The drive up the Batu Ferringhi coast to Teluk Bahang is pretty on most days with blue skies and even bluer and sometimes green waters reminding those who live on the island that they are blessed. Before arriving in Teluk Bahang town, slow down and to your left, is a “secret garden” on a hill which serves as a sound lesson in creating a classroom of all things nature. Here, you can stroll amidst the foliage and learn new names of flowers, insects and make friends with tadpoles, frogs, and other blessed friends of nature. With a whiff of spice(s) in the air, you want to learn more about the smells and beautiful dishes you can whip up with them and all these can be fulfilled in other corners of the garden. A cooking school where chefs like Viji, Nyonya Su Pei and Rohana make it a joy to master a local dish or two and partake of it, is found in the grounds. Also perched on a wooden deck, is yet another spot to chill, where you can take it the gentle breezes of the Andaman Sea as you nibble into Thai-inspired canapés or even savour a full Thai lunch or dinner. Even the shopaholics are not forgotten in this tropical paradise, for a retail outlet stocked with many Malaysiana items await.

For now though, lets focus on this weekend’s happenings,  where a “Poison Garden” is taking shape and will be unveiled. The project, is a collaboration between the Tropical Spice Garden and Lithuanian designer Tauras S. The small theme garden is said to reveal the rich history humans co-existing with plants that heal, thrill and kill! Details in the poster below and please remember to RSVP if you are attending.

 Photos courtesy of the Tropical Spice Garden