Loving Trengganu...

Spent my Good Friday holidays with 3 other friends, Andreas, Stephan and his gf Evelyn, up north in the state of Trengganu. The main objective was the wonderful and thrilling Cemerong Waterfalls, which kinda reminds one of the Stong waterfalls (Stong's in Kelantan btw).

On top of that, we were (or rather, Stephan was) looking forward to seeing the leatherback turtles along the beach at Dungun. And the long sandy beaches...the sunrise, etc...

Well, it was kinda hard to organise, given that all 4 of us were working people, and had little lead time to meet and prepare, so most of the information and communication went via email and phone calls and SMSes. Not an efficient way to get information across, IMO. This made me wonder if sitting down and discussing with the possible trek/travel group is more easy and efficient than using other non-contact forms of communications...

(Frankly, since I did trips before, I feel that it's more easy to deal with ppt one-on-one and in a contact setting rather than emailing. Cos u dun DECIDE who reads your email...or whether they open it or not! )

Besides, I wanted to see if Cemerong Waterfalls was as beautiful as described by SAC forumers. And indeed, the waterfall was amazing! Although we were late to move off from Tanah Merah (who the HELL meets at Tanah Merah?!?! It's god-damned FAR and ISOLATED and ULU!) and held up for another 2.5 hours at the customs, we managed to make our way into Malaysia, and it was another 8 hours on the van before we finally reached our stop for breakfast, near Paka River Camp.

On the way to PRC


Breakfast!


Cat and Duck living together?


Not really otah...forgot the name =X


The kampung lifestyle - Hammocks


U even find donuts in kampungs!!! Wow!


Misty day.


An old van


Small cat :P


Meeting bulldozers on the road is normal...


Bridge collapse -_-" Luckily, we're not on it.


Cemerong Waterfalls from afar...kinda reminds me of Stong


The 'resort-like' area!


Me, Andreas, Evelyn, Stephan


Chalet-like facilities - Maybe that's the reason why it swung over to BN and stayed there for another term. haha.


Reminiscent of Ophir?


The waterfall after a short trek!



Clear...nice...


Stephan: "Wha-ta!!!!"


Close-up of the waterfall


Me and A-Bang at the waterfall

And of course, after the breakfast, we took our barang, sat on e van for an hour plus to this secluded national park, where it holds one of Malaysia's tallest waterfalls - Cemerong Waterfalls.

And it's really AMAZING (as you can see from the pics above).

Well, the trek reminded me of several places - Ophir (in the beginning), Stong (waterfalls), Datuk (the ever ascending slope), Taman Negara (leeches) and Berkelah (wonderful clear rivers and small falls above the main waterfall!)

All in all, it was a good trek (save for the leeches), and it was really a refreshing trek. The trail was easy to follow, but it would be better to have a guide bring you up to the campsite (there are 2 above the waterfall after a looonnnnggg climb), and if you have more time to spare, try to ascend Berembun mountain too! Heard it's another adventure by itself.



Andreas climbing over the fallen tree trunk


Moving across the river as fast as possible...


The rapids


Dinner time!

After the trek, we had (of course) some RnR at the nearby town! A great weekend, good food, and sunrise on a tranquil Sunday morning!!!

Presenting once again...the team:

Stephan the 'Survivor' camper


Evelyn the 'I-wanna-sit-in-tent' camper


Andreas the 'all-prepared-to-trek-with-my-books' camper

After the camping part of the Good Friday weekend, we decided to stay for a night in a resort along the beach, to be able to catch the sunrise (hopefully!)


The peace...


Ok...fallen branch LOG


Cat and...cat game?


Satay 'factory' at a pasar malam


Super cheap satay!


Sunrise


Sunrise


Picking seashells along the seashore


Shiyao and Co.


The resort we stayed in


Simply...beautiful.


The old steps lead up...

All in all, it was a wonderful journey up north. Really enjoyed the company of friends and the state of Trengganu left a great impression on me...maybe I should just return there another day for a trip? Anyone?? :)

Current Music: Westlife - Us Against The World

Sex and NUS

Did u guys read the recent s3x survey done in NUS? Shocking? Or was it more of "oh wells, it's all known..." and "u mean, now it's OFFICIAL??" *cue innocent+shocked face*

Well, I guess we guys know about the hkpk happening behind the scenes in the quiet (or not-so-quiet) hall life in NUS, right? Maybe not everyone who stays in hall engage in such activities, but definitely, if there is word about it circling round the campus, it cant be based on untruths or half-truths, right? 正所谓：无风不起浪.

And maybe, incoming freshies will be more interested in hall-life...com'on dudes...taste the wonderful life in school...and see for yourself if the report is true (or false?).

And on the other hand, we all know the 'fact' that CJC has one of the highest abortion rates in the 2000 period, and now (apparently) HCI (HCJC as it is formerly known) has taken over the dubious 'honour'.

Wait a minute...who came up with such honours in the first place?? Probably someone who wanted to spice up the entire "this JC vs that JC" thing. Like the question on how many xJC students does it take to change a light bulb (where x is the prefix, say...R, or C, or AC, etc...). Stereotypes, as we learn in HR2002.

Oh and HR2002...the module which IA students take after a long day at work in school from 6.15pm onwards. The module which apparently teaches you how to understand human relations in the new economy. Which, in fact, I am rushing a reflection essay now based on my personal experiences, all of which come from my internship so far. I'm more than happy at my internship, but maybe I should leave that to a later time.

So during last week's class, the topic was on framing (of people). As class participation, we were supposed to relate a word with the first thought on our minds (obviously, most of us did not do that, if you take 1 minute to blurt out an answer, it just means the word went through the brain, down your throat, into the stomach, got digested, and went back up to your vocal chords to be blurted out. hurhurhur)

Well, I decided to have a little fun for that, so when I was given the word "Psychologist", I said...

Sharon Stone


Why? 'Cos of Basic Instinct la...where she acted as a psychologist-cum-killer.
I mean, if Jennifer Garner or Jessica Alba were to have such a role, their names would be up there in my mind, and the first to be blurted out. This is because...

Alba >>> Garner >>>> Stone

Guess my life revolves around movies. I've caught a lot of movies (and on dvds if I did not get to watch on TV or on the big screen). If I actually gave a little more thought on the word psychologists, I would probably blurt words such as "psychotic", "lab coated guys in high armchairs" or "shrinks".

Guess that's my urban lifestyle now...movies. I need some escapades out of this little red dot. Toilet break, anyone??

Current Mood: Pensive

Current Music: 沈建宏 - 遇上 Ice Cream

A fold-it-in-your-pocket guide...

Please print and put one in your pocket hor?? And hor, alert the puhlezze immely when u see him orkay???

Prison Break: Singapore Edition

As all of you guys might have heard, the JI detainee Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from Singapore's detention centre on the 27th of February, sparking an island-wide manhunt and a lockdown of the Goldhill Avenue area. Till now...he's still out at large.

And this, my dear readers, is Singapore's version of Prison Break. In fact, I wonder who's more 厉害 - Michael Scofield, or Mas Selamat. The former escaped from Fox River State Penitentiary, the latter escaped from the high security Whitley Detention Centre. And they share the same initials, MS. What a coincidence.

vs

Anyway, this show something about our police force...so lax. This guy is a highly dangerous man (being a former JI leader and plotting to bomb Changi Airport), and the ease in which he can escape from a so-called high security detention centre raises many eyebrows.

And WKS' reply to minister's queries on the event shed little light on what actually happened. The people are really interested to know what happened, and why information was realised to the public so late, almost 6 hours after the suspect escaped!

If word had gone out earlier, those driving along the PIE and the roads near the detention centre could have kept a look-out for someone who looked like him, and provide police with some leads! Too bad, our police scholars do not seem interested in such help from the public.

The best thing was that they did a lock-down of the Goldhill Avenue area, on the basis of thinking he is hiding in the forests behind CJC. Smart move, but the fact was that they spent resources from more than just the police force; Guardsmen, Gurkhas, SOC officers and MPs were roped in to help. And despite having so many people forming a 'formidable' human blockade, they could not find him, and had to call off the search on the 28th afternoon. I pitied the MPs and Guards personnel who were sent in to bolster the search teams - they were in camp on alert, and this 'shit' happens...gosh. If the police did their job better, won't it be easier on everyone?

And probably our higher-ups did not hear of the show Prison Break. Gosh. Maybe they should use it as a reference into the thoughts of a prisoner who is intent on breaking out at all costs. Haha.

Hope this guy is caught soon. The police thinks that he's still in this little red dot, but me thinks that he's already on some bumboat out of this dot. It's simply too risky to stay on here any further.

News Article:









I've lost all hope in SPF now man...what a joke to the world.

Taman Negara

Taman Negara was fun! Super fun indeed. A place meant for pure relaxation, but it sucks to the max too! (Pun intended.) It's really a place for tourists and people on field trips (esp. Geography) and the atmosphere there is fantastic! Though it rained on the first day when we reached, the weather became much better over the course of 3 days and we enjoyed every single bit of it! Not to mention, having super 'high' participants helped :P

Over 3 days there, we managed to do caving at Gua Telinga, then went on for a nightwalk in the jungle nearby (and we saw lotsa stick insects, spiders and even glow-in-the-dark mushrooms!). Also had the chance to play around in rivers (which had leeches also! o.O) and climbed one of the mountains nearby. The canopy walk was definitely the highlight of the trek. It was amazing to be amongst the top of the trees, and to peer down, a long long way down. Kinda reminiscent of the Tree-top walk at MacRitchie, but the trees there were much more taller and the view was great...you could see the nearby river even!

And some of the more adventurous people decided to try out swimming at the nearby river, which kinda 'failed' since the current was so strong and we were barely staying at our positions. If we swam, we would probably be back at the Chalet, being pushed by the current. That would've been some news!

The new drink from MacDonalds' Malaysia. Reminds me of the super green green tea. And there are tiny bits of jelly floating inside! A drink worthy of being Shrek-ed.


Floating restaurants of Taman Negara


Falling...


The hen and her chicks (they ran away from the camera!)


Mangoes?


Taman's version of Banana Pancake ;)


Our boat ride!


Orang Asli huts


That's a super duper big gigantic tree behind me!


Bats in the cave. Looks like they are stunned.


Field repair of sandals

Not to forget...I had to constantly repair sandals. Think I 'mended' 3 or more of them during the trek, and I think I can start to open a sandals-repair service sooner or later. I just need the materials and some money...Won't that be a great venture?


Spider vs Grasshopper




On the boat!


On the way up...


Reached!


At the top!


Group pic :P


Oooh


Featuring...the canopy walk!


Banana Pancake @ Jerantut. See the difference!


Sarah and Yanxuan in their bumper car

It was definitely an enjoyable trip! Dang...I wanna nuah @ Taman Negara again...good food, good place!