The Hot Bird Park

Back when I was in Government Service, the work week only stretched from Monday to Friday. I used to enjoy taking strolls on Saturday afternoon, either with the boys or just with my camera.

One of my favourite place to visit was the KL Bird Park. So much so that the boys even had their birthdays held there few years back. A fun place to hold one, even if it was raining.

But on my stop there yesterday with my brand new camera, a couple of things were missing. The rain and the birds.

It had been hot since the turn of the year. This may have affected the park, as the place seemed somewhat empty. Even the parrot and tropical birds abertoir seemed deserted. There were a few birds but they were not roaming freely. The whole place felt too hot and sticky.

In some areas, there were more monkeys than bird. It it seemed like it.

A few peacocks were walking around but even they looked depressed. Only a few species thrived there, but it was boring after a while just snapping their photos. The flamingo pool also felt dry. Maybe it was too hot even for them.

It looked like the monkeys were in ...The flamingo pond looked uninspiring They looked lonelyEven the peacock looked stressed out ...The owls? They seemed bored in their cages. Well, I would give the park the benefit of the doubt. I shall blame this squarely on the lack of rain. Because I refuse to believe that the park had deteriorated over the years.

Would return when the rain is back. Because I missed those colourful birds ...

Slideshow of the outing here.

Bird Park Slideshow

Taking the OM-D for a spin. The write-up here.

Awal Muharram Outing

After the series of public holidays and weekends spoilt by having to be on call, Awal Muharram couldn't come early enough for me. As soon as I finished my morning rounds, I had an early lunch and took an afternoon nap until around three. Form the last four days, I hardly had any uninterrupted sleep due ton phone calls and emergency.

As soon as I woke up, I got the boys packed up, and we headed out to Tasik Perdana for a walk in the park. Boy, how much I needed that!

First stop was the Lake Garden itself. Got then car parked, and we strolled ton the playground, running on the grass before again, it got dark! Afternoon rain again in KL. The heaven held for another 20 minutes or so, enough for the boys to burn some sugar.

When it finally rained, we were already inside then car, headed to Hornbill Restaurant - at Bird Park - where both Idlan and Irfan had their birthday parties before. We had some tea there while waiting for the rain to pass by. It was just around 5.30 when we left the restaurant and bought the ticket to enter the park.

We didn't venture far, but spent most of the time feeding the birds and fishes. A couple of years ago, part of the park was closed for renovation. They were building a pavilion with a koi pond in the middle of it. I was there before but, minus the boys, so they were excited when they had the chance to feed the fishes. It helped that it was late on the afternoon and there were hardly that many people inside the park at the time. No need to jostle to buy the animal feed and to stroll around.

By the time we were done, it was almost closing time. The animal food were sold on vending machines but that day, none of the machine were in order. This was mainly due to the coin slot getting stuck with small change. Luckily, there were kiosk selling the food instead, but certainly for a premier park, they should look into the maintenance side a bit more closely. Not to mention that bit cost a bomb to get in, especially for foreigners. Luckily, we did not bring our maid along. Her entrance fee might be more than the four of us combined!

Great day out I thought. By then time we left Task Perdana, we were starving and had to look around for food. Luckily we were staying at the apartment, and there were plenty of eatery around Bangsar. 

Yesterday's Do

Irfan's birthday party finally took place yesterday. As per his request, it was held at KL Bird Park, where Idlan had his last year. On that occasion, Irfan really enjoyed himself, so much so that he specifically wanted his big day to be there as well. He got his wish yesterday. This time, we mainly invited his school friends, but disappointingly, some cancelled at the last minute. Those who came - around 20 children, had a whale of a time.

What was obvious was the fact that the patents were impressed as well. Though most of them had heard of the bird park, not all of them have been there. Even those who have been there were not aware of a restaurant they have there called the Hornbill. One don't need to enter the park to enjoy the food there and from past experiences, the food there have been excellent.

Hornbill also host rents such as birthday parties and corporate dos. We learned about it when Anita had lunch there a couple of years and tried it foe Idlan's birthday last year. It was a hit then. The food was good and the event was very well organised by the resident event manager. The package included food, entrance to the park as well as private tour with one of the rangers. The children also enjoyed a bird show at the amphitheater. There were plenty of activities to be had, and the children really enjoyed. Shame for those who cancelled or did not turn up as it was not your typical birthday party.

I will blog about the actual event later with more pictures. Rather pushed for time at the minute.

Birds @ IKANO

We have our school reunion coming up next weekend. Unfortunately I will be in Lumut at the time, but Puan Anita was keen to go. Yes, we went to school together. We were what you might say, childhood sweetheart. Yup! It is sad. We first went out in 1987, got married 1997, then got Idlan in 2004. We decided to enjoy our time in UK first before parenthood. It did not turn out half bad after all. Back to the reunion.

Yup! They brought the cages in

Since I will be able to make it, she will be going with a few of her old friends. You guessed it. New clothes, new bags, new make-up and most importantly, new contact lenses!. So, we went out to IKANO yesterday to get a new pair for her. When we stepped in, Idlan shouted out, “Hey! That’s the bird park in here!”. Apparently, for a couple of weeks, the KL Bird Park was doing a promotion at IKANO. They brought over a fair few of their prized possession and the main foyer were filled with birds inside a makeshift tent. The boys were not very keen to go in, so I was not sure how much we would have had to pay to get in. But if you spent more than RM100 at the centre - which we did - we were entitled to a special discount.

Irfan waiting for it all to cookRaw fish slices before being boiledIdlan contemplating his kind of lunchThe World Cup fever hitting the The CurveWe ended up having lunch there at the steamboat joint down there, then after a quick walk across to The Curve where we parked, it was time to go. Our new maid looked tired from her journey in the day before. We bought her toiletries and the kind then was back home.