Friday, 5 December 2025

Author: Adeline Liong

No pumpkins from my garden

Recently, I pulled out two pumpkin plants from my garden. It was a decision I took a long time to make. I was ecstatic when I saw the first pumpkin flower and then, the first fruit on one of the plants. I monitored the first plant closely. More flowers and

Rice dumplings for my sister

How many sticky rice dumplings (or zongzi or bakchang or chang) can you eat? My younger sister, C, can eat many and that was why she asked me to make some recently. Chinese all over the world celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival (Diwanwu Jie)  on 30 May this year.The date

Oh food, glorious food!

Now is a good time for food lovers in Sarawak. The annual Ramadan Bazaars are finally here and if you love food, now is the time for you to be adventurous and to try all the interesting food and drinks at the different Ramadan Bazaars. At these Bazaars, you can

Don’t complain when it rains

Just as I was about to reach the office yesterday afternoon, the skies opened up and it rained cats and dogs. The rain made me, my shoes and my umbrella wet. But I did not complain. I never complain about the rain now. I have stopped complaining about it after

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and mother figures

A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and mother figures who look after other people’s children like their own. Mother’s Day is celebrated by over 40 countries in the world but on different dates and Malaysia was among the countries which celebrated it yesterday. Next year, Malaysia will celebrate

Taking my best friends to the vet

Last Saturday, I discovered that Lucky, one of my two dogs, was sick after it refused to eat. The female dog normally has a good appetite and when it did not even glance at the bowl of food I served, I was really worried. Yesterday morning, I decided to take

Happy Workers’ Day!

Happy Workers’ Day or Labour Day to all of you, my friends! Workers’ Day or Labour Day is a public holiday observed by many countries in the world. Malaysia began observing it in 1972 after an announcement by the late Deputy Prime Minister, Ismail Abdul Rahman. So we must thank

My cup runneth over ….

I have been blessed with many good things recently. When I followed my nephew and his wife as they drove to Kota Samarahan, I ended up buying four big pineapples quite cheaply from a roadside stall. I love pineapples and nothing makes me happier than a plate of fresh pineapples

Good ladders make good neighbours

Last week, I asked my younger sister to borrow a ladder from a neighbour in order to trim the banana leaves in my garden. Some people say banana trees do not need much trimming. I disagree with them. I find all banana trees, the short ones and those which stand

Living with an Alzheimer’s patient

Every day and night, my 79-year-old mother asks me “Are we going home tomorrow?” When she first asked me this question, I replied nicely and politely. By now, she has asked me this question thousands of times already. And after hundreds of times a day, I am no longer polite.