Winter Solstice and Christmas in a tropical country

Pudu Ria did a top-notch job decorating this naturally-grown (imported) Christmas tree from Denmark

I started working after my one-week hospitalization leave ended following my follow-up medical procedure at a private hospital in Batu Pahat, Johor. The days leading up to 2025 Christmas were the usual 5-working days and completing my annual performance appraisal and reviewing executive-levels as well as attending to usual work tasks. The last time I actually experienced natural Christmas trees were during my university and English Bar days back in 1997. Somehow a little piece of memory from those UK days was re-ignited when I saw the loveliest Christmas tree at Pudu Ria Florist, days before 25th. A short video of this is captured as featured at the top of my blog post above. I couldn't resist testing the pinecone decoration on this tree to see whether it was real.    

A smaller christmas tree (with zero decorations) was positioned nearby the taller one. The smaller tree would set one back by RM500+. It was not a cheap import. A wild barred owl that perched on top of a Christmas tree inside a house in Virginia, USA which can be read HERE. According to this website HERE, an Austrian biodiversity investigation on Christmas trees named two avian species (Woodlark and Red-backed Shrike) as examples of natural beneficiaries of these tree plantations in Denmark and Europe. In Peninsular Malaysia, the collared owlet is a raptor which I've seen during my birdwatching trips to Fraser Hill. My trip and pictures of this owlet can be seen HERE. 

Eve of Malaysia Day 2025 is all about Perak

I was ready to walk and explore this section of Ipoh after completing my afternoon dessert which comprised of soyabean with grass jelly (Tau Fu Fah) and a cold glass of soyamilk at this shop by "Big Mom." This soya specialty shop was a walking distance from Cititel hotel, Ipoh. One of the ladies working in this shop was busy cleaning the gingko nuts (as pictured below). I did not try the soyabean with gingko nuts this time around.  The duck noodles had sold out when we arrived at Bidor, Perak around 12:10pm on the eve of Malaysia Day. Nevertheless, this stall serves delicious wantan noodles.  My mum had to order the thosai and literally slurped the dhal like it was a bowl of soup. She did finish off the plate of chee cheong fun with mushroom sauce, as well. Note to self to consider staying in Kinta Riverfront Hotel & Suites, their website of which can be accessed HERE. Ipoh was not as hectic as Kuala Lumpur that Malaysia Day week, and as long as there is ample & complimentary car park spaces provided by the hotel, that is sufficient. The railway station in Ipoh is within walking distance to some of these hotels but at my age, I seriously have to reconsider rail travel. Managed to have drinks at Red Brick Kitchen restaurant which is a lovely restaurant nestled in front of beautiful limestone hills. More information about this well-kept secret of a restaurant in Ipoh can be read HERE. Chui Chak, Langkap in Perak is lauded as the "Second Sekinchan" with beautiful views of paddyfields. A homestay named "Haako" is available via AirBnB HERE. I passed by Chui Chak previously when driving back to KL using the trunk road from Perak. The visit to Ipoh years ago was when I explored Batu Gajah, Perak with my birdwatcher & nature friend, Connie Khoo. We encountered the Pheasant-tailed Jacana and Cotton Pygmy Goose, the videos of which are available below:-

Limestone Hills at night from the carpark area 

Red Brick Kitchen entrance - almost a full house that evening

Chui Chak is definitely on the to-do list for me, once I free myself up to birdwatch and travel again. 

River Red Gum in Seremban Lake Gardens

River Red Gum tree as identified through the QR code tag on the tree at Seremban Lake Gardens. Read about it HERE. There were two of those trees which I walked under amidst the lush greenery of the gardens that drizzly Monday morning after a mediocre breakfast at the Royale Chulan Hotel Seremban. A native tree in Australia, the river red gum tree is also home to birds such as Little Corellas which you can read about HERE. Victoria Parks website shedding light on the importance of this tree can be read HERE.

The Seremban Lake Gardens was within walking distance of Royale Chulan Hotel. 

Iconic A&W drive-by and restaurant facing the lake was packed with diners on Merdeka night.

Greenery is so soothing to tired eyes and seeing canopy of trees like this outside the hotel window substantially reduced my anxiety levels that Merdeka weekend. Negeri Sembilan is also home to the migratory Oriental Honey Buzzards, which I wrote about HERE and a video made way back in March 2015, can be viewed below:- 

The garden corner at Royale Chulan Hotel Seremban was my go-to corner to rest & rejuvenate. The torch ginger plants were taller than me and the fully bloomed flowers were all pink and pretty to behold (as pictured below). The torch ginger flowers are an essential ingredient in the Peranakan Nyonya cuisine which you can read about HERE.

Common Kingfisher and a painter named Vincent

 

Vincent Van Gogh painting of a kingfisher is described by the Van Gogh museum HERE. I have seen the Common Kingfisher back in 2020 when I birdwatched at the Mai Po wetlands in Hong Kong with my friend Julianna from Sarawak. The birdwatching adventures can be read HERE. When it flies across pond, it is described as a flash of blue which goes to show how fast a flyer this kingfisher species is. Learn more about the common kingfisher, and admire the beautifully sharp pictures of this widespread species at eBird website HERE. I had recently bought a picture book on the world-renown painter Van Gogh whose paintings were only widely recognized posthumously. Netherlands, his home country has built a museum dedicated to his artistic works, where many of his paintings are exhibited. I have yet to watch the movie "Loving Vincent" which was based on his story. 

Ken Keffer's listing of the coolest kingfishers from across the globe can be read HERE. The common kingfisher from Europe's region is highlighted as well as the Banded, Black-backed dwarf-kingfisher species from Asia. The Pied Kingfisher has been observed across countries in the Asian continent including Thailand, India, Hong Kong (in which information about this uncommon resident can be read HERE), and where the only sighting in Singapore was that of a vagrant years ago on 18 September 1994 which you can read about HERE. I have encountered the common kingfisher during brief outing to Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan and when back in my hometown in Johor, several years ago, whilst birdwatching around marshland areas of Kampung Paya Pulai where the Chodan river flows. The common kingfisher species which I had recorded via eBird, was seen almost annually from 2016 onwards with my last sighting recorded as of 26 October 2019 at Tanjung Tuan, Negeri Sembilan. Picture of the common kingfisher feeding on a tiny-looking fish was captured during the Sepang Goldcoast Bird count conducted by the Wild Bird Club of Malaysia back in 2016 and that picture can be viewed HERE. I'm at the final chapter of the picture book on Vincent Van Gogh, in which he painted a wheatfield with crows, featured by Google Arts & Culture HERE. This is going to the saddest part of the picture book, yet I am a little comforted by the fact that his legacy lives on through his paintings, the intellectual property of which would now be in the public domain, (in Malaysia copyrighted work is protected for 50 years after the death of author/painter/singer) and that there is a Van Gogh museum in the Netherlands, which preserves his legacy. 

Bridled Tern and a conspiracy theory website called Birds Aren't Real

Guessed Bridled Tern correctly on 2 July 2025 and the results were as below:-

World Birdle 

2025-07-02

🐦🐦🐦🐦

https://www.play-birdle.com

BIRDS ARENT REAL homepage

Website above featured a video-game like layout in their homepage. This website was displayed when I had incorrectly guessed a bird species via Birdle. Ebird has a good sense of humour (almost conspiracy theory-like) injected into their Birdle online game, even when players guessed incorrectly:)  I haven't actually seen a Bridled Tern species.......yet. I believe I have encountered the Whiskered, Little and White-winged Tern species during my birdwatching trips along coastal, lakes, riverine & paddyfield locations in Peninsular Malaysia. Those trips seem like distant memories for me since I stopped birding when I started my MBA online program and work-study-life balance is very challenging to achieve.

Guessed the Baudin's Black-Cockatoo correctly on my third attempt for Australia & Territories region. Link to eBird's webpage on this Critically Endangered species.

As a birdwatcher who wish to resume birdwatching actively again in the great outdoors of Malaysia, I find this game engaging and educational in that even when I guessed incorrectly based on pictures of species & the range in which it is to be found at, the hints helped me to identify the species correctly although nothing can compare to asking for help from an expert birder. Western Australia is on my bucket list after guessing this Baudin's Black-Cockatoo species.

Of Birds and Birdle

Northern Lapwing (Europe region)

Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Australia & Territories)

Black-winged Kite (Africa region)

Copper-rumped Hummingbird (World region)

Andaman Boobok (Asia region)

Western Yellow Robin (Australia & Territories region)

Learning all about the birds of the world via Birdle, the bird game equivalent of Wordle was quite fun. Birdle leads the player to find out more about the species of bird through eBird portal, a project managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The results from the toughest guess would be displayed (as below) and mine was on trying to identify pictures and range of the Water Pipit for Europe region. Playing this game brought back the sweetest of memory from a trip (pre-pandemic) to Taiwan where our friend Schumi Wu brought us to the paddyfields to observe a flock of Northern Lapwings which you can read about HERE.   

Europe Birdle

2025-05-24

🐦❌❌❌

🐦❌❌❌

🐦🐦🐦❌

🐦🐦❌❌*

🐦🐦❌❌*

🐦🐦🐦🐦*

https://www.play-birdle.com

The Wedge-tailed Eagle is featured in the World Birdle on 27 May 2025 and my guesses ran up to 5 before I got it correct on my 6th attempt (as above). Had to use all the hints I could. You can play the game HERE.

River Therapy and the family of Rufous-Bellied Swallows

Canadians got it right when it comes to parks and gardens. Canada fully understood the German word Waldeinsamkeit (there is no equivalent of an English word in translation) and how parks can play an important role to heal our mind and soul. The Ontario Parks website blog can be read HERE. Japanese has a practise called Shinrin-yoku 森林浴 (Forest Bathing) where they believe the forest is a place to heal oneself. Finding a clean river and wading through crystal clear waters up to my knee-level whilst surrounded by lowland forest was a healing experience for me and to find this clean river in the borders of Selangor and Perak was pure serendipity. I guess third time is the charm, as the third place I came across was an open field of green which eventually led to sandy ground and the RIVER (as pictured above). The above field belonged to Bernam Nature Hut, which has camping grounds nearby and is linked to the village opposite the river by a bridge. Bernam Nature Hut's website can be read HERE. There is a car park space opposite the river in which I parked my car and luckily enough on that day, the car park attendant was visibly absent hence parking was free for that day. Tanjung Malim and the small towns around this southern region of Perak is definitely worth a re-visit with my family and friends. Thye Fah coffeehouse breakfast looks hearty and the food at Sungkai including the Salted Baked Chicken are some of the recommendations featured in this website HERE. A Food Guide to Ipoh, Sitiawan & Taiping from Singaporean perspective can be read HERE .

Sandy bottom of this forest river is partially exposed 

Pure joy as I ventured nearer to this river

The river water was icy cold

Deeper ends of the river as it winds nearer to the forest

Clear bottom of sand, pebbles and rocks. Calm waters in this part of this river

Deeper waters of the river

Shallower part of the river

Would be quite cool for them to display their website address on their wooden signboard 

A wobbly bridge that leads to the Bernam Nature Hut.

Village to the left of this river and Bernam Nature Hut to the right of this river.

RM17 for a small plate of snacks - light, fluffy and spicy when dipped in chilli garlic sauce

Yik Mun chicken curry bun with Spanish Latte

I headed towards Kuala Kubu Bahru, Selangor in the afternoon and birdwatched at the areas around Kampung Pertak, Selangor and the Selangor River dam. The Rufous-Bellied Eagle (Latin name) was also spotted soaring and flapping above the tree-tops nearby the Selangor River Dam. The sub-species are further described HERE. The checklists from eBird Malaysia are available below:- 

https://ebird.org/checklist/S220216153

https://ebird.org/checklist/S220221483

https://ebird.org/checklist/S220222962 

Seeing not one but THREE Rufous-Bellied Swallows later that afternoon doing their flybys together with the House Swifts and Pacific Swallows was like watching miniature planes zooming around and under the bridge, just above the waters of the dam. The RB Swallows behaved very much like a close-knit family, sticking closely to each other and they did not mingle with the other swift and swallow species. The rufous red on their bellies and necks stood out and somehow I felt a child-like joy seeing this little family of swallows. Mr Hayao Miyazaki, the founder of Studio Ghibli picked "Swallows and Amazons" by Arthur Ransome as one of this favourite 50 children's books. It is wonderful to know that the creative genius of Hayao Miyazaki was fueled by these books. Mr Arthur Ransome himself was inspired to write his book after giving sailing lessons to his friend's children. He had two dinghies, one of which was named the "Swallow." Clifford Web was the illustrator in the collection of books by Arthur Ransome, and one of his illustration of what looked like a dipper species (Dippers are not found in Malaysia), ends this blog.   

Calls of the Oriental Pied Hornbills could be heard from a distance as rainclouds rolled in.

Orang Asli village of Kampung Pertak peeks out from the base of the hill (left of picture).

Shopee merchants selling these coconut sweets at less than RM6.80 (excluding delivery fees)

Ich bin eins mit der Natur and Coffee

Spiffy-looking mobile shop for ZUS Coffee at Seremban Southbound R&R

I've been an admirer of ZUS COFFEE brand from quoting them as a case study for my reflective essay on Corporate Innovation & Entrepreneurship subject under my Online Distance Learning MBA program and always looking out for the nearest outlet whenever I am in Johor, Selangor, KL or any other states in Peninsular Malaysia in order to complete the written assignments for the subjects under my MBA program whilst I sustain my momentum with a cup or cup(s) of Americano. It is after all, one of Malaysia's homegrown brand of coffee shop outlets, expanding beyond their outlets to selling off-the-shelf beverages in Familymart chains, supermarkets and hypermarkets competing with the likes of established brands such as Starbucks. One of the strategic marketing collaboration ZUS Coffee did was with Niko Neko on their Matcha Macam campaign back in June 2024 which you can read about HERE. Their marketing video featured a cat licking the screen of the poster featuring the Matcha-flavoured drinks such as their latte series which can be viewed HERE. What goes well with coffee? Pastries & puffs, of which I am reminded of a lovely cafe along Old Klang Road called Le Pont which is also a bakery. Love their cream puffs which contain both strawberry and chocolate fillings. I use to buy these for my niece and nephew. Le Pont Patisserie website can be viewed HERE      

Cream Puffs at Le Pont with KKs

Further up north along the borders of Selangor (Hulu Selangor) and Perak (Tanjung Malim), rivers flow with crystal clear waters where one can peer into the bottom filled with sand, pebbles, stones, rocks and leaf litter. The first spot where I encountered such a clean flowing river was in Tanjung Malim, Perak. Alexandra Vasiliu (Romanian writer) wrote a book entitled "Blooming: Poems on Love, Self-Discovery and Femininity" which included a poem about the river as part of   as below:-

My heart is a river.

Come closer,

dive into my waters,

and quench your thirst.

I am giving you all my love

According to the Germans Ich bin eins mit der Natur is to be one with nature. More Waldeinsamkeit moments are captured in the next blog.

River flows quietly and serenely which makes me feel likewise

A small wooden plank leads one towards the river

Of Gulls, Terns and Sweet Childhood Memories

Seagulls or terns are mentioned in a soulful song Awan Yang Terpilu (Lonely Cloud) sang by Ning Baizura. An extract from the first lines of that song:-

Kerana cinta

Aku kembara

Bagai camar melintas laut

Mencari pohon untuk berteduh

Full lyrics are available HERE.  

Seabirds portal (screenshot below) with an interesting seabird life history database which reflects the global population trend of species such as Whiskered Tern (stable), Chinese Crested Tern (decreasing), Little Tern (decreasing), Little White Tern (stable) etc.

I would be transported back to my childhood in Kedah whenever I tasted the Nian Gao which were made by Aunty Yong (the sweetcakes as pictured below). She has a sister who lives in Kedah whom she visits often. I bought two of Aunty Yong's Nian Gao earlier this year hoping to relive the days when my late grandmother would cut a thin slice of the Kedah homemade sweet-cake for me when I requested to have some during my stay with her in my maternal family home in Lunas. I discovered the Permatang Pauh ricefields are located close to Lunas when I birded around that area with friends back in 2016, which can be read HERE.  More information about Permatang Pauh can be read HERE.

During my legal practice days, my taxi driver Mr. Khoo would stop by Yong Peng, Johor for morning breakfast, before we reach Johor Bahru. The journey to JB from Segamat started at 5am for both of us. We'd have a good breakfast in Yong Peng before I hit the courts and land office in JB for a day of non-stop work. On our way back to Segamat, Mr. Khoo recommended a local pastries shop called Eng Hin. It was a happy moment for me to learn that Eng Hin is still running their pastries business (their shopfront as pictured below). Their traditional Chinese biscuits are chewy and not sweet. The iPackTravel website blogger's yummy review of Eng Hin biscuits can be read HERE.  

A well-hidden noodles manufacturer was discovered recently in Yong Peng. Mee Hock Chew signage was plastered against a nostalgic-looking wooden house and it was this signage that led me to the location of this one-storey noodles shop-lot. The delicious smell of the freshly boiled noodles stopped me in my tracks. Who says one can only get free smells of cookies:) I could not resist buying their home-made mee suah and yee mee varieties. It looks like Mee Hock Chew is a major supplier to a number of restaurants according to their Facebook page HERE. A scene from the first Kung Fu Panda movie about Mr. Ping, the duck/goose character who just want to make the wonderful noodles and who wants to learn how to make tofu concludes this post.  

Lion Dance Brings Festive Cheer To Bernama

Lion Dance Brings Festive Cheer To Bernama: Lion Dance, SEA Limited, Bernama, Terence Siau, Ch

OCBC Chinese New Year 2025 themed red packets featured the lion head, gold fish, orange and flower - quirky and colourful. The front portion of the ang pow packets as pictured above. The flip-side of the ang pow packets features pairs as pictured below:-

OCBC Chinese New Year greetings can be viewed HERE. To digress, the Malaysian ccTLD operator introduced a virtual keyboard popup when Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) were introduced back in 2011 for .MY where users could register three scripts which were Jawi, Chinese (Simplified) and Tamil at the second level of .MY. Registrations were free of charge back then. The operator has since stopped accepting new registrations. However, the early registrants of IDNs could still use the virtual keyboard (as pictured below) to find out about the status of the previously registered IDN domain names. 

A website which also featured IPv6 address shortener as well as an IDN punycode converter tool, amongst others can also be explored HERE. Am grateful my sister from Singapore could spend CNY this Year of the Wood Snake in KL and Johor. She wouldn't approve of me posting pictures of her in my blog so I'd like to just share a picture of a macaroon with the auspicious character "Prosperity" below which reminded me of a short morning break we had at the Mill Bakery cafe in Desa Sri Hartamas before we resumed the hectic preparations and chores to be done. This will be the final post on CNY 2025 from yours truly. Here's to more adventures and memorable moments to be experienced for the year ahead.