Colours of the 19th Shah Alam Orchid Festival (FASA-19)

The 19^th Shah Alam Orchid Festival (Festival Anggerik Shah Alam ke-19 aka FASA19) is currently on at SACC Mall in Shah Alam from the 6^th - 9^th of December 2012. The theme for this year is Dendrobiums, hence there's a whole lot of Dendrobiums placed on the centre court of the shopping complex atrium.

The best plant award goes to a Dendrobium macrophyllum - the flowers are a little 'scary' with hairy buds and pedicels, but pretty in an ugly duckling way. Also, this specimen plant is huge.

The first day (6th Dec) is when they set up the show plants and the judging of these plants takes place. There is a stall that sells orchids located in the vicinity of the exhibition area for those who want to increase their orchid collection or have decided to delved into growing orchids as a hobby.

Vascostylis Prapawan - the label says Asco. Prapawan, which is incorrect. This is a vividly blue-lilac Vascostylis that comes from crossing Vascostylis Tham Yuan Hae with Vanda coerulea.

So here are a few pics of the plants on show. I will upload more as I go through the 200 over photos of orchids in various shapes, sizes and colours.

Rhyncholaeliocattleya (syn. Brassolaeliocattleya) Chia Lin - this is the 1st place winner for its category. It is a large-flowerded Cattleya type, and various clones of this hybrid exist. The tag reads Blc Cairling or something that sounds like that. Poor flower, her name got mangled by its owner or the seller.

Rhyncholaeliocattleya (syn. Brassolaeliocattleya) King of Taiwan. Another winner (2nd place) and a showy red-burgundy coloured Cattleya.

Here's another beautiful Cattleya-type orchid with its name 'mangled' by its owner or the seller. I took one glance at the flower and thought it was one that I had seen before. Took a second look, and then checked the tag. The tag (you can see it in the picture) reads something like Crime Sin Rozles. Based on the appearance of the flower and how the name got 'mangled' it should be the lovely Rhyncholaeliocattleya Memoria Crispin Rosales. A real Crime Sin indeed!!!

Vascostylis Pearl Cooper - the tag gives the name as a cross of Rhynchostylis coelestis x Ascocenda Pralor. I love how the yellow petals look so good with the reddish-orange lip.

An unnamed hybrid in the exhibition. It looks like a Rhyncovola (syn Brassavola) David Sanders, based on the lip and the leaves on the plant.

Vandachostylis (syn Rhynchovanda) Herbert Kurihara - this is the 1st place winner for the Vascostylis/Ascocenda category. The plant was labeled as Vascostylis Kulihara! The parents of this cross are Vanda Winifred Kurihara and Rhynchostylis coelestis. Vanda Winifred Kurihara is a 3/4 terete Vanda made by crossing Vanda Nellie Morley with Vanda Miss Joaquim. The white outline on the petals and sepals plus the darker chartreuse-quartered lateral sepals of Vandachostylis Herbert Kurihara are reminiscent of Vanda Nellie Morley.

Dendrobium venustum - and interesting Dendrobium species with frilly lips and long cascading inflorescence.

Ascocenda Somsri Gold. A beautiful lime green-lemon yellow large-flowered Ascocenda that looks like a Vanda.

For the Vascostylis/Ascocenda category, the first and third place were taken by two diffferent clones of Vandachostylis Herbert Kurihara (both labeled wrongly, one as Vascostylis Kulihara and the other as Vascostylis Herbert Kulihara). The second place went to a Vascostylis Prapawan (labeled as an Ascocenda!). There were two Vasco. Prapawan and two Vandachostylis Herbert Kurihara entered in this category.

So if you have some time to spare, and love orchids, do drop by Shah Alam City Centre (SACC) Mall this weekend to have a look at the orchids on display there for the 19^th Shah Alam Orchid Show (FASA-19).

MAHA 2012 - Expectations and Exhibitions

Here's a short article for MAHA 2012. Yesterday, I spent 4 hours there but only managed to visit a few of the exhibition sites, namely the farm animal site, the main exhibition halls and the associated bazaar, plus the floriculture bazaar. I have not stepped into the pineapple farm area, the paddy area, the birdnest/swift site, the floriculture park, the mini fun fair park (with water activities), the state pavillions, the stage area, the fisheries area, the state food section and God knows what else is there. The very first shortcoming is the lack of clear site info on the expo ground. So do your homework before you leave for MAHA 2012 at MAEPS.

Tolumnia Golden Sunset (formerly Oncidium Golden Sunset) unknown cultivar. This is one of the orchids in the competition display at the exhibition hall. Tolumnia Golden Sunset is a highly variable grex, with colours ranging from pink with magenta spots to clean yellow.

The next thing you must remember is which entry point you came into the expo: Site 1 or Site 2. You will be given a parking card (parking fees is RM3 per entry), which states which area you parked in. Make sure you bring that along. If the number starts with 1, you entered through Site 1 (Arrival Area 1), if it is 2, then Site 2. Site 1 is closer to the main halls and floriculture area. Site 2 enters directly into the animal husbandry area. These two sites are connected by trams (need to do multiple changes to cover all sites) or by bus, which sort of skirts the entire loop of all the exhibition sites. Hence the bus may take a while to come by.

Rhyncholaeliocattleya (syn. Brassolaeliocattleya) Haadyai Delight. A beautiful yellow-orange concolour orchid with a very sunny disposition.

When you need to get back to your parking area, do ask the volunteers dressed in green polo shirts. And make sure that they tell you where to get off, and what tram to change to. While trying to get back, I was told to take the tram from Site 1 entry  to the pavillion, and transit. I got on to the next train, and was told to get on another tram. On this tram, I took a leisure ride round the loop as I was not told that I need to change to another train, i.e. at the paddy area to tram D (yes, there are 4 routes for the tram, the fifth route being the bus route) to get to Site 2 entry point. So round-and-round I went (makan angin tengok pemandangan), with a few others who were in the same boat, er...tram. Mind you it was late and I was tired.

So there are a few things that I want to sum up about MAHA 2012. Since the word MAHA also means great or supreme in Bahasa Malaysia, I have come up with a MAHA list. For me the expo was...

1. MAHA Besar (huge) - so many sites and so many things to see.
2. MAHA Bazaar (like a huge bazaar) - many stalls selling all sorts. Very much like an oversized pasar malam (night market). I think it can go into the Book of Records as the biggest night market.
3. MAHA Belanja (spend big) - you can buy lots of stuff, be it food, plants, machinery, animals etc. So keep an eye on the cash flow. Luckily I went with only RM20 in my pocket.
4. MAHA Memakan masa (takes up a lot of time) - Too many things to see and a large ground to cover. 4 hrs that I spent there I have only scratched the surface.
5. MAHA Pening (Great confusion) - Very poor onsite indicators and signs. Which is why it also takes a lot of time to get to where you want to go to.
6. MAHA Membuka mata (A great eye opener) - You can see how to milk a cow or buffalo and realised how difficult it is to do it manually. Also all the strange plants, weird breeds of poultry and goats, different kinds of fruits and processed foods.
7. MAHA Kecewa (Great disappointment) - The exhibition halls are pathetic, except for the Government and GLCs hall. The international hall is quite empty with a bizarre array of exhibits (P. Ramlee pun ada) and the local halls are more like pasar tani crossed with a supermarket.
8. MAHA Becak (Really muddy) - The grounds gets muddy with rain, and they have to put 'walkboards' (read planks) for people to cross the bazaar area or exhibits. The toilets are wetter still and muddy with all the mud tracked in by peoples shoes.

Understandingly they are still improving on the Expo, as it has only been held on this site (MAEPS) for 4 times (since 2006, if I am not mistaken). Lastly, here are some photos. Most of it are dark as I arrived there in the evening.

A Brahman cow. Apparently she is expensive. I didn't ask exactly how much (why in the world would I be interested in buying a cow?).

Gobble, gobble, gobble...Saved from Thanksgiving, perhaps not from Christmas. They must sense that I had a Christmas turkey with stuffing on my mind when I took this shot as they were running around trying to get away from my camera!

A camera-shy Silver Sebright Bantam (Ayam Serama Silver Sebright). He kept on turning the other way...perhaps he only wants to be shot by professional photographers.

Paphiopedilum dayanum (right) and Paphiopedilum barbatum (left) according to their labels.

The label reads Vanda Dr Anek x Suksamran Gold - I believe it should be properly labeled as Vanda Doctor Anek x Ascocenda Suksamran Gold. This cross is registered as Ascocenda Chantra in 2008 by Api Orchids.

This intensely magenta-shocking pink Phalaenopsis was labeled as Phal. Tan Lee Moy x Taiping Ruby. A check with RHS Orchid registry indicates that a reciprocal cross has been registered...and guess what is the name of the reciprocal cross - Phalaenopsis Permata Rosmah Mansor! Patutlah kalernya menarik semacam je. In orchids, reciprocal crosses are considered the same, and hence carry the same registered grex name. The reciprocal cross, sempena Kak Ros kita, yang lagi garang warnanya berbanding yang ini telah didaftarkan oleh R.Ang Chee Soong pada 2010.

The tag says Vanda limbata. Most Vanda limbata floating around on the market are hybrids.

The Agricultural Department also have an exhibit on rare local fruits. Pictured here is Cerapu (Garcinia prainiana). If you think it looks like a mangosteen or Asam Gelugor then you are not mistaken. They are all related i.e. from the genus Garcinia. If you haven't seen buah engkala, dabai or kelubi before, please visit this exhibit.

One of the 'strange' trees on sale at the floriculture bazaar - Purple Guava. So move aside the white guave, and push the pink guava off the stage. Here comes purple guava!

At the Agri Bazaar, you can sample processed food by local companies to your hearts content. A lot of them seems to be selling kuih lapis Sarawak. Why ah?

Pesanan khas dari tuan punya blog: Saya sudah MAHA, anda bagaimana??

MAHA 2012 is Coming

The biennial Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism International Show, better known as MAHA is back for 2012. It will be held from the 23^rd of November until the 2^nd of December 2012. The venue remains the same, i.e. the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS), Selangor. You can go to their website and download or view the showground map as well other details pertaining to the exhibition.

Showground map for MAHA 2012 - from www.maha.gov.my

If I am not mistaken, the opening hours are usually from 10am - 10pm, with longer hours for the weekend. Do drop by and have a look if you have the time. The last MAHA that I went to, I looked like a mobile jungle (think of Mrs. Bucket's Outdoors Indoors Luxury Barbecue and Finger Buffet episode) when I left the show site, so be warned!

UPDATE: Click here to see some photos and info in my next post about MAHA 2012