Dr. Luv is a saviour of sorts. From jungle plants salvaged from destruction of man to the creepy crawlies that are housed within those plants to monkeys shot by poachers & city bumpkins from eating a grasshopper alive. He was a man of dedication, to his love of nature & love of people. I was almost afraid of losing what Id learnt when I began to converse with him in Japanese. I realised I had forgotten so much vocabulary that I had to think three times before I could form a sentence so we began to say words. He would teach & I would repeat. I told him our Japanese conversation over tea time would be perfect with Ubi Balls. What?!? he asked. Umi balls? Ubi balls, Doc, you must try those ubi balls! I said in between, often getting distracted by the birds that visit his garden.
Rama-Rama, the other magnanimous man who scaled Mount Everest, took me & 18 other Japanese folks for a reforestation exercise. Only this time, it was fertilising the planted trees that we had to do. Wow, no one told me I had to climb this Mount Brinchang to get to the site. And there I thought I was to trek into the jungle with all its creepy splendour…..boy, was I mistaken. I huffed & puffed all the way up only to be greeted by lily fields. Totally unnatural.
Apparently, a farmer illegally cleared acres of the jungle to make way for these lilies whose buds were highly sought after by Taiwanese & Japanese. In the heydays, it used to fetch RM30 per kg. REACH managed to report them, charge them in court (would you believe they were only fined RM500???) & wrestled the land back for reforestation. As a result, Rama Rama is constantly threatened. On my way down, someone had smashed the rear screen of his Land Rover parked at the foothill.Talk about being in constant battle.
Up Close With Butterfly in Mt. Brinchang
I asked Uncle George, a REACH volunteer who brought us there in his Toyota Unser, if he could stop by the market where I could get my Ubi Balls. The three Japanese participants hopped out with me to browse too. I bought three packs of ubi balls each for Uncle George, Dr. Luv & our entourage. Oh boy, fried sweet potato balls taste great in cool weather!
Once back at Dr. Luvs garden, I set out to find stuff. His elderberry tree attracts all kinds of robins, bulbuls & parrots! The myriad of rare orchids are intertwined in his trees & hunting for them proved to be a great challenge. I would stumble upon spiders, caterpillars, aphids & ants with legs longer than my lashes. Knowing this, I presumed that no pesticides nor insecticides had been used so I asked him if I could eat the plants. Oh, everything looked delicious. Apple blossom, orange blossom, gardenia, nasturtiums…nothing ever looked tastier!
Nasturtium Leaf
Nasturtium Flower
Was it the weather or just me? So after taking this shot, I ate it. The flower book says I can. I ate the flower too. Yummy. He decided to feed me before I decimated his garden. Can I eat that, Doc? At that point, I was about to pluck everything out until I saw Spiderman!!!
Spiderman
Spidermans Sibling
Spidermans Side Kick
Spidermans Cousin
Spidermans Predecessor!
He plucked some herbs out for me & I took some but just as I was about to chomp, a grasshopper flew out onto Doc’s arm! Eeewww! Thanks Doc! Maggots were bad enough, now grasshoppers too???
Hopper On Dr.s Arm
I thought the orchids looked funny. They had faces on them. With the top resembling the hood of Batman & the petals, the cape, I knew straight away that Dr. Luv is host to a great collection of Marvel characters in his garden!
Orange Batman Orchid
Red Batman Orchid
Purple Batman Orchid
Taking out a bottle of Chardonnay, we knocked on his neighbours house, who happens to be a Japanese by the way, to get some cheese! Before long, Fukiyasan took out the worlds best homemade marmalade from the oranges of his tree!!!!
Marmalade
Complemented it with the most fantastic tasting plain yoghurt of all time. Having wine, Swiss Cheese, yoghurt & marmalade with butter shortbread outside in the open surrounded by flowers, trees & great company in 18 degrees weather is life. Knowing that in the highlands, the guardians who wage war against water polluters & farmers who rape the jungle, are the real superheroes whose extraordinary efforts deserve special mention.
