Waterfall Aviary, (the world's tallest waterfall)Singapore

The Jurong Bird Park is home for amazing 9,000 colorful birds of 600 species . The park is truly breathtaking and is the largest bird park in the Asia Pacific, covering over 50 acres (20 hectares). But I want to write in this Blog is the world’s highest man made waterfall- Waterfall Aviary. The way to the waterfall was like in the jungle . It is small pathway with trees arching over the head and birds eating the fruits and tweeting in complete harmony and peace. We could hear the gushing sound and melody of the water falling near by. We passed a Bridge to see from the trees the beautiful sight of the waterfall. It is 30 meters(98 feet) high and made in such a way that it is hard to digest that it is not natural in the first sight.
As a nature lover I was amazed by how Singapore , a city with lack of natural resources overcome its weakness by being the garden city and build the nature in a manner that it looks as if the city was always green. Singapore has capitalized on the energy, enterprise and human skills . This is a city where the first impression is that of man’s achievements .
While most countries are cutting trees and destroying the nature in the name of development and blaming each other for the pollution, Singapore is one place where without any natural resources where the people have made it a green place.

Batu caves ,Malaysia

Batu Caves is one of Malaysia's most famous tourist and holy pilgrimage destinations. The Batu Caves are situated thirteen kilometers (seven miles) north of the capital of Malaysia- Kuala Lumpur. They are the sacred place for the Hindu's in Malaysia. They consist of three main caves and a number of smaller ones. The caves are made of limestone and 400 meters long and 100 meter high. Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old .

We took a taxi to reach Batu caves. It took us longer than we had estimated we had started to doze. Then we saw a tall mountain ahead of us. There was a huge gathering of tourist buses, taxis and a lot of vendors selling flowers , coconuts and garlands . Located outside Batu Caves stands the 42.7 meter high - the world's tallest statue of Lord Subramanya / Murugan . The statue is said to have cost approximately 24 million Rupees and is made of concrete,steeland gold paint. Just behind are the 272 steps to Batu Caves.Climbing the steep flight of 272 steps with an angle of almost 30degrees is quite exhausting. And also the climate so humid that we were bathed in sweat by the time we reached the cave . Did I tell you that there were monkeys on the stairs and also inside the cave. Monkeys near a temple are not new to me so I was not surprised to see a few (actually I was quite happy to see the familiar creatures :))

The biggest is the Temple Cave which has a 100 m-high ceiling .The natural opening in the ceiling allows the Sun to lit up the Cave and creates a mystic aura. On the left is the Ramayana Cave where reminiscent scenes of Indian epic myths are artistically painted along its walls.Dripping of mineralized solutions and the deposition of calcium carbonate for thousands of years have created rock formations.Stalactites and the corresponding formation of Stalagmites on the floor underneath create intricate formations . They meet and fuse to create columns which look like pillars.


This massive limestone hill is also a popular spot for rock climbing.

Unicef's Buddy Bears in Sydney

I visited UNICEF’s Buddy Bear exhibition while I was in Sydney. I was strolling around when I saw a tall cute and colorful Bear standing with its hand in air . Just when I walked towards him .. I saw more Bears .. there were almost 142 bears with designs representing the culture and tradition of its country.
The motto of the exhibition was “WE HAVE TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER … it makes us understand one another better, trust each other more and live together more peacefully. “
The idea for this exhibition was created 2002 by the inventors of the Buddy Bears Eva and Klaus Herlitz, having three aspects in mind: Art, Message and charity.

The bear in the center is from India. On the right is bear from Hungary and the left one is from Indonesia.

Isn't that a unique art form for a wonderful cause !