MNS Open Day

Vesha, Kim& Albert, Tush, Me,Netz n Paul

I woke up at 5am today. After having my coffee at the patio, I woke my three girls up and we all got ready for our trip. Yup, we are going to drive up to FRIM (Forest Reserve Institute Of Malaysia) in Kepong to participate in Malaysian Nature Society's Open Day.

Its kinda embaressing to tell you that after having lived in Seremban for 35 years, I have never been to FRIM.

My good old friends from Port Dickson, Albert & Kim and Paul joined us. Deal is, I drive to and Paul drives fro. The journey to FRIM took us approximately an hour and twenty minutes. Albert & Kim and Paul arrived at my place on time. We left in my NAZA which could easily accomodate all of us. We left exactly at 7am. It was drizzling.

We reached FRIM at 8.15am. After registering ourselves it was time for a hearty breakfast.

We were scheduled to take the canopy walk at 9.30am. Having assembled at the auditorium, our MNS guides, Steven and (sorry I can't remember the other dude's name) started our journey up the hill. Up, up and away we climbed. It was just a 30 minute walk but the last ascend was kind of steep.

The canopy walk was the first for my girls and I. Yeah, yeah, simply lame,huh? It was really exciting!! We had to walk in single files and 5 feet apart. The whole suspension bridge would sashay according to the rhyhtm of your gait. We were warned not to look down for too long but what the heck, down we did look. I guess we would have been about 30-40 feet above sea level. And that's peanuts!! I wished the canopy walk was much longer. It is such a treat having to trek up the hill and then you are treated to this wonderful canopy walk. I now want to try the one in Taman Negara. The canopy walk was a 2 hour walk. What a breeze!!

Anyway, just as we were beginning to enjoy the canopy walk- IT ENDED! I wanted to go for round two but no one else wanted to join me. We then decended through a different track and my,my,my, we were greeted by a tiny waterfall. The water was so cool and inviting that I could not resist taking my shoes off and soaking my feet underneath the stones and pebbles. After sweating it out on the canopy walk, this was truly refreshing and not to be missed. We lingered here for 20 minutes before resuming the walk down.

There was so much time left before our next walk at 3.00pm. Albert wanted to change his tees so we went to the car. We took a short tour around the Malay Tea House which had a very elaborate decor. The wood work was good. Paul bought some Malay Ginger Tea and I am sure to grab some when I am in PD in the weekend.

Tushaani painted her face and I had "half a daughter and half a zebra." Vesha had a chinese character on one cheek and a little tiger on the other. There were ample games, quizes, and documentaries for visitors to enjoy.

It was time for lunch at the canteen next to the auditorium and we had 3 hours to kill. So after lunch we had bananas and finally ice-cream. At 2 o'clock we walked up the hill again.

We were entertained by this maestro on drums and there were about twenty other people who were invited to bang on the drums. Thing is, these people were picked up at random. If you'd watch them play you would think that they have been rehearsing for some time. How they blended the variuos drum beats together? Your guess is as good as mine. It was the leader, the maestro who pulled everyone together and played for a good half an hour. I couldn't resist the beats. My daughter, Tushaani and I went to the centre ring and danced the noon away!

The last agenda was the Rover Walk. This was indeed an educational walk and we were guided by John Chan. He showed us how to survive in the wild. For water, we can either chop down a bamboo or vine tree. To make fire, splinter wood from a certain tree could be used. And if you are lost and hungry, the fruit of the (I forgot the name of the tree) can be eaten. So much for survival for the fittest. You bet I will be the first to die in the jungle!

The walk ended at 4.30pm. It was time to head home. John said that he will be emailing us the MNS itinerary for 2009. Can't wait to go on my next trip.

Thank god Paul was driving back.

Joseph, My Alchoholic Friend Part 1

Last Monday, when I was on the internet, I got a call from Maddy that our dear friend Joseph who is 65 years old had collapsed on the floor in his condominium and could not pick himself up. He had soiled himself in the process.
Apparently there was some miscommunication between his friends Johnny and James that led him to wait for them at the airport for over 3 hours earlier in the afternoon.
Anyway, all through out the 3 hour wait at the airport, Joseph had nothing to eat or drink but his good ol' friendly Moskovi vodka. Finally, Joseph decided to head back home-minus his friends whom he was supposed to pick up. Upon Joseph reaching home, only then did his friends land themselves at KLIA.
Joseph was real lucky because when he collapsed, his friends had just arrived at the condo. His wife Joanne was away visiting their children in Kuala Lumpur.
Joseph is approximately 6Ft 2. And he is quite a big guy. His friends tried to give him a hand up but was unsuccessful. They managed to clean him up though. Joseph is really lucky because at the very same time another two friends, Peter and Robert happenned to drop by too. Robert is a doctor by profession. Looking at Joseph's condition, he was quite sure there was some extensive damage to Joseph's liver. Joseph was having jaundice too. A sign that his liver is in some sort of trouble. Joseph seemed disorientated and incoherent. His friends finally managed to haul him to a chair. He looked ghostlike, a hugeVodka belly - a skeleton with skin and bones. James was appalled when he saw Joseph's condition. The last these two met was a year ago and James vouched that Joseph looked so much better then.
They decided to call the ambulance but none of them spoke Bahasa. Joseph is one hell of a lucky fella. Thank his lucky stars for Maddy was around. She called for the ambulance.When the ambulance arrived, Joseph refused to go to the hospital. He said he was alright. If in the morning he felt sick again, then he would go to the hospital. The ambulance attendants could not force Joseph to go with them. In the end, they left with an empty stretcher.
When Maddy related the whole incident to me, I was devastated. Imagine how his friends, James and Johnny would have felt? Here they have travelled a thousand miles to visit their buddy and he is in such a deplorable condition.
Maddy then told me that Joseph is an alchoholic. That hit me like a brick.
I immediately called Peter and as we spoke I could feel the desperation in Peter's voice. Peter and Joseph have been friends for a very long time too. It was too much for any of them to find their good friend sprawled on the floor like as if clutching on to dear life. I told Peter that I would come down the next day and pay Joseph a visit.
Actually, I have known Joseph for slightly over a year. In this time, we (Steve & I) have spent every weekend together with him. We shared lots of barbecues, dinners and yes, drinking sessions (most of the time). Little did we realize that Joseph is indeed an alchoholic.