The Jonker Bird House

We saw the Jonker Bird House on the first day and found time that last day ( Sunday morning) to visit and tour the house. It was just opened about a month or so ago. It used to be a dilapidated and neglected old shophouse which became the home of swiflets which nest there. An enterprising 'Pepper King' from Sarawak saw the potential and pakdokter was told that he bought the property for about RM2 million - spent another RM4 million to renovate and rehabilitate the place and has now opened the site as a tourist attraction as well as running the shop as a lucrative 'bird-house' which gave him regular supplies of the expensive 'bird's nests' which to many people is a delicacy and a health-food.

The Jonker Bird House is open to visitors for a fee of RM10 each person.

this old Portuguese dug-out well inside the shop is rectangular in shape

in comparison, the Dutch well is rounded....

the Dutch well was seen in the Badan Warisan restored shophouse..

this "bird-house" has about 160 swiflets nesting there..

various stages of the bird's nests on display...

a small workshop cum factory where a dozen or so

girls cleaned the birds' nests.....

a packet of 2 nests costs RM160.....

artisans from China were employed to restore some of these walls...

roof-top view of Hereen and Jonker Streets from the Bird Shop...