Friday, August 11, 2006
She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes....
I went on a wonderful trip to Malacca over the National Day holiday, with ODAC. 5 of us teachers, a mentor and ex-ODACers. A full strength of 16
We took the night train (with the sleeping bunk) to Tampin Town. It was a cosy little bed, just snug for me… with privacy from the drawn curtains and I was in my own little duckie world. We arrived at Tampin Town, where the girls went to reccee and found the toilets locked. After a while of snacking and realizing that we really needed to pee, we resorted to asking the train station master for the key, to realize that the toilet was opened all the time! The girls had mistaken the prayer rooms for locked toilets!! Hahaha! The ladies’ had no taps screwed on at the basin (a move to save water maybe??), so we used the gents to wash up. Gender bias!!
We loaded ourselves and our backpacks onto taxis which took us to the foot of Gunung Datuk, where we took a light breakfast from our supplies (Raisin bread’s the best-seller!) before warming up and applying insect repellant. (I recommend Johnson’s and Johnson’s!) Afterward we ventured to conquer Gunung Datuk!
Looking back, it’s one of the best climbs I’ve had. It’s not too long, not too short. Not too easy, not too tough. It’s got its challenges, especially the parts where you have to resort to climbing (my favourite!!). And it’s all worth it cos the view was spectacular! Quite worth it, given the amount of time spent climbing it. The whole climb up only took us 2 ½ hours. An awesome peak overlooking Malaysia. My favourite part was the scaling of the rocks at the peak. It was exhilarating with a tinge of danger and excitement. I love it! I just scampered up the rocks before turning back to help the others up. Then I just stood on top of the huge rock with my hands wide open, welcoming the wind and admiring God’s creation, before I started shivering from the chill.
All the Geography I saw… the weathering processes from observing the rocks both big and small… the mass movement processes both involving consolidated and unconsolidated materials… from fall to flow. Incredible!
The descending part was fun, lots of climbing. The beginning was very fun as I scampered down the slope. However, the momentum was lost when it became really steep with loose rocks. We really did wonder how in the world we managed to climb up! Haha! I think in trekking, one really needs to have the courage to take the first step, cos once you take the first step, you have no choice but to keep going! Experience does count too, cos then you’ll know where to place your footing and how to balance. All in all it was just a thrilling experience.
The outdoors always make me feel at home… trekking with my backpack makes me happy… being in the forest/jungle, amongst the trees, roots and soil gives me a feeling I yearn for. With good company, the trek is just awesome! I know why I’m in ODAC. =)
We took the night train (with the sleeping bunk) to Tampin Town. It was a cosy little bed, just snug for me… with privacy from the drawn curtains and I was in my own little duckie world. We arrived at Tampin Town, where the girls went to reccee and found the toilets locked. After a while of snacking and realizing that we really needed to pee, we resorted to asking the train station master for the key, to realize that the toilet was opened all the time! The girls had mistaken the prayer rooms for locked toilets!! Hahaha! The ladies’ had no taps screwed on at the basin (a move to save water maybe??), so we used the gents to wash up. Gender bias!!
We loaded ourselves and our backpacks onto taxis which took us to the foot of Gunung Datuk, where we took a light breakfast from our supplies (Raisin bread’s the best-seller!) before warming up and applying insect repellant. (I recommend Johnson’s and Johnson’s!) Afterward we ventured to conquer Gunung Datuk!
Looking back, it’s one of the best climbs I’ve had. It’s not too long, not too short. Not too easy, not too tough. It’s got its challenges, especially the parts where you have to resort to climbing (my favourite!!). And it’s all worth it cos the view was spectacular! Quite worth it, given the amount of time spent climbing it. The whole climb up only took us 2 ½ hours. An awesome peak overlooking Malaysia. My favourite part was the scaling of the rocks at the peak. It was exhilarating with a tinge of danger and excitement. I love it! I just scampered up the rocks before turning back to help the others up. Then I just stood on top of the huge rock with my hands wide open, welcoming the wind and admiring God’s creation, before I started shivering from the chill.
All the Geography I saw… the weathering processes from observing the rocks both big and small… the mass movement processes both involving consolidated and unconsolidated materials… from fall to flow. Incredible!
The descending part was fun, lots of climbing. The beginning was very fun as I scampered down the slope. However, the momentum was lost when it became really steep with loose rocks. We really did wonder how in the world we managed to climb up! Haha! I think in trekking, one really needs to have the courage to take the first step, cos once you take the first step, you have no choice but to keep going! Experience does count too, cos then you’ll know where to place your footing and how to balance. All in all it was just a thrilling experience.
The outdoors always make me feel at home… trekking with my backpack makes me happy… being in the forest/jungle, amongst the trees, roots and soil gives me a feeling I yearn for. With good company, the trek is just awesome! I know why I’m in ODAC. =)
# posted by Banana Saviour @ 8:18 AM 
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Haha! But the bababoon was dragged back to the urban area again! She prefers interacting with humans.
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