Little-Wonder.Net - Personal domain and blog of Brenda Tan

Quite a successful Johor Road Trip, I must say - courtesy of Gunung Raya Travel Agency, with one of my aunts who organized the trip for a group of my extended family and myself.

Although I can’t help but whine a little at the tour coaches that we were assigned to. The seats were those leathery kinds which was not the type you’d like to sit in especially if you are going to get hot and sweaty walking in the sunshine.

Your bottom is liable to get stuck on them seats, not to mention the annoying “pwoooooooot!” noises you’ll get if you try to shift your position.

And in addition to that, I wasn’t quite fond of getting up in the wee hours of the morning, especially when I feel that I’ve barely rested at all throughout the night.

Furthermore, the seats on the tour coach weren’t comfortable enough for sleeping in. They can’t even be reclined, so I was forced to sit upright for the several hours spent in the tour coach.

But on the whole, it was a pretty good trip…

… and so my cousin and I got high. (Okay, a not-so-funny pun there.)

And so I returned home with a bag full of Malaysia-produced titbits, a bag containing two very cheap t-shirts (The prices there are amazingly low!), and a digital camera containing almost two hundred photos.

Desaru Ostrich Farm
Five minutes after I stepped foor into the Ostrich Farm, I developed an allergic reaction. Apparently, the sheer amount of feather and other dust particles floating in the air was too much for my immunse system to take - and so I ended up sneezing my way through.

The ostriches were adorable, though. Despite their size, they had very innocent-looking faces which could make even the toughest person go awwww.

They have no sense of shame, though.

I was in the midst of photographing a particular female ostrich in one of the pens. Zoom-in, trigger-focus. Okay, set. My camera was ready to capture the photograph.

Just as I was about to activate the shutters, a male ostrich suddenly appeared out of nowhere and jumped on the helpless fella I was just about to photograph. Then, they proceeded to … nevermind. You would have gotten the hint now, I suppose.

Shocked, yours truly was - the only reaction I had was to yelp.

And my cousin and Uncle came running.

“OH. MY. GOD!” Was my cousin’s first words.

“Go! Brenda! Go! Take a photo! Or better still, take a video!” My uncle was hysterical.

“Absolutely no way. I do not wish to have any ostrich pornography stored in my digital camera!” I retorted.

“But we don’t get to see this everyday, it is something special!” My uncle interjected.

Wonderful. Two ostriches indulging in their most intimate activity and here my uncle was, treating them like a tourist attraction. Tsk.

The two ostriches continued their live-demonstration under the gawking eyes of three curious human beings for the next five minutes, until we finally got bored.

We proceeded deeper into the farm, and spotted this particular ostrich running around, unsupervised.

Apparently, the ostrich seemed a wee bit too inquisitive, stepping closer and closer towards where David and I were standing until we were almost in contact.

A split-second later, said ostrich bit me.

For some reason, I seemed to look like a piece of tasty morsel for an extremely hungry ostrich. Despite having other members of the tour groups present, I was the only person he attacked.

Le sigh. What grudge does he have against me?

Desaru Fruit Farm
I was rather disappointed at this attraction.

I expected to see a lot more. At the mere mention that we were going to visit a fruit farm, the first image that came into my mind was tree after tree brimming with bright and juicy fruits. Just the perfect photo opportunity - I thought.

However, that wasn’t the case. Most of the fruits were wrapped in plastic - to prevent pests and insects from getting at them, so there wasn’t much to see. Whereas, most of the other fruits that were unwrapped were either so dull-looking or overly-common that most of us lost interest fairly quickly.

The only one that amazed me was the jambu (water-apple) tree.

Big, juicy, and ripe for the picking. If not for the huge sign that strictly prohibited fruit-picking with a large fine of RM 30000, I’m sure no one would be able to resist.

Bananas seemed to be the most common fruit found in that fruit farm, though. There were banana trees everywhere. Big bananas, small bananas, medium sized bananas. You name it, they have it.

Considering the sheer number of banana trees everywhere, I was half-expecting to spot a couple of monkeys. However, there were none.

And ooohh, look at these baby bananas.

Is it just me? Or these baby bananas just look … wrong somewhere.

In fact, they remind me of something else. If you are wondering exactly what, use your imagination. (Think boobies.)

In A Nutshell
I could have written a lot more about the trip as a whole, but I am in much need of sleep due to the physical (and mental) extertion I’ve had yesterday. Meanwhile, you can refer to the photolog entry (registration required) for this road trip if you desire more photographs.

Whereas, I may continue adding on to this entry tomorrow. So, stay tuned. ;)