Kenyir Lake

People always talk about going overseas for holidays.... it is a bit sad because many of them do not realise how much they miss within their own lands. Recently went to Kenyir Lake for my graduation trip with my form six friends. Though we went on to do different things in university, we kept in touch and went on this holiday to celebrate the end of one chapter of our lives (for most of us anyway)

Rather than staying in a grounded chalet with swimming pools, spas and full facilities, we opt to stay in a boathouse where electricity is only available between 7pm -7am, water is processed from the lake and the bed is just a mattress on the floor instead. Crazy? That is just what we are ^^ Best part? There was no regrets about the trip ^^

The Jetty

This is the jetty. I love the moment when we get off the car or bus and view the ocean/lake for the first time. Just to stand there, stretch a little and absorb the whole scene in front of you. As you can see from the picture, Kenyir is no small lake.

Lake House

The boathouse has 2 floors with the sleeping quarters on the second floor. Most of the time we hung out on the front deck of the boat. The second floor is very hot and stuffy during the day. But who wants to stay in there when they can enjoy the wind and sights on the deck?? The kitchen and toilets are at the back. Most of the facilities are the basics, just enough to get what needs to be done done.

But the kitchen is surprisingly complete up to a full 3 layer steamer! When we sat down for the first meal, we knew why. Lunch and dinner are meals consisting of 1 fish dish, 1 chicken dish, 1 vegetable dish and 1 tofu or egg dish along with soup, rice and fruits for desserts. Breakfast is more simple with fried rice or noodles, or bread with assorted spreads with sausage and beans. There's also tea-time which is sweet soup such as red or green bean soup. Pretty luxurious for a nature trip. Plus, since the whole houseboat is ours, we get to make requests such as the food not being too spicy.

More awesome than the food is having the food while travelling. If you were staying in a chalet and wanted to visit the different places around the lake, you would probably need to sit in a speed boat to get to the place faster. When you are living on a boat, you get to travel at a leisure speed and enjoy a great many things such as having your meals while watching the scenery change, chatting, napping and even playing games such as twister. Life is a journey that is as much about the travel as the destination.

The Boat Crew

From left: Captain Alward, First Mate Man, Zainal aka Sarjan and Bawi

The friendly crew who takes care of all our needs from meals to travelling to places and ensuring our safety during the whole trip. At first we were surprised that the boat needed so many crew, but turns out everyone of them is indispensable. Feel free to ask them questions about the surroundings as they are quite knowledgeable about the area. If you need help with fishing, they are your men.

Sky Lake

At times, we travel upon deep parts of the lake where the surface would so still that you can enjoy the view of the sky on the lake.

Lake of Shiny Waters

Other times when the waters are not so deep, there would be ripples as the boat moves and you will get to enjoy the sparkly lake. Now I understand how Anne of Green Gables felt when she first viewed Barry's Lake. Just so pretty.

Could not resist the water that was so near, so I dipped my toes into the waters ^^

A panoramic view of the lake. Believe me, it is even more breathtaking when you see it for yourself. The whole place is in good condition. The operators take care of maintaining the cleanliness and beauty of the lake.

Then came the part I look forward to the most during trips... Waterfalls!!! In the package we took we visited two waterfalls! Awesome possums ^^ There are certain spots that are safer for swimming than others. The crew would guide you to those. The one in the photo above is more for the sight of water falling tiers after tiers.

This area was where we stayed awhile. Found areas to sit/stand and just let the water wash away your stress and worries. Do note that the water is cold! Lovely ^^ Better still is the hot sweet soup for tea time that awaits on the houseboat after you are done splashing in the icy waters.

Next to the natural jacuzzi is a relatively calm area where you can swim or just float...

Woke up early to take a refreshing dip in the waterfall waters. Ah.................

Besides waterfalls, the package also took us to two caves, Gua Bewa and Gua Taat. Bewa is a dry cave while Taat is a wet one where the entrance is submerged during high tides so it depends on the tide if you are able to enter. The photo above is one from Bewa. Standing there is wonderful as you get to feel the gush of wind from the entrance of the cave. If you are worried about creepy crawlies, it would be advisable to just stand there and enjoy the wind ^^

The second cave is worth entering. It is a wet cave, so you can still see stalactites and stalagmites forming. Best is the mineral rocks that sparkles (photo above). After spending time in the dark the light from the entrance of the cave is always welcomed (photo below). You will be surprised at how much better you can appreciate the light when you have been in the dark for some time (try switching off all your torch lights and just listen to your own heartbeat).

Besides caves and waterfalls, there are forests at all night stops where you can go for night trekking. For a small fee, the crew can also take you out on a boat ride in hopes of catching sights of elephants or leopards drinking from the lake. A small group of us went for a short hike and saw elephant treks and poop. So the chances of sightings are quite good I suppose. No guarantees.

If night walks are not your thing, there is always fishing....taking the small boat out for fishing is part of the package.... not really my cup of tea though.... speaking of tea, there is free flow of coffee and tea through out the trip!

Take time to view the flowers and other floras......

not forgetting the variety of fauna that can be found.... above is a millipede with hard shell. I love its colours.....

And if all else fails, at night you can still watch Astro. Surprisingly it works even when all phones cannot be used unless you want to throw it at an attacking bear...... not sure if that will help either ^^ But seriously? Come on! You can do that at home ^^

But if you want to have a mild nature trip with lots of time to spend with friends and family, beautiful sights and wonderful waterfalls, this is the way to do it. For more information you can give their site a visit. They have a variety of packages to fit your wants and needs. Will tell you more about the things you will need to pack and other trips tips in the next post ^^

*dreaming of waterfalls*

Flowers on Highlands

After much delay, I finally decided to take some time and upload some of the photos I took when I was in Cameron for a trip... it was a bright sunny (yet cool) morning when everyone else was asleep, I sneaked out to absorb a little peace and tranquility that Cameron is known for. There I found my favourite photography subjects... flowers! And really pretty ones with lots of petals ^^ Just don't ask me what their names are....

A beautiful day

Glowing Glory

A little bug caught on camera. Morning glories are one of my favorite... maybe just because of its name.... mornings are awesome ^^

Burst of Pink

Contrasts in the sky

Orange Spread

Pink Bloom

I love the various sizes of petals on this flower, like it was caught unfurling it's true potential.

Pink Blossom

One of my favorites with its many outlined petals.

Sunshine in Bloom

Luminescent Dream

Another one of my favorite as it has that mystical glow to it... think Avatar (the blue one)

Flowers always makes me happy. Coupled with cool fresh air and peace of mind, it was one of the best walks I had. Upon returning to the apartment, I warmed up with a nice cup of steaming hot tea.... that is the life ^^

~Dreams of next vacation~

P/s - All photos were taken with Sony Ericsson's C903 phone camera. The reason I got the phone.

Change

I was informed that I have neglected this blog for too long. So I guess it is time for a little update. I am longer attached to the previous internship place due to certain problems and now I am working in an office-based environment. It is such a change! Now I get to enjoy a more "normal" lifestyle with waking up in the mornings, working through the day, going home for dinner and can even go out with friends after dinner. My meals are more regular (this is some how very very important to me), I do not have to waste time standing around 4 hours everyday during non peak hours at the restaurant, my dressing is a lot more comfortable these days ^^. I can go on and on but I am sure that you can get the message that it is a very much more comfortable workplace here. Plus I am kept so busy that I hardly notice the time going by!

But talking about change, people around me has been commenting that I have changed a lot since starting work. I just hope that it is not in a bad way. But change is normal, it means that at least I am learning to adapt to the working environment rather than cling on to the glorious past of academics. Though....... personally, I do not think I have changed that much. Just perhaps I now no longer have to keep the "good student" image so have become a little less restrained in my speech and actions.

The only major stress factor is what I am going to do after my internship. For the first time in my life, I will need to make a choice in the direction I want to take. Previously, my road was very clear and no major decision was neccessary (except telling my parents when I was in kindergarten that I refuse to go to a Chinese school). But there is still time, let's stress that when the time comes.

Enough of heavy stuff, there are still many photos that has yet to be uploaded from my trip to Cameron some time ago. Will be sharing them in little bits. The one below was taken specifically to be a desktop background. Flowers always relax me..... further more such pictures will bring back to memory the cool air and light breeze.... ah...... ^^

Cheers! Enjoy your weekend!

Malacca Revisited....

It has been a long day.... a day trip to Malacca (with lots of hyper children...). In terms of places visited it was quite similar to my previous trip... but a difference in time of shots.... plus it was a beautiful day with blue skies and fluffy white clouds.... (hence my slight sun burn...) I also got to finish some unfinished business and absolutely heavenly pineapple tarts mmmmm..... =D

The last time I was standing on this spot, the Eye was not there....

Let the Spirits be Free

St. Paul's Church... there was a very informative (on the history of Malacca) artist...

should go get some drawings from him...

pictures that you cannot get on camera because it was before the fort was destroyed...

Unfinished Business 1

This time got to visit the museum... but it was not that interesting,

just the ship itself was nice for some shots....

Colours of the Wind

(no idea what caused it...)

Reaching the Sky

My favorite shot for this round

Chicken Rice Ball for lunch.... looks like fishball... not that nice, really don't understand the craze over it... rather eat candol!

Eye Contrast
I like the bright white against the shades of blue....

I went up on the Eye on Malaysia, Melaka... against my mental pleads not to do so...

my carriage creaks on the way down ;(

Unfinished Business 2

On my last trip, I bought this key-chain... and lost it in Malacca itself... to my surprise, I managed to find the same design again =D

Putting on aloe vera gel and heading off to bed...

Gombak Waterfall Take 2

As promised, here are the Gombak waterfall photos.... only when the film was developed I realised that most of them do not have people in them =D

Alien Invaders

Lighting Up the Path

Ray of Ho(p)e

Same scene with the one above, yet not so interesting without PH...

the light was is not focused on a target

Stoney Mist

Kinda like this one.... there's flow in the water...

Tree of Life

Reminds me of the story of the oldest tree in the world....

Leaving the Darkness

This was not how I intended it... the light was not bright enough to see the rocks closer to me, but now it looks like we are leaving a cave... think King Kong....

Wonderfall

A miniture waterfall just before the 'water slide' where everyone had a wonderful time... this was not easy to take... standing partially in the water where there was a strong current... and my hand was not steady enough... otherwise it would have been a better photo without the blurred background....

Mushrooms

These gave a break to all the green.... there is an interesting story behind the mushrooms... I am not too fond of heights and thus was gripping anything within reach to make sure I do no slip down the steep hill.... then I was ordered to take the mushrooms hence was distracted from the heights....

A Whole Log of Fun

The one and only photo with people... and I was not even the one who took it... though it was my suggestion ^.^

Those who want to see more people pictures please click below: http://tigapuluhsatu.blogspot.com/2009/06/return-to-sungai-pisang.html

Full story on this trip please click below:

http://fragmentsofmind1500.blogspot.com/2009/06/road-not-taken.html

Was an excellent trip.... fun people, cool weather, photography opportunities.... I find that this roll of film came out with better photos... could be that the subjects and and the lighting were better =D

(continued)... and yet with film camera, I tend to save for good photos.... and savour the trip and the experience more than when holding the camera all the time... no way the camera can follow me into the slide.... also on trips with friends, everyone should take part in the activites and not hide behind the camera (like someone did to TRY and avoid being tossed into the ocean....) also having more than one photographer is great to make sure everyone can have fun and that fun is still recorded....

Putrajaya / Bagan Lalang Take 2

My camera was not working for putrajaya so I just took two from Ben's camera to represent that part of the trip...

Full story here:

http://fragmentsofmind1500.blogspot.com/2009/05/cycling-and-beach-trip.html

More pictures for Putrajaya here:

http://bf-classmates.blogspot.com/2009/05/putrajaya-and-bagan-lalang-jino.html

and

http://tigapuluhsatu.blogspot.com/2009/05/of-cycling-and-sea.html

Sorry it took forever to upload the photos but here they are!

Kite in the sky. Kinda moody photo, like a plane flying into a cloud.

Stretching Autumn (I don't remember the trees being brown....)

The people photos are not so good, all too dark. But I post them up just for the people who went for the trip as a remembrance

Clockwise from PH, Phon, Eileen, Soo, Mel, TW, Ben, Jino, KT

ummmm.... can't remember which foot belongs to who =D

Ben being tossed into the water... well actually he jumped off Phon's shoulders

The guys spend half the day getting everyone into the water... Jino was the funniest... they waited until he put down his camera, then they attacked from both sides... Jino thought he was safe because he only saw PH, while Phon swam to the other side of the beach and sneaked up on him then picked him up, ran to the water and SPLASH!!!

The only visible group photo....

Sunset.... not fantastic...

How the sunset photo was taken....

Sunset by Jino.... much nicer... has a nice warm glow in the sky...

Though many more photos were taken, many were blur... it is times like this a digital would be better.... especially with the group photos.... and to ensure no moments were lost.... and yet....(to be continued....)

Note: Gombak waterfall photos will be uploaded tomorrow =D