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My Birthday 1999
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Happy Chinese New Year 1999
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Wild Wild West 1997
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Rizal a Bird Alright!
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 | KLIA
 | It all started with Anush telling me that today, we had to go pickup her Aussie
Connection friend, Eric, from KLIA, and then we would take him out to the Deer Park in KL
(which was why Anush asked me to bring my video cam along.) |
| So, Tesy and Anush picked me up from my house at 10am, and we stopped by at Rajoo's for
a quick roticanai brekkie (where we met Mazlina and gang, too.) |
| From there, we headed towards KLIA via Bangi (passing Palace of the Golden Horses.)
Eric was "supposed" to arrive at 11am, and it was already 11am but I
thought that we were still ok for time, considering he may have to go through the baggage
lane and customs, immigration, etc. I was keeping tabs of the time and road, only because
I had a "duty" to perform, and that videoing him. |
| Anush kept reassuring me that we were driving on course by pointing out the KLIA
signboards, but by 11:30am, I said, "Gosh, this road that we're taking seems to take
forever to reach KLIA." To which Anush replied, "Ya-lah." Ten minutes
later, I asked them, "So, when do you want me to start videoing this Eric?"
(with me expecting a reply like "Oh, once we're at the Deer Park") but the reply
from Anush was "Oh, anytime." By 12pm, I almost remarked, "I think Eric
would have taken the taxi by now" when I saw that we had just passed the Port Dickson
toll exit and exclaimed, "Hey, didn't we just pass PD?" |
| This was the queue for Tesy and Anush to break the secret: "Err... Harun, we're not
taking you to KLIA; guess where we taking you?" "Oh, no!", I thought to
myself, "They're taking me to Tanjung Bidara or something, and all the other Wackos
are already waiting there for me, and they're going to repeat the torture of the Pangkor
trip to me again!" But Tesy and Anush then said, "We're taking you to Melaka
Zoo, to meet your tiger." |
|
| Melaka Zoo
| We arrived quarter to one. So much for Eric. So much for KLIA. I took out my video cam
and started shooting. Melaka Zoo is quite a nice zoo, as most of the animals are not caged
in cement-covered prisons, but in open greenery matching their natural habitat, with only
simple, short fencing, for the tamer animal, and a canal or a trench for the wilder
variety. |
| It was feeding time, so most of the animals were up and about. We managed to play with
the ponies, the ostrich, and the giraffe, and for the rest, we waved frantically from a
distance. I enjoyed seeing the playful otters, the sleepy rhinos, the tiny mousedeers, and
the rabbits here are so well fed! |
| Finally we reached the tiger and lion enclosures. They were sleeping and were not
distracted by our callings. This was where Tesy and Anush took out the (melted) cheese
cake, lighted up the (one) candle, and sang "Happy Birthday" to me. (Mind you,
all this was captured on video.) |
| After that, we continued walking and checking out the rest of the exhibits until we came
back to the start. It was around 3:45pm. |
|
| Bayu
| It was here, that a miracle took place. Anush got me to ask the counter girl about the
"bathing" of the baby tiger, and the girl said it was normally done around 4 -
4.30pm but it may not be done today. After a bit of persuasion, we managed to get Amy, the
tiger caretaker, to agree to bring out the baby tiger. |
| We were delighted. And at this point, all of us thought that at most, what would happen,
was the caretaker would take out a small cub, put the cub in a bathtub or something, give
it a wash while we watched from a distance, and we would have been quite satisfied. |
| But what took place really blew our minds. Amy took out, not a tiny cub, but a 3-feet
long baby tiger (and if you included his tail, then maybe 5-feet long) which was pouncing
and energetic and so, so playful! The baby tiger's name was Bayu, and he was six months
old and was just amazing! He had such cute eyes and lovely stripes, and just to give you a
perspective on his size, his paws were larger than my hand, and when he playfully bit me,
his jaws covered my ankles. |
| Yes, I managed to play with this cat - stroke him, hold him, practically wrestling with
him at one point, when he was still decicing whether my thighs were more preferable then
my calf. Tesy and Anush, too, got to stroke Bayu, and all this commotion attracted a large
crowd around us. |
| We got to play with Bayu for at least forty minutes, and I tell you, this was the most
fantastic experience!!! I mean, when do you have such a chance to get so close to a real
tiger?!? And this ain't so small a tiger - in one instance, he leapt at me, and standing
on his legs, his head reached just below my neck. It was a good thing Amy had a strong
hold on his chain-leash, or Bayu would have left a bit more than a kiss-mark on my neck. |
| Finally, we got to the stage where he had to take his bath. This was where Anush and
Tesy noted the similarity of stubborness both the tiger and I had. You see, Bayu didn't
want to have his bath, so he bit the rubber water hose, which blocked the passage of the
water. And he simply refused to let go! After lots of tugging and telling off by Amy, Bayu
still gripped on the hose. Somehow, Bayu accidentally let go of the hose, and Amy quickly
took advantage of this chance by pulling away the hose. |
| So, Amy began shampooing the already wet Bayu, who so adoringly closed his eyes with his
paws, whenever Amy soaped the tiger's scalp. It was hilarious to watch Bayu and his
personality. He was so much like a playful and intelligent house cat, rather than a wild
tiger that he really is. And it was a most unforgettable and exhirating time to be with
him. Thanks so much for this moment, Anush & Tesy! By the way, the video turned out
excellent! |
|
| Portuguese Connection
| After all that tiger play, we left the zoo and drove off to Melaka town, and parked near
the red buildings by the river. Anush and Tesy took a becha ride, while I toured the old,
historic sights nearby. |
| Having had no lunch, the ladies were hungry, so we drove off in search of the Portuguese
Square, that was beside the sea and was famous for its dance performances and seafood
cuisine. Once we arrived, at around 6pm, we were greeted by George, the restaurant keeper,
who was a 7th generation Portuguese, and told us of the many Malay words which were in
fact borrowed from Portuguese, such as almari, garfu, and biola. |
| We ordered fish wrapped in banana-leaf (like ikan bakar), devil's chicken curry, and
otak-otak. The meals were delicious and spicy. After dinner, we strolled on the fidgety
plank pier that led out to sea; a little scary as it was 7:30pm and getting dark and
spooky, plus the deep, murky water was all around us - a single slip and you'd end up into
the sea. We walked back and checked out other nearby stall area, and basically enjoyed the
breeze of the sea as we rambled beside the shore. |
| We got back to our table and played Uno (as usual, Anush carries a pack around wherever
she goes) and to cut a long story short - I won the last game. Anush challenged me to see
if I could win Uno at the last game (since I won the last game in PD as well as KKB.)
Well, I guess I am the undisputed champion! |
| By 9pm, the Portuguese dancers arrived, and soon after, they started their wonderful
performance. The ladies wore dresses of deep-red and white colours, while the men wore
dark green and black. The dances were fast and if the Wackos were put to perform in the
same manner, we'd be crashing into each other. |
| We didn't stay for long, as we had to journey back to KL. So, we left before 10pm, and
bid goodbye to Malacca. |
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