Well, as Candice once told me about a year ago, "Each trip is different". And indeed I truly and surely believe so. Every trip I've gone during my time in the 26th has taught me new things, and the first official 27th trip did so too.
The 3rd time (ok I mis-counted...) for me up Datuk, and well some things went well, and unexpected things happen...but the most important thing was that all in all, things went smoothly, no safety issues, and no major hiccups.
Why do I not feel the spirit of Rovers during the trip? It felt so different, so quiet, so dead, during the course of the trip. Maybe it was because the comm was adapting to the new terrain, learning the routes, getting used to the rigors of a tough trek which is Datuk. Or maybe...it's just DATUK.
Datuk's a tough trek in my opinion, and it's worse than the KFC of Ophir. This is because of our weight that we're carrying and the incline in which we need to conquer.
I had none of my MacDonalds' breakfast, although I've my MacLemak; I din bring 7-Up or Coke up, but I had a can of 100 Plus up there (chilled!); I din have my Pizza Hut meal which I crave for, but I had fun on the way back, and well, thinking back, it wasn't half as bad as we had initially thought it was.
But nonetheless, the trek has been great for me so far. About half of the participants I do know prior to the trek, so it was kind of a reunion of some sorts with friends. The 25th came along as well, with IJK (Ivy, JJ, Kian Ann), Chin Khiong, Huifen, and my 'uncle' participants from my previous Berkelah, Desmond and Yah Siang.
The first thing which was out of our expectations was the late arrival of the train and a slower ride than normal to Tampin. So that delayed our arrival at Tampin, but of course, not before we had fun on the train! Who-Is-Your-Friend (aka bridge) started automatically on the carriage. Damn fun and happening, and in a way allowed me to keep awake without needing to will myself to sleep.
This lil kid was super active and even waved to us after we left!
Datuk has become Chalet Datuk
Me, Zhai, Geoks
The trek up started later than usual, but we managed to hit the summit on time, which was a relief as trekking in the dark was rather dangerous for everyone. But we missed the sunset, and had to camp somewhere else as there were too many tents up at the summit. I was rather relieved that we had a place to camp for the night. However, I had to risk taking water from the water source below in the dark, and I brought Zhihui and Junwei down for the water collection. The water was more than just a trickle now, and I managed to fill up 7 1.5L bottles very fast.
Resting on the way up!
Geoks, Me, Huifen, Geri, CK
Night cooking was great! FOOD is always GOOD! With fellow black-holians Pei Geok, Shuying, Weiguang, as well as Geraldine and Zhihui, we managed to feast on our 5 packets of noodles, 8 servings worth of pasta, as well the chicken and other food which we brought up...so much so that we had too much to spare!!!!
Guang
Geri
Yings
Geoks
Zhai
Me
Cooking!!!
Climbed up to the top (as usual) to admire the night sky, the stars, the town lights and get bathed in the winds. Well, I always preferred the night sky in Datuk than in Berkelah or Ophir (they dun even exist, I think). And it sure is much colder up in Datuk than in any of the other places (other than Stong in the morning and Sabah) I've visited before.
So much has happened since the last time I came to Datuk. Oh wells...at that time I was still happily attached, it's a wonder how much things have changed in 10 months. But change is the only constant, aint it?
Woke up in the morning to the sounds of the participants cooking and moving noisily about, and proceeded to the cooking area with the intention to cook some breakfast before the rest of the comm was awake, but was too stoned to do anything. And we moved up to the summit once again, in the day, to take more pictures. Well, the place definitely looks beautiful up at the top! With only the 6 of us up there, it felt so quiet, so away...lest the lack of water, Datuk is really a place I would love to go up over and over again!
This grasshopper is BIIIGGGG....
Whose leg is this?
They call this the Pi1 Li1 Pa1 La1
CK and his pancake - Nice!!! MacPancake has arrived!
The grass up there - strong enough to resist the harsh winds
Me, Zhai, Geoks, Yings, Geri
Look up!
All 6 of us!
In thought
Another lesson learnt after reaching the foot, but I guess we all learn better from our mistakes than from someone telling you what mistakes NOT to commit? It was kinda out-of-the-blue actually, but well, this tells us that accidents do happen. However, take it in the right stride, since everything still turned out well and dandy.
Dinner was settled at the food alley near City Square, where we had sumptuous seafood and Muslim food! The hunger just set in, after non-stop bridging on the bus and keeping awake for the 4 hours on the journey home.
And journey home was jammed-packed with cars returning to Singapore, so much so that the vehicles entering Johor cannot enter, and the vehicles clearing customs have slowed to a trickle! As we walked along the causeway, I counted the number of 170s which were stuck going into Johor - 10 in total, maybe more. It was almost empty at the immigration area, but at the waiting area for the buses to Kranji MRT and beyond, it was super crowded...So much so that we just played S-hole Dai Dee to while our time away.
I need rest! lol...
Current Mood:
Tired
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