Walk With Nature

I visited this Gunung Datuk (883 meters) again on 18 Jan 09 with few friends. It was my second visit since May 2007, not much of changes. A drive from Kuala Lumpur to the small town named Rembau is about 1 hour 15 mins. Using the PLUS highway from Sg Besi and exit at Senawang toll, the total distance is about 57km and the current rate is RM8.20. Just in case you want to know the exit point, have a look at this map. From Senawang, using the small road, it takes another 30 mins to reach the Rembau town. There is a green sigboard of “Gunung Datuk” at the road side, hardly you can miss it.

Once you turn into the direction to Gunung Datuk, you will pass by small malay village and then on a narrow road cutting through rubber plantations to reach the foothill. It was a nice view to enjoy as well, so, drive slowly and carefully.

The parking area.

Hall where you can hold a small function.

This recreation had been taken over by a private corporation since Jan 2007 and climbing permit is at RM3.00 for one person.

The symbol of Gunung Datuk or Mount Datuk.

A brief introduction of Gunung Datuk.

A small pond that you can bring family to enjoy.

For non regular climber, it is quite a challenge but determination can conquer everything.

Rocks are found at the beginning path.

Hi hi, don’t worry, take your time, see you at the top !

Our friend is just too strong to beat.

Just few more steps and I will catch up with you.

We are at 800 meter height now.

The last hurdle to pass.

At last we reached there but to be at the top, we have to climb this stair case.

A great creation from the nature.

We have a very strong wind up here, it could be very dangerous to climb the stair case if one was not careful enough.

Our fittest man up there is showing us how strong the wind was.

Young man sitting there to wait for the right time to climb up.

At last, we are at the top !
883 meters above sea level

How can I miss this beautiful view……

The view of Rembau town and far side is the Straits of Malacca, can you see it ?

Even going down have to be very careful.

Friend, a snap before we go down.

You really need to be careful when climbing or going down using the metal stair case. One step miss and you will land in anywhere as the wind blows.

Don’t know what is the name of these plants, any one can tell ?

The root of this tree is able to let us have an idea how long this forest is already here.

The place where we found a note saying an accident took place here.

Translation…the 2nd victim, left leg broken. I wonder how it could happen !

Another old tree.

Just love the shape of the branches.

Take a rest before we depart to home.

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply:

“If I were any better, I would be twins!”

Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant

Why？

Because Jerry was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling him how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him：

“I don’t get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?”

Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood.

I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose the positive side of life.”

“But it’s not always that easy,” I protested.

“Yes it is,” Jerry said.

“Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk every situation is a choice.

You choose how you react to situations.

You choose how people will affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

It’s your choice how you live your life.“

Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business. He left the back door of his restaurant open and then in the morning, he was robbed by three armed men.

While Jerry trying to open the safe box, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.…

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Want to see my scars?” I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

“The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied.

“Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices :

I could choose to live or could choose to die.

I chose to live.“

Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.

But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.

In their eyes, I read ‘He’s a dead man’.

I knew I needed to take action.” “What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic to anything.”

‘Yes,’ to bullets, I replied.

Over their laughter, I told them: “I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”

“Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it.

The only thing that is truly yours -

That no one can control or take from you – is your attitude, so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.

During a “kaki” gathering on Christmas Eve, we decided to venture another beauties of nature near Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB), the Chilling Waterfalls. It is one of the popular waterfalls in Malaysia.

We departed around 10am and headed to Kuala Kubu Bharu to have our lunch before proceeded to a water damn, about 30 min drives and finally arrived to Chilling Waterfall.

While on our way there, we were talking about the short form of Kuala Kubu Bharu which is KKB, the kids in the car suddenly laugh when they heard this KKB. Apparenetly, they learn something better and creative than us in the school, KKB means….. Let them answer you if you happen to meet all these youngsters as they learn thing better and faster than us now, are we adults moving backwards As people say, if you stop learning, does not mean that you are maintaining your current position, in fact you are moving backwards as things change rapidly and moving very fast now a days. Don’t you agree ? So….don’t stop learning even if your age is catching up, am I talking about myself ? :p

A view of a street in KKB

Our friend, Ghost King recommended this unique Hailam coffee shop to us.

Lady boss is serving us.

This is one of the reasons why we are here… the famous of Hailam Chicken Steak

I was asked to pay the copy rights for taking a shot on this menu but in fact someone have to pay me for helping to promote this coffee shop, right Chee ?

Some of the food served by this coffee shop

Mmmmm….seems very delicious !

My yummy Hailam Chicken Steak.

We found this at this coffee shop and I remembered Andy Lau was using this words in one of his movies but could not remember the title, anyone can help to refresh my mind ? Should I translate this….

说了又不听 – Told you but you don’t listen
听了又不懂 – You heard but you still don’t understand
不懂又不问 – You don’t understand but never ask
问了又不做 – You asked but you don’t do
做了又做错 – You do but you make mistakes
错了又不认 – You made mistakes but never admit
认了又不改 – You admitted but never change
改了又不服 – You changed but never satisfy
不服又不说 – You don’t satisfy but never say it out

OK, hope I translated correctly

But if you want to listen how to pronounce these Chinese words, copy all the Chinese Characters and paste them in a box over this website. You can select a woman or a man’s voice to listen how she/he read those words. Hey, a good website for those who want to learn Chinese !

This is the water damn we stopped over near KKB.

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The shape of this plant is funny

Our national flower, I took it because it’s beautiful.

A bridge was built to cross over a river when the water damn constructed.

Welcome to Chiling Fish Sanctuary

The road leading to the entrance of registration office.

I thought it was a type of “rambutan” fruit but it is not.

The flower that was blossomed from the plant above.

The registration office and starting point to the waterfalls. On the right is a field where you can camp there, of course with a cleaned toilet built beside the field as well.

This signboard is erected beside the registration office. As you can see, we have to cross 6 times on a same river, isn’t it fun ?

Information you need to know about this lovely place here.

This was supposed to be the first river to cross but since a bridge is already built for our convenient, why waste ? Of course you can still cross the river if you like it.

Let’s start our fun……

A view taken on the bridge. As you can see, the river isn’t that deep, so help yourself for the fun of crossing if you like it :
)

Our friend, “Ghost King” spotted this small bird nest along the way.

Another beautiful plant.

If I did not hear it wrongly from our explorer expert, Chee, this is what the monkey uses as a cup to drink water. I will try that on my next trip to see if it works or not

The initial path is a bit narrow, if you worry you will get some bruises, you can wear a pair of track bottom.

Another nice view of the river.

I notice this type of leafs only can be found near a moisture and less light places.

Don’t know what is the name but they are so lovely.

One has to walk slow and enjoy the tranquil environment then only you are able to find little funny insect like this

Guess what is the size of this little species that we commonly found in the city ?

Only with the shoes I can tell you how big it is….well, I am wearing the size of 8 !

I think maybe because this little creature is living in a cleaned and less polluted environment where it can have a peaceful night to sleep, better nutritious food to eat and less worries, that’s why it can grow into this size.

Oh…little creature, how I wish I can be you….sleep comfortably, eat less chemical food and stay away from the crazy world outside there….

Time to have water crossing fun now.

If you have kids, must bring them along, they just love to play with the water !

Don’t ever think you can enjoy your fishing here. After all, the fishes also deserve to have their own peaceful place to live, right ?
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2nd river crossing.

Can’t resist to take another nice view that we hardly can find outside there.

This part is a bit challenging.

I really hope that the rules enforcement is strict here, especially those irresponsible trekkers who leave or throw rubbish as and when they like.

I urge all the kind people who love the nature as much as me to start educating your children or those that we know, be a civilized citizen and a good example to our children.

When you go into the jungle, always remember :-

Take Nothing but Photos
Leave Nothing but Footprints

Just in case you are a forgetful people, there are plenty of signboard to remind us to protect the river and environment

The 4th crossing

As usual, our jungle expert here always share his knowledge with us unselfishly.

Prepare for the 5th crossing.

Kids always do not have the worries, they know the parents are always there to look after them whenever they need it.

Last hurdle to go folks..

Among the 6 crossing, this is the deepest

But not a problem for kids who know how to swim

Almost there…….

Yes…finally we are here.

Look at the beauty of this falls ! Can anyone notice something is on the rock ? Take a look again of this picture and the previous picture……

Still can’t figure out ?….. Ok, let me tell you……..
Do you notice a lion’s head is somewhere around the rocks watching us ?

The pond is not deep and small enough for the kids to play.

Look at the curved-in shape, one can imagine it takes how long for the water to carve the shape, a good example for us to believe perseverance makes everything possible !!

Our ghost king is having fun….

You can walk across the water to see the tiny gap in between the rocks.

Just make sure an adult is there when kids want to have fun in the water, don’t go too close to the falls as it is deep there, unless you know how to swim.

For those who want to reach to the top…prepare to face this slope’s challenge !

Another pond at the top of the falls.

The peak is there but unfortunately we could not find a way to reach it.

The bottom of “V” shape is where we arrived earlier.

Can’t see it ? OK, let’s zoom in………

See the people there ? Yes, we climbed that high to feel we are at the top of the world !