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Friday, 21 March 2014

KL Bird Park, Kuala Lumpur

The KL Bird Park is one of the main attractions on the typical tourist trail of things to do in Kuala Lumpur. Billing itself as "the World's Largest Free-Flight Walk-In Aviary", the park consists of 20.9 acres of forested land in a valley in the Lake Gardens area.

Getting to the KL Bird Park is fairly straightforward. Public taxi is the most convenient way to go; there is also a taxi counter at the Bird Park and plenty of taxis loitering around. Alternatively, one of the stops on the Hop-On Hop-Off (HOHO) bus route is right in front of the Bird Park. Another way of doing it is by going by KTM Komuter train to the Kuala Lumpur Train Station and walking 1.2km to the Bird Park.

Map of the Park.

The Bird Park is open 7 days a week, including public holidays; from 9am to 6pm. Admission fees for an adult is RM48; whilst children from 3 to 12 years old are charged RM38. MYKAD holders are given discounted rates of RM25 (adult) and RM12 (child) respectively. Tickets can be bought at a booth located at the entrance to the park.

Ticket Counter.

The park is made up of four main zones, with a mix of free-flight aviaries and caged areas. Zones 1 & 2 are free flight areas, where the birds roam freely in a tropical environment under huge netting held up by towering masts.

Netting on high masts allow the birds to roam freely in the free-flight areas.

One of the many birds you will find in the free-flight Zone 1 and Zone 2 areas are the plentiful Indian Blue Peafowl. If you are lucky, a peacock will fan his impressive tail for you to see.

Indian Blue Peafowl on display.

Look out also for the bright red Scarlet Ibis. Not as many as some other species in the park; if you spot one, count yourself lucky.

Scarlet Ibis

Plenty of storks hang around the vicinity of the Flamingo Pond. You may even spot a pelican or two among them.

Storks.

At the World of Parrots, you can feed the birds with milk for a small fee. Some of the birds you can see in this enclosure include Lory's, Lorikeets, Cockatoos and Parrots.

Rainbow Lorikeet's at the World of Parrots.

Fish Ponds.

Man made streams add to the green environment.

Egret

Riverine environment in Zone 2.

Flamingo's at the Flamingo Pond.

Koi Pond at Bul Bul Land in Zone 1.

Pelican at the Flamingo Pond.

Man-made waterfall at the Waterfall Aviary in Zone 4.

Chickens hatching at the Egg Incubation Area.

In addition to the various attractions, there is also an amphitheater in Zone 4 of the park which has twice daily Bird Shows. A souvenir shop and restaurant round up the rest of the facilities.

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park

Address: 920 Jalan Cenderawasih, Taman Tasik Perdana, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : +603 - 2272 1010
Fax : +603 - 2273 5428
Email : info@klbirdpark.com
Opening Hours: Daily, from 9am - 6pm

Sunday, 16 February 2014

Thirty8, Kuala Lumpur

The Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur is one of the newer hotels in Kuala Lumpur ("KL"). Located in Jalan Pinang, in the heart of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre ("KLCC") area, the hotel is a welcome addition to the hotel scene in KL.

Ground floor of the Grand Hyatt.

For a long time, if you wanted to have drinks or dinner at the top of a high rise building in KL, the only option was at the revolving tower of the KL Tower (Menara Kuala Lumpur). This was rather ironic for a city with many highrise buildings, including the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, once the tallest building in the world.

Fortunately today, the situation has changed, with places like Traders Hotels Skybar, Pacific Regency's Luna Bar, G Towers View Rooftop Bar, Ascott's SkyLounge and Petronas' Marini's on 57 vying for your hard-earned money.

One of the latest is of course Grand Hyatt's Thirty8. Unsurprisingly this sky high dining option is located on the 38th floor of the building, hence the name.

Rather uniquely, Grand Hyatt's lobby is not located on the ground floor typical of most hotels, but instead on the 39th floor. You take the high speed lift from the ground floor directly up to the 39th floor where you check in if you are a hotel guest. If you are not, you walk down the stairs or the bubble lift down to the 38th floor to where the restaurant, bar and lounge is.

The staircase coming down from the 39th floor to Thirty8.

Thirty8 offers 360 degree views of the city and is a serious rival to Traders Hotel Skybar with direct view of the Petronas Twin Towers.

The Lounge area.


The Bar.

View of the restaurant from the 39th floor.

Live entertainment at the restaurant.

Unrivalled view of the Twin Towers from the restaurant.

View of the KLCC Park.

The Twin Towers as the sun goes down.

The KL Tower in the distance as the sun goes down.

The Twin Towers glimmering at night.

The food at Thirty8 is a choice of steaks, seafood, sashimi, sushi and chinese cuisine. Both Australian Wagyu and Angus steaks are on the menu. Prices are not cheap, so be prepared to splurge!