Strutting her stuff - KL Gallery #6 (1,000th post)

A peacock struts her way around the KL Bird Park, seemingly oblivious to all human activity.

This is also my 1,000th post on *The Kuantan Blog*

It started in mid-2009 and has developed to a site that I take great pride in, and one which many people have found to be particularly useful. Thanks for visiting and following along!

A-Z April Blog Challenge

I've decided to give this blog a rest from the A-Z April blog challenge this year as I have a lot to catch up on from my recent travels and activities with my parents.

However, I have included 2 of my other blogs in this challenge and I invite you to go and check them out throughout this month.

First up is my A-Z of hotels which can be found at Xenodocheionology. I'm quietly excited about this one as I think it will make a very nice booklet/e-booklet once it is all completed through A - Z.

Secondly, you may visit our English business blog where I'm introducing rarely-used English words accommodated in a sentence. Click English Vocabulary to learn some new words.

Have a happy April everyone!

Top 20 Photos of 2013 - #19

#19

At a long-term science exhibition in Kuantan, I snapped this photo. Intrigued by the rows of lights emanating from the centre of this box, I crouched down, and keeping as steady as possible, lined up my camera to fit in the centre of these red and yellow blobs of light. In addition to being able to see the photographer and his equipment in the shot (a rare sight), the effect was that this magical camera can snap illustrious pictures, as characterised by the spread of lights seemingly flowing from the camera lens.

Top 20 Photos of 2013 - #20

For the next 20 days I'll be counting down my top 20 photos of 2013. For those who have signed up for this blog hop, do visit the other bloggers on the list each day and leave your feedback.

To everyone, I hope you enjoy these photos as I relive some great images and stories of the past year. Photography is a key element of *The Kuantan Blog* and a passion of mine. 

At the end of the blog hop I'll make a post dedicated to my Top 10 photos of 2013, as I have done in the past with:

Top 10 Photos of 2012

Top 10 Photos of 2011

Top 10 Photos of 2010

#20

I took this photo of the interestingly shaped water fountain which sits in the lower courtyard of the National Mosque (Masjid Negara) in Kuala Lumpur. Foreign tourists enjoy visiting this house of worship and there are long queues to get in as only a certain number are permitted at various time intervals. Special robes which cover the body are mandatory for those who are wearing inappropriate apparel to enter a mosque.

Top 20 Photos of 2013 starts tomorrow

Starting tomorrow I'll be posting my best 20 photos from 2013, one per day. I have spent some considerable time deciding which photos to include, which were the most meaningful, and which had stories behind them. I'm also looking forward to visiting others who have signed up for this blog-hop to see the images and stories they have captured.

Here is a photo that didn't make the top 20:

Posting this photo today is making me think twice. I really love this picture! It's our human tendency to rank things. We like to put things in lists. Perhaps there is no such thing as a Top 20 of photos taken in a year. Maybe we just have a whole collection of equally satisfying photos.

Here's another of my favourite photos of 2013:

Took this early one morning. I usually switch off the flash for sunrise/sunset pictures. Forgot to change the settings and captured this palm tree leaf lit up in clear detail with the soft blurry colours of the sunrise behind it. Came out just perfect! It ranked just outside my top 20 as I have another favourite sunset picture which you'll see in the coming days.

One more photo I'd like to share today:

I love watching the birds on a day to day basis here. I actually have a number of photos of them lining up on electricity lines outside our house. A nice picture, but I have no personal story to tell about it, or any standout reason why I love it.

So tomorrow we'll begin with #20 on our lists. Perhaps ranking our photos sorts out what is really and truly meaningful to us, something that goes beyond the image we see with our eyes, which carries a deeper sense of purpose. Hopefully, I have a few of those sort of photos in my Top 20.

Check it out from 1-20 January, 2014 at *The Kuantan Blog*.

Introducing a new blog dedicated to hotels

Hi there,

Today I am introducing a new blog, a companion to *The Kuantan Blog*. It's named "Xenodocheionology" and is dedicated to my love of hotels. You can also follow along on facebook by liking my Hotels in Malaysia facebook page.

The new blog can be found by following this link:

My Xenodocheionology

Hope you will enjoy this new blog just as much as this one!

The world of weeds over at my nature blog

Today I am featuring a little photo essay on the world of weeds, the neglected part of nature, but which is surprisingly present in equal abundance to its more favoured cousins (flowers, plants, trees etc)

Hop over to my nature blog and check out the beautiful photos that are possible when searching for . . . weeds!

The World of Weeds Photo Essay

Keep Calm and Zumba!

Zumba is a great "Z" word and it is also a great form of exercise. My wife is loving her zumba classes twice a week and I'm so glad she's having such a great time there, mixing exercise with dancing.

What better exercise is there, particularly for ladies? Do you zumba?

And that concludes the A-Z April blogging challenge for 2013. Thanks for following along, hope you enjoyed it!

Keep Calm and (Your text here)

I want to get you involved today. It's time to Keep Calm and insert YOUR text.

What text would you insert on this Keep Calm poster? Let's hear your flash ideas!

Keep Calm and X-Factor

American Idol has never been the same without Simon Cowell. That is to X-Factor's advantage. I love these singing competitions for two reasons - to laugh at those who are just awful in the auditions, and to laugh out loud at Simon Cowell's stunningly honest assessments of those who are awful.

You gotta have some fun somewhere, no?!

Keep yourselves Calm and X-FACTOR

Do you follow these singing shows? Which do you prefer - American Idol or X-Factor? Do you love Simon Cowell or hate him?!

Keep Calm and Win the war

I'm an Englishman and proud of my country's history, particularly that surrounding World War I and World War II. The defence of our island by air over the English Channel was an integral part of our victory in WWII. My grandfather was working on one of our ships engaged in combat in the English Channel at that time. The ship was hit but he managed to survive and tell the tale. I take a lot of strength and character from that.

Keep Calm and WIN the war!

Do you have any relatives involved in the war who had great stories to tell?

Keep Calm and Visit my blog

I'm a blogger. We love visits, particularly when it's accompanied by a comment. We work hard producing the material, whether written or pictorial and it feels great when readers let us know how much they enjoyed it. I'm also mindful that I have a number of 'silent followers' who read my blog often without writing any comments. I'm very thankful for them too.

Thank you to everyone who is Keeping Calm and VISITING my blog right now!

What is the most satisfying thing about blogging for you?

Keep Calm and Use the bathroom

Quite an appropriate background colour for this poster, don't you think?!

Using the bathroom is a basic human need. Nowadays we have fancy toilet bowls with an array of different coloured seats, a handy flush handle, and the option of water (hose) or toilet paper to clean ourselves up. Our waste is conveniently flushed down a hole never to be seen again.

But it wasn't always as easy as that, and in some places, still isn't.

Whichever way you do it, Keep Calm and USE the bathroom.

Ignore this question if it's a little too personal, but do you wash or wipe?

Keep Calm and Take a photo

I am a photographer. Taking photos makes me happy. Focusing on a subject and pressing the shutter button to capture that image is very satisfying for me. So I photograph as often as I can. And I share most of my photos right here on my blog. So go ahead and have a look around. Taking photos provides great memories, stimulates your creativity, and even can even earn you some money if you're good at it!

So Keep Calm and TAKE a photo!

Do you take photos? What do you take photos of? What camera do you own? Why do you take photos?

Keep Calm and Speak English

This one is dedicated to all my English students. Some of them struggle but keep on trying. You can do it!

Keep Calm and SPEAK English!!!

How many languages do you speak?

Keep Calm and Run on

Came across this fantastic poster and had to share it somewhere in this A-Z. Last month I took up running in a bid to get myself fit and healthy and it's going great! My stamina is building with each run and I feel physically in much better condition. I listen to Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' whilst running and it makes me feel unbeatable. I know I'm not going to stop until I reach my target.

Keep Calm and RUN on!

What do you do to keep fit? What music motivates you?

Keep Calm and Quit Smoking

Pardon my language if you are a smoker, but I think it's the most ugly, dirty and disgusting thing ever. I detest the smell of the smoke, it aggravates my asthma and I don't appreciate getting a face-full of someone else's smoke!

Please, Keep Calm and QUIT smoking!

What things do you hate?

Keep Calm and Put it on facebook

Sometimes it seems that every single life occurrence is shared by people on facebook. Whether that's a good thing or not is up for debate. For me, facebook keeps me in touch with my family on the other side of the world so even little everyday things with the children are shared. My mum loves daily updates about her Malaysian family :)

Keep Calm and PUT it on facebook!

Do you worry about personal security on social networking sites like facebook?

Keep Calm and Op, op op op . . .

PSY struck gold with his hit Oppa Gangnam Style, and it has inspired a plethora of different versions of the track. My young daughter is obsessed with it and watches it often on youtube. It is also the most-viewed video on the website with over 1,400,000,000 views!

So Keep Calm and OPPA Gangnam Style!

Are you a Gangnam Styler? Or have you got tired of this tune?

Keep Calm and Never give up

"I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened."

Wilma Rudolph

What are you working on now? What are your struggles? How do you keep going and never give up?