HARI RAYA IN MELAKA

         Melaka with is rich cultural heritage is one of the favourite holiday destination in Peninsula Malaysia. Like Penang the streets in the old town centre are extremely narrow and lined with quaint pre-war townhouses. Trishaws with a handful of motor cars were the designated mode of transportation. The Kapitans could not in their wildest dream had anticipated the gridlock traffic jam which would bring the city to almost a standstill come every weekend and public holiday.

Jonker Street being the nerve centre all things happening in Melaka is a hive of activities 24/7. It probably ranks the No. 1 to-go-place for all visitors to Melaka. Every tourist seems to make a beeline there.

Could not understand why the big fuss about the chicken rice balls. There were over boiled, too soft and bland lacking the full grain texture and fragrance of the normal Hainan chicken rice.  Yet you see the long queue of people waiting patiently under the hot mid day sun to sample the fare.

There is also a craze about all things durian in Melaka. There is durian puff, durian balls. Durian spring rolls, durian cake, durian Chendol and even durian coffee.                                                                    

 simon  Aug 2012

Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei

In 2008, We were watching Lin Dan vs Lee CW for gold medal match from Beijing Olympic 2008 with ah gong at ah ma house, today, I guess he will be watching it from heaven.

Miss you, ah gong.

TAMAN NEGARA

My family and I went to Taman Negara from the 1-3 June 2012. I wasn’t really excited about the idea of spending 3 days and 2 nights in the outdoor because I wasn’t really an outdoor person. I am more of an indoor cum “sit-on- the-couch-the-whole-day person”. After fretting on what to pack and stuffing endless supply of water bottles into our bags, we were ready for the trip.

The bus left our grandma’s house at 8.10 am. My cousins were late once again …. but only for 10 minutes. On the way there, we stopped at Jerantut for lunch in a restaurant the name of which I have forgotten. The meal was simple yet easily the best meal throughout the whole journey. After that, we took a bus from Jerantut to Gua Kota Gelangi to explore some caves.

We reached Gua Kota Gelangi and we had a short introduction from the tour guide. We followed two other families and set off into the woods.

 

Be prepared to get your shoes wet as this is unavoidable. The path was extremely muddy and slippery as it rained the night before. You need good shoes to walk in these treks. We had to cross many streams and muddy paths to get to the first cave. Comparing the first to the second cave, the second one was far more challenging. (I have actually forgotten how the first cave was like...so yeah.)

 

When we reached the second cave, there   were two options to go into the cave - either by climbing the wooden rattan like ladder or crawling through a small hole between the rocks. 5 of us went up the ladder and the rest went through the hole. We had to wait as it was quite a queue waiting to crawl through the hole. I was torn between the ladder and the hole but in the end I decided to crawl through.

It was horrible.

It was quite challenging squeezing your way through the hole cos you had to twist and turn your body, I kept screaming: I”M NOT A GYMNAST! I CANT BEND MY LEG LIKE THAT!” I was almost stuck in there!  My mum took no time to get through the hole though, boasting that she was agile afterwards. 

It was slippery and dangerous with bat poop everywhere. Senior citizens with walking problem are not recommended to explore this cave. 

After a while, we finally reached some part of the cave which has quite a nice view. We could see a shard of sunlight penetrating through down on the cave floor from a hole above (don’t know what’s that called) and it changed its position every few minutes. There was this angle where it shone on a stalagmite that looks like lion structure.

After spending two torturous hours in the cave and woods, we finally escaped from the great nature. We went back to the bus and on towards to our hotel - Rainforest Resort. It was on the bus that we discovered that we have brought back with us scores of leeches!!!

We reached the hotel and tidied ourselves. It was raining quite heavily that evening and we couldn’t leave the hotel. Apparently, the main transportation was a pick-up truck with no roof. Okay not really a pick-up truck, a jeep wrangler perhaps? But it was raining and we couldn’t possibly go down on the floating restaurant  for dinner. So they packed the food and sent it up to the hotel. 

Talking about hotels, the rooms were okay. My parents and I stayed in a deluxe room with a queen size bed and a single bed. The air-con was a little warm at first but it cooled down after some time; TV was working fine (it depends on what TV you get but for my case, it was fine) and it even has Fox Movies, there was hot and cold shower but you might have to take some time to adjust it. Don’t open the curtains. The view for me was horrible. ( I stayed in block A). I would rate it a 2.5/5.

If you want to live in place fancier, you could consider Mutiara which has lovely wooden chalets. If you are lucky, you might even meet wild boars, tapirs, chickens and even deers if you step out of your chalet. Plus, they are WILD ANIMALS. 

We found this out when we passed by Mutiara to go for a night trekking in the woods. It was better than the one in the afternoon. It had a proper plank walk for humans to walk on and it was stable all the way to the viewing platform. All we saw were spots of lights- deer’s eyes in the dark. Bring along a strong torchlight cos you can barely see a thing in there.

 

Second day. 

We ate our breakfast at the wrong section of the hotel. Weird, it had two different restaurants that served breakfast. Lesson learned : Ask before you eat. 

 

After breakfast, we went for the canopy walk! It is said to be the longest canopy walk in the world. We reached the site by boat and you have to climb a flight of stairs to get to the canopy waiting area. It would kill your legs climbing up the stairs (for unfit people). The canopy walk can only hold a small number of people on the hanging bridge and you have to be careful of bees. They sting and THOSE LITTLE BITCHES HURT. It made me scream so loud.

After that, majority of us didn’t want to climb the steep mountain so we headed to the Orang Asli’s Settlement. We got a glimpse of their homes which were mostly made out of twigs and grass and wood. They gave us a talk about their history, jobs, family, wedding... all those information about the Orang Asli’s. 

I don’t remember much about the talk but I did remember when someone passes away, they build a small hut on top of a tree and put the dead body there. Tourists don’t get to see a “sample” because it is not meant for the public’s eye. Kids don’t study in school, they study about nature. (SCIENCE!) They learn how to shoot animals, herbs and plants, weather and how to survive in the jungle. Usually, it is the men who shoot animals. Women are the one who stay at home to cook, tidy up and build roofs for their houses. They said that women are more careful and refined in building roofs cos ...you know, they are female! You wouldn’t want your house to be flooded during rainy days.

We went for lunch at the floating restaurant.

 

After lunch, we went for the rapid shooting. It was awesome.

Even my grandma participated in this mildly wild activity. Basically, we sat in the motorboat and prepare to get wet from HEAD TO TOE. How did we get wet? We travelled against the current and the boat man will purposely splash us with the large paddle. It was great fun. We stopped before the crazy waterfall which goes, WOOOOOSH. It was too dangerous and they had serious injuries before that so we stopped and turned back. They stopped at a nice spot and we got down and played in the teh tarik like water. It was quite clean, it was just the colour. I can say this is the best activity throughout the whole trip. No leeches.

 

How could we not mention Uncle Sam and his antic.

He went back to Nature and DID it his way.  Shi ..........

We went back to the hotel, ate, slept, rested fully and did nothing till we went home. Overall, it was a nice weekend getaway. No offense but below average food, wait till you try the durian fish, if you hate durian...oh god. If you love nature, this is going to be an amazing trip that you will never forget. Imagine your shoes sinking into the mud and it oozes through between your toes...how lovely.

 

I think everyone had a nice time and we had this great bonding opportunity. I would like to thank the organizers on everyone’s behalf! Thank you for this trip!

I should also mention our dinner in KL. Uh-maz-zing.

-ML-

12.6.2012

Post - Tmn Negara

Taman Negara trip even though the view & services are just satisfactory

Having the experience to go for a trip with families is priceless, 

Thanks for the fun given.

Let's look forward the next trip, Xiamen :)

*waiting for Tmn Negara photos from photographers :)

Taman Negara

MOTHER'S DAY

WITNESS TO A HISTORICAL DAY

Our plan was to go by KTM and reach KL before noon. However incoming news of roads leading into KL being closed and LRT services stopped might put paid to our plan. So we rushed down to the Subang KTM station with alternative travelling logistic already in mind if the KTM was also shutdown. Thankfully it was still running.

There were scores of yellow t-shirt participants amongst some 100 passengers on the platform waiting for the train. When the train pulled into the station it was already jam-packed. Thinking that the next train and the next will be just as full, everybody tried to squeeze in nevertheless. If there was a train conductor in attendance I don’t think anyone will be allowed to board. We managed to push our way in and were literally sandwiched in a mass of bodies. The scene of how they push passengers into the train carriages in Japan came to mind. For someone who rarely takes public transport the experience was quite traumatic. Imagine the body odour and the stifling heat in the enclosed space with very poor ventilation. I could hardly breathe and sweat was streaming down like in a sauna. The troubling thought of what if I was to black out and miss the March flash through my mind. Fortunately, a few stations down some passengers disembarked and the tension eased.

We disembarked at the old KL railway station. There was a festive and jovial mood in the air. Groups of yellow t-shirt people were walking up and down the area. There seems to be a code of fraternity among the people in yellow. Strangers who you would normally avoid eye contract came up to greet and talk to you. As it was only around 11.30AM then we decided to go for a walk about. We passed the group gathered at the National Mosque and proceed on towards Dataran Merdeka along Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin. A road block with 2 rows of barrier one on top the other and coils of razor barbed wire block our way into Jalan Raja. The pedestrian bridge to cross the Klang River from Dayabumi was also sealed off. We had to take a long and exhaustive detour to reach the Central Market.

The crowd was getting bigger all the time. The atmosphere was carnival like and very relaxed. There were sporadic chanting of slogans, singing and laughter. Some short speeches were given before the 2.00pm commencement. Finally at about 2.15pm the march proceeded along Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock and the river of people winded its way past the HSBC bank onto Jalan Tun Perak and finally came to a standstill near the Masjid Jamek LRT station. We tried to force our way to the front but the gridlock of people was impenetrable. Some people were turning back and relayed the message that it was impossible to proceed any further. It was also potentially a dangerous situation to be bottled up in a dead end space as any cause of panic could create a human stampede. So we decided to go with the flow and muscled our way out. Small groups of people have started to disperse. Physically and mentally exhausted by the long hours out in the torrid weather we decided to call it a day. It was already 3.00PM but we were too tired to eat lunch so we decided to head for the KTM station and go straight home.

With the hindsight of events that unfolded in Bersih 2.0, we had come fully prepared. The guidelines in Bersih’s Facebook provide advice on what to wear and what to bring on 428. Running shoes, long sleeves shirt and pants to protect against tear gas sting, salt, towel, mask , ear plug, water and energy food. All ready for the onslaught from the riot police and to be fumigated with tear gas and drenched by the water cannons. I was thinking on the way home -nothing happened. Not a whiff of the tear gas. Not a single spray of water. What a peaceful and beautiful day!

We talked to a Malay couple about the event while waiting for the KTM at the station. Was Bersih 3.0 a success? Definitely. The message delivered by over a 100,000 people on the day was loud and clear. But in my opinion, the organisation for the day could have been a lot better. With the designated gathering points spread over 6 locations, there was a dire need for a central command to coordinate all the actions. There must also be a main coordinator at each location. A good sound system mounted on a pickup truck to direct and motivate the crowd and keep them constantly updated on the happenings across the city. Bersih also should have at least attempted to direct and merge all the groups at a strategic point for the 100,000 people to sit down and protest (duduk bantah) and flood the main street with a river of yellow to create an even greater impact.

Apparently the peaceful protest took an ugly turn after 3:00PM when mayhem started. Whether it was due to a few over exuberant protestors crossing the barricade or instigated by saboteurs it provided the opening for the authorities to unleash their massive onslaught. All the criminal acts committed on that day were probably being recorded in the thousands of individual video cameras and hand phones. Hopefully, the true picture will emerge when all these evidence are pieced together and documented for the world to see.

simon    1.5.2012