So hi guys I'm back from the unearthly trip.

Yawns, stretches, enjoying the comfort of civilization.

Ahem.

Day 1, 21st August

Reached school, waited a bit, talking rubbish as usual. Then 2 PRCs Da Chuan and another guy came late and got fined 10RM. Took a bus to Tanjong Pagar train station. Waited, took train.

Fairly straight forward.

At train station: bought ice cream.

On the train.. Played some hearts, taiti, ate marshmallows. And slept of course. Hijacked Yong Jing's seat so I could curl up in a horizontal position. The cold was really bad had to take out another shirt to prevent from freezing. Shivers.

22nd August

Reached Jerantut station. Walked over to the village hawker centre to wait for the bus. Some stall started frying some sort of char kway teow and we were all gazing longingly at the fire. It was 4am and breakfast wouldn't be until a few hours later.

In the end it was a darn van that came. 2 of em in fact. Brought us to yet another village, Kuala Tembiling. Oh. The vans couldn't store everyone in the end so about 3 people came in a few hours later, cos one van had to make a back track. But just as well cos we had to wait till daybreak for breakfast and the boat ride to Negara.

-left blogging halfway to a later date for a few days cuz I was lazy...

While waiting there was this kitten prancing around, amusing everyone by rubbing itself on our legs. Thought it was quite cute to an extent, but didn't let it rub its rabies and fleas and diseases on me. Played cards during the long wait. Then that kitten came and started scratching at my cards so I chased it away with the sole of my shoe. =D Sounds evil but I didn't hit it or anything, alright? So then we noticed the kitten going into the shop where we were going to have breakfast. Thing is we noticed it never came out again. So we deduced that it had been used as ingredients for our breakfast, which was quite delectable, consisting of fried rice, noodles, a fried egg and a cup of milo each. Ok we were just kidding about the cat, ok? Uhuh.

Then the boat ride. It was very relaxing, really. Just sitting there and watching the scenery go past and the swirling milo-water of the river. With the exeption of the splashes of water here and there it was tranquil. Ate pringles on the boat and slept. Lovely.

Sad thing that it was about the best part of the trip.

Arrived at the resort and everyone, almost, went to take a much needed leak as the ride was 3hours long. Went to our bunks. Two rooms of 8 and one with 6. Did not choose the one with 6 cos that was where the teachers were gonna be. Hmm. Roomates were as follows: Me, Kenneth, Yong Jing, Weiguang, Terence, Jun Jie, Zhen Yu and I-forgot-his-name. Yep.

Put down our stuff and proceeded with lunch then a hike. Was made in charge of the room key. Which was quite a bad choice on their part as I'm quite prone to losing stuff. But luckily I didn't lose the key so that's ok.

Trekked to this place where they had the canopy walk thingy. Some planks tied together with ropes hanging on trees. Claimed its the longest hanging bridge in the world.. But I doubt it? It seemed rather short to me. Hmm. And there wasn't much of a view.. Just trees and more trees. Saw parts of the river.. No wild-life whatsoever. I guess the best part of this was walking in rhythm coinciding with the frequency of the bridge so it'd rock really hard. Heh heh. Got stung my a bee on my fourth finger and it started swelling real big until my middle finger and half my hand was affected. But it healed in 2 days so that's that.

Continued with the trek. Met the river. The guide encouraged us to take a dip. But looking at the sewer-like milo-coloured water, I decided not to and went off back to the resort which was by this time really close. So it turned out we'd been on a circular trip. Anti-climatic.

Bathed and had dinner. Then it started raining. And we were all happy cos the night hike would be cancelled.
We were tired. Played cards and slept by 10:30pm.

23rd August

Woke to the sound of the people in the opposite room creating sounds like there was a mob going on there. Realised we had 15min to get ready. Leapt up brushed my teeth really quick but was still late in the end. 10ringgit.. Argh.

Took a bought to this place called Nusa camp? Another resort but ours looked like it was in much better condition. Went on to climb this blasted hill. It was quite hellish with slippery ground from the night before and steep terrain. Got to the top and the view was spectacular. We got to see the great blasted FOG of Taman Negara. Yep great view.

Went down the hill. Going down is always much harder than going up. Took boat back, lunch.

By this time was having goin abrasions. It was hell. Nvm.

Took another boat to another place. Climbed a bit of terrain to meet a settlement of orang asli. Pretty cute buncha people. Problem is by the time they reach adolescence they're already chain-smokers. Sad. The effects of contact with the modern world. Showed us how they made fire from rattan and wood. They'd take the rattan and, like a string, rub it against the wood until there was a little spark or something then they'd put wood shavings against the spark and voila. Fire. Then they showed us the blowpipe which was pretty cool. Let us use it too. I'm proudly one of the only few who managed to his the styrofoam target. But I guess its everyone else was too hygiene-conscious and didn't dare to put their lips on the blowpipe. Hah.

Then trekked to a cave called Gua Telinga, which means "Little Cave" or something along those lines. But in my opinion it should be called the Bat-shit Cave. Yes, it was small. And it was slippery. We had to crawl on all fours and or with our asses kissing the floors. Problem is the ground was covered in shit, literally. Shit from the hundreds of bats presiding inside the cave. Me, Yong Jing and Kenneth got lost in the cave and went in circles but finally found our way out under the directions of a tour guide from another group. Thought we came out totally dirty and stinking, I guess it was quite fun, crawling through everything and wading throught the water. Yeah.

Groin abrasion was killing me. Went back to camp. Had dinner. Then it rained and we all gave thanks to God cuz the night-hike was once again cancelled. Bathed, played cards then slept quite early again.

24th August

Woke and was late once again. But I had to be the last right?? I had to lock the room right??? Oh well. Breakfast.

Split into two groups. One would take a boat ride to some location then trek back. Another would trek to that location and take a boat ride back. Chose the latter. Which was a great choice. The former group had to wait for about 3 hours for us. So anyway the starting of the hike was quite screwed. Barely gone a good hundred metres into the forest when a swarm of bees attacked us. I was wearing shorts but didn't get stung a single time. Really really really lucky. Then there was another swarm of ants. And another one after that. And the leeches. Slippery, muddy, filthy ground. But we pulled through. Came to a point where I couldn't even be bothered to pluck the leeches off myself. They'd always somehow find their way back again.

Finally got to the river bank and boat took us across to that location where the other group had been waiting, doing nothing all the while. Had packed lunch, and watched the other group disappear into the jungle. Skipped a couple of stones, caught a couple of butterflies. Then left for the resort.

Got there bathed. Then slacked. And slacked. For the rest of the day. Fun. Played cards. Then dinner. Guide didn't show up so once again no night-hike! Woots! Watched some video on Taman Negara. Or rather, slept through. Bought lotsa snacks at the mini-mart after, and then it was party time for the last night.

Woke in the morning, had breakfast then took a boat to some deserted resorted. It was totally run-down. But it was pretty cool. Saw the biggest ants I've ever seen in my life.

Went back to the resort and checked out. Forgot to return the key to the management. But apparently so did Jezreel so passed him the key to return for me. =)

Took a boat across the river to some village. Had lunch there then slacked around for hours. Went souvenir shopping too. But I didn't waste any money. Finally the bus came. Apparently it'd broken down halfway.

Arrived back at Jerantut. Had dinner. Haha. Nasi Briyani. And lots and lots of satay which was really cheap, 30sen. Whee.

Played cards and chess for hours at the station until the train came at 2am.

Really funny thing that happened on the train is that we met up with the people who went Gunung Tahan! Haha. Saw Teck Huat and all other classmates who went. Apparently their trip was fraught with dangers and life-threatening situations, no kidding, but that's their story to tell. =)

Departed from woodlands checkpoint. Poor Yong Jing had to go all the way back to Tanjong Pagar Station, THEN find his way back home, which was in WOODLANDS cuz he couldn't contact his parents to vouch for him.

Walked around and asked directions from a security guard and found the bus stop with 170. Homeward Bound.

=)