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!

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*.

Bird Conference

On a recent rainy day in Bukit Sekilau, Kuantan, I noticed these 27 birds having a conference together. I wonder what they were tweeting about?

In Hornbill Territory

While we were having breakfast at Vistana Hotel the other morning, I glanced out the window and saw a couple of hornbill's hopping across the wall. I slowly crept close enough to capture a couple of photos. They didn't seem to mind my presence.

This is the second time we've spotted this marvellous bird in Kuantan. Hornbills typically live in the trees and eat fruit as their main diet. On this occasion they were happily trying to catch smaller birds who seemed to enjoy flying dangerously close to these bigger hornbills!

KL Bird Park

The KL Bird Park is located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur at Jalan Cenderawasih, Taman Tasik Perdana. It is set in the scenic Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens and is just a 10-minute drive from the city centre. (It's notable that KL Bird Park is also accessible via KL Hop-On-Hop-Off bus - station 14 is at the KL Bird Park Main Entrance).

Boasting the world's largest free-flight, walk-in aviary, the KL Bird Park is a must-visit place in Malaysia. If you love birds like me, you will love the KL Bird Park for it's beauty and wide variety of bird species. The best part is that they all roam around together and are tolerant of humans.

The KL Bird Park opened in 1991 and covers 21 acres of land, divided into 4 zones. We managed to walk around the entire park, though we would have stayed much longer if it wasn't for our children feeling under the weather.

I was amazed by how friendly the birds were with humans. I even managed to crouch just a few feet away from birds so I could take a picture, without them moving an inch!

I hope you enjoy the images I captured of these beautiful birds:

The first area after entering is the Love Aviary. These love birds were colourful to say the least. One flew from behind me, right past my left ear, which gave me quite a shock, but they did pose nicely for pictures!

These little birds were all over the place, following us around, easy to photograph. They were Lauren's favourite birds!

The majestic peacock

Ready for photographs...

My favourite bird...

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the Flamingo Pond any closer

I love the look on this bird's face!

A yellow orchid grows at KL Bird Park

A peacock stands majestically at a waterfall at KL Bird Park

And here's Fidelia's favourite...

I love these super parrots at KL Bird Park!

Taking a few moments to cool off under a waterfall at KL Bird Park

A scene at KL Bird Park

Leaving you with the royal peacock...

Chinese Garden, Singapore

I came back from my latest trip to Singapore with a visit to the Chinese Gardens, located a short walk from the Chinese Garden MRT.

I was glad to get in as the last time I went, it was closed for renovations. The weather was fine and I spent around an hour walking around the gardens, taking a few pictures on the way.

Me at the entrance

Sadly, access inside the tower was denied. Later my friend told me that there was a suicide case there recently.

This year is the year of the dragon

A cheeky monkey

Some of the scenery at Chinese Garden

Commemoration stone for the opening of Chinese Garden in 1975

Statue of Confucius at Chinese Garden, Singapore

The Bonsai Garden

A seat with Mickey

A Chinese sundial sits in the gardens

Two birds hop across the grass at their home, the Chinese Garden, Singapore