Top 20 Photos of 2013 - #18

#18

This dainty butterfly was perched on a fragile branch at the Butterfly Park in Kuala Lumpur. It remained still while I pointed my lens and zoomed in. Other butterflies were fluttering around through the air. The luscious, blurred, green background provided the perfect wallpaper. A number of times this day, I had zoomed and focused, only for the specimen to flap its wings and be off as my finger was on the button. There will be more from the Butterfly Park later in my Top 20.

Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park

The Kuala Lumpur (KL) Butterfly Park is located on Jalan Cenderasari in the green Lake Gardens area, in the same vicinity as the KL Bird Park and the Orchid Garden. It can be reached via the KL Hop-on Hop-off bus, but we opted for a much less expensive taxi ride there (From Vistana Hotel by the Titiwangsa monorail station, we paid just RM15).

A view of KL Butterfly Park from the starting point

We paid RM10 for adults (Malaysian, or married to a Malaysian and working here - me!) and RM5 for the children.  If you wish to take videos, you will be charged an extra RM4.

The moment we arrived there, we were pleasantly surprised to see our friends from Kuantan! It was such a coincidence but we enjoyed spending time together around the Butterfly Park and afterwards, the orchid garden.

With our Kuantan friends at KL Butterfly Park

There were butterflies everywhere at KL Butterfly Park. Surprisingly it wasn't too difficult to catch the butterflies sitting still on a branch or leaf! As you'll see from the following photos, butterflies were just one of the many attractions at KL Butterfly Park:

I'm sure the butterflies enjoyed seeing this little visitor!

I wonder what kind of butterfly he'll become?

Spotted a little grasshopper

This butterfly was chilling out upside-down!

A dragonfly perched on a leaf

A little frog keeps watch in its pond

There is lots to see and do at the KL Butterfly Park. We really enjoyed ourselves there. There are other weird and wonderful insects inside along with many examples of other butterfly species in a museum setting. You finally end up exiting through the KL Butterfly Park shop. We had a great time there!

A Beautiful Butterfly

A beautiful butterfly relaxed beside a step at Swiss Garden Resort & Spa Kuantan the other week.

It was in a perilous position, with herds of school students entering the hotel. Thankfully, soon after, it flew away into the night.

Butterfly

It's hard to imagine how the ugly green caterpillars who eat the leaves of my orange tree, transform into these beautiful butterflies with stunning wings. I captured this one with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-F2 just outside my apartment after an afternoon stroll in the sun:

Recent activities through a Panasonic Lumix DMC-F2 lens

Enjoy these photographs taken with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-F2 camera. It's small, lightweight and compact and comes in a handy black pouch. There are many shooting modes which produce nice pictures, and a convenient Auto mode which prepares the right mode to use for a certain scene. However, the macro function is limited and struggles to detect small objects like flowers and insects.

I've been butterfly spotting of late...

Saw this plant at Restoran Nusantara, a rest station on the way to Singapore from Kuantan...

Here is Lauren playing at the hospital while mummy was having her blood pressure checked...

My good wife has been very excited about Christmas, so consequently the tree is up, as of early November...

 Here is a minute fly on our orange tree...

Last week it was Deepavali, and as such, this exquisitely designed Deepavali floor decoration in East Coast Mall was made using different coloured grains of rice...

These small flowers were just large enough for my camera's macro powers to pick up...

A landscape scene from the park outside my house in Bukit Sekilau, Kuantan...

The other night there was a quite beautiful sunset which caused the sky to burn in yellows and oranges...

Kuantan Sights 2

Enjoy these images taken around Bukit Sekilau, a quiet little village near the Kuantan town centre. I love discovering tiny flowers and plants that would otherwise go unnoticed, and give them a little advertisement!

I couldn't quite believe it when this beautifully crafted butterfly perched on our window for a while to allow me the pleasure of photographing him.