Sg Klah Hot Spring

Took advantage of the Hari Raya Aidilfitri hols recently and made a quick trip to the Sg Klah hotspring near Sungkai, Perak. It was my first time stepping into a hot spring (as opposed to visiting a hot spring) and was naturally excited. The Sg Klah hot spring complex is situated in the Sg Klah Felda scheme and is managed by Felda. It's a lovely place with shades and surprisingly, really clean although I think the management should build more toilets, showers and changing areas.

It has hot spring and a cold mountain spring water pool. I love both of them! Unfortunately, I couldn't take any pics of the cold pool coz I can't have my camera with me while swimming :)
It was a fun day and we had early dinner at Bidor ... herbal duck soup noodles and yam snacks ("woo kok" in cantonese). Bidor is approximately 20 - 30 mins away from the turnoff to Sg Klah from the Sungkai main road. Check out the website for those interested : http://www.plantationresorts.com.my/HotSprings/index_ap.shtml

And some photos to entice you. Unfortunately, I was too busy immersing myself in the hot water and swimming in the cold pool to take more pics :) Enjoy!

my visual dna

I'm the Queen of laziness and procrastination .. I've not updated this blog for so long that I almost forgot about it :) Since I'm now on a 2 weeks leave, I shall update my blog and will put this as one of my 2008 resolution : To update my blog at least once a week. Arrgghh ... so much so for telling myself that I need to write to destress. Hehehehe ...

Meanwhile, check this out ... my visual DNA.

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bukit tabur @ taman melawati

Still feeling the post-excitement feel from Taman Negara, the original 4 from TM trip organised a hiking trip to Bukit Tabur last Saturday. There were the 4 plus Andrew's friend, Vincent's bro and CCH (aka Mr Slippers or The Slipper Man).

To the uninitiated, Bukit Tabur is part of Klang Gate Quartz Ridge. The ridge is the longest of its kind in the world and the dam is situated just right at the other side of the ridge from Taman Melawati. The geological phenomena of the ridge is one of its kind in the world and along the journey, we came across lots of quartz crystals scattered along the trail. At one point, we actually came upon a huge rock (exposed part about 3-4 times my fist size) which is actually a huge piece of crystal. I tell you ... the sensation is like seeing a big piece of diamond right in front (unfortunately, I was too awed with it that I did not take any pic ... stupid me). To add to my info and pics : http://www.worldisround.com/articles/93703/index.html & http://www.nst.com.my/Weekly/Travel/article/FeatureStory/20060418140210/Article/index_html

It was a clear and beautiful morning, albeit a little bit hot. We had breakfast at Melawati town centre and proceeded to the starting point which is a few meters away from Klang Gate Dam entrance. The first 10 - 20 meters are normal jungle trail and which is quite steep. The trail turns to rocky and really steep (60 - 70 degree inclination) from the first view point of the dam. The weather had turned rather hazy but nevertheless, the view was spectacular. I have stayed in the area for close to 20 years and I have not hiked this hill before, so, I was naturally awed by the superb scenery. The trail turns to narrow as we began our ascent from one ridge to another.

However, the real challenge and danger began at the 1st rope point. Trail is narrow, some parts are so narrow that only one climber can pass through at any time. As we actually climbed from one hillock to another on top of the ridge, the cliffs on both sides are approximately 90 degree drop (vertical). On top of that, there are a lot of loose rocks. The most difficult part is getting from one hillock to another. It's either a 90 degree free rock climbing, using ropes to lower ourselves down from some massive rock or at one part, literally jumped from one rock to a rock wall with extremely narrow crevices (just sufficient for half of my foot to hang onto).

It is such a dangerous route that someone actually sprayed some chinese words (graffiti!!! how disrespectful to nature!!!) on a huge rock at the 1st rope point which means "Do not go on, turn back!!" A wise warning indeed!!! Someone from another group (he has been there 5 times!!) accidentally fell into a ravine but he managed to stopped himself from slipping down further. Thank God for that!! His friends started to call the Civil Defence department for help. Lady Luck was on his side as an experienced climber passed by, took one look and decided he'll be able to climb down and help him. And he did!!! Whoever you are, sir, you were the hero of the day!!

I do not know how else to describe the trail. Some parts were so narrow me and Soo had to "hug" some rocks so as to let others passed. I was shivering and thirsty (oh! if any reader decides to go, please travel really light and bring more water! And put another bottle and cold 100plus in your car!!). Poor CCH who lost his shoes in the gym on Thursday and had to climb with slippers. Not his fault really coz all of us (except Andrew and Eng Sum) had under-estimated the difficulty of the climb. He had to climb barefooted at some parts and swapped shoes (and slippers) with Andrew at others. It was quite funny really with Andrew climbing first, took off his shoes and threw down to CCH who would donned the shoes and climbed. And passed the shoes back to Andrew.

We climbed from the eastern part and got down from the western part. Had to trek through a durian orchard (too bad it's the wrong season) which was really steep. But it was rather interesting to see wooden huts where owners of the orchards would stay overnight in during fruiting season.

At the end of the trip, I was glad that no one was seriously injured (scrapes and minor bruises here and there). I told myself never to go back again but looking back, oh well, I think I will be more prepared next time!! :-) The reward of the climb is truly superb as you can see from the pics below. However, I am rather disappointed as the pics are unable to capture the sheer steepness of the cliffs and I missed a whole lot of other picture opportunities coz I was shivering from fear :-( There will always be another time I supposed ....)

taman negara trip

After the eventful eco challenge back in July, I ventured into the jungle again. This time it was Taman Negara the weekend before Malaysia’s 50^th merdeka anniversary.

It was a group of a good and close friend, a college mate whom I have not met for about 8 years and a colleague from work. All 4 of us were determined to enjoy the beauty that is our Mother Nature for 3D2N. Indeed, the trip was almost canceled coz Vincent and I couldn’t find another person to go (we had not less than 5 persons pulling out almost as the group is confirmed and reservation was made). In the end, it was Andrew who made the trip possible for the 3 pioneer team members. Thanks a million, friend!

A little background here: Taman Negara encompasses 3 states in peninsular Malaysia; Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu with total gazetted area of 4,343km². It was established in 1938/1939. The national park is reputed to be oldest rainforest in the world and estimated to be 135 million years old (even older than the rainforests in Amazon)!!!! Kuala Tahan entry point in Pahang is the most popular and accessible to the national park. Run a search on google for more info.

So it was in the morning of 25 Aug that we made our way to Taman Negara via coach from KL. A special mention of our luggage need to be made here. Among many interesting things we brought along:

1) Numerous bottles of mozzie repellants (chiefly for leaches!!)

2) Bygon spray (this dude from UK looked at us one kind when we sprayed it on our shoes; he and his gang learned later on the benefit …. Leeches repellant!!)

3) Mountains of snacks and junk food …. Andrew brought a backpack just to bring all the food!!

And …. the most effective and genius invention in modern world against nasty bugs and mozzies … the ubiquitous mosquito killer racket!!!

Once we reached Kuala Tembeling jetty (the starting point to Kuala Tahan), we registered ourselves with Han Travel (our tour agent) and had lunch. We opted for land transfer to Kuala Tahan instead of boat which would have taken 2 ½ hrs as opposed to about 1 hr via van. Wanted to reach early in time for the caving trip at Gua Telinga.

We stayed at Persona Village resort located near the bank of the mighty Sungai Tembeling. It is located quite a distance away from Kuala Tahan jetty, the main gateway to Taman Negara and had to rely on transportation provided by the resort. All meals were taken at Han Travel’s floating restaurant at the bank of Sungai Tembeling (really interesting).

Our first activity was a caving trip at the Gua Telinga (Ear Cave) so named as the cavity resembles human ear canal. Which means narrow spaces and tight spots. Which means lots of crawling, sliding, being careful not to bump head on the ceiling, climbing in the dark (with torchlight of course). Oh! Did I mention there were hundreds of sleeping bats that will wake up and attack humans if provoked with bright light or their sleep disturbed by loud noises? There was also a fat froggy and apparently, snakes too!! (thank God I didn’t see any). And bats means lots and lots and lots and lots of smelly bats guano!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH! EEEEWWWW! HELP!!!! For an idea of how dirty and smelly I was, I had to “donate” my eco challenge t-shirt and socks and gloves to the resort which were all left at the balcony of our chalet. So, if you happen to come across someone wearing a red t-shirt with number 54 emblazoned in front in Taman Negara, you know whose shirt it once belongs to.

Another highlight was the canopy walk and trek up to Bukit Teresek. Canopy walk was fine …. Since there were a number of people behind me and I can’t really stop too long to take in the sights. The peak of Bukit Teresek offered a really beautiful view of Mount Tahan. I just felt so calm being up there with the breeze and scenery. Made me wish I can do yoga up there :-P Unfortunately, I slipped and fell coming down from the hill and had bruises and cuts on my right elbow as it rained the night before and some parts of the trail were still wet.

The rapid shooting was fun though I wish it could have been more exciting. The trip to the orang asli (aborigines) village was insightful. There was this boy who couldn’t be more than 2 – 3 years old walking around naked (absolutely naked) holding a knife … yes a sharp knife!! Our tour guide jokingly told us that the orang asli kids play with sharp knifes like how city kids play with dollies and toys. There were fire making and poisonous darts making demo. Even though some may argue that the tourists are treating the shy orang asli like exhibits, nevertheless, I really enjoyed my time there.

I felt that the night jungle walk was a little too short and was rather disappointed we didn’t spot any animals at Tahan salt lick :-(

At the end of the trip, all of us congratulated each other for not getting any leech bites when suddenly Vincent noticed a blob of black stuff in the middle of the chalet. And it moves!! Our poor friend got bitten at his waist!! And the leech just dropped off without completing his meal. Well, the joke still goes around that the leech was too appalled either by the smell of durian on him, in his blood or ahem ahem … layers of fat on tummy (don’t kill me Vincent!!)

It was really fun opportunity for me to catch up with Vincent and Andrew and nice to introduce Soo to them. Oh! I found out that all 3 were such ardent durian fans (esp Andrew) that we went for a durian feast at 11pm at night!! The owner was about to close his shop and we all ran and shouted for him to hold on!!! Authentic “durian kampung” at RM4 per fruit which is quite a steal!! And the 3 fans are still talking about it!!

And all of us are actually planning for more get together with other friends and more outdoor trips! The next one will be end of the month to Bukit Tabur near Zoo Negara. And the next major trip will be to Mount Kinabalu (2^nd time for me and Vincent) next year. Anyone reading this and would like to join us for trips, let me know ok.

I totally enjoyed Taman Negara … I will visit you again one day!!!
Check out some pics of our trip here (all pics courtesy of Vincent, Andrew & Soo).

** Updated pics!!!

P/S : It could have been a much better trip if not because of some “interesting” group of Malaysians on the trip. This group of adults who would prefer to stay as adolescents was so obnoxiously loud and irritating and rude and God knows whatever else during the trip. They talked and talked and talked so bloody loudly … the truth is I don’t think they ever shut their mouths except during bedtime. They held up our trip to the cave by a good 15 mins coz they talked so much they lost sight of the rest of the group and had to asked the guide to turn back and save them. Fancy some of the girls who complained that the guide walked too fast and they can’t catch up!! Bloody hell … if the rest of us can catch up, what can’t they? They should have just shut their big mouths and conserve their energy. The unofficial spokeperson of the pack (who has really big hair) can’t even live with a little bit of quietness and peace in the jungle that he had to turn on his damn MP3 player loud!!! ARRRGGGHHH I had to keep myself from shouting at them to just shut up and be considerate. I don’t even wanna venture to other stuffs they do and things they talked about. I hope one of them will stumble upon this entry so that they will know no one, absolutely no one, no one can tolerate that kind of obnoxious behaviour. So much for peace and quiet in the jungle!

ambank eco challenge 2007

It has been weeks since i last updated this blog .. courtesy of my bro hogging the computer and me too lazy to update. Well, i took part in ambank's annual eco challenge recently and here's the account.

It was a gruelling (for the unprepared and equally unfit participants) race which is supposed to last 5 hours. It was a combination of running, cycling, jungle tracking, abseilling, archery, flying fox, lake crossing (more like swimming), clues solving and some mystery tests.

Even since i've been a regular in gym and feel that i'm much fitter now after 5 yrs of eating, working, sleeping and pretty much passing time sitting on my bum, i've been inclined to challenge myself with physical activities. With vincent's (my PT) gruelling training for about 3 weeks plus my own initiatives, i thought i'll be well prepared for the race.

boy, was i wrong!!! don't get me wrong, it was an experience of a lifetime so it isn't just whining about the race here. Instead of 5 max hours allowed, my team spent 7 hours in the jungle!!! And we didnt even complete the race!! Main contributing reason was due to the heavy (pouring dogs and cats type) rain for 5 hours!

It was pure torture for a few moments. I was shivering in the cold and wondered to myself when will we ever get out of the jungle. It was like a neverending journey ... it's like you can hear the noises of vehicles passing nearby or finally getting to a clearing but when you get your hopes high, you are still getting deeper into the jungle. Never ever underestimate Taman Cahaya Sri Alam's terrains in a jungle race. At some point, I was worried whether we had followed the wrong markers and gotten lost.

However, I really had fun pushing myself to the limit (KH thought I was mad to sign up with me being such a princess; he has taken to calling me Jungle Girl now). It wasnt just physical, it was also mentally. I totally dig the abseiling ... I was scared and was hanging on for dear life for about 5 minutes totally unwilling to let go from the ledge. Once I let go, weeeeeeeeeeee ... it was so much fun! Though it was dangerous, but the sliding down in mud and all was also cool. Too bad we couldnt take any pics to show off coz it's really impossible to carry a camera with us into the jungle.

Granted, there were a number of dangers along the path. Like when we crossed a small stream which swelled and the water level at the crossing point was so deep it was at our chest level (poor Soo who went in first and got a shock of her life). Poor Susie who accidentally held on to a mengkuang tree (uhhmmm ... hope i got the name right) and ended up with thorns embedded in her right palm and get this ... the first aid team doesnt have tweezers to pull them out!! (extremely lousy team and highly unequipped for any emergencies!!) My shoes also gave way (the soles came off) in the middle of the jungle and it was extremely dangerous to walk in the jungle as there were sharp twigs, branches and stones on the ground. I was praying the whole way that nothing will befall any of us.

Looking back, I was glad I took part and it was fun being with the 3 girls who have shown so much willpower and teamwork during the race. It has enabled us to know each other better and the best thing is no one lose temper with anyone in the team. I even managed to completely forgot about leeches during the race. I was also feeling proud of myself coz there's no way I'll ever been able to do even a month before the race (had chronic knee pain when I descended Mount Kinabalu 6 yrs ago). Absolutely no fatigue-related problem, fever or flu even after 5 hours of pouring rain. Plus, PowerGel is such an amazing endurance drink!!

Well done The Overcomers!!

Oh, btw, someone did snapped some pics of the race (no idea who he is) ... you can check it here ... http://www.haria-penang.net/bobtahar/?p=50

And once I get my bluetooth connection up ... I'll post my "battle with the jungle" wounds pics (3 bloodied toes, bruises on my left thigh and cuts on my right calf) for all of you to appreciate the experience better (hahahahahahaha !!)

And, watch out for my blog coz Jungle Girl will be going to Taman Negara this coming weekends!! Will be trying out caving and canopy walk for the first time in my life!!

mistrust

It's interesting how miscommunications, jealousy and ego can so easily breed mistrust in people ... especially between colleagues

I changed my job about 6 months ago from an international accounting firm (been there more than half a decade) to a fairly large local bank ... and am still trying to adapt to the culture. Recently, I was assigned to a major initiative of the bank and have been attending meetings with counterparts to kick start the project and all. And I met a guy from the other department, who, after some exchange of pleasantries ... started questioning my motives or rather, my department's motives to get involved in the project.

His exact words? "Is it because our department is so incapable of carrying out the project ourselves? Is it because without you guys, we are never gonna improve? I mean .. you don't know much about our operations and all ... and you guys wanna give us advices??"

I swear ... if it wasn't because I was being professional and all ... I might have asked him to f*** off. Here I am trying to help them with a mega project (which directly impacts his bloody bonus and not mine), his bosses welcomed my assistance ... and there, a bastard questioning my motives. How are we ever gonna work together if he has such mistrusts about his own colleague??

And my boss ... who is gonna go overseas for some analysts' roadshows next week ... can't even tell where he's going to avoid jealousy among other departments' heads .. and hence, possible mistrust about his true intention to promote the bank to analysts and potential investors (as opposed to going on hols at company's expenses) .... how are people ever gonna work together effectively when there are so much suspicions around??

Humour me ...

Life's Like That

Life's a funny thing ... it's a journey full of surprises with measures of ups and downs. I recently went through a major upheaval in life ... something that almost cost me a relationship with someone that I really love. It's sad how we do not appreciate something until it has been taken away. How we are incapable of showing our innermost emotions of love, despair, sadness and sense of hope along the journey but only when something happens.

I thank God for the second chance. It may be more than a second chance but I'm grateful. With this, even though my first entry is rather abstract, but I hope that from this day onwards, I will live life to its fullest, with as little regrets as possible, having sunshine in my heart even though days will be cloudy and learn each day, to trust in God and have a little faith in Him.

A new day is dawning ... may His strength, grace, lovingkindness and wisdom be with me this day forward.