Camping @ Sungai Liang, Malaysia // 2015

From the last flood mission to Gua Musang, I made some new friends. We were supposed to visit another Kampung Orang Asli last weekend but the trip was postponed. Since most of us have freed our weekend, we decided to go camping instead. These are the 4WD guys, obviously they will choose a jungle location that is not accessible by a normal car. 

The campsite is at Sungai Liang, somewhere in the state of Pahang.

We exited the main road somewhere in Raub into an oil plantation to go towards the jungle.

As we entered the jungle, there were some obstacles and stream crossing to get the campsite. Considering it's the dry season, the journey was considered fairly easy for the 4WD guys.

Occasionally, we had a couple of getting stuck in the mud situation.

We even had to do 2-way winching at one point, to make sure that the car doesn't fall into the ravine.

There were lots of bamboo trees in the forest. Looking at the bamboo leaves makes me wanna come home and make some 'bak chang' (glutinous rice dumplings - we use bamboo leaves to wrap the dumplings. heh.)

Going in a convoy in the jungle, walkie talkie is essential for communication with the team.

On our way in, we saw this pile of animal poop. Looks like a fresh pile from this morning or the night before. Could it be a tiger? This area is known for its tiger population. On our first camping night, one of the guys wanted to go bathing at the stream after dinner. It was very dark of course. So he uses the torchlight to look around first before going into the stream. Suddenly, he saw a pair of reflective eyes. Very bright. As bright as an LED light. He quickly came back to get two other guys to go confirm what he just saw. They saw the pair of reflective eyes too, and this time is already nearer to our campsite. The guys quickly fire up some firecrackers that was supposed to resemble the sound of guns as if people are hunting so that the animals will go away. After that, we went to the stream again but it was not there anymore. The next day, the guys saw some paw prints near the stream and later in the afternoon, we could hear tiger roars. The guys did actually slept with machetes under their bed. I don't have a machete. I could only pray that the tiger don't come while we were sleeping >.<"

We arrived at the campsite at about 4pm. The campsite is in between 2 streams. I immediately went to check out the stream and was greeted by hundreds of butterflies! 

There were so many of these blue lil' ones just by the stream bank. 

I stood there and they were just flying all around me. So dreamy, so magical~ Totally made my day!

And there were some of these bigger ones too. How beautiful. As if I was at a butterfly park!

This is Sungai Liang, the stream on one side. Water level is rather shallow because it's the dry season. 

The water is icy cold! Going into the stream reminds me of the days when my family used to go picnic at the waterfall/mountain stream. We usually picnic by a stream similar to this. 

There were very tall trees at the campsite. The trunks are straight all the way up - easily 100 feet tall each at least.

It's tea time after the tents were all set up. And at the same time, we were already preparing for dinner.

What is camping without a campfire right?

The next day, in the morning there were these 2 guys who came on their motorbike to cross the stream, so that they can go across to go further up for fishing. There are fishes in the stream at the campsite but they're so little, smaller than ikan bilis! Haha! These guys are gonna bike up for another hour or so to catch bigger fishes.

I brought along the hammock that I bought during my trip to Siem Reap last year. Nice and comfortable under the tree, it took only 3 pages of reading before I fell asleep......ZZzzzzzzzzz~~~~

I also went to the stream on the other side. Water is as icy cold, but even clearer than the other stream. Apparently locals call this Sungai Jernih which literally means 'clear stream'. 

 There is a mini waterfall and sitting there feels like you're in a jacuzzi in the nature. It felt so good. Whiskey neat helps your body deal with the coldness of the water. It has never tasted better.
*Love how this picture is looking like a painting.

A few hours later the 2 guys returned from their fishing trip. We asked them to sell the big one to us but they wanted to take home for the family, awwwwwwhh.....so sweet~ It's ok, we have plenty of food anyway :)

They also showed us the 'pistol' (gun) that they use to fish. It's a handmade wooden gun. It must be quite precious as not many people know how to make this these days. His was made by an old man who is no longer around. He also doesn't know where else we can get it anymore.

We cooked all our meals. We have a pretty complete kitchen. Everyone's got their pots and pans and wok and containers and etc etc. When I was packing for the trip, WH said I packed half the kitchen to go. He haven't seen what the rest of the guys brought! Haha!
We take our meals seriously okay... cooking is part of the fun of camping, so we don't compromise! :D

I must admit that our meals are pretty luxurious for camping.

Some of our main meals include:
a) Deep fried mini promfets, salted fish, stir fry chicken with onion + chilli + Thai basil and stir fry cabbage served with white rice.
b) Nasi lemak served with cucumber, hard boiled egg, sambal bawang, ikan bilis and rendang chicken.
c) Honey mustard chicken with mini potatoes + carrots + green bell pepper and shrimp + french bean omelette served with white rice.
d) Lamb stew with carrots + onions + potatoes + tomatoes in 10 spices. Simmered for 4 hours!
e) Squid marinated in leftover honey and mustard marinade. Cooked with a dash of salt + pepper for taste and a splash of Henessy VSOP on woodfire.
f) Bratwurst sausage, butter toasted bread and cheesy scramble eggs.

Not to mention we have snacks, tit bits and alcohol all day!Camping makes you fat, I kid you not. 

There's pretty much nothing to do besides hanging around and chit chat, bathe in the stream, eat, eat, drink.... and sleep. That's the big tent some of us slept under - for those of us who doesn't have individual tent. 

We also found a bullet case under the tree. They say it's bullet for a shot gun. Someone's probably been hunting here.

It can get very cold at night. We sat around the campfire to warm ourselves.

It's really comfortable and nice. You can look up and gaze at the stars, you can hear sounds of insects all around you, and you can see firefly blinking around.

We also boiled water and cooked supper on the fire.

On the third day, we woke up, had breakfast, packed up, have our final dip in the stream and ready to head back home. Of course, we encountered a couple getting stuck in the mud on our way out too.

No car is gonna go back clean when you go off-road.

We even had a minor accident. Our car's steering shaft must have gone crooked when we hit on a big rock at one point. I was in this car! :O

These are the guys who will always try their best to fix whatever they can.

We have a temporary fix within an hour and the journey home continued.

All in all, it was an awesome camping trip. 3D2N ended too soon. Great location, good company, delicious food. That's all you need for a camping trip.

Pulau Redang, Malaysia // 2015

Pulau Redang is an island off the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, in the state of Terengganu.

So, this is my 4th time here.

I still remember the first time I fell in love with this place 13 years ago! That was the first time I saw a beach so beautiful and water so clear. Even in the middle of the day when it was scorching hot, the sea is so tempting with the water in just the right temperature, that me and my friends just forgot everything else and spent all afternoon in the water. The result, when I went home after the 3D2N vacation, my mom almost couldn't recognise me because I look totally burnt! But, it was so worth it.

The view of the mountains as we flew from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Terengganu early in the morning. That little bit of black shadow on the left is the plane's propeller :)

As far as I know, all the resorts in Pulau Redang provide full board packages. That includes boat transfers, accomodation, snorkeling trips and all meals (breakfast, lunch, tea time & dinner). Standard package is 3D2N but of course you have the option to extend.

This is how we arrive at the island. The boat will stop as near as it can get to the beach and we get down from there, straight into the clear blue seawater. One of the bigger and more luxury resort have their own jetty on the other side of the island so guests don't have to get wet. But honestly, I prefer to arrive like this. Hey, it's a beach vacation, get wet! When you get down from the boat, the waves could hit you high enough to wet your butt, but you don't have to worry about carrying your bags. The resort staff will transfer your bag to the beach and they carry high up so your bags won't get wet.

The sand on the beach is so soft, fine and white.

The water is so clear it's like a huge swimming pool and as bonus, there's fishes swimming with you.

In the afternoon, I would just sleep on the hammock under the tree, just like this mother and son.

But I didn't take a selfie like she did. :P

The view was breathtaking not just in the daytime. If you're lucky, you get gorgeous sky at night too.

I kinda fell asleep on the deck chair. Suddenly, I open my eyes and saw this round and bright moon, showing up in between the clouds, shining upon the sea.

The moon keep moving upwards (well, actually it's the earth moving), towards a different sea of clouds. It was so windy at night, it can get quite cold. You may need a jacket like I did. 

It feels like heaven waking up to a view like this.

Even though the temperature is quite hot, but it's quite windy so it's okay. 

There are many squirrels around. They mostly come to the resort's cafeteria. One of the staff say the squirrels will eat biscuits but not bread, so I gave them biscuits. This resort actually provides free flow of biscuit, coffee, tea and drinking water 24/7. Cream crackers and Kopi-O (local black coffee) can be just the perfect supper when you're hungry late at night.

I think all resorts have their own snorkeling and dive center.

In the evening, everyone comes out and play at the beach. It is also a good time to swim with the fishes because it's not hot anymore.

Volleyball is a popular game here. And these guys were actually pretty good at it. 

Splash!

And a bigger splash!

Some girls decorating the space for a birthday celebration.

Some of the resorts have a bar, some have live bands or DJ console for those who wants to chill and have a drink. Well, there's pretty much nothing else to do anyway.

This is the first time I'm staying at this resort - Redang Pelangi Resort. I thought the service was very good. Their staff were very efficient and friendly. The place is basic but clean (only maybe the bathroom could use some refurbishment). Food, not as much variety of choices compared to the luxury resort but taste was better than I expected . And I think the beach at this resort is nicer compared to the other stretch towards the right side. It's also more windy on this stretch of the beach. I would come back and stay here again.

Sadly, this was a short vacation and we had to leave on the third day morning.

Our flight back to Kuala Lumpur is at night, so we have hours to kill in Kuala Terengganu town. Another thing that I liked about the resort is that since we have to leave the island in the morning, they actually took us to their office in town, and we can leave our bags there and go explore the town on our own, or we can just rest at the common area. There are board games to borrow or you can just watch Astro and relax. They will then send you to the airport when it's time to take your flight. 

The office is just right opposite a bus station. 

We then spotted a few of this beautiful buses. The bus is designed like a traditional house. They are just regular town buses so we decided to get onto one for a ride.

The inside of the bus is just as beautiful as the outside. There's wood carvings and even batik on the bus ceiling.

And the seats are like garden benches. Cantik sekali! 

I wish it was a longer vacation.