Thursday, December 23, 2010

Merry X'mas !!!!

Snapshot: Lights this X'Mas...

" Merry Christmas "

It's here! The festive season! Shopping for Christmas gifts, shopping for Chinese New Year clothes since the sales are on; great makan with family and friends; splendid walks in malls, dazzled by the bells and decorated trees; highly anticipated exchange of gifts and caroling; house visits!

I'm very pleased to inform you that this is the fourth installment of the 'Merry X'mas' series. Throughout the month of December, when the decorations are up and ready to impress, the camera follows me everywhere i go.

Inside Gurney Plaza, Penang.

Greeting guests at the entrance of Gurney Plaza. Purple white Christmas seems to be the thing now! Like the colour combination!

Pit stop of all the makan in Village Mall, Sg Petani.

Notice the skin colour contrast? After OBML, shopped at Tropicana City Mall, KL.

I'll save Narnia for other plans. Took this picture at Wangsa Walk Mall, KL before the movie.

White! Jusco Setiawangsa, AU is pretty nice.

A very much needed change from their huge tree, KLCC presents beautifully in purple white. Don't forget to take pictures with Santa on stage!

At least there is the Christmas feel in Plaza Angsana, Johor Baru- although it's small.

Well lit tree with ornaments at my aunt's home in Melaka.

Visited the Portuguese Settlement in Melaka the second time. Crowded too. It's rather similar to last year's decoration.

Still, enjoyed feasting the eyes on beautifully lit houses!

Like the full moon. Like the big snowman. Like the sleigh.

Bright light!

Interesting... can you find its eyes and mouth? They open and close.

Great Eastern Mall, GEM appears as simple but elegant in golden Christmas-y combo!

Nice purple-white deco at Aeon Bukit Tinggi, Klang.

In the globe, an adorable birdie and a tree. Sunway Pyramid deco never fails to uplift the spirit!

I like this collection, and my previous ones, and i hope you enjoy them too. wc10 wishes you Merry Christmas and have a good time!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Elephant Escape!

" Fat is Beautiful " - Print on souvenir- shirt

The last time i was there, no one was there. Only remains of human activities and elephants, having their tea break, welcomed us. It was after three. Blame it on the lack of homework.

This time, everything was right. Timing. Weather.

If you're wondering whats with these elephants, or the timing, or the weather i mentioned, it's the one day escape to Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary i'm talking about. I knew this place from our Geography lessons and read several articles relating to these huge mammals in this well kept habitat.

Route info: It's a 100 km drive from KL towards Kuantan (using the Karak highway). Taking the exit at Lanchang, turn right after the toll and follow the road signs leading to the Sanctuary. The road passes through kampung areas with several bends along the way.

Upon arrival, we had to register at the office to receive our stickers. No fees applied, but donations are utmost appreciated. The funds will be used either to aid in financial support of the transferring process of the wild elephants or the development of the sanctuary, and it is the donor that decides which option to select for the money donated.

I was much anticipating this trip because i enjoy being around animals. And whatmore knowing the activities lined up for visitors at the sanctuary excited me. From afar, the elephants look cute and adorable. When i got closer to them, i could see their fur and felt their rough, gritty texture of their skin. And they were big and strong.

With the elephant.

It wasn't my first time seeing elephants, just to clarify, but it is not everyday you get to see this huge creatures. And that makes this trip a rarity. The first activity was feeding the elephants. There were peanuts sold to us to be fed to the smaller, baby elephants. For the older ones, slices of papayas, bananas and cucumbers were basket-ed for us to feed the elephants. Some visitors took the bananas and stuck them in the elephants' trunk- two at a time!

The next activity gave us the chance to ride on the elephants. The elephant we rode was the oldest in the sanctuary- 36 years old. All elephants in the sanctuary were Asian elephants. Once we were up and it started to move, it was fast and the ride was bumpy. Nevertheless, i felt powerful being on the elephant- like an emperor.

On the elephant!

Belittled by them. Wouldn't it be great if an elephant could be my pet to bring me around?

The last activity was bathing with the elephants. Since i knew about this activity and that i will get wet in the river, i brought an extra pair of clothes. You have to when you go there because this is, undeniably, the best among the three. I didn't know what was going to happen to us- i thought all we were about to do was go into the river and splash around with the elephants. It wasn't. We got on an elephant and on the count of three, the elephant dropped us into the river.

Like a rollercoaster drop.

Into the water.

It was thrilling and when we were in the water, i did what i thought we will be doing- splashing around with the elephants!

Splashing, or bathing!

There's no need to worry in finding a place to change your clothes. The washrooms provided were pleasant. Seriously, it beats other public toilet! There are shower rooms in case you need to rinse off.

Leaving the place, saying goodbye to the elephants, i realized one thing- that we have lots here to discover. The sanctuary is a beautiful place. The garden is well kept, upgrading works are underway, facilities are organized, activities are punctual (activities start from 1.30pm and ends at 3pm so be sure to be there early to not miss out on the fun) and the elephants habitat, now home, surely looks promising. I recommend this place if you like elephants or just looking to have some fun for a day trip. Note, only 120 stickers are given per day to limit the crowd.

I don't mind going back there in the future. wc10 met the elephants!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Incredible OBML PET 8

Snapshot: Group shot before our transformations, inside out.

" To Serve, To Strive, And Not To Yield " - Outward Bound Malaysia, Lumut motto

* Note: More pictures will be added.


If there is one word to describe my entire experience in OBML, it would be 'Incredible!' - with the exclamation mark. When i first got to know that i was selected to be in the first batch, the first thing that came to my mind was excitement. I somehow got an idea of what we will be doing- kayak for more than six hours from the senior's experience. The thought may be frightening but i was eager and all pumped up for the kayak. I was ready for the challenge as somehow, i grew to like extreme sports.

I went to OBML with several objectives. One of them is to meet new people and have fun together. Without a doubt, this was achieved, far beyond expected. I made new friends and also strengthened old ones. Another was to break down the barriers we built of ourselves. Going to OBML, i was prepared to push myself to the limits, physically and mentally. Once again, ticked!

I don't plan to go into every detail of the activities or chronologically fill you in. Instead, i will give you an overview and my perspective of my experience in OBML.

The course that me and my other comrades undertook was the 7 days leadership course. We were divided into groups called 'watch'. I was in Kinabalu Watch. And for the rest of the six days, the members of this watch became my family. Before starting, we had to hand in our handphones, electronic devices and food or drinks to our instructor and they were locked up, sealed and buried in a chest kept by our instructor.

Our instructor was Mr Taufik, and he is one amazing instructor! Fun to be with and great guidance from him. Thank you Mr T for everything.

We were taught the various knots- fisherman and clawfish to name a few, and the parts of a whaler. What is a whaler, you may ask. It's the boat the Vikings used to hunt whales, powered by human rowing. Fortunately for us, the whalers here came with sails to assemble onto. With the wind, sailing moves the boat faster.

This is a great opportunity. How many of us have the chance to see and whatnot touch a whaler? It's not like we can find a whaler in the city or in any beach resorts. And to learn the parts like the bow, stern, port side, starport side, rowlocks, oars, rudder, main sail... Each name has its meaning. For your information, the parts are heavy!

On the whaler, working as one to reach our goal! *dip, pull, out*

Our goal was to reach the checkpoint at the bridge. It was a long, tiring journey of sailing and rowing that took us nearly 5 hours! Despite the aching muscles, when our instructor declared our victory, i was overwhelmed by a sense of accomplishment and i was beyond overjoyed. This meant something to me, that we as a team, had reached our goal together. And the point here is 'together'.

Camping in the wild was not my forte. In fact, it was not something i do regularly. The last time i camped in the wild was years back. We had to find our own firewood to make fire, cooked our own dinner from the canned foods, used 360 toilets, slept in mosquitoes infested grounds, bathed with well water... Talking about dinner, our rice was not fully cooked yet we ate them and we had our meals in the dark. Shined the food at one time and gobbled them down the next. There wasn't much to complain- we were there to practice putting ourselves outside our comfort zone. It wasn't much of us against nature but more of us being one with nature!

" I got the OB spirit, up in my head,
deep in my heart, down in my knees.
I got the OB spirit, all over me,
all over me today eh... eh... " - OB Spirit song

No lie! Kayaked for seven hours! It was exhausting. Before we had our kayak expedition, we were trained to use the kayak and had capsize drills, one on shallow waters and another deeper into the sea. It was scary at first, purposely capsizing in the middle of the ocean but we had to do so that we can be well prepared with the emergency rescue steps for there is to be a real capsize incident during the expedition. My partner and i were the first to go, turned over and waited for help. I think i kicked a jelly fish. I'm not sure what it was but it was soft and bubbly. I felt it and i immediately swam away from it. No way was i to get stung by jelly fish during my much-looked-forward expedition!

By the way, don't underestimate the weight of the kayak!

Kayaked around Pangkor Island and rested for lunch at Teluk Man, welcomed by untamed monkeys. After lunch, i rested, listening to the hypnotic crashing of the waves. But time was not on our side and we had to leave as soon as possible. We had to brace the sea and its opposing current. It was a challenge to push ourselves out from the bay we had our lunch. Continued kayaking, avoiding larger ships in sea water and battling sea-sickness. It was kayaking and kayaking non-stop because even if we stop for a minute, the current will drift us off course. So, it's either we take turns with our partner to rest or say goodbye to the rest of the expedition-mates.

When we saw our target, we were motivated and fueled to reach it. Like the whaler, i was overwhelmed with the sense of accomplishment. A Eureka! moment. The feeling was inexpressible in words and no matter what adjective i use now, the only thing i can say is that it was a feeling i will never forget in my life! And there is no way for you to know how it felt unless you experience it yourself first hand.

The final night was the BBQ dinner, OBML style. I was the emcee of the night. Dinner was good and entertaining performances by all watches entailed. On the night, i was having mixed emotions. Happy as it was coming to an end. And sad as it was coming to the end. I sung the OB Spirit song with all my heart and Auld Lang Syne wholeheartedly. The night was truly memorable.

Azza and I hosting the BBQ night.

We met our instructor the final morning in OB base and had closing speeches from all members. It was teary and heartwarming, after we had grown closer and bonded as a team. We were awarded the pin of course completion and i could not utter how proud i was of myself. I came with my personal objectives and left the place feeling enriched and empowered for the future undertakings. I believe each and everyone of us that stepped into the OB base left with a new, reviewed self.

Posing proud with our certs; meet Denson. In Facebook, some comments were on how tanned we'd become.

Smiles of success on Karen and i.

Going into OB, i learnt aplenty of myself and gained knowledge and experience. Seven days may not seem like a sufficient time to change a person but trust me, it has instilled a strong foundation for change to start within the person. It may be written on the certificate a leadership course but what i learned most from this is teamwork and communication skills. Without these two essentials, there is no way we can reach Pantai Shawal/Kampung Kuala Sempit (whaler and kayak goals) and surely, there is no way we can survive in the wild. We work as a team and we succeed together as a team.

To my friends who are going there soon, i wish you all the best. And i hope you enjoy it the way i enjoyed it.

" We had joy, we had fun, we had suffered in the Sun,
But the seas and the tides, had taught us more about life. "

To OBML, raise our glasses and cheers! wc10&OBML, and don't be shocked if you can't recognize him...

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Season 5, Episode 11: What is to come?

" There is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer. " - Pearl Harbour

Oh yeah, my exams are over for this sem!- and i'm blogging live from Kedah. About the papers, i don't plan to comment much on them. Some proved real challenge, some were unavoidable blankness in the brain. But the highlight here is my effort and i always believe in trying my best. So whatever the outcome may be, i won't regret.

Holidays? Yes! It started the moment i dropped my pen from writing the last full-stop on my exam answer booklet. And i waited obediently for instructions to leave the hall to breathe in the air of temporary freedom!

Do you have this feeling, that before the exams, you know what you want to do with your time after exams but when the time comes, you just can't start? I sort of have this, though it has only been a few days of holidays. On the bright side, i'm beginning to rewrite the list mentally and turn each of them into reality.

It starts with Outward Bound School activity this weekend, for a week. Then, it's the festive season and celebration.

I just watched Pearl Harbour and i realized on thing- Michael Bay and James Cameron has pretty much something in common. From my FB wall, 'James C has Titanic, Michael B has Pearl Harbour. James C has Alien, Michael B has Armageddon. James C has Avatar, Michael B has Transformers'. Do you see what i see? Perhaps, great minds think alike.

There is a scene in the movie that inspires me. And it has to do with the quote at the start of this post. Based on the movie (as some facts are not consistent to reality), Pearl Harbour was attacked at dawn by the Japanese, unready and unprepared for what is to destroy the entire US Army at Pearl Harbour. Thousands of lives were killed. And as war was declared, the US sent their best fighter pilots on a top secret mission. Top secret mission, as said by Rafe, is a medal that is awarded to them but received by their family members. Therefore, it has to be courage from within themselves that they need to fulfill the mission. Probably i was disturbed by the images of bombs and gunfire in Pearl Harbour, such that it made me think that if i were in their shoes, i will do the same thing for my loved ones.

I watched Pearl Harbour back when i was a kid, now; i can understand the show better. Just like Edward Scissorshand. It has an intriguing story and Tim Burton and Johnny Depp duo really made this a winner.

Talking about volunteering, i have some in mind. I'll be completing my zoo time at Zoo Negara. It's a way i can get close to animals, sometimes exotic ones! Then, i read about this food-donation thing in Imbi that sparked my interest. Probably, i'll work on that too.

Movies list- i can't wait to watch Narnia! Music- time to wrap it up, 2010 and vote. X'mas post- i really enjoy this, going places and snapping photographs of their Christmas decor. Patiently wait for them to be ready. Writing and reading- a few keep on swirling in my mind. Action/adventure- to find.

There's more to discover this holiday. I can already hear Christmas bells... wc10 makes it 11 this season. And will be back for more in Season 6- time flies!