meng chwen • blog

Lepok Falls in 2008

The original plan was to head to Simpang Pulai and look for Chelik Falls. When that didn’t work out, the plan was to do a walk at Klang Gates. I wanted a waterfall. So as I was driving, and everone else was fast asleep, I headed towards Pangsun for Lepok Falls.

It has been nearly two years since I last visited Lepok Falls.

I still remember it being a relatively non-streanous walk, and wouldn’t take too long either. But there were two deceptive looking forks on the trail now. The first one was quite easy to figure out. But the second played on me. I had allowed others to go ahead of me; as I walked I remarked, “This doesn’t look familiar to me.” But still we went on until we hit the river. We were at the wrong spot. So eveyone waited and waded their feet in the water while I took off in different directions to find a way upstream on land. I spent quite a bit of time searcing for a way. I got around the dead end and up the river, but the waterfall wasn’t in sight. I wish I had my parang with me. I had left it in the car and for the second time in a day I felt hopeless in the forest.

The first time was when I met an Orang Asli and he had asked me if I carried any weapons to the waterfall. I said, “Saya pernah ke air terjun. Kan jalan ini selamat?” (trans: “I’ve been to the waterfall before. Isn’t this path safe?”)

He said, “Yalah, tapi kena bawa senjata. Mana tahu jumpa apa kat dalam?” (trans: “Yes, but you’ve got to bring a weapon. Who knows what you might meet in there [the jungle]?”)

Then he added, “Apa lagi awak seorang bawa lima bini.”

I shrugged. I had nothing to say to respond to that. Luckily I didn’t have to say anything as a companion of his came by and they took off together.

When the conversation took place, we were already some half hour into our journey, and didn’t think of turning back to get my parang. At the river, I was irritated by not knowing where we were. And that sort of clouded my senses for a while. The good thing was without the parang the most sensible thing to do was turn back to the most noticeable fork and try the other route.

And so it was that as time moved forward on, we were retracing steps. And as I walked, I drew lines in the air; retracing the trail I took from two years again my head. From memory, I didn’t think we branched off too far away. When we hit an open ground, I told everyone to stop. I didn’t think we needed to head all the way back to the first fork. So while everyone fed the hungry mosquitoes, I conjured up a headache by digging through the archive of trails I’ve walked before. Though the jungles and trails may look the same and confusing to some, I seem to have drawn some landmarks for each tril I’ve been to before.

Luckily my memory served me well. The memory was faint, and bits and pieces were missing, but there were enough for me to “find” another trail from where we stood. Oh, Why didn’t I see that fork earlier!” Once I hit the trail, everything looked familiar again.

That was until one steep section.

This section had gone missing in my memory! I just couldn’t place the short steep slope. I had remembered the left and right turns, abandoned “home”, and moss-covered water pipe to some extent, but I couldn’t rememeber the steep slope. I didn’t know how long it was, so I sat down and waited—and everyone became victims of mosquitoes and lurking leeches again. I dug deeper into my memory for a glimpse of steep slope to Lepok. Blank. Then I remembered Nee On. I called him on the phone, but he doesn’t remember much. Yet he mentioned that there was a steep section midway. Oh well, I’m already here. Might as well as push on pass the steep slope. If it leads to no where, I can scream at Nee On. So the journey resumed and true enough, I got to the familiar trail that seemed like a low-trench with rich green shrubs growing on both banks.

Not long after, we reached the waterfall.

Two years. Two years had been too long to revisit a place sometimes.

The waterfall looks as beautiful as ever, perhaps more than when I was here before. And perhaps it has been two years and like when old friends meet there is a greater sense of appreciation, perhaps I’ve been to Chiling too many times and that has dulled my senses to something familiar, perhaps the water this time was stronger than from two years ago (it rainied the day before this time) and that display of bravura swept me away, perhaps it’s the company of people who came along this time–5 girls–and it was better than four guys splasing in the water in 2006. Perhaps. All possibilities. But really, it’s simply that Lepok Falls is a beautiful waterfall.

Lines and Curves

Mushrooms in Hiding

Furry Caterpillar

Black & Striking Red Dragonfly

———————
Related Link:
• Suyin’s blog entry, “Up Sg.Lepok Waterfall,” of the same outing.
• “Lepok Falls” is Jessin’s version
• “20060823 • When Four Guys Went Splashing Water Together” is the historical first time when I went to Lepok with Nee On, Adrian and Kourosh.

Fishy Communication; Acquaria, KL Convention Centre

When you reach a goal, you reach a summit, [and] you’ve actually lost a summit. Something that you’ve been striving for so long, you lost it because you’ve gained it. When you gained it, you put it behind you. You’ve got nothing in front of you. And there’s really only one solution: to keep coming up with new challenges—new challenges that excite you and inspire you. I’ve climbed Mount Everest, but it’s a been there done that. What is important to me now is what I’m doing now and what lies ahead.

—Peter Hillary

I didn’t expect that I’d be planning to go back up Kinabalu again so soon after the Tambuyukon-Kinabalu Twofer of 2007. But there I was, in January 2008, and I was talking about getting fifteen to twenty people up Kinabalu for free.

I now have fourteen other names added to mine own: (1) Marc-Andre Plouffe—who was with me on Tambuyukon and Kinabalu in December 2007; (2) Jenn Collins—who was with me on Kinabalu in December 2007; (3) Tet Leon; (4) Suyin—who recently caught the mountain bug on Suku Saturday; (5) Mei; (6) Qi Kit; (7) Gabby; (8) Jessin; (9) Vairavan; (10) Faril; (11) May; (12) Shamini; (13) Nadia; and (14) Quin Jean.

If I had known Don Mah and Ian Wikarski got 20 people up in their 2002 expedition, I wouldn’t be devising a wicked plan just to top that number. As of May 26, I have yet to get any additional spots to stay on the mountain. But I will not stop to increase my numbers until the day I step on the plane to Kota Kinabalu in August. No. I do not rage nor am I blind to my death in front of me as Ahab was.

Apart from increasing the number of people in the team, the next step in the plan is to raise enough money for everyone. For that, we’ve some dedicated volunteers to help us in our cause. But to simply raise fund to reach the summit of Malaysia’s highest mountain can seem somewhat of a selfish ambition. I have now a team of fifteen, and so much more can be done—especially when I’m quite concerned about the well-being of the environment and the indigenous peoples of Malaysia. Here was an opportunity to impact people’s lives, to teach them and to raise them, as it were, to be more conscious about their social responsibility to the society in which they live in. No doubt, there are only few of us, but I believe much can be done.

And so it is that in raising money for the trek, we would also focus on raising awareness among the public for the need for cleaner peaks, and find doors to open to improve the quality of life among the orang asli. I’d like to think that we instill the philosophy propagated in the animated film, Robots: “See A Need, Fill A Need,” yet at the same time acknowledging that we can only do so much in the time given to us.

May 10-18: Fund Raising Efforts Round 1—Car Wash
• car wash over two days in the hot sun

Mei and Marc-Andre

Kit

Suyin

Andrew

• Suyin, wearing the prototype T-shirt, went on stage for the Punan Bah Longhouse Cause on a Monday. Though only a few minutes, it was great exposure.
• On the Friday, 250 T-shirts arrived!

May 21-23: Fund Raising Efforts Round 2—T-Shirt Sales
This project I like—for three good reasons:

1. For every shirt sold, RM2.00 would be donated to the Punan Bah Longhouse Charity Initiative that we’ve started. Initially the plan was to run a clothes, toys and stationery donation drive only. But here was an opportunity to give back to the community, too. So here’s our bit to raise awareness about the Orang Asli’s plight and to raise some money for them to rebuild their longhouses and lives.

2. A small part of the profit will go towards achieving our goal of going to Kinabalu.

3. For the simple fact that whenever someone wears the shirt, it’s a public display of my untrained skill in art. The sketch was originally just a doodle on a piece of paper, but with modern technology, I managed to turn it into a use-able piece of artwork for a shirt design. Like it or not, I’m proud of my own work. Whoo-Hoo!

I’m not sure how the sales would go. But with only a limited run of 250 shirts (and with two variations), the shirts are sure to go off the shelves really quick. Let’s see what the team can do.

May 26: Accommodation on Gunung Kinabalu
I love it when things go the way I want it to be. Well, don’t we all? I called my contact in Sabah today, and was happy to hear that my initial booking for the 15 spots on Laban Rata has been down-graded to the non-heated rooms at Gunting Lagadan. We’ll be higher up the mountain, and the air will be much cooler. I can just imagine sipping a steaming cup of tea on the veranda. That’s one of the better ways to spend an evening.

May 26-30: Spin-off Initiative—Punan Bah Longhouse Donation Drive
A few weeks back, Suyin made a presentation to the student population on the Canadian Matriculation Programme of Sunway University College. Little did I know that she did a podcast on one of her blogs as part of her school work. With a number of us chipping in and helping out in different ways, the Clothes Collection Charity Drive finally got on the way.

We actually didn’t know what to expect (not that we were expecting anyway). If we had no clothes, at least we would have created awareness about the situation in Sarawak. But already people are donating clothes in bundles. It’ll be some work sorting them before handing them over to the Punan Bah Longhouse.

Clothes Collected at Collection Centres on Day 1

June 15: Spin-off Initiative—Punan Bah Longhouse Donation Drive

The Growing Pile of Clothes

Boxes to Put the Clothes In

We Got the Strength!

We Fold Fold Fold and Fold

Joseph Goh of MTR was so kind as to give us a huge discount to send the boxes over to Bintulu by freight. The seven boxes sat in the belly of plane and was picked up by Calvin.

The Boxes—Sealed, Sent and Safe in Bintulu

• The extra clothes that were collected and not sent to Bintulu were donated to the Red Crescent Society—Donate and Buy.
• We still have two boxes that will go to the Orang Asli at Kampung Jantung. I’ve called Ismail, and I plan to visit him soon (my third in three months).
• Another two boxes—of soft toys and stationeries—should find their new home in an orphanage in Cameron Highlands.

June 30: What a Month June Has Been…
• All the air tickets have been purchased. I am not sure how prepared everyone is for the trip, but we’ll be flying there.
• Ms Lee of SSL has confirmed me 19 spots. Right now, there are only 14 going. I’ll have one week to find another 5 persons to join the gang. Otherwise, the numbers will reamain at fourteen.

This post entry will be updated, modified and edited periodically.

Hardly anyone knows. Really.
Many who knew have forgotten.
I expect no public declaration.
No fanfare, no fuss
For it’s just another simple day.
But when someone remembers
and catches me off-guard—
I can be plesantly surprised.

It begins with an unexpexted kidnap!
Swerved away from my destination
To cruise on highways and zip around a town.
To places I know and yet not know.
I sit helplessly in a petrol blue Waja;
But curiousity makes me tease for clues.
No answers and I’m to only trust her.
Then we stop—not in front of a shop but a house.
She steps out. The engine hums monotonously.
I can escape, but decides to try my luck.
I wait for her return.
Minutes like eternity pass by slowly.
She returns.
In a flurry something lands on my lap.
I glance closely. A smirk crosses my face.
What else can I do when Donald Duck’s smiling at me.
It was totally unexpected—least of all from her—
I can only mutter a soft “Thank you,”
For the reminder and celebration of life.

Now, that’s what I call Magic.

Mark Shim and I had spent months organizing a dozen of students to produce a semester-end book (kinda like a yearbook). Everyone poured their heart and soul into producing the book—it was hard work taking photographs over the last few months, and learning Adobe Photoshop. Then when the crunch time came, people slogged through till late evenings—sometimes working in dire hunger, sometimes with abundant food. Once, we had guests coming to visit half-knowing that I was buying pizza. At the eleventh hour, some of us were awake ’till the most ungodly of hours of the night; patiently waiting for files to be transfered over the World Wide Web. Once out of our hands, the students waited in heightened anticipation until the printed books arrived at our doorstep.

Mark Shim ordered only 400 copies, and we had to pay for them in a week’s time. I was somewhat worried that we’d see red. But in the end, all things worked out. There are still copies sitting in our office areas, but we didn’t make a loss. That was a relief.

After riding all the emotions (mostly stressful) in the last few months, it was time for food. Mark sent out invitations to all who had been involved, and he was quite adamant on heading out to Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur for nasi lemak. Upon learning about this, Manny Avila invited himself. Sadly, only five students could join us–Suyin, Carmen, Niniek, May and Smita—and they were all girls. Suyin invited Janie, who came along, too.

Mark With His Personalized Manchester United Gift

Kampung Baru did not materialise. We ended up having dinner at Dome in Subang Parade after spending the longest time deciding on a restaurant. The meal wasn’t as elaborate and expensive, but the company, laughter and hilarious moments made it an enjoyable outing—the right antidote to purge all the stress that had accumulated. I even got everyone little gifts just to say thanks. It’s just too bad others—Regina, Alex, Kit, Wing Hang, Jessie, and Joanne—couldn’t make it.

May Trying To Contain Her Excitement When She Got a Map Book!/i>

Suyin’s Jenga Moments; Carmen at the Back

Smita And the Coke Truck, With Niniek