Fireflies: lighted trees for our Christmas Eve

I can't remember now where Hubby got the idea of going to watch fireflies. I had never been to Kuala Selangor to see the fireflies. Hubby had been there in his school days. I had been apprehensive about being in a boat in the dark in the middle of nowhere. Hubby googled and found a place called Firefly Park Resort in Kuala Selangor. There were other places in the KS area where people can watch fireflies but I was attracted to the FPR by its website. (I'm beginning to think that if you can't find in on Internet, either it doesn't exist or it's not worth it; Internet has been a valuable research tool for Hubby and me, other people too, I'm sure but it will have to be the subject of another post.) 

It was the day after our visit to the bird park. To make the most out of Hubby's off days, we decided to go that very evening. My aforementioned apprehension prompted me to pack a full set of overnight clothes for everyone. I packed them myself, didn't want to give the impression to the kids that we were planning to stay the night. 'Just in case anyone got wet,' I answered when Hubby asked me about the bags I put in the boot. Another reason, which I didn't tell him, was that I was secretly hoping that it may be possible to stay the night furthering our adventure. I packed insect repellant too. Ever since Hubby was down with dengue fever for the second, he was extra vigilant about keeping mosquitoes away from the family.

Getting the kids off their respective screens took longer than we expected and we ran into the rush hour traffic jam going to KS. The extra time spent on the journey didn't dent our plan to arrive before dinner. If anything, it make our timing better because the Chinese restaurant at FPR had just served a bus load of tourists and we didn't have to wait long for our food. After dinner, it was starting to get dark. Hubby got us tickets (which was not expensive) and we headed to the pier. The tourists were already there. The benches in the waiting station was neatly covered with life jackets. Everybody was trying on the jackets. I managed to find a small one for Li. Jien and Yan had to those that were a tad too big for them. 

 Soon the boatmen called out the boat numbers and the crowd thinned as people moved towards the boat via the jetty. The waiting station, the jetty and the boats were well maintained and I didn't feel any ick factor, not even towards the life jackets. The jetty stretched out from the solid ground behind the buildings into the river passed some trees that grew on the muddy river bank. It was dark and already we could see faint twinkling on those trees. I was excited because this was the first time I had seen fireflies. Hubby was too preoccupied with lighting the way for the older kids with his iPhone. FRP's website had said that they used battery powered boats that were quiet and emission-free. True enough, the boats were silent as we glide smoothly on the river surface. The river did not stink much and the boats were indeed emission-free. Thus I did not feel intrusive on the fireflies. We were also instructed to be quiet so as not to disturb the insects. In the darkness, our boat took us along the river close to the trees on the opposite bank. The trees were lighted up faintly by soft, twinkling little lights, not at all like the harsh lights from the lightbulbs that drape decoratively on some trees near our home. Hubby remarked that how appropriate that it was Christmas Eve and these trees were our lighted Christmas trees. It felt serenely peaceful, gliding soundlessly on the water surrounded by the twinkling darkness. As it was too dark to take any photos of videos, I looked intently at the twinkles as if to etch them permanently into my memory so that I would not forget. 

Occasionally, a brave twinkle would wander close to our boat. Once Hubby managed to catch it. Our kids were excited to see the light in his cupped hands. I was excited, too, by the sight of this natural cold light.

 All too soon, our boat headed towards the jetty. While in the middle of the river, I could hardly make out the faint twinkles that we had admired earlier. I could also barely make out the boats scattered along the river. Another group of walking life jackets were waiting to board our boat. We were chattering excited as we took off our life jackets. The boys tried to catch one or two twinkles floating in the courtyard despite a sign disallowing it. As it was barely 8.30pm, Hubby stopped by a McDonald's to give the kids an ice-cream treat. Needless to say the excited mood upped a notch to cap another adventurous day.

Aviary: A walk in the bird park

The first outing we had during Hubby's off days was a visit to the bird park. The older kids had been there before Li was born. At that time, Yan had looked like Li now and Li insists that the little girl in those bird park photos was her! The bird park entrance fees were not cheap. I had been impressed by the professional look of its website. So, I grudgingly agreed to go and paid the fees (still small compared to the cost of a night sat in a hotel, I told myself) hoping that the actual thing is as good as its website had looked. And I'm glad to report that I was not disappointed :) The first thing I noticed was the shades. There were plenty of big trees to give shade and it was pleasant to walk even under the midday sun. The park was quite big so I didn't feel short changed at having to pay the relative high entrance fees. The second thing I enjoyed was the birds themselves. They were everywhere: darting in and out of shrubs, perched on tree branches, on hill slopes, walking among people, pecking the ground, predatory birds were in enclosures. The variety of the birds were impressive. There were peacocks, pelicans, flamingos (although their pond could be better taken care of), chickens, pheasants, owls, eagles, macaws, ostrich, emu and others I couldn't name. I enjoyed the bird show so much I thought the show should have been longer than 15 minutes. The kids enjoyed it too. The best thing I like about the park was the fact that we could get close to the birds instead of just admiring them in their enclosures. I was glad the aggressive birds were not running loose among us. One ostrich kept pecking at the wires of the fence of its enclosure, I thought it wanted to get at us. There was one walk-in enclosure that I consider the highlight of our visit. It was after the bird show and Hubby was eager to leave before rush hour and possible rain from the gathering clouds. We were on our way to the exit and the path led us through the walk-in enclosure. Here we were allowed to feed the lories milk and kuacis. Lories are like small parrots. Seeing the lories perched on people's hands and shoulders to get at the food, Heng was very eager to try. For RM2, the worker gave him s small cup of milk in one hand and kuacis in the other. Almost immediately, a few lories came and perched on his fingers and wrists. Seeing their 'Gorgorki' surrounded by birds, Jien and Li wanted to be part of the action. Only Yan was contented at not having a bird land on her. We spent quite some time here because the kids were enjoying themselves tremendously. Hubby was clicking away on his camera seeing his beloveds surrounded by birds. Li was not the least bit afraid of having the lories claws pinching her skin. Finally, the crowd got unbearable in the walk-in enclosure and we left. We stopped by the souvenir shop on the way out. Bought a couple of T-shirts for RM15 each. I was tempted to buy the better looking ones for the kids but the price of them could not persuade me to categorise them as needs instead of wants. So, I left telling myself the kids had more than enough clothes, which was true. We didn't run into the rush hour traffic jam. Nor did the heavens open. And we arrived home satisfied that the day had been an adventure.

Family outing: how to measure its quality

Hubby took a few days off from work recently. It was the school holidays after all and we hadn't done anything with the kids. We had planned to go to the beach but it was too late to book anything not too expensive. Hubby had not been willing to pay too much for a holiday. Kids do not know, neither do we need to tell them, the cost of a holiday. We do not want them to be ungrateful, nor do we want them to feel indebted to us for the money spent. So, we did the next best thing: going to attractions where we did not need to stay overnight. There were many places in and around the city that were worthy of a family outing. On our list were: the National Zoo, Sunway Lagoon, Bird Park, Butterfly Park, suspension bridge in Forest Research Institute, etc. The costs of going to all these places added together would be less than a two-night stay in a beach resort. Both Hubby and I agree that quality family outing is not measured by ringgit. It is measured by our children's laughter :) My next few posts will be about the good times we had in our city outings.

2014: Wishes for a meaningful year

Happy New Year, dear Reader! For this new year, I wish for the world to be less selfish and to take care of Mother Earth. A wish, I fear, that will remain a wish on the global scale for decades still. 

On the personal scale, however, I am more optimistic :) To paraphrase a teacher in Heng's new school: 

To change to world, we should change one country at a time;

To change a country, we should change a person at a time;

To change a person, we should change one attitude at a time. 

Therefore, I will start with the circle of my influence: myself, my family and my friends. 

For myself, I hope to read (or listen) to more books, to manage time better so that more can be achieved and to keep house better. I also hope to spend more time exercising. 

On the family front, will strive to be more patient with my family, more supportive of my children's endeavours as they grow older and less swayed to my desires. 

As for my friends, I hope to offer more kind and encouraging words. Regrettably, with my full time focus on the family, I couldn't spend more time with my friends. So, with the help of FB, I can do the online version of going out for yamcha and chitchat with friends :)

Let us all have a meaningful 2014!