Today I decided to make a beeline for a place I’ve never been before—the Tropical Spice Garden. Set over 8 acres of secondary jungle one can get close to over 500 species of tropical flora and fauna. Since the terrain is hilly, one also gets a good workout (as I was soon to discover). The afternoon was cloudy with an imminent threat of rain, but I ventured on, armed with my usual Canon DSLR and lenses. I was too lazy to bring along my tripod, so I improvised.
(Above) You can’t miss it. The entrance fee is approximately $4.50 USD for adults.
(Below) There’s lush greenery everywhere, including miniature waterfalls. Since it was a weekday it was pretty quiet, which made me a happy camper.
(Above) Self-portrait of myself sitting on the giant swing. I held my Canon EOS 550D as steady as I could and set the self-timer to 2 seconds.
(Below) The view from the giant swing is quite breathtaking. I could sit here all day and just switch off.
(Above pictures) Lush greenery abounds as far as the eye can see. It’s indeed a very peaceful place (as long as you go during off-peak times) and if the temperature could be 10° cooler I’d stay here all day.
(Below) The ferns are huge and magnificent.
(Above) Some giant water lilies in a pond. The boat with its red interior makes this picture for me.
(Below) I recharged with a jolt of Italian coffee at the Tree Monkey restaurant. Note the unusually designed spoon (I managed to drop it, of course). This was one of the few shots where I used my Canon Speedlite 320EX in bounce flash mode.
(Above) Some beautiful flowers captured with my Canon 55-250mm IS zoom lens.
(Below two pictures) A Tsunami Memorial immortalized in this large chunk of driftwood.
(Above) I can’t place it, but somehow I find this shot very appealing to my eye.
(Below) The Teluk Bahang beach is virtually deserted. I could sit here all day but unfortunately it started to rain. So I went home. Perhaps another day.
