The story of a Crow

I was sitting on a verandah one afternoon when a couple of beautiful crow pass by, probably on their way to a lunch date. They decided that the coconut tree is the best place to 'rest' and spy for food from the nearby campers tent.

So, they chit chatted:

Crookkk, crookkk, crookkk, crookkk (Meaning: do you think we can steal food from these campers?)

He & She: Let see. Oh no, we've got sniper watching!

He: Are you sure that sniper guy can do any harm?

She: Yes! Let's just get out of here.

He: (giggles) No, I think he likes us.

She: I said let's go. He's pointing his gun at you!

He: You go ahead. I'll take care of things.

 (thinking hard)

 (3 hours later) He: Hrmmm, thay guy can't stop admiring me

He: Let's give him something worth watching

"Did you see that, sniper guy?"

"I'm off. Please take care of my sh**"

THE END

Keeping an eye

Lurking..

Egretta Alba or great egret is the official mascot of Kota Kinabalu city.

Location: Sabah Parks jetty.

Buffalo of Borneo

The water buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a large bovine animal, frequently used as livestock in the Indian Subcontinent, and also widely in South America, southern Europe, Northern Africa, and elsewhere.

In 2000, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimated there were approximately 158 million water buffalo in the world, with 97% of them (approximately 153 million animals) in Asia

Reference: Water Bufallo on Wikipedia.

Water buffalo have been domesticated for 5,000 years, and have become economically important animals. They provide more than 5% of the world’s milk supply and 20% to 30% of the farm power in Southeast Asia.

The water buffalo has promise as a major source of meat, even the milking ones. The water buffalo also is the classic work animal in Asia, an integral part of that continent’s traditional village farming structure. The domesticated water buffalo is often referred to as “the living tractor of the East”, as it is relied upon for ploughing and transportation in many parts of Asia - Wikipedia.

These are some of those found in Sabah, Borneo (Malaysia):

"Hello, mad at me for taking your pic?" - buffaloes mud-bathing on an abandoned paddy field. Sometimes they become a nuisance in the neighbourhood when they enter your compound in the middle of the night and 'slam dunk' their dunk at pleasure right infront of your gate.

"Alone with the buffalo?" - The Egretta Alba or great egret (the official mascot of Kota Kinabalu city) enjoying the company of  the resting pack.

Ah, everyone seem to have a birdie-friend here.

Gibbon

Gibbons are rare, small, slender, long-armed, tree-dwelling apes. These very acrobatic primates live in southeast Asia. Gibbons are arboreal; they spend most of their lives in trees. Because they are so dextrous while moving in the trees, almost no predators can catch them. There are nine species of gibbons, including the siamang, which is the largest and darkest gibbon. Because of the rapid deforestation of their habitats, gibbons are an endangered species. - enchantedlearning.com

This macho black-faced gibbon is currently an occupant of Lok Kawi Zoo, located 10km South of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Check out the other animals under their care here.

He looks a little bit sad but maybe it's been a bad day, who knows.

Closer look at his macho face

This is Wednesday

.

Picking a fight?

Three Deeish

I was trying to say 3-D as in 3D theater, 3D television or three-dimensional view of things on our flat screens.

In still pictures there are several ways of achieving this effect although I don't exactly know how many. I'll share some of my shots that I think are somewhat close to what is perceived as three dimension by our eyes. Kindly note that they are no where near the fine quality products of the pros but, well, I tried.

One way is via lighting. Lighting the subjects at different focal distances will give you the feeling that one subject is further away from you than the other.

Piranhas in a big aquarium

Sad looking Snake confined in a glass cage

Another way is via depth of field (DOF). Shallow depth of field combined with focusing only the front-most subject can create 3D effect, such as these photos:

'Beruang ' is one of the favourite dogs at Mom's

'also-in' - a typical unwanted weed in your flower vase

Happy shooting!

The Green Connection

Let's head to The Green Connection for a family outing.

Welcome to The Green Connection!

Where:
It is a 10-minute drive from KK city and is located within Badan Sukarelawan Complex, KM2, Jalan Tuaran, Likas Sabah. If you are driving from Kota Kinabalu, you would have passed through Razz Ma Tazz clubhouse, SLDB office and finally a temple on your left hand side prior to the intended left-turn to The Green Connection.

When:
It is open daily from 10.00am - 6.00pm and last entry is at 4.30pm

How:
My wife always say that I'm good with sketching direction map but I am not going to sketch one this time. Uncle Google will. Just a little bit of touches here and there and we are good to go:

Finding it is very easy

Show me the money:
Ticket price for adult : RM 25.00
Child : RM 15.00 children between 2 yrs and 16 yrs old. It's free passage for babies.

Err...these vases don't grow flower one!

About half of the fun is outdoors but no worries, the compound is amply vegetated and your tour would mostly be under the shade of the trees. If you are unlucky and it rains, you have to just stay indoors but there are still plenty of things you can do.

Get a hand at the starfish if you'd like to. Just don't take them out of the water please..

Hensem kah saya?

The main attraction is this centre is the big aquarium inhabited by many aquatic species. Some notable ones being the stingrays, sharks and turtles.

Shoot them as you like & take all the time you need

Guided tour:
As part of the education program, the centre provide a short on-the-job briefing prior and during the show. Fish feeding time (I call it showtime) is at 11.30am & 4.00pm on Monday to Friday. On Public Holidays, Saturdays and Sundays there is additional show at 1.30pm.

Should I listen to her? or watch the diver feeding the fishes?

"There.. Take it, you greedy pari!"

Less activity outdoors for us as it was drizzling that day. There are snakes and other reptiles as well but that'd be for the next visit during drier days.

"Mana sudah mama kita nih aah?"

"Ahoyyy pirate!"
...fares you goodbye as you approach the exit.

Happy Holidays! and spend sometime with your loved ones this weekend.

Lok Kawi Wildlife Park

This is a family-oriented park aimed at educating the public about the endangered animals of Borneo an opportunity to get a glimpse of the wildlife up close. The wildlife park consists of two main sections namely zoological (animals) and botanical (plants). The botanical section provides good opportunities to see rare plant species but this was not in our agenda during the visit.


The park is open daily from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm, and is approximately 30 minutes’ drive from Kota Kinabalu; or approximately 15 km if your navigational preference is measured in distance.

Let's see some of my captures.


Little monkey moves a lot and it was a bit of a challenge to persuade him for a portrait shot.

"Merenung jauh nampak...?" Gibbon is shying away from me, looking dejected. Maybe I need to learn more monkey languages.




Young proboscis doing the "moginggat" (betel nut chewing). Ok I bluffed, it's just some young leaves in his mouth.


All Monkeys and no Elephants?


Don't put a pilih bulu label on me just yet. Of course I like monkeys - all big and smalls - but I like all other animals at the zoo equally. Give me some time and I will feature them in my blog, too.




Ooopss! Not another monkey. Sorry for the distraction, this guy is not from Lok Kawi Zoo; he's happily living at KL Tower mini zoo.




The serval is an unusual looking (notably its big ears), medium sized cat found mainly in Africa. Nice variation to have it in Lok Kawi and it's good to 'see him in person'.




A white breasted eagle. Mice are released into its small cage to be preyed by this fast hunter. Not the kind of fair play don't you agree?




At certain time of the day the parrots are taken out into the open and you can take decent pics of them.




"Ling, lepas ko kasi mandi saya, saya kasi mandi ko pula nanti aah?". Debilang tu harimau betina.




Sorry folks, this is not a lion but I think he lost his way and ended up in my blog.


Thanks for reading, or rather viewing.