A visit to South-East Asia's largest vineyard.

Yesterday, 27th of November, was a lovely Sunday with the promise of a sunny day. So a friend and my son went with me to what was advertised as the largest vineyard in South-East Asia, Beris Lake Vineyard, in Sik, Kedah, Malaysia, some twenty-five kilometres from Sungai Petani.

At Lake Beris, which is a short distance after the town, we came to a long bridge which span the river flowing into the lake. Just before the bridge was a road on the right which took us to a parking lot in front of the entrance to the vineyard.

We spent about an hour and a half strolling leisurely between the vines that were grown about 7 metres apart appreciating the the bunches of green and red grapes that hung down just above our mouths.

According to a worker at the vineyard, the grapes are organically grown. The manure for the vines come from the cow farms around the area. I wonder what are the cows from the area fed, grass or processed food?

Concerning possible problems to the grapes, rain could damage the grapes. Firstly, the vines must be in well-drained soil. Too much water could also cause the quality of the grapes to drop. Therefore, the vineyard is covered totally with a plastic canopy and there are drain-pipes as well as drain holes to ensure that the ground is not water-logged.

This outing is better seen from the pictures that I have uploaded for everyone to enjoy. Well, a picture paints a thousand words and many pictures do depict the whole story. However, words do have their use as they help explain what may not be obvious.
From the car park, up the stairs to the front door leading to the vineyard.


One of the posters at the entrance where it is stated that the vineyard started operation in November 2007.

This must be an old entrance. Toilets are on the left side of the building. That was the first place most visitors go to, perhaps to contribute some fertilisers.
In front of the new entrance is this poster claiming this place to be the largest vineyard in South-East Asia.

A resting area with the door to the place at the far end. Visitors sit around and discuss what they have seen after moving around the place.
Signs near the ticket counter showing how far away the various vineyeards in the place.

From the visitors' resting area we go to a section on the right to the ticket counter. At the back of that counter were objects for sale such as clothing and souvenirs.
For children, the entrance fee is two ringgit each. (Note: One US dollar is approximately three ringgit twenty sen at the time of posting. One hundred sen makes a ringgit.)
And for adults, it is four ringgit each.

Here are some of the souvenirs and cordials that visitors can buy home.
And should there be anyone interested in growing a grape vine in a 2.2 x 2.2 metre plot in his garden there are plants with the right fertilisers for him/her to buy.
We did not buy the plants. As we were thirsty, we bought for each of us a small bottle of grape juice which, according to the label, was 100% fresh, actually meaning that it was made from fresh grapes.
What was disappointing about the drink was that sugar was added to the juice, so it most probably could not be 100% juice since the grapes ought to be sweet enough if it is purely grape juice. I believe water must have been added, thus the need for sugar although water was not listed on the label. Besides that, I noticed that colouring and certain chemicals have also been added.

Look at these small green grapes! upon entering the vineyard, we saw these cute little grapes. They were just at the entrance into the vineyard. I believe they are a little more than a month old. Still so tiny, still so green.

And then we came to bigger green grapes with a tinge of yellow that could be almost three months old, a month to harvesting time.
Up above us was this canopy of leaves with new shoots tied to the old shoots so that they would not shoot upwards but at almost the same level as the old shoots which is approximately seven feet or 2.2 metre above the ground.
Next, we come to rows and rows of vines bearing dark-red grapes. We were told the grapes would be black and sweet when they ripen in a month's time. At three months they are still red and sour as they are still far from ripe.
And looking upwards, we saw lots of grapes indicating the success of the vineyard.

Alongside the vines are pipes conveying water to them.

A close view of grapes at three months which are still sour as they are not yet ripe. It takes four months for them to ripen.


Wow! Juicy grapes within reach but visitors can only see, touch but not pluck.



When the grapes are plentiful, the vines are covered with leaves. Look at those grapes!



At four months the grapes are ripe and sweet enough to be harvested. Two months after the harvest, the vines are pruned and gone are the leaves. This has to be done so that new shoots and leaves can bring another good crop of grapes.


Slowly, new shoots and leaves begin to emerge and soon leaves are covering the top again. According to a worker at the vineyard, the plants are given cow-dung as manure once every three weeks. The cow-dung is taken from the farms around the area.




Once again, the vines are heavy with leaves and are ready for the next crop of grapes.

Drainage holes are necessary as the vines need well-drained soil and below you can see a drain-pipe for water which flows from the plastic canopy at the top.

Doting grandma takes on more than she can chew.

In my last posting, I wrote of grandparents who faced a lot of problems with having to look after the grandchildren as well as with themselves as a result of over anxiety of the grandma. Well, today I come across a grandma who became sick as a result of caring for a grandchild.

At sixty years of age, with her husband long departed to heaven, she promised her daughter she would gladly look after the child, a boy of ten. Looking after this boy is a full-time job as he is always active. Knowing that she would not be able to cope on her own, another daughter, the youngest, quickly drove home to ensure that her mother would not be too stressed in her desire to pamper the child. This youngest daughter knew there would be a need for her to get breakfast, do marketing and make sure that her assistance would be available whenever the need arises.

So it was that with the little bundle of energy forever demanding the grandma's attention, the grandma had no time for any rest. Since the moment the child awakened till the moment his head dropped onto the pillow with eyes closed at night, grandma was on the move catering to his needs and demands. And this morning, I visited them to be told the grandma had a fever. She was already down and the daughter obviously had to take over some of her baby-sitting.

Looks like love knows no limits and the old lady simply paid no attention to her own health. Well, this is one of those things that can happen when a woman dotes on someone, especially when that someone is a grandchild. What she forgets is that she has to be in good health to look after someone else. Instead of looking after the grandchild, now she has to be cared for. And the poor daughter has her hands full taking care of two persons, her sick mother and an energetic nephew.

A grandpa's hardship.

This evening I met a friend who confirmed my constant belief that children should never be pampered. My talk with him revealed that grandparents are not the best guardians even though their intentions are nothing but the best.

Here was this friend who exposed the problems of being grandparent-guardians of two lovely grandsons. First, there are these two children who demand his and his wife's time almost eighteen hours a day seven days a week. Awakened by a need to get things done and ready before the two grandchildren awakens; things such as moping the floor, cleaning the table and getting breakfast ready are an everyday affair. Once they are awake, it is feeding them and watching over them wherever they may wander, inside the house, to the front, the back and into the garden.

And besides this, there is this over-loving of grandparents, sometimes one more concerned than the other. For example, he would allow them to run around and fall every now and then, while she, the grandma, would scream at him whenever one of the grandchildren is in danger of a fall or a crash into a piece of furniture. Or one child would touch the floor, then grabs a piece of food and pops it into his mouth. Oh, no! How can that be allowed? No grandchild of mine must have dirt go into his mouth! And grandpa gets the blame. So, everyday, something would cause heated arguments on proper care of grandchildren. Tempers can flare and and relationships can get strained. All because of two grandchildren.

All these can happen because one or both grandparents love the children too much. Well, too much of a good thing can be bad. It leads to pampering. Everything the grandchild wants, he will get, be it food or playthings. At the supermarket recently, this grandpa saw how extravagant the grandma was with her money, paying almost thirty ringgit for a rifle, handcuffs and other 'police' toys. The young father who was present then refused to purchase them as he was thinking of effects such toys could have on his son, the grandpa would not part with so much money for some useless plastic toys but the grandma thought her grandchild must have what is desired by him as children need toys to play with. Furthermore, she has her own money to pamper her grandchild with and that silenced the other two men. So, nothing is too expensive for a pampering grandmother and the toys were bought.

And as the children grew bigger, the grandparents required more energy. Even a simple bath is a problem. Getting them to bath needs a lot of persuading, something leading to scolding and threats before any bathing could take place. Then, there was the amount of play when two children wants to enjoy the bathroom at the same time. There was noise and a lot of splashing that got the floor wet and slippery. The grandma and grandpa have to be extraordinarily careful holding onto the children under such slippery surfaces. Thus, each bath ends with another round of mopping and drying of the floor. That is a lot of work for two old folks.

This friends did remarked that it was easier with their own children. They were more willing to discipline them, be more firm with them and should that not be effective, a spanking on the buttocks was sufficient to put things into proper order. So, he admitted that when it came to the grandchildren, they were unwilling to commit the same type of disciplining.

This grandpa realised that he was not able to enforce discipline on his grandchildren; the very same discipline which had been effective with his own children. Why is that so? Could it be that they understand, deep in their hearts, that grandchildren have their own parents to love, and so, unless even greater love is bestowed upon the grandchildren, the grandchildren might not love them enough? And that could be the reason, they give too much love, pampering, to their grandchildren.

It is time that grandparents search their hearts and should their actions are the result of this subconscious thought, then they must correct their thinking as pampering, be it on one's own children or grandchildren, is never good for them as it would do them a lot of harm. In my earlier posts I had explored the harm and problems that could arise from pampered children. Even in the previous post was a true story of a woman who was divorced by her husband due to her uncaring ways which was caused by her being pampered as an only child. Let us help our beloved young ones grow properly with the right amount of love and understanding into great wonderful individuals loved by all humans they associate with in their lives.

To truly love, we have to suffer the pain of having to discipline when necessary so that the ones we discipline will grow to love and be loved by all.

A time will come when we have to face reality.

In the Malaysian Chronicler today was a Nanyang Siang Pau Newspaper report in which a 48 year-old Singaporean woman realised the importance of appreciation for a husband who has always done everything that her heart desired and had never lost his temper despite having been ill-treated by her with her tantrums and treated with disdain for months over small matters.


Her only excuse for her terrible behaviour was her being spoilt as an only child of her parents.According to her, she had told her husband of her bad temper and he had promised to bear with her and her bad tamper. Perhaps, with that promise, she thought she could get away with being the tigress and forget everything about love in a marriage.

Eventually, the husband must have gave up on her, gave up on ever having love in return and asked for a divorce. It was only then that she realised how much she was going to lose - a husband who has always cared enough to overlook all her bad behaviour and tried his very best to cater to her every whim and fancy. Awakened by the fact that she was going to lose the very person who could have given her so much happiness, she apologised and wrote many letters to ask for a second chance.

As they say, people only awaken to reality only when their 'ship' is about to sink. It has happened many times in life. People only look more carefully into their lives only when their lives are at stake. Only when stricken with a terrible sickness such as cancer, do people think about their health. Only when you are about to lose someone do you think of his or her goodness. Only when the partner says 'enough is enough', do some folks know appreciation of him or her.

Why not think of such things earlier. Think of the beautiful people in our lives. Have we shown sufficient appreciation for them? Are they important enough to be treated with more care and love? What about ourselves? Do we love ourselves enough to think of our happiness, our fitness and health? Think of it and act on it immediately as now is the time to do so, not later for that later time may never come and may be gone forever.

Our wonderful mind!

Recently I read some articles on placebos and how patients have got well on pills that contained nothing but plain water or syrup. When it happens all the time in all the researches conducted every now and then, those researchers have no alternative but to admit that placebos do have the same effect as the drugs being tested when those in the programme do get well when they believe that the pills given do contain the drugs being tested although they were not as they were merely placebos.

Upon reading the above information I instantly went back to my beloved teachers such as Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie and Norman Vincent Peale. These are the first few teachers who taught me through their books that whatever the mind of mind can conceive and believe, he will achieve. Then, later, I went through a seminar in Kuala Lumpur in the early seventies with Lawrence Chan of Malaysia. All of them taught me to believe in whatever I set my mind to and since then I had proved them right.

For me, I have always believed that happiness is my ultimate goal in life and so whatever I do I do it for the pleasure and joy I can derive from it. That, I know, is what draws the friends I have to me. And it is what causes me to smile in my mirror the first thing in the morning and confirm to myself my health, my fitness, my youthfulness and my happiness. And this sixty-five year old has proved beyond a doubt that it happens when you believe. Well, I still run, jump and climb up that hill as fast and flexibly as any forty-year old! (Egoistic, ain't I but when it comes to this, I just have to be.)

That was exactly what I did this very morning despite a cold drizzle that greeted me as I enthusiastically dressed up for a trek up the hill. No drizzle can ever dampen the desire to enjoy the walk up the hill. Thus, I drove to the foot of the hill and found my car the only vehicle in the area. After a drink of water, I got out into the rain. I have an umbrella in the car but i did not use it. It is such moments that I look forward to walking in the rain, getting soaking wet without a care in the world, just enjoying the coolness of the morning and the refreshing cleansing of raindrops. You know, I also believe I would not catch cold, and although I have walked in the rain a good number of days the last two weeks, the cold could not catch up with me.

You know, I still wish for the pure rainwater that God pours upon us giving us the best liquid we can ever obtain. Yes, pure rainwater contains hydrogen peroxide which helps our body to absorb more oxygen. Unfortunately, today's rain has to go through a lot of chemical pollution as it descends to us and what we get is acid rain. You see, when humans are careless with the wastes manufactured we destroy something which is so important to us and the plants. Yes, plants for plants given pure rainwater containing hydrogen peroxide would thrive even better. Sometimes, I wondered if rainwater that reaches us after a few hours of rain could possibly not have to be contaminated by the impurities in the air and so contain hydrogen peroxide. It is at such times, I drink some of the rainwater and hope to enjoy its benefits. Well, I could have been able to enjoy those benefits as I am certainly extremely fit and healthy still.

Yes, since I have read about how powerful our mind is, I have practised it on my health, strength and happiness and thank God, I am appreciative of the mind He has given me, it has been found to be true. Thus, without a doubt, I certainly agree with those researchers that the mind can perform wonders if you really believe in it and work at it. Well, all things are possible to him or her who would put his mind to it.