Gong Xi Fa Cai

Hope everybody was having a nice time with their friends and family. As for me, I would be doing a couple of calls during this festivities, and hoping that the days would pass on nice and quiet.

To all my friends celebrating, Gong Xi Fa Cai. I will be manning the fort as it were, grumpily .....

CNY Looming

Kuala Lumpur's traffic was definitely getting lighter as more city dwellers headed home for the Chinese New Year. The drive into work today had been smooth, but I was lucky that I set off early. I was already in the ward before 8am. So, when I started my clinic just after 9, I was surprised when I looked out of my window. There was a long tailback heading towards Ara Damansara and Subang Airport.

According to one of the patients, there had been an accident on the road heading to the airport. There was a car which managed to jump the central divider, ending up on the opposite lane. A smash ensued and traffic had built up ever since, clogging up the Federal Highway both towards PJ and Shah Alan. The road had yet to clear until about noon.

The drive back was a bit smoother though as most of the traffic were heading on the opposite direction. I'll be on call tomorrow, and I wasn't really sure what to expect on the admission front. I was due for a quiet on call by the way ....

Lunch Delight

In the last couple of weeks, my Dad had been complaining of headache. He had also been laser on his diet - he loved his lamb - and ran out of his tablets. Sure enough, his blood pressure was up. So, I changed some of his treatment, as well as plan for a new pair of glasses for him. He needed a new prescription.

So, right after the clinic was done - Anita was present as well - we went out for lunch near the hospital. For some time, I had been wondering what the Kelantan Delights restaurant had to offer. There was where we went for lunch.

A nice restaurant, and the food and service was better than we expected. Our order came pretty fast - there were not that many patron there then - and the waiters were pretty attentive. And they were from Kelantan judging from their dialect, which was appropriate.

We ordered from the a la carte range, rice, vegetables, fried whole fish, some rendang as well as kerabu mangga. The place also offered set lunch if you were on the go, but since we wanted to share the food around, we did otherwise.

The fish was very nice, and so was the ayam percik. Kerabu was also better than expected and we finished everything. We even had desserts - against my advice, Dad had some tapai.

I would definitely be returning. I wasn't sure if the recommendation applied to all their branches - in have only visited the outlet at Subang Jaya so far. Service was quick and food was good. Price was not bad either - the set menu offered good value.

Zoo Negara Part 2

From Part 1

Yes, there were plenty of constructions going on around there. But the operative word here is "around". There were plenty of housing projects going on white close to the Zoo compound. Ironically they were called Zoo View. At the rate they were going, there would hardly be any zoo left to view ......

The animals looked thin and unhealthy. The giraffe looked malnourished. Even the elephant looked gaunt. The sheds looked in need of repair. In fact the whole place needed a facelift. They need a new management. They don't need to look abroad. Even the Bird Park in town was in a better state. I was sure they could learn a thing or two from there.

The place was depressing. It seemed that the management lost focus of what their strengths were and trailed to capitalise on it. They should consider giving away most of their exhibits as clearly they were not able to look after them and concentrate on a few star attractions. They have a great number of flamingo there and the lions and tigers were a big hit with the children.

The amphibians and reptile exhibits were maintained very well, and it was great that my boys spotted it and spent some time there. The penguin house was also great fun, and clearly the animal show was organised quite well. Quite rightly the staffs pointed this out as a must see. Shame that space was limited and the weather was too hot. They should make more coverings as I was sure the place would be soaked through in heavy downpour.

The cafe was not bad, although rather run down. We didn't have to go to the toilet - Thank God. The drink machines were mostly broken, or did not accept paper money - more kiosk needed, run by actual staff. There should also invest in children guides with organised activities. This should be done by professional rangers. I seemed to be guided by buggy drivers as we were taken around by the tram. Even my children pointed out that there were hardly any information they could read about the displays. There wanted to learn more, but there was just nowhere for them to turn to. A missed opportunity here.

We left right after the animal show. The boys only caught some of it as there were just to big a crowd there to be comfortable. We left after having some ice-cream and looking at penguin house. They were too exhausted even to enter the children area. They wished that they had spent more time at the reptiles and amphibians exhibit. They wanted to see more snakes and camouflaging frogs.

Will we be recommending the visit to anyone? As much as we want to support Zoo Negara, we found that the management had missed the boast for far too long. Something needed to be done as very soon, nobody would miss it should it be moved. The location seemed to be prime land to be converted into residential zone, and soon that may be a serious consideration. This is a serious problem and should be addressed professionally, but it doesn't seemed to be a priority. Going to zoo Negara when I was a child used to be a treat. Now, it was just a sight for sore eyes ......... Shamefully mismanaged and soon would be run to the ground.

Zoo Negara Part 1

The last time we visited Zoo Negara was back in 2008. I think it was the end of that year since both my boys were in their matching red England jersey then. And we still had our old maid with us. We lived quite close by, and during weekends, the place was full most of the time, putting us off from going there.

So, when the boys asked us to head over there during the recent Thaipusam break, I got interested. At least, I would be able to wipe off the cobweb on my 7D which had hardly been used since I got the X100, and the the X-Pro 1. Zoo Negara it was.

For a public holiday, the place was relatively empty. We were still to find a parking spot at the main carpark despite turning up close to 2 pm. It was also a bright sunny day, a Sunday. We were prepared for a long day, queues and all. But we didn't have that.

There were a few reasons for that. The entrance fees had just been hiked up from RM 20 to 30 for locals. And then you had to pay for almost everything. A simple little paper maps would cost you RM 2 and a ride on the tram - which was previously free would require a ticket purchase. RM 2.50 I thought.

But all the price increase did nothing to improve the sorry state of the zoo. In fact, it had gone downhill since our last visit. Shameful really, as this was supposed to be one of the main tourist attraction for the foreigners. Those visitors would be astounded at how bad things were there, and as local, I wouldn't impose such a trip to any of my friends coming over from abroad. A far cry really from Singapore Zoo. Even Zoo Taiping was in a better shape. And they charged a pittance to get in.

Continued in Part 2.