Monkeys at Bukit Batuk Nature Reserve

Monkeys were everywhere at Bukit Batuk Nature Reserve. A baby one with black fur,in its mothers arms and a big one with grayish white fur,lying on the ground.All of them swinging  on trees,looking at tempting food and monkeying all around.

Interview with Swapna.

T:so did the monkeys bother you or you just didn't care?
S: They did come towards us, probably looking at/ smelling food. We did not encourage them by feeding them (feeding wild animals in the reserve is also against the laws of the forest reserve). One of the big monkeys was a bit aggressive who we shooed away and then the whole herd did not bother us afterwards.

T: I really loved watching monkeys in the wild and playing monopoly with the other kids there. What about you?
S: I loved the quarry pond. It gave the reserve a gorge like look which I found gorgeous. I also loved climbing up to the ranger station. Didn't you? It reminded me of our Sydney walks through the Berry Island Reserve or the Blues Point Reserve.

T: Yes, I did and I loved the quarry pond and the turtles in there too. I really loved the sand playground too.

Ling Zhi - The vegetarian Chinese restaurant

LingZhi is our family favorite for Chinese vegetarian. The restaurant gets its name from a very nutritional mushroom that stands for longevity!

http://www.lingzhivegetarian.com/home.php

My favorite (not in any order)
Spinach Soup - actually Braised Spinach Soup with bamboo fungus
Love the bamboo cups they're served in! Stylish and keeps the soup warm for a long time.

Corn Soup with truffle

White Asparagus Soup

Crispy wild mushroom with aeroponic salad
The dressing is yum! there are about 20 ingredients - all natural - that go in it, I'm told

Olive fried rice

Horfun with kai lan

And some claypot options.

I'm not much into mock meat and satays. They have fair amount of these on the menu too.

Good to know
Buddhists (well, most) eat vegetarian on the 1st and 15th day (lenten or fasting days) of lunar calendar, on chinese new year and on saint and ancestral holy days.

What that means
The restaurant can get very crowded on these days.
But what you know is that since many Asian countries have Buddhists, you wont starve yourself if you are a vegetarian with a flexible palate. All you need is to be a bit organized and do some prework!!