You'll find the Tropical Spice Garden on Penang
between Batu Ferringhi and Teluk Bahang. To be exactly: between Bayview Beach
Resort and the Mutiara Hotel. It's a new project on Penang, and it has been open
since 27 November 2003.
You can reach the Spice Garden by taxi or by bus from Batu Ferringhi. It's easy
to find and not so far. There's a bus stop at the
entrance of the Garden.
It's a wonderful escape if you're tired of the busy life in Georgetown. It is a
garden of discovery for the tourists, who miss out on simply pleasure like
walking barefoot on dewy grass or stopping to smell flowers or spices.
The tropical Spice Garden shows us over 500 species of local and foreign flora
from Malaysia and around the world. The imported plants or trees by the English
are for example: tea, rubber tree, and rain tree.
You can have a look at the tropical herbs and spices, set amongst a lush nature
conservation. The Garden is also the home to wild animals, birds and insects.
Also on the grounds is the Lone Crag Villa, a unique pre-war Straits Colonial
holiday bungalow. The villa is the Visitor Centre of the
Tropical Spice Garden and houses attractions such as the Spice Museum, Café,
Gift Shop and Garden Shop.
Different aspects can be explored and discovered by following any of the three
undulating Garden Trails leading to 11 distinct "rooms"- water garden, cycad
room, banana/heliconia bank, spice terrace, bamboo garden, ginger walk, sugar
terrace, ornamental valley, croton wall, fern walk and jungle trail.
The trails begin at the main gate. They are called:
- jungle trail (follow the green marks; duration 40 -45 minutes)
- ornamental trail (follow the red marks; duration 20 - 25 minutes)
- spice trail (follow the orange marks; duration 30 - 35 minutes)
We visited the Tropical Spice
Garden in April. We spend there
lovely 2 hours. We enjoyed the lush
of tropical greenery, the smell and
the beauty.
When you are tired of the busy life
of Georgetown, Tanjong Bungah or
Batu Ferringhi, this is the place to
cool down. You're always walking in
the shadow of the trees.
The best time to there is in the
morning. It's cool and quiet.
All trails start at the Main Gate
near the Water Garden. You see
lilly's at the pond and sometimes
the paths go up and sometimes
down. There's only one path, which
is suitable for wheelchair or stroller:
the ornamental trail. There are
benches along the paths if you're
tired. There's even a giant swing to
rest your tired legs and to sit and
relax. The swing is hanging 9
meters from a tree on an elevated
platform. From this point you have
a wonderful view at the pond.
To explore the Spice Garden we had chosen
to start with the "spice trail". We followed the orange/ yellow marks on the
floor. We wanted to see the tamarind, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, ginger,
annatto and clove. We wanted to see them grow and really it was a
discovering trail. At the herbs and spices is a little sign, which will tell
you where it's used for: medicine, kitchen or as a magic potion.....
At the end of the trail you end at the Water Garden. Time to take a little
rest and after that we started with the "jungle trail".
Now we had to follow the red marks. We walk along the sugar cane, sugar
palms and ferns. Surprising (for us) is to see the cacao, the oil palm,
rubber tree. The orchids we see, we do have them at home. That's not so
rare.
We pass along a very special old Chinese door. They use in the Spice Garden
material from the old heritage houses. It's nice to pass them.
We rest at the waterfall before going to the end.
The people (very friendly) surprised us with a little drink. It was very
nice and cool. Still don't know, what it was.
Our last trail is the "ornamental trail". At
the pond we discover a fisherman sampan and a padi field. It had rained
extremely the night before and the sampan was full of water. A man was
emptying the boat.
Most of the plants you see here, can be found in a Malaysian garden.
We are touched by the Silver Joey Palm. It seems to be listed as a
threatened endemic specie. It's a very rare palm because of it's spectacular
appearance. It's leaf can reach a length of more than 3 meters and a
wide up to 2 meters.
At the right you see a banana flower. The
wild banana of the Malaysian region is called Musa acuminata. This wild
plant, sometimes known as the monkey banana, must have been used for food
since the earliest of times. From the stems, that are about 12 inches thick,
flower shoots begin to produce bananas. If you have never seen bananas
growing, you might be puzzled that they appear to be growing upside-down
with their stems connected to the bunch at the bottom and the tips pointing
upward. On a banana leaf we found a nice red beetle (see photo)
Below you see the fruit of a nutmeg tree.
The nutmeg tree is evergreen, with oblong egg-shaped leaves and small,
bell-like light yellow flowers that give off a distinct aroma when in bloom.
The fruit is light yellow with red and green markings, resembling an apricot
or a large plum. As the fruit matures, the outer fleshy covering (which is
candied or pickled as snacks in Malaysia) bursts to reveal the seed. The
seed is covered with red membranes called an aril, the mace portion of the
nutmeg. The nut is then dried for up to
two months until the
inner nut rattles inside the shell. It is then shelled to reveal the
valuable egg-shaped nutmeat which is the edible nutmeg. Second-rate nuts are
pressed for the oil, which is used in perfumes and in the food industry.
The fruit, the mace and the nut
Our little red beetle.
A banana flower
Lemon
grass,
a native of Malaysia,
is one of the most important ingredients in South Asian and Southeast Asian
cuisines. It has long, thin, gray-green leaves, and a small, leek-like base.
Lemon grass is most
often used in curries, marinades, stews and seafood soups because it needs
liquids to bring out the essential oils, necessary for enhancing the full
flavour of this herb. The soft citrus taste helps to lighten richer tasting
dishes. Lemon grass
is used as the basis of a popular drink in the tropics, and as a tea. In the
exotic flavour of Southeast Asian cooking, lemongrass balances the zing of hot chillies, garlic
and cilantro, and gives depth to cool mint. Citral, its dominant essential
oil, is also found in lemon peel and gives
lemon grass its
distinctive lemony taste and scent without the bite that lemons can add to a
dish. The taste of lemon
grass is refreshing and light, with a hint of ginger.
Conclusion: The Tropical Spice Garden gives
us a good impression of the herbs, spices and plants pf Malaysia. It's
really worth a visit.
My friend (a Malaysian) had invited me to the Spice Garden. He had not been
there before also.
His conclusion was: "You aren't going to pay for something you can see in your
own garden!". For us, as tourists, it's nice to be there and worth a visit.
