We welcomed Passion Trading on Wednesday evening to our Pavilion for the launching of their new product range “Authentic” by Davines. When I met the owner of Passion, I took one look at her and it suddenly all came together for me. Chin Teo was an old dancer friend of mine, back in the day [...]

The guides were treated to a day out with the infectiously, likeable Nyonya cook, Pearly Kee last Monday. In preparation for the upcoming Cooking School, we gathered all the guides and Pearly took them for a walk – a cooks perspective on our herbs and spices. As we set off, Pearly tugged my arm and [...]

With so many leaves falling in the gardens and the previous failed attempt of a compost heap in selected areas, Kenny has devised compost bins throughout the gardens. Litter bugs will be dealt with severely! [we are serious about our rubbish sorting!] – by Compost Kat, a pet name from my sister Roz – how [...]

We recently were donated a titan arum from a kind unidentified donor. Kenny had been looking for this species for a long time since we already have its sister species Amorphophallus paenifolious. Actually we were given 2 and one strangely disappeared much to Kenny’s  disappointment as these are extremely rare plants which are only found [...]

Absolute success! We just completed our 4 day eco kids sessions and I couldn’t believe that we could have packed so much in and still left tongues wagging for more. And I still can’t believe the energy levels of primary school children! In fact, one supporter of the gardens and workshops commented that we should [...]

I love nutmeg. I have grown to love it more and more since being at Tropical Spice Garden. After reading Nathaniel’s Nutmeg by Giles Milton – I named my new born son, Nathanael. The name is Hebrew meaning ‘Gift of God’ also. Yep, I love nutmeg! As I lay on my post-maternity bed, I was [...]

Learn to cook Nyonya Food at Tropical Spice Garden today. The Nyonya’s of Penang are indeed an ‘endangered’ breed. So I had the pleasure of having Pearly Kee, a Nyonya descendant and passionate Nyonya cook, to stroll down memory lane as she regaled me with stories of what being Nyonya means to her. Ever ready [...]

Eco-Kids Holiday Workshop Hi Folks! We are pleased to announce our ‘Little Green Frogs’ Eco-Kid Workshops this coming school holidays from 14 – 17 March 2011. These are specially designed workshops for kids aged 6 – 10 by our UPM horticulturist intern, Catherine Labrooy. She has assembled some fabulous, hands-on eco experiences from kids covering [...]

We welcomed Agilent Technologies (Penang) to the gardens recently for a corporate teambuilding session. They got all nice and sweaty in the gardens on a treausre hunt followed by some great team effort in putting a curry together. Usually teams are greeted by a white banner – the Agilent team were in for a pleasant [...]