a blessing we had recently.

This beauty is a bee hive. Bees are swarming around it when our gardener took it down from our durian tree.

We had fresh honey with our freshly made pan cakes. An experience of a life time.

Miri's JKR

I was surpised to see parts of the Public Works Department being pulled down as the Flood Mitigation Project progresses towards the urban centre.

Against the clear blue skies the almost "empty shell" of JKR looks like a part of a movie set in Hollywood.

How long JKR will be seen standing in this particular site one may never now. It might be gone soon.

Hope your memories of this part of Miri will remain.

Man At Work

Basket making is one of mankind's first arts. It is a pleasant surprise to find this man hard at work in Miri's Tamu Muhibah.

Well done! He is helping out in their family business and while waiting for customers to come along to buy rice and other jungle produce he makes baskets from these binding cords. In pink too!

Husbands and wives should be supportive of each other!!

Making baskets together is such a happy past time too.

Pretty Girl in Pink

This young girl is her mom' special child. And no one has the right to take her childhood away from her. Her birth should guarrantee her love and true human bonds.

Attap House

An attap house is made from small pieces of wood and attap.

Attap is made from leaves of the ubiquitous nipah palms which are found in the riverine areas of Sarawak.

Attap can be used to make the walls and the roofs. So an attap house can be as simple as this farm house, which are common along the banks of the Luak Bay or any padi farms in and around Miri. Attap houses can be very grand too if better wood can be used for the frames and beams of the house. In fact many holiday homes in Malaysia are fashioned from attap and are used to housed foreign tourists to give them a local ambience.

Attap houses are often temporary and the farmers move on, or find new nipah palms or attap to repair their walls.

Attap, if you collect your own, are free. And I personally believe that it is God's gift to the poor. And I hope no one will take this God's gift away from us.

Caged Birds

The two free range chicks are for sale.
Tiny ones!

Caged and carry.

And as I walked away I thought of

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
by Maya Angelou
7/14/2008 5:07:57 AM


So here we are,the photo and the poem for you.

The free bird leaps
on the back of the win
and floats downstream
till the current endsand dips his wings
in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see throughhis bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trillof the things unknown
but longed for stilland is tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
The free bird thinks of another breeze
an the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trillof things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Maya Angelou

It is a hot's day's work!!

Life as a road side hawker is hot!

This lady earns a little to support her family.

She has a little bit of pinang,a little bit of mushrooms,etc.

To make counting of money easier for her she has her items arranged in little plates which are sold at a ringgit each. With fuel prices going up how would she be able to sell her items at one ringgit and fifty sen? It might be hard for her to carry all those coins! Or would she up her prices to two ringgit?

Alamanda on a Lamp Post

Alamandas are found every where. No one actually notices it much.

And so are garden lamps.

But this particular house in Miri has a bunch of alamanda growing on its garden lamp.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Have a beautiful day!

Luak Bay

There is only one lone tree standing at the end of the road. It is not a Douglas Fir or a Red Wood. It is neither a Tapang nor a Meranti. But it is just a young sapling standing upright, come wind, come rain, come shine.

The sky is beautiful this morning. With very promising clouds. The waves come in small ripples, announcing all is quiet and peaceful.

The beautiful beach is lonely.

What will its future be like?

A Cup of Coffee

This is no ordinary cup of coffee.

It is a cupful of goodness of mother's love.

It is the warmth of God's blessing .

It is a sight to behold of our beloved stable traditional values.

I would like to say "My cup runneth over,every day."

May I wish you the same too,today and always.

I Spy with My Little Eye ....

When we were young ,mum used to amuse us with games.

One of the games was "I spy with my little eye, and I see a thing beginning with a letter......."

We had a lot of fun learning English words and we were never tired of playing word games.

Today I am sharing with you a word beginning with the letter C!!

Beautiful caterpillar found in the garden of my father's friend in Sg. Rait.

Good Indigenous Rice at the Tamu Muhibbah, Miri

"I am in a pensive mood. All food prices have gone up. My rice has to fetch a better price now or I cannot survive the modern rules of supply and demand." Our friendly Iban rice seller, always honest, never unscrupulous. She is a lady with style.

Golden Coconuts

On a hot day in Miri a cool drink from a freshly plucked coconut, from a tree just behind your kitchen makes you feel like an Asian princess.

Miri - Seaside Resort

Miri has been home to me and my siblings for more than 20 years.

I have seen it growing from a pictureque seaside village to a resort city.

There have been good memories as I grew up. There have been bad memories too.

But instead of writing about my memories and what I can see every day, I will just put up photos I have taken of my seaside haven, whenever I can. Hope my mission can be accomplished.