Tun Ahmad Sarji opened the Seminar with a speech by asking the question. Siapakah Rao itu?
The morning session was evolved around a discussion of the origin of Bangsa Rao (Rawa). Obviously in situation like this there bound to be different views and hypotheses. In this case came in the form of two different views from two researchers form Indonesia. The first one was Amran Dt.Jorajo who opined that based on, one, historical artifacts, second, the Language and third Adat (rituals, culture) Bangsa Rao did not originate from Pagaruyung or Luhak Nan Tigo. He argued:
• Peninggalan kebudayaan yang ada di Rao, seperti ukiran Jejak Puti, ukiran roda di batu, dan tempat duduk dari batu, walaupun tidak dapat ditentukan tarikhnya, tetapi berdasarkan keterangan yang kita peroleh bahawa peninggalan ini merupakan kebudayaan tertua dalam dalam Hindu-Budha. Hal ini bererti lebih tua drp peninggalan yang ada di Pagaruyung
• Kebudayaan orang Rao, seperti bahasa, adat dan suku-suku orang Rao merupakan identiti orang Rao, dan jauh berbeza dengan yang ada di Luhak Nan Tigo/Pagaruyung
• Peninggalan kebudyaan berupa candi, walaupun perkiraan tarikhnya hampir bersamaan dengan kerajaan Adytiyawarman di Luhak Nan Tigo. Tetapi sepanjang yang kita ketahui tidak ada Adytiyawarman membangun candi. Hal ini bererti candi di Rao bukan tempat beribadat Adytiyawarman, Tambah lagi Adytiyawarman sepengetahuan kita bukanlah Raja Pagaruyung
• Orang Rao adalah suku bangsa tersendiri, mempunyai identiti tersendiri dan dianggap di sinilah munculnya suku Minagkabau yang mewarisi kerajaan Holling sebagai cikal-bakal suku bangsa Melayu
Whereas Prof. Dr Puti Reno Raudha Thaib in her perentation titled Hubungkait Adat dan Budaya Minankabau Pagar Ruyung dengan masyarakat Rao Malaysia argued.
• Nama Rao itu diambil dari nama daerah asalnya. Jadi, dapat ditegaskan di sini bahawa masyarakat Melayu Rao Malaysia yang ada sampai sekarang dan berkembang di beberapa daearah di Malaysia nenek moyangnya berasal daripada keturunan raja-raja di Rao yang asal muasalnya keturunan dari[ada raja Pagaruyung
Today the secretariat and the organizing committee came out with their resolutions which can be read here
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
On The Train (National KRAs?), July 28, 2009
The PM today announced the six national key result areas. I do not wish to list them out here as you can read it in today’s newspaper online or otherwise. What I would to comment here is this. Knowing how it is in Malaysia. These KRAs will become targets and they are going to make sure they are met, at any cost. At any cost means in the end it just be numbers game for them and totally ignoring any elements contributing to the possible successful outcome. In achieving their targets most of the time they will ignore human element or getting to know the real issue in the process. The other thing is about the KRAs themselves as I eluded earlier they are mostly not outcome KRAs and not comprehensive to tackle the real problem that we are facing. One good example is in the transport industry.
By 2012, the LRT service will have an additional 35 sets of 4-car-train operating the Kelana Jaya route.
If the government would want to be specific the one thing they should really tackle now is the KTMB Komuter service which through my six years using it is pathetic. In fact I am on one now with the old dead carriages being pulled by a normal engine car. When I read the KRAs on this I was more than disappointed. I was madly angry. Don’t tell me this route has no potential compare the Kelana Jaya line. I have seen, observed and believe there is potential. It is only the failure of KTMB to provide a good service.
By 2012, the LRT service will have an additional 35 sets of 4-car-train operating the Kelana Jaya route.
If the government would want to be specific the one thing they should really tackle now is the KTMB Komuter service which through my six years using it is pathetic. In fact I am on one now with the old dead carriages being pulled by a normal engine car. When I read the KRAs on this I was more than disappointed. I was madly angry. Don’t tell me this route has no potential compare the Kelana Jaya line. I have seen, observed and believe there is potential. It is only the failure of KTMB to provide a good service.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
On The Train, July 21, 2009
The issue that we are facing today is really less of the need to do what we normally termed as KM but more of the trying to solve of being helpful to the real bottomline. Thus understanding the real business issue is key. The recognition that we received on the assessment of knowledge sharing in the organization by the management is encouraging but those kind accolades would not stand the test of time until and unless we deal head on with business issues. Indications were noted today as to what are the possibilities.
• The need for the majority of people in the organization to be strategic in their thinking and doing things
• All tasks should be organizational centric that would mean due focus on the bottomline
• Higher sense of urgency
• Stakeholder's needs - internal & external
• Greater collective responsibility
• Organizational change - Traditions as barriers
• Governance
In our planning and execution we have to be mindful and give the above due consideration
• The need for the majority of people in the organization to be strategic in their thinking and doing things
• All tasks should be organizational centric that would mean due focus on the bottomline
• Higher sense of urgency
• Stakeholder's needs - internal & external
• Greater collective responsibility
• Organizational change - Traditions as barriers
• Governance
In our planning and execution we have to be mindful and give the above due consideration
Monday, July 20, 2009
Cuti Cuti Malayia: Langkawi 2009, Day 2
Second Day: June 9, 2008, Tuesday
I woke up as usual and did my usual morning things before I yelled everyone to wake up he he he. The plan for the day was simple – be at the Kilim Jetty at 1000 and take a mangrove boat ride. The rest of the day would be an anything goes.
It was a very beautiful, morning over the Awana Porto Malai harbour which prompted me to stay out at the balcony taking few shots of the sea. I knew my photos would come out good and postcard like finished. I took enough to satisfy me and I knew I still have the next day to do it again. First thing first, since we had to be at the Killim Jetty at 1000 I woke everyone and announced that I would be going down for breakfast in 10 minutes. Anybody that was not ready would be left behind. With that ultimatum everyone got up and ran around taking their bath. I told everyone to dress properly for the boat ride and be prepared for the worst.
Breakfast at Awana was a disappointment First of all not much variety and secondly some of the food were tasteless. We just quickly ate and left. It was 0827 when we were taking our photos in front of the Awana before we left. Since I was a bit familiar with the handling of the car already I sped cutting though Langkawi to the other side of the island towards Killim Jetty. I only had to look at the map once and I knew my way already. Ever since we arrived I could see a number of cyclists on the road and they were note the tourist type but locals. That morning while driving to Kilim I saw a guy on mountain bike cycling hard on the same direction. Instantly how I wished I had my bike then. I guessed then there would be a number of cyclist communities in Langkawi. Baqir and I had been talking about the possibility of buying a new bike in Langkawi and seeing these cyclists on the road I got more confident that possibly there would be one or two bicycle shops around selling decent cheap bikes to take home. But one thing for sure though the next time we will be in Langkawi we will try our best to take along our bicycles.
Around 0910 I took the right turn next to the Perdana Conplex towards Kilim Jetty and we arrived 45 minutes earlier. Since we had our breakfast already I parked the car close to the jetty and walked around to take few photos of the place. The rest with the car aircon on full blast continued to sleep. The jetty, I suspected, mainly being the jetty for the local fishermen before was a bit dirty. The same Malaysian problem of poor maintenance. Judging from the attraction of the place it has greater tourist potential. What I am afraid without proper planning and monitoring the place will be ruined and no tourist value in the future. I have seen enough of these all over Malaysia to be apprehensive about the place. Really a pity if that really happen. LADA should seriously monitor the situation and should not allow even an ounce of opportunity for this to happen. You cannot fault the locals for behaving certain ways as they could not have been exposed and knowledgeable on how to keep on improving. Somebody has to seriously guide them. At the moment they rely totally on what they have, know and all the natural beauty of Kilim. Just one example is the number of boats operating within the area; no matter how many tourists coming there they should limit the number. As it was I could already see some of the spilled petrol or the emission of the boats creating oily sludge.
Fifteen minutes to 1000 I called En Ali to inform him that we were already at the jetty at which he replied he was on his way after picking up some petrol for his boats. I woke everyone up and asked them to go to the restroom to freshen up and prepare for the long boat ride. Ten minutes later we were standing in front of the big advertisement board explaining about the various places of interest. Initially I thought En Ali would be doing a short safety briefing about the boat ride but instead he ushered me closer to the board and told me what I had paid for and suggested that if I wanted to go to all of the places it would be a 4 hours ride and I had to pay an additional RM100. Not wanting to miss anything I paid for the extra two hours.
It was a medium size boat that easily could carry 12-15 people comfortably. With six of us it was even better. Our first stop was the Gua Kelawar (Bat Cave) which was surprisingly just near by. Our boat was commandeered by a nice young man, to make it easier let’s name him Captain, who sent us to the Bat Cave first and told us to take our time as he was going back to the jetty to collect our safety jackets. Gua Kelawar was indeed occupied by a lot of Kelawar. Our route was actually paved with concrete pathway and platform. Judging from the mud around the path in the cave it would be submerged during high tide. Of course one disadvantage in the cave was that I could not use my flash gun to take photos. I had to rely a lot on smooth handling and most of the time the results were unsatisfactory. Since we were on our own there was no guide that could explain anything to us. So we just enjoyed ourselves and once in awhile I was the guide to Mar, mostly explaining what I know. However, later as we moved forward in front of us was a couple being ushered around by a knowledgeable guy on the area. He started to explain couple of things that got me interested so we hung around close to them. We got an instant free tour guide. What I like about the cave was not so much of the bats but for of the rock formations that had gone through the test of time and changes. It was a nature art. Since the cave was within the mangrove swamp the pathway took us through quite a good section of the mangrove. I just love it and we stayed a bit longer trying to learn as much as possible about the swamp by observing the lives within it. I hope excessive tourism would not spoil the mangrove swamp. Majority of the locals as well as the tourists are still not properly educated as to the important role of the swamp to the ecology of Langkawi. The path took us around into another small cave that opened up to where we came in. Mar and I stayed a bit behind to indulge ourselves to more photography. When I got to the pondok where we disembarked I saw Sam with the children talking to the lady manning the place. True to form and thanks to her training Sam played the information seeker role beautifully. They learned a lot more about the place from the lady. I hope my children would learn from that experience and try to emulate their mum in the future. So much to learn in this world and the best way to learn is to experience the place and ask the locals to tell stories. Most people when asked about places that have been part of their lives would oblige with lots of interesting stories.
With our safety jackets on we left Gua Kelawar to the unknown, well at least to us. The whole thing was a journey of discovery for us. We sat back and enjoyed the ride and the places that our expert Captain took us. We were taken further in and the Captain did it in certain speed that we overtook few other boats. I was not sure why he did that but sitting in front I did not mind having a cool breeze blowing on my face. In fact I started to like it even more as he did a speed boat like cornering. We joked we were ‘drifting’.Then we came to and open area where both banks were about 200 metres apart. The Captain slowed down until we came to a complete stop. He started to look for something and poured them into the water. Instantly I knew why we were there. It was the eagles feeding time. We got very excited and I was ready with my Nikon to shoot. He then rammed the engine creating a bit of ruckus. He told us later it was to call for the eagles and indeed immediately I could see at least 20 eagles circling and cruising up above. Within a few minutes they came flying down to grab the food one after the other. It was a wonderful maneuver to watch. This was also when I cursed myself for not having long lenses. Mar was especially excited watching the eagles. All of us assumed that the food that was thrown into the sea was either small shrimps or fish but to our surprised when Baqir asked they were chicken intestines, gizzards and the likes. To make it even more interesting the Captain told us the eagles would not take anything else but that. I guess they were forced initially to taste the chicken ‘leftovers’ and over time became their staple. Thinking about it I was worried for the future of the place. If by their activities they could change the eating habit of the eagles without they realizing it they could disrupt the whole ecology of the place. It was just an instant small reflection to me as I could not but enjoying the whole scene of the beautiful birds flying in the sky. I was shooting at will taking as much photos as possible. When I saw my family was really enjoying the experience I knew the value was more than what I had paid. We stayed at the place for a while to enjoy the whole things and when other boats started to join us we slowly left the area.
The Captain announced that we were going to see the friendliest sting ray on earth and swung the boat around to track back to the way we came from and turned right to what I initially thought a commercial caged fish farm. It was a fish farm indeed but it was intended as tourist attraction. Once we were on board of the platform automatically a young Malay guy came over to welcome us and to act as our dedicated guide to show us around. I straight away impressed by this. Not only because they have it right by making it proper with dedicated guide/spoke person for each group of tourists but the guides were also knowledgeable and know how to handle the tourists. We were taken around from cage to cage to be informed and educated about the fish that they have there. Due to the other groups already there we started with a spitting fish. We called it tiger fish because of the obvious stripe on their bodies. This was also the fish that we saw at the Awana Porto Malai harbour and boardwalk. Of course we did not know it then that they also jump and spit to the surface to get their food. The guide pinched a slice of bread into a small ball, wet it using the water and then stuck it on one of the pole next to the water. It was placed quite high above the water and the guide asked us to concentrate our sight at the piece of bread. We did not know what to expect and we were really surprised to see suddenly a spurt of water came hitting the bread and brought it down into the water for the fish to immediately pounced eating it. It was really amazing. The second time knowing what to expect we concentrated on both what happened in the water as well as the bread. The only sad thing about it because of the relatively low light there I could not catch it with my camera. The next thing that the guide did was to wet another piece of bread and stuck it at the tip of his finger and put it up about a foot over the water. As soon as he did that the tiger fish jumped out of the water to grab the bread from his finger. He invited my family to try it and not even Baqir dared to do it. What a chicken! It left to the hero of the house, me, to do it to prove it was not painful. So I took the wet bread stuck it on my finger and put it out even higher then the guide before. Amazingly the fish jumped even higher and stuck its soft teeth on my finger to make sure it did not miss anything before jumping back into the water. Had I wanted to catch it I just need to make a quick grab.
Once we were bored with spitting fish we moved on to the next cage where they have a barracuda, and two coral fish one of them being a midsize grouper. Nothing much to see or play with except the guide shared with us about the peculiarities of each fish. Then we moved on to the ‘friendliest stingray in the world’ to play with. Nobody dared to put their hands out to rub the belly and mount of the rays so I just did. It was soft and when its mouth touches you, you can feel like something nibbling at you. When we were done with that we continued our round and in the end decided to go back to the spitting fish to end our visit there. So what do I think about the place?
1. They need to find new fish or things to add to the attractions, and
2. Improve the ‘look and feel’ of place a bit. Not too much that you spoil the natural setting.
On the boat again our Captain took us into the mangrove and immediately I was somehow reminded of St Lawrence’s waterway. Amazing, as that was from my geography classes way back in 1977-78. Anyway it was a very nice feeling and I love the ride with mangrove close on both sides. We came to another cave and this one looks like and underpass and it was known as Crocodiles Cave. Obviously the belief was that the cave was used to be occupied by crocodiles. When asked our Captain told us he had not seen any in his life there. It has a small entrance where only one boat can pass though one at a time and once inside it has to either reverse or find a way to turn inside the cave. There were about three boats already waiting when we got there. Our Captain suggested we proceeded as it could be a long wait and he described what we would see inside the cave so that we can decide whether to wait or to continue. We decided to continue and he took us along the waterway. With the almost still water he drove the boat at a faster speed maneuvering corners expertly creating a very enjoyable motion for us, especially if you were to sit in front with the wind blowing on your face. The kids joke about us being drifting. To certain extent they were right we were drifting smoothly on the surface of the water. We really were having fun with the experience.
From a far I could already see the opening in between two high wall rock formation and I guessed we were going to go through that. I was right when a saw a boat came through from the opposite direction. From a far you thought it was too small for our boat but as we inched closer a frigate could pass through comfortably. When I look at it the first time the first thing that came to my mind was Jason and the Juggernaut movie. The scene when his ship was bout to pass through a tight space in between to high rock walls. Of course in that movie mythical water giant came out from the water to part the walls for his ship to pass through. Of course I did not expect the same to happen for us that day :)). But your imagination works overtime once you remembered something like that. Once we passed through we came to a wider body of water and I saw two boats there waiting. Once I saw the eagles in the sky I knew why. Not as many as before but still a good number on them in the sky. I took few shots and we left to the open water. Our Captain informed us that we were going to feed some fish in an open sea beside a small island. I though it was going to be a short ride there but it was not. The sea was a bit choppy and since we were riding forward against the wave we were jumping and hitting the water quite often. With the speed the boat was driven it was really a jumpy ride. Suddenly Mar was quite, very quite in fact, and moved to sit on the floor of the boat next to Baqir. Her face was almost blue of fright and I pitied looking at her. Since we were jumping on top of the waves, water splashing in at will and this made Mar even more scared. I was worried as well and it was a long ride out. Had I known what we were going to see I would have not ventured out there. Eventually we came to the small island where there supposed to be a lot of small beautiful fish to feed. But because of the sea condition it was not conducive for that and the Captain took us around to the other side of the small island that was shielded from the waves and there was another boat and a family snorkeling already. We joined them but we did not seem to see any fish. Our Captain started to take out a packed of crackers and crumbled some into the water. In a few minutes we could see a lot of small fish came swimming grabbing the crackers. It was just one type of fish so it was not that interesting. Nevertheless we fed them still and once in a while munched the crackers ourselves ha ha ha.
Sensing our boredom the Captain turned the boat around a drove slowly back but not through the route we came out. Since we were not riding against the waves it was a better ride. The Captain being mindful of Mar’s reaction before said we were going to do it slowly. So we were a bit relaxed. Looking beyond from our back the Captain told us that 10 minutes towards that direction would be Thai’s water. He started to share with us that it was not that far if we want to cross. However it was not as easy because Jabatan Laut via it’s radar at the top of one big island we saw as we came out would monitor all the boat movements in that area. However there is a black spot – during Suboh. So if you fancy crossing to Thailand by boat in Langkawi do it during suboh :). The Captain drove slowly out even more and I thought he was taking us to the border line but then turned inwards again towards several islands. By that time we saw a lot of other tourist boats like us around the area. We saw one boat beached at one of the island and the people were playing and swimming on the beach. This was one question our Captain asked us earlier on, did we sign up for swimming as well. Meaning he will take us to one of the nice secluded island for us to enjoy the beach. Maybe some other time I said as we did not have our gears with us. With the sea getting calmer between the islands our Captain sped towards one island on our right. I saw from far that there must me another cave to see as I could set jetty and walkway going up. When we arrived there we were told that it was Gua Cerita (direct translation being Story Cave ha ha ha. Actually it was translated as Cave of Legends) and we were the only ones there. Before we went ashore I asked the rest whether they wanted to do this and with a boisterous yes we climbed down to shore. The beach area was not too big but if you want to have a dip it would be pleasant enough. We lingered around reading the plaque to learn about the Gua Cerita story. The legend has it that the Gua Cerita was a place where the Sang Garuda hid the beautiful permaisuri and once in a while he would come to share his story. I could be getting this wrong but it was something like that. He he he actually what was written on the plaque was.
‘Gua Cerita
Mudah dimasuki dengan sampan dari Tanjung Rhu, gus ini dapat didaki melalui tangga kayu. Terdpat dongengan yang mengatakan Gua Cerita ini dikaitkan dengan peperangan burung garuda yang menakjubkan. Ia datang kesini kerana seornag puteri dari China telah diculik dan dijadikan tawanan. Dapat dibaca walaupun samara di dinding gua ini beberapa tulisan kuno yang dikatakan adalah rangkap-rangkap dari kitab suci al Quran’
There was an English translation of the above there but I do not wish to translate it here.
Satisfied with that and after few tourist photos shots we climbed the stairs into the Gua, It was not a deep cave but deep enough if you want to make it a home. Inside in one corner was a flat rock formation that resembles a bed. Giving greater myth to the idea of it being the bed for the Chinese princess. We did not explore the cave earnestly just enough to satisfy us that we were there. Of course being a cave I suspected there was/is, were/are already occupants. After I gave my salam we walked down to our boat. On the boat and on our way back I could sense that we were already at the tail end of the ride and I tried to squeeze more shots of the surrounding. The clear indication that we were almost at the end was when our Caption took us to the rock formation where the Kilim Geoforest Park was inscribed on the rocks for all to see as a signature. Obviously the route back in was a different route where all kinds of rock formation to be admired were displayed. They were all there for individuals to admire and form their own judgments as to what formation they are. To us without wanting to spend time thinking too hard decided on the obvious. Soon the inevitable arrived and we docked at the place we got on the boat.
It was almost 1 pm when we were on firm land once again. Due to the sea water we headed for the restrooms to clean up and do whatever we could do to our shabby appearances. Satisfied with that we parked ourselves at one of the warong to taste the local food. Not much different but good enough for everyone. Judging from the surrounding if it were not during tourist season the place would be almost empty saved for occasional group tours. One thing I like about the whole operation was it was mainly local. 45 minutes after we left the place.
I knew what to expect at Perdana Complex, Baqir had been here so he was also noncommittal about stopping there. But I thought just to be a decent and complete tourists we need to explore the place. I paid for the entrance fee and all of us walked in. As expected the whole complex was filled with all the gifts, tokens and mementos presented to Tun Mahatir by various guests to him while he was in office.. A major section of the complex also housed Tun’s old car collection. Other than that nothing else interesting there. We did the necessary tour and walked to our car for Padang Matsirat. Our first stop there was Atma Alam Batik Village where my personal objective was to source for good art piece. I did not find any to my taste but of course being there I further contributed to the economic being of Langkawi all the same. My wife and daughters took a bit of time browsing, selecting and finally agreeing to purchase. With my eye lids being pull down by a sheer unseen force I put my tired body down on the only comfortable chair there and dozed off. Knowing better they only woke me up when the time came for me to part with more of my RM. At least it was not stressful as I did it virtually courtesy of Mr Visa.
By then the day was really hot and sticky that we could not wait to go back to our hotel. But then on the way out I made a turn to the left at Padang Matsirat town to stop at Beras Terbakar bazaar. We have been to the place at least three times already so most of us did not have anything specific to do there except my dear wife who wanted to find unique new patterns for her batik lepas collection. At this rate not only I have to break the walls to make room for my arts collection but a small museum for my wife’s batik collections as well. With that I just passed the bazaar quickly with the others to make sure I did not miss anything and parked ourselves at one of the cafes outside. I could not resist the temptation so I had cendol, 100 plus and hot Nescafe tarik kurang manis at the same time. With that concoction I knew I was going to pay for it after our vacation. Closed to 1700 we left the place and straight away headed for the hotel.
Backed at the hotel I could not go to sleep and since Mar was pestering me to go to the pool ever since we were back at the hotel I relented. It was a short deep as I planned to start shopping for chocolates at Kuah that night.
Impulse buying prevailed for me again, RM300 worth of chocolates and around RM200 for the other stuff. Then deciding on the place for dinner was really a challenge where in the end we settled for the Medan Selera at the Kuah Jetty.
It was a beautiful night again at the hotel harbour but we were too tired to enjoy it too long.
You can few the photos of the second day by ckicking the nlinks below.
http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=732507245&__a=1#/album.php?aid=115796&id=732507245&op=6
http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=732507245&__a=1#/album.php?aid=116373&id=732507245
I woke up as usual and did my usual morning things before I yelled everyone to wake up he he he. The plan for the day was simple – be at the Kilim Jetty at 1000 and take a mangrove boat ride. The rest of the day would be an anything goes.
It was a very beautiful, morning over the Awana Porto Malai harbour which prompted me to stay out at the balcony taking few shots of the sea. I knew my photos would come out good and postcard like finished. I took enough to satisfy me and I knew I still have the next day to do it again. First thing first, since we had to be at the Killim Jetty at 1000 I woke everyone and announced that I would be going down for breakfast in 10 minutes. Anybody that was not ready would be left behind. With that ultimatum everyone got up and ran around taking their bath. I told everyone to dress properly for the boat ride and be prepared for the worst.
Breakfast at Awana was a disappointment First of all not much variety and secondly some of the food were tasteless. We just quickly ate and left. It was 0827 when we were taking our photos in front of the Awana before we left. Since I was a bit familiar with the handling of the car already I sped cutting though Langkawi to the other side of the island towards Killim Jetty. I only had to look at the map once and I knew my way already. Ever since we arrived I could see a number of cyclists on the road and they were note the tourist type but locals. That morning while driving to Kilim I saw a guy on mountain bike cycling hard on the same direction. Instantly how I wished I had my bike then. I guessed then there would be a number of cyclist communities in Langkawi. Baqir and I had been talking about the possibility of buying a new bike in Langkawi and seeing these cyclists on the road I got more confident that possibly there would be one or two bicycle shops around selling decent cheap bikes to take home. But one thing for sure though the next time we will be in Langkawi we will try our best to take along our bicycles.
Around 0910 I took the right turn next to the Perdana Conplex towards Kilim Jetty and we arrived 45 minutes earlier. Since we had our breakfast already I parked the car close to the jetty and walked around to take few photos of the place. The rest with the car aircon on full blast continued to sleep. The jetty, I suspected, mainly being the jetty for the local fishermen before was a bit dirty. The same Malaysian problem of poor maintenance. Judging from the attraction of the place it has greater tourist potential. What I am afraid without proper planning and monitoring the place will be ruined and no tourist value in the future. I have seen enough of these all over Malaysia to be apprehensive about the place. Really a pity if that really happen. LADA should seriously monitor the situation and should not allow even an ounce of opportunity for this to happen. You cannot fault the locals for behaving certain ways as they could not have been exposed and knowledgeable on how to keep on improving. Somebody has to seriously guide them. At the moment they rely totally on what they have, know and all the natural beauty of Kilim. Just one example is the number of boats operating within the area; no matter how many tourists coming there they should limit the number. As it was I could already see some of the spilled petrol or the emission of the boats creating oily sludge.
Fifteen minutes to 1000 I called En Ali to inform him that we were already at the jetty at which he replied he was on his way after picking up some petrol for his boats. I woke everyone up and asked them to go to the restroom to freshen up and prepare for the long boat ride. Ten minutes later we were standing in front of the big advertisement board explaining about the various places of interest. Initially I thought En Ali would be doing a short safety briefing about the boat ride but instead he ushered me closer to the board and told me what I had paid for and suggested that if I wanted to go to all of the places it would be a 4 hours ride and I had to pay an additional RM100. Not wanting to miss anything I paid for the extra two hours.
It was a medium size boat that easily could carry 12-15 people comfortably. With six of us it was even better. Our first stop was the Gua Kelawar (Bat Cave) which was surprisingly just near by. Our boat was commandeered by a nice young man, to make it easier let’s name him Captain, who sent us to the Bat Cave first and told us to take our time as he was going back to the jetty to collect our safety jackets. Gua Kelawar was indeed occupied by a lot of Kelawar. Our route was actually paved with concrete pathway and platform. Judging from the mud around the path in the cave it would be submerged during high tide. Of course one disadvantage in the cave was that I could not use my flash gun to take photos. I had to rely a lot on smooth handling and most of the time the results were unsatisfactory. Since we were on our own there was no guide that could explain anything to us. So we just enjoyed ourselves and once in awhile I was the guide to Mar, mostly explaining what I know. However, later as we moved forward in front of us was a couple being ushered around by a knowledgeable guy on the area. He started to explain couple of things that got me interested so we hung around close to them. We got an instant free tour guide. What I like about the cave was not so much of the bats but for of the rock formations that had gone through the test of time and changes. It was a nature art. Since the cave was within the mangrove swamp the pathway took us through quite a good section of the mangrove. I just love it and we stayed a bit longer trying to learn as much as possible about the swamp by observing the lives within it. I hope excessive tourism would not spoil the mangrove swamp. Majority of the locals as well as the tourists are still not properly educated as to the important role of the swamp to the ecology of Langkawi. The path took us around into another small cave that opened up to where we came in. Mar and I stayed a bit behind to indulge ourselves to more photography. When I got to the pondok where we disembarked I saw Sam with the children talking to the lady manning the place. True to form and thanks to her training Sam played the information seeker role beautifully. They learned a lot more about the place from the lady. I hope my children would learn from that experience and try to emulate their mum in the future. So much to learn in this world and the best way to learn is to experience the place and ask the locals to tell stories. Most people when asked about places that have been part of their lives would oblige with lots of interesting stories.
With our safety jackets on we left Gua Kelawar to the unknown, well at least to us. The whole thing was a journey of discovery for us. We sat back and enjoyed the ride and the places that our expert Captain took us. We were taken further in and the Captain did it in certain speed that we overtook few other boats. I was not sure why he did that but sitting in front I did not mind having a cool breeze blowing on my face. In fact I started to like it even more as he did a speed boat like cornering. We joked we were ‘drifting’.Then we came to and open area where both banks were about 200 metres apart. The Captain slowed down until we came to a complete stop. He started to look for something and poured them into the water. Instantly I knew why we were there. It was the eagles feeding time. We got very excited and I was ready with my Nikon to shoot. He then rammed the engine creating a bit of ruckus. He told us later it was to call for the eagles and indeed immediately I could see at least 20 eagles circling and cruising up above. Within a few minutes they came flying down to grab the food one after the other. It was a wonderful maneuver to watch. This was also when I cursed myself for not having long lenses. Mar was especially excited watching the eagles. All of us assumed that the food that was thrown into the sea was either small shrimps or fish but to our surprised when Baqir asked they were chicken intestines, gizzards and the likes. To make it even more interesting the Captain told us the eagles would not take anything else but that. I guess they were forced initially to taste the chicken ‘leftovers’ and over time became their staple. Thinking about it I was worried for the future of the place. If by their activities they could change the eating habit of the eagles without they realizing it they could disrupt the whole ecology of the place. It was just an instant small reflection to me as I could not but enjoying the whole scene of the beautiful birds flying in the sky. I was shooting at will taking as much photos as possible. When I saw my family was really enjoying the experience I knew the value was more than what I had paid. We stayed at the place for a while to enjoy the whole things and when other boats started to join us we slowly left the area.
The Captain announced that we were going to see the friendliest sting ray on earth and swung the boat around to track back to the way we came from and turned right to what I initially thought a commercial caged fish farm. It was a fish farm indeed but it was intended as tourist attraction. Once we were on board of the platform automatically a young Malay guy came over to welcome us and to act as our dedicated guide to show us around. I straight away impressed by this. Not only because they have it right by making it proper with dedicated guide/spoke person for each group of tourists but the guides were also knowledgeable and know how to handle the tourists. We were taken around from cage to cage to be informed and educated about the fish that they have there. Due to the other groups already there we started with a spitting fish. We called it tiger fish because of the obvious stripe on their bodies. This was also the fish that we saw at the Awana Porto Malai harbour and boardwalk. Of course we did not know it then that they also jump and spit to the surface to get their food. The guide pinched a slice of bread into a small ball, wet it using the water and then stuck it on one of the pole next to the water. It was placed quite high above the water and the guide asked us to concentrate our sight at the piece of bread. We did not know what to expect and we were really surprised to see suddenly a spurt of water came hitting the bread and brought it down into the water for the fish to immediately pounced eating it. It was really amazing. The second time knowing what to expect we concentrated on both what happened in the water as well as the bread. The only sad thing about it because of the relatively low light there I could not catch it with my camera. The next thing that the guide did was to wet another piece of bread and stuck it at the tip of his finger and put it up about a foot over the water. As soon as he did that the tiger fish jumped out of the water to grab the bread from his finger. He invited my family to try it and not even Baqir dared to do it. What a chicken! It left to the hero of the house, me, to do it to prove it was not painful. So I took the wet bread stuck it on my finger and put it out even higher then the guide before. Amazingly the fish jumped even higher and stuck its soft teeth on my finger to make sure it did not miss anything before jumping back into the water. Had I wanted to catch it I just need to make a quick grab.
Once we were bored with spitting fish we moved on to the next cage where they have a barracuda, and two coral fish one of them being a midsize grouper. Nothing much to see or play with except the guide shared with us about the peculiarities of each fish. Then we moved on to the ‘friendliest stingray in the world’ to play with. Nobody dared to put their hands out to rub the belly and mount of the rays so I just did. It was soft and when its mouth touches you, you can feel like something nibbling at you. When we were done with that we continued our round and in the end decided to go back to the spitting fish to end our visit there. So what do I think about the place?
1. They need to find new fish or things to add to the attractions, and
2. Improve the ‘look and feel’ of place a bit. Not too much that you spoil the natural setting.
On the boat again our Captain took us into the mangrove and immediately I was somehow reminded of St Lawrence’s waterway. Amazing, as that was from my geography classes way back in 1977-78. Anyway it was a very nice feeling and I love the ride with mangrove close on both sides. We came to another cave and this one looks like and underpass and it was known as Crocodiles Cave. Obviously the belief was that the cave was used to be occupied by crocodiles. When asked our Captain told us he had not seen any in his life there. It has a small entrance where only one boat can pass though one at a time and once inside it has to either reverse or find a way to turn inside the cave. There were about three boats already waiting when we got there. Our Captain suggested we proceeded as it could be a long wait and he described what we would see inside the cave so that we can decide whether to wait or to continue. We decided to continue and he took us along the waterway. With the almost still water he drove the boat at a faster speed maneuvering corners expertly creating a very enjoyable motion for us, especially if you were to sit in front with the wind blowing on your face. The kids joke about us being drifting. To certain extent they were right we were drifting smoothly on the surface of the water. We really were having fun with the experience.
From a far I could already see the opening in between two high wall rock formation and I guessed we were going to go through that. I was right when a saw a boat came through from the opposite direction. From a far you thought it was too small for our boat but as we inched closer a frigate could pass through comfortably. When I look at it the first time the first thing that came to my mind was Jason and the Juggernaut movie. The scene when his ship was bout to pass through a tight space in between to high rock walls. Of course in that movie mythical water giant came out from the water to part the walls for his ship to pass through. Of course I did not expect the same to happen for us that day :)). But your imagination works overtime once you remembered something like that. Once we passed through we came to a wider body of water and I saw two boats there waiting. Once I saw the eagles in the sky I knew why. Not as many as before but still a good number on them in the sky. I took few shots and we left to the open water. Our Captain informed us that we were going to feed some fish in an open sea beside a small island. I though it was going to be a short ride there but it was not. The sea was a bit choppy and since we were riding forward against the wave we were jumping and hitting the water quite often. With the speed the boat was driven it was really a jumpy ride. Suddenly Mar was quite, very quite in fact, and moved to sit on the floor of the boat next to Baqir. Her face was almost blue of fright and I pitied looking at her. Since we were jumping on top of the waves, water splashing in at will and this made Mar even more scared. I was worried as well and it was a long ride out. Had I known what we were going to see I would have not ventured out there. Eventually we came to the small island where there supposed to be a lot of small beautiful fish to feed. But because of the sea condition it was not conducive for that and the Captain took us around to the other side of the small island that was shielded from the waves and there was another boat and a family snorkeling already. We joined them but we did not seem to see any fish. Our Captain started to take out a packed of crackers and crumbled some into the water. In a few minutes we could see a lot of small fish came swimming grabbing the crackers. It was just one type of fish so it was not that interesting. Nevertheless we fed them still and once in a while munched the crackers ourselves ha ha ha.
Sensing our boredom the Captain turned the boat around a drove slowly back but not through the route we came out. Since we were not riding against the waves it was a better ride. The Captain being mindful of Mar’s reaction before said we were going to do it slowly. So we were a bit relaxed. Looking beyond from our back the Captain told us that 10 minutes towards that direction would be Thai’s water. He started to share with us that it was not that far if we want to cross. However it was not as easy because Jabatan Laut via it’s radar at the top of one big island we saw as we came out would monitor all the boat movements in that area. However there is a black spot – during Suboh. So if you fancy crossing to Thailand by boat in Langkawi do it during suboh :). The Captain drove slowly out even more and I thought he was taking us to the border line but then turned inwards again towards several islands. By that time we saw a lot of other tourist boats like us around the area. We saw one boat beached at one of the island and the people were playing and swimming on the beach. This was one question our Captain asked us earlier on, did we sign up for swimming as well. Meaning he will take us to one of the nice secluded island for us to enjoy the beach. Maybe some other time I said as we did not have our gears with us. With the sea getting calmer between the islands our Captain sped towards one island on our right. I saw from far that there must me another cave to see as I could set jetty and walkway going up. When we arrived there we were told that it was Gua Cerita (direct translation being Story Cave ha ha ha. Actually it was translated as Cave of Legends) and we were the only ones there. Before we went ashore I asked the rest whether they wanted to do this and with a boisterous yes we climbed down to shore. The beach area was not too big but if you want to have a dip it would be pleasant enough. We lingered around reading the plaque to learn about the Gua Cerita story. The legend has it that the Gua Cerita was a place where the Sang Garuda hid the beautiful permaisuri and once in a while he would come to share his story. I could be getting this wrong but it was something like that. He he he actually what was written on the plaque was.
‘Gua Cerita
Mudah dimasuki dengan sampan dari Tanjung Rhu, gus ini dapat didaki melalui tangga kayu. Terdpat dongengan yang mengatakan Gua Cerita ini dikaitkan dengan peperangan burung garuda yang menakjubkan. Ia datang kesini kerana seornag puteri dari China telah diculik dan dijadikan tawanan. Dapat dibaca walaupun samara di dinding gua ini beberapa tulisan kuno yang dikatakan adalah rangkap-rangkap dari kitab suci al Quran’
There was an English translation of the above there but I do not wish to translate it here.
Satisfied with that and after few tourist photos shots we climbed the stairs into the Gua, It was not a deep cave but deep enough if you want to make it a home. Inside in one corner was a flat rock formation that resembles a bed. Giving greater myth to the idea of it being the bed for the Chinese princess. We did not explore the cave earnestly just enough to satisfy us that we were there. Of course being a cave I suspected there was/is, were/are already occupants. After I gave my salam we walked down to our boat. On the boat and on our way back I could sense that we were already at the tail end of the ride and I tried to squeeze more shots of the surrounding. The clear indication that we were almost at the end was when our Caption took us to the rock formation where the Kilim Geoforest Park was inscribed on the rocks for all to see as a signature. Obviously the route back in was a different route where all kinds of rock formation to be admired were displayed. They were all there for individuals to admire and form their own judgments as to what formation they are. To us without wanting to spend time thinking too hard decided on the obvious. Soon the inevitable arrived and we docked at the place we got on the boat.
It was almost 1 pm when we were on firm land once again. Due to the sea water we headed for the restrooms to clean up and do whatever we could do to our shabby appearances. Satisfied with that we parked ourselves at one of the warong to taste the local food. Not much different but good enough for everyone. Judging from the surrounding if it were not during tourist season the place would be almost empty saved for occasional group tours. One thing I like about the whole operation was it was mainly local. 45 minutes after we left the place.
I knew what to expect at Perdana Complex, Baqir had been here so he was also noncommittal about stopping there. But I thought just to be a decent and complete tourists we need to explore the place. I paid for the entrance fee and all of us walked in. As expected the whole complex was filled with all the gifts, tokens and mementos presented to Tun Mahatir by various guests to him while he was in office.. A major section of the complex also housed Tun’s old car collection. Other than that nothing else interesting there. We did the necessary tour and walked to our car for Padang Matsirat. Our first stop there was Atma Alam Batik Village where my personal objective was to source for good art piece. I did not find any to my taste but of course being there I further contributed to the economic being of Langkawi all the same. My wife and daughters took a bit of time browsing, selecting and finally agreeing to purchase. With my eye lids being pull down by a sheer unseen force I put my tired body down on the only comfortable chair there and dozed off. Knowing better they only woke me up when the time came for me to part with more of my RM. At least it was not stressful as I did it virtually courtesy of Mr Visa.
By then the day was really hot and sticky that we could not wait to go back to our hotel. But then on the way out I made a turn to the left at Padang Matsirat town to stop at Beras Terbakar bazaar. We have been to the place at least three times already so most of us did not have anything specific to do there except my dear wife who wanted to find unique new patterns for her batik lepas collection. At this rate not only I have to break the walls to make room for my arts collection but a small museum for my wife’s batik collections as well. With that I just passed the bazaar quickly with the others to make sure I did not miss anything and parked ourselves at one of the cafes outside. I could not resist the temptation so I had cendol, 100 plus and hot Nescafe tarik kurang manis at the same time. With that concoction I knew I was going to pay for it after our vacation. Closed to 1700 we left the place and straight away headed for the hotel.
Backed at the hotel I could not go to sleep and since Mar was pestering me to go to the pool ever since we were back at the hotel I relented. It was a short deep as I planned to start shopping for chocolates at Kuah that night.
Impulse buying prevailed for me again, RM300 worth of chocolates and around RM200 for the other stuff. Then deciding on the place for dinner was really a challenge where in the end we settled for the Medan Selera at the Kuah Jetty.
It was a beautiful night again at the hotel harbour but we were too tired to enjoy it too long.
You can few the photos of the second day by ckicking the nlinks below.
http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=732507245&__a=1#/album.php?aid=115796&id=732507245&op=6
http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=732507245&__a=1#/album.php?aid=116373&id=732507245
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
On The Train, July 13, 2009
The 1820 train was late by 10 minutes and when it arrived the second coach was an oven. I walked out straight away and walked up to the first which slightly cooler but still, with not many people on the train, hot. Just imagine it would be at full capacity which it was likely going to be soon. The driver walked down the line to inspect and I told him it was definitely very hot in the second coach. He took about few minutes to inspect to come to a decision whether go or no go for that train. Having been on the train for close to 7 years now I just knew what it meant. When he passed by I asked ‘jalan?’ he said no so I disembarked to wait for another one. Those on the train did not know it as the train cannot stop there it had to be the KL Station and the driver upon reaching KL Station would ask everyone to get down to wait for the next train.
I did not have to wait long for the next train and it was almost empty and cool as a fridge. As I predicted the people on the last train were on the platform at KL Station waiting to board. When they did the train was a packed sardine can. We were fortunate that the aircon was put on full blast. Though I was oblivious of the surrounding the frustration and anger dominated the air inside the train. The story of our last Langkawi trip was really hard to materialize in my brain. Alas I was typing away like crazy
I did not have to wait long for the next train and it was almost empty and cool as a fridge. As I predicted the people on the last train were on the platform at KL Station waiting to board. When they did the train was a packed sardine can. We were fortunate that the aircon was put on full blast. Though I was oblivious of the surrounding the frustration and anger dominated the air inside the train. The story of our last Langkawi trip was really hard to materialize in my brain. Alas I was typing away like crazy
Monday, July 13, 2009
On The Train, July 10, 2009
Yes, I have not been publishing any blog lately. Sorry for that. Indeed I have continued to write but on other things besides my daily musing on the train. Since, my neighbour mentioned about my blog yesterday I better strat publishing again to make sure it is alive.
Lately I find it really difficult to concentrate to write. Not so much I have a lot on my mind, it just that nothing clicks. As far as the train, of course KTMB’s Komuter, service goes it is getting better now with the introduction of the so called hybrid train. To those still wondering what hybrid train is? It is the old or not working Komuter train being pulled by the normal engine. To those old komuter that already dead KTMB even add a Gen Set at the back to power the aircon system. I knew it was suggested before by somebody or even their own staff but it was not down until every commuters cried for the heads. I met my ex-school mate on the train sometimes back and he told me the reason was it is costly to do that. In my mind still KTMB didn’t get it then. It was not about cost it is about customer experience. The failed to see the big picture until the damage had been done. Sadly a Malaysian mentality.
Yes, for almost a year now I have changed my morning schedule by taking the 0631 train to work. Earlier and ensure me to get a seat. Just the other day I realized the demography of the commuters has change as well. Firstly, I could see less than 10% of the usual faces remain. Secondly, most of the new faces are younger. Third, there are lots more causal or tourist kind on board. All these are good signs for KTMB unless they see otherwise.
I embarked on the same strategy when I boarded going home and presented with a seat at KL Station. It was the usual Friday evening commuters. A lady on my right was sleeping soundly and she almost miss her stop at Kajang.
Lately I find it really difficult to concentrate to write. Not so much I have a lot on my mind, it just that nothing clicks. As far as the train, of course KTMB’s Komuter, service goes it is getting better now with the introduction of the so called hybrid train. To those still wondering what hybrid train is? It is the old or not working Komuter train being pulled by the normal engine. To those old komuter that already dead KTMB even add a Gen Set at the back to power the aircon system. I knew it was suggested before by somebody or even their own staff but it was not down until every commuters cried for the heads. I met my ex-school mate on the train sometimes back and he told me the reason was it is costly to do that. In my mind still KTMB didn’t get it then. It was not about cost it is about customer experience. The failed to see the big picture until the damage had been done. Sadly a Malaysian mentality.
Yes, for almost a year now I have changed my morning schedule by taking the 0631 train to work. Earlier and ensure me to get a seat. Just the other day I realized the demography of the commuters has change as well. Firstly, I could see less than 10% of the usual faces remain. Secondly, most of the new faces are younger. Third, there are lots more causal or tourist kind on board. All these are good signs for KTMB unless they see otherwise.
I embarked on the same strategy when I boarded going home and presented with a seat at KL Station. It was the usual Friday evening commuters. A lady on my right was sleeping soundly and she almost miss her stop at Kajang.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Cuti Cuti Malayia: Langkawi 2009, Day 1
In between weddings and thanks to H1N1 I decided to go local for our holidays this year. I thought that was going to be a very easy decision but it was a decision far more difficult to make and implement. We have done Semenanjung Malayisa to and fro and round in circle clockwise and anticlockwise twice.
Day one:
Five to 0600 we were already at the eKiosk trying to check in but the machine kicked us out. Were we too early? I do not know but certainly the kiosk failed on us. So we pushed our trolley to the counter and checked ourselves in. The nice lady at the counter did ask us whether the kiosk is working or not? I said maybe we were too early and smiled.
The breakfast cost me around RM80 the realization after a loud complaint from my wife when my daughter came back with the change. I said jokingly what do you expect a piece of timun already cost us RM1. The whole nasi lemak special was RM11.90 and there was nothing special about the taste. It is an economy of scarcity and a monopoly.
Six to 0700 we walked into the waiting lounge and waited patiently for our gate to open. At 0756 the gate was still close and was obvious that our flight would be delayed. We are only allowed to enter the waiting lounge at 0800 whereas the scheduled takeoff time was at 0815. No explanation given and we waited for a bit more. Since we were seated facing out aircraft we could see the going on down below. Within few minutes of waiting we saw the workers, Banglas to be precise, were busy loading our luggage. We witnessed first hand their definition of loading. Which was simply throwing things in at will. Was I surprised by this? Not at all but the idiots should have known that they obviously could be seen from the waiting area. Eventually it was announced that we could board and no one seems to be bothered to wait for further instruction and walked into the plane. We took our seats and waited. The waiting was longer than expected and I knew too well that there must be something wrong. However, the pilot did a KTMB on us by not giving us any information about the delay at all. So we waited in silent and for me with a sense of fault de javu. I did not pay to be treated like I was treated by KTMB. But trying not to spoil the beginning of our journey I just sat there managing Mar’s antics. I did not know it then but another incident was in progress that could spoil the beginning of our holidays as well. A couple was actually occupying Sam’s seat. But Sam not wanting to make a scene relented. Had I known of the situation I would have yelled at the couple saying ‘If both of you want to do this go with Airasia!’ With all due respect to Airasia, this couple’s mentality was exactly that. No respect for others.
Instead of 0915 we arrived safely in Langkawi at 1030. The pilot apologized while on the air and too late for me to even consider it. Again not wanting to spoil our holidays I blacked out the feeling and walked down the tarmac to the arrival area. Once I switched on my phone it buzzed with incoming missed call and messages from the agent that was going to rent me a car. I called him and was told that my car was already waiting at the car park. True to Langkawi form the key was also there which reminded me of the joke by my friend. He said if ever I am in a desperate situation just be at the airport parking lot and I can have a pick at any car parked there. Apparently most of the cars parked there belong to various car rental agencies and they parked their cars with the keys visible or at places that are not that difficult to find. As soon as we loaded the car we drove out of the airport towards Cenang beach. At that point in time the weather was already hot and walking around was definitely not in order. I called up the resorts to find out whether our rooms were ready to check in. The lady who answered told me check-in time was at
As we walked along the corridor I noticed that walking towards me was someone very familiar. I took off my shade and stood directly in front of his path. He looked up and we eyed each other a minute, smiled and without saying a word hugged. The last time we met was in 2004 during our reunion in Seremban. Lokman Hakim Abu aka Ray Clemence and his family were already in Langkawi for two days and scheduled to leave the next day. We chatted a bit and not wanting to take much of his limited time we promised to have dinner together that night.
We knew we were not going to find anything new at the Langkawi Seaworld except for the seals and penguins. For Mar’s sake I paid the exorbitant fees for all of us. I said exorbitant because they priced the fee according to the western standard but not the service. Further more with that kind of price they are not going to attract a lot of Malaysians to the place. Anyway once inside we made the best of everything and as expected Mar enjoyed the experience the most. As in any tourist attractions like the seaworld at the end of the tour was their souvenir shop. However it was a light different in the Seaworld where the management decided to have various small stalls selling their wares. This one particular stall immediately attracted the attention of Baqir, Kak Cik and Mar as we walked out. It was a stall making a wax hand ran by two young Malay guys. They got interested to do their hands and looking at the process easy enough I agreed. Sam and I were more attracted to the two young Malay guys’ entrepreneurship nature. We chatted with them and admired their resolve and resilient even more. Since the process was easy enough I thought it would be a short once. I was wrong we had to wait for 40 minutes for the whole thing to complete. We waited with our stomach already growling to be fed.
As we knew that food can be a bit expensive in Cenang we decided to have lunch in Kuah and I took the Temoyong road there. That road took us passed the Shrimps the place where Sam and I had our seafood dinner once. I knew instantly where we were going to have dinner with Lokman that night. Nothing much has changed in Kuah except the main road to the jetty was closed for upgrade. The usual shops and players were still there the only thing we were told by Lokman’s wife was that now the prices are almost the same everywhere.
Since the main road was being upgraded gone with it the seaside Medan Selera. It must have been moved somewhere but I was not that serious to find where it is now. I just drove around and we could not find anything decent to stop to eat until I decided to just stop at one restaurant as we drove in the second time around Kuah and had our lunch there. The food was ok but what surprised me the price was not as cheap as before. While eating I tried to make sense of the town, of course with my benchmark being the old one that I used to, and found out nothing much has changed. So immediately I knew we would just be coming back to Kuah town to buy chocolates and do a little shopping of the usual.
Around 1510 I walked to the front desk of Awana Porto Malai to check in. As usual I presented the lady at the counter the two cards. my ID and credit cards. We went through the motion until she presented the key when I realized it was only for a room. I remarked ‘One room only?’ Implying I had booked two. Obviously I need two rooms and since my booking was done by my friend who happened to be somebody powerful in the state the lady did not say much but just to murmur and audible ‘the booking was only for a room’. Quickly she conferred with her supervisor and they decided to give me the next room which happened to be a connecting room to the first one given to me. I sensed they had to bump somebody to give me that room. Regardless whose mistake it was I still need another room. I could not have my family cramp in one room for two nights.
The room was quite spacious with two big single beds in both rooms. However because they wanted to have a bigger room space they sacrificed both the bath room and the WC which were separated. I guess the architect and the owner wanted their guests to enjoy the atmosphere more then the utilities. Well this could work for some people but not others. Especially those that were paying for a five star prices. To us it did not matter as long as we can enjoy ourselves and have beds to rest at night. Those paying for a sea view room like us then got compensated by the beautiful harbour like sea view. The holiday season rate for such room is RM275 but I, courtesy of my friend, got them at RM240 each. Maybe had I played my cards better I could get even cheaper rate. Nevertheless I am thankful to my friend who made my holiday possible and enjoyable. The only drag – there was no broadband connection.
After I took my bath and said my prayers I called Lokman to set our appointment for dinner. Since we were musafirs I offered two options, to have an early dinner or later after Maghrib. He could not commit at that point in time as his family were busy shopping and said would call me later. With that I decided to go down to the pool with Mar. Well actually Mar had been pestering me to go since we checked in. I actually wanted to go as well not so much to swim but more for the therapy for my clavicle that I broke late last year. Because of that, to Mar’s dismayed, I did not stay long. I had to promise her that we would be coming down swimming again the next day.
Back in the room I thought I was going to take a nap but the agent from the car rental agency I rented my car from called me to inform that he was coming over to give me a better car. Due to that I decided to go down with my camera to take some shots while waiting. Baqir and Mar decided to follow me. Just a few minutes, while we were busy takings photos Lokman called to say that they have decided to have an early dinner and almost at the same time our new car arrived. With that I called up to the rooms to inform the rest to get ready.
Despite driving from Cenang we arrived at Shrimps first. The place was empty and we were the only customers there. Sam, small Mar and I were there once tasting the food for the first time years ago. It was at night when we were there and nothing much we could see except lighted areas. That day there was a bit of daylight so we could enjoy the whole place a lot more. The commercial fish and shrimps ponds were down below like rows of small paddy fields very close to the edge of the
Obviously Lokman and I could go on talking about old times but being a good husbands and fathers we decided to talk about our families and included everyone in the conversation. We learned about each other even more. Lokman and I having an unbreakable bond now became even unbreakable with our families in the relationship equation. For sure the next time we are down south we will stop over at their place. The good food eventually served and even with their freshness and good taste became the prop for the family gathering. We chatted, chatted and chatted, the food came and went but never seems to be able to satisfy our appetite for chatting. Just like playing chicken all of us were waiting for someone to give up first and call it a day. In the end our youngest hinted to us the fun, the good night and the gathering had to end. I paid the dinner, said our goodbyes (even this took us almost 20 minutes to accomplish) and departed Since Lokman would be leaving the next day I sadly said to myself when is the next time?
While waiting for Lokman and family to arrive earlier I called En Ali the mangrove boat ride operator to set and appointment fro our boat ride the next day. Since he suggested that the best time to feed the eagle was around
There was a bright moon when we arrived at the hotel and it created a very serene environment deflecting shining lights of the quiet sea. I was tempted to sit around at the hotel’s boardwalk to enjoy the moonlit night and taking few photos. But once up in the room I misjudged myself and did not realized I was really tired. It must have been because of the heat. I changed and once my head was on the pillow I was gone.
You can view all the pictures for Day 1 here.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Kg Sokmek and Kuala Gandah, May 9-10, 2009
For a Pahang boy it was ashamed that I only going to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary now. Indeed it is better late than never and in my case the timing was never been better. And the thing that I like most about this trip it would be a camping excursion with the family again. This time with a big PT family as well. With the help of my good neighbors we made plan and it could not have been executed any better.
We would have been in the bus as well if not for the trip to KT to pick up Kakak. The kids would have loved it or I’d make sure they love it he he he. Secretly I was the one that was eager to be on the bus. We left at around .8.30am as soon as the bus arrived to pick the others. I knew we were going to be very early ahead of the slow bus. So I planned to stop for breakfast on the way out of Gombak later.
It was the usual Saturday morning traffic on the Seremban KL highway. I drove at a moderate speed so as to ensure I would not be too far ahead of the bus. The traffic on the MRR2 was better then the usual, despite not pushing the Ranger I was still very early when we passed Taman Melawati. On the way back to Raub last week we stopped at the Nasi Dagang place for breakfast and it was not as we expected. We opted to try the new Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa outlet. I did not wish to have the nasi lemak so I ordered Mee Rebus just like Sam. Mai, Baqir and Kak CIk ordered nasi lemak each. In the end all of us were disappointed with our selection. To us the outlet runs the risk of being just a so so outlet and if the owner is not careful a potential closure. Nevertheless we took our time there.
The Gombak Karak highway was it’s normal Saturday self. Some sections during the climb were closed for upgrading. Now without prompting I sped up and as we were climbing towards the tunnel Baqir said we just overtook the bus. I did not see it but indeed the bus was now behind us climbing slowly. With that speed I knew we would be about 40-45 minutes early when we reach the resort.
As I was familiar with the route finding the resort was easy and we pull over into it at approximately 1115. There was already a lady setting up what I presumed to be our lunch. I gave my salam and introduced myself as the group from Bangi and immediately she acknowledged me. I got my confirmation that we were at the right place and without waiting a moment we started to explore the place. While doing that Din called me to enquire the way in and about ten minutes after he arrived. The bus carrying the rest eventually arrived 20 minutes later. With their arrival officially started our Kuala Gandah excursion. The plan for the day was to have lunch, choose our chalet and go to the elephant sanctuary straight away. I decided to go with the bus and parked the Ranger within the chalet compound.
I just could not help to think that it would be wonderful if I had my bicycle when the bus took us through a steep undulating road to the elephant sanctuary. There were at least four steep climbs and would be a good workout no doubt. The day was a bit hot then the usual and took a toll on some of us. Being a Saturday it was a crowded sanctuary waiting for us. Since I did not care for anything else but to enjoy the area I just went with the flow. Baqir, Kak Cik and Mar reading my senses did not asked to do anything special as well but to enjoy the place the best we can. Aizam went in to register and came out with 10 yellow and a lot of red stickers. He started to gather us around and explained that the yellow stickers were for the elephants ride and the red just to join the other activities. When he asked who would want to take the ride all the children almost yelling put up their hands. But I knew better. We gave the opportunities for others to go for the ride and took the red stickers. Since, the caretakers would only take out the elephants at 1400 to start the day activities, being early, we just sat around waiting. It was suggested that we go into the building to watch the video show but the place was packed with people. In the end we just waited outside under the shade.
There were five elephants at the sanctuary chained up waiting when we walked in. Two big ones and the others of medium size. We started to gather around taking photos of them being prepared and hosed down to cool off before the activities. One of the small ones suddenly trumpeted out a long loud sound and immediately the brave souls that put up their hands for the ride started to return their yellow stickers. I just smiled.
The first activity was elephant feeding. The announcer started to brief us on the proper way of doing it and with the fruits ready in front of us we started to feed the elephants. I was busy shooting at will to care only once in a while looking over to make sure Mar was within my range. The fruits were gone as quick as they were brought outside as if the elephants have not been eating for a while. I guess it was due to the heat apart from been hosed down they had to eat a lot of fruits to cool down. Soon the announcer came on air to move us to the next activity, elephant riding. Initially we were made to understand that the elephant ride would take us through the jungle and denai nearby but instead the announcement said that it would only a ride in circle in the middle of the compound. I was even more not interested to ride. At the same time the keepers took out two calves for the others to be fed, play with and get close to. By now the crowd began to gain momentum and soon almost the entire compound was filled with visitors. Since none of us had decided to ride the elephants we spent our time moving around from one elephant to another. Mar. Kak Cik even Baqir were not brave enough to get close to any of them for me to have a clear shot of them with the elephants. I substituted them with other subjects that I found interesting like the cute European girl rubbing a calf lovingly. To be truthful I was lucky to be there actually.
Initially I was bullish on taking to the water with the baby elephants but after witnessing the state of the water in the river I backed off. I spent my time taking more photos of the happening around me. Funny thing was I was actually looking at more equally, if not more, excited people in the water than the elephants. As if they needed the bath more than the elephants. That was when the baby elephant decided to poo in the water and everyone closed by automatically scrambled out of the way. I stood on the bank laughing. Watching human being with their antics was more fun and rewarding for me. Closed by to the baby elephant taking bath was the platform where the rest with yellow tags gathered if they wish to get dump by the elephant in the water. Although I can appreciate the activity but I could not understand how fun could it be? Especially for the elephants.
The day was still hot and humid when we left the sanctuary. By the look on everyone’s face I could sense they were happy and glad to be there. So I was glad for that as well. As soon as we got to the ‘resort’ we had out late evening tea and said our prayers. The evening activities varied depending on your responsibility and wish. The kids were of course having fun exploring the place together. Rizad was on the boat with some of them boating around the pond. Some of us men were busy preparing for the night either building our tents or campfire. The anticipation for the night was too much for some of us. Others chose to enjoy the nice evening chatting by the pond and watching others with their activities. The whole thing reminded me of my childhood life in my kampong. So nostalgic at times. Of course being too familiar with the whole thing and what needed to be done I comfortably went through the motion. Firstly, putting up my tent followed by helping the rest building a campfire, catching fish and going around taking pictures. After all that it was just waiting for night to fall so that we could pray and walk across to our serving place next to the owner’s house for dinner. It has been a while since last I had been using a communal bath so much so I got caught up reminiscing while at it.
Dinner was rice with ‘masak asam’ ikan patin as the main dish and because of that we became vegetarian. I devoured the sayur and the ulam to compensate not being able to eat the patin. I was that hungry and had no complaint what so ever. What I like most about outing like this is that we were presented with a lot of opportunities to chat and got to know our neighbors a bit better. That’s what happened during dinner. I guess dinner was just the prop or tool for us to get together more. That’s how important get-together like we had to the community and yet for all the worldly reason that we have today by design or not we are always silo in our habit. In the truest sense this community get together is the way forward for us. After awhile we decided to walk back to our chalet as we still had our BBQ and campfire to start. Walking on the bank between the two fish ponds immediately brought back the memories of walking on my Wan’s paddy fields at night when I was young. Had we have homemade torch with us it would be so surreal and real. Even without that the beautiful full moon shinning on our right was more than compensate the limitation. I forgot to mention this fact to my children and I hope they are reading this.
Back at our camp we straight away started on the campfire and BBQ. Because of the hot dry day the campfire was easy enough to start and the children started to gather around playing. I had my guitar with me but I was lost as to what I should be playing. It was so obvious what I had in mind would not suit everyone’s there. Looking at the children sitting and standing aimlessly AIzam expertly managed to gather them around and cajoled them into a children sing along session. He was so adaptable with it that I really commanded him for doing it. Another talent discovered on the night. In our next outing I know who to trust with kid’s activities. The only setback was that there were not many teenagers for me to be useful to them. Baqir and Kakcik seemed lost and decided to find their own thing to past the time. I was useless with the guitar and was rescued from the agony when Rizad called his nephew to play. So I became the support cast by playing acceptable bass. From there on suitable songs started to be serenaded to accompany the children singing. This happened about two hours when, because of the days activities with the elephants, the children shown signs of tiredness and slowly they retired into their respective chalets or tents with their mothers. Mar just walked into our tent close by and crashed into a deep sleep. Immediately the songs started to change to evergreen and the contemporary. But I fared no better and ended up mostly being singer rather than a guitar player. Had not for the sound that came from us it would have been a still quiet night. I could imagine listening to the cracking fire eating up the dry woods and the symphony of crickets as the background music. We were oblivious of all these of course. The best part was there was not any mosquito or at least none came around to bother us. Amazing, the owner joked with us in the evening when someone asked about it. He quipped ‘yes there are mosquito but if you see one please let me know.’ I understood what he meant then.
Night slowly creeping leaving us to welcome early morning but we refused to budge and still playing and chatting. In fact the owner later came by to join us. We continued with our singing and chatting without having a conscious thought when to stop and go to bed. The truth is I sensed that no one was actually would want to be the person to say ‘let’s call it a day.’ It was so tempting to continue until morning and all of us were in a state of refusal. In the end Aizam was the brave soul who finally said ‘I am tired it is time to sleep’. Automatically all of us walked up to the restroom/toilet to ease ourselves and then flew into our nests for the night. It was not too soon enough I put my head down and into my sweet dream. I think it was sweet helped by the cool breeze blowing in through the tent’s ‘windows’.
My buzzer dutifully woke me up at 0545 and without missing a beat sat up to get ready for suboh. Sam was awake instantly as well and together we climb into our chalet to wake Baqir and Kakcik up. Since I thought there would be a lot of people at the washroom I decided not take my bath yet but just to clean myself and pray. But there was only Acong there and immediately after I said my prayers I went back to have my bath. Which was the right decision as the tap ran dry just before the day broke out. After my bath I straight away packed up my things so that I did not have to rush later.
I was walking along the pond to find something nice to photograph when I saw Rizad pulling out the boat with his children. I yelled out to wait for me and since Acong was also close by we got onto the boat together and started to pedal around the pond. It was misty yet beautiful morning around the area. The heat from the pond created an exquisite morning fog which few hours later enhanced by the mist coming down the valley from the mountain area. We chatted and became nostalgic in our own way. One definite agreement between the three of us was this would not be the last time we are doing the outing. We were already talking about Tasek Chini and other possibilities. Thinking about it now the options that we have could be Kuala Woh, Sungai Congkak, Gunong Ledang and of course Tasek Chini. From the boat we witnessed the area came to live as the day broke in. People going forth with taking bath and getting ready as well as a few already on the bank enjoying the morning. Had we had our bicycles with us then we would be flying to the elephant’s sanctuary or where ever already.
Breakfast was a non event for us as we prepared for the Deerland and eventually our trip to KT to pick up Kakak.
After breakfast we waited for the bus to arrive from KL before we could go to the Deerland. It was really hot by then and it was only 0930. The bus arrived at 1000 and the rest straight away packed in their luggage so that it would be easier later. As for us we were set to go even before breakfast.
The Deerland was about four kilometers from our chalet and going towards different direction from the Elephants Sanctuary. The owner was actually at the entrance when we got there and he even directed our bus driver to make a turn few metres away and park right in front of the entrance across the road. When I saw the entrance and the surrounding my first impression that this was going to be a fun and wonderful place to be. Indeed it was.
Our exciting journey for the day started by the owner himself gathering us around and gave his briefing about the place. We were lucky to be the first big group to arrive that day and we grabbed the opportunity and benefited to the fullest. Later our group was assigned to a specific assistant who took the role as your guides as well experts in zoology. Patiently he took us around and introduced to us their open participative mini zoo with deer as the main attraction. Open participative zoo means instead of us looking at the animals from a fence or guarded enclosure we were taken around to play and be around the animals. The deers were so tame that we could not believe that we were actually among them. There were several species of deers there and I was really surprise to find out that Malaysia deer could grow as big as buffalo. The assistants gave us small basket of cut fruits to feed the deers and as soon as they saw us with the bucket in drove they came jumping and jostling for the fruits. Feeding them became a fight to fend off some of them from nudging you down. They actually stand on their two feet to get to the fruits we were holding. Some got even their small basket snatched from them. A young lady was so scared that the beast would hurt her yelled hysterically. It was a funny as well as a worrying scene at the same time. I was trying very hard not to laugh but it was really difficult.
The Deerland assistant slowly took us around to be educated about other residents. Hedgehog, ferret, quills, snake, ostrich, birds, and a very friendly sun bear. By 1130 we were done with the place. To me it was the best ‘zoo’ that I had visited in my life. With that we gathered ourselves said goodbye to everyone and off we went towards KT.
Please click here for the photos.
We would have been in the bus as well if not for the trip to KT to pick up Kakak. The kids would have loved it or I’d make sure they love it he he he. Secretly I was the one that was eager to be on the bus. We left at around .8.30am as soon as the bus arrived to pick the others. I knew we were going to be very early ahead of the slow bus. So I planned to stop for breakfast on the way out of Gombak later.
It was the usual Saturday morning traffic on the Seremban KL highway. I drove at a moderate speed so as to ensure I would not be too far ahead of the bus. The traffic on the MRR2 was better then the usual, despite not pushing the Ranger I was still very early when we passed Taman Melawati. On the way back to Raub last week we stopped at the Nasi Dagang place for breakfast and it was not as we expected. We opted to try the new Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa outlet. I did not wish to have the nasi lemak so I ordered Mee Rebus just like Sam. Mai, Baqir and Kak CIk ordered nasi lemak each. In the end all of us were disappointed with our selection. To us the outlet runs the risk of being just a so so outlet and if the owner is not careful a potential closure. Nevertheless we took our time there.
The Gombak Karak highway was it’s normal Saturday self. Some sections during the climb were closed for upgrading. Now without prompting I sped up and as we were climbing towards the tunnel Baqir said we just overtook the bus. I did not see it but indeed the bus was now behind us climbing slowly. With that speed I knew we would be about 40-45 minutes early when we reach the resort.
As I was familiar with the route finding the resort was easy and we pull over into it at approximately 1115. There was already a lady setting up what I presumed to be our lunch. I gave my salam and introduced myself as the group from Bangi and immediately she acknowledged me. I got my confirmation that we were at the right place and without waiting a moment we started to explore the place. While doing that Din called me to enquire the way in and about ten minutes after he arrived. The bus carrying the rest eventually arrived 20 minutes later. With their arrival officially started our Kuala Gandah excursion. The plan for the day was to have lunch, choose our chalet and go to the elephant sanctuary straight away. I decided to go with the bus and parked the Ranger within the chalet compound.
I just could not help to think that it would be wonderful if I had my bicycle when the bus took us through a steep undulating road to the elephant sanctuary. There were at least four steep climbs and would be a good workout no doubt. The day was a bit hot then the usual and took a toll on some of us. Being a Saturday it was a crowded sanctuary waiting for us. Since I did not care for anything else but to enjoy the area I just went with the flow. Baqir, Kak Cik and Mar reading my senses did not asked to do anything special as well but to enjoy the place the best we can. Aizam went in to register and came out with 10 yellow and a lot of red stickers. He started to gather us around and explained that the yellow stickers were for the elephants ride and the red just to join the other activities. When he asked who would want to take the ride all the children almost yelling put up their hands. But I knew better. We gave the opportunities for others to go for the ride and took the red stickers. Since, the caretakers would only take out the elephants at 1400 to start the day activities, being early, we just sat around waiting. It was suggested that we go into the building to watch the video show but the place was packed with people. In the end we just waited outside under the shade.
There were five elephants at the sanctuary chained up waiting when we walked in. Two big ones and the others of medium size. We started to gather around taking photos of them being prepared and hosed down to cool off before the activities. One of the small ones suddenly trumpeted out a long loud sound and immediately the brave souls that put up their hands for the ride started to return their yellow stickers. I just smiled.
The first activity was elephant feeding. The announcer started to brief us on the proper way of doing it and with the fruits ready in front of us we started to feed the elephants. I was busy shooting at will to care only once in a while looking over to make sure Mar was within my range. The fruits were gone as quick as they were brought outside as if the elephants have not been eating for a while. I guess it was due to the heat apart from been hosed down they had to eat a lot of fruits to cool down. Soon the announcer came on air to move us to the next activity, elephant riding. Initially we were made to understand that the elephant ride would take us through the jungle and denai nearby but instead the announcement said that it would only a ride in circle in the middle of the compound. I was even more not interested to ride. At the same time the keepers took out two calves for the others to be fed, play with and get close to. By now the crowd began to gain momentum and soon almost the entire compound was filled with visitors. Since none of us had decided to ride the elephants we spent our time moving around from one elephant to another. Mar. Kak Cik even Baqir were not brave enough to get close to any of them for me to have a clear shot of them with the elephants. I substituted them with other subjects that I found interesting like the cute European girl rubbing a calf lovingly. To be truthful I was lucky to be there actually.
Initially I was bullish on taking to the water with the baby elephants but after witnessing the state of the water in the river I backed off. I spent my time taking more photos of the happening around me. Funny thing was I was actually looking at more equally, if not more, excited people in the water than the elephants. As if they needed the bath more than the elephants. That was when the baby elephant decided to poo in the water and everyone closed by automatically scrambled out of the way. I stood on the bank laughing. Watching human being with their antics was more fun and rewarding for me. Closed by to the baby elephant taking bath was the platform where the rest with yellow tags gathered if they wish to get dump by the elephant in the water. Although I can appreciate the activity but I could not understand how fun could it be? Especially for the elephants.
The day was still hot and humid when we left the sanctuary. By the look on everyone’s face I could sense they were happy and glad to be there. So I was glad for that as well. As soon as we got to the ‘resort’ we had out late evening tea and said our prayers. The evening activities varied depending on your responsibility and wish. The kids were of course having fun exploring the place together. Rizad was on the boat with some of them boating around the pond. Some of us men were busy preparing for the night either building our tents or campfire. The anticipation for the night was too much for some of us. Others chose to enjoy the nice evening chatting by the pond and watching others with their activities. The whole thing reminded me of my childhood life in my kampong. So nostalgic at times. Of course being too familiar with the whole thing and what needed to be done I comfortably went through the motion. Firstly, putting up my tent followed by helping the rest building a campfire, catching fish and going around taking pictures. After all that it was just waiting for night to fall so that we could pray and walk across to our serving place next to the owner’s house for dinner. It has been a while since last I had been using a communal bath so much so I got caught up reminiscing while at it.
Dinner was rice with ‘masak asam’ ikan patin as the main dish and because of that we became vegetarian. I devoured the sayur and the ulam to compensate not being able to eat the patin. I was that hungry and had no complaint what so ever. What I like most about outing like this is that we were presented with a lot of opportunities to chat and got to know our neighbors a bit better. That’s what happened during dinner. I guess dinner was just the prop or tool for us to get together more. That’s how important get-together like we had to the community and yet for all the worldly reason that we have today by design or not we are always silo in our habit. In the truest sense this community get together is the way forward for us. After awhile we decided to walk back to our chalet as we still had our BBQ and campfire to start. Walking on the bank between the two fish ponds immediately brought back the memories of walking on my Wan’s paddy fields at night when I was young. Had we have homemade torch with us it would be so surreal and real. Even without that the beautiful full moon shinning on our right was more than compensate the limitation. I forgot to mention this fact to my children and I hope they are reading this.
Back at our camp we straight away started on the campfire and BBQ. Because of the hot dry day the campfire was easy enough to start and the children started to gather around playing. I had my guitar with me but I was lost as to what I should be playing. It was so obvious what I had in mind would not suit everyone’s there. Looking at the children sitting and standing aimlessly AIzam expertly managed to gather them around and cajoled them into a children sing along session. He was so adaptable with it that I really commanded him for doing it. Another talent discovered on the night. In our next outing I know who to trust with kid’s activities. The only setback was that there were not many teenagers for me to be useful to them. Baqir and Kakcik seemed lost and decided to find their own thing to past the time. I was useless with the guitar and was rescued from the agony when Rizad called his nephew to play. So I became the support cast by playing acceptable bass. From there on suitable songs started to be serenaded to accompany the children singing. This happened about two hours when, because of the days activities with the elephants, the children shown signs of tiredness and slowly they retired into their respective chalets or tents with their mothers. Mar just walked into our tent close by and crashed into a deep sleep. Immediately the songs started to change to evergreen and the contemporary. But I fared no better and ended up mostly being singer rather than a guitar player. Had not for the sound that came from us it would have been a still quiet night. I could imagine listening to the cracking fire eating up the dry woods and the symphony of crickets as the background music. We were oblivious of all these of course. The best part was there was not any mosquito or at least none came around to bother us. Amazing, the owner joked with us in the evening when someone asked about it. He quipped ‘yes there are mosquito but if you see one please let me know.’ I understood what he meant then.
Night slowly creeping leaving us to welcome early morning but we refused to budge and still playing and chatting. In fact the owner later came by to join us. We continued with our singing and chatting without having a conscious thought when to stop and go to bed. The truth is I sensed that no one was actually would want to be the person to say ‘let’s call it a day.’ It was so tempting to continue until morning and all of us were in a state of refusal. In the end Aizam was the brave soul who finally said ‘I am tired it is time to sleep’. Automatically all of us walked up to the restroom/toilet to ease ourselves and then flew into our nests for the night. It was not too soon enough I put my head down and into my sweet dream. I think it was sweet helped by the cool breeze blowing in through the tent’s ‘windows’.
My buzzer dutifully woke me up at 0545 and without missing a beat sat up to get ready for suboh. Sam was awake instantly as well and together we climb into our chalet to wake Baqir and Kakcik up. Since I thought there would be a lot of people at the washroom I decided not take my bath yet but just to clean myself and pray. But there was only Acong there and immediately after I said my prayers I went back to have my bath. Which was the right decision as the tap ran dry just before the day broke out. After my bath I straight away packed up my things so that I did not have to rush later.
I was walking along the pond to find something nice to photograph when I saw Rizad pulling out the boat with his children. I yelled out to wait for me and since Acong was also close by we got onto the boat together and started to pedal around the pond. It was misty yet beautiful morning around the area. The heat from the pond created an exquisite morning fog which few hours later enhanced by the mist coming down the valley from the mountain area. We chatted and became nostalgic in our own way. One definite agreement between the three of us was this would not be the last time we are doing the outing. We were already talking about Tasek Chini and other possibilities. Thinking about it now the options that we have could be Kuala Woh, Sungai Congkak, Gunong Ledang and of course Tasek Chini. From the boat we witnessed the area came to live as the day broke in. People going forth with taking bath and getting ready as well as a few already on the bank enjoying the morning. Had we had our bicycles with us then we would be flying to the elephant’s sanctuary or where ever already.
Breakfast was a non event for us as we prepared for the Deerland and eventually our trip to KT to pick up Kakak.
After breakfast we waited for the bus to arrive from KL before we could go to the Deerland. It was really hot by then and it was only 0930. The bus arrived at 1000 and the rest straight away packed in their luggage so that it would be easier later. As for us we were set to go even before breakfast.
The Deerland was about four kilometers from our chalet and going towards different direction from the Elephants Sanctuary. The owner was actually at the entrance when we got there and he even directed our bus driver to make a turn few metres away and park right in front of the entrance across the road. When I saw the entrance and the surrounding my first impression that this was going to be a fun and wonderful place to be. Indeed it was.
Our exciting journey for the day started by the owner himself gathering us around and gave his briefing about the place. We were lucky to be the first big group to arrive that day and we grabbed the opportunity and benefited to the fullest. Later our group was assigned to a specific assistant who took the role as your guides as well experts in zoology. Patiently he took us around and introduced to us their open participative mini zoo with deer as the main attraction. Open participative zoo means instead of us looking at the animals from a fence or guarded enclosure we were taken around to play and be around the animals. The deers were so tame that we could not believe that we were actually among them. There were several species of deers there and I was really surprise to find out that Malaysia deer could grow as big as buffalo. The assistants gave us small basket of cut fruits to feed the deers and as soon as they saw us with the bucket in drove they came jumping and jostling for the fruits. Feeding them became a fight to fend off some of them from nudging you down. They actually stand on their two feet to get to the fruits we were holding. Some got even their small basket snatched from them. A young lady was so scared that the beast would hurt her yelled hysterically. It was a funny as well as a worrying scene at the same time. I was trying very hard not to laugh but it was really difficult.
The Deerland assistant slowly took us around to be educated about other residents. Hedgehog, ferret, quills, snake, ostrich, birds, and a very friendly sun bear. By 1130 we were done with the place. To me it was the best ‘zoo’ that I had visited in my life. With that we gathered ourselves said goodbye to everyone and off we went towards KT.
Please click here for the photos.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
On The Train, June 1, 2009
I was on the 1745 train home when it started to rain at KL Station. Until today I cannot really aptly describe the nice feeling that develops inside of me whenever I am looking out at a rainy day from a window. Especially a glass window. Looking out at the rain took me down memory lane very fast. Rainy season in Kuantan, Melody and First of May came in that order for me today. As always it created a nice nostalgic feeling. Rain somehow is an association to happy feeling for me.
Since it was a bit early for me today I did expect the train to be packed. But due the school holidays I did not expect it to be solid packed. Maybe parents would like to be early home to be with their children.
The Malaysian economy contracted by -6.2% last quarter and would remain the same in this quarter. It was projected to start improving in the second half of the year by few points and probably leveling off or in positive zone next year. What interesting in this analysis is that we are expecting Malaysians to react the same way as before? When indicators were not as such we got worried. With an entrained behaviour we should, but additional complexity came into play.
Since it was a bit early for me today I did expect the train to be packed. But due the school holidays I did not expect it to be solid packed. Maybe parents would like to be early home to be with their children.
The Malaysian economy contracted by -6.2% last quarter and would remain the same in this quarter. It was projected to start improving in the second half of the year by few points and probably leveling off or in positive zone next year. What interesting in this analysis is that we are expecting Malaysians to react the same way as before? When indicators were not as such we got worried. With an entrained behaviour we should, but additional complexity came into play.
On The Train. May 29, 2009
We visited Digi head office yesterday and of course to me was not so much of a revelation but to witness the implementation level 5 office environment working in a ‘Malaysian’ company. If you do not understand what level 5 office environment it is an office floor that does not have walls where everyone do not own a permanent workstation. This applies to everyone from the CEO to the cleaners. I do not wish to sound too simplistic but that’s the idea. To be there for someone that is not familiar with it would definitely be an eye popping experience. The main driver for change was breaking down silo of communication and in the process of doing it they gain so much more. The success factor was the total commitment of their management to do it. Of course we may be hearing one side of the story but judging from the outlook of the people in the office they like working in that kind of setting.
Just as we are going around to view the spaces I saw Khaidir, a colleague from my TMM days, sitting talking with his colleagues outside of their ‘Bakery’ but did not stop to say hello as I thought I would be coming down later and would see him again. I should have known and took the opportunity when opportunity presented itself. Another lesson learned.
I just got off from our OD strategic discussion just now and what worries me is when I was asked about our success stories suddenly I just went blank. With all the success stories that we have I went totally blank
Just as we are going around to view the spaces I saw Khaidir, a colleague from my TMM days, sitting talking with his colleagues outside of their ‘Bakery’ but did not stop to say hello as I thought I would be coming down later and would see him again. I should have known and took the opportunity when opportunity presented itself. Another lesson learned.
I just got off from our OD strategic discussion just now and what worries me is when I was asked about our success stories suddenly I just went blank. With all the success stories that we have I went totally blank
On The Train, May 26, 2009
I wanted to home early but I was still in the office around 1900 so I decided to say my Maghrib first. I knew I would be late for my neighborhood meeting.
As usual my timing was almost perfect but KTMB’s left to be desired yet again. The obvious impact was I was going to be even later than I already was. To mitigate the potential unnecessary stress I booted up my laptop and started to type and play around with my photo collections.
Baqir along with Sam and Mar arrived as soon as walked out to the parking lot and I went straight to my Persatuan Penduduk PT meeting from there. The main agenda for the meeting was on our new activities fro the year but as usual security issue took center stage. We have to realize by now that there isn’t straight and direct solution to this. Everyone has to be involved and take responsibility.
As usual my timing was almost perfect but KTMB’s left to be desired yet again. The obvious impact was I was going to be even later than I already was. To mitigate the potential unnecessary stress I booted up my laptop and started to type and play around with my photo collections.
Baqir along with Sam and Mar arrived as soon as walked out to the parking lot and I went straight to my Persatuan Penduduk PT meeting from there. The main agenda for the meeting was on our new activities fro the year but as usual security issue took center stage. We have to realize by now that there isn’t straight and direct solution to this. Everyone has to be involved and take responsibility.
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