A for Alor, B for Bens

A surprise birthday celebration for Visha at Ben's at Publika. VCR/Barlai combo, then to Jalan Alor nearby for some delicious food. Yes Ben's, people only go to you for the convenient location and pretty setting. 

Hot chocolate. (Have yet to discover a frozen hot chocolate confection in Malaysia)

Soft shell crab tortilla. Okay, this was satisfying, 

Jalan Alor, food paradise

Jalan Alor is wonderfully compact and promising. Even at 1am, the roads are filled and lights from each shop flows through your eyes, enticing you to keep your eyes open for just a moment longer past your bedtime. We saw a man riding a motorcycle with a monkey as a pillion rider, and that made our night.

Visiting KL Bird Park

Last Saturday, Amanda & I went to Kuala Lumpur Bird Park. It was my second time there (my first time was 2-3 years ago with PL and JQ). It took us three hours to go through the 20 acres park, which was built in 1991.

While tourists are still visiting the park (up to 200,000 a year), the conditions have sadly deteriorated. Ponds are filled with algae or rivers stuck with leaves, and shrubbery and trees outgrow each other until they block a lot of views. The birds seemed fine though, and the park's pathways seem wheelchair friendly, so thumbs up to that!

I don't know what the RM25 entrance fee is going to, but they may want to pump more money into the up-keeping and maintenance. The weeds growing in every direction may be a naturalist approach to landscaping, but even a naturalist approach needs to be organised for a park of this stature.

This pelican is SO CUTE

One of the main features of the Bird Park is the man-made waterfall (30 feet tall). It's my favourite feature of the park because it's huge and takes up a lot of space. LOL. No lah, I just like the way this portion of the park is built - the walkway meanders down the waterfall to the lake. And we spotted a rainbow forming in the falls, so that was nice :D

I may visit this place again, but only if they revamp their offerings to keep up with the times. Singapore has spoilt me.

three songs about God

(I originally wanted to call this post three christian songs, but then it got me thinking, what constitutes a christian song? Does it have to be baptized in the river of harmony? Does it have to take a communion of melody and lyrics? Then I realized that trying to pretend I can make puns might get me in treble, so...)

1. Oh! Great is our God! by The Sing Team

Love love love this song. It's the kind of song that makes you smile for a long, long time. 

2. What Does It Sound Like (Without Words) by Bethel Music 

I love this song. When I hear it I feel like there should be lyrics to it. Then I found out, yeah, this is actually the improvised/made better minus one of a Brian Johnson song of the same name. Heh.

3. How Deep the Father's Love by Page CXVI

I love this band! So nice and mellow! This is their take on a very familiar hymn-ish song which I don't recall whether I performed to it or I saw a performance based on it. Most likely the former.

3 minutes of prayer

Take 3 minutes off the screen you're reading this on and pray for the people suffering from injustices and inhumane things that are happening in three countries you are thinking of right now.