01 January 2012

SARAWAK (KUCHING) PART 5

Their roads look similar to those in West Malaysia. On the way, I saw a small creek and stopped by to look out for any interesting plants and animals. There were quite a number of freshwater fishes.


On the trip, I saw clusters of Acanthaceae like plants. Finally, we made a stop and upon close inspection, they were actually Clerodendrum myricoides shrubs, albeit with lighter coloured flowers.


At the orchid farm, there was a huge Ceiba pentandra that was in flower. The cotton was everywhere on the ground. In the nursery, they did not have much uncommon plants and in fact, most of them can be found in Singapore. I gathered that what are unusual are those native plants that they protect and grow in their botanical gardens and nature reserves. These plants are protected from being released for commercial propagation and sales.


Near the end of the trip, we went to buy their native products, such as the famous pepper seeds. That was where I saw the Pepper plant on display outside their shop. In the store, they had a team of workers who worked along an assembly line, to pick out the dirt from bird nests that were later repackaged for sales.