Plastic Flowers will do

These artificial flowers overflow into the sidewalk.  Made from plastic these flowers will find their way to households,cars, offices,restaurants etc, for their lasting appeal and low maintenance value.  Freshness aside. The display technique I think is eye catching though it tends to crowd the sidewalk.

Blind man show

With a microphone on one hand and his left hand playing the keyboard, this blind man entertains the passers by crowd at the Esplanade . His repertoire consists primarily Iban melodies with a limited song list of Malay songs. He moves location daily and today he is entertaining the Ramadan shopping crowd at the Bintulu Esplanade. He sits next to the trolley which carry his show hardware consisting of the car battery, small PA system, keyboard,chair and donation box.

Ramadan shopping hard hit by inflation

The Ramadan Bazaar at the Bintulu Esplanade looked quiet and few customers are patronizing the food stalls nowadays.  It is the sign of inflationary times.  With the increase of petrol price and thus the means to travel and shop and the across the board increase in the ceiling prices of all goods, gone are the days of 'cheap' price. The people in Bintulu are learning quickly to avoid shopping unnecessarily , mindful of more hard times ahead. It is only the middle of Ramadan and today's crowd is not even half of the bazaar's opening day crowd.

Timber Industrial Zone

From where I am staying, every drive to Bintulu town means passing the Kemena Bridge.  Here's a view of the Kemena Timber Industrial area taken from the Kemena Bridge facing down river.This timber based industrial zone produces plywood, veneer, sawn timber, briguet,medium density fibre board,furniture etc for export. It was developed about 20 years ago to utilise fully the timber resources available in Bintulu's rich forests hinterland.

Yellow Bamboo Uprooted

After the heavy thunderstorm and strong winds that hit our farm last night, I woke up this morning to a complete surprise at nature's fury. The yellow bamboo clump about 15 meters high was uprooted by the strong winds. Today we started to cut the fallen bamboo stems and clear the debris. One oil palm tree was damaged because the bamboo clump toppled on it.

Blooming Eugenias

Driving along Tanjung Batu Coastal road this morning I saw a long line of eugenias ( Eugenia polyantha) bursting in white flowers. The flowers are small but grouped in large clusters giving the effect of a consuming white blanket of flowers over the small yet compact crown.

Eugenias are considered a small tree for landscaping purposes thereby making it a potential candidate for small residential roads or even sub-arterial roads like the one below. Eugenias have only recently being used as a landscaping tree in Bintulu probably to my knowledge in the early nineties. When planted very closely together, they assume a thick wall thus appropriate for buffering or screening purposes. It is a versatile tree too because it can be pruned heavily and 'bonsaied', meaning it can be used as a topiary plant to create as many and as varied shapes and sizes the gardener or landscaper wishes.
Another feature that is worth noting of this handsome tree is its young leaves which show a transition of colours as they mature, from light yellow to orange to red and bronze. The tree is evergreen. Yet when they produce young leaves, they give the 'autumn look' in an otherwise hot, tropical and humid Bintulu.

Most Unique Building in Bintulu

This corporate building is owned by the Bintulu Port Authority. Located some 25 kilometers from Bintulu town, it is the tallest building within the vicinity of Kidurong Industrial Area.