Home again, home again, jiggity jig

I'm now at home in Oklahoma. I'll be in the US a couple of months visiting friends and family. I love the fact that being away changes how you see things when you return. My parents were both teaching school today, so I spent the day out photographing. The wild flowers this year are amazing and I'm sure I would have overlooked them if I were still living here. The views today were absolutely stunning!

A rocky outcropping.

Wheat harvest is just around the corner.

Why are my allergies going haywire?

Oklahoma's state bird: the scissor-tailed flycatcher.

Prickly pear blossom.

A purple thistle.

One Tree Hill.

A scrumptious snack-pollen.

Scrumptious but a bit stringy.

Killdeer.

A prickly pear in bloom.

Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve

On my way back to the US, I had a day layover in Singapore. Now, Singapore is an ultra-modern city with every convenience you can imagine, in fact, it is probably in the top five most developed cities in the world. If you know me or read this blog somewhat regularly, you know or can guess I am not the sort of chap who enjoys a good afternoon shopping on Orchard Road.

I headed out to Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve, which is on the north end of the island. It is a large preserve which encompasses some prawn ponds, some freshwater ponds and an area of mangroves. The reserve is well laid out with many kilometers of trails. There are several hides that overlook muddy areas that probably teem with shorebirds during the peak migration months, the northern hemisphere winter months. Being as it was mid-May, there were just a few common redshanks, egrets and herons on the mud flats when I visited.

Compared to Kota Kinabalu Wetlands Reserve, Sungei Buloh is much larger. In KK the walks were almost strictly on raised boardwalks, while Sungei Buloh most of the walks are graveled paths on bunds. There is a boardwalk and it is actually longer than the one in KK. The whole reserve is well done and was great to see how some of the wild places in Singapore are being preserved.

A flower growing in a freshwater pond.

This lizard made an excellent model, posing for me for several minutes.

Oriental magpie-robin. Note the leg band.

This pink-necked pigeon was near the visitors centre.

This group of school kids were excited about seeing a little heron on the riverbank.

I just liked the symmetry of this plant.

Kota Kinabalu Wetlands Centre--formerly Kota Kinabalu Centre Bird Sanctuary

Let me explain something about myself: I get crazy ideas.

A couple of years ago, I was lying in bed thinking about things when I got an idea for "Penang Mangrove Centre". I spent the next three days drawing plans and diagrams and even went out to Balik Pulau to take some pictures and scout out a place for the centre. Then I realised I was looking at around a $300,000 USD investment and I put away my research and idea.

What I envisioned looks something like the Wetlands Centre in Kota Kinabalu. This is a place where the public can go and walk through the mangroves that line the coastlines of Malaysia and other southeast Asian countries. These mangroves are also disappearing at an alarming rate, to make room for seaside resorts and posh condominiums. However, these mangroves are a vital ecological feature that prevent erosion and provide other valuable services. One of these was serving as a barrier during the tsunami.

Here, just outside of KK, you can walk along a raised boardwalk. Below you fiddler crabs scurry left and right, back to their holes, seeking shelter from your presence. Kingfishers call in the distance and green pigeons sweep past looking for new perches. Mangroves form islands in the shallow, brackish water, their twisting and knobby roots reminding one of the Ents that inhabited Middle-Earth.

At the end of one of the raised boardwalks is a bird hide. From the hide we were able to see the activities of a nesting colony of purple egrets. These large birds would glide in carrying beaks stuffed with grasses for their nests. By my count over 20 of these graceful birds were in the distant nesting area.

Just behind the main building was a small pond. Here white-breasted waterhens were guarding their three newly hatched chicks. The waterhens were semi-domesticated, used to being fed by the workers at the Wetlands Centre.

Malaysia is rich in ecological treasures such as this one. Sadly, eco-tourism in Malaysia does not mean tourism which protects the environment. It means people invading the environment en masse. An example is Sungai Sedim, which I did a post on earlier. They built the world's longest canopy walk there which was not sensitive to the environment. It is built now, and as Malays say, 'nasi sudah menjadi bubur' or 'why cry over spilt milk'.

For me, places like the Kota Kinabalu Wetlands Centre should exist all over Malaysia. They should be visited by families and scores of school children. Mangrove trees should be planted (and they were in KK) by science classes.

As you can see, I loved my visit to the Wetlands Centre and hope we see many more of these springing up across Malaysia, bringing us a better understanding and appreciation of the wild places we must work to protect.

White-breasted waterhen

Boardwalk through the mangroves.

Fiddler crab--More information here.

Kota Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu or KK is the capital of Sabah. After two nights on the mountain, we spent the better part of three days puttering around KK and having a thoroughly enjoyable time.

One of our first stops was the Sabah State Museum. First, let me state that I used to work in a museum and secondly I can sometimes be a bit critical. The museum was interesting and informative but needs updating badly. I don't think the main exihibit, "History Tunnel" had been changed since the mid-70's. It had lots of good information but like most things in Malaysia they spent a ton of money building it and allocated no budget to maintain it. The secondary exhibit was on the "Kaamantan" or harvest festival and all the pictures showed the date as 1996, nearly 11 years ago. Don't even get me started on the lighting!

A short aside: Possibly due to its reputation as "wild" it was easy to find interesting books on flora and fauna in Sabah. The museum store had several volumes I would love to have on my shelves. I keep resisting that dragonfly book but I don't know if I can keep up the will much longer. Still holding out for the nudibranch book. :)

On the hill below the museum were several traditional houses. The Murut longhouse was the coolest. It has rooms for the families and then a big common area. In the centre was a trampoline-like mat, slightly sunken. Maybe someday the museum will add signage to explain the purpose of the trampoline. Pictures in the longhouse make me guess it was used for traditional ceremonies.

KK is not a big city. The main area is about 1 km wide and 2 km long. There are backpacker hotels galore. We stayed at Tourist Hotel by Wisma Merdeka. If you are looking for a clean, newly remodeled hotel for cheap, stay there. I highly recommend it.

Down by the docks there are two areas of interest, the first being the handicraft market and the second the esplanade. The handicraft market reminded me of a tiny Chatachuk Market (which is in Bangkok). My question was why every stall in the market was selling the same goods? This often happens in Malaysia. You will find six stands selling pineapple right in the same area. Or pomelo. Or corn. Or handphones. You get the idea. How do you choose one stall over the others?

The esplanade is right on the water and a great place to see a sunset. You can get the typical "ikan bakar" there (barbecued fish) but there are other places such as English pubs, trendy bistros and karaoke bars.

KK is a great town and the people, in my estimation, were friendlier than those I typically encounter in peninsular Malaysia. You don't need a week to explore the town, because it isn't that big, but it can occupy your interest for two or three, especially if you venture out to Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, which we didn't have time to do. Next time!

An unshaven TopCat is master of his domain, Kota Kinabalu. Taken from Bukit Bendera (Flag Hill)

A water lily outside the Sabah State Museum.

Even closer to the water lily.

I call this one "thornberry".

Have I mentioned I like bugs? Spiders are so cool. Check out his eyes.

Mount Kinabalu / Gunung Kinabalu

Let it never be said that Malaysia does not have enough public holidays. In the last week we celebrated the installation of a new sultan, Labour Day and Wesak Day, a Buddhist holiday. Ahhh, perfect time to get away and have a tour around Malaysia.

In East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo (Kalimantan) is the highest mountain in Malaysia, Mount Kinabalu. In February, when I began planning this trip, I found out it was impossible to get a permit to summit the mountain, so I had to be content to just go there and hike around the base. I still want to summit the mountain, which is 4,095 meters (13,435 ft.) tall and the third tallest in Southeast Asia.

The area around Kinabalu National Park is also a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is (I think) the highest honor an area can receive. Here is the list of world heritage sites. It is an important area culturally, to the Kadazandusun tribes and other tribes, geologically and diverse in flora and fauna. Even if you don't have time to summit the mountain, there are many things to see just around the base.

My only regret is that we didn't book 3 nights at the mountain. After arriving from Kota Kinabalu in a 4x4 taxi (RM15 from the bus station at Padang Merdeka) we didn't have much time to explore before nightfall. The weather was cool and rainy. Several of the lodges at Sutera Sanctuary Lodges even have fireplaces! The next morning we hiked all over the lower area, including to the power station where you start the trail that leads to the summit. We also hiked the Liwagu river trail which was very nice and not so demanding, but of course we were headed down.

If we had more time, there is Poring Hot Springs nearby which would be interesting to explore. If you are interested in going to Mount Kinabalu, especially to the summit, book well in advance. Secondarily, don't take the shuttle bus down, which is RM40 per person, just walk to the road below and wait for a bus or taxi. Soon after we stood by the road, a taxi stopped and we were able to get back to K.K. for RM20 per person.

The summit of Mount Kinabalu. Actually, as you can see, there are multiple peaks. The tallest is called Low's Peak.

I call this one 'spiny flower'.

Indigo flycatcher

Mount Kinabalu is renowned for its orchids. Just to maintain honesty, I took this picture in the botanical gardens at the base of the mountain, not in the wild. :)

On the hike we found this waterfall which originated from a pipe. I thought it looked cool so I took a picture.

Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre

Two weeks ago I went diving for several days in a place called Lankayan. That trip, including pics, are now on the scuba blog.

On the way back from the island, we were taken to a place just outside Sandakan, Sabah called Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. Orang utan or in English orangutan is one of the few loan words from Malay into English. Orang utan literal means "man of the forest".

Every year, many orang utans are taken as babies from the wild and kept for pets. This is an illegal practice in most countries. They never learn the basic things they should such as how to find food in the wild or how to swing along a rope. Often, once the orang utan starts to grow up, the owners grow tired of it and don't know what to do with this pet. Or, they get caught possessing an illegal animal and are heavily fined or jailed. The role of the rehabilitation centre is to help these primates return to the wild. This is a long and slow process. Often, young orang utans arriving at the centre are much more comfortable living in a cage. (Yes, this story can be used as a powerful illustration in a variety of ways.) Slowly, they are led back into the jungle. Some return to the cages for months before learning to build nests in trees.

They are coaxing into the jungle by the use of feeding platforms. The first platform is not far away from the cage and eventually they are lured deeper into the jungle. Some will never stop returning to the feeding platforms, while other individuals, after a few years, stop showing up at feeding times and choose instead to disappear into the vastness of the Borneo jungle.

The pictures are not of wild orang utans. They are semi-wild, living in the jungle but still psychologically dependent upon humans. Then centre is about 40 years old and has rehabilitated scores of orang utans. Every year about 40,000 visitors stop in for a look at these interesting creatures.

For those of you wanting further information, see Appeal UK or this site.

If I tried to eat like this, a trip to the emergency room would follow.

A close up shot.

This one seemed to have something wrong with his/her eye. Sometimes they are abused while kept as pets.

The tattoo on the inner thigh is done by the centre as an identification mark. Plus, wild orang utan chicks find tattoos uber-sexy.

The feeding platform. You can see pig-tailed macaques vying for food as well, which was bananas and sugar cane. I asked if orang utans and macaques would mix in the wild and was told yes but I find that hard to believe. I think the food is the only reason they are mixing.

Just hanging out at a friend's house, mom!

This pig-tailed macaque had big plans for the day. A nap followed by a snooze and then some more eating.

This one is intently contemplating a banana peel. Maybe it had a golden ticket in it.

Mgghmhag....ahrrrugh...this banana is sure tasty!

After that, if I was going somewhere, I was run-ning!

Well, I did something I have never done before this last weekend. I went to KL and ran in a footrace. It was a 9 k at the Curve (a mall) in Damansara. I was a little disappointed in my time but still not to embarrassed by a time of 1 hr 4 min 30 sec for the 9 k. Now I am considering registering for a biathlon (6k run, 1 k swim) before I head back to the USA in May but it may conflict with a business trip. Argghh!

I went to East Malaysia about 10 days ago and I am just dragging my feet getting all the pictures up and an a story written for that.

In other news, the trapdoor spider video I took is up to 724 views on youtube. Pretty impressive, I think.

I have written some blog entries for the scuba blog, so click here if you are interested in reading those. Some pics as well.

Rilek at Pulau Perhentian

Last weekend I was able to kill two birds with one stone and get in a little scuba diving and have a business meeting. I went diving on Pulau Perhentian or the Stopover Islands in English. It actually means the Stop Islands in English but literal translations never work.

I took my family and friends to Pulau Perhentian last year and I think that they thoroughly enjoyed it. I know I did! Well, I can say they hated the all night bus ride to get to the island, which I don't enjoy much meself. 8 hours of twisty roads while trying to sleep leave one with a fearful neck ache.

Needless to say, it was a great weekend! You can read about the dives on my other blog by clicking here.

Mom: TopCat, move back to Oklahoma.
Me: Ahhhh, sure, I'll think about it.

The beach at Teluk Dalam. Much like the ones at Ft. Cobb State Park.

Can't post without some kind of cool bug. This spider was the size of my hand (leg span). He was having the catch of the day, moth, grilled with lemon and capsicum.

Does this even need a caption?

Sittin' on a dock of the bay, wastin' time.

Malaysian Cars

A couple of days ago I was taking my morning run around the park (sweating like you wouldn't believe at 8 a.m.) when I saw a Proton Arena. Quck background note, back in high school at Oney, there were basically two cliques. If we split into more than two someone would have been alone. So, there was the druggie clique and the rest of us. Anyway, one guy named Jim had this El Camino, which was basically a car/pick-up hybrid. Because of this, El Camino's will forever be associated in my mind with druggies and white trash. Anyway, the Proton Arena is basically an El Camino with a rollbar. Smart move Proton!

The Proton Arena, fastest selling car in the Ozarks.

Because I find the Proton El Camino so strange, I also want to share with you the ugliest van ever made. It is the Proton Juara. In my mind the way it was made goes something like this:

Proton engineer: Oh no! I have to present a design for a new van today and I totally forgot.

Wife: Honey! You are so absent-minded. So, remember your son has that shoebox car competition in his science class this afternoon and you promised you would be there.

Proton engineer: Shoebox car?!?! Hamzah, your dad is sorry but he needs to borrow your science experiment for a few hours this morning.

The Proton Juara. You'll know she isn't dating you for your car!

Just to be fair, I hate lots of cars on American roads but most of you have already seen them, so I just wanted you to know other countries are producing ugly cars too. Please excuse me while I go wash my Fiero. (Note: I had to write Fiero because I have forgotten what most cars look like in the USA or I'm afraid they have new body styles and are now really cool. Have I been here too long?)

Tall buildings

I don't know why but I love trivia and things that other people could care less about. For the last couple of years I have been watching construction of the world's tallest building in Dubai and just the other day I caught a Discovery Channel programme about it. Now I found out that it has competition. They are building another tower near Dubai that may reach 700 meters, over twice the Empire State Building.

Here are links to the one being built, the Burj Dubai:
Official Site
Wikipedia

And to the other tower, which is just getting started, the Al Burj (Burj means tower in Arabic):
Official Site
Wikipedia

The developers for the Burj Dubai also have the world's best hotel: The Burj al Arab
Official site with virtual tour and reservations

That's were I'd like to have my honeymoon. Well, there or French Polynesia. :)

Malaysian Differences

I realize that anytime you move halfway around the world, you find things that are, well, different. Not wrong, mind you, just not what you are expecting.

Americans are a different lot as well. We like to talk a lot, ask personal questions within a few minutes of meeting a person (personal to them, maybe not to us, such as about family) and are generally much more outgoing and talkative than Malaysians. I am well aware of Americans good and bad points.

However, I wanted to write down a few things that cause me to pause from time to time as my daily life passes here.

Cars

• Malaysians can turn any two-lane road into a four lane road with ease.
• If you are passing a car in the fast lane and a car going faster than you comes up behind you, s/he can flash their lights and even honk for you to pull over into the slow lane (never mind you are passing a car). This action would result in gunfire in some parts of the US.
• After having a breakdown, park your car on the side of the road and put a broken tree branch behind it. This signifies it is a broken-down vehicle.
• When you park your car in the sun, lift you windshield wipers up off the windshield and lock them there where they aren’t touching the glass. (Many theories exist on why this is important. One says the heat warps your rubber wipers and renders them useless. My friends and I want “Mythbusters” from Discover Channel to tackle this conundrum.)
• Even if there is a parking spot, double-park as close as you can to the store if you visit is under 15 minutes.
• Turn off the radio and air conditioner before starting the car.
• Don’t roll down the window. It wastes battery power. Open your door to pay tolls. (I’m not sure on this one though. I personally think most people open their doors to pay tolls because Proton cars have a chronic problem with the power window failing. Oh, and the front headlight falls out of the Wira. Proton is the Malaysian national car.)

Questions (And the number of times I have been asked them)

• Where you come from? (1,693,200)
• What your work? (1,455,871)
• Like Malaysia or not? (1,299,250)
• Already married? (1,475,911)
• Want to marry with Malaysia people? (1,475,911)
• Can eat spicy food or not? (944, 926)
• How many times a day do you eat rice in the US? (687,499)
• What is your salary? (511, 274)
• What is your good name? (By Indians from India) (4)
• Can you get me a visa and a job in the USA? (7,396)
• Sudah makan? (9,528,381,048)

Here are some examples of how people lift their windshield wipers up when parking their cars in the sun. Do other hot countries do this? How about in Florida? Arizona?

Here is a double parked car. Note that across the street are two empty spots, in the lower left corner, another empty spot and if you look closely the white car is actually blocking an empty parking spot. I didn't try for days to get these shots either. I just went to the bank on an errand.