Picnic by the Lake, Simply Lovely!

Today is a public holiday in Malaysia, our Muslim friends celebrating Hari Raya Haji, the Muslim new year, so we get to enjoy a day of leisure.

After spending morning on some long outstanding chores - like cleaning the interior of my car, clearing up the storage and discarding some old junks, we decided to bring the kids out for a picnic. It has been a while since our last picnic outing so the little ones were cheering in joy when I announced the good news. My little handsome quickly went to storeroom to get his vintage picnic bag and his favorite author hat. He sure knows his style. :)

Since it was an unplanned event, I did a real quick packing with whatever I can find the the kitchen - some cereals, pastries, packet drinks, bottled waters, cut fruits, books, the vintage picnic bag and the picnic mat, and off we go!

Anyone who lives in Kuala Lumpur would have heard of if not been to Desa Park City, the townshop surrounded by greens and modern design houses located in a well planned housing area. The large man-made lake, well maintained children playground and Aeon supermarket make it an ideal place for family, in fact it is one of the popular areas for expatrate families to settle down.

Anyway, back to the picnic. 

We actually went to do some shopping before going for picnic, as the afternoon weather in KL is really a killer. I don't want to risk getting sun burn or literally melt under the scorching sun. So we reached the park 15 minutes before 6pm, perfect weather to lay flat on the grass - pinkish skies with the setting sun, soft breeze blowing and children laughters filled the park.

Ta-da, ready to have fun.

We were just right next to the stream.

Little handsome enjoying himself with some cereals and companion of Jeff Brown's Jedi Academy, one of his favorite books.

Princess C busy running up and down the sloop like a little bunny who could not sit still. Hub and I just sat on the mat admiring our little girl who seemed to just learnt walking not long ago. She clearly loved the open space.

Unstoppable.

The stream that leads to the lake, sound of the water flowing is rather relaxing.

If you are lucky, you may catch a glimpse of the beautiful sunset from the first floor..

It was a short 45 min picnic before we adjourned to the playground to let the kids sweat it all out and we had a simple dinner at one of the restaurants within that area before calling it a night. My little handsome loved it so much that he begged for us to go there again next week. 

If there is any complain about the place, is that it's too crowded. I guess that can't be avoided as this place is just too popular with locals, and this is one of the very few dog-friendly parks in town where puppies are actually welcome.

So next time if you are meeting up friends in Desa park city, why not come earlier and bring your little ones for some picnic time? Leave the gadget behind, just have some fun in the park. :)

Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

A Day at the KL Bird Park

Living in city since young, my Captain E seldom had chance to encounter with wildlife, in fact not even farm animals. While he can easily name many animals, insects from books or TV, he had not exactly seen nor touch one except cats and dogs. So me and my friends made plan to bring our LOs to the KL Bird Park one weekend. All of our kiddos were between 2-3 yo, able to walk by themselves so it was really manageable, even though I was in my 2nd trimester then, I did not had any troubles going around the area.

KL Bird Park was clean and organized, equipped with an up-to-date map. We reached the place around 9:30am so the weather was just nice and the entire visit took about 2 hours on a slow pace. There was a vast family of birds in the park and from their colorful feathers and agile movements, it seemed to me that that these animals are well taken care off.

Beautiful flamingos at the lake.

What You Should Bring?

I would recommend to pre-plan your visit and bring the following items:

• Stroller (with a battery operated fan attached) or Carrier - in case LO gets tired you can let him / her rest instead of carrying by hands.
• Bottled water and some light snacks. There are drinks and snack for sale at stalls in the park but choices are rather limited and were mostly high sugar snacks/drinks. There are few rest stops under shade so you may bring food for a picnic.
• Wear a cap and a pair of comfortable walking shoes. It's quite a walk.
• Tissues / wet tissues. Birds are allowed to loiter in some area of the park so watch out for bird dropouts.
• Insect repellent and sun blocks.

We didn't bring any food to feed the birds. Firstly outside food is not encouraged (I recall you can buy at the park), secondly we did not wish to be followed by the flocks.

It was an enjoyable day trip for all of us, kids and adults alike. We brought fruits and muffins for picnic while resting under a shady area. It's certainly a place suitable for family with young kids.

Some Useful Tips...

• There are daily parrots show at the park, remember to check out the schedule and plan your visiting time if you want to watch the show.
• There is a waterfall not far after the central lake, it's a good spot for photo shooting and chilling.
• There is a Hornbill restaurant & cafe at the park's exit, it's worthwhile to stop by for lunch or a cup or drink and enjoy the serenity. The restaurant is surrounded by leafy tall trees and if you look around, you may just see a few giant hornbills resting on the trunks in between the branches. Hornbills are giant tropical birds with large beak and are unique to East Malaysia or Borneo.

Here are some of the pictures taken on the day.

Preggy Mommy & Little Captain at the lake full of pink flamingos and storks

Ethan met a chick for the first time at the hatching hut.

A busy looking parrot welcomed us at the entrance.

Each family took turn to take photo at the waterfall. Say Cheese! ;)

A handsome looking Crowned Pigeon.

Peacock with awesome feathers!

Face off :)

On the pedestrian path, with birds roaming freely.

Interested with the place? Find out more info...
Admission fees:

• Adult (with MyKad / Without): RM25 / RM48
• Child (3 - 12 years old) with MyKid / Without: RM12 / RM38

For latest price and promotion, visit their official website.

KL Bird Park Location Map

Have fun!

Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos  within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Grow A Plant Together

I bought a story book for Ethan recently called "Gus Grows a Plant", it's about a little hippo named Gus who planted a sunflower seed that eventually grew taller than him. To reinforce the understating on plant growing, I bought a packet of Sunflower seeds one weekend and invited Ethan to join me planting them. He gladly joint me just as I expected.

This is the book that inspired us to grow a sunflower plant together, what's yours?

Each morning before we leave home for work and school (or at night when we got home), we will check out the plant and Ethan will help to water them. He was extremely excited when he saw the little sapling popped out from the ground on the 3rd day. Each day, he will water the plant with me and proudly report to his daddy that his plants are growing taller.

So, what had Ethan learnt throughout this little activity?

He learnt that...
1. Little seed can grows into big plant, just like little kid can grow into big adult.
2. Plant needs constant water and sun, or they will die.
3. Ultimately, it is his responsibility to take care of his plant to ensure it grows each day.

Below are photos that show the growth of the plants. It is amazing to see how these little saplings had survived the rain and shine. I too, like my little boy, look forward for the beautiful sunflower one day!

Day 3 - The sapling popped out in the morning!

Day 4 - After a stormy night, we reinforced the sapling by putting small rocks around it.

Day 7 - growing well

Day 10 - Grew taller and more leaves now

Day 17 - growing taller each day

Day 28 - looking healthy!

Little handsome doing his duty..

Day 35 - some parts of the leaves were eaten by Insects, let's hope it survives..

Day 42 - Yay, it's budding!/td>

Day 56 - grew to 50cm tall and looking good !

Day 61 - The yellow petals peeping out.. So exciting!

Day 63 - Full blossom! Life is beautiful...

Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.