Blogs from Taiping, Perak, Malaysia, Asia - page 2

Hello there once again, I'm going to start this blog with a little explanation of where I am, as not everyone seems to know that much about Malaysia. Malaysia is a federation of 13 states, nine of which are monarchies, split between Malaya, the peninsula in the west, and Borneo, the island in the east, which are seperated by the South China Sea. I'm in Taiping, a town in the state of Perak, in the north-western area of Malaya. Perak is the oldest kingdom in the country, and Taiping is one of the oldest towns. They actually claim it's a city, but there really isn't much here. However, it does have two things going for it - utterly incredible scenery, comprised of endless jungled hills, and the country's oldest and greatest zoo. so, onto the important ... read more

Here Comes the Sun Bear Mon 17/03 - 18/03/08 Hi-ho motherfuckers, back to work. Again, getting to the zoo on time doesn't go so well. We line up for our second, final, assembly. Prayers are said, words spoken and old school tunes played loud. Today, I'm working with Sun Bears. Jenny volunteers to help out and we meet our keeper, Jhotti, a 30-something Indian guy. Depressingly, the scenario is as it was with the big cats - many bears, only one enclosure. One family unit is released at a time, meaning at least six or seven bears have to spend their days inside, waiting for a chance to shine in the light, not exactly living up to their name. Some are banned from seeing the outside world due to successful escape attempts. They get extended time ... read more