Birthdays, Birds and other Adventures

Hey ya'll 

It is not often that I have had friends around to celebrate my birthday (usually we're on separate continents of the world) and as such I have gotten quite accustomed to having quiet little birthdays, which are more formal-ish gatherings of dinner and drinks and light but hearty conversation before going home to sleep off, what I imagine are the ravages of yet another year added on to my life. No such "luck" this year though and from having dinner with Caryn on the eve of my birthday to meeting up with Jeremy the day after I truly had quite a memorable 23rd birthday (everything my 21st promised to be but wasn't!). But seriously though, I am extremely grateful and very much thankful for everyone's kind wishes and wonderful gestures this year. Indeed to top it all off they all seemed to have gotten together behind my back to plan this amazing surprise picnic in the Lake Gardens, followed by a outing to the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park. 

SURPRISED!!!! Evidently I make a botox face whenever I'm surprised!!! *Stretch out those wrinkles Cy!!! Every one year you celebrate your birthday you grow a little bit older!!!*

Huff and puff and blow out my two candles!!! Hahaha one for each decade (plus three!!!)

It was simply amazing!!! A scene straight out of one of those movies, and Farah (who on her superawesome diet managed to loose 7kgs in just 2 weeks!) was kind enough to bake me this delicious peanut butter and chocolate cake with a little purple icing butterfly on it!!! Everyone else brought something too (Jia Wei brought baked potatoes and Caryn brought home made chicken-potato pie while Ray brought drinks and ice) which of course, made me feel like a terrible free loader!!! Ray had to keep reminding me that it was MY birthday party and I was therefore not required to bring anything. Oh!!!! 

Datin Vu/Farah sipping A&W  Rootbeer shortly before I noticed a small crab spider making itself comfortable in her hair!!! Reminds me somewhat of the nursery rhyme about Little Miss Muffet who sat on her tuffet... 

Of course, being in the great outdoors meant that we were naturally greeted by greedy and inquisitive little animals who were more than shameless about imposing themselves upon our little meal. Among them was a beautiful little black striped squirrel (Callosciurus sp.) who was quite bashful at first but when beckoned to, found himself quite attracted to the delicious smells of Farah's fruit salad diet. I ended up giving him a small piece of fruit which he promptly took up to the tree to nibble on. Other animals of the day included a pair of surprisingly tame swallows and a poor pigeon who seemed to have lost an eye in a fight. I wish there was more we could do for it but Ray managed to convince me to leave it as it was (it seemed to be fine as the owner of a nearby stall apparently made a habit of feeding it) and I did. 

We'd almost finished with our lunch when (and I'm not sure who it is anymore) Farah (or perhaps Caryn) suggested that since we were all at the Lake Gardens that we should make a trip to the birdpark which was nearby so we all agreed. The entrance fee was quite exorbitant though (25 Ringgit!!!) but in retrospect it was fairly worth it and after and after a rather uneventful initial tour seeing virtually nothing but herons, crowned pigeons and peacocks, we did get to meet with some of the more exotic bird species. 

Peahen  (Pavo cristatus) and her chicks. If you look really closely you can see the baby right under the mother's wing!!! Interestingly enough, peahens make rather devoted parents.  Pictured here is actually the peahen spreading her wings to shade the little chick on what was a rather hot day.

The male peacock of course is too busy philandering with other ladies that he doesn't take much notice in what's going on with his family's lives. Here he is, preening to a gaggle of tourists

Also were these elegant flamingos (Phoenicopterus) that Caryn wanted so much to see. They remind me of aliens somewhat... the way they are all stick like and knobbly at one end, and then lithe and curvy on the other!!! Flamingos are not naturally born pink. In fact their chicks are covered with rather dirty-looking gray-white down feathers. It is only through their diet that they eventually turn pink. A diet that is poor in these natural coloring might result in otherwise healthy individuals lacking in the startling pinkness that has become a trademark of this species.

Also present were enough parrots of various hues and colors that could make even a rainbow cry!!!

Getting chummy with the sun-conures (Aratinga solstitialis)...

And this lovely blue-variant of the Indian ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri) 

Of all these, the most friendly were to be found in the Parrot House where several species of parrots and lorikeets greeted us with their shrill calls and raucous squawks!!! I think everyone was quite enjoying this part of the trip and I, naturally, was the first to volunteer to be used as a human perch for the noisy but colorful things. I suppose the others might have volunteered too but the birds chose that precise moment to defecate, noisily and wetly, all over the floor!!! Fortunately they ejected these out projectile like and so my person (being the thing they were standing on whilst doing this) was spared from being covered in any form of bird excrement!!! Not so lucky was the poor tourist girl trying to take a picture of one of the birds on me, though.   

These Chattering Lories (Lorius garrulus) were the worst of the entire lot!!! They kept bullying the other birds who were trying to feed off of the nectar cup I was holding and upon finishing their fair share, tried bullying me (by intense pecking and clawing) into giving them more as well!! 

My favorite was the eclectus parrot (Eclectus roratus) who was, despite its gigantic size, rather gentle and "slow" looking if you know what I mean. The eclectus parrots are a rather interesting and beautiful species because, unlike other birds in the parrot family, they demonstrate extreme sexual dimorphism. The bird you see above here is a male. The females, on the other hand have black beaks, striking blue tails but a predominantly scarlet body. 

Anyway in conclusion... I really had the most SUPERAWESOMEST DAY today guys!!! Thank you so much!!! Farah, Jia Wei, Ray... and especially you, Caryn, whose idea (I'm told) was to hold this "party" for me in the first place!!! 

Cheers,
Cyren

The Promise of a New Year

Every new year comes with an unspoken promise: the promise of a new beginning. It is this promise of a clean slate upon which we can rebuild our lives that give many people hope for the coming year. For many people around the world, the 31st of December marks more than just the complete passage of the Earth around the sun, indeed, it also marks the moment when anything seems possible, a time when they can pull their lives together, maybe even pick up some of the pieces that they have left out during the previous year, or perhaps even rediscover certain dreams that have laid cold and buried out of necessity. Christmas is a holiday that is often associated with the family, but New Year's Eve is for the individual.

As the clock draws closer to 12 midnight on the 31st of December, people have already begun to take to the streets. From what I hear on the radio, roads all over the city are beginning to become congested. Some, like the ones in Kuala Lumpur would be closed entirely in anticipation for the big night. Others, like the highways for instance, are no doubt jam-packed with revelers who are trying to get to various locations. Not me though, I've got other things to worry about right now, like a certain missing jacket that I wish to wear tonight, for example, and how on earth am I going to finish writing this before it is time for me to go out?!

But even as I dash about the modest confines of my home in search of this pair of jeans or that pair of shorts, I cannot help but contemplate over some of the things that I have achieved this past year.  Needless to say, finding Ray (and on my birthday too!) was one of the highlights of 2011. Not a day has gone by since I met him that I did not feel completely happy or, if I wasn't, he wasn't there to make sure that I was. And what of some of the bad things too? Things I'd given up, for example, or perhaps resolved to do at the start of 2011 but not taken the effort to attain? There was the MPAC production of Mamma Mia that I dropped out of, I suppose, and also the auditions for Pixies the Musical that I passed on because I was afraid I would not have enough time... And a lot of other things I'm sure, that I resolved to do at the start of 2011 but did not, which begs the question: why make these resolutions in the first place?

I contemplate this as I crawl under the bed (all the while forcing myself to fit into a pair of jeans I've not worn in over half a year!) in search of that jacket, and even as I factor the time it will take to vacuum the dust off the garment (should I find it) before it will be presentable enough for me to wear out on new year's eve, I begin to realize that 'hope' was precisely the reason why people made resolutions and why the new year's eve has come to hold such a special place in human tradition. Telling yourself you will do something, is just another way of promising yourself that things will get better, and that your life will be slightly bereft of some of the nasty mistakes you've made in the past. Of course, whether this actually works out the way you resolve it to be is an entirely different issue altogether, but the essence of the resolution remains: "here's something to hope for, with the coming of the new year!" and in all honesty, what do we have to live for (especially in those, most troubling moments in life) if not for "hope" of a better future? Why do we keep on living, if not for the implicit (however self-imposed) promise that someday we can forge a better future for ourselves?

I find my jacket eventually, relatively dust-free, underneath a pile of old and (up till then) forgotten items from a regretful past and I can appreciate the irony that something I would be wearing in a few hours time to usher in the promise of a New Year was shielded from the 'decay' of time by non-other than the 'mistakes' of my past. As cli-che'd as this might sound, I suppose our mistakes really do protect our future, just as long as we keep on moving forward.

As I apply the finishing touches of wax that will keep my hair perfectly sculpted amidst the festivities tonight, I can't help but admit, that it would be great to have a fresh start, or at least the idea of one. To forget for a moment about the mistakes of 2011 (although they would undoubtedly come back to bite me in the butt) and think instead about how I wish 2012 to turn out. Of course, I suppose not all new year's resolutions are meant to come true... but right now it is 7pm on the 31st of December, 2011. And in five hours I'm going to be out there with the rest of the world, dressed in so much glitter and tinsel (that can ever, only be appropriate for a New Year's attire) screaming at the top of my lungs, as I count down the ten seconds to the very first moment of 2012, when anything and everything seems possible. 

Everything you do everyday should be something that will lead you to a better tomorrow.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!

Cheers,
Cyren.

Halloween Costumes

Hey ya'll

I am not sure what the context of the Halloween celebration is, nor do I understand how it has come to be the tradition of the Western world to give children candy in exchange for sparing the family from tricks. What I do know, however is that Halloween has come to provide people like me with an excuse to go parading around, pretending for the span of a few hours, that I am someone... nay, something I'm not! This year, in a valiant attempt to spread the love of Halloween and costumed revelry, we decided to get all decked up and parade about our University although, to be honest our day started in Sunway Pyramid where we got, quite a lot of dissaproving stares from middle-aged aunties... OH get over yourself! It's halloween... loser! Anyway, was sufficiently glad to say that although not many people dressed up (it was exams period!) pretty much almost everyone who came in the office did!!! And here they are, costume count;

1. Monarch Butterfly Conservation

2. Zombie druggie

3. Robin, the boy-girl Wonder

4. Witch

5. Star Wars Sith Lord...err Lady

6. Miss. Pumpkinhead

7. Countess Dracula!!!

8. Bride of Frankenstein

Okay... so it was just like, EIGHT people out of the entire campus ... but for once we were getting all the stare directed at us... okay... so maybe they were stares of dissaproval/wtf? or whatever... but we owned it yo! Also I guess this is quite a way to start off my reputation as a "responsible" and "professional" educator for many of these young minds. Oh well I guess the least they can say is that "Mr. Cyren knows how to have fun!!!" And indeed we did. 

Headquarters of the League of Fictional Characters

We also love having visitors... Imrah a.k.a the Sith Lady is exceptionally scary here...

As the day draws to an end... HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

Valentine's Day with the Butterflies

Hey guys!!! I know this is like a little...okay like a LOT belated, but HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Truly, Valentine's Day has always been a day for lovers and hopeless romantics. True, it is on one hand a giant gimmick concocted by the World's Association of FLorists and Candy Makers to scam young couples out of their money...but on the other hand I like to believe that Valentine's Day is an exceptionally special day, one that commemorates Love and the acts that people have done in its name. This year, on Valentine's Day, I joined in that celebration at the Penang Butterfly Farm. 


A Date with Butterfly Lovers

A Date with Butterfly Lovers was organized by the Penang Butterfly Farm to commemorate this beautiful day. Upon arriving at the farm, its misty walkways decorated with flowers and paper hearts we were given each a plastic cup containing within it, a single butterfly. "Release it anywhere in the park" I was told. Native American legends say that if you make a wish upon a butterfly and whisper into its little ears, it will carry your wish to the heavens and into God's ears.

Butterfly in the cup, waiting to be released

As usual, the park was an extremely delightful experience! Everyone was so friendly! Special thanks is in order I believe, to Michael for fetching us there and for the guided tour! May this Valentine's Day mark the beginning of a beautiful and long-lasting relationship with the woman you love. Meanwhile, journeying through the Park, I had to opportunity to revisit with some of its lovely inhabitants. My favourite was this awesome looking stick-insect!


OMG! It may look like a twig but it feels NOTHING like one.

As cryptic and unimposing as it may look the stick insect truly has one particularly impressive feature that was not visible in the photographs. When tossed lightly into the air, they extend small orange butterfly-like wings to parachute their way to safety!


A gentle giant

Of course the stick-insect, as gentle a giant as it was, could not detract me from appreciating the beauty of the true inhabitants of Penang Butterfly Park, my "babies" the butterflies.

A glassy blue tiger sipping nectar on the mist-drenched flowers

Daddy's little girls



Indeed it seems that I attracted more than one "hitch-hiker" which were more than happy to cling onto various portions of my clothes throughout my duration at the park. They must've been attracted to my smell!



Or more likely, to the butterfly I was yet to release! Whoah there boy! Calm your antennae!

 Indeed truly it seemed that the butterflies were getting into the spirit of Valentines Day. Love was in the air even in the insect kingdom and as they rioted amongst the colorful blossoms and flirted in between the leaves, butterflies mostly of the lacewing species took the opportunity to dance for their partners and, upon succession, to retreat to the various nooks and crannies of the park to go about their business.

A pair of butterfly lovers

A butterfly mother, missing a wing, but still carefully placing her young upon a vine

Butterfly eggs

Eventually, the time came to release our butterflies. The little butterfly I had in my cup had already dried up her wings and was beginning to flutter them, testing them for flight. Meanwhile, butterflies of her same (and sometimes different) species began flocking around me, responding perhaps to some ancient call embedded in their insect systems to dance and flutter, to impress her, their potential mate.

Butterfly fly away~

Me and the girls with our butterflies

I opened the cup and coaxed her onto my hand. She tested it, tentatively with her feet but then eventually crawled on. She tested her wings a few times and I expected her to take off in a blink, but still she sat there. Realising there was something yet I had to do, I raised her gently to my lips and whispered into her butterfly ears, my wish. And then just like that, she was gone.

As I watched her fly away I realised something;

love is a lot like a butterfly. It is beautiful and wonderful and people spend a lot of time chasing it, and trying to catch it. But the truth is, once you've caught it and put it into a jar, or say a plastic cup, you realise that truly some of that beauty is lost and suddenly it doesn't seem at all as enticing as it had. But if you had let it go, let it fly away with the wind and should it sometime return to alight upon your finger, then that joy is unbridled and unrivaled by no any other. 

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

Exploring Nature with Orni and Friends at the Penang Butterfly Farm!

The sky was gray and the rain fell down in droves but despite the bad weather, the some hundreds of attendees of the Penang Butterfly Farm's official mascot launching event were determined not to let something as little as a spot of bad weather ruin their day!



Crowds of Visitors at the main pavillion of the Penang Butterfly Farm official Mascot Launch

The event took place as a series of pavillions placed around the visitor's carpark of the butterfly farm with the main pavillion - housing the stage, audience seats and later, the live insect exhibits - taking up the majority of the setting and, to the right hand side, smaller exhibits including food vendors and a medium sized butterfly aviary featuring the endangered Yellow Birdwing (troides helena) butterfly which is also the insect featured on the logo of Penang Butterfly Farm.



Bring back the Yellow Birdwings! A butterlfy aviary to raise awareness on this endangered butterfly species



Children from many schools around Penang attended the event and took instantaneously to the mascots and their performances on stage!

 

And so did I! This is Orni, the butterfly looking slightly large around the bottom! Time to cut back on the nectar big boy!

...and Juro! Orni's self-conscious younger brother

But for me, what must have been the most exciting part of the day was the opportunity to interact physically with so many of the exotic creatures who live at the farm and even, overcome some of my fears! In the later part of the day, the seats in the main pavillion were cleared in favour of rows and rows of tables upon which were set live exhibits of some of the farms creepy inhabitants.

These included caterpillars, of course. The larval stages of butterflies and moths and the variety ranged from colorful and spiky, like this Cethosia Biblis caterpillar



To elegant and feathery, like this caterpillar of the Archduke butterfly.

There, kids and visitors were allowed to learn (but not touch!) more about these wonderful insects! 

For example, how some caterpillars, like this Common Rose larva advertise their toxicity with bright colours



while others, like the larvae of the endangered Yellow Birdwing attempt to look as large and scary as they possibly can!

But more impressive perhaps was the live chrysalis display! Hanging from the multiple branches of a potted plant were the golden and iridescent chrysalids of over a dozen butterfly species, amongst some that I managed to identify were the Idea Leuconoe, Danaus, and Cethosia Biblis chrysalids.


The magnificent Chrysalid Tree

This Danaus Butterfly chrysalis was pale green with little golden spots



and this strange, irregular shaped one will hatch into the beautiful Malay Lacewing butterfly.



But my favourite was of the Common Crow butterfly, which was so reflective I could see myself in its surface!

And then came the meet-and-greet with some of the more sinister looking occupants of Penang Butterfly Farm. If you recall, in my earlier post I said I would attempt to overcome my fear and pick up a scorpion. Well, here it is.


Getting up-close and personal with a scorpion! It wasn't all-together unpleasant but it wasn't a 'good-feeling' either.



The Giant Millipede. Which felt like having a zliplock bag on your arm or a strip of velcroe on account of all the tiny little legs. Not exactly my cup of tea but at least I didn't have to worry about it sticking a poisonous barb into me!

And then, the highlight of the day and I owe this all to Michael for giving me the tour and Mei Lee for answering all my questions as she worked (I know it can be quite annoying with someone hovering around you as you do your job but in all fairness I offered to help); a tour on the back-stage operation of the Penang Butterfly Farm. Indeed I got to see some of the breeding cages, the plant nurseries and even, some of the wild-grown host plants that have attracted larvae of their own. 



boxes of hundreds of butterfly chrysalids, ready to be sold to, or exhibted at butterfly houses all around the world!

A breeding cage housing walking stick insects! The babies were as small as a broken mechanical pencil nib and I learnt that with some species, eggs can take as long as a year to hatch!

Of course being "back-stage" also meant that I got to say hello to some of the occupants. This is a walking leaf insect, and as its name suggests, it feels and looks just as if a leaf had fallen from the tree and landed atop my hand. Very gentle.

All in all, I would say I had a wonderful day and that the Penang Butterfly Farm Mascot Launching event was not just one that was enjoyable but extremely informative and eye opening as well. I'm sure more than a fair-share of a little boy or girl will go back with a treasure trove of knowledge from his or her experiences there. But before I sign off, thanks Michael once again, for the tour and the souveniers and, to all the people of Penang Butterfly Farm, good job on an extremely successful event and an amazing operation!

And look who missed me so much he had to follow me home!