Looking for Eagles

Feeding eagles was not part of our original plan. But taking a ride amongst the swarm was. We were lucky that plenty of eagles showed up during our boat ride the other day. Unfortunately I did not bring my zoom along. No eagles close-up I'm afraid.

They were hunting for foodThere were flying in in groupsThe boys were discussing eagles. Naturally!We then went past some swamplandsThe hot weather did not help matter as we were sweating in the heat. The boys turned grumpy and right on cue, our guide sped up for them to enjoy the wind. We went on to snake through the swarm before returning to Tanjung Rhu.

I was surprised to see the number of private hatch and boats at the mouth of the river there. Certainly a suitable spot to anchor as the breeze was quick but the water was still. There was also a small jetty for boats to moor right on the other side of our hotel.

On the way home, we passed by a dockThe boats were parked here during off-peak seasonThe famous ape mountain in the backgroundBack to the hotelSince the water by the beach in front of our hotel was shallow, the guide was able to drop us right in front of our hotel. But it was not without incident as Irfan managed to get himself wet while alighting the boat! Served him right for being a diva. Quite impressive but quite expensive ....

A Quick Escape

After the call last night, I felt like having a quick escape from the hospital during lunch. Although it did not last long - I was called back in - it was always good to leave the hospital. And Anita joined me for an early lunch in Bangsar.

Back and forthThe traffic was not very bad and now during lunch hours, I managed to discharge a couple of patients and just waiting for the afternoon rounds while doing letters and paperwork in clinic. Hopefully I would have a quiet hour there.

Tanjung Rhu Fish Farm

It's a fish farm. It's a floating restaurant. It was our next stop after feeding the fishes at Pulau Dangli. It was small and the restaurant was only in full swing in during lunch and dinner. We were there around tea time. And there were hardly anybody there.

And as such, we were given a nice tour of all the fish. The boys loved it.

Docking ....Feeding the leopard shark. Best to leave it to the professionals.Here comes the menace .....Anita holding tight to make sure Irfan doesn't fell down. We didn't bring a spare shirt!The stingray needed some loving too ....But my personal favourite was the baby leopard shark. Tiny and cute. It looks like a shark definitely but the mouth was small minus the menacing teeth. The pattern on its torso though was unmistakeable.

Anita loved the stingrays and she was able to feed and pat it.

Our guide who spoke surprisingly good EnglishThere is a shark in there somewhere ...Such a hot day ....Irfan asking what was in that pond. I told him it was dinner ....Something caught Idlan's attentionTime to head back out .....We then had some iced tea there before leaving. Apparently the seafood dinner there was rather good according to my friends. I saw some crabs there in the pond and we can order them fresh. Nice.

My Boron was Gone

I bought this Boron 200 back in 1992, when I was selected to play for the University. I needed a racquet with lighter tension but heavy on the head to generate more speed. And it had served me well. After a few years, I mainly played on the front court which required more placement rather than power. This racquet was perfect.

But, it has a limited use since it can't generate power for backcourt smashes. So, I tend to rotate between it and another Yonex, the Carbonex 21. That cracked a few years back.

The real McCoyThe crack was a subtle one but the symmetry and balance were all goneThe grip was real woodLast months, I decided to start playing badminton again with my schoolmates from MRSM. There was no excuse since the court was only about a 5 minutes drive from my apartment. And it was good fun actually. And for that, I needed to get my gears sorted out. I sent the couple of racquets that I had for restringing, but the Boron cracked under tension.

I don't think I would be able to get a replacement for the Boron since they had stopped making it a while back. And frankly, I don't even know which racquet was good anymore nowadays. Time to look around I think ...

Tugu Drum Circle at #Urbanscapes

Usually, as the name suggested, the Tugu Drum Circle do their jamming every Sunday at Tugu Negara. This weekend, the plan changed. They were at Urbanscapes, right in the open at Medan Pasar entertaining the crowd and getting them to join as well.

It worked out great. They got all their equipments laid up on seats arranged in a big circle with the director right in the middle conducting the whole thing. Even those we couldn't drum just followed the interactions and the rest was history.

Getting the place readyEvery instrument was pre-arrangedG-Pro readyTime for a quick briefingIt went on a touch too long I thought with some of the participant already getting tired after around 15 minutes. They did jazz it up though, by playing alternate instruments and just having fun.

The most important guy was the one with the bass drum. He controls the tempo.And they get some of the sections to do a bit of a soloIt attracted a sizeable crowd and yes, there was somebody who started to dance - in a rather suggestive fashion - before being told off by security. On the whole, it was a spectacle. I wonder if my boys - Idlan especially - may be interested.