Home is where the Heart is with a Root Beer nearby

 

My sister from Down Under visited Kuala Lumpur with her kids before Chinese New Year 2024 week. This was in early January 2024. Tyler, Lya are my niece and nephew who are living in Melbourne, Australia and how both of them have grown up over the years amazed me. Their last trip to Malaysia was before lockdown began and that visit was made during Chinese New Year 2019, which they celebrated with my late father in Johor. This time around they were in Kuala Lumpur to pay respects to my late father at Nirvana Columbarium which is adjacent to Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka. We continued the age-old family tradition of taking my nieces and nephews out for coney dogs, root beer and waffles at A&W Petaling Jaya. This was after all THE place where my late father would treat us to when he was in KL to mark SPM exam papers back in the 80s. It was a blast to the past for my family when we stood in front of the iconic A&W in PJ (as pictured above).  

      Lyanne, Tyler with Kayden and Karyn - waiting for their Coney Dogs & Waffles!

Myself, Lya & Tyler at dragon-inspired decorations outside B.I.G, Publika

Hong Kong was where my brother-in-law lived and worked before he moved with my sister and his kids to Australia. Super glad I was able to visit her when she was in Hong Kong. We explored the streets of Mong Kok in Hong Kong, had milk tea and french toast at Stanley beach and she bought cupcakes for my birthday. We also visited a Charlie Brown cafe in Hong Kong which had cakes and beverages with customized Snoopy, Woodstock and Peanuts-themed motif. The Peanuts-themed glittery lights for their sign-board would have added to the anticipation of eager Snoopy fans as they looked forward to immerse themselves in all things Snoopy when they stepped into the cafe. I would have loved to explore Mai Po wetlands or Hong Kong parks again with Lya and Tyler. Birdwatching memories can be read HERE and HERE. A montage of memories through pictures with my sister below:-  

 

Seems the Charlie Brown themed cafe in Hong Kong has permanently closed. Similarly themed cafe opened in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur but these establishments did not last long either. Only a website named "charliebrowncafesg.com" selling Snoopy merchandise (in Singapore dollars) remains as a result when I typed Charlie Brown Cafe through the Google search bar on 24th March. However, a different Peanuts concept took off in South Korea in the likes of a nature park aptly named the Snoopy Garden in Jeju Island, South Korea. Click through the image of their website below, to know more about this Snoopy Garden (and translate the contents to English from Korean Hangul script if viewing from Chrome web browser).

My nephew Zhe King with my mum, Kayden & Karyn as we celebrated their grandma's birthday (as pictured above). Yi Hui could not make it to this lunch gathering as she was out with a friend that Saturday. Johor is the state where my sisters and I were born in, home is where the heart is, as we write new chapters of our lives whilst residing in Klang Valley with the occasional Root Beer in our hands.

Finding the Japanese Robin

My Neighbours The Yamadas was a very light-hearted animated series which had comical characters that were endearing, relatable and gave me a glimpse into the middle-class family life of Japan. The grandmother (祖母) in that cartoon series reminded me of my late maternal grandmother from Kedah who according to my mother would use a wooden bat to whack her children should they misbehave, just like how this Japanese grandma would continue to discipline Mrs Yamada when the latter forgot to run some errands for the family.    

There was a call of a songbird in one of the scenes (screenshot as above) in which I could identify the call as that of the Japanese Robin. This was cross-checked against the audio of this Japanese Robin species which I came across in a checklist submitted to eBird Japan, the checklist of which is as below:- 

https://ebird.org/checklist/S140736868

To find, record and observe my first Japanese Robin remains a lifelong quest of mine which I really hope to embark on when I get the opportunity to travel beyond Malaysia. eBird Japan website highlighted a campaign on Waterbirds and a screenshot of their website (translated from Japanese to English) is provided HERE. Wild Bird Society of Japan has an English website which can be viewed HERE. One of eBird Japan sponsors listed was Suntory Group which is a global leader in consumer products such as beverages, beer and wines, wellness products. Suntory's sponsorship could be seen as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative to protect wild birds and their environment. Clicking through their logo at the homepage of eBird Japan leads me to a website which appears to be dedicated to migratory birds highlighting five in particular which are illustrated in mid-flight, with their sounds made available by clicking on their respective pictures. An example is shown below and you can visit their interactive website by clicking on image below:-