Lok Kawi Wildlife Park has some new additions to the family, which introduces more animals from borders beyond and Borneo to curious visitors.
Through an exchange programme with Melaka Zoo, Lok Kawi Wildlife Park introduced five new animals to the park last month. The animals arrived late in January and promises to make a new trip to the park well worthwhile.
Lok Kawi Wildlife Park’s new residents include 2 zebras, four ankole cattle, four nilgai, two ring-tailed lemurs and two capuchin monkies.
Although the zebras and ankole cattle are African in origin, Lok Kawi Wildlife Park’s particular residents are Malaysian citizens, as they were born in Melaka Zoo. In their first travel adventure, they visit the shores of Borneo, to add to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park’s other residents of African origin, most notably the ostriches.
Ankole Cattle
Ankole Cattle have large, distinctive, almost over-sized horns. The cattle have for centuries been an intricate part of African culture and were used as a source of food, currency for trading and status. The king of each tribe would often own the cattle with the longest horns, and these were considered sacred.
Able to thrive in the excruciating heat of Africa, the cattle have adapted to survive. Part of their ability to withstand great temperature in arid environments, lies in the big horns, which are honey-combed with blood vessels. The blood flows into the horns where it’s cooled by moving air, before flowing back into the animal’s body thus reducing body temperature. The horns can grow up to 12 feet, measured from tip to tip.
Nilgai
The Nilgai at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park is from the family of Asia’s largest antelope and is commonly seen in the wild in northern India and eastern Pakistan. The animal is also referred to as the Blue Bull, as the adult male’s coat often has a blueish appearance.
The female and young Nilgai, however, have short, yellow-brown coats. The males will gradually darken as they reach maturity and can also be distinguished by white spots on their cheeks and white colouring on their lips. See if you can spot the differences between the males and females on your visit to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park.
Ring-tailed Lemurs
If the animated movie Madagascar was an educational tool, it would have served it’s purpose by introducing previously lesser known animals to the public at large. As such, you might recognise Lok Kawi Wildlife Park’s Ring-tailed Lemurs as those fuzzy, upright-walking, monkey-like creatures, which partied the night away on Madagascar. Like all other lemurs, the Ring-tailed Lemur is found only on Madagascar.
Readily identified by the long bushy tail, interesting facts about the Ring-tailed Lemur are that the tail contains 26 black-and-white rings, and that the tail always starts with a white ring and ends with a black ring. Although listed as a vulnerable species, the Ring-tailed Lemur is the most populous Lemur in captivity, partly due to the fact that they easily reproduce in captive conditions.
Capuchin Monkey
You may recognise this new resident of Lok Kawi Wildlife Park from several Hollywood movies. The Capuchin Monkey is a South American native with a white upper torso and head, with distinctive black arms and a black cap on the head. Considered one of the most intelligent monkeys, they are highly trainable and hence their frequent silver-screen appearances.
As daytime animals who, unlike most other monkeys, sleep during the night, they are sure to be a star attraction at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. They are arboreal animals, which means they spend most of their time in trees. During the day they forage for food, which, in the wild, would include nuts, fruits, berries and leaves, but also insects, bird eggs and small vertebrates. Capuchin monkeys living near water can also feed on crabs, often cracking shells with rocks.
Zebra
Needing no introduction, zebras are the black-and-white striped animals we all know from school as representing the letter Z. Interesting to note is that the stripes of a zebra is as unique as a human fingerprint and that no two zebras have exactly the same stripes. Compare the two visiting Lok Kawi Wildlife Park and see for yourself. Another interesting fact is that in the UK, zebra is pronounced ZEB-ra, and in North America, it’s pronounced ZEE-bra.
With the interesting new additions to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park, complementing the park’s established residents, a visit to the park makes for a good day out. A mere 25km from the city centre, the trip takes less than 25 minutes and is easily accessible by road.
Entrance fees are RM20 for adults and RM10 child for overseas visitors, and RM10 and RM5 respectively for local visitors. The park is open daily from 9:30am and the last entry is allowed at 4:30pm, before the park closes at 5:30pm.
Juice Up is difficult to miss where it sits underneath the escalator in the mall area of Warisan Square, surrounded by bright red strawberries plastered on the escalator overhead, and the vivid greens, orange, yellow and reds from the fruits lining the fridges.
With a line-up of pure juices, juices mixed with low fat milk, juices mixed with sorbet or smoothies, Juice Up caters to the on-the-go crowd who wants a pick-me up, but are looking for an alternative to coffee. A range of speciality mixes can either boost your appetite, encourage weight loss, provide an energy boost or calm you down. It seems there is a combination of fruit to suit every mood.
Prices start from around RM5.80 for juice mixes and go upwards to RM7.90 for elaborate concoctions, which feature skimmed milk, honey, sorbet or sometimes all of the above. Portions are reasonable and are served to go, but feel free to linger by the juice-bar in the colourful surroundings.
When you’re up, or down, feeling bloated or hungry, to soothe your mood and replenish your reserves, drop by for a squeeze of fruit at Juice Up in Warisan Square.
Wedged in between KK’s Waterfront, Centre Point Shopping Centre and Le Meridien Hotel, Warisan Square has a remarkable offering of shops, hotels and restaurants, considering its relatively small size.
Featuring brand name clothing stores such as Esprit, Roxy, Quicksilver, Body Glove, Padini, Island Shop and Charles & Keith, it’s supported my many other lesser known, but equally popular brands.
Warisan Square also features furniture stores, including Living Concept, which is as close to Ikea as you can find in KK, with their inventory of almost exclusively Ikea branded furniture.
Of restaurants Warisan Square is in no short supply. Fish & Co, La Manila, Secret Recipe, Hong Kong Recipe, Veda Blue, Juice Up, Yoshimi and Fratini’s all combine to bring to you flood of culinary choices, ensuring that you can frequent Warisan Square regularly without having to eat the same thing twice.
Warisan Square is not just a hip shopping centre though, it also features two hotels. Radius International is a boutique hotel, marketing itself under the niche tag of Boutech, denoting it’s technologically advanced rooms. Basic accommodation turned super efficient for the modern traveller as Radius International features wi-fi, flat panel TV’s and funky decor.
In an adjacent block, the Imperial International Hotel is 4-star offering right in the heart of Kota Kinabalu’s happening area, surrounded by shopping offered by Warisan Square and the adjacent shopping centres, combined with the entertainment of the nearby Waterfront.
Please browse the Warisan Square section of this blog to discover more detail about the tenants of this shopping centre in Kota Kinabalu.
The Extreme Club, for the uninitiated, is a programme that entitles members to a a slew of discounts at excited businesses around Kota Kinabalu, including various restaurants, Coffee Bean and many more. Enquire about it next time you’re at Atmosphere for lunch, dinner or a drink.
Atmosphere is involved with some of the organisation of the Sabah leg of Malaysia’s quest to send a Malaysian beauty to the Miss Universe competition, hopefully to succeed the current title holder, Riyo Mori from Japan.
The 57th Annual Miss Universe Competition will air live from Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam and Malaysia might well be represented by one of the lovely ladies that graced Atmosphere.
In a teazer for what’s to come at the Sabah Grand Final this Saturday at The Magellan Sutera, a Miss Atmosphere Competition put the girls through the paces of a mini contest.
Hidden from view while the Extreme Club members enjoyed cocktails and tidbits, the contestants were presented as the night kicked into motion.
The contestants showed why they were the Sabah finalists for the competition as they strutted their stuff, before they briefly introduced themselves to the sizeable audience, giving their names and where they were from.
The finalists originate from various parts of Sabah, adding flavour from Sabah’s cultural melting pot. Most contestants are from Kota Kinabalu, while Labuan, Tawau and Sandakan are also represented.
Each finalist were given about 30 minutes to mingle and introduce themselves in person to audience members. It was a pleasant twist to the usual beauty pageant format, allowing the audience to engage the contestants to discover the personality behind the beauty.
It also allowed for favourites to be picked and noted for the voting later on.
Before the votes were tallied, the Miss Sabah Malaysia Universe contestants retreated to Atmosphere’s VIP room to await the results. Everyone had an opinion on who they had met and a buzz filled the air as these were exchanged.
Contestant Number 8, Chloe Majinbon from Kota Kinabalu, was the crowd’s favourite on this night and was crowned as Miss Atmosphere.
Now remains the real deal when this Saturday, 15 March, Sutera Harbour Resort will play host to Sabah’s Miss Malaysia Universe Competition’s final and grand selection.
Good luck to all the contestants.
Yesteryears Cafe is one of Kota Kinabalu’s long standing oldies, serving cheap beer, good grub and surprisingly delicious pizzas.
*Since the writing of this post, Yesteryears Cafe has become Alawa Cafe. The name, new management and the fact that it’s now air-conditioned aside, everything else remains pretty much the same.
Located in Kota Kinabalu’s Printer District, Yesteryears Alawa Cafe is tucked away and nestled amongst backpacker hostels, budget hotels and printing businesses that have been around almost as long as KK itself.
A popular post-game venue for nearby futsal arenas, Yesteryears Alawa Cafe is known for good pub grub and cheap beers.
Considered as one of the most value for money watering holes in Kota Kinabalu, Yesteryears Alawa Cafe sets are RM25.50 for 3x 650ml bottles of Tiger or Carlsberg, making it one of the best priced sets (or jugs) in Kota Kinabalu (price vs. volume).
Serving mostly western food, the Yesteryears Alawa Cafe menu is a mixed basket.
Top item on the menu are the so-called stone baked pizzas, which is a light, but decent feed for one, or can easily serve as a snack for two.
A selection of 12 pizzas are at your disposal, including some extra toppings if you prefer, and are very reasonably priced between RM9 and RM15 and is a tasty treat.
Other menu items include pastas, lamb chops, fish and chips, a variety of nasi goreng (fried rice) and snacks.
Amongst the snacks, Hivana (Sabah sushi) is a must try, as is the Ikan Basung Goreng, which is little whole fried fish, about two bites big, eaten with a hot chilli sauce.
Yesteryears Alawa Cafe is a good venue for a pub grub dinner, a chat or a spirited get-together. Look for it in the printers district and lose yourself in a tad of nostalgia in Yesteryears Alawa Cafe.
