Langkawi (2) - Flora and Fauna

When you're not a botanist/zoologist/ornithologist, you are surrounded by other generic living things termed 'trees', 'monkeys' or 'birds' (just to name a few). But thanks to our nature walk tour guide (the resort offered a free nature walk within the resort premises, home to many diff species of plants & creatures) I was reminded of the rich variety of trees/plants & animals in our midst. And I witnessed the cool 'flight' of flying lemurs for the first time! And observed that they had flaps of skin sticking out from their butts... But yeah, felt rather ashamed of my ignorance and oblivion to the natural environment. Perhaps it's also a consequence of years of living in a concrete jungle, but yeah... will KIV such close-to-nature trips in the near future :)

The following are some "creatures" I encountered on this trip...

It took me a while to realise that this hideous red thing belonged to the banana plant. Ok, Ms Wong and I both guessed that it had to be a banana flower, but yeah, it seems to me a strange alien outgrowth from the plant leh. And for some strange reason, I have this impression that banana flowers are white (though I've never seen one...)

This was another plant that caught my eye during my afternoon walk... In contrast, I thought it really pretty. Esp the leaf in the middle-- the leaves were all quite equally spaced out! Have no idea what this is, but I have named it the wheel plant, for its pretty radial leaf spokes... :)

Catch me if you can -- one of many miniature transparent/sand-colored crabs I met along the beach. Before I left office my neighbour ycc had shared with me abt these; and how he used to catch them in bottles to play with them. He must have been a very agile kid; cos whenever I tried to go near these crabs, they just scuttled away really quickly. It also helps to have eight limbs when you need to dig a hole. It was quite fun though to chase after them, despite never managing to really keep up.

A family of... macaques (feels proud for being able to name them properly, instead of just 'monkeys' :P) loitering along the road. The tiny one right in front is nibbling on a piece of bread our taxi-driver threw out of the window. Miss Wong commented that their behavior was so similar to that of humans.... Indeed, with the hand-holding and hugging.... and the ever clingy babies. Notice how the third monkey from the left is holding on to the arm of another monkey? Another strategy to keep track of your fidgety offspring is to grab hold of their long tails. Thank goodness I have no tail :P

Ah, time to sit down to scratch my itchy toe...

These are supposed to be langurs... and according to our guide, one key difference between these and macaques is that the latter are capable of walking well on all fours...

A black bird walking on this floating deck by the beach. The floating deck is actually a 'launching point' for ppl interested in doing water sports, eg. skiing, banana boat etc etc. But the coast was free and Mr black bird cleverly used it as a platform for scooping fish from the waters. From time to time, it also took its evening stroll....

Langkawi Apr 08 (1)

Took many many pictures on this trip... Hope you'll enjoy them as much as I did taking them :) As usual, I am cheating and only showing the ones that turned out well. But hey, who ever said that photography was unbiased :P

Our "hotel"-- Berjaya Langkawi Beach & Spa Resort, a sprawling resort nestled in the midst of a lush tropical rainforest. You can get a chalet on stilts by the sea, if you're willing and able to fork out a huge premium. Of course we didn't splurge to that extent :P

Deck chairs for lazing by the beach...

A chalet with a sea view...

Bigger chalets in the 'forest' overlooking the sea...

Though we only had a humble chalet with a 'garden and partial sea view', it was still sufficiently comfy/cosy to satisfy me...

Path leading up to the Thai restaurant

I loved how there was absolutely nothing between the sea and the sky. Just so simple and beautiful. Snapped most of these pictures while taking a leisurely afternoon walk in the sprawling resort (ok I cheated and took the buggy to the Thai restaurant at the end, but walked back :P)

Imagine listening to the lovely sound of waves while taking your stroll...

And dining right by the sea....

This place felt even more peaceful at night, as the surroundings were totally dark. Except for stars in the sky... :) We eventually dined there the 2nd night... and though we didn't get to dine outdoors (since it was potentially drizzly) it was still quite nice.

I finally did it! I finally completed my resi profile in 2 days after 6 mths of procrastination! And I'm amazed at the last min worker I am :P

Though have been pretty much working half the weekend, still managed to squeeze some time for my new 偶像 Lin Yutang. Have started reading TIOL and though some bits are a little too philosophical for me, some other insightful/witty bits just kept me glued to this book. Let me share one part I really enjoyed:

On Passion

... Somewhere in our adult life, our sentimental nature is killed, strangled, chilled or atrophied by an unkind surrounding, largely through our own fault in neglecting to keep it alive, or our failure to keep clear of such surroundings. In the process of learning "world experience,", there is many a violence done to our original nature, when we learn to harden ourselves, to be artificial, and often to be cold-hearted and cruel, so thatas one prides oneself upon gaining more and more worldly experience, his nerves become more and more insensitive and benumbed - especially in a world of politics and commerce. As a result, we get the great "go-getter" pushing himself forward to the top and brushing everybody aside; we get the man of iron will and strong determination, with the last embers of sentiment, which he calls foolish idealism or sentimentality, gradually dying out in his breast. It is that sort of person who is beneath my contempt. The world has too many cold-hearted people. If sterilization of the unfit should be carried out as a state policy, it should begin with sterilizing the morally insensible, the artistically stale, the heavy of heart, the ruthlessly successful, the cold-heartedly determined and all those people who have lost the sense of fun in life- rather than the insane and the victims of tuberculosis. For it seems to me that while a man with passion and sentiment may do many foolish and precipitate things, a man without passion or sentiment is a joke and a caricature......

This section is too lengthy for me to continue typing, but I loved the bit in bold... Think he's cool :P