Today, MCG members celebrated Hinamatsuri at Wa-Raku Japanese Dining House on Jalan Stonor.

We thank Junko Harada, Miki Udagawa and Mariko Konishi for organising this special event, which included a talk by Junko about the various Japanese festivals (matsuri) and the history of the dolls (hina) associated with Hinamatsuri. That led to a session when we made our own origami hina, after which was kaiseki-ryori or “lunch”.

Japan celebrates 5 major seasonal festivals (go-sekku). The original meaning of sekku is to eat together with the gods. These festivals were introduced from China and are based on animism, mythology and feng-shui. Each festival is celebrated in a month with an odd number of days and has its own seasonal flowers and special offerings to the gods.

• January 7th – Celebration of the coming of spring when a special offering of 7 kinds of wild vegetables cooked in porridge is made.
• March 3rd – Hinamatsuri or Girl’s Day is celebrated before the planting of the rice fields. Originally, this was a purification ceremony (Nagashibina) that involved the floating of paper dolls in a river to symbolise cleansing of sins. Offerings on this day consist of white rice wine and diamond-shaped rice cakes in three layers of white, pink and light green. The festive flower is the peach flower, which is believed by the Chinese to expel evil.
• May 5th – Celebration of Boy’s Day when chimaki or sweet rice cakes wrapped in broad leaves is offered.
• July 7th – Star festival celebrating the romantic story of two stars loving each other. A sasa or bamboo tree is decorated similar to a Christmas tree with lots of paper ornaments. Rice cakes of various shapes are offered.
• September 9th – Chrysanthemum festival celebrating harvest time. In yin-yang philosophy, the number 9 is the most “yang” number. As the 9th day of the 9th month has a double 9, it is thought to be the extreme of yang. Yin is the dark side and yang is the bright side of everything. As September 9th is the peak of yang, after this date everything is thought to be in decline and winter approaches. This decline is also represented by death and chrysanthemum flowers are often used in funerals in Japan.

The history of dolls in Japan seems to have had rather morbid beginnings. Historical records tell of a lord who decided not to bury live slaves with the dead ruler, as was traditionally done, because their crying lasted too long. Instead he ordered that dolls made of clay (called dogu) be buried beside the coffin. When the philosophy of feng-shui was introduced, dolls made of wood, paper or rice straw were used to curse enemies. These dolls, used in place of live sacrifices and to curse enemies, may have been the origins of Nagashibina, or the purification ceremony, as Hinamatsuri was once celebrated.

Today, Hinamatsuri is the day when little girls display their favourite hina dolls, usually given by their maternal grandparents at their birth. These dolls are made of clay or porcelain with elaborate costumes often in expensive fabric. The dolls are carefully arranged on a set of step-back shelves displayed as an old-fashioned Japanese court, with the emperor and the empress at the top and other ranks below.

A full set consists of 15 dolls, including the emperor, empress, 3 ladies-in-waiting, 2 ministers, 5 musicians and 3 male servants. Friends are invited to admire the dolls and the young ladies, dressed in their best brightly flowered kimonos sit before the display and eat candies and other delicacies.

After Junko’s presentation, we folded and cut and folded some more to produce our own origami hina – the emperor and empress – with excellent direction and coaching from those who’d done it before!

When Chef Ando was introduced, we opened the lacquered boxes that were placed before us, to a stunning visual presentation of our lunch.

Japanese cuisine is derived from kaiseki-ryori, a series of light dishes served before the tea ceremony to ease the hunger of the guests.

Kaiseki means to hold a warm stone on one’s stomach to numb the pain of hunger. Kaiseki-ryori is also served at Haiku parties but in a casual manner where the dishes are served on one or two trays.

In each lacquered box there were five small beautifully arranged dishes and when you don’t know what you are eating, wasn’t it nice to have a diagram describing the delicacies in front of us!

Each dish had a name. The takimono agemono consisted of grilled salmon, yam, fish cake, egg roll, deep-fried fish and pickled lotus root; the nimono–yam, octopus and tofu; the gohan was sushi rice wrapped in baked egg; the kuchitori on hassun–yam with miso sauce, grilled shrimp, clam and vegetable tossed with fish-flavored vinegar, and the sashimi on omukoh was seabass. Green tea flavoured ice cream was the sweet ending to this gastronomic experience.

We were also treated to the fine voice of Miki who sang a Hinamatsuri song.

For those interested in more information about Japanese dolls and culture, two books that were on display – Identifying Japanese Dolls by Lea Baten (Hotei Publishing) and Japan: The Cycle of Life (Kodansha International Publisher)–are available for viewing at the library of The Japan Foundation in the Citibank Building on Jalan Ampang. The Japan Foundation also sets up its collection of hina dolls during the celebration of Hinamatsuri.
- Barbara Kerfoot

About 80 years ago, the present Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) grounds were little more than abandoned tin mine pits, vegetable gardens and shrubby forest. But since 1926, foresters and scientists have nurtured the park back to life, into serene forest with inspiring trees and wildlife.

Few other forests in the world have been studied as extensively as FRIM's park. As the planted trees matured, a wealth of knowledge on their growth and forest ecology has accumulated. Today, FRIM has a worldwide reputation as a centre of excellent forestry research.

With a group of ten ladies we arrived early at the visitors centre. It was raining a little and the PR officer, Encik Sulaiman, announced, "Sorry, no walk, it will be too slippery!" Instead he gave a wonderful talk - every slide was accompanied by enthusiastic stories. The pictures simply sprang to life and we hung onto his every word!

He explained about the trees with skirts or pimples, and bark used as sandpaper, about all kinds of different animals: beetles that looked like watermelons, tigers, lorises with big eyes and, of course, snakes. There are a few very poisonous snakes but most snakes here are almost harmless.

He made us all laugh and in the meantime the sun started to shine, so the guided tour to the Canopy could go ahead after all. As we made our way, our guide, Encik Jaafar, pointed out and explained the different species of trees. Almost every tree in the jungle can be used for some purpose. For example:

• The peacock's fern is used to treat headaches, stomach aches, high fevers, rheumatism and asthma. Such plants found their way into the folk medicine of rural dwellers, and used variously for the ailments mentioned above as well as for protective medicine after childbirth.
• A very big spiral 'Tarzan liana' can be used if you are thirsty but if the water that comes out of the liana is cloudy it should be used as glue instead!
• We saw the world's largest bamboo (imported from South America) in its natural glory rather than as one of the many bamboo products we find all over Asia.
• The Pinang palm, after which the island is named, is the betel-nut palm. The nut is both soothing and narcotic. Some ladies used to chew it to colour their teeth dark red in order to attract the men!
• Rattan has spiny stems, with many curved thorns for climbing and hooking onto the nearest branch or object. Rattan is useful for weaving baskets, making fish traps, musical instruments and furniture. (During one of our guide's explanations we looked up and saw the biggest spider we have ever seen! It put on a good show by catching a fly, but it gave us the creeps.)
• The Sandpaper Tetracera, a large woody climber with medium-sized leaves, has very rough leaves that are used as sandpaper in traditional woodcarving or for buffing pewter-ware, like Selangor Pewter.

I could write a book about all the miraculous things nature has to offer but we have to continue with the Canopy walk… Before reaching the Canopy walkway we had to trek up a steep path, accompanied by the kampong dog and the real sounds of the jungle.

The cicadas gave us an encouraging concert. During our climb we could rest on special benches, get the heartbeat down, drink some water before we continued. There was good team spirit; nobody gave up and everyone made it to the top.

The Canopy walkway was constructed in 1992 with aid from the German Agency for Technical Cooperation. The walkway spans about 200 metres, suspended between trees about 30 metres above the ground.

The walkway system and the platforms are vantage points from which one experiences life from a monkey's perspective amongst the treetops, as well as to enjoy panoramic views of the forest and surroundings. Besides this, the walkway system functions as a platform for scientific study of canopy plants and animals.

Some of us really had to talk ourselves into going on the walkway. I must admit it looked a bit scary.

However, everybody succeeded, enjoyed the view and we could even see the Twin Towers in the distance. We took photos both for the memory and to prove to the family that we had "been there, done that, bought the T-shirt!" We all felt very proud of ourselves.

Back on Earth, we found a nice little café in the park where we had a cool glass of lime juice and some enjoyed a well-deserved buffet lunch. Some ladies were even thinking of staying for the night safari. Scary.

It was a very enjoyable morning with good slides, a good walk and talk. My thanks to all the ladies who joined in this adventure.

If you want to do the Canopy walk at FRIM, it is normally closed on Sundays and Mondays because the trees around the canopy need a rest.

It is open during the remainder of the week and on the second Sunday of each month. You have to make an appointment if you want to do the Canopy walkway.

Visit their website for details - www.frim.gov.my
- Geke Tanner

On a rather cool and cloudy morning, a group of about 20 MCG members gathered at Rimbun Dahan, a 14-acre estate and home to the Hijjas family.

The lady of the house, Angela, welcomed us and presented the programme: it sounded like a perfect mix of botanic, historical and artistic discovery!

We started with the herb and spice garden, Taman Sari, which is Angela's pride and joy. She explained that she had recently introduced a labelling system (very useful for the uninitiated!) and that her aim was to collect as many species as culturally relevant.

Indeed, lots of Southeast Asian varieties used both for cooking and medicine are well represented here.

For the botanists amongst us, it is a paradise planted with, to name but a few: nutmeg, clove, ginger, lime, pandan, turmeric, basil, and aloe vera.

There are also vegetables such as beans, and fruit seen in abundance in this part of the world, namely bananas and pineapples.

Our next point of interest was Rumah Uda Manap, the restored kampong house which we reached after a leisurely walk through the estate, passing enroute the classic car garage and the artists' studios.

One of Angela's on-going projects is to develop walking trails with plants throughout the garden, something both exhilarating and frustrating given the capricious nature of the local vegetation!

Angela's passion for landscaping and experimentation was again obvious when she led us to a special place called Sungei Pelong (a circle of Pelong trees).

She told us that naming places after plants or trees is part of traditional Malay culture, a custom well worth keeping especially for the younger generation who are being raised in cities like KL!

By the way, maintaining such a huge garden requires not only Angela's skilful care but also the help of two gardeners, one of them part-time.

The importance of a multicultural society is another theme close to Angela's heart. It was actually what led her to rebuild and restore an original Malay-Chinese house from Parit, Perak, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. Indeed, Rumah Uda Manap is a delightful example of a traditional Malay kampong house decorated with elaborate Chinese carvings and paintings.

While the exterior is exotic and colourful, still showing the original building materials from Sumatra, the interior of the house is very simple, with a few original items of furniture.

Apart from some small changes, the construction still looks like what it was back in the 1900s, a remarkable achievement showing the skill and dedication of the restoration team.

It seems like a perfect get-away for a relaxing weekend! In fact, Angela told us that a writer with two children would soon be coming to stay there for a while. Some people are lucky!

Earlier, Angela had stressed the importance of cultivating strong ties between Australia, her home country, and Malaysia, from a personal and artistic point of view.

This was very apparent during the next highlight of our tour, namely the exhibition by three young artists, a Malaysian, Jasmine Kok, and two Australians, Troy Ruffels and Anne Morrison.

They were selected to benefit from the Rimbun Dahan Art Residency Programme, giving them the opportunity to stay and work at Rimbun Dahan for a year. The exhibition we saw was the culmination of their residency.

After a morning well spent, it was time for some refreshment and an informal talk in the beautiful Hijjas home. Personally, I very much enjoyed this event - a good combination of local history, tradition and modern art. Thank you very much Angela, for your hospitality and knowledgeable guiding.
- Marie-Do de Regt

The Committee members of the MCG would like to invite all MCG newcomers to a coffee morning at the home of our librarian, Renata Greplova. This will be a great opportunity for you to meet the committee, other MCG members and find out more about our group.

You can give our infamous Events Planning team feedback and ideas for future events. You will also find out about our monthly Lecture Series, our two book chapters and the Explorers team. Renata will be most happy to show you the more than 600 books collected by the MCG over the past 20 years, and explain how you can take advantage of our fabulous Library.

So if you are ready to get more involved in KL and MCG life, we encourage you to join us! The MCG will need a few enthusiastic new Committee members to stand for election in May, so this is a perfect chance for you to see and hear exactly what is involved in becoming a Committee or an Events Planning team member. We look forward to seeing you there! ‘Oldstayers’ are also most welcome to come and share their knowledge of KL and the MCG with the newcomers.