Fireflies

The beauty of nature.

Or as my brother puts it, "it's nature's way of Christmas lights on trees." XD

Darn, I've forgotten how gorgeous it looks.

The first time was back when Dad took the family down to Kuala Selangor. I think it was around the period when there was news of making a dam, so they wanted us to witness it before it goes extinct.

Second was my very first St John's cadet camp, I think it was 2002. It was in the initery, so we trooped off in big groups to see fireflies in the night. *O* Regardless of how terribly muddy the campsite was, that made it all better.

To quote Sir Hew

I'm sorry that this had to be your first camping experience. It's honestly quite bad for a first timer.

Hah. I can still remember, one wrong step, and your whole foot can sink into the mud. >.>
Sleeping on tree roots can kill your back, but I suppose it's better than having your camp collapse due to the muddy grounds. haha XD

Third was last Thursday.

They wanted to take my cousin brother somewhere. Instead of the usual Genting and Penang spots, there was either too short a notice to prepare or lack of time. Figured my aunts ould take him shopping.

And I so wanted to see the fireflies again, so I seconded mum's idea. =P And we get to have fresh seafood there.

It was surprising quite a lot of people. And the boatman was nice enough to put up with an additional person. (It's only for 4 per sampan, but *coughaddanother10buckstofitanextracough*) Also, he stopped quite near to the trees, so near that we could almost reach out and feel them fluttering around.

There's loads of them fluttering on the trees.

Wiki says

Tropical fireflies, particularly in Southeast Asia (Thailand and Malaysia), routinely synchronize their flashes among large groups, a startling example of spontaneous biological order. This phenomenon occurs through the night along river banks in the Malaysian jungles every day of the year.

The slow rowing was really nice.

The stars which twinkled above the dark night and the fireflies lighting up the trees below made quite a breathtaking view.

Totally amazing to have both the skies and ground to almost mirror each other in the beauty of Mother nature.

I'd say we're lucky, because midway through, there was repeated lightings, and the stars were hidden behind the dark, cloudy skies. But not before we saw the awesome view. XD

If you ever get a chance, do check it out. Definitely worth the hour's drive there.