Quacks

A couple of quacks treading water in the lake next to KL Pac. Graceful and peaceful as they cut through the water. A serene sight...even in the heat of the midday sun.

Chon loy lor...

My Two Mums

I've got more of everything! I live in abundance. Mother came up from Taiping monday. It's the school holidays now. She is retired but due to the boredom of staying at home she has offered her services to a Kindy in Taiping.

Tuesday morning breakfast with my two mums. What else can a guy ask for?

Yeeha!

I had a very strong urge to see Jesse last week...just cos i missed the little tyke. Called the mummy and she made arrangements and we had dinner together. Uncle Jeff and Jesse mucking around with the Z3 camera.

My Bonsai

I have had this Bonsai for the longest time...if memory serves me it has been 20years since i got it. It is still growing strong and it will be blooming pretty white "lantern-like" flowers not long from now.

My mother and my mom both love gardening. My mother inculcated in me the love for plants and gardening. She used to teach me to sing songs like Eidelwise and always was busying herself in the garden where i had my first experience with a garden spade and learned the warmth of mother earth. The smell of upturned earth and the green of grass was like an tonic that would make my world beautiful. The warm soil in my hands as i helped my mother with the repotting or weeding made me feel one with mother earth. It was love at first touch.

When i moved to KL i became my mom's gardener as she would get me what i wanted to do up the garden. I was in charge of the garden. She loved plants but was not too crazy about getting her hands dirty...then. Now she has a garden so pretty i'm envious.

Different...yet same

One red one green...two leaves from the same plant. Definately not bud grafted like the many bougainvillas we see in the gardens near our homes but a wild fern in the wilds. Just like the many peoples of the world...different color and creed but we are ONE...Beings of Mother Earth.

Heaven...a place on Earth

A Row of Mothers

Three mothers in a row. My stepmom, my sis Sue and cousin Nic. This is Sue's gift to mom for mother's day...a pretty manicure at the Nails Shop. Three mother's attended to by 3 gorgeous girls who will someday be mothers in their own time. I was checking them out too...potentials mind you.

I celebrated Mother's day with a call to my mom in Taiping, she was having a "mothers" gathering in Taiping's Legend Inn and later that evening steve, jo and i had dinner with stepmom "mom" in Kepong eating at some small chinese restaurant and as usual we had a great time. Mom wanted it minimal. She also taking care of our purse strings.

To my two beloved moms...Happy Mothers Day with lotsa Love.

The Guides

Amir and Ismail our guides have been guiding trekkers like myself for close to 10 years. Sometimes they double up as porters too. On this trip Ismail (Chelsea...who just lost the league championship to Man Utd...supporter) was the porter for one of our team while Amir was our official guide.

Amir was recently in a Tahan Eco Challenge about 2 weeks ago where he and his team mate started from Merapoh and finished in Kuala Tahan in only 26 hours. 26 hours! Crazy buggers. Here we are...city slickers doing it in 7 days and half dead. Most times Meow and I would be last to leave camp and also last to arrive. Amir and Ismail would be the sweepers and they would normally give us a 1 hour headstart and before you know it...they suddenly creep up on us ever so silently. That's why at every lunch hour check point they can afford to pull out their gas stove and cook rice or Maggi.

Meow and I are grateful to them for waiting for us and making sure we did not get lost. It's never easy to be a sweeper cos just as you are warmed up and raring to go, the last man might need a rest or just slow like me and the sweeper would loose steam. We know only too well as we play that role when we bring friends trekking on our more familiar paths.

I salute them for their patience and their strength in keeping up with us. Terima kasih...

Toilet Maker

Whirlwind here you are...my Coleman collapsible.

This has been the most environmentally friendly equipment i ever brought along not to mention useful too. It has been our toilet maker from Kem Kubang to Kem Tengah. Kem Kor had a makeshift toilet with ground sheet for walls. The rest only shrubs to cover our asses and on Kem Botak...very low shrubs.

When nature calls Meow and I would go together...so we can watch each other's back. No! We are not perverts. Just for safety. We normally get our calls half an hour after breakfast. Then we seek out a suitable spot away from the waterways and suitably covered from view and we'll dig a 6 x 6 inch hole to do our business. No flushing system here. We just bury the days droppings for hygiene purposes. Wet wipes come in useful here. We don't do leaves. Get the wrong leaf and itch like hell...no way.

My toilet maker is useful too when it rains. It then transforms into a drain maker. The whole of Ahmad's Twelve needed it's service on Kem Kubang, Kem Botak, Kem Gedung and even Teku. Tengah too. This no-bigger than my palm travelling equipment is a must have for all outdoor travels. You never know when nature might call...

Floating at Kuala Tahan

Once the backpack were checked and the rubbish accounted for we headed across river via the river boat to where our little motel was. We all couldn't wait for some restaurant cooked dish. Dinner was at one of the floating restaurants along Sg. Tembeling. Nasi goreng, mee goreng, sup sayur and for me telur mata and teh halia...mmm mm. Small town which has nothing much to do after dinner.

Legs still bleeding from the suckers. It did not stop till after i bathed and plastered the drainage hole or else i would have low blood pressure.

Cleaned and plastered but the bruises remain as a memory of all the roots and branches we braced with our legs to stop our falls.

The floating restaurants along Sg.Tembeling.

The long river boat out of Kuala Tahan heading to Kuala Tembeling our next port.

Another adventure in the pocket. I don't think any of us are thinking of any mountains to climb at the moment. Perhaps a trip to the beach or maybe a drive up the highlands but no trekking for the moment. I'm sure of it. A week later perhaps.

Day 7 - Journey's End

On the 7th day God took a rest but we couldn't, we still had a long way out to Kuala Tahan.

Oddly enough I have no pictures of Kem Tengah at all. It was the camp i liked the least. It gave me the shivers. Taking water was a long way off the camp and the place had an eerie feel to it. Once we had settled into out tents after dinner we never came out. Not even for a pee. I was unfortunate to have that natures calling at anout 2230hrs. I just pulled my mug in from outside the tent and pissed in there and pour it outside the tent. Why? The place was just scary after dark. There were all kinds of sounds and my imagination was alive. Slept i did only to wake up at 0700hrs.

Made my cup of Nescafe in the same cup that i pissed in and had Maggi before clearing out of camp by 0845hrs. I think all of us wanted to get to Kuala Tahan as fast as possible. My mind was on coconut water and some good hot food. There were request for ice kacang and so on. It was not so hilly but it was hot and balmy and still downhill so the toes keep on hurting and i can feel them getting numb. I was numb too. Nothing matter anymore. My mind was on the coconut water and Kuala Tahan.

It took me 7 hours from Kem Tengah to reach Kuala Tahan and to be greeted by a wildboar foraging at the edge of Taman Negara HQ campsite.

We were totally exhausted when this picture was taken of me next to a big mother of a tree but the guy holding the camera was just as breathless hence the shaky picture. 7 days and at least 110km (ranger says it is at least 3 times that distance on the ground) on, we finally were at the end of our journey.

Finally my dream to trek the Merapoh-Kuala Tahan trail has been realised. Meow and I have made it happen. Took us 2 years from the day we said we wanted to do it with Ahmad. Last year he had high blood pressure and by God's grace he is healthy and able this year. 2 years in the plan and 7 days on foot.

Woohoo! We did it!