Birding 101 #1: Town Park, Bandar Puteri Puchong

So yesterday I shared a post about my self-declared status as a birder, and earlier today, I dived straight into some birding action! 😂

It wasn't entirely planned, to be honest.

My wife and I usually go for a brisk walk every weekend, and this year, I made it a little mission of mine to explore a new park almost every week. Yes, even though I'm the guy who founded the Larian 40 Taman community running group some years back, there are still plenty of tamans in the Klang Valley waiting to be explored!

But after skipping our weekend walks for the past couple of weeks because of the haze, I made a rather impromptu decision this morning to finally visit somewhere quite close to home — Town Park at Bandar Puteri Puchong.

And as it turned out, it's also a pretty good place for birding!

In fact, upon entering the taman, we came across a sign informing visitors about the bird species that could be sighted there.

Bingo! 

Of course, I came armed with just my handphone. But that didn't deter me — or my wife, who's been pretty supportive of this new birding thingy — at all.

And guess what? On this very first outing, I earned FOUR new lifers!

Uhuh. You read that right. FOUR. 😂

And here they are:

White-throated Kingfisher

A real beauty, with its striking turquoise-blue wings and back, chestnut-coloured head and body, bright red bill, and, of course, that distinctive white throat and breast. Definitely one of those birds that makes you stop and go, “Wow!”

Little Egret

An elegant little white heron with a slender black bill, long black legs and distinctive yellow feet. It has that graceful, almost delicate appearance — especially when it's stalking around the water looking for its next meal.

Purple Heron

A much bigger and more imposing bird, with its dusky purplish-brown plumage and long, sinuous neck. It has a wonderfully prehistoric-looking quality when you see it standing among the vegetation. Another very cool lifer!

House Crow

And then there's this guy. 

Yes, the humble House Crow — a bird I've probably seen countless times without ever giving it a second thought. But according to the Merlin app, it became my Bird of the Day, since it's such a common species around Puchong.

And hey, a lifer is a lifer! 😎

What a beautiful morning it was. Who would've thought that a spontaneous visit to a neighbourhood park, armed with nothing more than a handphone and a new-found obsession with birds, would produce four new species for my life list?

Alhamdulillah. 

One thing I'm quickly learning about birding: sometimes, you don't really have to go very far to discover something wonderful. You just have to stop, look up, and pay attention.

I Think I’ve Just Become A Birder!

 

Lately, I've been watching some wonderful birding videos, and somewhere along the way, I became rather fascinated by this whole world of birding.

Birding is basically the hobby of observing, identifying, photographing and learning about birds in the wild. And the more I watch and learn, the more I realise what a wonderful way it is to appreciate and marvel at Allah's creation.

Think about it. Birds are everywhere, yet how often do we actually stop to look at them?

Their colours, calls, behaviour, how they fly, where they live… Once you start paying attention, an ordinary walk suddenly becomes a little adventure.

So, on 11 September 2026, I officially declared myself a birder! 😂 No ceremony. No membership card. I just decided: Okay, I'm a birder now.

My first move was to download Merlin Bird ID, a wonderful app that helps identify birds from photographs and even their calls.

And that's when I discovered something rather amusing. I already had eight lifers.

A lifer is a bird species you've encountered for the first time. Except most of mine weren't from actual birding trips. They were sitting in my old photo archives!

Apparently, I've been an accidental birder for years. 😂

Among my eight lifers so far are:

Grey Heron — spotted at Regent's Park, London. A magnificent, long-legged grey wader with a long pointed bill. Very elegant… and apparently quite happy to pose for photographers.

Eurasian Moorhen — also at Regent's Park, hiding in the background of my Grey Heron photo. A dark waterbird with a distinctive red-and-yellow bill.

Eurasian Coot — photographed at Hampstead Heath. Easily recognised by its dark body and striking white bill and forehead shield.

European Herring Gull — spotted at Brighton Pier. One of those familiar seaside birds that you suddenly appreciate differently once you start looking properly.

Painted Stork — spotted at Lake Valley, Cheras. A magnificent Malaysian wader with striking black-and-white wings, long legs and that unmistakable pinkish colouration.

Five down, three more to reveal. 😁

Of course, now that I've declared myself a birder, there's equipment to think about.

I've dusted off my old Canon DSLR, I've got Merlin on my phone, and a pair of 8×42 binoculars is next on the shopping list. I'll also start using eBird to keep a proper record of my sightings.

But I think the most important thing is simply to go outside and look.

Learn the common birds first. Learn their calls. Notice their behaviour. And perhaps one day I'll hear a bird somewhere and think: “Wait… I know that one!” 😁

And then there's the bigger plan.

2027: My Big Year

Insya Allah, 2027 will be my Big Year — my personal birding adventure to see and record as many different species as I can during the year.

I don't know yet how many I'll find. But that's the fun of it.

11 September 2026 was Day One.

Eight lifers are already on the board.

The camera is ready. Merlin is downloaded. Binoculars are coming.

And somewhere out there are hundreds of birds I've never properly seen, identified or appreciated.

A new hobby. A new adventure.

And, Insya Allah, another way to stop, look around and marvel at Allah's creation. 

Before Facebook, I Was Writing About Mankind

 

I stumbled across this recently and, honestly, what a throwback!

This was a story I wrote 26 years ago, in July 2000, for ZingAsia — right in the middle of the dotcom boom, when everyone was convinced the Internet was going to change the world.

Well… they were right. 😂

The story was about WWF superstar Mick Foley, better known then as Mankind and Cactus Jack, who had arrived in Kuala Lumpur as part of his Southeast Asian tour.

And yes, yours truly was there.

The crowd was fantastic — kids, teenagers, adults and even senior citizens, all turning up to see the wrestling superstar they had only known from their TV screens. There was even a Mankind impersonation contest!

But looking at this old article today, what makes me smile isn't just the story.

It's the website. Look at it! The blue navigation bars. The tiny advertising boxes. “Quick Poll”. “Select a Channel”. And my favourite: “You are here: SportZing > Sports Spectator.”

This was the Internet before Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and smartphones. “Going online” was something you actually did.

And look at that photograph of Mick Foley and me. The caption says: “I managed to get a shot with him!” 

Today we'd probably take 20 selfies, post them immediately, tag him, upload a Reel and do a TikTok. Back then, one photograph was enough.

And I suddenly realised something while looking at this: I was already doing digital journalism before we even called it digital journalism.

26 years later, I'm still writing. And I still have these old articles tucked away.

What a treasure trove.

A little piece of my younger self... and a little time capsule of the Internet.

Remembering Tun Mohamed Eusoff Chin

 

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.

Former Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Mohamed Eusoff Chin, passed away early Friday morning at the age of 91.

The first time I met Allahyarham Tun personally was when he came to Miri in 1997 (pic above), where I was posted when I first joined the judiciary. It was a historic visit, and you can imagine how hard everyone worked to make sure everything went smoothly and the visit would be a memorable one.

My encounters with Allahyarham Tun became more frequent after I was transferred back to KL in 1998. And here's one story I often tell...

It was the 1999 Judges' Conference in Lumut. I was then the special officer to the Chief Registrar, Datuk Ramly Ali. One evening, during some downtime, we were told that the Chief Justice wanted to visit a place he had heard about. I think it was Teluk Rubiah Resort.

The problem was, nobody seemed to know exactly where it was.

We met at the car park and Datuk Ramly suddenly said, "Zul, you drive."

Alamak.

This was pre-GPS days.

So I got into his Perdana and started driving, with Allahyarham Tun's car and a couple of other judges following behind. Funnily enough, I don't remember there being any police escorts then.

Terketar kaki.

I just followed the signboards and hoped for the best. Eventually, we turned into what seemed like a rather jungly area. And throughout the drive, one thought kept going through my head:

"Where the heck am I taking the Chief Justice of Malaysia?"

Somehow, we found the place.

My boss just laughed.

But honestly, throughout that drive I really thought my head was on the chopping block — or, at the very least, I was going to get transferred somewhere like Kuala Krai or something. 

Looking back, it's one of those little memories from my days in the judiciary that has stayed with me all these years.

Al-Fatihah buat Allahyarham Tun Mohamed Eusoff Chin. May Allah place him among the righteous.

Mo Salah Is Back!

 

After months of speculation, I have to admit this was quite a surprise. Mohamed Salah has officially chosen Trabzonspor as the next destination in his remarkable career. Mabruk! 

It'll certainly be strange seeing him in different colours after everything he achieved at Anfield, but football moves on, and so do its greatest players. I sincerely hope this new adventure brings him happiness, success, and the appreciation he truly deserves. 

And FYI... my birthday is in December, and that Trabzonspor jersey would look soooo good on me. 😊😊

31 Years On

Thirty-one years have passed since the Srebrenica Genocide, where more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were systematically murdered simply because of their faith.

For many people, Srebrenica is a chapter in a history book.

For me, it has faces.

During my years at IIUM in the 1990s, I had the privilege of studying, playing basketball and sharing countless conversations with Bosnian students. They prayed, studied for exams, played sports and dreamed of better days, even as their hearts remained with families caught in the horrors of war back home.

I still remember seeing some of them clutching shortwave radios, desperately searching for news from Bosnia, hoping to hear that their loved ones were safe.

Those memories have never left me.

As we commemorate the victims of Srebrenica today, let us honour not only those whose lives were cruelly taken, but also the resilience of those who survived and rebuilt their lives.

May Allah grant the martyrs of Srebrenica the highest ranks in Jannah, bring comfort to their families, and establish justice for every innocent soul who suffered.

"And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision." (Surah Ali 'Imran, 3:169)

My Stadium Merdeka Memories

 

I never expected a simple Sunday morning visit to Stadium Merdeka to hit me right in the feels. But the moment I walked through the corridor and emerged onto the stands, it was as though four decades of memories came rushing back all at once.

The stadium was closed in 2016 and reopened in August 2024 after an extensive restoration that brought it remarkably close to how it looked when Malaysia’s independence was declared here in 1957. The second tier was removed, thousands of seats disappeared, and many original design features were painstakingly brought back. Walking around the place genuinely felt like travelling back in time.

My first visit was in 1986 when my late father and I squeezed into a packed van from JB to KL to watch the Malaysia Cup final. It was also my first time seeing Tugu Negara and Pertama Complex. Johor, the defending champions, were hammered 6-1 by Selangor. We got booed by the home crowd, I was absolutely gutted, and I honestly don't remember much of the journey home.

When I entered university in 1989, I became good friends with a bunch of Selangor boys. From then on, I regularly tagged along with them to Stadium Merdeka for league and Malaysia Cup matches. It was with this same gang that I watched Gary Lineker score four goals as England beat Malaysia 4-2. I can still picture so many moments from that evening.

I also stood in these very stands countless times, proudly singing Negaraku with thousands of fellow Malaysians before international matches.

Then came what is still, for me, the greatest Malaysia Cup final ever.

Johor versus Selangor. 1991.

I went alone, wearing a bootleg Johor jersey and hoping for the best. It poured before kickoff, leaving the pitch completely waterlogged. Selangor scored first and my heart sank.

Then Michael Urukalo showed exactly why he was such a brilliant coach. Johor cleverly played the drier parts of the pitch, seized the momentum, and our Croatian striker Ervin Boban did the rest. A hat-trick. At Stadium Merdeka. I screamed, hugged complete strangers and celebrated like there was no tomorrow. Soaked to the bone and somehow shirtless by the end of it, I happily took the minibus back to campus. To this day, it's still the greatest Malaysia Cup final I've ever witnessed.

Stadium Merdeka also hosted some incredible concerts over the years. The last one I attended was Bon Jovi in 2015, just months before the stadium closed for restoration.

Standing there again on Sunday, I found myself showing my wife exactly where I used to sit for some of those unforgettable matches. Everything around the stadium has changed, but for a little while, I felt frozen in time.

And yes... I almost broke into Negaraku.

"We Need More Parks!" -- Your Head Lah!

It’s one of the most tiresome arguments online that pops up every other day:

“We need more parks! We need more parks!”

Ughhh, seriously lah. Do these people actually go out, or just melalak on social media from the comfort of their rooms?

If you know me, you’d know I’m THAT guy who runs at parks. Ahem. More than 15 years ago, I even started a community running project called Larian 40 Taman 100 Kilometer, which took me to parks all around the country. Read all about it HERE

So, “we need more parks”? Allow me to share my own experience.

Within just 10 minutes from home (Bandar Kinrara), I already have at least FIVE major parks and running spots to choose from — Taman Rekreasi Bukit Jalil, Taman Subang Ria, Taman Bandaran Kelana Jaya, Taman Wawasan and Bukit Komanwel/Stadium Bukit Jalil. And look at how glorious they are:

 

Add another 5 minutes and there’s Taman Jaya in PJ too.

On weekends, if I’m willing to drive 20–25 minutes, the options become even more mind-boggling — KLCC Park, Taman Tasik Titiwangsa, Taman Dusun Bandar and Taman Botani Perdana.

But wait, there’s more!

Taman Tasik Danau Kota, Taman Tasik Ampang Hilir, Taman Rekreasi Sungai Chua and Taman Tasik Shah Alam are all within half an hour from our home too.

And this is just MY experience. There are still plenty more taman out there to enjoy and explore, from Putrajaya to Kepong to Taman Tun. And needless to say, there are also incredible parks outside of the Klang Valley, like these awesome gems:

Taman Ujana Nilai Impian

Tasik Biru Kundang

Taman Rekreasi Perigi Tujuh, Serendah

Taman Tasik Milenium, Kuala Kubu Bharu

So yeah — maybe stop whining and start going out more lah.

We already HAVE an amazing lineup of parks waiting for your precious presence.

Farewell To The King!

 

No goals or assists, just who Mo Salah really is...

Up The Villa!

 

 

Thirty years without a trophy, and 44 years since that historic European Cup triumph, Aston Villa have finally ended the wait -- with Unai Emery’s men overpowering Freiburg of Germany 3-0 in the Europa League final. Woohoo!

For a team that started the season with a string of losses and dreadful performances, lifting a European trophy and securing a place in next season’s Champions League makes this an unexpectedly wonderful campaign. And they’ve done it all despite those ridiculous financial restrictions too!

The best part? I genuinely believe the best is yet to come. Unai has shaped this side into a team that plays beautiful football, yet still has the grit and heart to grind out victories when things are not going their way. And importantly, the core of the squad remains. McGinn, Rogers, Konsa and the rest simply must be kept. Add a few smart new additions, and the Villans could genuinely challenge for even more honours from here on.

But for now, there’s nothing quite like enjoying that winning feeling!