A Different Kind of Family Holiday ~ Perek Adventure Trip – Part 3

This Perak trip was full of little surprises.  I thought we were going to have lunch at a nearby local food stall but our lunch was waiting for us under the trees right beside the river. How cool was that! It was like having a picnic along the river. We took our food and sat on the rocks by the river. It was dining with a view at the most economical price! LOL. Delicious meal, beautiful scenery and a memorable dining experience.

 Teacher X and Tze Kiat were helping out at the buffet table.

What a cool place to have lunch!

Trying to balance our plates while eating LOL

  Beware of leeches! A leech had Jordan for lunch!

 You Yun and Teacher X showing off their delicious food.

Alright! It was time to apply sunblock and to get ready for some splashing good time under the sun! The guides gave us a detailed briefing about safety and important things to note during the rafting session.

Courtney split us into 3 different rafts and we were all set to go.

This was my 2^nd time doing white water rafting and it was definitely better than the one which I had in Bali few years ago. Summer and Ocean were all excited for this thrilling ride down the river.

Let’s go with the flow! The river water was gushing fast and there were many countless rapids along the way. It was really crazy when our raft rushed down the big rapids. The adrenaline that was going through us was beyond words!

Ocean need not do any work. He just sit and enjoy the ride!

Playing with water down the river was pure fun as the 3 rafts started splashing water at each other with the oars whenever our rafts met.

The guides intentionally attempted to capsize all the rafts when we reached the “safer” parts of the river. Those in the other 2 rafts fell into the river except ours. Luckily, our raft did not capsize. Instead, our guide fell into the river while trying to do so! LOL!

Flow away……

Half way down the river, our raft did have a “real” capsize at a rapid! Everyone in the raft fell into the river and my back hit against the rock! The very next moment, I realized that both my Summer and Ocean had drifted away from the raft after the capsize!  I managed to grab the rope from the guide who successfully pulled me back to the raft. Nick hurriedly swam towards the kids and got them back on board. It was unexpected and we were a little shocked but everyone was fine in the end. Thereafter, we rafted all the way back to the camp!

Rafting wasn’t as easy as it had looked but it was an incredibly cool activity which was suitable for all ages! It was definitely an exciting and unforgettable experience for my 7 year old boy.  White water rafting was all about team work and definitely a very good arms exercise.

We continued to enjoy some simple games in the river – throwing pebbles and rocks, swimming and lazing in the river etc. The place was full of joy and laughter. This was the kind of simple happiness which we could hardly find in our city life.

Ocean and Isaac throwing pebbles.

 See the happiness in Summer’s smile!

Ladies of UTG! 

(Fom the left:  Amy, Courtney, Sherilynn, Amelia and Emily )

Enjoying himself  in the chilly water!

I simply love the scenery here!

Our tea break was calling out for us! Summer and I were the first two to get back on land! We helped ourselves to a cup of hot milo and chocolate donuts. After that, we headed to the showers before the rest came back for tea break and soccer game!

Everyone went to wash up except this pair. They could not leave the soccer ball alone…LOL

This time, the two of us went to the common toilet for our shower. It was a very basic toilet with open showers. No worries ladies, the place was very clean!

We rested a bit and then joined back the rest of the group for games & dinner!

Since it was the last night here, everyone stayed up until really late. Summer, Ocean, Nick and I were the earliest to be back in the dorm. We packed our bags and turned in at about 12.30am. Sweet Dreams!

Day 3 (29 Dec 17)

Alright, That’s all, folks!

Our dormitories are in the orange buillding right behind us! 

We hadn’t had enough fun yet but sadly, we had to depart for Singapore.  We gathered for breakfast and took a few group photos before we were ferried to the small bus terminal where we waited for our coach back to Singapore!

It was a short, but yet an excellent bonding trip for our family and also for the UTG group. Full of fun and laughter.  Once again, thank you to our young organisers, Courtney, Emily and RJ for the effort in organising such a wonderful trip. We totally enjoyed ourselves!

Thanks to our friendly host of Murni Camp, Mr Izni and his son whom made sure that our stay was a bliss.

If you are interested to go on an adventure trip in the upcoming holiday with your family and friends, here’s Mr Izni’s contact detail. I am sure you will have an awesome time just like us!

Email: izni@myadventurehost.com

Contact number: +60 19 384 9691

Website: www.myadventurehost.com

You might also like:-

1) Perak Adventure Trip – Part 1 ~ Trekking!

2) Perak Adventure Trip – Part 2 ~ Caving!

3) Perak Adventure Trip – Part 3 ~ White Water Rafting!

A Different Kind of Family Holiday ~ Perak Adventure Trip! – Part 2

Day 2 (28 Dec 17) – We are Cave Men!

Rise and shine at 630 am! I was always the first to wake up so that I could take my time to wash up, put on a little make-up to look fresh and get ready for the day!

We started with some simple games and then, got together for breakfast at our usual makan place! We had good breakfast and hot drinks to warm our tummies and brighten up our day!

Day 2 was our Wild & Wet day!

The caving guides arrived on time! This time, we had a big lorry to ferry us to the Cave! Everyone could get on the back of the lorry and enjoy the adventure ride together. It was like playing games behind the lorry as we had to dodge branches and leaves while holding on to the lorry. It was simple entertainment but great fun for everybody as we joked and laughed along the way!

 Hold on tight!

We arrived at Gua Tempurung early and the Cave was still closed. The group started to play games to keep themselves entertained while Nick went to the small shops to do his favourite past time – Shopping. He found a “treasure” for Summer – the local’s Aqua Shoes.  As Summer did not bring along covered shoes for Caving, this treasure saved her only pair Nike sneakers from “destruction”.

Some members of the group who were ready to “sacrifice” their Adidas and Nike shoes for the Caving, decided to buy a pair too!

Alright Gua Tempurung! Here we come!

The Cave opened at 9.15 am and we were among the first to enter. Wow! The Cave was Majestic! We had to climb up and down the steep stairs at the start of the trail. There were dim lights along the way but they were definitely not bright enough to capture photos of the beautiful stalactites and stalagmites structures. Some of these structures were just so huge! I am a Geography lover and will always be super-delighted to see such beautiful creations from mother nature! Some even had crystals on them. You have to come and see for yourself!

Check out the videos to see the interior of the cave. Not very clear due to the dim lighting.

After we reached the top of the Cave, we had to walk all the way down to the bottom of the Cave for the real caving experience!

  It was Sherilynn’s turn to slide down.

The first thing which we had to do at this nature’s playground, was to take a steep slide down the rocks! From here on, there were no more lights. All we had were the head lamps on our forehead or the torch lights on our hands.

At this point, I felt like we were all sucked into the Lara Croft game! It was just like what happened in the new movie “Jumanji”! We had to walk in the cold chilling water for the rest of the journey. We even had to leopard crawl in the refreshing cold water to get through the extremely low ceiling. All of a sudden, my hubby felt something cracked! Oh no! Our camera lens had cracked when it was squashed against a big rock under the water. Luckily, we had many members in the group with their hand phone cameras and they managed to capture some nice photos. The adventure continued despite the “damage”.

At times, we had to walk through water which was as deep as our waist level and we had no ideas what could be in there….This was indeed a very new and memorable experience for many of us in the group!

We bashed through the icy water, slippery pebbles and irritating sand until we came to a marble-smooth river bed. All of us sat down in the cooling water to enjoy the melody of the flowing water. Summer, Ocean and Issac were happily playing in the water.

Wow Ka Lok, you are so bright!

After a long and enjoyable “crawl”, we finally made it out of the cave, all soaked!

We went back up the lorry and headed to the next destination and the highlight of the trip – white water rafting!

You might also like:-

1) Perak Adventure Trip – Part 1 ~ Trekking!

2) Perak Adventure Trip – Part 2 ~ Caving!

3) Perak Adventure Trip – Part 3 ~ White Water Rafting!

A Different Kind of Family Holiday ~ Perak Adventure Trip! – Part 1

Happy 2018! I hope everyone had managed to have a short getaway with your loved ones during the year-end holidays!

We definitely had ours! But this time, we had no hotel, no air-con, no shopping, no food fest, and not even wifi! We had gone on an adventure trip with a youthful and crazy bunch from the Urban Terrain Groovers (UTG) to Murni Camp which is located in Gopeng, Perak (Malaysia). By the way, UTG is my kids’ dance troupe.

Initially, Summer and I were very reluctant to join the trip when we heard that participants have to stay in tents with no shower and toilet facilities for a night!! Well, in the end, my eloquent hubby was able to “convince” us to participate in this escapade. Fortunately, just before the trip, our young organiser from UTG informed us that the “Stay in Tent” program was cancelled due to the heavy rain in monsoon season. Heng ah!!

Alright! Let’s begin our adventure!

Waiting for the coach at Golden Mile Tower.

We tried to pack light but our bags still ended up huge! We brought lots of extra things since it’s a family adventure trip with kids.

We started our journey with an overnight bus ride to Perak. The bus arrived around at around 12.40am and we reached the customs with no traffic jam nor human jam. Perfect timing to start our adventure to the North!

As our activities would start immediately upon our arrival at Murni Camp, everyone tried our best to catch some sleep during the 8 hours bus journey. As we only brought along thin wind breakers from Uniqlo, we suffered from the freezing air-con throughout the night drive up the North-South Highway. As you can guess, we definitely couldn’t sleep well! Nick was quick to open his umbrella to block off the blasting wind from the closed air-con vent.

Looks funny but it works!

Day 1 (27 Dec 17)

At about 9 am, after the long and arduous bus ride, we finally made it and arrived in Perak safely!! Everyone was eager to check out our home for the next 3 days – the Murni Camp @Gopeng.

Leonard and Jordan were exploring their new playground!

Wefie Time! Summer and Daddy Nick (Our family’s official “Camel”, Hahaha)

Daddy and Summer checking out the surrounding.

As I was too eager to take a peep at our dormitory, I ran upstairs and took a photo of the surrounding! The sheltered place with yellow chairs (on the left) was our dining hall and would be our main gathering place for the next 3 days too!

After we checked in to the dormitory, we chose our bed and did a quick wash-up to freshen ourselves up. Thereafter, we gathered downstairs to play some interesting Ice-breaker games, planned by our trip organisers, Courtney, Emily and RJ from UTG.

 I called this game – “The Chicken Game” coz we had to make all sorts of chicken sounds. LOL!

  My hubby and I did not manage to take photos of all the games as we were playing and enjoying ourselves too!

Lunch was simple but tasty! Everyone got to learn not to be picky! LOL or else they will end up like Summer and Ocean whom only had white rice and fruits for their meal. It is definitely a good training for them.

Lunch Time!

Checking out the river right beside the campsite.

Like Father Like Son.

Getting ready for our 1^st adventure of the trip!

As part of preparation for the next activity, Daddy Nick had to teach us how to set up the mosquito coil and holder since we had never used this before. This was a MUST to bring along coz it was very effective against the hated mossies!

We hate mossies!!!

Summer’s hair neatly tied up and all set for jungle trekking!

Fun photo with Casio Exilim Ex-FR100L before setting off.

At 2 pm, our trekking guides arrived at Murni Camp to bring us to the base of Bukit Batu Putih. The lucky few amongst the group had an exciting “roller coaster ride” on the back of the vehicle (commonly known as Pick-up truck). Many of us did not have a chance to enjoy such a ride back in Singapore!

  Jordan, Brandon, Summer and I will have our chance later!

Nick, our cameraman.

Upon reaching the destination, our trekking guides gave us a short briefing about the trek and safety tips. We were on our way once the briefing ended. Surprisingly, Ocean and Summer were able to maintain the fast pace of the group. And to no surprises, I was the slowest of the pack. LOL! Luckily, my dearest was always by my side to pace me on.

We are almost there!

We took about an hour to reach the top of the hill. The view at the top was simply spectacular! Everyone was busy taking their Instagram worthy photos.

Awesome view up here!

RJ getting very comfort with the surrounding.

My favorite family photo for this trip LOL

Brave kids sitting on that hanging rock!

 It feels good up here!

Keep Calm and Enjoy the View…

After a well-deserved break, we made our way downhill. The descent was so much faster! But we had to careful too as it was pretty slippery at the steep slopes.

 Mr X, the UTG’s dance instructor!

Courtney with Ocean and Isaac.

The jungle trekking adventure was definitely fun but tiring! All of us enjoyed ourselves and we headed back to camp with no mosquito bites.  On the trip back, Summer and I were managed to squeeze ourselves up the back of the Pick-up. We noticed that there were so many durian trees in this part of Perak! Yummy! The boys behind the Pick-up even tried to pluck a durian off from the tree but did not succeed. LOL.

We reached back Camp at 5 pm and it was Tea-time! I was tired and my body was in pain due to my old injury. I had my share of hot tea and donut, and headed to the shower while the rest continued with the games.

They were trying to burst the balloons tied on each other’s ankles.

 Enjoying a game of Captain’s Ball…

Our organisers took so much effort to plan for so many different games in between meal time in order to keep us busy and entertained. No one had the time to even look at their phones.

After dinner and more games, Summer and I were the first to go back to the ladies’ dorm to rest while the rest the UTGs were having their “heart to heart” session. It was finally time for our slumber land and lights out!

You might also like:-

1) Perak Adventure Trip – Part 1 ~ Trekking!

2) Perak Adventure Trip – Part 2 ~ Caving!

3) Perak Adventure Trip – Part 3 ~ White Water Rafting!