Sunday 7 October 2012

Sarawak



For my last entry, I will talk about the interesting place you have to go when you visit Sarawak which is Semengoh Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. 

Entrance of Semengoh Rehabilitation
In Kuching area, it is undoubtedly that Semengoh Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre is one of the best and popular attractions for tourists. It's highly accessible, only half an hour from Kuching by public bus, and offers the opportunity of getting close to some highly mischievous, semi-wild orang-utan. The centre was established in 1975 and since then, it has been accepting the wild animals which have been found injured, orphaned, have been kept as illegal pets or rescued from captivity and reintroducing them back into the wild. There are many species of endangered wildlife in the centre but still the orang-utans are the star of attractions.

Warden feeds the orang-utans
As visitors want to visit Semengoh, the best time to visit Semengoh is during feeding time where it only takes half an hour. The semi-wild orang-utans are good time keepers as they will show themselves during feeding time. They descend from the trees of the surrounding forest reserve to offer visitors a unique wildlife experience and some excellent photo opportunities while they were playing with each other, swing about in the hanging vines and occasionally descend to ground level to 'charge' groups of tourists. Here, you can get the best and beautiful photos as the orang-utans are playing and move around. The orang-utans will stop playing around when the wardens arrive with the buckets of food and bottles of milk. They will follow the wardens walking along the plank walk or swinging from tree to tree.


You may have the chance to have a view of urang-utans closer but never get closer than 20 feet during feeding time because they will spend an hour or more. Usually orang-utans will spend an hour on their meals, playing and messing around with each other. 

FEEDING TIME

  • Morning: Between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.
  • Afternoon: Between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.


When the food run out, the orang-utans will stop playing and having fun and then they will move off into the forest back.

OPENING HOURS

  • Hours: The Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is open seven days a week including holidays from 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and from 2 - 4 p.m. Feeding times are at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
  • Cost: Adults - $1; children - 50 cents. The admission cost is for the feeding area only. A ranger will take groups of up to five people into the forest to look for orangutans for $13 per group.

CAUTIONS WHEN VISIT ORANG-UTANS

  • Do not make any noise that will disturb the orang-utans.
  • Turn the flash off on your camera!
  • Never get closer than 20 feet to an orang-utans, they have been known to injure humans.
  • Do not stay directly below orangutans if they are overhead.
  • No food, water bottles, or smoking are allowed around the orangutans.



Tuesday 2 October 2012

Sabah


Hi everyone. Let’s move to my fourth entry about the interesting places. For this entry, I chose Sabah where I will talk about the largest flower in the world which is Rafflesia.


Rafflesia Keithii Meijer
According to Mjoberg (1928), Rafflesia penetrates smell more repulsive than any buffalo carcass in an advanced stage of decomposition. Here I would like to quote Nais (2000), Meijer (1997), Mat Salleh (1991) where they stated that “there are approximately 17 Rafflesia species distributed throughout Southeast Asia”. These species are highly specific as to the hosts that they parasitize, preferring only a few species of Tetra stigma (a member of the common grape family) that are distributed in the same geographic area.

Here I would like to share with you guys the two example of advantages of Rafflesia in many aspects. First is, the advantages to host plants. Although their host plants have been parasitized by the entophytes, their benefit is to provide some measure of value to them. This quasi-symbiotic relationship helps ensure the survival of the host, which, in turn, ensures survival of the parasitic organism. As I quoted from Mycosphere Online’s “Journal of Fungal Biology”, he stated that “chemical compounds produced by entophytes boost these survival rates. Particularly, Rafflesia cantleyi's anti-microbial activity provided an internal plant medicine where it gave a health advantage to its host.
Second is Rafflesia give advantage to people where the ongoing research reveals that Rafflesia provides anti-microbial protection to its host plant may also provide the similar protection to people. Indigenous people used Rafflesia in medical as a fever reducer and a post-childbirth antibiotic. Besides that, anti-microbial action from Rafflesia was effectively proved against bacteria that caused food poisoning (Bacillus cereus) and staph infections (Staphylococcus aureus).

Blooming Rafflesia
Do you ever see the blooming Rafflesia? Now, I will explain a little bit about the blooming Rafflesia that rarely happens. There was a twin-blooming Rafflesia from a largest species of Sabah which is Rafflesia Keithii in Hamilin Rafflesia Garden near Poring. If you want to see the blooming Rafflesia, you need to pay for the entrance fee which cost you RM20 or USD 6 for locals, RM30 or USD9 for foreign tourists.
The Rafflesia takes 6-9 months to bloom from the bud (like human baby). One of the blooming Rafflesia has 6 fleshy petal (normal is 5) and the flower usually opens at night and the petals take about 24 to 48 hours to fully extend.

You may watch the twin-blooming Rafflesia below:



Resources:

Sunday 30 September 2012

Johor


Hello everyone. This time I will talk about Danga Bay, Johor or in Malay it is known as Teluk Danga. 
Danga Bay or Teluk Danga is Malaysia's premier waterfront city and the largest recreational park in the city of Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Besides being a rustic residential waterfront getaway, it is also a great place to hang out, shop and eat till you drop. Danga Bay is also sometimes referred to as the Vision City of the South. It is actually located nearby Istana Bukit Serene. Danga Bay is the place to host many interesting events especially during festive seasons. In Danga Bay, the most several hot spot to hang out are Danga Beach, Danga World which is fun fair including theme park, petting zoo and tram ride, Danga Conventional Centre and Danga Marina. There are lots of interesting and fun activities that visitors can do.

Danga Beach Club
Besides that, at Danga Bay you will find a great and amazing choice of fresh seafood and drinks. It is available at Danga Beach Club, East Meet West, Blue Bayou, Titi Thai & Cacaba or Blue Whale Seafood. Danga Beach Club is a nice place for you to enjoy your drinks and meals while watching the fantastic view during sunset.

Bicycle

Tram

If you walk along the beach, there are plenty of creatures can be found and it still alive. Besides that, you can choose to walk, ride bicyles or tram, to explore the entire Danga Bay. In my opinion, I think if you walked, you can enjoy the scene more. If you choose to take a tram to explore the Danga Bay, it just cost you only RM5 for 20 minutes. 
Apart from that, you also can visit Danga World Petting Zoo which shows you the variety of birds’ species, monitor lizards and many other animals for public viewing.

Hotel room

If you choose to stay at Danga Bay for a few couple of days, you may check-in at the nearest hotel at Danga Bay which is Golden Leaf Boutique Hotel. For a standard double room, it just cost RM 78 per night whereas it is a basic air-conditioned room with a suite bathroom. There are provided the facilities in the room such as shower, air conditioning, iron refrigerator, seating area, free toiletries, toilet, bathroom, flat-screen TV and also wake up service and it is only maximum for two people. 
So, don’t hesitate to visit Danga Bay as there are many interesting activities and beautiful scenery you will have there.

Resources

Friday 28 September 2012

Malacca the Historical City


Hi peeps. Now I would like to proceed with my second entry which is the interesting place for this time is Malacca or also known as the Historical City.
The interesting places that I’ve chosen to be shared with you guys in Malacca are Garden of Thousand Flowers and Melaka Botanical Garden. In this entry, you may see the beautiful and peaceful scenery which can make you feel calm and peace.

Garden of Thousand Flowers

The entrance of Garden of Thousand Flowers
It is located at Jalan Gapam which is next to Seri Bendahara building and it is currently under the management of Perbadanan Hang Tuah Jaya. This beautiful garden is officiated by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on 30 June 2007.
5.3 hectares of beautifully landscaped gardens complete with walking tracks, fountains and romantic pergolas. Here, visitors can exercise by walking along the walking tracks. Besides that, Garden of Thousand Flowers is a perfect spot for quite stroll and is suitable for the family recreation activities and also for those who are interested in landscape and nursery. They can get a creative idea in creating the landscape. In this garden also, it have been provided with many facilities which are ‘surau’, toilet, cafĂ©, various benches and rest area. So, for the Muslims, they do not have to worry in performing the prayers because ‘surau’ is already provided.

Garden of Thousand Flowers is open daily starting from early in the morning that is from 6.45 a.m. until 6.45 p.m. It was closed at night because it is undergoing refurbishment and is expected to be operational at night once the lighting is fixed. The best thing is, visitors do not have to pay for the fees.
So, don’t miss the chances to get the peaceful scenery at the Garden of Thousand Flowers or else you will regret for it.


INTERESTING SCENERY









Ok, now let’s proceed with the next garden that I have chosen.

Melaka Botanical Garden


The entrance of Melaka Botanical Garden
The Melaka Botanical Garden or formerly known as the Hutan Rekreasi Ayer Keroh was established from an idea mooted by the Chief Minister of Melaka, YAB Datuk Seri Hj Mohd Ali bin Mohd Rustam on 1 June 2006. This garden is encircled by a forest that contains over 300 species of unique flora and fauna. The cute thing about this park is the collection of giant stone carvings of prehistoric animals that were scattered all around the park.

Garden
There are various types of gardens available: 
      i.        Taro/Yam Garden
   ii.        Bamboo Garden                                       
  iii.        Orchid Garden
   iv.        Herbal Garden
   v.        Heliconia Garden
*sorry for the inconvenience in providing the pictures of these gardens.




This garden open on Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Monday whereas during Tuesday to Thursday it is open starting from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Meanwhile, on Saturday and Sunday it is open starting from 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

Now it’s time for BUGGY SUNDAY !!!

If you don’t have any idea what should you do to entertain your kids rather than just walking, you can buggy riding with them at Botanical Garden Buggy Ride. The best and suitable time for buggy riding is early in the morning when the air is from the recreational forest is fresh and the sun is not too hot. There are plenty of buggy that you can choose. It have two buggy seat and the other has only 1 buggy seat.
Buggy riding

Apart from that, there are also providing the 4 seat buggy but it is not dramatic because it is not suitable if you want to play with your kids, for example, if you want to race with them. The suitable buggy to race is the 2 buggy seats as it can race to the end and I’m guaranteed that your kids will love it. This vehicle is easy to be conducted because you don’t need to use your feet and even with one hand you can still drive it. Buggy is safe because it is slow and just for 30 minutes only. The fee for the single seat buggy is only RM10 meanwhile for the double buggy it is RM18. Worth isn’t?
So, don’t forget to buggy riding if you visit the Melaka Botanical Garden.



Resources

Thursday 27 September 2012

Teluk Intan


This is my first entry that I will talk about the interesting and attractive place in Perak. Teluk Intan is one of the great places to visit when you are in Perak. The place that I want to talk about is Teluk Intan Leaning Tower. Leaning Tower is a pride of Teluk Intan that is similar to the world-famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy. Teluk Intan also formerly known as Teluk Anson. First of all I would like to talk about the history of Teluk Intan Leaning Tower.

The front view of Leaning Tower
Teluk Intan Leaning Tower was built in 1885 by a Chinese contractor named Leong Choon Chong. The first time it was built, it was known as the High Clock Tower because of the clock on it and it is still working up till today. But as it starts to tilt towards the northwest, it gained notoriety as the most famous leaning tower this side of the world. The tower is standing at 85ft (25.5m tall), it has eight different levels but actually it has only three storeys. There are 110 steps connecting the floors which are 15.5 feet high. The base of the structure is 43 feet in diameter. The structure was straight at the first time it was built but it began tilt about 1.8 meters towards Jalan Bandar between 1889 and 1895.

When you take a close look at the tower, you can see the Chinese architectural elements in the design especially at the mortar strips, roof eves and drippers. It wasn’t surprising because the contractor was a Chinese. Throughout the long history of the tower, it has served different purposes. During the Japanese occupation, for example, it was used as a watch tower. 

Chinese elements on mortar strips eves and drippers 

The entrance to the Leaning Tower
 Here, you can enter the tower without paying any fees because it is totally free. 

So, grab the chances to visit Teluk Intan Leaning Tower when you visit Perak.


Little Intro


This blog created especially for Digital and Mobile Communication subject. The objective of this blog is to make the readers know the interesting places in Malaysia. In this blog, I will talk about the attractiveness of the places and pictures also will be provided as a reference for the readers. This blog is also suitable for the readers that are searching for the interesting places for a vacation. Feel free to visit here everyday. Thank You :)