It was a short trip to attend a wedding of two very dear friends in Cianjur & Bandung / Indonesia.
After the last nightmare just six months ago to the same place, (no, the trip was perfect sans my excess baggage) the night before our departure, I was desperately weighing bags after bags; boxes after boxes while making frantic phone calls home to increase the baggage allowance to the max. In between all the frenzy, I deliberated what to leave behind as I wanted to bring everything back with me. So I told myself this time I was not taking any chances. I had to shop sensitively and barred the famous Cihedeung Flower Market (where everything caught my eyes!) from taking a spot on my "must go, must see, must buy and must bring home" list.
I thought I sort of succeeded since it was a brief trip and the wedding took precedence until the day the wedding couple sent their Supir (chauffeur) to pick us. Mr Supir is actually a family friend of theirs and he is KoKo (big brother) to us; a big obliging man with a generous smile and infectious laughter. He spoiled me rotten and shared my joy every time I put something in my shopping basket "oh souvenirs for family and friends back home." He would nod knowingly.
So off to the supermarket we went before the long drive to our friends' hometown. I thought it was a safe place to shop just for local products until I saw a section selling plants! Plants my friends.... plants!
From then on, I was like a cockroach devoid of feelers with hardly any sense of direction. Too excited for words, I circled the two huge metal stands that housed mostly succulents in all shapes and varieties. I don't know very much about sucs except I know they don't last very long in my hands but no lying, the temptation was just too great to resist. I was so afraid someone might grab them so I put several of them in my basket to show my partner in crime (both of us were running amok at the flower market on our previous visit). I thought she didn't see them as she's crazy over succulents and are pretty good with them so I had to show her. She could grow and propagate a succulent from just a tiny bit.
The evil but shrewd girl saw on the sly but had resisted and headed for the toiletries section instead focusing on loading up body butter into her basket instead. She was not only brave but clever whereas the more I looked at the carousel of plants, the more I couldn't resist. It was a hard decision but after shortlisting several, I decided on this gorgeous two. It was probably 5 times less what I would have to pay back home not that there aren't any here. Don't we just love a good bargain?
I was so happy with my purchase and wow to nurture them until they flower. Making them post for pictures was a natural thing.
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| A balcony shot outside our hotel room |
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| Another shot much to the amusement of the groom's parents who happened to pass by |
Off course as always whilst buying was fun, the bringing back home bit proved to be a real challenge.
After what seemed like an eternity of thoughts, the metal steamer I bought in the local market came to my rescue. It was by far my cheapest and most worthy purchase during that trip. It has a cover and the size was just perfect! Steamed sweet potatoes you can wait.
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| Home safely in a metal steamer :) |
It fitted Twinnie (I love giving them names) perfectly and that was how they came home with me; a little dishevelled but unscathed.
I reminded Mum that Twinnie don't need any water so to leave them alone. If you read my "Back to School" entry (1 September 2014), Mum was one of the suspects in the Jady mishap. I fed Twinnie in secret when Mum was not around lest she followed suit. However she kept hinting to me that Twinnie looked dehydrated and I suspected like me, she was secretly bathing them.
Today, exactly thirty five days since Twinnie arrived in my metal steamer, as I was trying to relocate them to a sunnier spot, everything just fell apart. Twinnie simply crumbled!
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| I am soooo sorry Twinnie *hangs head in shame* |
Naturally I was sad over the lost of Twinnie but then I was never successful before in growing sucs so it was no surprise I lost them
both. Mum said we're just not destined to grow them as we don't have
green fingers for sucs. I think we both contributed to the loss with me not sure if there was enough, just sufficient, too little or too much water. With Mum's fondness for watering her plants, doesn't surprise me if she had discreetly gave them water baths in wake of this heatwave.
Really no more sucs for me. I am staying away from them... seriously. Remind me if you see me heading to the check out with one in my arms.
