An Afternoon at Zoo Negara

The above are our 'obligatory' pose in Zoo Negara. Did we get to see the real pandas?
(In progress)

14.03.15

The Elephants of Pinnawala

The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is a must-stop detour along the Colombo-Kandy Road. Pinnawala Village is 13 km northwest of Kegalle town off the Kegalle-Rambukkana Road. Here at the orphanage cum captive breeding grounds you get to see these beautiful large creatures (about sixty or more of them I'm told) go about freely under the watchful eyes of their mahouts. A few of them are in chains though. We reasoned they must be the more 'difficult' ones.

It was feeding time when we got there. The adults eat mostly foliage brought in from the jungles around the area while the little ones are bottle-fed with milk. It was fun watching the antics of the two 'babies' that were on exhibit that morning we were there. Oh, you can 'feed' the little pachyderms for a fee, if you are so inclined.

These sixty elephants at Pinnawala have a bath in the nearby river twice a day, at 10 am in the morning and 2 pm in the afternoon. Watching them approach the river under the guidance of their mahouts and with some fanfare provided by 'security men' with megaphones, is just so surreal... and unforgettable.

In the river, these large mammals seem to love being there. Under the caring eyes of their mahouts, they seem to frolic with each other in the brown flowing waters. (If you are so inclined again, you can help bathe an elephant for a fee).

After the wonderful spectacle of elephants in the river, what is the best souvenir from Pinnawala? Definitely the elephant poo products. Poo? Eeeuww! Not to worry, elephants are herbivores, and its all been thoroughly cleaned and processed naturally and there are no smells lingering in the end product! So go ahead and get something. We got fridge magnets. Elephant poo fridge magnets!

12 February 2015

Bears Galore;1600 in All

A whole army of 1600 black and white bears has invaded the Publika, Solaris Dutamas. They came on the 13th January and will only leave on the 25th. But not to worry because they are really cute little pandas made of papier-mache. They are currently in Malaysia on their world tour program begun in 2008 with the cooperation of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Since 21 December 2014, they have already 'visited' some 14 iconic locations including Dataran Merdeka, Taiping Lake Gardens, Red Square Melaka, Cheong Fatt Tze Pulau Pinang, Dataran Menara Condong Teluk Intan, etc. They are travelling the world to remind you and me about animal welfare and environmental conservation.

Note: The panda sculptures are by Frenchman Paulo Grangeon, who reportedly used recycled paper to create the 1600 pandas, this number being the symbolic representation of pandas left in the wild.

MAHA 2014 @ MAEPSerdang

MAHA @ MAEPS is the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture & Agrotourism Show at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang. I do not know the year this annual show started but it was only recently that I went there for the first time. I went with A, who was a volunteer some years ago - when she also got to meet our hero Dr. M then (as she always reminds me).

The showgrounds are spread over a huge area so visitors usually will take the free trams and buses to get to wherever their interest lie. There are the Main Exhibition Hall, Vegetable & Herb Showground, Fisheries Showground, Floriculture Showground, State Pavilions, Paddy Showground, Pineapple Showground, Livestock Showground, Machineries Showground, etc. Actually if you want to cover them all, you need to go over a few days.

We went on only one day and parked at the Laman Tiba 2 (Arrival Complex 2). We only managed to cover the Livestock Showground before taking the free bus to the Main Exhibition Hall.

The Livestock Showground exhibited an array of animals (plus a mechanical bull which provided a lot of laughs!). There were the work animals, livestock bred for food and 'fun' animals for pets (including pygmy goats, Playboy bunny rabbits, cats, guinea pigs, etc.). Two rather 'famous' cats we were charmed to meet are Ah Yen (aka Garfield, shown below with his handler/owner Ruzita of  A'sta Katz Hotel-Spa-Grooming, Cheras) and Che Mat (shown above with A and his handler/owner Khairul, Ruzita's husband). The only dog we saw (and touched) was a model search and rescue Alsatian.

At the Main Exhibition Hall area there are a number of venues of which the Dewan A Agensi Kerajaan (Hall A Government Agencies) was where we spent some time. We bought books from MARDI* and checked out the numerous exhibits of fruits and flowers. Some fruits are not familiar but they are well-labeled so I took many photos of both these and the beautiful orchids on display, which I will put up later in another blog post.

We also went to another (International) Exhibition Hall where among others, there were two booths set up by the Governments of Fiji and Ecuador. The Fiji booth was closed then but we spent quite a bit of time at the Ecuador booth. We discovered some interesting facts about Ecuador here and a blog post is definitely forthcoming.

*MARDI is the Malaysian Agricultural Research & Development Institute.
26 November 2014

Flamingos

Flamingos are magical creatures, don't you think? These orange coloured feathered Caribbean flamingos were at the Singapore Jurong Bird Park. I took this snapshot when I was there with some friends three years ago.

A Favourite Photograph: Pink Jellyfish

To close the year, here is my favourite picture (among thousands I have taken) in my last post of 2013. The picture was taken in an aquarium while travelling in a neighbouring country some years ago. Pretty pink jellyfish in bright blue waters ... beautiful and surreal.

Jellyfish notes:
1. Jellyfish is more than 90% water. Most of their umbrella mass is a gelatinous material (the jelly) called mesoglea, which is surrounded by two layers of cells and forms the umbrella (top surface). The subumbrella (bottom surface) of the body is known as the bell - Socialphy
2. Jellyfish are found in every ocean, from the surface to the deep sea. A few jellyfish inhabit fresh water. Large, often colourful, jellyfish are common in coastal zones worldwide. Jellyfish have roamed the seas for at least 500 million years, and possibly 700 million years or more, making them the oldest multi-organ animal - Wikipedia.

Snapshots: Abi & Amran Stokin (Cats in Our Lives)

As posted/promised earlier, I would write about the cats in our lives. But the muse will not come to write anything, after I was reminded of a very sad incident involving one of them. So these pictures of Abi, our main cat, and Amran Stokin, our front lawn cat, will do for now.

1. Abi, "What are you lookin' at? Me?"

2. "Get off my case!"

3. "Just let me be ... its comfy here on the sofa"

4. Amran Stokin, "How come Abi gets a comfy sofa and I get this ticklish lawn? Did I say lawn? More like a grassland actually!"

5. "Not fair, I say. My white stockings will get dirty, lah!"

Photos by CNB

Meow!

This is Abi, a female cat. She was very much a part of our lives in Gelugor, Pulau Pinang.

Abi will be featured later in "Cats in Our Lives". Not a Hollywood feature or a TLC documentary film, but my blog entry, lah!

Magical Fireflies & More in Kuala Selangor

Its been a few years since we were in Kuala Selangor, especially to see for ourselves the magical flickering firefly colony in Kampung Kuantan. I remember that before going, there were 'warnings' about crocodiles in the area where the berembang trees (favoured by the fireflies), were along the Selangor River. But we dismissed these because after all if so many have gone there before us, why not us?

So one evening in Kampung Kuantan, about 15 minutes from the coastal town of Kuala Selangor, we gamely donned life jackets and got into the sampan (traditional small Malay boat), oared by a man who has guided so many tourists, local and foreign along the Selangor River to witness the lights of the kelip-kelip (fireflies). Indeed when we got to the berembang trees so favoured by the fireflies, there they were like flickering lights on a Christmas tree. No, they were better - they were magic! (Pity my camera was not good enough to do any justice to this magic, hence no firefly photos.)

Waiting at the jetty for a sampan (2007)

Apart from the fireflies at night, there are the fascinating Lutung or silvered leaf monkeys on Bukit Malawati (Malawati Hill) in the daytime. Even more fascinating, their very young are a golden orange colour! These creatures are so docile, quite unlike their rather aggressive cousins, the long tailed macaques. (Later our guide at the Kuala Selangor Nature Park would joke about the monkeys leaving their nature park home in the day for 'work' at Bukit Malawati - 'entertaining' the visitors there and waiting for their just rewards!)

Some adult leaf monkeys and a golden baby (CNB 2007)

The peaceful primates even line up for food handouts from
visitors (CNB 2007)

Silvered leaf monkeys swarming a car (CNB 2007)

Bukit Malawati has many historical relics including Kota Malawati (Fort Malawati), seat of the first rulers of Selangor. The Makam Diraja is a royal mausoleum with the graves of three Sultans. Other interesting relics include the Perigi beracun (Poisoned well), Batu hampar (a stone execution block), a 100 step path and cannons. Kuala Selangor being at the mouth of the Selangor River (kuala=estuary), was once a thriving trading post. Many battles were fought between the locals and foreign seafaring invaders. The Dutch left their mark in the Kota Belanda (Dutch Fort) and the Altinsburg Lighthouse.

Bukit Malawati relics: The lighthouse and a
bronze cannon (CNB 2007)

The ancient Dutch fort is on the nearby Bukit Belanda/Bukit Tanjung Keramat. The area is not so well cared for but we were really more interested in the 'legend' of the pious maiden Rubiah, who disappeared on her wedding day. She had, probably drowned herself (to avoid the arranged marriage) in the small pretty lake in the lee of the fort. Her parents discovered her clothes hung on a tree near the lake, and later built a grave for her, which became known as the Makam Anak Dara or Virgin's Grave. (Note: I first became aware of this 'legend' after a Yasmin Ahmad movie - Mukhsin).

On the steps leading up to the Virgin's Grave
(AB 2007)

Within walking distance from Kuala Selangor town is the Taman Alam Kuala Selangor or Kuala Selangor Nature Park. This is a 296 acre wetland sanctuary with secondary forests, mudflats and mangroves. The fauna includes 157 species of birds and a brackish lake there provides a roosting and feeding site for a variety, including migratory birds. There are bird hides and towers to better aid viewing. The mudflats are rich in wildlife including fishes and shellfish.

The Park is managed by the Malaysian Nature Society. Being a paid member, we were provided with entrance tickets and a guide at a discounted rate. Wohoo! The guide (I cannot recall his name, I'm so sorry) was pretty knowledgeable and pointed out the various wildlife and their features we would otherwise have missed. Kudos to this well-trained young man.

A & our KSNP guide (CNB 2007)

Mangrove trees at the KSNP (CNB 2007)

A beautiful turquoise mudflat crab (CNB 2007)

Before leaving Kuala Selangor, most people go to Kampung Pasir Penambang, a fishing village with its bustling market and seafood restaurants lining the river bank. This is either to buy fresh fish or fish products, or to partake of the delicious seafood. We shopped at the market and had a very late lunch at the recommended River View Seafood Restaurant. It was a fitting end to our Kuala Selangor sojourn.

Cooling coconut water to quench your thirst (CNB 2007)

Dining at a seafood restaurant affords this nice view of the
Selangor River estuary (CNB 2007)

At the market in Kg Pasir Penambang (AB 2007)

May 2007

Life in an Aquarium

Many an evening in Ampang, the family would sit around and just watch the 'fishy' antics in the small aquarium that B keeps. B started the aquarium with an Oscar cichlid, a catfish and a little lobster. She also had a decor piece with green and other coloured plastic plants placed in the tank. She later introduced some other tropical fish (including Rainbow) into the tank but over the next few weeks the smaller fish 'disappeared', cleaned up by the little lobster after the dominant Oscar had probably terrorised and killed them. Medium sized fish (Midas cichlid?) seemed to be charging and nipping at each other even as the bigger Oscar did the same to them!

Oscar and Lobster (CNB 2011)

Then the other day we read an article in the latest National Geographic magazine about 'Life in a fishbowl'. Biologist Ronald Oldfield's study indicated that pet fish behaviour is greatly influenced by tank size and decor. The fish usually nip and charge at each other in the small typical home tank (like B's), and the attacks subsided in bigger tanks with decor of alcoves and plants. He explained that in the small home tank environments 'aggression becomes cost effective' because fish have nothing else to do in their confined spaces.

Oscar and 'friends' (CNB 2012)

Oldfield's findings means that B has to reduce to a minimum, the number of residents in her little aquarium so they have enough individual space. And the family (read: moi) will not get so worked up about pet fish dying well before their usual life span of 2-3 years!
** Update: 7.6. 2013 Oscar, RIP.