Life's Beautiful~Embrace It

12.12.07

Gunung Datuk 1

Finally, the first trek is here after the long and never-seems-to-end exam! Things kick off with the Gunung Datuk Recce with 12 of my 28^th com people and Wei Huang from the 27^th. It turns out to me my most memorable treks so far. It was the wettest and coldest trek I have been to. (Shall leave that for later) Some basic information of Gunung Datuk first:

Gunung Datuk is located in the state of Negri Sembilan in peninsular Malaysia. From the town of Tampin along the Malacca-Negri Sembilan border, it takes about approx. 20mins cab ride to the foot of the mountain. At a height of 2900feet (to get a gauge, Bukit Timah Hill is just 538ft), it’s a relatively easy trek (without rain!) for starter climbers with plenty of foot/hand holds along the way to aid in the ascend. However one has to beware of those vicious branches with torn though. ( We decided to call them pokemon soon after) There are also some loose rocks along the way and so it advisable to "test" them out first before happily putting your entire weight onto them.

Meet up with my guys in the evening to get buy some food for cooking at the summit the next day and initial plan was to go over to JB for a good meal. End up it was raining (it rained from the moment I step out of the house, to JB, to Tampin, up Datuk, down Datuk, back JB and back home =( ) and so we could not have our dinner from the stalls at the back alleys. Super hungry and in the end ate char siew rice in the end, 早知道 eat at Causeway point.

Random pictures before setting off, char siew rice at JB coffee shop, shopping at 7-11 for “happy” food

Next we took a night train to Tampin. Haha I quite mountain tortoise cause this is the first time I taking train (exclude MRT and LRT). Too bad it was night train so can’t really see sh*t out of the window. Due to the never ceasing rain it soon got freaking cold in the cabin. (Note throughout this whole trek its cold wet more cold more wet and nothing else)

1 interesting thing I notice is that the toilets are “open” as in there isn’t any “storage” space to contain the passenger &^%$#. The toilet bowl is actually open to the outside. I.e. whatever entering the toilet bowl will exit directly onto the railway track. So next time if you see a train like dripping water from no where, it’s not the engine or what, its you know… haha.

Night scene of JB, JB train station

Happy boarding!

Once we reach Tampin we took a cab to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast. Something interesting I note too. When the uncle is taking our order of wanton noodles he asks us 要水要干. Which means want water or dry literally. Quite amuse by it because over here in Singapore the common pratice is 要汤要干, want soup or dry.

Tampin finally, after a long freezing train ride

Early morning in the Tampin town, Ah Ma up early selling veggie, yummy breakfast

After breakfast we set off to Gunung Datuk!

Ready to set off( look at the inclement weather sigh*)

Started raining just as we were about to start the trek and rained all they way till I’m back at home =(. The trek wise it’s quite alright I feel except the initial 1/3 portion that is quite incline at 70+ degrees and required the help of some ropes. But because of the rain things got trickier, with slippery stones and mud. Poor lighting does not help much too. That kind of explains why many of the pictures I took whilst under the canopy turns out either blur or grainy.

Inclination during the early part of the trek

The rest if just up up up and away~ haha Luckily our bunch of people are quite high morale thanks to people like Jai Wei and friends so things didn’t look so bleak. And yes, we were totally harassed by leeches! At the end of the trip I got 16 bites in total. Only me and Seng brought salt spray/salt. Lesson learnt, go Datuk next time must be armed with salt spray.

Mega wet due to the pounding rain

Random pictures along the way

Reach the summit after about 2 hours and I tell you its freaking cold up there. High altitude + strong wind + wet clothing + hunger just about kill it off. (It was too wet so in the end we forsake the cooking of lunch) We were spasm-ing up there and chattering uncontrollably. Every time the wind blows the goose bumps just comes out. But nvm it’s an experience that I will never forget. Saw this cat too which June said she saw at the bottom of the mountain. Pro cat, can climb all the way up.

“Happy” food that cheered us up a little, me and Kevin freezing our as* off.

The legendary pro cat meow!~

Luckily the summit view makes up for all everything. However sadly we didn’t manage to stay up there for long cause its freaking cold and we weren’t in the proper attire. The view would have been better if not for all the clouds but its also quite interesting to see fluffy cloud pass by you.

Summit view ( next time I swear I will never ever wear singlet up there. Brrrr…)

The descent is the worst part cause all hell break loose and it began to pour down rain like nobody business. Plus the continued harassment of leeches ^%$#@.

Pouring rain make the descent a painfully long and tedious

Bloody leeches!

By the time we wash up and went back to Tampin town we were all starving. Luckily got KFC! KFC never tasted so good =) well partially because Malaysia KFC is rumor to be better too. After that is the nice long bus ride home in the freezing cold weather.

RM$11(SGD$5) for this meal. Super worth it! Should be about $9+ in Sinagpore.

A memorable trip which was made even better with the presence of all the wonderful people. This sound dam* gay but yah you guys are great =) Rovers rocks!

SJ blogged at 03:10 0 comments


	Beautiful Day Everyday is a beautiful day Sure, there's ups and downs But, that's what makes it beautiful The Blogger SJ 22 Punggol, Singapore Links NUS ROVERS Sebrina Jiwei Jenny Charlene Weili Nazreen Sam Shi Yao Trekking Posts Berkelah Waterfall 1.1 Aug '07 Berkelah Waterfall 1.2 Aug '07 Gunung Datuk 1 Dec '07 Gunung Datuk 2 Dec '07 Berkelah Waterfall 2 Dec '07 Gunung Datuk 3 Dec '07 Archives September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 Tagbox		12.12.07 Gunung Datuk 1 Finally, the first trek is here after the long and never-seems-to-end exam! Things kick off with the Gunung Datuk Recce with 12 of my 28^th com people and Wei Huang from the 27^th. It turns out to me my most memorable treks so far. It was the wettest and coldest trek I have been to. (Shall leave that for later) Some basic information of Gunung Datuk first: Gunung Datuk is located in the state of Negri Sembilan in peninsular Malaysia. From the town of Tampin along the Malacca-Negri Sembilan border, it takes about approx. 20mins cab ride to the foot of the mountain. At a height of 2900feet (to get a gauge, Bukit Timah Hill is just 538ft), it’s a relatively easy trek (without rain!) for starter climbers with plenty of foot/hand holds along the way to aid in the ascend. However one has to beware of those vicious branches with torn though. ( We decided to call them pokemon soon after) There are also some loose rocks along the way and so it advisable to "test" them out first before happily putting your entire weight onto them. Meet up with my guys in the evening to get buy some food for cooking at the summit the next day and initial plan was to go over to JB for a good meal. End up it was raining (it rained from the moment I step out of the house, to JB, to Tampin, up Datuk, down Datuk, back JB and back home =( ) and so we could not have our dinner from the stalls at the back alleys. Super hungry and in the end ate char siew rice in the end, 早知道 eat at Causeway point. Random pictures before setting off, char siew rice at JB coffee shop, shopping at 7-11 for “happy” food Next we took a night train to Tampin. Haha I quite mountain tortoise cause this is the first time I taking train (exclude MRT and LRT). Too bad it was night train so can’t really see sht out of the window. Due to the never ceasing rain it soon got freaking cold in the cabin. (Note throughout this whole trek its cold wet more cold more wet and nothing else) 1 interesting thing I notice is that the toilets are “open” as in there isn’t any “storage” space to contain the passenger &^%$#. The toilet bowl is actually open to the outside. I.e. whatever entering the toilet bowl will exit directly onto the railway track. So next time if you see a train like dripping water from no where, it’s not the engine or what, its you know… haha. Night scene of JB, JB train station Happy boarding! Once we reach Tampin we took a cab to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast. Something interesting I note too. When the uncle is taking our order of wanton noodles he asks us 要水要干. Which means want water or dry literally. Quite amuse by it because over here in Singapore the common pratice is 要汤要干, want soup or dry. Tampin finally, after a long freezing train ride Early morning in the Tampin town, Ah Ma up early selling veggie, yummy breakfast After breakfast we set off to Gunung Datuk! Ready to set off( look at the inclement weather sigh) Started raining just as we were about to start the trek and rained all they way till I’m back at home =(. The trek wise it’s quite alright I feel except the initial 1/3 portion that is quite incline at 70+ degrees and required the help of some ropes. But because of the rain things got trickier, with slippery stones and mud. Poor lighting does not help much too. That kind of explains why many of the pictures I took whilst under the canopy turns out either blur or grainy. Inclination during the early part of the trek The rest if just up up up and away~ haha Luckily our bunch of people are quite high morale thanks to people like Jai Wei and friends so things didn’t look so bleak. And yes, we were totally harassed by leeches! At the end of the trip I got 16 bites in total. Only me and Seng brought salt spray/salt. Lesson learnt, go Datuk next time must be armed with salt spray. Mega wet due to the pounding rain Random pictures along the way Reach the summit after about 2 hours and I tell you its freaking cold up there. High altitude + strong wind + wet clothing + hunger just about kill it off. (It was too wet so in the end we forsake the cooking of lunch) We were spasm-ing up there and chattering uncontrollably. Every time the wind blows the goose bumps just comes out. But nvm it’s an experience that I will never forget. Saw this cat too which June said she saw at the bottom of the mountain. Pro cat, can climb all the way up. “Happy” food that cheered us up a little, me and Kevin freezing our as* off. The legendary pro cat meow!~ Luckily the summit view makes up for all everything. However sadly we didn’t manage to stay up there for long cause its freaking cold and we weren’t in the proper attire. The view would have been better if not for all the clouds but its also quite interesting to see fluffy cloud pass by you. Summit view ( next time I swear I will never ever wear singlet up there. Brrrr…) The descent is the worst part cause all hell break loose and it began to pour down rain like nobody business. Plus the continued harassment of leeches ^%$#@. Pouring rain make the descent a painfully long and tedious Bloody leeches! By the time we wash up and went back to Tampin town we were all starving. Luckily got KFC! KFC never tasted so good =) well partially because Malaysia KFC is rumor to be better too. After that is the nice long bus ride home in the freezing cold weather. RM$11(SGD$5) for this meal. Super worth it! Should be about $9+ in Sinagpore. A memorable trip which was made even better with the presence of all the wonderful people. This sound dam* gay but yah you guys are great =) Rovers rocks! SJ blogged at 03:10 0 comments Post a Comment