Kampung Life : My Personal Zoo

Living in a kampung is full of adventures and misadventures too.   Kampung life is the best for me and I love it to bits and would never trade it for anything else.  Can't imagine myself living in a concrete jungle.. ayoo... don't think so I can survive.

Part and parcel of living near a 'jungle' is the frequent visits by our  uninvited 'guests'.  They come unannounced but we're used to having them around, though at times they do give us the shivers... 

The biawak or monitor lizard is one of our very regular visitors.

They come all the time. Kadang2 masuk rumah lagi.

They can be quite aggressive, it's best to leave them alone.

But they're easily spooked. So bila kita shoo2 dia, dia larilah.

 The owl or burung hantu. Check out the eyes!

This is one of my favorite animals.

But they don't come much now 

because we don't have chickens anymore.

 This tortoise or kura-kura came after a rainy day.

It's such a fascinating animal.

It hides its head and limbs as soon as it senses danger.

'Danger' here comes in a form of me and me cats.. hehe..

The 'mean' homosapien turns the tortoise around (turn turtle?)

to check out its belly. Fascinating, eh? The tummy is closed shut

and you can't even see where the limbs and head go. 

Totally amazing. Subhanallah.

Me cat is as curious as me... ahaks!

This is another regular visitor.

They come alllllll the time. Every day, in fact.

This one even comes into the house and is actually checking on me.

Our ceiling kopak sebab kucing berkelahi atas tu.

 Tu yang berlubang tu when both cats came crashing down.

So this monkey always spies on me when I'm busy on the FB. :))

We have plenty of birds too. All types

but it's not easy to capture them on camera.

And I don't have an SLR, so this is all I can get.

A cute yellow bird.

 At times we're lucky and get to see their nests and eggs.

Totally marvelous. Check out the intricacies of their nests.

Don't worry, guys...we do not take the eggs or mess their nests.

We just take pics and marvel at Allah's creations.

 A huge and beautiful butterfly. 

 One of its wings is damaged. Poor thing. 

Tupai aka squirrel. Yang ini pun memang ramai kat rumah.

This baby one was caught by our cat and we're on a rescue mission.

It's actually such a cute and cuddly animal.

My son releasing the baby squirrel.

 Be safe now, little squirrel....

These are not actually the wild and the ferocious

but they are part of the animals that roam my house  =))
Mother hen and her cute little chickies...

One chick on her back..

 Two chicks now...

 And three!!! 

They ain't heavy, they're my babies!!

But this one is sure wild and scary.

The slithering kind pun selalu datang jugak.. huhu..

This one was found slithering around in our banana trees.

 

And later tried to swallow a froggie, leg first.

 Babi hutan @ wild boar. Among the animals, 
I guess these are the fiercest, scariest and wildest of all. 
 They come often too and we keep out of their way.
They can run very fast, so better don't mess around with them.

Well, that's how interesting kampung life is. Everyday one discovers new things and it's always an adventure.  Thanking Allah for my kampung life and all that comes with it.  Alhamdulillah. :)))

disclaimer : no animals are harmed in the making of this blog :D

Fraser Hill

Despite its beauty and charm, Fraser Hill is the least popular highland in Malaysia. And it remains relatively 'unknown' and not very commercialized and I love it for those reasons.  It's still so quaint and rustic and not as busy and chaotic as the other two highlands.  

A visit to Fraser Hill makes a perfect day tripper, especially for KL folks who wish to get away from the hustle bustle of city life (ayoo.. I sound so corny...).  Anyway, Fraser Hill IS a good place to visit and one doesn't really have to stay the night there, coz everything can be covered in one day.

Okay, a little bit of history here. Fraser Hill is named after a Scottish prospector, Louis James Fraser.  That's our history lesson for today. :)))

Fraser Hill is situated in the state of Pahang, the biggest state in Peninsular Malaysia, or to be more specific on the Titiwangsa mountain range.  From KL, the easiest way to get there is via the PLUS highway (north bound - towards Penang), and then exit at the Kuala Kubu Bahru.

 But before you make a beeline there, please take note of the 'ascending' and 'descending' time.  Since there's only one route going up and down, visitors have to turn their turns.

If you don't want to wait too long, 

just time your journey according to the time table.

Otherwise you might end up waiting like these people...
...err.. we're one of them actually...

Anyway, the road is rather winding.. so be prepared with plastic bags, just in case you have weak stomach. 

Once you reach the top, all the winding road and roaring stomach are soon forgotten. I love Fraser Hill. The place is not jam packed with people and the air is fresh and flowers are everywhere.  Okay, it might not be Keukenhof but it's good enough by Malaysia's standard.

Besides the lovely flowers, there are many beautiful colonial-inspired houses there and their outer brick walls are to die for.  Cantik banget. Here are some of the houses that we came across during our visit.

And I guess the most famous one would be the Ye Olde Smoke House which is not exactly a house, but more like a rest house and a restaurant.

The sign. Love the creepers.

 

The front part of the house.

A water fountain which doubles as a bird bath.. me thinks...

A pair of gnomes guarding the window.. errr...

Plenty of beautiful plates in this place.

 

A nice corner to unwind and to take in the scenery.

Nyaman banget di sini.

Another beautiful abode that we check out is the Scott's Restaurant.

Check out its lovely wall. A piece of art. Sukak deh!

 

The front part of the restaurant

 

 

They have lots of cute decos such as this.

 And more beautiful decorative plates here.

We have some bites here.  

 

A cup of hot steaming coffee on a chilly day is the life :)))

 

Crispy garlic bread
 

Spaghetti bolognaise
 

 

Breakfast set at 4pm? mmmm...
The foods are quite tasty but the ambience is almost perfect.

Okay, if you're done with eating (for the guys) and flower-gawking (for the ladies), you might want to go for a walk and take in the scenery.  There are plenty of trees and you can check out the nice view of the valleys and mountains.  Memang cantik pemandangan di Fraser Hill.

Or you can go boating on the lake.

 

Or you can get friendly with some of the 'locals' too... :))
 

And oh yes, another place you can stop before reaching Fraser Hill is the Sungai Selangor Dam. The place is worth-stoping. 

 

If you don't know where to go on a lazy afternoon and are not too keen to drive far, check out Fraser Hill.  It's a good place to spend a day with the family. And it's only about 2 hours drive from KL.

p/s : hate the word pro in this blogger... the spaces in between lines are not supposed to be where they are... had to redo thousands of times and still cant get it right.. .GRRRR.. .so please excuse those 'stupid' wide spaces in between some pictures and captions ya. .those are not meant to be that way.. ***sigh*****