@ Balik Pulau - Sungai Burung June 5, 2011

For some exercise, clean fresh air and lovely sunsets, head on down to Sungai Burung.

7:23 pm

Click on images to enlarge.

Click on images to enlarge.

7:29 pm

Do check out the earlier posts on Sungai Burung here (plus location map) and here.

Pets and pests

Picture from Can Stock Photo

Grasshoppers, how I loathe them as the cause damage to my plants but my cats loved them. To kitties, grasshoppers are fascinating playthings and a light snack. You should see them pouncing on these jumpy insects, they get so engrossed.

Morning visitor

Well, well, see who decided to drop in and hang around, literally.

Wildflowers

Life can be fleeting

"THUD!" Did somebody just banged on our window? That couldn't be possible as we were on the second floor. Unperturbed, I just continued with my work as my startled colleague went to check. "Oh, its a bird!" she exclaimed as she pointed to some feathers on the tinted window. Upon further inspection she discovered a bird lying motionless in the playground below and informed us. That aroused my curiosity, so I peeked out the window and saw what seems like a heap of black feathers. "Its a crow," someone stated but I knew it wasn't one as I can recognize an Asian Koel when I see it. Quickly I went to its aid but upon reaching I was saddened to find that it had succumbed to its injury, instant death from  the forceful impact I assumed. It laid there with a broken neck.

Gently I picked up the lifeless body and took it to my backyard to give this beautiful creature a proper burial.

This is the second bird I had buried this year. Earlier this year, it was a male Olive-backed Sunbird (Nectarina jugularis I think). It flew straight into the ceiling fan and.... 

Life can be really fleeting.

Asian Koel (Eudynamys Scolopacea) 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Koel

http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-asian-koel.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DSJ5Y4Vrxk

Wildflower wallpaper

I like wildflowers. The ones here were at the roadside of Teluk Bahang Dam. Pictures taken earlier this year. Click on the images to enlarge. Both are 1000 x 667. Strictly for personal use and not for commercial purposes.

@ Balik Pulau

Balik Pulau (literally mean back of the island) is a small laid back town in Southwest Penang. Its a place where time seems to be stuck in the 70's. Do take note that my pictures only represents a facet of Balik Pulau, the part that I like. Read more about Balik Pulau here (wikipedia) and here (official webpage).

Click on images to enlarge

Very little traffic on some roads

In a fruit orchard

Delightful wildflowers

Tiny blue gems

For my older post on Balik Pulau, go to the links below
http://jasontan0707.blogspot.com/2011/07/sungai-burung.html
http://jasontan0707.blogspot.com/2011/06/balik-pulau.html
http://jasontan0707.blogspot.com/2011/05/balik-pulau-titi-teras.html
http://jasontan0707.blogspot.com/2011/05/balik-pulau-titi-serong.html
http://jasontan0707.blogspot.com/2011/05/sunset-balik-pulau.html
http://jasontan0707.blogspot.com/2011/04/balik-pulau.html
http://jasontan0707.blogspot.com/2011/04/evening-balik-pulau.html

Dawn

The sky slowly brightens up from behind the heavily forested hill. Its avian inhabitants stirring, welcoming the new day with melodic tunes. As light furthers its boundaries, darkness receded and the accompanying heavenly lights that dotted the nocturnal skyscape excused themselves, dimmed and faded away all too soon.

Bokeh Wallpaper

Here are some bokeh themed wallpaper. Feel free to download them for your pc or laptop but no commercial use please. All are 1000 x 667 in dimension.

Click on images to enlarge.

Gua Tempurung (Tempurung Caves)

On the Penang bridge, driving from the island to the mainland early
in the morning.

The warm glow of the morning sun.

The North-South Expressway.

Golden Flowstone chamber.

Gua Tempurung is the largest limestone cave in Peninsular Malaysia.It stretches for 1.9 kilometres and is made up of five huge domes. There are 5 massive caverns which are shaped like coconuts, which explains the name ‘Tempurung’ (coconut shell in Malay). They are –

• Golden Flowstone
• Giant (Gergasi)
• Tin Mine
• Universe (Alam)
• Fallen Warrior and Battlefield 


Each dome has different formations of stalagmites and stalactites as well as differing temperatures, water levels, content of limestone and marble. 

Walkways and platforms enable you to get a closer view of the stalactites,
stalagmites and rock formations.

As one of the larger cave systems found in the scenic limestone hills of Perak, Gua Tempurung impresses with the beauty of its majestic columns of marble inside its huge caverns and honeycombed with smaller caves, of different dimensions.

Walkways have been built within some parts of the caves making it easy for visitors to have a leisurely stroll while taking in the sights of the beautiful underground waterfalls and the pendant stalactites hanging from the roof.

Look closely at the rocks and you will find closed communities of microscopic life-forms, many of which depend on food brought in by bats and birds to the cave.

There are scorpions, fish, snakes and small insects hidden in small niches, but are only visible to the more alert visitors.


Each cave carries its own legends, and Gua Tempurung is no exception.  Many believe the cave was used as a hideout for terrorists during World War II and the Emergency.  It is said that Lee Meng, the notorious communist courier, once used the cave as a hideout.  The fact that his name appears on one of the walls deep inside the cave certainly seems to support this story.

Another story speaks of the cave being used by the Japanese as a prison during their occupation of Malaya.  This is made more evident by the existence of a gate-like structure made of horizontal steel bars.

The cave is divided into several sections, with the lower cave passage called the Molesworth Allen Tunnel, named in honour of the botanists, Betty Molesworth Allen.

At the end of this tunnel, the cave opens up to Alam Cavern, the largest of the three major caverns, which is more than 130 metres in width and towers 72 metres high.

In Tin Miners' Cavern, the cave splits into two levels, the upper about eight metres above the stream and bearing the scars of early alluvial activity, while the lower passage follows the stream.

The Gergasi Cavern (Gergasi means giant in the Malay language) is the last of the cave sections.  It is named Gergasi because it holds a huge column, which is some 15 metres in height and 17 metres in length.  The column stands sentinel- like at the end of the chamber, like a giant genie guarding its treasure.


At the end of the trip visitors are rewarded with a rainbow of colour from sunshine reflected off the cave walls.

Click on images to enlarge.

Paparazzilla?

The exit.

A fish pond by the car park.

Text taken from http://www.perak.info/kinta/Gua_Tempurung/
More on Gua Tempurung here and here


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