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.