Day 1 - Taman Warisan Pertanian

Yesterday, we took a coach at 7am from Teck Whye Primary to KL. We took 6 hours to reach KL. We stopped by Malacca to have our lunch. The place has a very nice scenery!

After lunch, we continued our journey. We reached Taman Warisan Pertanian. We saw many different plantations such as pineapples, bananas, jackfruits and rubber trees.

Here are some interesting facts that we have learnt:
- There are 79 types of bananas in the world and only 37 are edible.
- Black pepper was known as black gold in the past.
- The plant Misai Kucing looks like a cat's whiskers. It can treat diabetes and kidney diseases.
- Pineapples take a long time to grow (about 6 months to 1 year).
- Tea originated from China and coffee from Etiophia.

We were happy because we got to interview Uncle Han about pineapples. We will share the videos with all of you soon.

After studying about plants, we had a bus tour around the city. We saw the PICC and KLCC. Then, we had dinner at a restaurant. The food was YUMMY!

We continued our bus journey to our hotel! We were amazed when we saw our hotel. It was beautiful. Our teachers debriefed us. All of us received our room keys and went into our rooms. All of us slept well especially Tharmesh!

We will blog about our Day 2 in KL soon.

Xoxo

Day 2 in Kuala Lumpur

We are all having our morning briefing by our awesome teachers!
We are all excited to meet our new friends.
See you soon.
Bye! :)

Xoxo
Team THAT

Pineapple Plantation

We have done my research on pineapple plantations. 
Here are some information I have gathered.

The right planting preparation is also essential to a fruitful pineapple crop. In Hawai`i, pineapple is grown year-round. To prepare the field for planting, the soil is fumigated and covered with a black plastic mulch, which confines the fumigant, helps hold in moisture, controls weeds and pests, and heats the soil to stimulate root growth.

The preferred way to propagate a pineapple in Hawai‘i is to use the green, leafy top of the pineapple, called the crown, as planting material. Each crown is planted by hand. Plantation workers use a spade-shaped tool to pierce the plastic mulch, dig a shallow hole, then place the crown in the hole, right side up. A skilled planter can plant more than 10,000 pineapple crowns a day—nearly half an acre.

Plants need nutrition, light, and water to grow. To irrigate the fields, a tube is placed between the newly planted rows of pineapple crowns. When water is needed, it drips from the tubes directly onto the plants’ roots. We fertilize with a liquid mixture of nitrogen and iron, spraying it directly onto the plant.

Pineapples are also harvested by hand. The first crop, called a "plant crop," takes 18–20 months to be ready for harvest. The next crop, called the "first ratoon," takes another 15 months. For the harvest, workers walk through the pineapple rows, dressed in thick gloves and clothing to protect them from the spiky bromeliad leaves. They twist the fruit from its base and place it on a boom conveyor. The fruit moves along the conveyor to an infield harvester, where the fruit is graded, packed in cartons, and moved to its final destination. Most Wahiawa pineapples are sold fresh. After the last crop is harvested, the field is “knocked down,” and a new growing cycle begins.

xoxo,
Aisya and Tharmesh

Traditional Food in Malaysia

Husain and I have done our research on traditional food in Malaysia.
Hope you get to learn as much as us by reading this entry!
:)

Laksa

A staple Malaysian cuisine, laksa eateries have been migrating abroad in recent years, making appearances in Bangkok, Shanghai and further afield.There are multiple variations. For anyone who enjoys a taste of the volcanic kind, this spicy noodle soup can get you there in its curry form. Some like it with fish, others prawns. Our favorite is Penang's Asam Laksa, in which tamarind features heavily ("asam" is Malay for tamarind) to create a spicy-sour fish broth. 

Satay

Though considered by many to be a dish native to Thailand, satay is actually believed to have originated in Indonesia. Origins aside, can we all just agree that meat on a stick is good? Malaysia has its own variations of the grilled skewers, served nationwide in chicken, beef or mutton forms. Sauces vary from region to region, including the peanut sauce that’s loved by almost everyone! (Yummy!)

Nasi Kerabu

If the blue rice doesn’t spark your curiosity, the lines of people around the country waiting to order this favorite Kelantanese dish should. From the state of Kelantan in northern peninsular Malaysia, Nasi Kerabu gets its eye-grabbing color from telang flowers, which are crushed and mixed into flour. The aquamarine dish is topped with bean sprouts and fried coconut, then drenched in spicy budu, a fermented fish sauce. In true Kelantan style, you use your hands to dig into this one.

Lemang

Eaten with a meat or vegetable dish, lemang is glutinous rice mixed with coconut milk, which is cooked in bamboo. The time-consuming process to make lemang starts by lining hollowed-out shoots with banana leaves. The bamboo is left over a fire to slowly cook the rice in a process known as tapai. The result is sticky, wet rice that can, and regularly does, make a nice substitute for its plain Jane counterpart.

Keropok  lekor

Some call them fish fritters, fish sausages or fish sticks but in Terengganu, they are called ‘keropok’. There are three types of keropok, mainly keropok lekor (resembling sausage, boiled chewy ones), keropok goreng (also resembling sausage but fried chewy ones) and keropok keping (sliced, sun-dried and fried). All districts produce their own keropok but the famous ones are none better than those found in Kampong Losong in Kuala Terengganu. ‘Keropok lekor’ are actually made from processed fish meat mixed with salt and sagoo flour. This mixture is then hand rolled into sausage shaped around 6 to 10 inches long and immediately cooked. It is a great afternoon snack normally dipped in Terengganu’s equally famous chili sauce.

After researching on delicious dishes, both of us are feeling hungry! I am sure all of you had fun looking at all the yummy pictures! Bye.

Research done by: Yasin and Husain

Traditional Games in Malaysia

I have done my research on the traditional games in Malaysia.
Below are some information.
Please enjoy! :)

WAU

The word ‘wau’ was derived from the arabic letter ‘wau’ as the shape of the wing resemblances to the outline of the particular letter.  It was also said that the farmer in the past used wau  as a scarecrow to ward off the birds from their paddy fields. In Malaysia, the most popular of all the waus is the ‘wau bulan’. 


Congkak

Congkak (congklak) is a mancala game of malay origin played in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and also some parts of Sumatra and Borneo.

The word congkak was believed originated from the old Malay ‘congak’, gives meaning as mental calculation that was practised in this game. It was considered that a good player will have an advantage in collecting points to win the game when the player calculates a few steps in advance.

It is was a historical and heritage kind of traditional game - unique and different. The game was inherited from the great grand generation of descendants before world of civilisation.

GASING

Gasing is a giant spinning top that weighs approximately 5kg or 10lbs and may be large as a dinner plate. This game is usually played traditionally before the rice harvest season. The player requires strengths, co-ordination and skills to play this game. The top is set spinning by unfolding rope that has been wound around it. Then, it is scooped off the ground, whilst still spinning, using bat with a centre slit and transferred onto a low post with a mental receptacle. If expertly hurled, it can spin for up to 2 hours. (WOW!)

Gasing or top spinning is split into two (2) categories. One is for ornamental purposes and while the other is for playing.

Research done by: Yu Hang

There goes our trip... :(

Dear readers,

Due to the haze, our KL trip has been postponed to September.
All of us are disappointed but... health comes first! :)
We will continue to embark on this project from now till September.

Our next meeting will be on Friday, 19th July 2013 from 1.30 pm to 2.30 pm at Computer Lab 1.

To all our Muslim readers,
Happy Ramadhan!

Regards,
Ms Farhanah

Less than 2 months!

Today, we edited our letters and added pictures.
We also did a research on other popular fruit plantatons in Malaysia.
We managed to find information on durians, mangosteens and rambutans.

We have less than 2 months to our KL trip.
We are very excited!!

From,
Team THAT
(Tharmesh)