Thursday, June 24, 2010

A trip to Rainbow Waterfall in Sg Lembing

My partner in crime Cheong is around and we decided to make a trip to Sg Lembing , an abandoned mining town. There are many natural attractions in this sleepy town so we decided to take along two bicycles and camping equipments. We started late and arrived sleepy Sg Lembing in time for a good dinner at the only Chinese restaurant in town. After dinner we decided to head towards the river to set up camp for the night. On reaching the end of the road towards the river we decided to set up camp for the night.Equipped with folding camp beds we had a very good night's rest. The air was cool (about 18C) and after some bullshitting around the campfire we dosed off.Next morning at dawn we heard distant sounds coming towards us. We quickly got up and there was an approaching truck. Without us knowing, we had camped in the middle of the road!. The trucks would just drive through the river to cross the other side. Upon enquiring from the truck driver we were told of the Rainbow waterfall which is just over an hour's drive away. We decided to look for a safe place to park my car and ride our bicycles to the waterfall.My car was parked near this river and we cooked a good breakfast so that we have energy for the ride.The simple meal of canned tuna, eggs and rice tasted very good in a place like this.The ride in was undulating and there were a lot of stones on the road. I was not equipped for a ride like this so I had to dismount and ride on many stony sections or when it gets too muddy. We were feasted with views like this so there is no complaints about the ride. After all this is not a race so we took it easy and enjoyed the ride.


At the end of the bicycle ride it was a hike up to the waterfall. We had to cross a stream and hike parallel to the stream. I believe during the rainy season the water level must be high.
The hike up took us about 45 minutes. On some parts we had to go through the slippery rocks.
The were a lot of good pools along the way for a dip and a spa massage nature's way.Soon from a distance we could get a glimpse of the waterfall.But before reaching we have more slippery rocks to climb.And this is how the waterfall looks like . We could not catch the rainbow as we were late but because of the spray of water hitting the rocks at a certain part of the morning a hugh rainbow could be seen across the waterfall.

The water droplets acts as a prism which refracts the light into its 7 colour spectrum.It was a good outing and weekend. As usual, not much money was spent for the trip. With fuel for the truck and food, possibly only RM 50 was spent.




We had consumed a lot of fresh air and oxygen but most important we had left nothing except our foot prints and took nothing except photographs for the trip. The place is still clean and relatively unspoilt and is worth a go.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

My Shih Tsu dog is now blind!

Three days ago my wife noticed some blood on our veranda and remarked that our Shih Tsu bitch could be on heat. I went around the house to look for her so that I can isolate her from the other dogs.When I found her to my horror I saw her eyes dangling out of the socket! I yelled to my wife to call our vet immediately to do whatever I can to save her sight. There had been a similar incident like this a few months back when I was away in East Timor. I felt very sad and helpless!This Shih Tsu was purchased by my wife last year and when she came home i noticed that it had weak sights and also bad hearing. Googling on the Internet shows that this breed of dog tends to have bad sights and hearing. As a result of its bad hearing I nicknamed the dog "STUPIT" because it does not respond unless we shouted. Over the months STUPIT grew very attached to me and my daughter Alicia. Although it was their dog, I was the one doing the feeding and trimming to make her look pretty.


Seven months after the arrival of STUPIT to our family I decided that we needed another guard dog as our Alsation bitch CIKU seemed a bit lonely and needed a mate. So MATA, an Alsatian puppy was bought. STUPIT was the elder sister to MATA and they get along fine, always involved in some dog plays. They were just like brother and sister.

MATA grew fast and in no time it became a huge dog . The doggy plays continued. One of their favorite plays was STUPIT trying to bite MATA's mouth. Very often the whole of STUPIT's small head was inside MATA's head. They can play like that for hours and kept each other entertained. My other Alsation bitch CIKU would never join in their doggie play. On the night of the incident I believed MATA could have applied a little bit of extra force and it s teeth could have bit the eyes. I believe this is how my STUPIT sees the world now.......Dark. We have to cage her so that she does not get sand into her eyes . The first two days she would be still wondering around and bumping into obstructions but today she just sits when she is out of the cage. Poor thing!
As the head of my family I had to gather everybody together and talk about responsibility. During this period we have to show extra love and affection to the poor dog. Are we going to abandon one of our family members just because he/she becomes disabled in an accident? Th e answer is NO. Alicia is trying her best to cheer the dog. Right now she is playing the piano with the dog underneath. But as I had mentioned earlier her hearing is not too good as well but she does seem to treasure the moments under the piano. I can see her limp ears tweaking a little at a time What a dog's life she had. I am very disappointed. I hope STUPIT recovers and be happy again even though I know it may be impossible.

She may never be able to be accompanying me like she used to but I hope her other senses will grow stronger.
Question: What would you readers have done in a situation like this? Please comment generously!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

First Customer for my Caravan Park

Ok , first of all I do not own a caravan park(yet!) but I have a big garden that can accommodate one or two caravans. So if friends who have caravans/motor homes who happen to pass by they are welcome to use the facilities. free water and electricity is provided and they have maximum security with my two German shepherds guarding the area. One of my sailing friends, Cheong had just purchased a VW Royale and he decided to drop in for the night. This is his pride and joy.
However in the Malaysian environment it is too hot to stay inside his motor home without an air conditioner. This is the first time Cheong is using his motor home so I prepared for him a camp bed and mosquito net PLUS I had the adjourning guest room opened just in case he needed the room.

It turned out he had a pretty good night's rest in the camp bed and later moved in to his motor home in the early hours of the morning. He was still able to work with the free wi fi that I had provided. He is a stock broker so all he needs is his hand phone and internet connection.

I am quite impressed with the VW royale but I think it was designed with the cold weather in mind so I would rather build one that is more "tropicanised". maybe a teardrop trailer camper will be ideal here. Got to stop dreaming or I will never be able to finish my building my catamaran!