Berakar di langit

BERAKAR DI LANGIT

Daun-daun membuka tubuh
melebarkan saraf ke kulit embun
mencicip hidayah.

Pencari warna memintal dakwat
melakar makna urat-urat bunga
renik-renik lawamah.

Dalam kelongsong pucuk pisang
kelawar mencari hangat dinihari
melabuh tasbih.

Kupu-kupu menampal kepak
kurik segantang bunga-bunga
percikan zikrullah.

Penyair seranjung rabung hayat
mencari bindu pelarik kata
cinta mutmainah.


DARMA MOHAMMAD
Pasir Mas, 2011.

Siaran Berita Minggu, 4 September 2011.

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Dewi Fujin

Dewi
Dewi Sukarno (Tokyo, 1940 - )
One of the most outspoken, and for many people probably one of the most hated, celebrities on Japanese TV is Dewi Sukarno. Usually referred to as Dewi Fujin (Madame Dewi), she can always be relied on to add a juicy bit of snootiness or slander to a variety show. The Japanese equivalent of Jacqueline Kennedy or Imelda Marcos, she's a vibrant and opinionated woman who has been at the side of a world leader, knows everyone worth knowing, and loves to tell you about it. In her own words, "I speak too directly. I can't speak diplomatically. I think people are afraid of what I am going to say."

Born Naoko Nemoto, she was working days in an insurance company and nights as a hostess at the Kokusai Club in Akasaka, a place for foreign VIPs. It was there that a fateful meeting with a powerful world leader changed her life. In 1959, at the tender age of 19, she left Japan to become the third of the nine wives of Achmed Sukarno, the president of The Republic of Indonesia. Her full married name was Ratna Sari Dewi Sukarno and the couple had a daughter, Kartika. Sukarno was ousted from power in 1967 and placed under house arrest the following year, where he remained until his death in 1970. After her husband's death Dewi became an international jet setter, living in Paris and New York before returning to Tokyo. She describes her time in Paris, with her usual modesty, "I was young, beautiful, I had a name, a certain wealth. People were so eager to invite me here and there."

In 1993, at the ripe old age of 53 she published a book of photos, many of them nude. The book was slammed in the mostly Islamic Indonesia for "violating eastern norms and insulting Indonesia's dignity" and was banned by the Attorney-General's office. Several years later, an Indonesian magazine published some photos from the book without permission. In 2002, Dewi testified in a Jakarta court in the property rights violation case. This was just one of several court appearances, on both sides of the dock. Most recently, she was ordered to pay damages to an actress she had defamed to the media.

She has certainly capitalized on her outspokeness. She has published several books, with titles such as "Allow Me to Say a Few Things" (2000), that slam Japan's lack of morals. She also has no qualms about criticizing fellow celebrities, something that is pretty much taboo. Her age and perceived social rank have afforded her a kind of special status that allows her to get away with things that not many others in the business can.

Though she may have been above the law in her heyday in Indonesia, this is not the case any more. In 2002, the Tokyo tax authorities ordered her to pay 50 milion yen in back taxes. Her public response was that she left the running of her considerable business interests to her office. I guess it's not easy to make ends meet when you have seven staff to support!

source: www.japan-zone.com

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Eid Mubarak 2011

Eid 2011-Aug.

Wishing all my Muslim friends and readers, "A victorious Eid Mubarak!" Celebrate it with joy and not to forget those who are suffering in another part of the world.

Every year, Eid sees different faces in my house. I figure it is the best thing to do. Just put up those faces and look over to trace the memory.
Eid this year sees many political turmoil, dying people, suffering people, hungry people but best of all justice is done when Gaddafi cruel regime has fallen.

Back to my personal business. I created a strict daily regime for the fasting month of Ramadan. I am going through my third draft and I want to be consistent in writing. One page a day is consistent enough for me. That may not be for writers who can sit down and write like their words flows from spring water gushing out of its hole. But I am not like those writers.
But I just find out that writing gives me inner peace. I was a "killer" reader during my younger days. Now I had the advantage of picking up all those that I read before to try on some design in writing style.
Anyway, much as I tried to take care of my health and time, there is an incident which caused a bit of a discomfort for me.
I have a habit of writing for long hours and becomes immovable. During one of these writing moments, I made a sudden move from my seat and bang. There is this tight squeeze on my bum. For the next couple of weeks. I was like waking double bend which reminds me of those 100 years old women walking to buy grocery on Japanese pavement.
Anyway, I went on a self-therapy. I dipped myself hours in the hot pool, go into boiling sauna rooms, paste the hot pad on the aching part and sleep with the stomach corset on. But, no pain-killer for me. No. No. For as long as I can take it and as long as I am able to take the pain, do not show me the paracetamol.
Anyway, on Eid Fitri what with the cooking and cleaning (which I think is the most minimal I had), my back beg of sympathy again.
After the crowd left, I was back on self-therapy, begging my hip to be good to me.
The consolation has some good impact.

Now, I am back to my strict routine again.

*******

Under the tatami...

Many people see tatami flooring, sleep on it, sit on it. But have you ever wonder what's under the straw mat?

The recent typhoon was so strong and the gusty wind seeped in the drainage pipe of our air conditioning. The rain water got trapped and dripped on the tatami flooring. Two or three of the block mat was drenched and if we don't take it to shine, the musty smell remains for long.

So, dear handy man at home, took it off the floor and put those mats under the sun. I took those picture to show what's happening under the plank.
You can see the straw mat is sewn onto a thick board and lay on a wooded plank.
By the way, when calculating the size of houses in Japan, they count it by the amount of the tatami block.
Example: My house is 40 tatami. Or my room is 6 tatami.
Even when making a house, the size of the house is counted by how many tatami.
Example again.
If one tatami block cost JY25,000.
If the house is 40 tatami, you can do the counting here.

So if you have a double-storey house, you count the tatami up there as well.

*******

Overboard!

Guestroom

This room is supposed to be a guest room. But it has been transformed after I decide to invade. On some bad days, the double bed becomes a dumping station for all my books. Trust me I still consider at the time when this photo was taken, the bed to be quite ok. I can hear people tsk, tsk all the way over New Zealand and Ireland.
Ok, I promise to be more tidy. Maybe I should use the floor huhuhu.

*******

Hanging on thin life...

This year, the 9th typhoon is called the Noro-noro kaze because of its slowness. It took 48 hours to cross this island going towards mainland China. Normal typhoon moves at speed 40km/hr takes, takes about 12 hours to cross but this noro-noro kaze is at 10km/hr with the strength of 130-150 km/hr gust of wind.
We lost our power line for 15.5 hours but we have water and cooking gas for the kitchen. So, its not so much as a panic for us.
But the winds were very disturbingly strong. My fruit garden is gone and look at the picture. After the storm what's left are some bitter gourd hanging for life on it thin branches.

The strange thing is, the bitter gourd are surprisingly strong in such wind at 150km/hr lashing for 48 hours. Look how it hang on the tree.
But also after the storm, the leaves turned brown and dry. Like somebody has burnt them when all the time the rain was pouring like elephant's pee for 48 hours with the gust.


Here are some bitter gourd that we collected after the storm. We managed to pick those orchid flower before the storm.

******

Natsumeyashi (Kurma)

dates
I don't feel complete without dates during Ramadan. Ramadan started yesterday and I have friends sending these dates a month earlier. These are dates from Makkah, Madinah, Iraq. Those attached with branches are so fresh and so very sweet, that I have to control myself popping them in my month.
These are gifts from special people and they come from Singapore, Malaysia and Qatar.
Every piece of these dates goes with me saying doa for the givers, after all they took all the trouble to send it to me.

Ramadan is here, may we be in ibadah better that the years before and may we be rewarded. Amin.

Ramadan al-mubarak.

******

Kin-chan

Kin
This is Kin. His is ginger and his eyes are yellowish-ginger as well. He left home a week ago and never return. He is a good listener. See how he followed our instruction. He can only sit on the white towel and he did. He never moved anywhere else. He would sit on the cloth for hours watching us do our things in the house.

Kill
This summer, he started to kill many mice. He went around the house, picked a mice here and there. Played around and when the creature is gone, he brought it back to let us see his catch. He loves to steal the golf ball when his boss do putting. He would rolled the balls here and there, and then he would sit on the balls waiting for the boss to come and picked it from under his body.
Best of all, Kin never nagged for his food. He wait patiently for us to fill his food bowl everyday.
But now Kin is gone. Don't know what happened to him. All kind of weird thoughts came to my head. He was kidnapped. He fall down a black hole and cannot escaped, and died a quiet and slow death. Or maybe ...whatever. Anyway, I do missed my Kin-chan.

Pigeon
But when Kin is gone, things changed very fast around the house. Of course, I don't see the mice moving around at night. But the pigeons and other birds are having some feeling free times around the house.
Here this pigeon has made it a habit to visit our front pouch even when we are nearby. Of course, Otto is happy. Way, way happy...he is.

******

Hanya sepetak...

Herb patch

Look carefully at this herb patch which is situated behind my house. It has bitter gourd/goya (peria), mitsuba, curry leave (daun kari), tumeric plant (pohon kunyit), ginger (pohon halia), pandan leaf, pohoh durian belanda (Holland durian), avocado plant, chilli plant, shikuasa (a kind of lime) plant. That's about all I can count. All ini all, in that small plot of earth, about 10 varieties of herbs are grown by my husband. We consume those herbs everyday. I use those herbs in my cooking like soup, gravy, noodles and other stuff.

*******

Summer Fruits

Summer Berries

The Japanese called the deep blue berries as yamamomo. I've grown it for the past 14 years. In May this year, I saw bunches of it on the tree in my front garden. I saw this fruit the day my first short story was published. Can you figure out which news makes me more excited to receive.
Even though I have hope for my short story to go into publication long before this, but the impact of receiving the news of this blurred out to the first season of seeing the first reward from this tree which I have waited for the past 14 years.
Unfortunately, the first typhoon of this years, plucked everything off its branches. I was really saddened by this. I have looked forward to tasting the first reward.
This photo was from a friend, Zetty Yada, who went to Beijing for her honeymoon. I looked longingly at the deep purple yamamomo in the picture and pray that next year, I will be given the chance to taste it sweetness.

The pink/red berris is cherry from the sakura tree which the Japanese called as sakuranbo. The sakura tree is still young in my garden and hopefully it a few years time, it might produce some sakuranbo.

Lycee from my garden

At this point of writing, I counted about 15 ripe lycees hanging on it branches. I just hope the bird birds (don't know its name) do not get to it first. Actually, there were about 50 of them still unripe but the typhoon in May took all of it. So, I should be happy to be having those few left to taste.

Lycee again

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Tanjong Pagar Station

Mengabadikan stesen Tanjong Pagar yang menamatkan khidmatnya pada 30 Jun, 2011. Dalam kenangan sejak umur 4 tahun, saya masih tidak lupa setiap kali berulang-aik dari Singapura ke Stasen Tampin.
Sejak stesen ini mula berfungsi tidak banyak perubahah pada bangunannya. Pagar lipat yang memisahkan ruang platform dengan ruang menanti masih sama. Bangunan kolonial ini masih kekal mengarcakan patung-patung di bahagian hadapan.

Perbezaan yang ketara terdapat pada tandasnya. Dulu tidak disediakan air basuh dalam tandasnya. Bila dikenangkan semula, saya cuba menahan sehabis-habisan hanya untuk mengelakkan pergi ke tandas itu. Tapi sekarang, tandasnya berbayar. Ada juga satu ketika saya mengadu kepada penjaga tandas yang berbangsa Hindu.

"Sudah bayar pun ini jamban bau jugak, lu buat apa sini? Kita bayar apa?"
Dia jawab, "Lu mau masuk, lu masuk. Tidak kalu, lu jangan masuk. Lu punya duit tidak besar apa pun!"
Bila saya mengadu kepada pegawai KTM, jawabnya, "Itu bukan kawasan kito kak. Itu orang lain jago!"
Naik darah saya, "Kan dalam bangunan ini juga? Bangunan ini kan KTM punya!"
Satu lagi yang dimodenkan adalah kaunter menempah tiket. Sekarang dah ada komputer dan berhawa dingin. Senang hati tengok pegawai-pegawai bertugas dengan selesa.

Setiap kali balik bercuti, saya menggunaka khidmat tren KTM sebab rasa lebih selamat ketika mengembara bersendirian. Tren pagi berlepas Stesen Tanjong Pagar pada 8 pagi dan melucur terus ke stesen Johor Bharu. Nampaknya dalam video ini JB Sentral telah dibuka untuk tren KTM. Tahun-tahun sebelum ini saya meninjau stesen JB lama yang selekeh dan buruk dari tingkap kaca sahaja.
Saya tidak selesa menggunakan bas untuk perjalanan jauh. Hendak-hendak lagi mengenangkan perangai pemandu bas perjalanan jauh di Malaysia. Kerap saya guna tren malam dari KL balik ke Singapura. Mengambil air wuduk dalam tandas yang berbau dan sempit. Biasanya saya simbah air sekeliling tandas dan seterusnya mengerjakan solat fajar duduk di atas tilam bunker.
Saya ingat pada satu ketika masuk ke pejabat KTM Stesen Tanjong Pagar dan menanyakan barang yang saya lupa (tertinggal dalam tren). Pegawainya bertutur dengan loghat orang negeri, dengan segala kepekatan bahasa negori. Saya apa lagi, berbual rancaklah mengikut loghat itu. Mana lagi di Singapura kalau ingin mendengar orang berbual dalam bahasa neghori kalau tidak di stesen ini.
KeMelayuan stesen ini amat menonjol. Mengelamun sedih diri ini mengenangkan ia akan hilang menjadi halaman dalam buku sejaran.

Selamat Tinggal Stesen Tanjong Pagar.

*****

Nikmat Kesabaran...

"Assalamualaikum Kak Leyla,

Saya MXXXXXX dan sedang belajar di Osaka University. Saya start baca blog akak kira-kira 4 tahun dahulu semasa saya mula-mula mendapat tawaran sambung belajar di Jepun kerana saya hendak tahu dengan detail tentang kehidupan di Jepun. Terima kasih atas detailed description of Japanese life etc yang dimuatkan dalam blog akak. I enjoy reading your blog and looking forward to your new post."

"Salam aunty. Teringin pula nak menulis.. Selalunya saya jadi silent reader sahaja.
Saya dah mengikuti blog aunty semenjak tahun 2004/2005
lagi.. Kira-kira balik, mungkin dah 7 tahun. Haha, cepat betul masa berlalu.
Ingat lagi, masa tu saya masih belajar lagi.. Dara sunti."-HMN

Saya tidak tahu siapa yang membaca catatan saya. Ketika menerima penghargaan seperti ini, diri terasa nikmat dari kesabaran menulis seadanya di sini. Ada pembaca melintas-lintas, ada yang menjenguk-jenguk, ada pula yang meninjau kala-kala. Pun begitu ada pembaca yang seperti adik yang setia mengikut catatan saya bertahun-tahun.

Saya menulis tentang segala topik dalam alam ini. Saya jadikan laman ini sebagai tempat untuk mencatat tabiat inkuisitif diri saya. Saya menulis perkara yang saya senangi dan mengharap pembaca-pembaca juga senang membacanya.

Sering saya selitkan hati remuk resah ke dalam tulisan saya dengan ayat-ayat tersirat. Hanya pembaca kerap saja dapat merasa perasaan yang tersembunyi itu.

Apa-apa pun terima kasih kepada pembaca yang mengikuti catatan ini. Sesekali mendapat surat penghargaan begini, memberi semangat untuk saya menulis dan menulis di sini.

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Let's be better friends.

I know there are friends who followed my writing since ages ago. I just realized that you know so much about me but I don't know who you are. I had someone said to me sometime back that they have followed my writings and and that time, I was just on the spot of getting to know them.
I feel so guilty, I am so sorry. How can I let this happened!
I want to know friends who are following my writing, more so when you have admittedly in-framed yourself on my Followers Box here.
Please let me know your Facebook name and we will become better friends in Facebook world.
Leave message on my Facebook (Leyla Shuri) and I'll response back.

Thank you.

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Yukihiro Peace song

Okinawa Peace Memorial Park
Ti's the season again in Okinawa. The season in commemoration of Okinawa independence from American colonialism, memorial of the WW2 deaths, remembrance of WW2 that took place on this island and other islands around it (see the movie Letter from Iwojima).
There is a huge cenotaph on the south of this island where every name of WW2 victims are engraved on stone memorials. Every year more names are added as victims of WW2 die off.

Requiem Concert for Peace
The City of Itoman where the Peace Memorial Park is located, hold many events for this occasion. Last week I went to a concert requiem with Peace as the theme.
The items included songs of peace by chorus of school children and a stage show. But one interesting item was the declamation of poems or tanka the Japanese called it by a group of ladies. These tanka are selected amongst thousands contributed especially for this events. Of course the main theme for these tanka are World Peace.

The Rocker, Yukihiro

Actually, I was really pulled along to attend this occasion. A friend from my haiku group is a fan of a local rocker who was giving a performance for this concert. So I went along, as I've met this rocker on a Live Show as a birthday treat from this same friend. Actually, my friend was impressed with this rocker by his kindness to perform free for an autism charity events that my friend is organizing. After hearing the normal payment that comes with him, I thought that was a kind thing to give a free show based on his value for one night.
So I became another of his fans. If you guys want to hear his songs, go to YouTube and type on the search bar Peace Yukihiro or Yukihiro Okinawa or go to his blog www.yukihiro-okinawa.com
Anyway, see how I was squeezed in this picture by the enthusiatic rocker and my friend.

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Ume Tonic

Ume Fruit (from google)

June brings the hot air from the south full blast without warning. Even the fans at full power do not help. Some people got heat-stroke but the truth is, I love the heat. I love to feel droplets of sweat dripping down my body. I love to perspire. To perspire means the skin (which is the largest organ in our body) is healthy. A little heat is priceless to stay in health.
Weak humans need added strength to keep up with the heat. I have a home-made way to just do that. It is the ume fruiting season and the good thing, the secret is in this ume tonic.

I made myself this ume tonic and you can read all the health benefits of it here.
My Ume Tonic
So for many days to come this summer, I'll be sipping this sweet tonic to keep my body, in and out, clean and healthy.

*****

...thousandth steps behind

Every year on this very day, my daughters sent me something to remember it with. This pair of Swarovski blue earrings was from last year. When I opened the box, it hanged on my ears for about 10 minutes and then I kept in some dark place and only today I think of it again.
Swarovski
Then some years ago, I got this really masculine watch. I opened the box and tried it on. It hanged on my thin wrist pitifully. The face of the watch covers the whole length of my wrist. I put it back in the box and on this very day, my thoughts come back to it.
Kenneth Cole
Some days back, one of my daughters asked me what I want this year. I simply said, nothing!
I don't want them to send me anything. Thanks the Al-mighty God, I don't feel the need to have anything at this age. I've got what I wanted so far and that is enough. I don't need material things anymore.
"Ok, if you insist. Just buy me dinner when I go over there!"
That is all I want, some dinner and family time to share with you and your new family.
That goes with friends too. I insist not to take any gifts when I see them. It is not that I'm not willing to receive those gifts but just a little additional something would add to my luggage weight and miseries as well.
Just give me books and if you can't give me books, then saved your money and buy me dinner. Definition of dinner for me is good enough with Pulut tapai.
Hello Kitty
But I still need certain basics to maintain my living. The red wallet has been with me for like 5 or 6 years. It is torn ed, tattered, stained with my dirty fingers but it is still useful. But I think 5 or 6 years is enough, don't you agree?
So I pampered myself and got one of those childish Hello Kitty wallet. But who cares?
Childish or not, I like it even if my age has advanced some thousand steps.
On this special day, June 14, I have given a special birthday present for a special person whom I love so much!

*****

Penggaga

Penggaga
I know Japanese people don't take these herbs. In the Malay language it is named penggaga but another official name for it is hydrocotyle asiatica.
This is the Japanese version and the Japanese assumed it is wild grass.
I went to a friend's house and saw this herb while waiting for her to get ready. I picked and made kerabu penggage. Actually this dish is suggested by many interested friends in Facebook when I wrote about it and asked for some receipes related to it.
kerabu penggaga
Penggaga is a humble herbs, almost invisible like the grass but so much health benefits and one of them is alleviating anxiety. It is proven, trust me!
So I wanted my friend to know its importance and when to her house showing her some ways to cook it. Actually, I want her to keep this herb in her garden so I have to tell her the benefits as well. She is going through some menopausal syndrome and felt excited knowing that this herb might reduced her high anxiety and stabilized her irregular mood.
There! My supply of penggaga is saved! Yeah!

*****

...and the trees are empty.

Yamamomo
Our yamamomo tree has been growing for 13 years and has no fruits yet. But early this May, I saw some tiny fruit buds. That very day, I saw the fruit buds was also the same day I received an email for the editor in Spore about the publication of my short story in Spore mainstream Malay-language newspaper. So on the very day I have two very good news. Between the publication of my first short story and the fruiting of my yamamomo plant, I was more overjoyed with the success of my plants. It took 13 years to at last told me that it would not disappoint me.
Alas, last week strong typhoon storm took all the fruits down. I was so looking forward to have a taste of my own yamamomo.
(The yamamomo in this photo is taken from a nearby park about 10 years ago. See how I craved for yamamomo that my husband was willing to climb a tree in the park to steal some).
Last week's typhoon was this year second typhoon. It surely took us by surprise. It was slow and weak almost 2 days, when it travel from the South China Sea. Then when it reached the island, it lashed so strong suddenly for the night.
All the fruits are gone. Nothing is left on the trees. We have plentiful lychee but those too are gone now.

Lychee
This is the first time ever a typhoon brought damage to our property (not only the fruits). As I said, we were taken by surprise with such strength. We were not prepared. This gave us a few lessons to be learnt. The next time, we will surely bear in mind to keep updates on local weather.

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Asam bol & kobis

ume tree
The tree is just 2 meters away from my writing room on the second floor. Second to my laptop, this is another thing I stare at every few moments of the day. The greenness from this tree, clears the tension from my eyes. If you look closely, the fruits are ripening. This is ume tree. The ume fruit is pickled with salt and the Malay people called in "asam bol" or "asam asin".
This land belongs to a neighbour and the tree has been there even before we build this house. This neighbour stays on this rental house but they make the house like their very own. They built a store room in a corner of the land and they extend the roof of the house to the wall, making some space outside. During summer, I hear them having beer party on this expended space but other times, I see fat cats wondering all over the place. I do wonder where these cats come from and who are their owners. These cats are not lost or stray. They are well-fed and all are very fat. But the strange thing is, this neighbour feeds them everyday. Feed those fat cats that don't belong to them. How kind can anybody get! Considering cat biscuits are not cheap to come by.
Last year, the ume fruits rotten on the trees. Now is the time to pick those still green fruits to make pickles like "umeboshi". But it is not my tree and it's not me to go around asking.

Okinawa vegetable
This morning hubby came back from the green grocer, calling me like he is so excited. I was doing my work on the top floor and thought there was some emergency. He was smiling and held high this bag of cabbage.
He said, "3 heads of cabbage for just 40 yen (that is about RM 1-)!
Whoah! for that price...it is like giving away.
He explains the weather is cool lately and cabbage grows good in the cool. There is over-supply of cabbage everywhere. That was the excitement. I think my hubby is more house-husband than I a house-wife. SMILE & Peace!

Don't assume living in Japan is hard or cost of living in Japan is high. That is not true. Not so on this island!

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Bunga sawi

Bunga Sawi
Kebanyakan orang pernah melihat sayur sawi. Kadang-kadang ada juga yang terlihat bunga sawi pada hujung-hujung sayur sawi. Orang Jepun makan bunga sawi. Nano hana istilah orang Jepun memanggil bunga sawi. Mereka rebus bunga sawi dan campurkan sos dari biji bijan dan minyak bijan. Bunga sawi hanya boleh dimakan begini mengikut musim-musim tertentu saja. Lagi pun yang digunakan hanya bunga sawi yang muda saja. Jika bunga lambat dipetik, ketuaan membuat bunga-bunganya kasar dan tak berapa enak lagi.
Gambar itu menunjukkan padang sawi. Sayur sawi ini sengaja dinantikan sampai berbunga. Bunganya pun tidak dipetik. Selepas layu bunga-bunganya, benih sawi membesar seperti kacang dalam lenggai (kulit pod). Benihnya inilah yang dinanti-nantikan. Benih sawi digunakan untuk semaian tanaman baru pula.

*Lokasi gambar adalah di lereng bukit dekat dengan rumah penulis.*

*****