Little Budgerigar - RIP

I went back to the breakfast area today to look for this little birdie.

Please look at this link for picture:

http://wchinner.blogspot.com/2009/07/odd-among-common.html

The server told me that this little Budgerigar was found dead about couple of weeks ago in the guest restroom. Such a pity. It was always the attraction for the guests at the breakfast area. Wonder if it was happier being in the cage where there are bountiful of food, warm and comfort? There is always a price to pay for freedom. Nothing is free in this world.

Having said that, I'm reflecting on this to myself. Yes, I was in a fantastic comfort zone while I was still in the IT banking sector before switching to this industry. Yes, there is freedom. Freedom to pursue my passion and yes, I have to pay a price for it. Huge paycut, smaller perks and less budget for travelling. Thankfully, unlike the little Budgerigar which was meant to be a caged bird and I wasn't destined to be "caged". Yet, I'm still searching for that specific freedom...

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She is Old Yet Classic

I found her sitting on the dusty area together with the "oldies". It wasn't easy to find her among the hundreds that were sitting silently and staring back at you. She is slim and old looking yet young at heart. When I allowed her to open up, I witnessed her underlining words were treated importantly and no secrets hidden. Everything about a simple thing that needed to be explained at that time was laid out. And yes, I found her. Though she is old as she was born in the year 1964 and yet she is classic. And she will be one that will widen my knowledge. She is...

...my new old book that I found in a bookstore that is selling used books. This book, "PLANTS AT WORK" was written by Dr F.C Steward. Best of all, though it was published in year 1964, I would say the condition inside was still good eventhough some pages are coming off and traces of termites' bite marks. This book was probably used as a text book then.

The shop is located on 3rd floor of Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya. Funny thing is that this shop is next to a brand new bookshop "BookXcess". I can't recall if this shop has a signboard or not. All I can recall is the look of the shop from the outside is messy, narrow walkway, disorganised, and overloaded with novel books. To find the one you want, would take lots of patience and time.

A little diversion, BookXcess also sells reasonable priced books. Much cheaper than Kinokuniya and MPH. However, choices may be limited. And also, there's a shop that sells lowered price past issues magazines from RM9.90. I got February 09 - April 09 issues of National Geographic, Discovery and Wildlife magazines with the priced of RM9.90! They are having promotion for 3 National Geographic mag for RM24.90 but limited choices for Nat Geo. This shop, ReIssued Magazines is located on the 2nd floor of Amcorp Mall.

"Plants at Work" is a serious technical book for plant lovers and a good source of information for a non-botanist-and-hope-to-be like me. Hope that I will understand the chemistry.

She just need some binding, a little touch up and she will be good as new.

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The authentic Tanjung Rhu will become "Welcome to Mini-Dubai of Langkawi"

Tanjung Rhu is situated on the north-east of Langkawi Island. The area is named after pokok rhu in Malay and these are the casuarina trees (Casuarinaceae family). As your drive along the Tanjung Rhu road, you will be greeted by casuariana trees that stand beautifully providing the cooling effect. You can simply stop your car beside the road and enjoy the scenic view of the mangroves.

Scenic mangroves with karst limestone hills as the backdrop
On weekends, this place is a popular spot for locals to wade into the mud and dig for clams, "punpun" (a kind of fat worm that is used as fish bait) and fishing. Is a cool and healthy recreation activities for families.

Traditional hobby for the locals.



Some harvest from Tanjung Rhu for the locals. The picture above is the "punpun" (mangrove worms) .

Unfortunately, truly unfortunately that this 8 hectare site will soon be be converted from a "luxurious kampung lifestyle" to an exclusive RM800 million 'residential-cum-commercial centre'. I was told that the project is now currently put on hold due to tight financial budget and I hope that this person is not talking bollocks.

From the design, this whole hideous plan looks like a mini-Dubai. Great for cheap-skate tourists that will come over to Tanjung Rhu instead of the original Dubai. Can the island sustain this massive development and the increase of population? Eventhough this project is put on hold, apparently, it will be an opportunity for us to look at their EIA. I wonder if EIA has been done before such ridiculous project been approved. The sad part is that the entire land is privately owned by Tan Sri Tajuddin. He is probably be laughing at us, "Ha,ha... is my land. I can do whatever I want!". And that makes it more difficult for us to fight against this project from happening.

Tanjung Rhu is still the one of the best beaches on Langkawi with the least crowd and it's natural heritage is still pretty much intact as compared to other sites. With this development is about to happen in near future, the locals have to look elsewhere for healthy recreation and the problem is where else can we find serene, peaceful, clean beaches when the bests were taken up, such as Tanjung Rhu. The worst will be the impact to the biodiversity of Tanjung Rhu.

The highest revenue for Langkawi is from tourism (or eco-tourism so call), mostly from the foreigners. I was amazed that a 13-year old Aussie boy clarified this infor from me. As such, most people fly in to this island is to enjoy the natural heritage that the island is still offering and not the duty-free stuffs. The islanders' rice bowl contains of the rainforest, mangroves, beaches, abundance of flora and fauna, etc. Can the islanders afford the rice bowl to be broken?

I ain't a trained activist or neither a environmentalist. Guidance is needed in seeking ways to conserve this area or at least shrink the development size. I'm a anti-politician, however, just when I was beginning to appreciate politicians like Elizabeth Wong but sadly, where have our real heroes gone to? (sob, sob)

References:
This infor is taken from: http://www.langkawi-gazette.com/newsandletters/news/241-tanjungrhu

Langkawi: A Luxury Project in Tanjung Rhu Mark, 2 June 2009 / Source: New Straits Times, 2 June 2009 and websites mentioned below'Developing' Tanjung Rhu ?A memorandum of understanding has been signed between ‘Coco Int. Ltd’., an investment Company from the ‘United Arab Emirates’, and ‘AUF Properties Sdn. Bhd.’, from Petaling Jaya, Selangor, about an exclusive RM800 million 'residential-cum-commercial centre' on a 8 hectare site in Tanjung Rhu.This picture is from the promotional pdf file mentioned below.If you are interested, you can download it (it has no c-right – remark and is obviously aimed at a broad distribution for promotional reasons):

http://www.auf.com.my/images/treb.pdf

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Say "NO" to Turtle Eggs!

Ever wonder why the population of our leatherback turtles in Terengganu is shrinking and almost close to extinction? If you believe that our turtles should be protected, please make a stand by putting your signature onto this petition by clicking on this link:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/trrgumt/

Note: If you don't have MyKad number; try to key in your passport number. Hope that helps.

Image was taken and modified from http://www10.tok2.com/home/bluecoral/images/img10.jpg
I hope the owner of this photo doesn't mind. Is for a good cause anyway. Thanks in advance, ya.
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The Odd among the Common

The breakfast area was often "attacked" by Common Mynas (Acridotheres tristis) and Eurasian Tree Sparrows (Passer montanus). Whenever a plate of scraps was left unattended, these birds would come feasting on the plate. Along side with the mynas and sparrows, there is another unusual bird that followed along as scavenger. This solo birdie was spotted at the breakfast area since more than a week ago.

This solo bird is an escapee. In order to survive, it doesn't mind to be "weird one" among the group. And the group of mynas didn't mind it's company either. I was told that in some culture, it is believe that this kind of bird brings good luck to the owner. No wonder they are often put in the cage.

Though this is a common bird in the cage and yet I couldn't find this bird in my bird book. Can anyone assist to identify this pretty bird? Thanks.

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