journey thru thick time(1968-72) pengkalan chepa, kelantan

there is pokok semambu- neem tree- infront of our house. the tree is still there when i looked thru google earth. pretty amazing.

the leaves are known to cure many diseases among them for chicken pox. u boil the leaves and take a bath with the water. u can also use various parts of the tree due to its antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory properties. lots of people and strangers came to our house and asked permissions to take the leaves. it is a huge tree and be able to feed the whole army. the tree is also one of my favourite to climb on. it has big and steady trunks and it is also cooling to be under it on a hot day.

we also had aloe vera plant which have great healing properties. good for skins, hair and weight loss. we like to put eggs shells at the point of the leaves. i guess it is something people do for decoration.

but eggshells are made almost entirely of calcium carbonate, which is good for plants. you can deliver it to them through compost, soil or by making “eggshell tea.”

we also had ubi gajah- elephant tapioca. they were huge and we have to dig really deep to get them out. u can eat tapioca by boiling them and dip with sambal or sugar. it has to be served while it is still warm. otherwise they ll be hard. my mum told me that they used to live eating tapioca during the japanese occupation in WW2. tapioca are quite easy to plant. just cut the trunks about one feet long and stick it in the earth. shower them with water and u ll see them grow.