Golden flowers

Yellow, the colour of gold
bright and bold

But beware that all that glitter
is not gold, beware

Mickey Mouse Flowers

I think these are Mickey Mouse flowers. I have some doubts because I have never seen a Mickey Mouse plant that is tall like a small tree. Usually they are shrubs not taller than me. These were seen at the Hortpark.

Chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemum flowers like these are usually bought for prayers at home or in a temple. Every first and fifteenth day of the Chinese Lunar month, florists in our HDB estates and in the wet markets and even in the supermarkets will be stocking an abundance of these flowers. As tomorrow is the fifteenth or last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations, there was almost like an endless supply of these flowers of many varieties and colours. Some of the flowers were even dyed.

Colourful buns for prayers. Pineapples for good fortune.


Bukit Batok Community Centre.

Unknown flower

Tomorrow is another day
May it be a blessed one
filled with sunshine and
balmy breezes
and peace on earth

Hortpark flowers

Today was a good day.

Flowers for the Eighth Day of Chinese New Year

Yesterday was the seventh day of the Chinese New year designated as everyone's birthday. So people celebrate this occasion at home and in restaurants with a special salad-and-sliced fish dish called 'Yu Sheng'. Today is the day when I found some flowers to post. Seriously I haven't been taking photos of flowers for quite some time. These were taken at the Hortpark Nursery last year.

Sunflower and Lotus buds

Unopened hearts struggling within
while the sun sends invitations to unfurl
Buds of doubts delay a new beginning
as the wind cast premonitions on its way

The heart of the flower beats cautiously
waiting for the ill winds to pass
The flower of the heart longs to bloom
longing for the daylight to come fast.

Bougainvillea

How does one get tired of looking at these flowers? Pardon my dwelling on this shrub so often. How could I ignore this lovely beauty in my backyard when it greets me with such generosity everyday?

Celosia cristata - Cockscomb flowers

Tradition or superstition dictates that on the third day of Chinese New Year which was yesterday, we do not visit our friends or relatives because if we do the relationship would result in quarrels and unhappiness. However as we modernise in our thinking and celebration of Chinese New Year, some of the rules (who made them anyway?) were broken without the expected consequences materialising. Anyway, I spent the afternoon at Borders Bookshop which was another taboo activity because buying books is also not an auspicious thing to do during Chinese New Year. Well, rules are made to be broken and I went to buy my books counteracting this rule with the rationale that only gamblers need to fear books (shu - meaning 'to lose' in Chinese). Since I am not gambler I think it is a good thing to go to the bookshop because there is wisdom to be gained there. What I had not expected to find were these flowerbeds of brilliant red cockscomb flowers. Now if one needs luck and good fortune, wouldn't these flowers be the most appropriate catalyst? So lucky, lucky me!

At the end of my feasting my eyes on these neglected beauties because people were either sitting in the shade of the building or buying books inside the bookshop, I walked into Borders armed with an aura of good luck to deflect the bad that may come my way. After an hour of browsing I bought a magazine for my son and was torn between buying' Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson or his second book 'Stones into Schools' about his ongoing efforts to establish schools for girls in Afghanistan following his success in doing the same in Pakistan (Three Cups of Tea). I took both to the counter and ended up buying only the second book because I did not agree with the terms of the offer in the voucher I got in a mailer. Offers of 50% reduction always come with conditions. You have to do some maths to realise that 50% actually works out to a lot less. I will buy the first book next time but not at Borders. Kinokuniya is still a better bookshop!