I am back from Gunung Ledang (more commonly known as Mt Ophir). Here's what I can remember from the 4 days we were there.
Day 1:
Met at school to depart for Taman Hutan Lagenda, the forest resort at the foot of Gunung Ledang. Budiman was very late, but still managed to arrive in time before the buses left.
Rest-stop was at Yong Peng. I had been warned by my father of the sub-standard food at the food-court, so I did not eat anything there. However, I bought a big bag of tapioca chips, and 2 boxes of sweets (one was 'Pikin' sour plum candy, which proved a hit with the pupils when I passed them around).
The bus had to make its way through a huge oil palm plantation before reaching the resort. The plantation looked exactly like the one on Pulau Tekong. Budiman later remarked how Singapore modelled the terrain on Pulau Tekong to be like Malaysia's, so that soldiers could train under realistic conditions.
At the resort, I overheard Kimberly of 3Com saying that she would rather do a 2.4km run than stay at this place. Many of the pupils did not seem too enthusiastic too. It's not surprising, considering the heat, humidity, and the flourishing insect populations there. Toilets seemed to be a good place to view interesting insects of large size. My boys pointed out a stick insect to me in the male toilet.
The authorities did not allow the summit of Gunung Ledang to be climbed, due to the unfortunate deaths of 2 Singaporeans on the mountain. No campfires too, as the superstitious Malaysians believe that will also anger the legendary Princess on the mountain.
Teachers' accommodation consisted of wooden chalets with 2 bedrooms (one of which was air-conditioned), living room, kitchen and bathroom. Not bad at all. However, the inside of the pupils' huts resembled those at Sarimbun Camp-- it consisted of a raised platform on which were several thin mattresses, to be shared by 6 kids. It looked like a prison cell to me. Luckily they had their sleeping bags.
Day 2:
My class left the resort in a bus which took them to a village to do CIP work in the morning. Then it was water activity for them at a river in the afternoon, which consisted of bamboo rafting, kayaking
and river-crossing.
Day 3:
My class had jungle-survival class in the morning during which they learnt how to fashion utensils from bamboo, and cook rice, fish and banana in bamboo containers over a fire. As a bonus, they got to barbeque a whole chicken too. The chicken was yummy. Then it was a short trek in the afternoon to a huge tree with roots that are higher than your head. Evening was the camp finale as the groups presented their performance items, sans campfire.
Day 4:
Departed after lunch for Singapore. After 4 days of 'roughing' it out, my class expressed their joy at returning to Singapore by singing patriotic songs on the bus after they had cleared the Second Link.
(Photos were kindly taken by Miss Chuang)
Random nuggets:
- It was a relaxing time for me, despite having to deal with various evil biting midges and mosquitoes. One time, I discovered that tiny ants had decided to populate the double bed that Song Chin and I used.
- The pace of life felt so slow. Taking dips at the waterfalls were the best part of the camp. I finished 'Taming The Tiger' by Tony Anthony (a riveting book) within 2 days, which left me with no other reading material. I should have brought along a Readers' Digest as well.
- CCPE Jimmy spotted my Seamaster Pro on my wrist, and told me he has a vintage Seamaster 300 which he bought for a good price in Vietnam. What a lucky find. I was envious.
- At the vicinity of the kids' bunks, I came upon park workers who were using a chainsaw to cut down some tall trees with thin trunks. Amazingly, they were without safety helmets. One huge branch fell from the top, but the worker managed to evade in time. I would definitely not like to see a third death on the mountain from a falling tree.
- Bought a toy handphone for Christian from Machap on the way back to Singapore, since he loves toying with my Nokia. It cost only 2.90 ringgit, with batteries included too. When the electronic noises get to our nerves, I could always remove those batteries.
- There was some chafing near my groin area as a result of the heat and walking. Luckily it did not last.
- On the way back to Singapore, our bus-driver turned on the DVD player to screen a kitschy karaoke DVD of a middle-aged Malaysian male singer in outdated clothes singing sappy Mandarin songs, with backup dancers behind him (I knew he was Malaysian as I spotted the Petronas Towers in one of the videos). And horrors of horrors, he started singing into the mike at some bits too. I envied his ability to turn a deaf ear to the protests and snide comments of my students. Thank goodness I had my Ipod Nano with me to ride out the aural torture.
Day 1:
Met at school to depart for Taman Hutan Lagenda, the forest resort at the foot of Gunung Ledang. Budiman was very late, but still managed to arrive in time before the buses left.
Rest-stop was at Yong Peng. I had been warned by my father of the sub-standard food at the food-court, so I did not eat anything there. However, I bought a big bag of tapioca chips, and 2 boxes of sweets (one was 'Pikin' sour plum candy, which proved a hit with the pupils when I passed them around).
The bus had to make its way through a huge oil palm plantation before reaching the resort. The plantation looked exactly like the one on Pulau Tekong. Budiman later remarked how Singapore modelled the terrain on Pulau Tekong to be like Malaysia's, so that soldiers could train under realistic conditions.
At the resort, I overheard Kimberly of 3Com saying that she would rather do a 2.4km run than stay at this place. Many of the pupils did not seem too enthusiastic too. It's not surprising, considering the heat, humidity, and the flourishing insect populations there. Toilets seemed to be a good place to view interesting insects of large size. My boys pointed out a stick insect to me in the male toilet.
The authorities did not allow the summit of Gunung Ledang to be climbed, due to the unfortunate deaths of 2 Singaporeans on the mountain. No campfires too, as the superstitious Malaysians believe that will also anger the legendary Princess on the mountain.
Teachers' accommodation consisted of wooden chalets with 2 bedrooms (one of which was air-conditioned), living room, kitchen and bathroom. Not bad at all. However, the inside of the pupils' huts resembled those at Sarimbun Camp-- it consisted of a raised platform on which were several thin mattresses, to be shared by 6 kids. It looked like a prison cell to me. Luckily they had their sleeping bags.
Day 2:
My class left the resort in a bus which took them to a village to do CIP work in the morning. Then it was water activity for them at a river in the afternoon, which consisted of bamboo rafting, kayaking
and river-crossing.
Day 3:
My class had jungle-survival class in the morning during which they learnt how to fashion utensils from bamboo, and cook rice, fish and banana in bamboo containers over a fire. As a bonus, they got to barbeque a whole chicken too. The chicken was yummy. Then it was a short trek in the afternoon to a huge tree with roots that are higher than your head. Evening was the camp finale as the groups presented their performance items, sans campfire.
Day 4:
Departed after lunch for Singapore. After 4 days of 'roughing' it out, my class expressed their joy at returning to Singapore by singing patriotic songs on the bus after they had cleared the Second Link.
(Photos were kindly taken by Miss Chuang)
Random nuggets:
- It was a relaxing time for me, despite having to deal with various evil biting midges and mosquitoes. One time, I discovered that tiny ants had decided to populate the double bed that Song Chin and I used.
- The pace of life felt so slow. Taking dips at the waterfalls were the best part of the camp. I finished 'Taming The Tiger' by Tony Anthony (a riveting book) within 2 days, which left me with no other reading material. I should have brought along a Readers' Digest as well.
- CCPE Jimmy spotted my Seamaster Pro on my wrist, and told me he has a vintage Seamaster 300 which he bought for a good price in Vietnam. What a lucky find. I was envious.
- At the vicinity of the kids' bunks, I came upon park workers who were using a chainsaw to cut down some tall trees with thin trunks. Amazingly, they were without safety helmets. One huge branch fell from the top, but the worker managed to evade in time. I would definitely not like to see a third death on the mountain from a falling tree.
- Bought a toy handphone for Christian from Machap on the way back to Singapore, since he loves toying with my Nokia. It cost only 2.90 ringgit, with batteries included too. When the electronic noises get to our nerves, I could always remove those batteries.
- There was some chafing near my groin area as a result of the heat and walking. Luckily it did not last.
- On the way back to Singapore, our bus-driver turned on the DVD player to screen a kitschy karaoke DVD of a middle-aged Malaysian male singer in outdated clothes singing sappy Mandarin songs, with backup dancers behind him (I knew he was Malaysian as I spotted the Petronas Towers in one of the videos). And horrors of horrors, he started singing into the mike at some bits too. I envied his ability to turn a deaf ear to the protests and snide comments of my students. Thank goodness I had my Ipod Nano with me to ride out the aural torture.
