My Return from Genting

Hey ya'll 

I just got back from Genting Highlands!!! Well, to be honest we got back around 1.30pm this afternoon but I pretty much spent the entire day out (and am feeling kind of exhausted too) so you get the point. Meanwhile the holiday was everything I had hoped it would be and despite spending a better part of our two day stay there indoors (on account of the weather) the copious amounts of mist and drizzle, if anything, managed to rejuvenate my somewhat somber spirits. Indeed no more than two hours of stepping foot there and taking a deep breathe of the fresh mountain air and I was already raring to write again. Fortunately for me I did not bring my laptop as it would have defeated the purpose of taking a vacation, somewhat. Anyway, we did manage to take a visit to the outdoor theme park on the first day, and while Ray and the boys thrilled themselves with the myriad of amusement park rides that were available (I'm not partial to roller coasters and things such as the "Solero Shot" myself) I did spend some time snooping about the park's spotlights in search of the more creepy-crawly and botanical attractions. 

Ray and Calvin on the Space Shot. Never in a million years would you get me to ride on one of those contraptions! Not unless there was something other to gain than the thrill of placing ones life in the hands of a machine!

Walking was less of a chore up there, mainly because the cool weather . 

Dinner was tom-yam steamboat buffet!  The main thrill for me being that I get to cook my own seafood just the way I like it (fried to perfection with thousand island sauce) 

For Ray, of course, it was being able to eat until he was 99% near exploding point!!!

We also managed to take a visit to the Ripley's Believe it or Not emporium at the indoor theme park. On the off chance that you have not heard of this amazing man before, Robert Ripley was an anthropologist who traveled the world collecting and exhibiting strange and bizarre objects and artifacts. To share his amazing discoveries with the world, he founded the "Ripley's Believe it or Not" newspaper panel, which would feature various pieces pertaining to his travels/discoveries. Indeed, his popularity was so great that even after his death, the Ripley's Believe it or Not franchise would continue to amaze and beguile people with curiosities from all over the world. Certainly, we witnessed ourselves many of these in the Ripley's Believe it or Not emporium, but what captured my fancy the most was non other than the infamous Fiji Mermaid. Thought to be a taxidermised specimen of a half-mammal, half fish creature resembling the traditional depiction of the mythical mermaid, the Fiji Mermaid was an exhibit created by entertainer and side-show purveyor to fool the American public into believing he had captured a real-live mermaid. The creature was eventually revealed to be a hoax, of course, and was really the torso of a baby monkey, sewed onto the rear end of a carp-like fish and then covered with paper mache for a mummified effect. 

The Feejee (Fiji) Mermaid. 

The Mermaid itself is actually quite small, when compared to a full grown human!!! (and here I had always imagined it to be at least the size of a human baby)

In the meantime, despite the unfavorable weather (frigid rain that fell down in sheets and mist so thick I could barely see beyond my nose!) I did manage to catch a few insects, mainly large to medium moths and a cicada and a katydid. I did originally find two sphingidae but one of them (Daphnis hypothous) somehow slipped through my fingers and flew out of reach, behind a tall fence that surrounded the base of the Spider-Man roller coaster. I did try asking the workers if they could halt the ride but for a moment for me to enter and retrieve it but they were not so open to the idea so I eventually let it slide. 

The modest collection of moths I obtained from Genting

Anyway I can see that this post is getting rather long... so instead of going on about the insects I found there I suppose I will allow them to properly spread and dry first before dedicating specific posts to them so if you have come here for the insects, please wait a few days or so. I guarantee that the pictures of the spread specimens will be worth it (Especially the cicada and the katydid which are both novelties to me as I do not collect insects of their order very often.) Meanwhile, I hope everyone had a splendid Valentine's Day! Of course, having spent two days in Genting, you might say that we've had our fair share of the holidays and so today was spent rather modestly. But who am I kidding, sometimes, the company of the one you love is really all you ever needed in the first place! 

Cheers,
Cyren

~And we spent our evening dining under the romantic glow of fluorescent lights, accompanied by the steady hum of the hawkers' woks, as they toss their frying contents like so much edible fireworks into the air~