Wednesday, February 01, 2012

My love affair...

...with Kuala Selangor

I have such an affinity with Kuala Selangor (and its surrounding areas) that I visited it 4 times in a short space of time!

Here goes my love affair:

Kuala Selangor Nature Park

Its entrance is just before Bukit Malawati. It is a sanctuary to many species of flora and fauna such as the endangered Silvered Leaf Monkey (Presbytis cristata). It is a haven for birdwatchers too. It is also part of a mangrove forest - I love mangroves, my first outdoor trip was to a campsite in Morib - Bakaugruv, it is still vivid in my mind. I was only 10 then. That was when I knew about mud skippers, until today I love to see them, the species that live within the mud and the mangrove's unique roots. I have visited this park in Form 2 for our school trip- and we stayed here for 2 nights. I remember walking through the trail with my friend, and I loved it. So this was sort of a re-visit for me.

There's a walking trail that you can take which is about 40 minutes - not tiring. You can go on your own- no need for a guide. But wear shades and cap because it can get really hot. Stop by the river at the otter's crossing. If you're lucky, you can get to see the otter. We didn't though. Better luck next time. But I loved looking at the mangroves and mud skipper and crabs, and just sink into the serenity of the river. So calming..

Unfortunately though, there is a track that is no longer accessible. I did take this trail back then during my school trip, and remember being surrounded by peat and mangrove forest.

To know more about the park, go here



View from the tower

Calming river


Can you spot the mud skipper?


Mangrove education


At the entrance


Sigh...broken signage


The boardwalk leading to the sea


Can you spot the blue crab?


It's a bird sanctuary too!


Sekinchan padi fields

Great for photograhpy! It's about 1.5 hrs from KL, using the Sg Buloh - Kuala Selangor trunk road. For a great view of the padi field, enter from Site A. If you're coming from Kuala Lumpur, Site A would be on your right. We found this blog to be very helpful as a guideline.


The entrance: Image taken from here

Enjoy the pix:







Bukit Malawati, Kuala Selangor

Nothing much here (at least for me). There's a tram ride going up the hill, from there you can see the view of the straits of Malacca. There's also a historical museum at the hill where you can learn about the history of Kuala Selangor and Bukit Malawati, which used to be a fort. There's also a lighthouse, but it is not accessible to the public. After visting the museum, wait for the tram to go down. Ticket cost only RM4 which also comprise of a visit to the fish pond, but we skipped this as it could get quite long to wait for the tram.

The main attraction here would be the Silvered Leaf Monkey (Presbytis cristata) which could also be found at the Kuala Selangor nature park. The baby of the monkey is orange in colour.


Pix taken from here.

To find more about Bukit Malawati, go here.


Kuang
I read from the newspapers about an art exhibition at Rimbun Dahan, a private residence of a local architect-Hijjas Kasturi in Kuang. It is open to the public for limited hours only during exhibitions. The residence features 3 traditional Malay houses, a vast garden, swimming pool, and a reflective pool, besides the main building which houses the exhibition.


Rimbun Dahan main building and fish pond


Malay traditional house at Rimbun Dahan


Main building and reflective pool

Rimbun Dahan images taken from here

The exhibition is sponsored by WWF - Art For Nature- a unique showcase of artistic works created by Malaysian and international artists in support of nature conservation. Proceeds from sales of the artworks in this exhibition go towards WWF-Malaysia's nature conservation and wildlife protection programmes. 2011's showcase was themed "Here Today Gone Tomorrow"

We were greeted by a friendly WWF co-ordinator who explained briefly to us on the showcase and walked us through the works of art. We were also introduced to the curator - Noor Mahnun Mohamed, to which she asked us where we were from and from what background. Erk, nothing to do with art, just trying to understand. And boy, was it hard for us to get the grips on the artworks. Some were quite direct, some we couldn't fathom lol! Erm, not sure if I'm quite up to the standards of viewing art exhibitions lol! I did go to the Tate Modern in London with Mas, we couldn't really appreciate it, so we just browsed through quickly and out we go!

Maybe I should try with a simpler one. ZM, care to accompany me to Galeri Petronas for the photo exhibition of “Capturing Malaysia Through the Years”? (I think this one would be easier for me)

You can view the artworks here

Oh, we were also greeted by the friendly dogs -but we had to tread carefully though, as these jolly creatures like to lick their visitors! One, I think his name is Kicap, chewed on a plastic spoon lol!

The residence also organizes guided tours of its garden, but it was not on the day of our visit. Do check out Rimbun Dahan for more details.

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