The Lure of Nature: Sungei Buloh

I've been living in the far north (so close to Johore Bahru) for more than 3 years. But it never quite occured to me to pay a visit at Sungei Buloh Nature Park until lately. I guess it was after our second trip to the Southern Ridges that we thought we should venture there, together with our parents, for a nature walk.

Interestingly, the skies couldn't contain themselves each time we embarked on a nature trip. (Never seemed to pour when we went shopping?) It poured heavily that day on our way to the Park, exactly like the past two trips we made to the Southern Ridges. Oh well, extremely coincidental! The good part of it was that we had a very pleasant walk through the Park with cooling temperatures. Hardly a drop of perspiration despite trudging along the trails and footpaths.

Beautiful pond at the entrance. Doesn't this remind you of Monet's famous water lillies? Wow!



Our company of active, healthy elderly individuals - all raring to go!

The grandfatherly, kind park warden told us we should hang out at the exhibit areas to wait out the thunderstorm. So we did - for a while.

A 4 legged-crawling reptile of sorts surfacing from the swamp (ok, you can tell I am not into wild animals although I do appreciate nature!)

My folks stealing a rest at the Pavilion.


At Fred's command, we left, with brollies & water bottles.


I was intrigued that the sea bass we love to steam for dinner is actually a 'he-she'!

Random sightings of animals in the Park

Unfortunately, we didn't see no crocodile.


Right: weird-looking trees with roots growing above the swampy area

Left: bamboo but of a different kind... not the typical upright type (???)

Inside one of the hideouts



So up north we could see JB skyline... even the Malaysian telecoms welcomed us.

http://www.sbwr.org.sg/

I was barely 3 meters away from this nonchalant squrriel that just went chomp-chomp-chomp at his 'afternoon snack'. He wasn't a tad bothered by me & even switched sides halfway through his nutty-meal ;) Amazing! This was a rare personal encounter for a true-blue urbanite like me.

What a pleasant walk through these trails - reminds me of the numerous treks we took whenever we were overseas and I suddenly had the urge to repeat our ascent up Mount Kinabalu!! Well, that MUST be seriously considered - not the ascent but the descent, Unfortunately, my right knee has some wear & tear & I had to give up running ;( Not sure if the descent will take a toll on it. Otherwise, i really don't mind the ascent. The feeling was HEAVENLY. Ahhhhhh.. indescribable! The motivation to repeat the climb comes partly from the fact that we didn't really capture the amazing sunrise when we survived our way to the summit. Ran out of film (yes, still film back then!) Arrgghh...

Serenity

Calmness




Hear the birds call ... away from the hustle and bustle of city living, away from the stress and competition, back to Mother Nature, back to a place and time where living beings exist interdependently in nature's well-designed harmony.

Glad we didn't cancel our trip when it rained & hid in a shopping mall instead.