kamunting hash 10 km run

| 26 february 2009 | thursday | 5.45 pm | arrived at start of run next to pejabat pertanian on the road to burmese pools | most runners already arrived | mostly members of kamunting hash house harriers and harriets but some non members as well | most of non members regular lake gardens hard core runners | weather was good for a run | just after rain | first 10 km run in a semi competitive environment | 6.00 pm | run started | 6.54 pm | run ended | time was 53 minutes 35 seconds which was yelled out by a stopwatch wielding man when crossing finishing line | interesting | much food for thought | way behind the top runners | much room for improvement |

maxwell hill search and rescue

| 24 february 2009 | tuesday | 10.30 am | called fire yu to ascertained status of search for 5 teenagers lost in maxwell hill | glad to hear that they were rescued and led out of the jungle in the morning | apparently, fire yu was given the wrong information leading to the team searching in the jungle on the wrong side of the road | the team went on a wild goose chase | but perhaps, the team's search in the jungle on one side of the maxwell hill road narrowed the search to the jungle on the other side | who knows | if team obtained correct information, the teenagers could have been out of the jungle by yesterday evening |

maxwell hill search and rescue

| 23 february 2009 | monday | 7.15 pm | got called from james aka fire yu about 5 teenagers who were lost in a jungle trail on maxwell hill aka bukit larut | was asked to join a search and rescue team | agreed | finished dinner, changed and packed | 7.45 pm | met up with fire yu, ah pian and ah chui at jeep station at foot of maxwell hill | fire yu was team leader with ah pian as co brain | fire yu and ah pian decided to enter the jungle from pondok tiga | got a ride from a jeep to pondok tiga | 8.20 pm | entered jungle | was dark | trail was lit using headlamps only | fortunately there were markings on the trees | also a paper trail was laid to enable team to get out if could not find another way out | the first part of the trek was fairly level until a stream was reached | team then trekked uphill towards the abandoned tea gardens | throughout the trek, fire yu was tooting a horn, ah pian and ah chui were calling out using their voices while yours truly made do with a whistle | 9.10 pm | break | ah pian and ah chui had food | heard another rescue team uphill tooting the jeep horn and shouting | shouted back | fire yu decided to trek downhill as contact was already made with the uphill rescue team | 9.20 pm | started downhill trek and search | 11.00 pm | arrived at water treatment plant at the foot of maxwell hill | met another rescue team | headed back to jeep station using road | 11.15 pm | started raining, fire yu decided to end the search and the team dispersed |

bukit kutu trek

| 21 february 2009 | saturday | trek to bukit kutu aka gunung kutu | was lucky there were many trekkers on the trail and there were many numbered red and white plastic ribbons some with numbers to show the way | asked around and followed the ribbons to counter check | red and white plastic ribbons showed the way, especially the new ribbons with numbers in a circle | ribbon with the number 81 in a circle was tied at the clearing next to peak of bukit kutu | ribbons numbered in sequence | the higher up, the higher the number | just next to the peak there was a nice place to camp near lonely chimney with water from 2 wells | trek started from kampung pertak a modern orang asli kampung with brick bungalows mostly painted white | met many trekkers and picnickers on the way up and down bukit kutu | all friendly and helpful | without their directions and advices might not have reached the peak | kampung pertak is located 10 km from kuala kubu baru on the way to the gap and frasers hill | trek log and notes follows | 9.40 am | arrived at large field cum parking area immediately after kampung pertak | 9.48 am | start of trek | tar road for about 50 metres before start of dirt track | 9.53 am | crossed smallish stream via concrete bridge | miniature waterfall on the left | 10.00 am | crossed first concrete and steel bridge for motorcycles across a small stream | can also jump across stream | 10.05 am | arrival at first major fork | on the right at the fork, another concrete and steel bridge for motorcycles | bridge can be seen while approaching fork | mid section of the bridge already collapsed but bridged can be crossed without getting feet wet | right after bridge, there was a small campsite on the left | there was a 4wd vehicle parked at the campsite and some men cooking | 10.07 am | arrived at t-junction | you might miss it | another trail branches of perpendicularly to the right towards river | went straight to continue, did not turn right | 10.11 am | arrived at y-junction | at this fork, went straight to continue, did not turn left | 10.14 am | arrived at wide stream | can be crossed without getting feet wet using rocks to the right of the trail | no bridge, but stream can be crossed using 4wd | 10.16 am | immediately after the stream crossing, a fork | took the left side trail | the right will lead to a big campsite where a big group from universiti putra malaysia was camping | a 4wd vehicle was seen parked at the campsite | 10.17 am | crossed minor stream | there was what appeared to be a canvas toilet just across the stream probably set up by those camping at the aforesaid campsite | 10.19 am | reached another fork | took the right side trail | 10.24 am | crossed minor stream | hopped across | 10.27 am | leapt across another stream | 10.37 am | arrived at yellow wildlife reserve sign nailed to a tree on the left of the trail | but saw no wildlife at all | 10.40 am | arrived at big tree with exposed roots on the left side of the trail | caught up with another group of trekkers who was to camp on the peak | chit chatted | after the tree, trail goes steeply up | this would be the most difficult stretch of the trail | up and up with short stretches of gradual inclines | 10.57 am | caught up with 3 trekkers who have discontinued their treks as 1 was having cramps | chit chatted | trail went straight and steeply upwards | 11.15 am | arrived at first and smaller group of big rocks on the left side of the trail | stopped for snacks | 11.23 am | met a group of trekkers who spent the night on the peak | chit chatted | resumed trek | 11.27 am | sighted second and bigger collection of big rocks on the left side of the trail | turn sharply left towards the rocks | walk on a short stretch of rocky ground with the bigger rocks on the left until dirt trail resumes | these rocks will be a good resting place and were probably the big rocks noted by most trekkers | 11.37 am | arrived at the ridge | trail got easier after this with only 1 relatively short stretch of steep climb before the peak | upon reaching the ridge, on the left of the trail was an expansive view of faraway hills and mountains | cheer up as there would be no difficulty in reaching the peak if this point is achieved | 12.03 pm | start of relatively steep climb | 12.08 pm end of steep climb | at the end of the climb, a plastic bottle was hung on a tree | the trail turns sharply right and goes downwards after the plastic bottle | the downward stretch was followed by an upward stretch towards the peak | 12.15 pm | arrived at campsite next to the peak with a solitary chimney in the middle | there was a group of trekkers at the campsite and on the peak | passed several trekkers from the group on the way up | 12.21 pm | arrived at the peak and climbed to the second tallest rock outcrop for panoramic view | did not climb to the tallest rock outcrop as any slip would be result in injury | 12.28 pm | spread flysheet at campsite and relaxed | snacked and slept | explored campsite | chimney was most prominent feature | there were 2 wells with clear water although some rubbish were spotted at the bottom of the wells | one of the wells came with a plastic bucket with a string attaching it to the steel pipe beside the well | washed t-shirt and face | 1.25 pm | started downhill trek, passed several trekkers on the way up to spend the night at the campsite near peak | 2.01 pm | passed at the bigger collection of big rocks | did not pause | 2.28 pm | passed big tree with exposed roots | 2.45 pm | crossed bigger clearing and campsite and wide bridgeless stream | 3.03 pm | passed small clearing where 2 cars, a proton wira and a proton iswara was parked | this car park was ascessible via dirt track | 3.10 pm | back to parking area and parked car | change of clothing | drove to kuala kubu baru for late lunch |

gunung irau + gunung brinchang trek

| 14 february 2009 | saturday | 8.00 pm | arrived at kampung raja, cameron highlands | did some shopping for supplies for the trek | 8.30 pm | arrived at kwan tee temple at kampung raja | had dinner at lai fatt restaurant beside the temple | good dinner, and prices are reasonable | 10.00 pm | set up tent on the stage in the hall beside the temple | this is the place where taiping goh camp on the nights before his treks to the mountains in the vicinity | apparently no permission was needed from anyone | did not ask any one for permission as did not know who to ask | in retrospect ought to informed the temple caretaker | but was not disturbed | 10.30 pm | lights off | had trouble sleeping as the air pillow purchased at tesco leaked | same thing happened at gunung yong yap with another pillow purchased at tesco | do not recommend any air pillow from tesco | 15 february 2009 | sunday | 6.00 am | alarm went off | freshened up and broke camp | 6.30 am | had breakfast at kampung raja | wantan mee and eggs | 7.00 am | started driving to gunung brinchang | 7.30 am | arrived at gunung brinchang summit where some members of malaysian outdoors hiking trekking society were camped | surprised that the tents were still up | long wait | 8.20 am | johnny low, team leader gave a briefing on the trail from the summit of gunung brinchang to the summit of gunung irau | most useful advice was to follow the rectangular stone blocks marking the border shared by perak and pahang | the words per presumably for perak appeared on one face of the stone markers and the words pah presumably for pahang appeared on the opposing face | from gunung brinchang peak to gunung irau peak, the words per ought to be on the left and the words pah on the right | from gunung irau peak to gunung brinchang peak, the words per will be on the right and pah will be on the right | trail was well marked | trail had many forks but forked trails reconverged | 8.30 am | start of trek on the man made walkway from gunung brinchang peak | after the end of the walkway, the trail started with a steep downhill descent | the descent continued until the ascent to the gunung irau false peak | although it did not rain the day before, the trail was still covered with rotting moss | once the trek commenced, a single layer of dry fit t shirt sufficed to ward off the cold | 10.20 am | arrived at gunung irau false peak | short break | not cold, in fact fairly warm | weather was good | sun was out | started descent from gunung irau false peak | the descent continued until the ascent to the gunung irau peak | 11.30 am | arrival at the summit of gunung irau | rest and relaxation | sun was still out | quite warm | 11.45 am | left the summit of gunung irau | 2.15 pm | arrival at the summit of gunung brinchang | 3.15 pm | left gunung brinchang peak | 3.45 pm | dinner at lai fatt restaurant next to kwan tee temple | 4.30 pm | left kampung raja for home | overall an enjoyable trek | good for reasonably fit beginners | the trail from gunung brinchang to gunung irau was 2.35 km in length | the length of the trek was 4.7 km | gunung irau at 2110 metres or 6923 feet is the 9th tallest mountain in peninsular malaysia | gunung brinchang at 2032 metres or 6666 feet is quite tall as well | irau peak is only 78 metres or 257 feet higher than brinchang peak | brinchang peak is the highest peak in peninsular that is accessible by way of tar road | even if not trekking, a visit to gunung brinchang is recommended | drive slowly and horn to warn oncoming traffic as the road to brinchang summit is only passable by 1 vehicle | for the photos, please click here | for the photos taken by jimmy chew, please click here | for the photos taken by toh say li, please click here |

gunung nuang trek

| 18 january 2009 | sunday | 6.30 am | arrival at car park at pangsoon, ulu langat, selangor, at the foot of gunung nuang | introductions and then sean ong gave a briefing | 7.00 am | start of trek | first stretch of trail wide enough for a vehicle to drive | 8.15 am | end of motorable trail | arrived at a stream with 2 huts | trail narrows to a footpath | followed pipeline until abandoned water catchment | crossed stream halfway at abandoned water catchment pond | the ascent was very gradual | 8.30 am | arrived at kem lolo | kem lolo is a big campsite spread over several areas on both sides of the stream | kem lolo can easily take at least 30 tents | there were huts at kem lolo as well | unfortunately the place is quite literally a dump and could be cleaner | took a break | 8.45 am | resume trek | after kem lolo, trail started to ascend a bit but not too steep | red clay trail | 9.30 am | arrival at kem pacat | small campsite | fortunately was not greeted by any pacat | no leeches | kem pacat is a clearing which can take about 20 campers | 9.40 am | resumed trek | trail goes on a steep incline after kem pacat | steep climb most of the way until the arrival at the false peak also known as puncak pengasih | 10.25 am | arrival at false peak | a small clearing | there was a green signboard with an arrow pointing left towards the summit of gunung nuang | after short break, descended from false peak followed by a steep ascent to gunung nuang peak | 10.55 am | arrival at the peak of gunung nuang | height of gunung nuang was 1493 metres or 4898 feet | it was windy and chilly at the peak | there was a group camping at the peak and a big group which trekked to the peak from kem lolo | a solo trekker and 2 japanese trekker also arrived the peak | took a nap as slept only 2 hours the night before | 12.30 pm | started the descent | 3.30 pm | arrival at the car park and the end of the trek | it was a tough and challenging trek | for more information on gunung nuang trek, please click here or please click here or please click here | for the photos taken by sean ong, please click here | for the photos taken by jimmy chew, please click here |

shoelaces

| 13 january 2009 | only learned to tie shoelaces not too long ago | apparently was tying shoelaces the wrong way for decades | not long after the trek to yong yap peak in november 2008, resolved that something must be done about the shoelaces which were undone annoyingly regularly | to tie the shoelaces with gloves and a backpack on the back can be quite a challenge and a tiring affair | in thick jungle the time taken to tie shoelaces may be enough for the person in front to disappear from sight | it was a relieve that there was a website to teach how to tie shoelaces | unbelievable | the site is named ian's shoelace site | learned that the reason why shoelaces were untied were because they were probably tied with a granny knot | learn more about the granny knot by clicking here | no wonder the shoelaces came undone | ian's shoelace siterecommended two alternative knots namely the fast ian knot and the secure ian knot | having tested both knots for more than 2 months in various trekking conditions, both the fast ian knot and the secure ian knot did what their jobs very well indeed | use the fast ian knot most of the time | but use the secure ian knot in treks where shoelaces may come in contact with plants, rocks and other things | take a look at ian's shoelace site and fairly sure you will learn something useful | to ian figgien, a big thank you |

taiping hash baptism

| 11 january 2009 | was baptised as a member of taiping hash house harriers this evening | given the hash name sweet potato junior aka farn see chaih which meant the same thing in cantonese | quite a mouthful | hash name was given on a democratic basis and election was by a show of hands |

trong waterfalls

| 10 january 2009 | saturday | trek to sungai trong upper waterfall | trek inspired by the report at http://www.waterfallsofmalaysia.com/30trong.php | exit north south plus highway at changkat jering toll | after paying toll, turn right at the first junction | drive on until reach trong traffic lights | go straight and turn left at the first junction after the traffic lights | go all the way until end of road where there was a small parking area | road was pretty level until after the bridge over sungai trong | thereafter it goes into a climb | there were places to set up camp between the road and sungai trong before the parking area | after the parking area the road became a dirt track | this track led to the upper trong waterfall | from the parking area, there was a steep flight of steps leading downwards to the lower trong waterfall | the lower trong waterfall was easy to find | the lower trong waterfall had 2 tiers | there were people swimming and dipping in the pool below the lower tier but no one seem to venture into the pool below the upper tier | did not go into the water | going to the upper trong waterfall was not so easy | the trek to the upper waterfall will take about 1.30 hours | the track became progressively narrower and overgrown closer to the upper waterfall but with some care and thought the track was discernible up to the upper waterfall | just before reaching the upper waterfall, there were 2 campsites | the first campsite can accommodate around 15 persons while the second and smaller campsite can only accommodate about 5 persons | beside the first and bigger campsite, the stream flowed gently and there was a big rocky area for sunbathing | the upper waterfall had 2 tiers | the pool below the lower tier looked nice | a narrow track led to the top of the upper tier | took 1 hour and 15 minutes to trek from parking area to first and bigger campsite | took 10 minutes to trek from first campsite to the second campsite | between the campsite is a nice pool | the second campsite was situated very close to the lower tier of the upper waterfall | took 15 minutes to climb from the bottom of the lower tier to the top of the upper tier | for the photos, please click here |

tabur east trail

| 3 january 2008 | enjoyed tabur west trail very much | had time to kill until evening | decided to take a look at tabur east trail | at about 10.58 am arrived at the car park area under twin water pipes about 50 metres from trail head | while preparing for the trek, started to drizzle and then it rained | decided to go for teh tarik to sit out the rain | at about 12.15 pm rain was reduced again to drizzle, so decided to start the trek as have to finish trek before 3.00 pm | at 12.25 pm arrived at housing area next to the twin water pipes | nicer road and looked a safer place to park the car | was drizzling so after putting on a windbreaker, and putting stuff in plastic bags, started the trek | at 12.30 pm, arrived at trail head to the right of the twin water pipes, shortly after the pipes reach ground level | at the start the trail goes steeply upwards | during the upwards climb, the vegetation was typical rainforest | at 12.44 pm saw first moss which means that the vegetation will turn to shrubs and "bonsai" plants due to meagre soil on tabur ridge | 12.48 pm, arrived at first outcrop with a fine view of the klang gates dam | thereafter, the trail goes along the spine of the ridge except for parts where it winds down along the side of the ridge to avoid the breaks between the outcrops on the ridge | as with the tabur west trail, the scenery was beautiful | there was no one else on the trail and strangely enjoyed the solitude and peacefulness of the trek | at 1.25 pm, arrived at the middle of the climb to the last outcrop on the tabur east trail which was the only long steep climb on the ridge itself | there were ropes at hand for most the steep climb | reached the end of the east tabur trail at 1.33 pm | the trail ends with a steep drop | after a short rest for lunch, started the trek back to trail head | arrived safely to civilization at about 2.35 pm | it was an enjoyable trek | quite safe | only slightly harrowing experiences were as follows | the first was where the trail "dissappeared" just before the second last outcrop and was replaced by twin white lines on narrow rocks | follow the twin lines on the rocks and the trail will resume | the passage on the rocks were fairly level | not sure whether the twin white lines were natural or made by a kind samaritan | the second was where the trail appears to end on a steep drop on the way to the last outcrop | backtrack a bit | just before arriving at the drop you will find a trail to your right which goes off the ridge and goes along the side of the ridge | this trail goes a fair bit downwards before it head up again towards the last outcrop | at the end of this detour, arrive at the final steep climb up the rocks to the last and highest outcrop on the tabur east trail | strangely the third and the most harrowing occured on the way back immediately after the steep descent down the last outcrop | somehow missed the detour downwards to the side of the ridge | must have been day dreaming | went forward to another outcrop | at this outcrop which was covered with some kind of grass, spent some time looking for some way down to no avail | took some time to reflect | instead taking risk decided to back track | found the detour, indeed wondering how could have missed it in the first place and continued the track back without further incident | a pair of gloves are advised as got cuts on my hands although did not feel any pain during the trek itself | pain from cuts felt keenly when washing the hands | for some climbing, some flexibility will be required | all in all will revisit tabur east trail as the trek was enjoyable | fewer photos were taken during this trek as it was drizzling throughout and the kodak c713 used was not waterproof | the kodak c713 a faithful and much abused gadget of many treks started to act crazy during the trek but served till its last breath at the end of the trek | for the photos taken during the trek, please click here |