Saturday, December 31, 2011
Day 26
Day 25
21-26 Dec 2011 (Gopeng, Cameron, Ipoh).
After year-round of slogging our guts out at work, we finally found time to leave and go on a relaxing break...or so I thought. I blame it on myself that I couldn't find time earlier to book a trip somewhere further away to some dreamy island, so LY had to come in to take us to not-so-dreamy... Malaysia.
This trip was no walk in the park. In fact, the only way to summarise it is that the three of us "are survivors".
First shock. We were dropped off along some deserted road in Gopeng at 4am in the morning. Three of us walked along the gravel road dragging our luggages to find the bus station. The streets were extremely quiet and there were stray dogs barking at the din we made. We made it to the bus station where we waited for dawn to break. Lying on the benches, we were mistaken as vagabonds, and Ly even had to fending off a cat that pounced on him twice.
2nd shock. We made it to Gopeng resort and were told we were the only 3 guests in the entire resort that could accomodate "more than 100 people". Dots.... There were many parts of the trip that defied my expectations, but this was the worst. It reminded me of the time I went to Cambodia and had to live in a pseudo war-time quarters.
Over the 1 day at the resort, I realised that I had used a lot of swear words. SL told me "it's ok, with this kind of conditions it is only natural that you'll want to use swear words". We were given this kampung hut on silts with no beds, only mattresses which didn't even look washed. There was a bathroom downstairs with poor plumbing and no heater. No heater?!! We just came back from waterfall absailing and white water rafting and it was raining. Luckily from my cambodian experience I learnt that the best thing to do in such circumstances was to...ask for hot boiled water, which thankfully was given.
3rd shock. "Bus ride to hell". That's what I termed the bus to Gopeng when we were waiting at the Ipoh bus station for our pickup. There were a few men shouting and waving in those who wanted to take the bus to Gopeng. I just got off the yucky bus from Gopeng to Ipoh, and standing where I was, surrounded by the disarray, the uncleaniness, the 2nd-hand cigarette smoke, just couldn't surpress the exasperation.
4th shock. Jungle trekking in Cameron where 3 pairs of shoes were ruined. It was the "season where Rafflesias were blooming", and Ly's sis kindly signed us up for a 1-day adventure tour which included jungle trekking. For me who thought i had left the worst behind in Gopeng, it was a moment of "you mean it's not over yet?" Together with a few caucasians, we shared a jeep ride to the mouth of the jungle. It was drizzling while we trekked 2 hours up to see 1 rafflesia, and climed down again.
The trekking was quite an experience, afterall it was the first time all of us have ever seen a rafflesia. It was also the first time in a very long while that I was caught up in a physical and mental marathon. It was a very muddy climb, every step you take you risk sinking your feet into the deep sludge that was all around. Within just 5 minutes, that happened to me. Pretty shoes all gone. But once you get over the fact that there is absolutely no way that your shoes are going to stay pristine, the going is less tough. You simply just walk and try not to fall over; or fall through the rickety bridges made of bamboo into the rapids.
Looking back, the rafflesia trip was the most memorable part and I'm glad we signed on. Only thing we looked very silly at Ly's house trying to scrub our shoes, and we were drenched at cold for the entire day.
There were other memorable bits on the trip. For instance, re-learning our xmas carols to kill time the day we were trapped in the kampung hut... The Gopeng water sports were rather enjoyable, as was Cactus Valley and the night market in Cameron. We also spared no effort in rewarding ourselves for our hard work. For 2 days in a row we had steamboat in Cameron! :):) The Ipoh leg was extremely satisfying too! As usual, we went for the must-haves - 芽菜鸡, 流粉, and 蜜瓜西米露. Coincidentally there was a mega food fair the day we arrived. We spent Christmas chilling out at Old Town and catching Missing Impossible 4 at the theatre. On this trip I also discovered the most heavenly kaya puffs! So heavenly it's by pre-order only. Now I know what to ask Ly to get for me when he goes back home. :):)
Finally, from the trip, I realised that I'm not that cut out for outdoor adventures after all (not unless there's good food thrown in). I'm more suited for eating trips. lol. My next trip....we shall be gourmet travellers!
After year-round of slogging our guts out at work, we finally found time to leave and go on a relaxing break...or so I thought. I blame it on myself that I couldn't find time earlier to book a trip somewhere further away to some dreamy island, so LY had to come in to take us to not-so-dreamy... Malaysia.
This trip was no walk in the park. In fact, the only way to summarise it is that the three of us "are survivors".
First shock. We were dropped off along some deserted road in Gopeng at 4am in the morning. Three of us walked along the gravel road dragging our luggages to find the bus station. The streets were extremely quiet and there were stray dogs barking at the din we made. We made it to the bus station where we waited for dawn to break. Lying on the benches, we were mistaken as vagabonds, and Ly even had to fending off a cat that pounced on him twice.
2nd shock. We made it to Gopeng resort and were told we were the only 3 guests in the entire resort that could accomodate "more than 100 people". Dots.... There were many parts of the trip that defied my expectations, but this was the worst. It reminded me of the time I went to Cambodia and had to live in a pseudo war-time quarters.
Over the 1 day at the resort, I realised that I had used a lot of swear words. SL told me "it's ok, with this kind of conditions it is only natural that you'll want to use swear words". We were given this kampung hut on silts with no beds, only mattresses which didn't even look washed. There was a bathroom downstairs with poor plumbing and no heater. No heater?!! We just came back from waterfall absailing and white water rafting and it was raining. Luckily from my cambodian experience I learnt that the best thing to do in such circumstances was to...ask for hot boiled water, which thankfully was given.
3rd shock. "Bus ride to hell". That's what I termed the bus to Gopeng when we were waiting at the Ipoh bus station for our pickup. There were a few men shouting and waving in those who wanted to take the bus to Gopeng. I just got off the yucky bus from Gopeng to Ipoh, and standing where I was, surrounded by the disarray, the uncleaniness, the 2nd-hand cigarette smoke, just couldn't surpress the exasperation.
4th shock. Jungle trekking in Cameron where 3 pairs of shoes were ruined. It was the "season where Rafflesias were blooming", and Ly's sis kindly signed us up for a 1-day adventure tour which included jungle trekking. For me who thought i had left the worst behind in Gopeng, it was a moment of "you mean it's not over yet?" Together with a few caucasians, we shared a jeep ride to the mouth of the jungle. It was drizzling while we trekked 2 hours up to see 1 rafflesia, and climed down again.
The trekking was quite an experience, afterall it was the first time all of us have ever seen a rafflesia. It was also the first time in a very long while that I was caught up in a physical and mental marathon. It was a very muddy climb, every step you take you risk sinking your feet into the deep sludge that was all around. Within just 5 minutes, that happened to me. Pretty shoes all gone. But once you get over the fact that there is absolutely no way that your shoes are going to stay pristine, the going is less tough. You simply just walk and try not to fall over; or fall through the rickety bridges made of bamboo into the rapids.
Looking back, the rafflesia trip was the most memorable part and I'm glad we signed on. Only thing we looked very silly at Ly's house trying to scrub our shoes, and we were drenched at cold for the entire day.
There were other memorable bits on the trip. For instance, re-learning our xmas carols to kill time the day we were trapped in the kampung hut... The Gopeng water sports were rather enjoyable, as was Cactus Valley and the night market in Cameron. We also spared no effort in rewarding ourselves for our hard work. For 2 days in a row we had steamboat in Cameron! :):) The Ipoh leg was extremely satisfying too! As usual, we went for the must-haves - 芽菜鸡, 流粉, and 蜜瓜西米露. Coincidentally there was a mega food fair the day we arrived. We spent Christmas chilling out at Old Town and catching Missing Impossible 4 at the theatre. On this trip I also discovered the most heavenly kaya puffs! So heavenly it's by pre-order only. Now I know what to ask Ly to get for me when he goes back home. :):)
Finally, from the trip, I realised that I'm not that cut out for outdoor adventures after all (not unless there's good food thrown in). I'm more suited for eating trips. lol. My next trip....we shall be gourmet travellers!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Day 24
Meeting trips are great because you don't have to write trip reports; you have a whole hotel room to yourself; and you get to play hard! There are these special programmes by the host economy where they bring you to touristy places to soak in the local culture & heritage. This time the Thai host brought us to watch the Siam Niramit show, which I must say tops all the culture shows I've watched. It reminds me of the show at "Shijie Zhi Chuang (Window of the World) in Shenzhen, but better. The kind of grandeur and exactness in cheorography is really impressive!
My travel buddies this time were Sandra and Dave, and they really took care of me when we were there lol. Dave was like our local guide since he frequents bangkok. On the first day, he brought us to BMK via the BTS (MRT there), introduced us to Thailand's oyster omelette (puts the S'pore ou luah to shame), and took us on a tuk tuk ride. On the last day, we had about 3 hours before our flight and he took us for a quick shopping trip at some street market (can't remember if it's Chatuchak).
The most lasting impression Bangkok left on me were the elephants we saw at Siam Niramit and oyster omelette. Definitely the oyster omelette! haha =P
Picture opportunity with the elephants at Siam Niramit
A must try when in Thailand- Oyster Omelette!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Day 23
The theme for this week is Food....*glup* I've been pigging out so much that I feel more than a tinge of guilt. We had workplan session yesterday and a short ice-cream making course for team bonding. Creating home-made ice-cream was no easy feat. First you whip the eggs and sugar for so long that your arms ached. Then you continue mixing in the milk, whipped cream and flavouring. Afterwhich, as a faster alternative to putting it in the fridge, you pour liquid nitrogen into the mixture and it freezes over almost immediately! It was quite an experience making ice-cream that way :) I'm so worried now that even though I don't have my own kitchen I'm already cooking and eating so much...imagine the day when I have my own kitchen!!! omg!!!
~Excitement from ice-cream making~
~Vietnamese Rice Rolls from the Thai food stall~
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Day 22
November was a mentally and physically fulfilling month. I finished a couple of books, and the whole series of the Slam Dunk manga. I know I'm a very late follower of the series, but better late than never. I'm a fan now! :) The timing couldn't have been more perfect. It coincided with my taking on of a new sport, netball. And the day which I finished the last book was the day just before our friendly match against Malaysia. There were many times I felt I could feel what 樱木花道 was going through as a newbie, though I'm not that good a player. (No innate talent..ha..)
We formed this netball interest group in spring in preparation for the games. And through the training every once or twice a week, I got to know more people while enjoying the intense workout. The group consists of so many young girls (sweet young things younger than me) whose exuberant energy I could not match. Some of the enthusiasm and competitiveness rubbed off and the team even printed t-shirts for a common team identity. Throw in a 1 night stay at Changi Village Hotel before the games and the potential of a day-off if we did well, how could we not win the next day?!
This month we also set up our Xmas tree. Our tree is so small, but it's really a challenging task to get it up every year because we didn't get one of those easy-to-install kind. Plus as our tree "ages", it sheds more and more leaves. This year we had to use ropes to secure the base and tie the branches to the trunk. But we got it up eventually and all that hard work brought along a huge sense of achievement. :) HYong helped a little this year and he commented that "your xmas tree is really DIY!!" lol it's like putting your own snowman together.
Can't wait for xmas to come!! For the first time I'm going to be on long leave!!
We formed this netball interest group in spring in preparation for the games. And through the training every once or twice a week, I got to know more people while enjoying the intense workout. The group consists of so many young girls (sweet young things younger than me) whose exuberant energy I could not match. Some of the enthusiasm and competitiveness rubbed off and the team even printed t-shirts for a common team identity. Throw in a 1 night stay at Changi Village Hotel before the games and the potential of a day-off if we did well, how could we not win the next day?!
This month we also set up our Xmas tree. Our tree is so small, but it's really a challenging task to get it up every year because we didn't get one of those easy-to-install kind. Plus as our tree "ages", it sheds more and more leaves. This year we had to use ropes to secure the base and tie the branches to the trunk. But we got it up eventually and all that hard work brought along a huge sense of achievement. :) HYong helped a little this year and he commented that "your xmas tree is really DIY!!" lol it's like putting your own snowman together.
Can't wait for xmas to come!! For the first time I'm going to be on long leave!!
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