Hap-Penang: Taman Botani

:Reminder:

Hap-Penang is a specially-created term for Pulau Pinang that means "the happening Penang" in Azham Vosovic's dictionary ;)

Click here for Part 1 of my Hap-Penang Trip. 

Okay, right after we went roller skating at Queensbay Mall, I drove to Taman Botani Pulau Pinang. It took around 15 minutes of driving since the traffic is quite clear and signboards are available so there was no trouble getting here. 

Taman Botani is well-managed by Jabatan Taman Botani as I see no rubbish anywhere in the park and the plants are also taken care of. Maybe our Malaysians/tourists mentalities has changed and became more concern of our Mother Nature, bravo people!

Here at Taman Botani, I suggest all of you to ride this "train" at a reasonable price because this is a large compound. Maybe it would comfort those travelling with kids and a big number of families. 

The scenery here is so calming; there are big trees shading the sunlight, a stream of river and a waterfall too.

I feel so blessed to witness this evergreen scenery; the tall trees, chirping of the birds, buzzes of insects and the so rich flora and fauna.
 
I remember one proverb: "We do not inherit this nature from our ancestors but we borrow it from our future generations". 

It is so true; what is borrowed must be returned to the owner in its original condition. If we appreciate our nature now, I believe that our children one day can still enjoy the undisturbed environment right?

There are also various parks or houses of different types of plants. This one is Rumah Orkid and those houses/parks are open to public if I am not mistaken.

Rumah Paku Pakis, Rumah Begonia & Bromeliad, Taman Herba and Taman Jepun. The plants here are very rare to some of us but we can improve our knowledge right?

Another interesting part of Taman Botani is, you guys and girls can take any of the trails available and climb up to Bukit Bendera (or Penang Hill for the locals). All you need is a proper hiking attire (and fitness) to reach the top of Bukit Bendera, I assure you that the view up there is scenic!

This is my sister and her friend taking a break under a tree since it was 1 PM in the afternoon and the sun was right up our head!

There are a lot of gazebos or shelters for tourist, so please use the facilities wisely. I strongly remind love couples to refrain from using these facilities for your extra-curricular activities okay? 

Then we pursued our journey until we reached this oldest water treatment plant in Malaysia. There is a pool up there but we were too lazy to climb up the stairs, so we missed out the best scenery.

This is the proof, click this photo to enlarge. 

Since it is a dry season in Penang at the moment, there are a little stream of water but hearing the flow of the stream is seriously soothing my mind.

For those who are not familiar with Taman Botani, this place is famous for the monkeys! This photo was taken at the stairs leading to the top of Bukit Bendera, and one of the visitors advised us not to go nearer.

These monkeys are very wild and they even bite! There used to be a lot of monkeys stealing visitors' food but there are less of them now. Wonder what happened to them?

The last time I went here was in 2000, with my family and we enjoyed feeding the monkeys. Actually, feeding animals in zoos or animal parks is prohibited as we may interrupt their diet and caused them to suffer from poisoning. 

This is a unique-looking plant, with fruits that look like a coconut or "limau bali". There are few other plants that we rarely see in the city and there is a lotus pond as well, so beautiful!

Taman Botani Pulau Pinang is surely an interesting place to visit. Kindly tag along your friends and family members here and teach them how to appreciate our nature. Yeah, entrance is FREE so what are you guys and girls waiting for?


:Glossary:
Well-managed: diurus dengan baik
Thrown: dibuang
Mentalities: cara pemikiran
Concern: prihatin
Mother Nature: alam semulajadi
Suggest: mencadangkan
Reasonable: munasabah
Compound: kawasan
Comfort: menyenangkan
Calming: menenangkan
Shading: meneduhkan
Stream: aliran
Blessed: bertuah/dirahmati
Witness: menyaksikan
Evergreen: malar segar
Scenery: persekitaran
Chirping: kicauan
Buzzes: bunyi serangga
Proverb: peribahasa
Inherit: mewarisi
Ancestors: nenek moyang
Appreciate: menghargai
Undisturbed: tidak terganggu
Environment: alam sekitar
Various: pelbagai
Parks: taman-taman
Plants: tumbuhan
Rare: jarang
Trails: jejak/laluan
Hiking: mendaki
Fitness: kecergasan
Assure: menjamin
Snenic: Indah
Refrain: menghalang
Pursued: meneruskan
Water treatment plant: loji rawatan air
Dry season: musim kemarau
Soothing: menenangkan
Feeding: memberi makan
Prohibited: dilarang
Interrupt: mengganggu
Poisoning: keracunan
Tag along: ajak
Entrance: masuk