Gua Tempurung ~ brave the cave trip

It was the Malaysian 51st Independence Day holiday. A few of us from the office decided to make a trip up north to Ipoh on an adventurous cum eating trip.

I and VJ were all geared, from top to toe, from the headlights right down to the old school shoes, we were prepared to brave the cave. We reached on a Sat night after his class. We had our dinner at the ever famous Ipoh Salted Chicken restaurant before calling it a day.

The following day we were up as early as 7a.m for dim sum breakfast before starting our journey. I was extremely excited since this was my first trip into a cave. I've been to Batu Caves before when I was very young but this is different. We're going to go through the dark waters in the cave and get our hands all dirty.

We arrived at the cave at about 9 and was included in one of the first few batches together with a Korean tour group. We took a more difficult path to thread through the waters.

There were at least 7 of us in the team. The first part of the trip in was easy, straight path, passing small river flows. After about 25 - 20minutes into the trip, we started to crawl under big stones. The limestones were gorgeous. During these crawling stints was when Me and VJ were envied because we had our headlights wrapped around our heads and we didn't need to carry a torch light as the only thing we had to focus on was to get to the other side and our chin had to touch the floor of the cave. Some crawling was done in shallow waters and some was on damp ground.



The experience was mind-blowing. The cave was gorgeous! And the stalaklite and stalagmite, stuff we learnt in geography finally stood erect ahead of us. Some of the stones were formed and is still being formed more than 1000 years now. Such a prehistoric and legendary site!



The last leg of the journey was to go up a few hundred fleets of stairs. These were a killer for me as my knee was starting to hurt by then. But the beauty you see along the way is non-describable. Beautiful beyond words! At the exit of the cave, there is a small river where we washed ourselves a little before hopping back into our vehicles. We missed the white water rafting though.



That's for the next trip I suppose. Our next stop after that was to visit Foos grandma who lived very closeby. We stopped over at her place and had our shower there. We took turns to shower so we could get going on our journey back home. Having driven ourselves there allowed us time to spend on our own and we were not entirely tied to the group events. We left a while after. Her grandma was the sweetest person.
We bid everyone goodbye and left. On our way out, we stopped by an ABC stall to get some thirst quenching ais kacang. Apparently the ABC there was very famous. Indeed it was good. It was sold from a van by this mamak uncle and his son. Good business especially on a hot day.





After ABC was us heading back home. Yet another pitstop we made was to buy some tau sa piah and limau Bali. Afterall, a trip to Perak is not complete without these 2 main items as they are famous in those cities.
Can't wait for another road trip of the same.

i need a massage OR a holiday OR both...

Symptoms of a long over-due break : back ache, dreams of a vacation, constantly checking out the next public holiday date...

All the above checked. Yes, i do badly need a get-away.

On Loans, Insurance & Credit cards

I'm somewhat not a very risk averse person. After sometime of scouting around for a good deal on credit cards avail in town, I came to a dead end... There is no such thing as a 'good deal' after all, isn't it?

I mean there are thousands of offer on credit cards, loans, and many other financial help. Each has its own perks. But whether or not its a good deal really depends on what an individual need is. However, in the long run, I realised that no matter how much research or effort you put into finding out the details, there will eventually be a point where you see something much better down the line.

Example taken, my current insurance package. When I first bought it about 3 years ago, after an x amount of research and effort put into deciding on which to choose, I went ahead with the package i took coz the company was ranking between one and 2 as the top providers in the market, at that point of time. To my shock or horror, I came to realise that the ranking has dropped, a few ladders down!! But whats done is done. I still pay my premiums now. And I do believe that should anything happen to me someday, no matter what, if the company does survive this global crisis that is, my beneficiaries will get paid... So, its not all lost...

I just need to take it easy...

Beggers can't be choosers? Or can they?

The sandwich I made this morning to take to work came back in the same back - untouched. While on my way home, I was thinking to myself, I should eat it as soon as I get home or on the way, although there was food waiting at home. I also had an orange with me.

While on my way back, I came across this couple, who were seated by the roadside. They looked dirty, the woman was lying on the mans' lap, and he had this exhausted look on his face. I thought, hey, they look like they could use some food. I did step back for a bit to think if they might find it offensive if I were to offer them food. I looked at the man for a 2nd thought...

He took out his hand, gesturing as if feeding something to his mouth - standard begging for food gesture. This couple looked awfully familiar, I have seen them begging before in Bangsar as well!!

Anyway, I didn't think twice. I walked towards him and handed over the bread and orange. To my shock, he refused the orange and said that he'll just take the bread. He said that they both don't eat oranges. Okay, fine... I took back the orange and walked away. Not even a thank you from him but I was satisfied. My sandwich will be eaten after all.. The orange - can wait ;)

But this is not the first time someone less fortunate has refused help. I remember some time back, this beggar who wanted money refused to accept the coins of 30 or 50 cents anymore. I guess with the current economic turmoil and price hike in all areas, this happens to be one of it...