Orchid Orchard and Birds Bastion - Part 2

Continuing on from the last post, I will cover the visit to the KL Bird Park.

A little introduction, this is what I've learned from the brochure; apparently the KL Bird Park is the world's largest free-flight walk-in aviary, dubbed so because of the cage-like structure that houses a substantial part of the park. Opened in 1991, the park is approximately 21 acres and is home to over 3000 birds of 200 local and foreign bird species. All those facts aside, onto the fun parts.

KL Bird Park

Focus and Emotion- The concept of the park is quite interesting; in the huge cage structure the birds fly freely, completely at home, and the visitors are just visiting in their homes. The birds are visibly content and are not afraid of humans. I could even go as far as touching their beaks. For the little birds, of course.

The larger varieties are fenced in instead; the ostrich in particular have their own area. However, much to my surprise the peacocks which I was made to believe were elusive, ran rampant in the first zone of the park. These birds with their majestic feathers are a sight to see. I was amazed at how many there were of this bird- I thought they were somewhat rare.

The flamingos in their natural habitats are a sight to behold. It is interesting how these birds interact with each other; each have their own personality and ways of doing things.

There were some species of birds housed in cages due to their wild nature and rarity. I am opposed to caging any living creature in; they should be allowed to be free in their own habitat. I hope there was a valid reason in doing so.

Space/Form and Orientation- As I have informed, about a quarter of the park is in a huge cage. This gave off the feeling as if the humans are intruding in the birds' home, not the other way around. The birds caged in are all in cages that are plenty big for them, so I think they are comfortable enough. Although a free sky is obviously the better choice.

Knowledge and Task- Information is abundant in the bird park. Before you even enter the park, they give out brochures to read. This brochure contains a map to guide you through the park. The map is quite informative in telling the places of interest and species of bird contained within every zones. Inside the park itself, information about the birds are displayed on boards for visitors to read. Overall, the learning experience at the bird park is quite great.

Orchid Orchard and Birds Bastion - Part 1

Last week, the class had a trip to the KL Bird Park and the Orchid Garden as our last excursion for the subject. These locations are right in front of each other. For this post, I will cover the Orchid Garden.

Orchid Garden

Focus and Emotion- To be honest, I am indifferent towards plants. I am not ignorant, I know of their importance in our ecology, but I would not actually build a garden to exhibit them. I would think preserving them in their natural habitat would be a better course to take. Nevertheless, I do have an open mind. My walk through the Orchid Garden were not fruitless.

Orchids are delicate flowers. Their leaves can easily break, their petals are easily damaged without care. But they still strive on to grow into beautiful flowers. Personally I wish that the visitors that came to appreciate these flowers' looks can also appreciate their effort in growing to become as they are.

Initially, I did not know that there were that many types of orchid. After the visit, I saw how they differ in colors- red, blue, violet, white, and more- and in shapes and sizes. I found their differences interesting; they are still the same type of flower, but with different looks and color. In a way they are like us.

Space/Form and Orientation- The Orchid Garden lives up to its name; it is a garden of orchids. The orchids are neatly planted on the ground and in pots along the sidewalks, so by walking through the designated path, one will get to see all the orchids. The park is circle in shape, so the visitors must walk clock or anticlockwise to see all the various orchids.

Knowledge and Task- I expected the garden to at least exhibit the names of the orchids along with their specimens. Unfortunately, they don't. Knowledge gathered was purely visual, and less everything else. The garden should at least feature something to read, though I don't recall doing any reading while traipsing in the place. A slight disappointment, and a loss to the park.

Second Life : SS Galaxy Cruise Ship

When I first rezzed, I could hear the sound of waves hitting the deck. I could hear seagulls in the distant. An elegant sight of the cruise ship met my vision as I walk down the deck in anticipation. I can't wait until the end of the post to say this, so I'll say it here. This place is -awesome-.

First things first, the entrance had automatic doors fitting for a cruise ship.

Who doesn't like doors that open by themselves?

Walking further inside, going through the grandiose hall. There was a relaxing music setting the mood of the cruise ship.

Huge halls and red carpets, an extraordinary presentation aboard.

This place is extremely huge. You can see the scale of the ship by this screenshot.

Now would you look at the size of the boat!

Exploring through the ship led me to the art gallery. One particularly blinding exhibit caught my eyes.

This corner had more lights than all of Straylight.

A further walk inside revealed a shopping mall onboard the cruise ship. My avatar with empty pockets didn't have anything to do there.

Every clothing and accessories displayed are branded and expensive.

I walked the opposite way and reached the bar. Apparently you can still sit like a rich person even when you have nothing.

I thought my avatar looked cool for a fleeting moment.

And the last but not least, the stage inside a huge glass dome overlooking outside the ship. This area is magnificent.

The glass dome is oozing with awesomeness.

To put things simply, I enjoyed the little trip on the cruise ship. This may be the best experience I had on Second Life for now. The interaction with objects is very well done, and every object had sounds when you interact with them.

On a serious note, when I rezzed there, I received a notice from the creators. There are details; real details; on how to reserve the banquet halls, the stage, bars, galleries, and even the whole ship. This transaction is in Linden dollars; the currency in the game; which you can get by buying with real money. And renting the whole ship isn't that cheap, even by Linden dollar standards.

It is perplexing how some people spend real money on virtual things- these things does not even exist physically- but it is evident that these people do so because they find value in them. How far will these people go in regards of spending real money for virtual items?

A bit more information about Second Life. You can buy properties- virtual estates, if you will- and build houses and buildings. You can furnish them as you would a real house. You can do interactions in them that mimics real life. You can, literally, live in these places. Amazing, if you think about it.

Second Life. The title says it all.

Second Life : Straylight

By the name, I fully expected to rez somewhere in the middle of straying multi-colored lights that will burn my eyes the moment they load. Turn out it was the other way around. A pleasant view of nature greeted me.

A mossy brick bridge leads the way into the clarea. A better choice than the classic rope bridge any day.

I thought the bridge looks nice, so I took another screenshot of it from another angle.

I like them mossy bricks. Made the bridge look nice and friendly.

After a moment marveling at the bridge, I walked forth into the forest and spotted the infamous straylight.

One of the few specimens out here. You'd think this place is choked full of these by the name of it.

A visually rich place, I quickly spotted waterfalls in the adjacent area.

A tall waterfall, looking majestic.

A shorter not-so-waterfall nearby the tall waterfall.

I noticed something peculiar while visiting the places; they hardly have ambience or sound effects. I am not sure if it was a mistake on my part, but some of the place are quite silent. I could probably hear a pin drop while standing underneath the waterfall. Sound, in my opinion, is one of the most important factors in virtual immersion, and some of the places severely lacks them. Well, enough with the rant, moving on...

There are quite a few things that caught my interest here in Straylight. To point out a few, there were some sights which you would probably not see in real life.

Multicolored mushrooms covered in cobwebs. I know you just can't find these in urban areas. Or anywhere.

The wavy waves were nice to look at.

And then there was this bizarre phenomenon.

A lava river and waterfall flows in the jungle looking all natural.

As I have stated in an early post in the blog, imagination made real. In virtual environment, I don't think it is an exaggeration to liken the creator as the god of his virtual realm. Things that are unrealistic, or physically impossible in real life materialize themselves inside the virtual world. Think of all the possibilities the virtual reality may offer to the users.

Food for thought: What would happen if virtual reality is perfected in terms of realism and immersiveness? Will people eventually leave their real lives to live in their own perfect world? What would YOU do?

Second Life : Kowloon

First off, let me say, I really like this place a lot. It really felt as if I was touring another location away from home, when in reality I was sitting at the same seat as I am typing on the blog at the moment. This is how a virtual tour should look and feel like.

The main street of Kowloon, laden with signboards. I like the 'No Guns' sign particularly.

The first things that I noticed right after I rezzed was the sound of lapping waves and as far as I could tell, Chinese music. Sound plays a big part in making things realistic, and Kowloon has it pat down.

Residents of Kowloon, these guys got the clothes and pose to boot.

Those guys are real people, living it out at Kowloon. They were speaking in Japanese though.. I would have thought they would speak Mandarin here. Nevertheless, they added to the realism of the place.

The bazaar at Kowloon. They sell all sorts of things here.

The streets in Kowloon are very narrow, and look very worn out. I wonder if this is the case in real life Kowloon? The place also looks kind of neglected and derelict, no offense to the residents there, and it felt as if I was going to get robbed at every corner of the streets.

Trying to look the part. At least I got the pose right.

I also did something I really wanted to do in real life, but I had no guts to do so. I rode a robot panda.

Ever wondered how a grown man would look like riding this? Well there you go.

The panda even came up with a nice tune while you are riding it.

To top it all off.. I even got to take a picture with the owner of Kowloon. I have to thank her for the panda ride.

She looks adorable, ain't she? And the skirt looks hip, gotta get myself one of those.

All in all, Kowloon is a nice place to explore around. The visuals and aural felt authentic, though I have not the real life experience to compare.

On a heavier note, I realized how I had no qualms about doing something I thought as embarrassing in real life in Second Life. That is, riding the robot panda is something I would never attempt to do outside of the game. The fear of being ridiculed and criticized by others is too great. In the virtual world, where I am mostly anonymous to others, I felt a sort of freedom greater than in the real world. Little by little I could understand why some people are attached to this game.

Second Life : Greenies Home

By the sound of it, I was expecting some full scale house of plants. Turns out the Greenies are actually little aliens, the size of a mouse.

Them Greenies are all over the place.

I guess I was lucky. There was a concert going on the moment I rezzed, so I stopped and watched the performance. I didn't hear any music, though, but the audience were all clapping and cheering for this Aurora Metaluna, so she must have sang. I think there were something wrong with my settings, or I need to do something before I could hear her sing.

The concert going on at full blast.. as much as a deaf avatar can see.

Honestly I was tempted to see how the others would react if I went up the stage and dance on it, but I guess I didn't want to ruin their moment, and the singer would probably freak out and had me banned from the place(can they do that?). I could tell that these people take these things seriously.

Aurora Metaluna. I thought she looked gorgeous for a 3d model.

The concert ended and I was left to my own devices. Taking a look around the room, I found out that it was quite realistic. The placement of furnitures and decorations were believable.

The layout of the room, probably modeled after the creator's.

Another interesting thing to note is the dance floor, which is on a disc record.


The stage for the performance is actually on a large guitar.


The ambience was average. The only notable place with good ambience is the dance floor, which had music, and other SLers interacting with each other. The stove sounded like stove, the freezer sounded like freezer. Nothing much to notice.

When I first rezzed here and saw the concert, I was genuinely surprised and fascinated by the interactions and reactions by the people there. It actually felt like a real concert to me, albeit the deafness of my avatar. It made me think; that there was some other life going on inside these games, while I am outside in the real world living mine. The thought of that was already in my mind a long time ago, but this just made it feel more real.

And the audience that went crazy for this virtual singer. After the performance, she went down the stage and everyone was clamoring over and cheering her on, just like a real artist. It didn't feel fake, or made-believe, instead it felt realistic. I realized that even if the environment is virtual, the people there can make it a realistic place.

Overall, the Greenies Home is quite a place. Personally, I think the concert was the most interesting part of my visit. The environment is really quite well done, and the interactions were worth it to see.

Second Life : The Pot Healers Adventure

The entrance into Numbakulla island... or you can go around it instead.


As the namesake, your goal in Numbakulla, the island where the adventure is, is to find pieces of pots and complete them. I wasn't really interested in healing pots, so I took the liberty of exploring the island and appreciating the view instead.

Before I explored the island though, I did try to play the 'game' as the creators called it.. but it did not capture my interest. Furthermore, the game is too laid out and in my opinion, lacked any sort of direction or whatsoever. Maybe I am too used to games that basically take your hand and lead you where to go, but this was ridiculous. Things I thought would work did not work, and there was no distinguishing traits from interactive objects to aesthetic objects. There was also no motivation to find the pot at all, either from me, or the creators. Hence I abandoned the quest and began looking around.

Numbakulla has some interesting sights.

The huge plants and plant-themed houses reminded me strongly of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. If you played that game before, you'd see that it resembles the Telvanni places, don't you think? Numbakulla also had hanging plant houses. Unfortunately I don't have the game anymore in my computer, so I can't post any screenshots. I need to dig out that game and play it back, it was awesome.
Now what did I say about the hanging plant houses? Here they are.

And the obligatory sea picture.

The ambience, on the other hand, is kind of lacking. I expected the game to at least have the sound of lapping waves, or some sort of running water. Or even sounds of insects or wildlife. The place would be more impressive with these additions.

Overall, Numbakulla is a nice place to visit to see the sights. It has an interesting concept centered around nature.

Second Life - The Beginning

And so we were introduced to Second Life by the lecturer during one of our classes. Second Life is basically a Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game as far as I can tell. I am no stranger to the genre of game. The concept of having your own avatar in a simulation world inhabited by others was taught to me since my younger years by games I have played.

Our lecturer explained the concept of how the simulation world keeps on running even if you are not there to experience it. I can sense the fascination he has towards this game; of how he describes the game as a 'virtual world' inside the small computer which holds all the data. It reminded me of my early years playing MMORPGs, when I had a similar thought as his. And I still do.

The game itself is very basic in terms of interaction, and user-friendly. The WASD controls movement, and you can use the mouse to look around and interact with things by clicking them. There are other keys that controls jumping, flying, inventory, and more, but they are all easy enough to learn, in my opinion.

We were given the task of visiting places and experiencing them. I am looking forward towards the experience.

Circus of the Sun

Last week we had a lecture on Le Cirque Du Soleil. The Disneyland lecture previously have shattered my skeptical view on these kind of performances, and I was eager to know and understand more.

Otherworldly. Bright, wonderful. Life. Fitting to its name, Circus of the Sun. As the class were watching the video of 'The Making of KA Performance' of Cirque Du Soleil, it struck me of how these people lived their lives, making the best of themselves, to show, to entertain the audience. Of how they worked hard day and night in order to give their all in the shows. These entertainers are there to make the audience happy. Remarkable.

I thought of their dedication towards the performances, and I realized that these people are not in this for money; well maybe some of them do; but most of them are there to entertain the masses. And that is a wonderful goal to stride towards, everyday.

On to the circus itself, although I'm not one who likes to just watch without participating (Yes I dislike televisions), the circus performances look incredible enough to garner my interest. It is that powerful. The emotions instilled, the technique shown, the creativity, the strength, nimbleness, dedication; in my mind, these attributes define Le Cirque Du Soleil. A spectacle.

Surely enough, if the show ever comes around here again, I will go to it.

Discovering Disney

A few weeks back, as I entered the classroom in anticipation of the next lecture, I was appalled as the topic unveiled; Disneyland. I have always had a certain dislike towards theme parks because of their simple fun. Or maybe because of my general dislike of areas packed with people. Either way, the idea of hearing about Disneyland, King of Theme Parks, did not appeal to me. I took a seat and prepared myself for the boring lecture.

Except it was not boring at all.

Walt Disney was a remarkable person. Personally, I think his idea of a train surrounding the parameter of Disneyland is a selfish dream of a boy, but he was not wrong in doing so. His idea of making Disneyland "Look like nothing else in the world" is wonderful. Disneyland is essentially a dreamland, a fantasy land. Disney granted the wishes of everyone in the world, adults and children alike, and continue doing so even after his death. The lecture on Disneyland have made me realize that these places are to be loved, not disliked.

And of how the lecturer gave his lecture enthusiastically. There was a gleam in his eyes and passion in his speech of Disneyland. I knew if given the chance, this person would choose to go to Disneyland in a heartbeat. And I would do the same, after hearing about the place.

In another point of view, Disneyland could be categorized as a virtual reality itself. It is separated from the real world fully. The idea of an ideal world of virtual reality have existed from a long time ago, and we are in the age to fulfill that.

Akuaria Adventure

So our trip did not end at Petrosains. The next destination was Akuaria, which was in the near vicinity. We walked the way through an underground tunnel and arrived shortly after in Akuaria.

The place was essentially a zoo for aquatic creatures, short of a few reptiles and amphibians. The moment a visitor steps in, they can see opened aquariums in which they can touch the animals in there. This is one of the few "interactive" exhibits the gallery had to offer, if one compares it to the Petrosains.

Moving in, one can see various marine species in their natural habitats (minus the glass case), which differs in their sizes, shape, colours, and whatnot. There was a particular species of frog that I could remember; the Bumblebee frog, which was the inspiration of the Bumblebee character in Transformer movies. It had the same distinct colours, which were yellow and black. I realized past experiences plays an important part in learning new experiences; I would not have remembered the amphibian if it was not for the movie.

Further in, there was an exhibition in which you can hold a snake and take pictures with it. I'm no expert in reptiles, but definitely not of the poisonous kind(the skin was colourful though, aren't those poisonous?) and harmless (probably). Not one to take risks, I took the safe way out and ignored the exhibition.

Immediately next to the reptile is the entrance into the underwater tunnel(which goes under a huge pool) which exhibits the actual sight one would see under the sea. Visitors can stand on the moving platform that goes through the tunnel until the end, a clever device that allows the visitors to ogle at the animals while keeping on the move at all times. There were also exhibitions of gaping mouths and dropped jaws as the visitors strain their necks to see the exhibits which were uncomfortably rather high up than the usual level. Children, on the other hand, were content on observing animals abundant on their eye levels.

An exhibition of underwater feeding was scheduled; apparently it was the main event of the gallery. Children were given priority of the first class seats, right in front of a large tank which struck me as an oversize television. As the show proceeds on, the children who were fascinated were practically leaning against the glass case, much to the dismay of the exhibitors, who kept asking the children to politely restraint from doing so through the PA system. Which, as we all can attest, is ineffective to children.

After quite a few nibbles and bites later, the fish feeding show ended. It was a fresh experience, a welcome change from toiling through technologies to navigating through nature.

As I made my way through the hallways exiting Akuaria, I realized that nature is a great teacher. Living in a concrete jungle, the residents have lost connection with nature. It is in bastions such as this that we get to experience another side of the world.

Petronas Petrosains Plunder

A few weeks back the class went on a trip to Petronas Petrosains for educational purposes. The last time I came here was five years ago, though it felt as if it was my first visit there. When one have accumulated enough experience, one sees something old from a new perspective.

The entrance into Petrosains was impressive. You have to take a ride through a dark tunnel while being treated with visual and aural presentation of history. The visual lights up to attract your eyes when you are supposed to see it, and dims down to show other visuals. The ride even turns around a full 360 degrees. The slow ride made the journey seem long, and it felt as if the passengers are moving to somewhere far away, but it's actually still in the same building.

Upon arrival, I saw that most exhibits are placed lower than an adults' eye level, to accommodate children that visit the gallery. At least, the interactive ones do. Most of the readings are positioned high on the wall, at the eye level of an average adult. There were lots of games and puzzles intended for children, which was indicated by their size, and simplicity.

Further in, there was a miniature ore mining station where you can participate in its process by moving the small rocks around; it was the delight of all children there. Maybe it was the rocks, or the moving mechanism, but I could not really grasp why the children were so intrigued with the contraption. The place was basically a chaotic playground.

In order to proceed to the next area, visitors are required to go through a helicopter simulation. It was an interesting experience, and quite realistic, although this is coming from someone without any past real helicopter ride experience.

In the last area of Petrosains, there were various simulation and test machines. There was one that could calculate the speed of your karate chops, one that estimates the speed of your thrown balls, an F1 simulation, and a go kart simulation. And there was this Mind Ball machine, which was extremely interesting to me. In order to win the game, you have to be calm, as the device effectively translates your brainwaves into points. The more brainwaves you exhibit, the faster you will lose.

All in all, the Petrosains visit was an interesting experience. It taught me the difference of interactions between different age classes, as evident from the gallery's exhibitions. It taught me that one can gain experience not only from reality, but from virtual as well. It taught me that everyone can experience, in diverse ways.