A year ago in Malaysia

While I was under the weather and feeling sorry for myself, I realized that a year had gone by since my trip home to Malaysia. Where on earth did that year go? I asked Babe to upload the photographs that I’d taken  when I was there. I was getting all teary eyed as one does when reminiscing something so memorable. So a stroll down memory lane seemed in order even though, insya’allah, I’ll be making another trip again next year. 

As usual, I spent most of my three weeks with my elderly parents, enjoying their company with lovely food cooked by my father. He asked me what I wanted to eat and I gave him a very long list :-). Aah… so many dishes and so little time. It was lovely to be pampered. Relatives and old friends called daily for long chats and promises to meet. I called Babe everyday to make sure he’s ok and we had long chats of what each of us had been up to. My camera was never far away and there were so many things to focus the lens at. There was so many wildlife about because there were pockets of rainforest dotted around the housing estate. 

Home is where the heart is
And my heart is anywhere you are

Anywhere you are is home
I don't need a mansion on a hill

That overlooks the sea
Anywhere you're with me is home

Maybe I'm a rolling stone
Who won't amount to much

But everything that I hold dear
Is close enough to touch

For home is where the heart is
And my heart is anywhere you are

Anywhere you are is home
Maybe I'm a rolling stone

Who won't amount to much
But everything that I hold dear

Is close enough to touch
For home is where the heart is

And my heart is anywhere you are
Anywhere you are is home

~Elvis Presley~

I also made a trip to the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park with my niece, Emil, and youngest nephew, Eris. The sprawling bird park was a 8.5 hectare public aviary. It housed more than 3000 birds representing more than 200 species in an enclosed aviary where 90% were local species. It was one of the world’s largest free-flight walk-in aviary and we spent nearly 4 hours wandering among the free flying birds in the ambience of lush tropical rainforest. We’d an amazing day watching colourful sights and melodic sounds of birds perching and flying about freely enjoying the natural and beautiful landscaped surroundings. There were miniature gardens, pools and water cascades, bridges, flowering plants, fruit trees and bird-feeding stations at every corner.

The birds roamed freely which closely resembled their natural habitat and thus were able to breed naturally. The verdant valley terrain was divided into 4 zones to prevent them from going after each other. One bird can become food to another :-). Zone 1 and 2 were the free-flight zone; zone 3 was the Hornbill park and zone 4 were mini aviaries. We also attended a bird show at the amphitheatre. Then we enjoyed a rustic Malay gastronomic experience at the Hornbill Restaurant overlooking the bird park. We were quite fortunate because as soon as our food arrived, the heavens opened. We could see a lot of the visitors getting soaked because the rain shelters were quite far apart. 

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind  

and floats downstream  

 

till the current ends

and dips his wing

in the orange sun rays

 

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

 

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and  

 

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings  

 

with a fearful trill  

of things unknown  

but longed for still  

 

and his tune is heard  

on the distant hill  

for the caged bird  

 

sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

 

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn

and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams  

 

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream  

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied  

so he opens his throat to sing.

 

The caged bird sings  

with a fearful trill  

of things unknown  

 

but longed for still  

and his tune is heard  

on the distant hill  

 

[a lovely butterfly spotted fluttering in the garden]

for the caged bird  

sings of freedom.

~Maya Angelou ‘Caged Bird’~

 

[Definitely not a bird but a monitor lizard spotted in the grounds. They eat bird’s eggs and will be destroyed if caught]

I also planned my trip to coincide with the Hajj. It was lovely celebrating the festival with my family again. A few days before the big day, my sister and tribe gathered and the house was noisy again. The house was swept, carpets beaten, windows cleaned, grass mowed, trinkets dusted, curtains and bed-linen washed. Vases of fresh flowers and orchids dotted everywhere. The table was groaning with delicious, home-coked food. It was one hell of a celebration. Relatives, neighbours and friends popped over all day long. 

My sister and I plus the children also checked out the famous night market which was beside the sea and just 10 minutes away from the house. We’d a wonderful time choosing soo many different kinds of hawker food. The children were given some money so that they could choose whatever that took their fancy. We brought the food home and shared it with everyone. Then we nipped over to a concert to celebrate the Malaysian army 80th anniversary and also the declaration of Port Dickson as a City of the Army. The city of Port Dickson was named after a senior officer of the Federated Malay States Sir John Frederick Dickson who established the Malay Regiment on March 1, 1933.

Earlier during the week, my parent’s neighbour Cikgu J.S. invited me out for a day. We’d brunch at one of the seaside stalls and had a wonderful time catching up. I am very grateful to her for keeping an eye on my parents. Then she took me to check out the Army Museum down the road. The museum displayed written and pictorial accounts of the early Malaccan sultanate, the arrival of the Portuguese, colonial rule under the British, the Japanese invasion, Communist insurgence and everything up to the present decade. And of course, the history of the Malaysian army.

Home of my youth! with fond delight,
On thee doth recollection dwell;
Home of my youth! how gaily bright,
The scenes that childhood loved so well.

Cot of my fathers! well I know,
The spot that saw my infant dawn;
Near the green lane, the old elm row--
The village spire--the grassy lawn.

 

O! sweet to me the laughing hours,
When earth seemed gay, and heaven was fair;
When fancy culled her thornless flowers,
And pleasure reigned, unknown to care.

 

Home of my youth! this heart away,
Recalls those moments dear to me;
Often in dreams will memory stray,
Home of my youth--to weep o'er thee.

~ William B. Tappan (1794-1849)

Since my parents house doesn’t have wi-fi, my eldest nephew, Eriq, and I would spend hours at the various fast-food restaurants in Port Dickson. I hated fast-food but beggars can’t be choosers. Every 3-4 days, we will be either at Pizza Hut, McDonald, A&W, Domino’s or KFC just for the free wi-fi. Of course, you have to get something to eat, too. When I met one of my best friends in Kuala Lumpur, JJ, and her adorable daughter, SS, for lunch, I asked them not to choose any fast-food restaurants. Luckily, they knew what I liked and treated Dee and I to a traditional restaurant with authentic Malay cuisine called Rebung. It offered a wide range of finger-licking Negeri Sembilan dishes, from where I came from. I am definitely going to come here again whenever I’m in Malaysia. The impressive spread was super amazing. Later in the week, I also met another close friend, CY at a food court in one of the major shopping complex and it was another glorious food tasting session. Here, there were many small hawkers under on roof and you choose what you want to eat. Thanks a million, guys.

After 3 weeks, it was time to say good-bye. It went too quick but I know I will be back, insyallah.

This posting is also in memory of the missing MH370 and the crashed MH17. My prayers and thoughts are with them and their families.

I have only used Malaysian Airlines about half a dozen times. Now, I fly Emirates because they were based in Birmingham which was just 30 minutes drive from Coventry.

~

Gifts of October

Oh what a gift. I was knocked out for nearly 2 weeks. At first, I thought it was the Fresher’s flu that was spreading like wildfire at the moment which was expected when you were in contact with thousands of students from around the world. The library induction hasn’t even started yet but I did hold the fort during the Stratford International Foundation Induction Programme and must had caught the virus there. But after a week, it got worse and I’d to make an emergency appointment to see a doctor. And my flu was elevated to acute bronchitis. Eeek…

[This is how I felt]

I caught the worst dose of lurgy  I’m still fighting it. The weather had been so mild that none of these nasties had been killed.  I had been sneezing my head off and my blocked nose was so sore and red. I was constantly sniffing.  Sore throat with a hacking cough led to a burning sensation in the back of my nasal cavity whenever I breathe in which was hard. The worse thing was that I didn’t have any decent sleep at all so that my poor body could rest and heal. A dripping nose punctuated by fits of debilitating coughing kept me awake. I had to sleep downstairs on Babe’s reclining chair to get some comfort.

[Again?]

At the doctors, pharmacies and supermarkets, I encountered with fellow coughers, snifflers and citizens of delirium. Aargh…My shopping basket consisted of paracetamol, cough syrup, tissues and vapour rub!!! At home, my days were spent in my thick socks, tracksuits and a hot water bottle under a duvet. I felt [and looked] so crappy that I’ve barely felt like doing anything. There was nothing interesting on tv, my headaches were making it difficult to read and only had the local radio station for company. Even my feathered friends had deserted me. But this might be due to the presence of a Sparrow Hawk that Babe had spotted on the bird-feeder earlier during the week. This lone Starling was thinking where had everybody gone???

We managed, actually dragged ourselves, to check out our favourite playground during the weekend. Both of us needed some fresh air and the little walk helped to clear away my sinus and coughed up the phlegm. But it was quite an exhausting walk and we stopped at every hide for a breather and a drink. When we signed in, I found out that there was a sighting of a Painted Lady in the Sensory Garden. We walked around but I only spotted a Small Tortoiseshell enjoying the sunshine. There were still quite a few butterflies fluttering around like Comma, Speckled Wood and Red Admiral.

We checked out the Lower Pond for toads and found 3 of different stages of growth under a thick black plastic. They were making homes in an ant-hill which was like having a takeaway on your door-step. They were now spending autumn preparing for hibernation, feeding on insects, slugs and worms. Toads normally overwinter in places like composts heaps and amongst dead wood which made this location ideal for them.These common toads were identified by their preference for walking rather than hopping, along with their warty skin, which secreted toxins. They were good indicators of the health of a water-body as they needed clean, fresh water to breed which meant good news for the reserve.

We were also entertained by a female Southern Hawker which was hawking in the late afternoon sun. They were one of the last hawkers with the greatest prevalence in early September. Unlike the intensively curious male who was always patrolling their territory and coming over to check things out, this female was desperately trying to oviposit (lay eggs). Curiously, she seemed to lay hers on the wooden fence on the periphery and not directly into the pond foliage. The nymphs fed on aquatic insects, tadpoles and small fish until they emerged as adults in July and August after 3 years development. There was also a Common Darter sunning on the boardwalk.

A still small voice spoke unto me,
“Thou art so full of misery,
Were it not better not to be?”

 
Then to the still small voice I said;
“Let me not cast in endless shade
What is so wonderfully made. 
To which the voice did urge reply;
“To-day I saw the dragon-fly
Come from the wells where he did lie.

 
“An inner impulse rent the veil
Of his old husk: from head to tail
Came out clear plates of sapphire mail.

 
“He dried his wings: like gauze they grew;
Thro’ crofts and pastures wet with dew
A living flash of light he flew.”

~Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1842), The two voices~

At East Marsh Hide, we found it surprisingly full. A Curlew Sandpiper was the piece de resistance. It was busy feeding along the mudbanks of the large island. The Lapwings took a particular dislike to this tiny bird and kept chasing it away. I wouldn’t have recognised this wader because it looked like a Dunlin but less dumpy with longer legs and neck. They bred in the far north in the Siberian Arctic. In Britain, they turned up on passage to their wintering grounds in Africa. Wigeons too were gathering by the hundreds and their whistling were echoing around the reserve. Small flocks of starlings were also beginning to arrive and fingers-crossed, we might experience another amazing murmuration display in late autumn.

We made a pit stop at Carlton Hide. The aquatic weeds were beginning to cover the lake again. The volunteers were fighting a losing battle trying to clear them. A flock of Moorhens were enjoying the quiet afternoon. On the bank, a very handsome Pheasant was lurking among the reed-beds. The striking, bronze plumage, red face wattle and shiny green neck was reflected beautifully in the sunshine.  We kept our cameras trained on him because we knew that he was about to fly across the water and we were right. With a loud ‘kroak’  and rapid wings flapping, it flew right in front of us. The explosive flight was strong, direct and fast.

The last stop was at the very busy Ted Jury hide. A pair of Stonechats flirting and feeding among the brambles at the far end of the reserve had been spotted. Unfortunately you can’t see without the aid of a spotting scope and I’m thankful to GH for letting me use his. It was a crackling male with his dark above with black throat and orange belly. A pity we didn’t get any photographs but at least a pair of Kestrels kept us busy. The highlight was when one of the bird landed onto the ground in front of the hide. I was so stunned that I’d forgotten to take any photograph, which was a first for me.

A Common Snipe suddenly appeared from the reed-beds. They were usually hard to see on the ground and it was lovely to see it out in the open. The long straight beak and patterned upperparts were their most striking features. It stood very still beside the shallow pool and the cryptic patterning of browns, blacks and white were very visible. More should be arriving soon as those from Northern Europe will be joining the resident birds. After having a quick wash, it quickly disappeared back into the reed-beds.

On the way out, a pair of Grey wagtails were flying on top of the visitor centre’s roof. Like other wagtails, they wagged their tail frequently and flew low with undulation and their sharp call when they flew in caught my attention. On the roof, they were always on the move, frantically bobbing, ducking and dashing about. At times, they darted into the air after a flying insect showing a mere flash of black, white, grey and golden yellow. We met HS who was on her way in and had a little chat. A Linnet still in its summer breeding colours with red forehead and breast was perched on top of the tree near the wall. Then we went our separate ways.

Approximately 60 days after the end of Ramadan, and during the last month of the Islamic calendar, Dzulhijjah, 2 millions Muslim pilgrims from all over the world entered the holy city of Mecca chanting repeatedly

“I am here, O Lord, I am here” 

as they took part in one of the final rites of the annual hajj pilgrimage. Incredible photographs from inside and outside Islam’s most sacred mosque showed scores of people completing the 5-day religious journey that was considered one of the Muslim faith’s greatest acts of worships. Wearing unstitched folds of white cloth, men and WOMEN gathered around the cube-shaped Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam. With the conclusion of hajj, the 5th of the pillars of Islam, Muslims celebrated the Eid al-Adha or Feast of Sacrifice.

The Feast commemorated what Muslims believed was Prophet Ibrahim’s (Abraham) willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as a test of his faith. In the end, he was provided with a sheep to sacrifice instead. In remembrance, Muslims slaughtered sheep and other livestock, giving a third of the meat to the poor. It was a time for Muslims around the world to reflect on their lives as well as the greater of the humanity. Unfortunately these year, the murderers thugs had committed the ultimate sin and defiled the celebrations. RIP Alan Henning.

Unfortunately due to me being so poorly, we gave the celebration a miss. But, I still call my parents to wish them a very Happy Eid. I could hear the celebrations at the background as my sister was getting ready to welcome guests for special prayers. Oh… how I missed those wonderful preparations. We didn’t talk long because I was coughing my head off. Not to feel left out, I forced myself to the kitchen and made a special dish called chicken rendang to celebrate the day. It was supposed to be a very complicated dish to make but I cheated. When I was in Malaysia many moons ago, I brought back packets of rendang paste. All I need to do was cubed the chicken breasts, add the paste and coconut milk. Then slow cook until the chicken was tender. Easy peasy. We’d it with rice and the spiciness blew my cold away but unfortunately not my cough.

Meanwhile in the local news, Coventry didn’t know what hit them when a Ricoh Arena takeover bid by Premiership rugby side, Wasps to the stadium was approved. The squad, the facilities and the move meant Wasps had a ‘secured’ future for the first time ever as less than 2 years ago they were hours away from going out of business. The Black and Gold, who had been crowned English champions 6 times and twice won the Heineken Cup, will play their home matches 80 miles from their current ground, Adams Park in High Wycombe. Their long-term intention was to build a new training base in Coventry that could cause major issues in a union stronghold given the proximity of 2 other Premiership clubs, Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints, Worcester Warriors in the second tier and Coventry Rugby Club itself, who play in National League 1.

There were fears Wasps flight to the Ricoh Arena, and relocating to the city, could have a negative impact on Coventry Rugby Club and potentially prevent current tenants Coventry City FC from remaining at the stadium on a long-term basis. Almost a month to the day since the Sky Blues’ momentous Ricoh return, the goalposts had been moved again, quite literally. The club now found themselves as tenants in their home city to a club from a different sport and a different part of the country who will churn up the pitch every other week during the season.

It also upset the Coventry Rugby Club, formed 130 years ago, in the third tier of English rugby and now in competition with a top-flight side on their door-step. Coventry City, who spent 34 years in football’s top flight until relegation in 2001 and now play in League 1 (third tier), only returned to the Ricoh, after more than a season in Northampton. They originally moved to the Ricoh in 2005 after leaving their old ground, Highfield Road, which had been their home since 1899. On paper, the move wouldn’t affect Coventry City FC’s fixtures because they play on Saturdays.while Wasps play on Sunday. Wasps will be playing their first game at the Ricoh in December either against the Castres or London Irish fixtures. Maybe the Ricoh can employ an Allianz-Arena-esque system with different colour seats/exterior depending on which team play. Watch this space. The wasps in these photographs were enjoying a meal in the garden.

I’m also excited that work was finally underway for the long-awaited train station at the Ricoh Arena. It was to be built on the Coventry to Nuneaton ‘NUCKLE’ rail improvement project. It should be completed in spring next year. Upgrade on the line meant that the two-carriage trains will run between Nuneaton and Coventry every 30 minutes. On match or major event days, the train will run between Coventry Station and the Ricoh every 15 minutes. The 10 mile stretch of railway cost a whooping £13.6 million. For the Ricoh to be an international venue a train station was essential and would further enhance more economic possibilities. Finally, the north of Coventry will be connected to the world :-0.

The only thing that I’m looking forward while under the weather was the nocturnal visits from my prickly pals. It was a privilege to have hedgehogs visiting and feeding in our garden. They needed all the support they can get as they were now on the endangered species list. Wild hedgehogs were very wary of humans and animals and it took us a long time to gain their trust. We were now at the stage that they suddenly emerged as soon as I turn my back after I’d put their food down on the steps to the garden.They happily munched away with us sitting indoors  a metre away recording them. They ate and then stood on their feet which was so cute to have a drink, climb down the steps where we put bricks to assist them, wander around the patio and sometimes got so close to the door before scuttling off into the darkness.  Simply amazing.

The prickly little hedgehog,
Goes slowly on his way.
He comes out in the evening,
And often sleeps by day.
He’s a gentle little fellow,
Who does no harm at all.
But if you try to hurt him,
He’ll curl up in a ball.

~Nursery rhyme~

The hedgehogs were fed on mashed dog-food, sprinkled liberally with dried mealworms. It was quite surreal listening to them slurping the food and crunching on the mealworms. Hedgehogs were walking dustbins as they ate pretty much anything that their cute little noses managed to sniffle out. At this time of year, they were busy cramming in all the food they can find to build up their body weight to provide them with the reserves they needed to survive the winter hibernation. It was a race against time. Once the outside temperature falls below 10 degrees Centigrade all the body processes began to slow down, and the hedgehog must hide somewhere where he’ll be protected from both the elements and any enemies.  Safely tucked in, the heart rate slows down, the body temperature falls and the whole body goes into suspended animation to use as little energy and as few calories as possible until warmer weather returns in spring. We hoped that what we were doing will help them get through as their presence in our garden was always a gift and a blessing to us.

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
~L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables~