We went for a family dinner at Khan's in Bayswater. We missed Mamak food actually, so we had a very hearty meal - lamb bryani and tika, mutton bryani, with a side dish of chicken bourgi, accompanied with drinks of lassi and mango juice. Not surprisingly, the restaurant was filled with people of all races, as London is famous for - the locals, the Arabs, the Chinese, Sri lankans and us Malays. The last time I was here in October 2008, the entrance was being renovated. Now the frontage is completed but the inside decor remains unchanged. The bill came to 49 GBP, which is equivalent to RM296! Very expensive, I should think. Kalau makan di kedai Mamak di Malaysia, tak sampai RM50. The same menu at a hotel also would not reach RM150.

Khan's logo is "If you have not been to Khan's, you have not been to London!" Khan's was established in London since 1977, and if Iam not mistaken, there is a new branch, Khan's at Kensington. The interesting thing about Khan's to me is the palm tree motif used on their corporate logo.

Certainly it reminds me of the oil palm, the Golden Crop of Malaysia.

To me, the oil palm, Elaeis guineensis, is a very beautiful palm species. With a thick canopy of leaves, it gives a good shade to the surrounding area. Years ago, I bought a piece of orchard land in Linggi averaging 1.14 acre. The land was a former oil palm plantation and when the developer asked the buyers whether they want to fell down the palms, I insisted I want the palms to remain encircling my piece of land. It turned out to be a good decision because only my lot boasts of the palms and the other fruit trees planted in my lot grew better than my neighbours because of the cool shade provided by the palms.

British Souvereignity vis-a-vis Malay Sultanate

The Roman Baths

The Stonehenge

Thursday 16 July 2009

Today, Windsor, Stone Henge and Bath are a series of tourist attractions to fulfil our itinerary for the 3-day car hire. Windsor boasts of a very beautiful English countryside, very quaint, laid-back and has all the characteristics of a typical English county. Windsor Castle is the official residence of Her Majesty The Queen of England. First established by William the Conquerer in the 11th century, it is also greatly used by royalty for ceremonial and state functions. As you can see, Queen Victoria was there to receive me....

After lunch, we proceeded to view the Stonehenge, another of Britain's World Heritage Site 1986. The Stones is a prehistorian wonder which will forever remain a mystery. There is no concreate evidence yet of its origins there.

Bath is the last in the itinerary for today. It was raining rather heavily when we reached or destination in the late summer evening. The Roman Baths were the attraction that drove us there. In fact, the Roman Baths and the Temple of Sulis Minerva are among the finest Roman remains in Britain. At their heart is Britain's only hot spring. The museum, below the Pump Room, contains the monumental remains and evidence of the people who used them. As darkness falls, the ruins of this vast Roman building are an awesome sight.

PS. Similar to the British monarchy, Malaysians are proud that our country continues to be ruled by the monarchy, in this case the Yang Di Pertuan Agong. It is a symbol of integrity for the Rakyat. As in our National Anthem....Negara -ku, Tanah Tumpah nya darah-ku, Rakyat hidup, Bersatu dan maju, Rahmat bahagia, Tuhan kurniakan, Raja kita, Selamat bertakhta. (Malaysians must sing it with our hearts and our minds, and you should feel the shivers running down your spine)

The Palm, Science and Islam

On June 19, I attended a dinner, Ladies Nite of the Ministry of Finance 2009 at MOF, Putrajaya. I was very impressed with the way the dinner was organised in accordance with the theme, ie Arabian Night. Most of the attendees really took the trouble to dress up ala Arabian, some even to the extent of wearing harem pants and Ali Baba caps to suit the occasion! What impressed me most was the props and decor on stage, the paste-on cuttings of camels, Palm Trees, brightly-coloured scatter cushions piled all along the stage front. I must say the ambiance created was truly Arabian! The nite was graced with the prescence of the First lady of Malaysia and other top-ranking PUSPANITA members.
But what impressed me most was the nostalgia it brought me when I saw the Palm Trees lining the stage. Of course, the palms in this case, refers to the Date Palms which bear the dates or 'buah kurma' in Bahasa Melayu. In the Holy Quran, the Palm Trees and its Fruits are mentioned in many of the Surahs and Ayats, all denoting the importance of these palms in the livelihood of the early inhabitants of the Earth, especially the Arabic world.
There are 2 types of tropical palms and 1 main type of desert-climate palm. Phoenix dactylfera (dactylfera meaning bearing dates) is the date palm, considered sacred in Saudi Arabia, North Africa and the surrounding regions. The 2 main types of tropical palms are the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera - nucifera meaning bearing nuts)
Hence, the Palm species (date, oil and coconut collectively) is truly a gift from God. From time immemorial, the Palm greens the Earth and feeds the World.