Mount Diablo State Park - wildflowers

Spring time is here. It's time for wildflower hikes in California. For the longest time, the only flower that I could identify when hiking is California Poppy. I love them. They are everywhere in the bayarea. I always have a happy disposition when I see them.

Last Saturday, Amy and Mike have graciously invited me to join their wildflower hike . Thank you :) We went to Mount Diablo State Park and after the hike, we stopped at the Mount Diablo Summit.

I am a little wiser now that I have learnt to identify a few more wildflowers. We saw wild cucumber/manroot, white nemophilia,black sage,miner's lettuce, california buttercup, fiddleneck,woolly indian paintbrush,western wallflower,blue dicks,silver lupine,blue-eyed grass,shooting star and blue witch.

Below are some of the photos taken during this trip.

Shooting Star

• Primrose family
• my favorite photo from this trip

Silver Lupine

• Pea family

Woolly Indian Paintbrush

• Lighter colour than Indian Warrior
• The stems and leaves are white woolly.

Blue Dicks

• Lily family
• Cluster of blue flowers

My "are you smarter than a fifth grader" question:
Q: Do you know what is the state rock of California ?
A: Serpentine rock

Waterfall trekking in Pahang, Malaysia – March 8th and 9th 2008

I had managed to get a respite during a recent business trip to Asia. I visited my family in Johor Bahru and my relatives in Petaling Jaya. My cousin, Hong is an avid trekker. She loves adventure, nature and food too. She had planned a waterfall trekking weekend while I was there.

We went waterfall trekking in a forest reserve called “Hutan Lipur Jerangkang”. This forest has cascading falls. There were five people in this trip, Hong, Wun Nok (WN - nature lover), Mr. Collin, Tim (Mr. Collin’s son) and myself. A 4WD is a must for such an adventure.

We took the freeway from Kuala Lumpur (KL) towards Kuantan, exited through “Sri Jaya” and turned left to the entrance of “Hutan Lipur Jerangkang”. The forest reserve is about 15 kilometers from the main street. It was quite an adventure to drive off road at 11PM and with limited GPS access. We lost our way twice and arrived at the campsite around midnight.

Hong mentioned that there are about 20 levels of such cascading falls. On a good day, one would trek by the falls, swim and trek up another level of the falls. It rained a few times while we were there. We started late morning and we had to trek in the jungle when the rocks were too slippery. We trekked about 8 falls and had to turn back when it started pouring. Each fall was unique and the water was clear. We showered in the near by river, had a feast at a nearby restaurant and returned to KL in the evening.

Fruit Tree Blossoms in my backyard

I have a little orchard in my backyard. There is a plum tree, two peach trees, two persimmon trees , a tangerine tree, a lemon tree and a cherry tree. This is the best time of the year to visit my backyard. It's simply beautiful.

Last year, I saw the fruit trees in blossom but I didn't take the time to enjoy them. I thought I would missed them this year as I had a planned business trip to Asia. I got back yesterday and I was elated to see the fruit trees are still in blossom. According to the weather forecast, tomorrow will be a beautiful day. I will enjoy my earl grey tea and will savour cookies that I bought from Japan. This is my way to celebrate cherry blossom festival.

Mum and Grandma, I am sure both of you will appreciate this. :)

Cherry Blossom:



Yellow Peach Tree:


Yellow Peach Blossom:


Plum Tree:


Plum Blossom: