Balinese Coffee

Balinese coffee is found mainly in the mountain areas of Bali. I shot this image at a small farm on the road up to the Mount Batur volcano and you can see the coffee beans being roasted in the traditional way over a log fire. There are two types of coffee grown in Bali; Arabica Coffee and Robusta Coffee. Many people living in the countryside in Bali will have a small coffee plantation in their back yard and make the coffee powder in the traditional way as you see here. Sometimes they mix the coffee powder with their rice.

Chinese Altar

It always amazes me where you find Chinese altars. This one was spotted in the middle of a palm oil plantation close to Batang Berjuntai in Malaysia. 

Chinese people use altar tables in homes, businesses and temples to give offerings to religious deities or ancestors. People also use these ornate constructions as non-religious decorations.

In Chinese Culture

The Chinese people believe that ancestors live on after death, watch over their descendants and influence their daily lives, according to the British Museum. Family members use altars to give offerings to dead ancestors.

In Taoism

Religious Taoists in China use the altar for ceremonies and for presenting offerings to their deities and immortals.

In Buddhism

Unlike Taoists, Chinese Buddhists do not use the altar table to give offerings to Buddha; they believe he is enlightened and is in no need of symbolic gifts. The offerings are given in remembrance of his teachings and as a symbol of respect.

Occasions

The rites and rituals that require an altar table often coincide with holidays or particular times of the day. Buddhists often give offerings in the mornings, while veneration of the dead can happen any time or on Chinese holidays.

Offerings

Believers typically choose incense, fruits, vegetables and other foods as offerings when using the altar table for rituals. Traditionally, after the ceremony is complete, the participants take away the food so they can eat it, leaving the altar table mostly clear until its next use.

Wild Red Ginger

This beautiful wild red ginger flower was spotted during a visit to the Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Afternoon Tea

Are you sitting having your afternoon tea? If so have you given any thought to where that tea comes from? This is a view over the Boh Tea Plantation in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia - a wonderful swathe of green bushes cover the rolling hills dotted with the tea plantation workers houses.

The Cameron Highlands sit at more than 5000 ft above sea level in the main mountain range of Malaysia and is one of the most fertile agricultural areas of the country. It's also a wonderful place to escape the hot humidity of the lowlands and the traffic jams of Kuala Lumpur for a few days of cool weather, pleasant scenery and of course .... a nice cuppa tea!