good atlas

It’s my last week here at Taman Paramount. The books are stacked in a bundle again, shelves slowly emptying out. We’ve accumulated many things in the past two years and it’s going to take a 5 tonne lorry and multiple car-trips to transport our lives from one home to the next.

Last year, I got a binoculars as a Christmas present because I asked for it. In the span of a year, I spotted close to 30 different species of birds in Taman Paramount. Who knew. Before I learned about my neighbourhood birds, all birds just sounded like one nebulous mass of sound I called birds. Now, they have names. Personalities. Kind of like little friends of the world.

I’ll miss it here (but not the pythons who actually ate one of my neighbour’s cats, Harry). I’ll miss the RA (but not Mr H who every now and then drops racist comments in the neighbourhood group chat). I’ll miss the security guards who helped us when three civet cats broke into our house through the ceiling. I’ll miss the proximity to excellent food and coffee (mini-list at the end).

And. I’ll most definitely miss Taman Aman — where a bunch of boys saw me standing by the lake at night, alone, and asked if I was healing. Ye, sis tengah healing, I said. 

I hope to be back. But for now, a list of memorable birds. 

Birds

1. Malayan Oriental Magpie — These are year-round birds. Soprano sing song in the mornings and smoker’s crackle at night that it’s a wonder that these two sounds come from the same bird. One of my favourites though. Full of lively, mischievous personality and loves to perch at the highest part of buildings and built structures to announce itself to the world. Poo tee weet I am here! 
2. Pink Neck Green Pigeon — Seasonal, it seems. I saw more of them towards the end of the year and less so during the hot July to September months. Or maybe I just haven’t been keenly spotting them. Love to eat fruits from many tall palms in the neighbourhood. If there’s a male bird with its blushed neck, you would almost always spot a full, green-bodied female and hear their signature siren-like calls. 
3. Malayan Pied Hornbill — That one time, perched on a roof of a semi-D, as if it was lost and calling for its mother. The only time I ever saw a hornbill in Malaysia (bird parks not considered).
4. Red-Whiskered Bul Bul — Another favourite. The cutest birds with the sharpest mohawk and the rosiest cheeks. So cute and animated. I saw more of them during the start of the year, almost always at this one row of houses with large willow trees and nowhere else. 
5. Malayan Pied Fantail — Always grazing and always found in a mango tree at one of my neighbour’s house. Loves bugs. Loves propping its tail up. We call this the Juni bird because it reminds me of my fat cat, Juni. Has white, angry eyebrows. 
6. Coppersmith Barbet — Didn’t know such a deep sound can be produced by such a small bird. Unmissable. You’d hear the thoc thocking of the bird at a distance, knowing it would be a miracle to even spot it. But we did one day and it has the most rosy red chest I’ve ever seen.
7. Barred Eagle Owl — Spotted gliding right in front of me while I was jogging in Taman Aman. Was in absolute awe. Then it perched on a signpost while I stood silently and stared at it for a long time, knowing this might be the only time. 

It’s a beautiful feeling to be walking around the neighbourhood. And I do that a lot. Preferring to walk the distance between parks and neighbourhoods than to drive the stretch from Paramount to SS2, Damansara Uptown, Atria and so on. Walking is how I peer into the world. Walking is how conversations bloom.

In the evenings, birds head to their homes, not without one last moment of singing and announcing themselves to the world. And what a feeling it is. To listen to a tweet without ever looking at them and think to myself, ah, I know this one. Hello starling! Hello garbly yellow vented bul bul! It’s one way to feel really close to, really loved by the world.

Mini list of excellent food and coffee

1. Chap fan at Double 33 Mixed Rice
2. Apam balik, CKT and Kuey Teow Thng at O&S 
3. Ginger soup tang yuen at Mt Pak Lok 
4. Chicken rice at Beacon’s Chicken 
5. Everything at AFC Nasi Lemak 
6. Loh pan mee at Paramount Garden Restaurant
7. Pad kra pao at Padboy
8. Home cooked dishes at Aunty Melon
9. Half boiled eggs, kaya butter toast, fried prawn mee, local coffee at Thong Kee
10. Waffles at Fluffed
11. Ham chin peng and ma keok at Yuen Ting (sadly, it closed down)
12. Oat milk cap and every coffee thing at 270 Sqft
13. Coffee and shokupan at Asa Coffee

Love,
Lilly