KL Bird Park 12 Jan 2013

We wanted to go here because we missed the visit the first time around as it was already evening (remember the time we visited the Planetarium). So papa decided that we should come here this time around (we're on our way to bring Tareeq tu PPUM for his annual check-up). More like killing two birds with one stone.

 On our way to the KL Bird Park, we stopped at one of the highway's rest areas because Zoey said she was hungry. She just wanted to eat ice-cream, actually. But I ended up buying her fruits instead.  

I found this forest fruit.  I used to eat it when I was small.  Nenek and Tok Chik used to buy me this.  It's buah keranji - sweet and sour fruits with porous black skin and velvety orange flesh and a very small seed.  

While Papa was driving I took pictures of the highway. And hoping it wouldn't rain in KL.

 It wasn't too difficult to find this park with the help of the GPS.  It was early when we arrived but there were already many visitors, mostly foreigners.  The reason we wanted to bring you guys here was because we could walk with the birds around.  It cost RM25 (adult) and RM12 (children).  But since it's the weekend, it cost more. So we paid RM166 instead of RM137.  

Looking at the first 2 birds made us excited and so we quickly ventured inside.  They're not very afraid of humans.  Just perching there like nothing's going on.  Group photos first!

 This was the second encounter.  Beautiful creature!  We were greeted by this peacock that seemed indifferent to people around and proudly displayed its beauty to anyone who cared enough to stop and look - actually, everybody stopped and looked. Heeheehee...

 And we walked down the slope to the next area. There were many people but it's not too crowded.  There were many walkways to choose from.  So, it means anyone can start anywhere they like for as long as they can handle it.  The weather was cooperating that day.  The aviary was also under shaded trees and some nets covering the whole area (!) which protected it from direct sunlight.

 There were also seeds sold for RM1 per packet.  So, we could feed the birds using their own food and not human food - although Zoey did munch a few of those seeds and she said they tasted nice. Hahaha...  Anyway, Zoey became relaxed after just a few minutes inside and started chasing the birds.  Then we went to the flamingo pond which they shared with a few other types of birds - and the peacocks were always everywhere.

 There were so many kinds of beautiful fowls in the park.  Most were left free to roam the park while some exotic ones were in large cages - to allow them to fly.  The colourful duck was kept inside a caged area together with a koi fish pond.  Zoey fed the fish with bird seeds.  The owls were sleeping unperturbed.  The only children at the playground were Tareeq, Nina and Zoey.

The scenery inside the aviary was also beautiful if you can ignore the smell.  Most of it were man made i think, but they're beautiful just the same.  I loved taking pictures with these 3 very cooperative models.  They just couldn't be bothered with people and started posing for me.  The duck was sitting up straight proudly when I took its picture.  Another cooperative model.

There were also many rest areas, shelters, benches and stools for people to just sit back, relax, absorb and enjoy the surrounding.  The compound was quite large with many sloping areas.  So these were very accommodating.  There's only 1 cafe inside.  Luckily we already ate.  Water was precious because it's tiring having to walk all around.  There were many cafes outside if one wants to eat before or after the tour.

There weren't that many pigeons.  And they were quite aloof.  Feeding areas were everywhere and it was fun to watch them eating.

The birds were immuned to people. So it's easy to snap any pictures with any birds we liked.

 The parrots were kept in a special large walk-in cage. There were so many types and colors of parrots - green, red, pink, yellow.  Only a few were allowed to roam inside the cage.  Others were kept in individual cage inside that large cage. They were still able to fly inside their individual cage.  I think the black peacock was a female because of its dull color.  And I was also standing about 2 feet away from the white bird which I don't know the type or species.

  

 These white birds were everywhere - and a lot of them too!  They kept following people around especially if you're holding the bird seeds.  After a while, they became quite a nuisance. The statue of the white bird that Zoey was climbing was actually a dustbin.

  

 Green is good for the eyes.

  

Resting and feeding and just enjoying the nature.

After a while, we became restless and I felt like I wanted to be out.  But it was still a long way from the main entrance/exit.  I was already tired of walking and also tired of taking pictures.  I needed to rest my back.

After this we went to Ikea for something to eat.  I didn't buy anything clothy or cushiony there this time.  We just bought a few packets of coffee and some chocolate bars.  We watched the Korean pianist at the Curve for a few minutes.  I did buy a few tudungs from Aidijuma.  I wanted to buy handbags buy nothing worth buying. really.

So anyway, I really loved the trip to the aviary actually, despite being quite tired after a while.  It's worth the trip especially when we went there as a family.

Celestial Being

These pictures were taken on January 4, 2014.  It wasn't that early in the morning, around 9.45am but it was cloudy and the sun was hiding behind a thick veil.

All these pictures were taken on the Teluk Cempedak beach.  Not many people was around that morning. I was just happy to be able to snap pictures of the sun although I still couldn't look at it directly.

I just pointed my camera at the sun and snapped hoping it would turn out okay.

This one was with a dramatic effect.

The original picture.

I couldn't get enough of it!

I asked Zoey to pose under the sun. Kinda like this effect.

Senget sikit.

We are always encouraged to enjoy nature and by that we learn to be thankful to Allah.  We also learn to appreciate the greatness of Allah.  Nothing man-made could ever top what Allah has created.  They're all perfect and each with its own purpose in this world.

Other than that, by enjoying nature, we learn to be thankful (bersyukur) with everything that has been bestowed upon us.  We are not poor nor rich but we have enough. 

Please dear children, bear in mind that everything around us bears Allah's presence. 

Syukur alhamdulillah for another day with all of you. Aameen...

Zainuddin and Baharuddin

These are new additions to our family after Lily and Milly (I think) died a few months before. This time around Papa limits Zoey's role in feeding them.

Lily and Milly were overfed.  One died in the vase and the other committed suicide (ahaks!) by jumping out of the vase and landed on dry tile and I found it all dried up and crinkled.

So this is Baharuddin.  It's blue in color.  We placed it near the TV.

 

And this one is Zainuddin - on Papa's side table - and red in color.

So, everyday Papa will feed them and Zoey is allowed to watch or feed them with Papa's instructions.  So far, they're able to survive Zoey's existence.  Hopefully, they'll be okay and Zoey'll learn the responsibility to care for pets in the near future.  

Pantai Gelora, Kuantan - 11 January 2014

That morning, after we sent Tareeq to work, we continued to Pantai Gelora - again!  This time we took Nina along.  Asha went back to sleep after the Subuh prayer. So, she's not with us that day.

As usual, there were many morning people there - jogging, exercising, brisk walking, enjoying with their families and many more.

Zoey found the playground.

Nina was trying hard to suppress her excitement. Hahaha...

Zoey couldn't care less.

She enjoyed herself.

Nina was still trying to show an indiffferent face. 

She did not dress for the occasion.  She's overdressed!

 

But who cares, right?

 

A girl should be allowed to enjoy herself wearing whatever she likes.  So, have fun Zoey!

I like the surrounding area.  Lots of trees and next to the beach.  And Zoey always managed to keep herself busy.

While we're at the playground, Papa ordered the food.  Yummy Nasi Lemak. I shared with Zoey.

And we moved towards the beach - the same buffered area the last time we're here.  But there wasn't much to do except strolling around.  Being full, tak larat nak jalan.

Go Zoey!

Despite only being there for not more than 2 hours, we're able to at least be stress free.  Enjoying the nature and each other's company.  That's what weekends are for.  All of you are growing up. It's gonna be only a few years left for us to enjoy you exclusively before sharing you with other people.  We hope you'll have happy lives and enjoy your children too. Stay true to Islam.

Kota Bharu 28 december 2013

Coming back from Kedah that month we decided to use the Gerik Highway.  We couldn't stop anywhere because it's raining all the way.  We passed through so many small, quaint towns and Papa was busy entertaining Zoey with stories of Raja Bersiong and she was really fascinated with those stories.  At least she's not bored, that's good!

We arrived in Kota Bharu at night and straight away looking for something to eat because we're famished.  Luckily we found a cosy place for the night.

Zoey watched an alien movie on TV. So traumatic was she that she felt like throwing-up which lasted for a few weeks and couldn't eat squids yet up until now. - aliens crawling out through the mouth of victims to kill flight passengers trapped in an airport due to blizzard. 

The next morning we checked-out and went out to look for Pasar Siti Khadijah.  It's very interesting to see for ourselves the sellers were mostly women - Yeah! They really promoted this aspect of the bazaar. The food there wasn't mind-blowing, though.I think food on the roadside stalls would carry different and more interesting (and better) flavours and tastes.

The items on sale were expensive - similar kind of tudungs I bought in Teluk Intan for RM5.00 were double the price in this bazaar.  So much for commercialization.  So, I decided shopping wasn't the best option here. Selamat duit!

Instead, we left the bazaar looking for other interesting things.  So many things shown on the tourism map and we're undecided which one to choose.  We settled for the state museum.The street was busy. There wasn't enough parking area.  So we park illegally in front of the tourism information center, went inside and asked them and went out through the side door and voila! The state museum!

Hmmm... I'm not sure what happened to other pictures inside the museum. It's 2 storeys and many of the exhibits were on the culture and previous rulers of the state - not only the sultans but it seemed that the state was ruled by many rulers with their own sovereign states.  All these with an emphasis on Cik Siti Wan Kembang - the most famous ruler (among both male and female rulers) in Kelantan. There were also many old photographs with more artist impressions on past rulers.  The present sultanate and lineage were also fairly young.

There were also exhibits on traditional games including the famous top spinning activity and wau bulan (traditional kite flying activity) and also cultural activities including the Mak Yong, shadow play and their origins and original purposes.  I remembered I wasn't feeling particularly excited at the exhibits on the different Shadow Play characters. They're not only eerie but I didn't feel any good vibes being near them.  In fact, the lighting were also very dim there.

The collections of exhibits were not very extensive.  Most parts of the museum were still under construction or being prepared for new exhibits.

We loved these cars.  The cars were once used by the sultan for official duties.

While taking pictures with the cars, it rained. And it rained heavily! And we found shelter at a kiosk in front of the museum and bought something to eat. When the rain turned to drizzle, we made our move. Our next destination was the Pantai Batu Buruk in Terengganu.  We didn't want to go to Kuala Terengganu because there wasn't must to do except for more shopping at Pasar Payang and I was done with shopping.  Papa and I also were quite tired of museums by now.

This was a detour on our way to Pantai Batu Buruk.  I forgot the name of the beach.  The red flag was up.  The wind was blowing.  We were the only visitors there. Maybe because it was still early - around 2.30pm or so.  Only 1 hawker stall was opened.  So we bought something to eat.

 Zoey ventured around and found a walking plank attached to the hill but I didn't allow her to use it because I wasn't sure of it's strength and it's above the water.

 The South China Sea was really brewing.

 

We took our time there.

 Eating the food we bought.

Smelling the sea air.

         This was on the other part of the beach - behind the hill which Zoey found the walking planks.

These two men were checking their fish net - directly in front of the place above.

Somewhere in Terengganu.

The journey wasn't very long. We took the coastal road just for the view.  Zoey was becoming unwell.  We were also looking for a clinic or at least a pharmacy. But there's none.  We were really hoping that she's not getting worse.  Luckily she fell asleep.

We finally arrived at Pantai Batu Buruk.  There were many people there.  It was cloudy - still in the midst of anticipating for the second wave of the flood.  The wind was strong.  Many locals were flying kites.  The hawker stalls were also packed with people. We decided to enjoy the beach and the sea instead.

It's still beautiful regardless of the weather that day.  The clouds were rolling in and it's getting windier. 

Zoey clearly enjoyed herself a lot on the beach.

It was while we're strolling on the beach that the rain hit. So, we ran into the A&W Restaurant nearby, ordered some food and ate while waiting for the rain to stop.Some people were really happy with food.  There weren't many people in the restaurant. So, it was our place.

We arrived home around 2.00am that night.  The next day Papa found out he left his phone at the A&W restaurant and called them but they didn't find anything.  I was angry. Papa kept quiet. Hahaha...

The day after that Nana's dad handed Papa's phone to Zoey.  Somehow, somebody dropped it in front of the front gate and Uncle Mat found it the next day. And yay! Happy to have the pictures in Papa's phone back!

Thank you Uncle Mat!

It was tiring, as usual.  But we're happy.  That's what important.