Jungle Trekking at Awana Genting Highlands

Yesterday, my department organized a jungle trekking activity at Awana Genting Highlands. It has been a while now since I last visited Genting Highlands and its landscape had more changes now than my last visit here.

Registration in progress. We were given sandwich, water and banana for breakfast. It is always a good idea to have banana before a strenuous activity.

We were separated into 7 teams. Before we start our trekking, we were instructed with some stretching move.

I am in team 7 (a.k.a team green). The organiser had a competition on which team can complete the task in the shortest time and this team don't look like a team which are in the contention to win it.

Anyway, the start of the journey is not that tough as we were going down the hill. Balancing plays a crucial part here.

Along the track, there are many blood sucking creatures like leech (the local call it pacat)

To counter the blood sucking creatures, they spray aerosol to the feet and shoes. I doubt the effectiveness though.

This blood stain on the socks from the other contestant who has his feet bitten by the leech. Thank God I don't encounter any leech attack.

After walking for 30 minutes, we arrived at a stream to take a break and enjoy the fresh cool water.

There are a lot of logs we need to tackle in the forest.

Some of the trees here are really ancient from the size of them

The information board which indicates the animals that can be found in this forest. One of the team actually came across a wild boar!

After 1 hour, we took another break at a stream. This was where we recharge ourselves before making the final dash to the finishing line.

Its a vertical climb from here on and it was really tiring. My thigh muscles were really tested here.

Everyone was relieved when we reached the finishing line. My team made it in 1 hour and 53 minutes. My leg almost got crammed here (maybe because I sweat too much) and I was lucky to avoid it as we approached the finishing line.

Lunch pack provided by Awana Resort. Fried rice with fried chicken and comes with apple. It tasted pretty good on an empty stomach.

Lady Luck was smiling at my team as we were the runner up for the competition. (The winner finished at a remarkable 1 hour 39 minutes). There were 2 teams which detoured from the intended path and ended up arriving late. Their unfortunate event could have elevated us to the runner up spot as they are a fitter teams.

Before we left, I ventured around to take some photos of the surrounding. Genting is no longer cold as before and I can virtually walk around in a T-shirt.

Just another look at the prize won. I can see a mug, chocolate bars and mentos in it.

Putrajaya Sentral

Putrajaya Sentral serves as the transportation hub for Putrajaya. It is located at Precinct 7 and is nowhere near the core district.

The station is moderate in size and the concourse area is hardly congested even during peak hour. Its interior is always clean but not cooled with any air conditional.

From Putrajaya Sentral, one can see some of the government administration buildings in Precinct 2. It could be a 40 minutes walk from here to reach there.

There is an information counter inside the station to assist tourists who arrive here via bus or KLIA Transit.

The most busy part of the station is the bus terminal, located just below the station. This is the main hub for Nadi Putra and Rapid KL. There are a few Rapid KL buses here that connect Putrajaya with KL (E1), Serdang (U42), Cyberjaya (U423) and Bandar Utama-Puchong-Kelana Jaya (U43).

Several long distant buses such as Transnasional and Plusliner also operated from here to selected towns and cities such as Kuantan, Kota Bharu, Kuala Terengganu, Johor Bahru, Melaka, Ipoh, Alor Setar and Penang

Taxi station, just opposite the bus terminal operate 24 hours. From here, one will need to purchased the coupon from the counter to use the taxi.

KLIA Transit also stops here and operate on average every 30 minutes. Fare to KLIA is RM6.20 and RM9.50 to KL Sentral. This is another busy place after working hour and Friday evening.

Putrajaya Sentral also suppose to be the hub for the proposed Putrajaya Monorail but it was eventually scrapped, probably due to lack of fund or the population in the core district has not reached the required figure.

Moving Around Putrajaya

Sightseeing in Putrajaya definitely pose a challenge for those who are without wheels and rely heavily on public transportation.

Putrajaya area is mainly served by a bus company called Nadi Putra. All the buses operated by them run on natural gas for a cleaner environment.

The bus is fully air conditioned and pretty comfortable. Most of the time the bus will not reach its full capacity except during early morning and after working hour (Monday to Friday) when the buses ferry most of the government servants from their home to the offices.

Bus fare here is pretty cheap and cost a flat RM0.50 for any single trip regardless of the distance traveled. One will need to prepare an exact fare or the company will not return any change for excess fee you pay. There is no ticket, just put the coins into a box and the bus driver will give you a receipt.

For more convenience, the company do sell monthly pass at RM17. It is way much easier to use. Just flash this card to the bus driver and you are ready for any journey. There is no need for coins and you can take unlimited ride. The pass is only sold from 26th to 7th every month and can be purchased from Putrajaya Sentral (integrated bus and train station) from 8am-9pm except for public holiday. One will need to show some identification when purchasing this card.

Taking bus here can be confusing for first timer. So, check the bus routes which are displayed in almost all the major bus stops and Putrajaya Sentral. Nadi Putra has a very comprehensive coverage of Putrajaya area and will bring passengers to the core district and all the attractions here. The bus frequency differs from area to area but on average it is about every 20-30 minutes.

Dester Premium Lager Beer

I first get to know Dester Premium Lager Beer when I visited a coffee shop in Sibu and found a lot of people there were drinking this beer. It is dirt cheap and sold at RM10 for 4-5 cans in Sibu.

It is rather vague where the beer is originally brewed. I had my suspicion that it is brewed in China under the supervision of Oriental Brewery Co. Ltd which is based in Seoul, Korea. Its alcohol content is at 5%

It is imported by an agent in Singapore and Bintulu. From Bintulu, it is easy for this brand to make its way to Sibu.

Its ingredients are pretty standard, using barley malt and hops. The manufacturer claims Dester Premium Lager is specially crafted using European traditional beer brewing method.

Its expiry date is printed at the base of the can. I believe it has a shelf life of 1 year only.

It forms quite a head once poured to a glass. The beer tastes pretty plain to my liking but my friends disagree with me and claimed it actually nice to drink. Well, for a cheap beer, it is definitely worth the value!

What I Up To in Sibu Last Week

I had a rare opportunity to go back home for 3 days 2 nights last week, taking advantage of the public holiday last Friday. Sibu had been dubbed as Swan Town for quite some time now and here are some of the activities I engaged for such a short period of time.

Take kampua mee and any hawker food stall. The nice thing about food here is that they come in huge portion and cheap.

Take a stroll along the Rejang River and watch the bustling riverine activities.

CNY atmosphere never seems to diminish from this small town. One can still feel the atmosphere until the very last day.

One can get beer and booze here for a song. It's almost like a heaven here for drinkers like myself :)

I feel blessed somehow this year with all the predicament I have to face with my new work but I was still able to celebrate the 1st and the last day of Chinese New Year at home. I practically feast on my last day at my in law and my parents house.

Delay

In my latest trip back (26-28 February), both my flights suffered delays which cause me valuable time considering I only have 55 hours to spend in my hometown.

The first incident was the KL-Sibu flight by MAS. We were asked to evacuate the aircraft when it just left the aerobridge.

Apparently, there was a serious malfunction on the aircraft and the commander of the flight decide not to fly.

This is my second incident in 6 months with MAS where the aircraft suffer malfunction just after leaving the aerobridge. This time around, I snapped the call sign number of the aircraft. MAS eventually replace it with a functional aircraft but I lost nearly 2 hours already.

Call it a twist of event and my return flight from Sibu-KL by Airasia also cost me nearly 2 hours of delay. I arrived LCCT around 0030 and I missed the last ride on KLIA Transit. I have no choice but to opt for taxi which charge 50% surcharge after midnight. To make things worse, it was a long queue outside for taxi. I heard someone waited for more than 1 hour for a taxi. I was fortunate as one of the taxi driver (not those pirated taxi) came to me out of nowhere and ask where I want to go. Hence, I arrived at my place at 0130 today. Barely have enough rest to start my day until now.

This is my second incident having to bear the long taxi queue when taking night flight. I am considering not to take a night flight to LCCT again in the future.