It's A Fountain

It has been quite a long while since the day we decided to have some sorts of water thingy in our house. After spending hours and hours staring at the most suitable place in the house and also visiting almost all the gardening shop for available materials I decided on a fountain. Put forward the proposal to the Home Minister and got the approval. She was a little disappointed that it was not going to be a waterfall. (A waterfall would be great, maybe in the front yard, next project??)

Yes it is more practical to have a fountain in the house area than a waterfall. A waterfall would be great but it is almost impossible to build a decent one in the house area unless you have a house like Equatorial Penang. It might not be a great hotel but I love their water thingy.

Last Sunday, my wife and I went round to the gardening shops to look at the things to get a feel of what exactly the fountain is going to be like. It was really interesting and exciting seeing our ideas materialising. We were spoilt for choice so we came back empty handed to further deliberate on the best design to suit the theme.

Monday was a hectic day and it slip by real fast so no physical progress was made, but theoretically we have a conclusion. We decided on having two came kind of jars cause the sauce bowl looks very pale. On Tuesday morning we decided to drop by another shop just to have a look see .......you know it was really fun just looking at these things. Oh my gosh!!!! guess what I found stashed away below the racks, yes the missing link to our design. We were totally elated with the piece of pottery that I found. Yes with that everything just fall into place.

It was really exciting to see our idea materialising piece by piece and we have to go to five places to get all the items needed. Some of the items were sourced from building material shop and for these items some additional work is required. No big deal just some painting and stabilising work.

Currently is doing the cosmetic work to the pond where the fountain will be located in and it might take awhile :) .............

The Fountain

About six months had passed since we set up a fountain to add a water element to our house. The fountain is now more natural with the ecological cycle going through its cycle and stabilising the water quality. Some say the brown fungus growth are yucky!!! ......... yucky?? I don't think so because it is a very important part of the ecosystem ......... looks yucky maybe but not yucky.

The inhabitants are very happy with the quality of life in there and are really having a great time in there. So far I have only changed the water once in the very early stage because of contamination. Till now it is great, no problem at all and all the fishes are very healthy.

The plants ......... beautiful ya!!! the bamboo is kind of a bonsai kind which I did it myself, the yam leaf ........ Princess brought it all the way back from Petaling Jaya and the I do not what you call it long leaf kind of plant is from my mum.

Yabbies

Last Saturday did the aquarium shop circuit with my "Princess" and "Only Daughter" to check out what is available in the tropical fish market. My Princess bought a pair of round funny looking goldfish for her fish bowl. She bought a bottom filter too because the mortality rate in her fish bowl is really high. I was really taken up with the Yabbies, they really look delicious and interesting at the same time like little lobsters .......... hehe!!!

The next day, together with my wife we went to the aquarium shop to get some aquatic plants and guess what we got? ....... three yabbies and a bunch of aquatic plants .... I was overjoyed. When introduced into the fountain tank, all three make a straight line to hide under the large pot. After I planted the plants and while admiring the fountain, I noticed all three yabbies in a single file came out from their hiding place to explore the tank. The moment they noticed me, zoom they were back in their hiding place or should I say their safety zone.

Later I took a walk down the road to our neighbourhood aquarium shop to get five pairs of neon tetras. I really like neon tetras and when I had my first aquarium ages ago I had a pair of them. I am always fascinated with the neon stripe across body and they look so pleasant. I also got a packet of shrimps to eat any left over food in the crevices where all the other larger inhabitants could not reach, yes they are some kind of a clean up crew.

It is indeed a pleasant sight to have some life in the tank making the fountain more lively. I sat there for a good while observing the fishes, the shrimps and once in awhile the yabbies will stick their head out to take a peep.

Yesterday morning the plants were all uprooted and the fishes were no where to be seen. The number of shrimps were also greatly reduced ........... what happened? My wife checked too and could not see any fish at all. The yabbies???? They are still around ......... are they guilty?? Checked the Internet and found the yabbies are scientifically classified as Cherax destructor, they are destructive alright. They are very guilty of making the fishes, shrimps disappear and uprooting the plants.

This morning we decided that the yabbies must go .......... cook them?!? too small and only three so nope. Release them into a lake?? a big NO NO cause they are not native here. They must go if we want to have fish in our tank and finally we decided to give it back to the shop. We bought some fishes from the shop and were very pleasantly surprised that the shop keeper gave us a full refund for the yabbies. Once again the tank is lively...... :)

Fountain or Waterfall

The sound of water flowing is always very very soothing and peaceful. I always like water be it the sea, river, lake or pond ....... even rain. My wife agreed that it is a good idea to have some kind of water thingy installed somewhere around our house and we are really excited about it.

The location is more or less decided and agreed but a fountain or a waterfall is not decided yet. Since it is my idea and I have to build it, I have to make a proposal to the Home Minister. Looks like there is going to be a lot of work getting ideas from every available source. Raw materials, hope can get all of it in Malacca ....... maybe can improvise if not available here.

OK on with the thinking cap and hope a light bulb will light up soon ... :)

"Nangka Busuk"

"Nangka" is the Malay name for jackfruit and "busuk" is Malay for rotten or smelly and "nangka busuk" is a Malay expression used when someone fall. When a rotten jackfruit fall from a tree and by virtue of its weight it will definately make a thud.

Today I was replacing loss water in the fountain due to evaporation and spilling with a hose direct from the tap. At first the water was clear but turn to a disgusting thick tea colour after a while so I decided to fetch water from our bathroom with a pail because it is filtered so it is much clearer and purer. Why are we paying for dirty portable water??????

The fountain is now much more livelier with plants and fishes in the water, it is really soothing just to look at it. Every morning and evening I'll spent some time "talking" and watching the fishes while feeding them. I like the noen tetra most because of their brilliant colour and their pleasant nature.

So I am sure you can understand why I decided to get the water from the bathroom, yes I just cannot my precious fishes to live in dirty water. Initially I thought of using a normal size pail to fetch the water but decided against because of my bad back and used a smaller even though I have to make an additional trip. The first two trips was fine and on the third trip arrghhh!!!!!!! thud ....... yes I slipped on a small puddle that I spilled and "nangka busuk" ouch!!!!. I broke my thumb nail and my thumb is still hurting, so is my butt. :)

Our Vacation Down Under & Yonder - Part 6

March 22

We landed in Melbourne in the evening and the weather was cold but welcoming for us. Coming from a country which is always hot, cold weather is always pleasant and fun for us. Having spent many hours in this airport about two weeks ago, we were able to find our way easily. My wife’s cousin was at the airport to pick us up and we will be staying with her for the whole duration when we were in Melbourne.

March 23

We spent a quiet day just wondering and exploring the neighbourhood. The place we were in is Bundoora and we were surprised to find lots of Asians making us feel like as though we were back home, only the weather is different.


Very first encounter with Figs …. The edible kind – yum!!!



Laundry First  


Exploring the neighbourhood.


Still exploring. 


Back home.

Later in the afternoon we went galavanting in the suburb’s small town and was surprised to find there were 3 supermarkets. My wife almost went crazy with all the different kind of chocolates available.
There were a couple of universities in the area too and I guess that’s why the high density of Asians.


Bundoora Town Center.

March 24
Our first stop was breakfast in a outlet serving Malaysian Chinese food owned by an immigrant from Malaysia. Sorry the mouth was faster than the camera so only managed to get the last dish.


Spring rolls. 


Happiness!!!

Then it was to Mount Dandenong for some sightseeing. We went straight up to the peak which is called Sky High.


In the LAND of GIANTS!!! 


Hehehe!!! 


Can you see Melbourne? 


The World Fountain, 2 tons spinning on water. 


My friend. 


Waiting for Percy Possum!!! 


Who’s that? 


A wedding? 


Here comes the bride ♪ ♫  


All dressed in white … 


Pom Pom pom pom ♪♫

We spent almost a day up in Sky High exploring almost every nook and corners. We also saw a pair of kookubrra fighting over a piece of bread left on the table by one of the guest. It was an interesting with lots of green area to wonder about.

Dinner was in a Vietnamese restaurant in the outskirt of Melbourne. The food was really good and the size of the serving is HUGE!!!


Food coming. 


“Chè” Traditional Vietnamese Drink. 


“Pho” Vietnamese Noodle Soup – yum!!! 


Vietnamese Rice paper roll – yum!!!

After dinner we were taken for a ride around Melbourne central business district before heading home to call it a day.

March 25

Today on our own we travelled all the way across Melbourne to visit my wife’s friend who were in school together and had not seen each other for a very long time. After about an hour and a half we arrived at our destination Brighton.


One for the album. 


And another!!! 


Beautiful Home   


“My Creation” 


A ball plant   

My wife’s friend mum stayed just down the road and we drop by to exchange what you had been doing, where was who and what is who doing kind of news. We were treated to a delicious lunch.


Long time no see …… 


Yummie time again!!! 


Grilled whole flounder


Salmon pasta 


Seafood fettuccine 


Senior Citizen Special.

And for dessert we had delicious homemade crème brulee.


Yummie!!! 

After that we were given a tour of the neighbourhood and the famous bathing box, something which we did not know about until we set foot on the beach and saw it.


Unique. 

It was a day well spent and we thoroughly feel good about it, it was wonderful.

March 26

Today with no real itinerary, we were going to discover Melbourne, got onto the tram and headed right into the central business district.


‘Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch: Batman, Swanston and Hoddle’


Me in disguise!!! 


Queen Victoria Market 


Beautiful place with lots of produce. 


It is clean and dry. 


Lots of choices and yummy too!!! 


Melbourne GPO Walk Way 


Nice old building 


Busy, busy, busy! 


Free Hot Cross Buns!!! 


Yummie from Citi Bank with coffee too!!! 


Share A Bike. 


Coles Fountain 


Favourite spot for wedding photos. 


We have to have one too!!!  


St. Patrick‘s Cathedral


Dinner at Hutong Dumpling Bar 


Delicious dumplings.

 Another very satisfying and well fed day . 

Next Brisbane.