Zoo Negara Malaysia, 2009

My family made a trip to check out our local Zoo Negara. It was quite a fun time, seeing lions, monkeys and lots n lots of birds. Took the opportunity to click a few photos of invertebrates and of course, fishes :) Here's a picture of a softshell tortoise. He's big, as in nearly a foot and a half length! 

Unfortunately for the malaysian public, it lacks the lustre and beauty of our LFS, where everything is well maintained and properly done up. The tanks in this place are really trashed out and not much maintenance goes to it. 

Have you ever seen so much blackbeard algae! I'm wondering if this is a case of fried rice with chicken or chicken with fried rice :) Or maybe it's a showcase of the native algae one would get in Malaysia?? 

Fishes do look healthy and beautiful, unfortunately not much can be said about their habitat and setup. 

Here's a beautiful bujuk. Rarely found in the wild these days...unfortunately, i couldn't get a very nice pic of him. 

Love this photo of an old wise fish, the Red Giant Gourami, or better known as the Sabah Kaloi. He's really a majestic ancient guy... so much character, the Marlon Brando of the fish world, maybe? :)

A tankful of lampans. Notice how scratched up the glasses were?

Alas, thanks to my tank being cracked up, and having lost all my cichlids, I'm reduce to posting other people tanks. Am in the midst of resetting everything so that we can have a bigger house for the cichlids which were all release back into the pond they were caught from. Hopefully if time permits, I'd be able to setup a big 7-8 feet tank for the hoard to leave in :) keeping fingers cross!

Here's a  bit more information for those who wants to see 'em first hand :-

http://www.zoonegara.org.my/

Opens daily from 9:00PM - 5:00PM

Bukit Tinggi Japanese Garden

Alas it's been such a long while since i've last updated this blog. We made a trip up to Bukit Tinggi Resort, late last year. They had a beautiful japanese garden up there with lots of water features. Folks from Singapore were up there taking photos of birds with their super-duper SLRs with extra long lenses and flash. If only our Malaysian Ringgit could afford us more :) 

Beautiful kois in a pond. Love the landscape and all... lots of lovey dovey up here romanticing the place. Also, loads of city folks coming up to avoid the heat. Nice place to spend with the family too, especially with the chilly air n beautiful gardens. Oh yeah, this were taken in the botanical gardens.

Baby fishes... either they have a preggie koi, but they somehow or other look like rainbows... weird :)

As you head towards the Japanese Tea House, you'd come across some of the more meticulously design water gardens. This is just so lovely. If ever I'd have the space and time and initiative and money and brains to cook something like this up right beside one's home...bliss :)

Many artificial ponds in this area. Kudos to Mr Kaio Ariizumi and team for designing and building this site.

Waterfalls part deux. Play of water over rocks, only wish we had something like these much nearer to Kuala Lumpur, instead of having to travel all the way up here. Oh yeah, you could also purchase fish food. They'd sell 'em at the ice-cream shop right smack between the botanical garden and the japanese village. So look out for 'em :)

For more information, do check out :-

http://www.berjayaclubs.com/tinggi/index.cfm

http://www.cameron-highland-destination.com/highlands-berjaya-hills-bukit-tinggi-resort.html

Midas Haven updates - 12 Jan 2010

It's been a while since i've last updated this blog! Schedule's been rather crazy and all :) Anyhoo... the midas cichlids are doing pretty well, this batch. After the murderous pair that took out the entire tank, everyone seems to be doing much better here! 

I think this is the alpha female as she's moving about without being harass by other fishes! She's also without a nuchal hump and she's been caring for a brood earlier. The picture below shows her smaller male pair protecting what used to be their nesting grounds.

The picture below has more details of them lip-locking! Hopefully these are normal signs of aggresions expected in a really stuffed tank!

Unlike other cichlid families, there's always a fear that this fishes will dominate and kill everything when the bigger alpha pairs starts breeding! Hence the point  to really stuff the tank, to allow the aggression to spread. If you really squint, there are a few other jaguar cichlids in the pics! There's a big 1 feet jaguar hiding amount the driftwoods too, thanks to a malay chap who caught them by using a castnet (jala)! Hopefully, the next time with better lighting i could get a nicer shot of him! :)

Metro Tabernacle (AOG) bombed last night

it's a sad reality when ppl over-reacts and do not think things through. But as they do say... in all things goodness can be seen in it. In hope of us Malaysians growing up and learning to carry doggie bags while walking their dogs, to truly believing in a "catch-n-release" system, I hope we stand united against this atrocity and voice out against it. Reading others blogsites, let us believe in a spirit of unity, as even the Muslim folks are condemning this action. 

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/8/nation/5435794&sec=nation

http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3779852

Picking up a family tradition - fishing

These days, it's been a while i'd sit down to update my blog as i'm getting caught up with a new/old hobby - angling! Thanks to my dad's influence over the years, i'm trying my hands these days of fishing! After loosing all my cichlids over a tank leak a few months back, we've decided these time around to catch 'em fishes :) Twas' began a new era of bluffing 'em fishies! Above is a picture of the cyberjaya lake where i saw a pair of tomans swimming around a half-eaten tilapia! They were huge and beautiful. Obviously, this is a non-fishing spot unfortunately. Makes me wonder why can't we be civilized and promote a catch-click-n-release method! Unlike Singapore where folks would fish in beautiful public ponds, no doubt for the fun on angling. Whatever they do catch goes back into the pond, lake, river, tributaries... 

So, alas for us malaysian, we're stuck to fising in dis-used mining lakes, dirty rivers and poluted seas... here's my favourite spot for the midas cichlids i've been catching! It's called Tasik Prima Puchong and i've heard of people catching huge peacock bass and tomans weighing in at 7-8kg monsters! The stories you hear from other fishing folks :P For good reasons, i ain't gonna give u directions to this spot! Afterall, every angler has their secret fishing spots :) If u really ask nicely...maybe i'll divulge :)

Here you can see the beautiful midas cichlids hugging the lake-sides. Sad to say, i brought the wrong lens for the job hence the really bad picture. If u squint really really hard, the reddish spots in the waters are the cichlids! I've caught thus far, a dozen or so midas cichlids, a few synspilum, one baby peacock bass, a few jaguar cichlids and a few flowerhorns! I've seen really big peacock basses swimming around, a few baby marble gobies too and even a baby snake head (haruan)! 

As mentioned, the place is strewed with rubbish. Feels more like a dumping ground then a cherished location where one could bring your kids to for picnics and lunches. Maybe it's the development in the location... you'd either have a municiple that clean up the lakes and not allow fishing, or goes the opposite of that and leaves the lakes to rot away, while the public pollutes. This is where it ticks me off, to think of what heritage we'll leave behind for our younger generation. It was in this context, i've found out about Nik Rahimi and his efforts to setup a fly-fishing/artificial lure catch and release pond in Shah Alam! The place is called "Empangan Air Kuning" at Bukit Cherakah, Shah Alam. It's a beautiful natural spot, where the water is crystal clear and one could practically see the fishes swimming around. With lil' to no disruption to mother nature and something we the public can enjoy while not killing the natural environment. It really is a beautiful spot which our government should encourage and learn from in support of other nature recreational spots. I can't wait to go back to try out a spot of fly-fishing :)

Check out the forum link below!

http://www.fishing.net.my/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14907.

The person to contact if u've got more questions is Nik Rahimi on 012-3246959

Below's their brochure which i've downloaded from here!

Midas cichlids and their brood

Alas, the last time these guys bred, i made the mistake of introducing a really peckish peacock bass that totally annilated the entire brood! So, here we are again, round 2! This time around, the midas parents are really ferocious. They're taking out everything else in the tank. They've already killed the peacock bass and ended the life of my synspilum (at last i found the name to this fish!). There's another pair of breeding midas in my tank which i'll have to evacuate asap too, seeing as the parents are consistently chasing them around! 

Never knew the midas cichlids were so territorial as brooding parents. To the point that I'm not washing the algaes off my tank walls, afraid of scaring the other fishes into the brooding pair's space!

Parents looking on... babies are eating dried bread and chicken feed (which is what we use to catch these guys)

Makes me wish for a bigger tank that i will accomodate the entire generation plus other fishes! Does anyone know what fly-patterns these fishes takes to? Just started picking up on fly-fishing! :P Bad enough, u'd see the school swimming around, not a single fish would take a bite though! I've tried nymphs without much success though :P

Restaurant Good Taste Pan Mee USJ Taipan

Last monday being Merdeka day, what better way to celebrate then to eat panmee! :) Upon a friend's recommendation we decided to head down to USJ Taipan to try out this newly open panmee joint. Open by a friend's friend, we arrive around 1nish to find the place relatively packed! 

Maybe it's the holiday "brains at rest" mode, i was futily trying to take a clear picture of this menu... failed miserably!  We ordered the house spicy panmee along with a bowl of the traditional soup panmee below.

Along with those, the menu does have quite a variety of other stuffs for those non-panmee folks. With Nasi Lemak and curry noodles along with an assortment of desserts... Alas, being the lazy me, i was only interested in panmee and panmee only. Afterall, the measure of a panmee shop would be the panmee itself, no? :P

Ok, here's the difference between this chillie panmee as oppose to Kin Kin's and Super Kitchen's. The noodles's been mixed with your normal icky gravy that comes with a normal bowl of dried panmee! Now, call me an orthodox mule... but spicy is as spicy does. The gravy actually kills the taste of the noodles, making it slightly more sour and "different"! :P

That being said, maybe the spicy noodles isn't their speciality. Now, the good thing about this shop is the normal, run of the mill "traditional soup pan mee".

Adhering to years of tradition, (hence it's name),  consistent noodles thickness and texture, brothy soup, with all the perfect condiments in place and served with the much noted fiery sambal... Really not too bad, what am i saying, i'd come back for this!

Another shot of the wannabe chilli panmee... maybe it's just a state of time a'changing. Sorry, i'll pass :) Along with these, they've got "Fu zhou fish balls"! It's basically your normal fishball with stuffed minced meat! My first-time trying 'em and it was good!

The address is 11GF, Jalan 10/1C. UEP Subang Jaya, and you can find ze shop here! and if anyone has more details please comment!