The School Where my Late Father taught

 

My father was a teacher who taught biology to secondary school students in Sekolah Tinggi Segamat. I was quite surprised to see the school having their own edu.my website HERE. It was a Government English School which was established in 1930 even before Malaysia's independence from British colonial rule. There's an ancient-looking picture of the school in the main page of the website and a class of 1969 photo in the Nostalgia Alumni section of the website. My father had started teaching by 1972 and I know this due to the lovely condolence bouquet from the Class of 1972 (COSTERS). The COSTERS had remembered my late father and their messages about him were touching. He had attended their reunions which were held in Kuala Lumpur. I remembered one of his students, Mike Leong giving him a lift to one of the reunion dinner. Those reunions made him very happy as he got to relive the good times from his teaching days. My late father studied in Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid and went on to obtain his degree from the University of Malaya. This was at a time when Singapore was still a part of Malaysia. To Sir with Love was one of my late father favourite movies and this scene of Mr Thackeray trying his best to teach a bunch of unruly tyrants in one of the East End school as per clip from YouTube below, reminds me of how tough it would be back in the 60s and 70s to teach the youth. The challenges faced in the 80s would be different but the core values remain the same. My late father would spend a considerable part of his teaching life dissecting frogs and he does love planting trees as well, volunteering to plant the bunga tanjung trees in the compounds of the new Hospital Segamat at Bandar IOI Segamat together with my mother's friend from the hospital, Mr Appu. 

Sidney Poitier Is Back on the Big Screen: The late and great actor and the director is the subject of 'Sidney,' a new documentary produced by Oprah Winfrey. Mr. Sidney Poitier passed away in the same year as my late father, in 2022.

Of Navarone, Road Runner and a Promise to my Late Father

My late father's favorite movie was the Guns of Navarone, which was filmed in several locations around the Greek Island of Rhodes. I recall him watching it over and over again together with us during my school holidays. Fond childhood memories of my late father waking us up in the morning on weekends, as he imitated the Road Runner iconic "Beep Beep" calls whilst drawing the curtains open to let in the morning sun into our room where all 5 of my sisters slept. He would allow us to watch Looney Tunes cartoons, on weekends where we fell in love with characters such as Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, and of course Wile E Coyote and Road Runner. 

Family treat at A&W in Segamat, Johor during Chinese New Year. My late father had brought us to the original A&W in Petaling Jaya during the days when he was marking examination papers in KL way back in the 1980s.

Chinese New Year in Johor (Pre-Pandemic) with family.Gardens by the Bay with family.

 

Waterfall setting above from Gardens by the Bay. Remembering and cherishing the moments and the memories we shared with my late father. Completing my MBA Online Distance Learning program whilst working and being financially independent and taking care of my elderly mother and family, would help me to honour my promise to him.  

Peregrine Falcons from Melbourne Australia

Pair of Peregrine Falcons from Down Under were observed on Monday, 17 October 2022 from my laptop with internet connection from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:) One of the adult falcons was seen shading the four chicks from the rays of the hot sun. The adult (not sure whether it was mama or papa) falcon was seen panting with its tongue sticking out as it struggled to cool off from the heat of the 1:14pm afternoon sun. The pair of falcons were seen together for a short period of time. One of it took flight by dropping off the ledge of this building at 367 Collins, Melbourne, Australia to presumably hunt for food which looked like a very fat de-feathered pigeon. The falcon is interestingly the mascot of the US Air Force Academy, the national bird of United Arab Emirates (golden falcon species) which is the hunting companion of the Bedouin tribe as well as a species entitled to its own passport. Learn more and listen to the calls of this fascinating raptor species including comparison with similar species from Cornell University’s All About Birds website HERE.  A population study of tropical Peregrine Falcons in West Malaysia (ernestii sub-species) was published in a journal HERE. Back to 367 Collins family of falcons, some of the screenshots from the videocam live project from YouTube are as below:-

Protective Falcon shielding brood from afternoon sun.

Up, up and away as one of the falcons leap off the building ledge to hunt for the family of six.

Ripping off chunks from a kill to feed the hungry brood.

The 367 Collins Falcons are such dedicated parents - protecting their brood from the hot rays of the sun and ensuring their brood are fed with daily supplies of pigeon meat.

Finally on a lighter side of life, we can laugh at the comic depiction of the world’s fastest bird of prey courtesy of  Arthur the Duck from the Sheldon comic series at Patreon below:-

Peregrine Falcon LIVE from Melbourne

 

Watching a Peregrine Falcon sleep on a LIVECAM project by a company working closely with Falcon expert Dr Victor Hurley from Down Under, in the city of Melbourne. I can hear the winds blowing as the falcon tucks itself in for a night's sleep on the ledge of a tall building at 367 Collins (screenshot below). More about the Peregrine Falcon can be read at this website HERE. There could be an ample supply of pigeons around the city area for this pair from Melbourne, Australia to hunt for. 

Paddy-fields and a Promise from the Heavens above

Sungai Balang on a rainy Sunday morning. Seeing a Rainbow as I arrived on a very wet and drizzly day reminded me of God's promise to Noah that mankind will not be wiped off the face of the earth by floods. In this day and age, getting vaccinated and taking safety & health precautions against covid-19 and its subvariants remain imperative to reduce the effects of an infection. The list of birds seen on that short morning at the paddy fields has been entered in Ebird Malaysia for Sungai Balang and for Pantai Penyengat. 2016 trip in conjunction with Asian Waterbird Census was a very fruitful outing to record the waders in Sungai Balang with the star bird being the Small Pratincole, with all three of these migratory birds making a surprise transit through Peninsular Malaysia that year. 2018 was my last trip there with my Wader Sifu Ang before the Covid pandemic hit Malaysia, the lockdown disrupting all travel plans for two years. Seeing the blue skies of Parit Jawa and the rows of fishing boats at the jetty (pictured as below) post-birdwatching in the paddy fields calmed my heart and soul. It was very low tide mid-morning so no waders were in sight at Parit Jawa. I headed for Parit Penyengat to try and find waders, the list of what I could spot has been reported through Ebird Malaysia. This included Tern species, one of which was observed hovering just above the seawater before it dived towards the water and skimmed off the surface with or without a fish I couldn't tell as I had observed it from a scope. Three of those tern species were seen perched on top of poles in the seawater. Learn more about terns at the end of my blog. I headed back to Streetview Hotel, Muar as it was almost lunchtime and I needed to check out before 1pm. It was a three-star hotel with a dedicated parking lot, and they had allowed me to continue parking there as I chose to walk to Fung Seng Confectionary & Bakery for my lunch.      

My room had a view of some of the shophouses alongside the street. The window view as pictured below:- 

The year 1930 was etched on the facade of this shophouse that had ornate & colourful artworks, floor tiles, wooden door & windows. It looks well-preserved from the outside.       

I had a refreshing glass of iced lemon tea and cafe latte at Fung Seng. The kitchen was closed as I was informed that they were under renovations and would reopen soon with a proper lunch menu. I had to make do with otak buns and a chiffon cake for lunch that day before I headed back to Kuala Lumpur. 

2022 is the Year of the Terns with the EAAF Partnership launching the Webinar Series on World Seabird Day which can be viewed in this YouTube video below:-

 

Part 2 - Magical Mangrove Beach

And the adventure continues.....

An unknown species of fiddler crab with a pincer as large as its body makes it look as intimidating as a heavyweight champion boxer   

Low tide at the mangrove beach in Tanjung Tuan that late morning

Some of the fiddler crabs that were scurrying on the rocks covered with bright green algae at low tide 

A potential rival fiddler crab with an enormous pincer 

Dead pieces of coral (above and below) - sad evidence of bleaching, an effect of climate change 

 Vanilla ice-cream at Tino's

The Gelato at Tino's Pizza, a restaurant hidden in one of the one-storey shoplots in the busier part of Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan (as pictured above). The last time I had ice cream here was in 2014 during Raptor Watch weekend which can be read HERE - it was creamier than a Magnum but whether or not it really tasted like the famous ice cream in Italy, I think I have to leave it to a local Italian to confirm this - the owner of this shoplot is of Italian nationality but I didn't get the chance to confirm it first-hand that day. In the meantime, there was a good review from TripAdvisor about their food HERE. The Ring-legged fiddler crab is one of the species that can be found in Malaysia, with a very important role that they play to maintain a healthy ecosystem in a mangrove beach such as Tanjung Tuan. 

The Bridge over the River Linggi

No crocodiles were seen that afternoon lazing around on that narrow strip of exposed sandbank

A river that runs through Negeri Sembilan towards the sea. Crocodiles still inhabit this river. 

Kuala Linggi - a small group of people were seen fishing nearby the bridge with prawns as baits. A crocodile had found itself unfortunately washed ashore onto to the road on top of this bridge during the bad floods that affected parts of Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and KL in December 2021. More about that can be read HERE. No crocodiles were seen that hot afternoon but the close encounter with that reptile last year and the (dashed) hope of seeing one on a normal day either swimming in the river or basking in the sun on a sandbank in Linggi, reminded me of a poem about this fascinating creature by Mr. Lewis Carroll the author of Alice in Wonderland:-

How doth the little crocodile

improve his shining tail

And pour the waters of the Nile

on every golden scale

How cheerfully he seems to grin

How neatly spreads his claws

And welcomes little fishes in

With gently smiling jaws.

(Lewis Carroll)

Tanjung Tuan and the Lighthouse Part 1

                              Dinner at an authentic Chinese restaurant is getting the front-page limelight in my blog. It was worth the 45-minute wait with the waiter visibly stressed by the unexpected crowd of hungry folks in Lukut that Sunday night. We could hear her yelling every 10 minutes from the kitchen although it was not clear what she was upset about. Note to self - BOOK a table in advance and order dishes beforehand should I bring my family and friends here for the next trip:) It was going to be Hari Raya Aidiladha the following day which is a public holiday throughout Malaysia (and Singapore) so that could have contributed to the larger turnout that night. Almost 8 out of the 12 tables were occupied by Indian families. Good to know they too enjoyed the local Malaysian Chinese cuisines:) Malaysia is a multi-racial country although my nation has been in the front pages of many international newspapers and featured in many news portals, for all the wrong reasons. We need to leverage on diversity and appreciate the uniqueness of our natural heritage. The covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc throughout the entire world. A comedian joked that we were grounded by God for two years. 

I ordered seafood taufoo but what was served looked like Japanese beancurds with minced pork. The piece de resistance that night for me was the prawns in salted egg sauce (as pictured at the top of my blog). If I had a piece of mantou bun, I would have wiped that plate of prawns clean off with the last bit of bun - it was very tasty. Kudos to this restaurant in Lukut, Port Dickson, named Mei Jing! They officially opened on 21 June 2020 according to their Facebook page. Find out more about this restaurant HERE. This was a brief escapade from KL. I had just completed the second semester of my MBA online distance learning course and needed a short break to remember what it was like to travel again.      

    Seeing this Cape Rachado lighthouse again post-pandemic lockdown was pure joy! 

Tanjung Tuan (Cape Rachado) - view from the lighthouse

  

On my way back to the beach after a good view of the coast from around the lighthouse area. There was a fruiting tree, nearby the lighthouse which was visited by the Red-eyed bulbul, Pink-neck Green Pigeon, Olive-winged bulbul, Asian Glossy Starling, of which I have noted down via Checklist at Ebird Malaysia HERE. The historical background of the Lighthouse (built by Dutch in 1817 who succeeded the Portuguese conquerors, before the British colonial masters took over subsequently from the Dutch) is provided in the Port Dickson Municipal council website HERE . The invisible lines of the borders between Malacca and Negeri Sembilan were well-marked by notice boards, at the entrance to the road leading up to the lighthouse, at the stairs toward the lighthouse and the entrance gate of the lighthouse perimeter. Bukit Batu Putih (Hill of White Rocks - will come up with a more colourful name for this site when I get there!) is the next place for me to explore and hopefully I’ll be physically fit with proper trekking shoes to walk on rocky terrain soon.

High tide at the beach on foothills of Tanjung Tuan Recreational Forest.

Trip Down Memory Lane at Pinto Noodles

It has been a roller-coaster ride from 2020 to 2022 with two years of lockdown taking its toll on many Malaysians. When the borders began opening, Inter-States travel resumed, as usual, and workers return to offices with the notorious traffic jams returning to Kuala Lumpur as we enter the endemic phase. Short holidays like Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Hari Raya Aidiladha, Labour Day saw an exponential increase of vehicles on the roads with bumper-to-bumper traffic along the PLUS highways. The tourism industry returns to life, with hotels fully booked, shopping malls packed with the public returning to shop (with a renewed vigour or vengeance I wonder, as if released from the "prisons" of their homes during the lockdowns and making up for lost time), flights overbooked, hair saloons busy with customers (I was turned away with the friendly suggestion that I book a day in advance via Whatsapp message to secure a place) and lakeside park in Kepong filled with walkers on a Saturday. It was a serendipitous moment because I then discovered a place called Pinto Noodle, a Thailand restaurant specialising in Chiang Mai food. Located in an intermediate shop lot within Fadason Garden, Kepong, it was easy to imagine myself being in Thailand when I ate at this restaurant. PINTO is the transliteration of Tiffin from the Thai script (ปิ่นโต). The tissue holder, cutlery box, bottled condiments with Thai fish sauce and pencil holder added to the feel of being in Chiang Mai, the city at the northern tip of the Land of Smiles. I started flipping through the menu, pronouncing the Thai names of the dishes out loud in excitement with my heart bursting with happiness seeing the picture of the Mango Sticky Rice (Khao Miao Ma Muang) as it brought back the memory of the unforgettable dessert I had in a food court in Bangkok's shopping mall, in 2012. I had only visited Chiang Mai once when I was practising as a lawyer in Johor with nature-loving friends from Malacca and Negeri Sembilan and this was years before 2012 (hint - Social media and Messaging Apps such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram etc had not existed back then). We had travelled to Bangkok by train from Butterworth, Penang spending the night on the train where the seats were converted to a bed. The train stopped at Haadyai where food and fruit vendors came on board to sell us dinner which we happily bought and ate with relish. The train station in Bangkok had clean bathrooms and we could pay a modest fee for a hot shower before we explored the city through the Chao Phraya riverboats. We travelled by boats, buses and pick-up trucks from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai before returning to Bangkok by bus. It was a nostalgic trip filled with so many unforgettable adventures. I doubt my present circumstances will allow me to repeat the journey to Bangkok by train. To save time, flights to Bangkok and even Chiang Mai would be the only option at this point in my life. Doing my pre-travel planning and homework will be a must and websites like KLOOK could come in handy. In the meantime, I get to imagine what it would be like to visit Thailand again through a simple dinner at Pinto Noodles in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

                                          My imaginary trip to Thailand began when I sat down that evening at this wooden table Pad Kra Pow Moo (Stir-fried Pork Basil with rice & fried egg) on a distinct plate which I ordered was yummy! No room for dessert that evening. Love the frames alongside the wall of this restaurant, colourful sweets & authentic food in tiffin carriers, stupa (with a Buddhist monk & a running dog), Ovaltine & Coca-Cola ads included.  Som Tam salad is prepared by one of these cooks, the traditional way via pestle & mortar. I didn't order any salads this time round, yet. 

Till we meet again Fraser Hill

Waking up to a new day in Fraser Hill. My room looks out to the town square with the iconic (non-functional) clock tower. I started my walk along the Old Gap Road...... The welcome signboard display of Fraser Hill in BRIGHT red.  Little Cuckoo Doves were flying all over the hillsides. A pair of these Doves flew across the Old Gap road to perch inside fern and bushes growing on the hill embankment.

A small flock of Wreathed Hornbills were seen alongside the Old Gap Road that morning when the mist started rolling in. I heard the prominent swooshing sounds of their flapping wings, first before I saw this flock fly across the valley to perch on a tree. Always a delight to see hornbills! 

I sprained my lower back and back muscles late March which required an intravenous drip to lessen the pain. I had applied Acustop plasters for last three weeks, was on painkillers and had attended three physiotherapy sessions to reduce the swellings and back pain before making this trip. The slow walk along these lovely stretches of the Old Gap Road was very rejuvenating to me.   There is a new signpost which indicates the border between the States of Selangor and Pahang. A Police Station, Health Clinic lie beyond those red lines within the Pahang border of Fraser Hill. The old-style red telephone booth (phone inside is for decorative purpose:) is the latest on-site promotional item for the Little England of Malaysia. I missed out on the Rusty-Nape Pitta in this trip. Heard it can be seen in one of the off-beaten tracks in Fraser Hill, with one photographer injuring himself whilst in the pursuit of a picture. I was still recovering from a bad back sprain so alas, I had to assuage myself that I have heard this elusive Rusty-Nape Pitta before at the Telekom Loop, during pre-pandemic times. I pray for a chance to be able to see this Pitta species in Fraser Hill or any of the montane highlands when it chooses to re-appear, safely without injuring myself:)       The New Gap Road, is the exit from Fraser Hill towards KL or Pahang. The signboard looks to be simpler with the second alphabet in need of being glued right back securely on it.  Stopped to bird a little alongside road shoulders at the New Gap Road, which I had blogged about in my previous post HERE. It was mid-afternoon when I reached Kuala Kubu Bahru and the only meal sustaining me throughout the day was my half-a-plate of fried rice and two pieces of toast which I had for breakfast at Puncak Inn around 8.45am.  This aunty and her family are still frying away delicious meals at this quaint shophouse in Kuala Kubu Bahru. I have yet to try their wok-fried kuey teow, I tried their snacks whilst waiting for my wantan mee during a very late lunch. The prawn fritters with crunchy pieces of Jicama (Sengkuang) were delicious although it would have been lovelier eating them hot off the wok:)   

Back to Birding Basics at Fraser Hill - Monkeys and Marten included

Orange-Bellied Leafbird (Female) has the bluest of "cheeks"-  one of the montane species of Fraser Hill which I observed during my early morning walk that day. It can be found throughout the Asian continent. This female is not to be confused with the Blue-Winged Leafbird female species, the OBL female indeed having more orange on its belly and more blue on its face according to the eBird Identification.  

Magnificently long limbs for this white-thighed Surili of Fraser Hill. Glad to see this troupe still actively foraging for food in the (semi) wild.

This was one of the Surili monkeys hanging out in the top of the trees alongside Mager Road that morning...  

Picking out the young shoots of leaves for early lunch!

The view on my way down from Fraser Hill via the New Gap Road

 

Stopped alongside one of the road shoulders at the New Gap Road to birdwatch a bit even though it was past 1pm already:)

Back to birdwatching basics in Fraser Hill since my last trip there was to attend the AGM of the Wild Bird Club of Malaysia on 4 January 2020 together with my friends from Malacca & Sifu Ang, my wader guru, BEFORE the pandemic hit Malaysia which you can read HERE. Booked one night accommodation at Puncak Inn via Agoda, and headed straight for the hills from Cyberjaya after work with a short stop to pack my dinner at a Petronas Station along the North-South Expressway Central Link (between KLIA & Shah Alam Interchanges) or better known as the ELITE highway. It was a bittersweet reunion with a magical place that had re-ignited my love for birdwatching. The opening of inter-States travel meant there was no longer any police blocks from Kuala Kubu Bahru (Selangor) to/from Fraser Hill (Pahang). The dawn chorus woke me up instead of the usual alarm clock in the city. The birds seen or heard on this 1 night trip to Fraser Hill and a Yellow-throated Marten spotted at the Gap, Selangor are recorded in checklists posted below: 

https://ebird.org/checklist/S107450615

https://ebird.org/checklist/S107450957

https://ebird.org/checklist/S107451423

https://ebird.org/checklist/S107451863

Late lunch stop at Kuala Kubu Bahru. The Confectionary shop at Teng Wun was CLOSED on a public holiday so no muffins for afternoon tea or breakfast. Thank goodness there was a shoplot near Ampang Pecah, which had hot drinks and was open for business. I had to make do with a pre-packed coconut bun for my afternoon snack. The final checklist of the day before I returned to KL, is as below:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S107452840