Gua Tempurung - The Conclusion...
Yup..I'm finally back after a good vacation. And I guess I owe you guys an apology for keeping you guys and girls in suspense, wondering what happened to the Part 2 of the story. Well, I've decided to be kind to those eagerly waiting out there and end the story by this post, hopefully.
So..where did I stop...? Oh yea! After going through the area known as 'The Slide', a different sort of adventure awaited us next. Just as we came down the wall slide, right before us stood a gaping hole...known an 'The Hole'. How amazing eh? Haha...anyway, there was this hole in the ground. 1m x 0.5m in measurement. And all we gotta do is to squeeze through this hole and land in a chamber beneath the ground! Now how cool is that!!?? Man...I'm telling you...as some of us went through the hole, we could feel all the nasi lemak and roti canai being squeezed out of us! In time likes these...you gotta do what you gotta do. So here's the plan...send everyone 'big' in the hole first..with the hope that they'll make it slightly bigger by the time we get in! haha...
Check out the pics, homies...
'The Hole'...pretty horrifying eh?
One of our ranger goin thru it...ignore the light effect. Wasn't part of the trip...
Some pics of the cool rock formations found in the cave...
A clearer pic of what's it like from up here....wonder what's down there? Hold on...
Sometimes we wished that he would just stay there in the hole....haih...:)
Lisa looking all terrified to go down the hole...screaming "Nooooooooooo!!!"
Cmdr. Kenny looking all relaxed after the squeeze...wasn't a problem for him to wiggle his way through it!
Haha...trivia time! Guess who? This guy changed the size of the hole forever...
Ta daaaaaa......presenting you, Kevin Wrong! Oooo oooo oooo Ahh Ahh Ahh!
"Yeah baby! I made it...Fitness First! Wooo hoooo!"
"Ahhhh...helppp! Stuckkkkkkk!!"
"Just kidding!" Bet you guys were worried about me back there for a moment...:)
What's next? More darkness, caving, and of course....WATER!!! Yeeeeee ha! Its submarine time!
Guys and girls...let me tell you, after spending nearly 4 hours caving and bathing in our sweat, the sight and feel of the cold, refreshing river water is something you gotta experience... Awesome!
Its the same joy that pigs share when they wade in mud! Or when dung beetles finally find dung! :)
This pic was taken at the end of the cave...light at the end of the tunnel...all the phrases and quotes we used to say now made so much sense...
Ahh..men will be men! Lying in total fulfillment...
Friends, being out in the open never felt better...sunlight and river water never felt this good...
Laura: "Hows the trip, my dear?"
Alison: "Ohh...piece of cake. Nothing's ever too hard for us, girl..."
Check out the identical pants...now I'm really beginning to wonder if there's something goin' on between these two. I wonder what else is identical....
The worst injury suffered...Kevin and his 2 HUGE blisters on both his feet! Hehe...For him, everything comes in L size!
The breathtaking view of the cave area and surrounding hills...
Deep beneath these green forest lies one of the most amazing cave system in the world... and we had just conquered it! We went up the hills, down to the valleys, walked thru streams, and made it through together....
More smiles after a nice warm bath...
Check out Lisa's cute environmental-friendly towel! Have fun??? Yup...we certainly did!
And as promised...the 'After' photo! Its been an awesome trip...all the way!
Well friends, there you have it! We've finally come to the end of the story. This trip had it all...from guys changing in public, people getting glimpses of someone's behind...tiredness, joy, frustrations, anxious moments, total panic, thankfulness, and joy and the knowledge that God was with us all the way. For the 23 of us who went for this trip, I'm sure we all know what happened in the cave. The 10 minutes of total panic...will always be remembered. To some of us, it was a time filled with panic and worries. To some, it was a time to remember God's mercy and His goodness. For me to lose such an important item as that...in a place of total darkness and rushing river all around us...to find it again...it was a miracle...
Looking back at that 10 minutes of total panic in the cave, I thank God for everything He's done. Firstly, I thank God for the guide and also for Kenny...who followed me back into the cave to look for that which was lost. Even though we knew deep in our hearts that it was impossible to even find it, I thank God He sent a friend to stand beside me and remind me that I'm not alone. I also want to thank God for the E-rangers and my commanders...who were waiting for me at the end of the cave, praying and speaking in tongues that I may find that which I was looking for. Friends, never doubt the power of prayer. Prayer is the key that moves the hand and heart of God. His grace and mercies endureth forever. I learnt that lesson well... I would also like to specially thank my buddy, my crazy bro Collin for being the man to find it. He was there with me all the way...and I thank God that he came along this trip with us. The appointed one...:)
I thank God for giving us a safe and thoroughly enjoyable trip. Every moment in time, God speaks. Its up to us to listen. And this time, I heard Him loud and clear. He's reminded me over and over again, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Believe it, my friends...
By the time we finally decided to leave for Klang around 4.30pm, little did we know that we were in for another 'adventure' along the North-South Highway...TRAFFIC JAM!! Arrrghhhhh!! I should have just taken them to Batu Caves... I'm tellin you...5 hours in the van...drives a man crazy! Not crazy as in the 'crazy frog'-like....but crazy as in 'Zhi Fung'-like crazy!!! We're were going nuts back there man. The van was heating up...our tummies were growling...we could walk faster than the traffic...Zhi Fung was still as noisy as ever (thanks to Andy for supplying him with Red Bull). We finally reached the Sungai Buloh overhead bridge restaurant at 8.30pm. After a good, warm meal, we continued our journey home and made it back by almost 10.00pm! What a day its been for us! For those of you who missed it this time around, fret not. Keep a lookout for the next caving trip to Gua Kandu, Perak! Heard lots of pretty amazing stories about this cave. So all you enthusiastic freaks and caver-wannabes out there...stay posted. Will keep you all posted soon enough...
The life of a ranger...livin' it...lovin' it! For those of out there readin' this, do join us when Rangers resumes on the 4th of June to be a part of this amazing group of adventurers! Till the next post, God bless!
As always, after a hard day's work, here's wat we ALL do best! -
-Pictures courtesy of The Boss' *friend*-
Gua Tempurung - The Adventure...
Over the past few days, many things have been said about me...for example, some ppl think that I actually sleep with my computer, some ppl have said that I live in the 'online' world...haih...but anyway, I bet you guys out there are dying to see the pics taken during our Gua Tempurung cave adventure on May 1st 06. Well, what an amazing trip...
The story starts off in the wee hours of the morning...a total of 23 sleepy faces arrived in church at 7.00am in the morning. Yup, 7am! Man, I'm tellin you...even I dont wake up that early for work! Anyway, we were sleepy...but yet excited deep in our hearts...and stomach. Hugry also mar...So as a usual customary tradition, the adventure started off with a good breakfast. Dunno wats the name of the place...the restaurant next to CCM mamak? The one that looks like a Christmas tree...yes, that one. As usual lar...instead of only eating breakfast, some rangers decided to eat lunch and dinner one shot! But who can blame them...cauz the next time that we actually stopped for a meal was at 8.30pm at night!
After makan...we started our journey in 2 van. As usual lar...after eating heavy breakfast, most of them resorted to sleeping...or cracking lame jokes...and some even decided to make noise for the sake of making noise...and oh, to keep the drivers awake too! The drive took us almost 2 hours to reach Gopeng. Nothing eventful happened along the way...just the usual noise-making, taruh-ing Kevin Wrong...which at times became a bit mundane...cauz it happens once too often. Once we reached the cave....man...it was AWESOME! The first sight was magnificent....total silence by the rangers...a miracle by itself....
And you know what happened next? Haha...I'll let the photos do the story-telling.....
The early birds...together with the walrus flapping his arms...:)
Lisa and her morning 'dont mess with me' kinda look...
In the van...just before beginning the journey...
Your driver and the co-driver...
We found this dude wandering the streets of Klang...we should have left him there!
Man...lotsa stuff hapenning in the back seat...esp when Jayson's got that 'smile'...
Guess who...
Happy Wesak day, fellas...
Here's how the surrounding area of the cave looks like...
More scenic pics of the place...
Group pic of those that 'made' it...this is the 'BEFORE' shot.
Notice the vapour and mist in the cave? Awesome...
The cavers lookin' out for Osama's face among the rock formation...
At the crossroads between light and total darkness....
Our Fitness First model together with the irresistable Ameer Joshua...
Our friend's a bit camera shy these days...hey hey, check out the Invisible Man next to them...
For those of you wonderin' who's that...that's Amy doin her toilet thingie...
After one hour, finally....WATER!!! Man...rangers go crazy when they see a river or a chance to get themselves wet! Reason why? Cauz apparently the guys have got this sexy wet look about themselves...
Its lovely to see sunlight and greenery after hours in the dark...the sight at the end of the tunnel was truly amazing...
Just when we thought it was over...we headed back in the cave for another 3 hours!
Datuk rocker & Nenek rugged!
Andy...smooth as always...flanked by 2 beauties...
The Adam's Family in RR...Andy (father), Amy & Lisa (daughters)...and Eric (the mum?)
*Hot*
The area known as The Squeeze...
"Wahlaueh...sure can fit meh?"
Hey guys...remember the wall slide I was talkin to you about? ....Oh man....
Wanna know whats it like? Try sliding down from the roof of your house! Check out Kyleen in action!
Rangers who made it down the slide havin' a breather...not knowing the 'danger' that came sliding down wall behind them...
"Take cover!! Incoming!!!"
Alar..cheh. Small bomb nia...
Eh guys...the time now is 5.48am. I think that's all for Gua Tempurung adventure Part 1. My own gua also needs to sleep. Trust me, the adventure didnt end here. What happened next is even more amazing....but I guess I'll leave that to Part 2. We'll continue this tmw when my brain's a lil' bit more awake. Do keep a lookout for the conclusion to this amazing story...a journey through time and natural beauty in all its splendour.....
Gua Tempurung Adventure '06!
God bless! Goodnight world...
p/s: Congrats to all the Arsenal fans out there...
RR Campfire - The Sarung Walk!
Yup...seems like ago ago eh since we did took the walk in our sarungs? Haha, well...loads of fun, it was! Can still remember the time when we saw Jeffrey, Ben, Kevin Wong, William, Adrian, and Leonard chopping away at the bakau wood and having a blast of a time cutting those thich pieces of wire for the councilfire under the scorching heat....man, they felt like ikan bakar!!
Firstly, I really wanna thank God for holding back the rain clouds and bringing out the sun in its full force! Man, I'm telling you...on that day...you didn't need a toaster to tast bread! Neither did you need the 'egg container' to make half boiled eggs! All you gotta do is lay is out in the sun...that was how hot it was! And that explains why I've gone another tone darker than before....last time I was 'teh ais'. Now a bit like 'cappucino ais'! :) Not only got no rain...clouds also dont have! Haha...all the more the need for the sarung was justified!
The night started out with scumptious food for over 100 hungry bellies...BBQ-ed chicken, cocktails aka weenies, sweet potato, lamb (yummyyyyyyy!), potato salad, noodles...etc etc etc. Rangers had a great time cooking their food around the bbq pit....nothing like cooking your own food and eating it afterwards! The rewards are simply satisfying! Everyone looked so colourful in their sarongs...the girls were as usual, simply gorgeous in their colourful and floral batik. Some even decided to wear the sarung like how guys would do it. Funny...no names mentioned here pls! The guys...lagi comedy. Apart from the usual grandfather sarong....some even decided to wear their grandmother's sarong! Hahaha...check that out in the pics. You'll be amazed...
The night continued on with loads of fun around the campfire...we had it all, friends! Songs, laughter, games, skits, stunts, story, devotion...it was simply entertaining! I'm actually feeling kinda lazy to write about ALL that happened throughout the night, so I'll just let the pics do the talking this time around. They usually tell the whole story...:)
Have fun looking...and keep a lookout for this event in 2007!
"I'm telling you...this is how my grandma ties it wan!" - Phaik Joo (2006)
"This is how we do it in the Tan family!"
(Amy showing off the sarung-tying skill passed down to her from her 'Yoko Yoko' grandma...notice how long the sarung is?)
Our emcees for the night: Cmdr Alison and Laura with the Discovery Girls...
More smiles from the discover girls...:)
Here's the 'grandmother-ly' man that I was talking about...
Cmdr Gideon back in his groove...cekap eh?
The campfire that kept us going throughout the night...didn't quite work out the way we wanted to this year though. We'll get it right next time around, eh?
Discovery Boys...lookin' all fine!
Fun times during tthe games! Check out 'mama' Phaik Joo and the grandmother man...
Cmdr Eric doing his 'thing'...check out the evil stare...
Move that hips, boys and girls...action song time!
More faces in the crowd...
Games time...semangat wei!!! Check out the enthusiasm and passion...
Yup, that's how the roti is made! Way way wayyyyyyyyyyyyy over your head!
Jokers... (part 1)
Jokers...(Part 2)
Jokers... (Family Photo)
Devotion time....what an amazing sight...
At the end of the day...its all about the smiles, smiles and more smiles!
A big THANK YOU to Cmdr. Kenny and brothers, the commanders, the rangers, and to all those who made this event a huge success! We hope to see ya all next year in out next RR campfire... trust me, its gonna be good! God bless...
RR Selangor #6 Council Of Achievement '06
Howdy Rangers!
Yup...Gua Tempurung was a blast! And as promised, the photos and stories of the trip will be included in the next blog publication. Just hang in there...
A quick reminder...this goes out to all rangers. Please take note that RR will be conducting our Council of Achievement this Sunday, 7th May 2006 at MPH2. The event will start at 1.30pm sharp! For those of you out there who have earned your merits, this will be the day you will be recognized for the effort and hard work put in all these months. All I can say is...Keep It Up! All of you have done well...
Just a reminder...all rangers are to come in your FULL UNIFORM. This includes your patrol bolo tie, patrol standard, and of course...black shoes! Patrol ad assistant guides, please remind your patrol members regarding this sunday's ceremony and do come prepared.
See ya then! God bless...
