Kuala Tahan National Park

6^th July 2010

It was a long ride from Bangi to Kuala Tahan, the winding road as we head towards the national park was nauseating, but that did not damper the anticipation of embracing the beauty of the tropical rainforest as well as completing the fieldwork on the Orang Bateq. Prior to the trip, I have done several internet researches on the indigenous tribe, and have seen some of their photographs during prof K’s lecture thus it would be amazing to be able to get to know them better. Well, I hope they are not as shy as what prof has described of them. =)

We arrived at Rainforest resort at 3pm, had our lunch and then off we go on a boat ride for a swim at a fish sanctuary of the nearby river. The ride on the boat was rough, no thanks to the boatmen who was manipulating our fear of the ride. I lost count of the number of times we have screamed on the boat, others must have thought we were some nutcase but seriously, the ride was as exhilarating as roller coaster in Genting.

Fish sanctuary was just mediocre, with some really gigantic, creepy fishes swimming around. However, the water was like a cool breeze. Chilly and cold.

The night was spent at the national park for a night jungle walk. I am eager to experience a night stroll in the jungle but…. I am scared of leeches. I had to wear a tight inside my track bottom and a high ankle socks in order to avoid leech invasion, but there were no leeches afterall, so much for being paranoid over the blood sucking creature. HAHA! There weren’t much animals to be observed though, except for spiders. I saw a family of wild boar around the resorts in the national park, it was so bizarre.

And I must mention, I managed to see…. SKIES OF STARS! It was one of the most gorgeous scene ever seen at night. =)

7^th July 2010

Today we were told that we will be going for a canopy walk in the national park. After breakfast, all of us headed to the jetty and hopped on the boat to the national park. We were then brought into the forest reserve by our guide whom along the way explained to us on the biodiversity of the forest as well as traditional medicine in relation to the indigenous communities. Later on, we were told by our guide that we will be walking up Bukit Teresik of an almost 1.6km journey before walking down to canopy walk. It was indeed a great preparation for our mount kinabalu climb. Torturous climb due to steep steps, going up was hard enough and going down was even harder due to the force placed on the knee.

After the long climb, we headed to the canopy walk. It wasn’t exciting to me because I have gone on canopy walks for a couple of times. It was just a stroll in the park for me. But there were pretty tropical rainforest to be observed from the walk.

We went brought back to our hotel after the walk and prepared for our next destination : orang Bateq resettlement village. I kept my notes and camera close to me, so that I could get the most natural shot of the people and to jot down every possible symbols or events being observed. We reached the village via an almost 20 minutes boat ride, on our way walking up, we were greeted by a bunch of Bateq kids. They were everywhere, in the small hut, behind the trees, up at the top of a tree and etc. They make lots of noise and all I could understand was… ROTI. I suppose they saw the bread we bought for them. We handed out the bread to the kids and they were shy at first but once they saw a friend took the bread, they came up, took and ran in the blink of an eye.

When we walk into the village, to our horror, we saw a huge group of tourists all over the place. It suddenly dawned to me that I have actually walked into another tourist attraction area. It is such a pity that the people were not given any freedom in their life and were treated more like the animals in zoo. Everyone rushed around them to snap images of them with them helplessly looking on.

It made me quite furious to see how these people are not treated how they should be. They should be given rights to choose the life that they want and no one should keep them aside, away from the mainstream society, away from their ancestral lifestyle, and leaving them in the state of confusion. Seeing them so helpless, especially the shy ladies clad in batik attire, I can’t help but to feel sorry for them. Some people have manipulated their greed desire to have a better life and put them in such a condition. Some may claim that this is a better move to boost tourism and to avoid further destruction of the forest by their nomadic lifestyle, but have they realize that these people, just like us, have their rights to live their lives?

8^th July 2010

Before we head back to Bangi, we were brought to Lata Berkoh for a good, relaxing and fun swim with the group. Lots of laughter and screams when water was splashed to one another in the river. Even though I can’t swim, I still jumped into the river and indulge in the flow of the water. Amazing.

At almost 1pm, the bus departed us and yes, back in our comfy room in KDO! =)

cheers. ♥

Carey Island (4th July 2010)

Today is our first fieldtrip to Carey island, a place that I have never heard of in my life, and I couldn’t believe myself when I googled for it’s location and found it to be somewhere in Banting, Selangor. Luckily there was Google, otherwise, I would have gone there expecting beaches like in Redang. HAHA!

So we woke up for breakfast like any other ordinary days, but filled with more anticipation. In my mind, I was curious about the Meh Mai tribe that we will be meeting. I guess I was more worried as to how I am going to communicate with the people around-language barrier, I would say.

The journey was long and wet, the skies turned dark as drops of rain starting to fall. I stared from the window pane, praying for a better weather, but no, it just got worse. We reached Carey Island at about 12pm on a heavy rain.

After going on a tour around the island, we were taken to the Mah Meri’s village at sg bumbun. From afar, I’ve noticed a few ladies clad in their traditional attire, eager to attend to the visitors they about to meet. The rain did not deter us from getting down the bus and have a first-hand experience of their unique culture.

We were greeted with an origami headgear as a welcoming gift. I was excited when I saw the origami, the effort alone was enough to feel their sincerity. The drizzle didn matter at all as we go on with their traditional dance and at one point, all of us joined in the dance, it felt awesome, the unity and the joy, something I have not experienced for quite some time.

A demonstration of their wedding ritual were next as Max and Alicia were the ‘celebrated’ couple.

The most appealing ritual was the last ritual where coins were thrown off the sarong cloth as a pail of water was poured over the couple. The Mah Meri kids were in joy as they rushed forward to collect the coins. It amazes me how that few cents of coins which I would have never been bothered to collect even when I come across it on the ground could bring so much joy and happiness to the kids. The innocence and naiveness were pure, it really got me thinking, of the priorities in life? Earning as much money as possible was a lifetime goal but as I am writing this down, I had mixed emotions and inner conflict. The things I hold on to, the dreams and aspirations of mine, does it really matter now? I don’t know.

The only word I can summarize of the Mah Meri – simplicity.

cheers. ♥

So here I am back from my first visit to Kuching, in fact this is the very first time I’ve gone to the other side of the country, having to constantly only travel around the peninsular. I guess if you have been following my blog, this is not a trip I am looking forward to since it’s a family trip with a little too many adults. So you would have guessed what sort of a trip it would turn out like.

Anyway, move on.

Day ONE

We reached LCCT via ERL Transit at about 10am, which was slightly too early for a 1pm flight. No place to hang-out after checking in, thus….

Touched down in Kuching at about 3pm.

Checked into the suite and then off we go on foot to explore the FOOD *hungryyyyy larh* and the town. My first meal in Kuching is none other than Kolo meeeeee, which reminded me a lot of the hakka noodle I had back in my aunt’s place in Tampin, but I prefer Kolo mee, the taste is more distinctive than the one I had in tampin. =)

So we headed to the waterfront and took a freaking bloody cheap sampan ride along the river. Nice view, but I got bored after 10 minutes when there’s nothing more to capture on the camera lens.

After which we walked along a street shops with souvenirs and kek lapis! Bought my kek lapis there, oh and you can actually taste all the types of cakes they have before deciding which stall tastes better, wheeee…. and talking about kek lapis obsession, it all started from a friend bringing kek lapis back to KL, that was when I thought, this colorful cakes are pretty good, especially after being kept in the fridge and cut into super tiny pieces, great junkie for the night. XD

Then we had dinner at Top Spot Seafood Centre. When it comes to seafood, my eyes go bling bling. XD And one thing to mention is their pancake looking oyster omelette, its not the usual Malacca/penang O chien, because this LOOKS exactly like a pancake. Didn quite like it cuz it was a bit too salty, but the oyster were good and HUGE so in the end, I was busy picking out the oysters. LMAO. And we also had my favourite seafood, bamboo clammmmssss. =)

After dinner, some of us chose to walk back by foot to our hotel. It was 8 30pm, but most shops were closed and the streets were pretty quiet, interesting. LOL!

Day TWO

The plans were Sarawak cultural village, Sirikin and Satok. The cultural village was CULTURAL. okay, basically the cultural village is an outdoor museum of the different architectural styles unique to each tribe, and the village features life-size replicas of these huts and longhouses complete with artifacts and furnishingsLOL, I hate having to climb into various longhouses with the whole thoughts of me visiting/staying into the natives’ houses in a few week’s time, blame inbound. XD.

love this picture! XD no editing at all. =)

In my opinion, amongst all the native dwellings, I like the one that houses the performance theatre best. The reason? It’s air-conditioned. But I was hardly awake throughout the show, well not until the stunts they had on stage, I won’t go into details but I was like, oooo-aaaa-hhhhhh. *claps claps*

And... if you want a faster/quicker tour without buckets of sweat on the indigenous communities, opt for Sarawak museum. They have most of the stuffs over there with AIR CONDITIONING! and a huge whale *dinosaur looking* replica!

Anyway on our way to the cultural village, we passed by Damai Beach but NO, we did NOT stop because…. ‘oh what is there on beaches?’ oh adults. =.= so I was just staring the tiny Minnie little sight of the private beach from the window screen and bid farewell to the fun.

Then we went on a 2 hours plus journey to Sirikin. Super hot and dirty. Yeah, that sums all up. Never ever take such long journey to places like that anymore please. It was super uncomfortable in the van, bumpy ride and cacat-ed air conditioning, oh and I slept and woke up with a freaking dry eye due to the contact lens which I immediately took off after reaching the hotel at night. The poor eye. And also resulted in wearing double glasses while watching Toy Story 3D. =.=  Oh we went to Spring to have our movie and since the mall closed down at 10pm, or 9.55pm to be exact, we had to rush to the cineplex just before we are trapped in the mall, and O.o the cineplex is freaking effing crowded, probably somehow the whole kuching population decided to have movie on saturday night. LMAO!

Dinner was at relative’s place, nice people, fun and entertaining. =) thanks peeps. Food were good, I love the bamboo pork, tasted so awesome. XD Didn get a clear glimpse of Sarawak night life tho. HAHA!

Day THREE

Woke up and started to pack. Then last minute plan, let’s go museum! XD HAHA, yeah yeah, do not attempt to tell me that museums are only for elderly people because none of the adults wanted to tag along. =.= but then, that’s a good thing, can camwhore and no one will nag you or even rush you to get the pictures taken in the speed of light. LOL!

Also manage to head up to the Cat museum area for a good view of Kuching town. Cool!

oh that's adam, *mr soon-to-be AAsia pilot!* who drove us all around. XD THANK YOU! =)

We all were then rushed to the airport for our flight and jeng, delayed. AND, our seats were all far and away, oh sitting alone on a flight can be soooooooooo boring. *yawn* I was practically staring at the clouds and guess what I saw…. DRAGONS, LIONS, BABIES, KINGDOMS, a cool KNIGHT and his sword, CUPID! Okkkkay, I was bored. HAHA! So wild imagination escorted me back to KL and HOME SWEET HOME! =)

Someday i shall go back to kuching again for Damai and Bako National Park. XD

cheers. ♥

packing sucks? absolutely.

tell me how to pack for a month in 4 days.

i demand want airconditioned single room like the international kids,

so do be fair to local students. =)

Received email from inbound mobility this afternoon, scrolled down the list and found my name on the indigenous communities in Malaysia(ICM) programme. hate it. even the itineries seem boring and uninspiring, all about observation of culture and economic status of the indigenous people. Will be visitng various places, gombak, pulau Carey, Kuala Tahan and Kota Kinabalu. The only fun place would be KK, and I'm going to be there for a week. Will be at the peak of Mount KK on 14th July if everything goes well. i need to be as fit as a fiddle to withstand the steep hike, but hard man, i am super lembik now. LOL! =)

Anyway, will be leaving to Kuching tomorrow afternoon until sunday. hope it will be another fun trip. *but seems to me it will be booooooriiiiing. dunno what kindda planning, really no mood.*

cheers. ♥

you can move in, i won't ask where you've been,

because everybody has a past and so do I.

i've just received the call from UKM! it is official, i am off to inbound. XD kindda excited. oh my BFF made it through also, YESSSSSSSSS! we are so gonna have fun, camwhore like nobody's business and scare all the ang mos away.   let's pray we will be in the same programme. i don't wanna be in the indigenous programme. give me my tropical sustainability. OK wait, i need to pray for some lengzai ang mo to be ard also. i want drooling ones. HAHA! =) Mount KK, here i come.

cheers. ♥

wanted to share the joy with you, but i guess, better not~
i wished you were less busy.

Smell the rain, feel the wind. and that is when the dawn of smiling faces are.

A new space, for a new beginning in the quest of seeking happiness once again. =)

 cheers. ♥

oh the new blogskin is making me happy~dont you think so?