XPDC Berakit Antarabangsa Sungai Pahang 2009~ \(^^)/

24th May ~ 28th May 2009

In a blink, it's already been a year since XPDC rakit 2008 and I didn't even realized it.. When the date was confirmed about a month ago, I hurried to my laptop to purchase a return ticket.. Don helped me out since I was not familiar with the procedure and don't have any credit card or any debit card.. Swoosh~ Just like that.. RM 285 was sacrificed.. Memang hard core!!!!


This year's XPDC is shorter both in distance and days.. The distance covered was only around 180 km and we have 5 days to complete it whereas last year's was 329 km and the whole XPDC was completed within 8 days..

Temerloh -> Kuala Triang-> Chenor-> Kg Salong-> Kg. Ganchong -> Pekan

New faces joined the XPDC this year, leaving me, Shifaa and Amar as the only participants from last year's team.. There were 17 of us altogether including..

Hassan, Judeng, Jepah, Afiq, Amir, Abe, Syahir, Apip, Cagan, Moja, Shira, Aliyaa, Ainun and Dila

This year's XPDC started at Temerloh.. We spent a night there for preparation and embarked from the jetty in the morning around 9 am.. Mida stayed ardently with us during the preparation.. Lagi sorang hard core sebab this girl sanggup come all the way from Melaka to help us out.. Cayalah!!!!

The ground committee during the first day was Ainun, Moja, Mida, Cagan and myself.. We drove to Kuala Triang.. No transportation was provided by the university, so we used Mida's and Amar's cars to move that day..

Cagan and I went back to Temerloh to shop for stuffs and equipments that were still lacking.. It was quite of an adventure for us both because none of us was familiar with the routes and most shops were already closed at noon.. At the end of the day, Cagan and I had already became the expert of Temerloh town hehe

We lodged at a house located near the jetty.. Our host's name was Kak Nor who live with her husband, her mother and two daughters of hers. They were generous people and had let the girls sleep inside the house..

25th May.. Shifaa's birthday.. My first day to be on the raft.. Em.. I rowed from the start and only stopped for lunch... The distance was 27 km that day and was less tiring compared to last year.. I was rowing and rowing and rowing.. and aik?? tibe tibe je dah sampai... But we were stranded on an island for about an hour before docking because t here were some problems there on the jetty.. I think there was not enough space so they have to arrange the raft slowly slowly hehehe

In Chenor, we stayed in Wan's house who live with her son.. The guys slept in the kitchen while the girls was provided with two comfortable rooms.. Owh sungguh selesa sebab dapat tido on a mattress yang sangat empuk.. In the morning, Wan and pokcik (her son) joined us to see the rakit team... Kemudian bermule lah journey diriku and shifaa yang scary di atas darat dalam mecari jalan ke Kg Salong...

That morning, I was very sure that Bro Asri will be with us but when he told me he was already in Kuantan when I called him, my heart skip a beat.. I got worried even more when Jepah told me the route to Kg Salong was quite complicated.. It might take us more than 2 hours because there was a land slide at the short cut to Kg Salong.. Kami pon bertanye lah direction dari orang kampung yang masih berada di ctu... Rupa2 nya route yang di beri kepada kami itu adalah short cut yang penuh dengan thrill!!!!


The road was so narrow.. and it is used by heavy vehicles to transport logs.. The vehicles was so0o0o0 huge and we have to stop the car sebab tak muat.. Lori tu makan jalan yang amat sangat..

Next there was the land slide with lots of boulders there leaving another narrow route for us to pass.. Lepas tu ada many many damaged roads yang also narrow.. Shifaa and I was so afraid if the Avanza couldn't make it because the road was so0o0o0o0 narrow... Halangan yang paling tak bole blah skali adalah seekor kura2 yang melintas~

In Kg Salong we stayed in Abg Yus and Kak Ida's house.. Mereka sangat baek and we were once again fortunate because all was invited to sleep inside the house.. This was where all of us got so lucky too. The UIA1 raft finished the race at number 37 and won a hamper for that.. I got lucky with the AADK quiz and got a huge hamper.. Shifaa and I was so excited sampai sanggup postpone mandi sebab nak collect hadiah hehe

Kak Ida sangat baek.. When we got back from the so called concert thing, we found out she had just finished washing the guys' clothes.. Adoiyai.. Rasa sangat bersalah lalu kami pon menyambung tugasan itu~ Abg Yus on the other hand is a very responsible young man.. Sangat hardworking.. Pagi2 dia hantar budak2 kampung ke sekolah dan kemudian berniaga di kedai runcit...

Hurm anak Abg Yus and Kak Ida kurang sihat tau~ The day we arrived, they actually just got back from KL for their son's chemotherapy who's only 5 year old...So.. Kawan2 n adik2 jangan lupe doakan kesihatan adik Falah kite ye.. (^^)

The final stop before Pekan was at Kg Ganchong. We've been here last year but had stayed in a different house this year.. That night we slept inside our tent... The next morning Shifaa and I volunteered to stay on land.. We manage to pay a short visit to the house where we lodged last year.. It was sad to find that the Makcik had stroke about 3 months ago.. But alhamdulillah she is recuperating fast and can already walk..

Hurm these are some of my favorite pics.. The left one is on the 4th day where the distance was 40km and the race was quite long.. Sangat banyak rakit yang ditunda pada hari itu namun this raft manage to finish the race with 3 girls and 1 guy rowing hehe.. Kami seperti mendapat suntikan steroid apabila melihat rakit2 yang ditunda... Kami mendayung dan mengayuh dengan gagah skali hehehe how I wish I could post our video here

The right one is during a preparation at Kuala Triang... Tok Empat sedang menunjukkan cara mengikat yang tali yang betol dan kemas...

Overall.. I love this XPDC so much.. Everybody gave their fullest cooperation and commitments throughout the program.. I already mish you guys and the time we had together :)

Hurm.. I really love the feeling in the kampung.. Everybody is still so friendly and generous.. Dorang can simply jempot total strangers to sleep and eat in their house and we can feel their sincerity.. That type of quality is very rare these days sbenanye.. I learn a lot from this trip.. Yes I do~

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Smashing items~ proud to have them ALL!!!

I can't recall when was it exactly that I have passion with the adventurous stuffs.. Suddenly my life is piled up with endless adventures..

From climbing mountains to rigourous raft rowing to many other muscle straining activities.. But one thing for sure.. This NEW hobby of mine is COSTLY and had gotten me broke~ Huhu An expensive hobby indeed... And also I have to SLIGHTLY abandon my fair skin huhu I was thinking

"I can have them back when I work.. Because I'll be in a closed building.. Away from the threat of UVs" hehe~


But you see.. I'm quite proud with all the stuffs I have.. It's almost complete hehe Well, while having lots of handbags and accesories like the other girls does, I have extras... Hehe

Well this is my 15 L deuter act lite.. Got it for free from kak Mastijah who was my mom's staff in Jabatan Belia dan Sukan.. This bag is very neat and I usually use it during short trips~ 2-3 days trip.. It's equipped with a rain cover too.. Lots of useful compartments.. When I first found this in my cupboard.. I hopped with joy because I know the price is quite costly hehe (",)v

This is my 60 L Polo Climber hiking bag~ Mommy bought it for me.. Not that expensive because there was an offer in Sogo that time.. It was 50% off.. From RM 300++ to RM 150 something :) used it twice.. Mount Senyum and Pahang International Raft Expedition 2008.. These days I just lend it to my friends or juniours who doesn't have a hiking bag.. Banyak berjasa beg ini :)

This is my beloved pouch.. I honestly don't like the colour that much but it has been useful.. Bought it in Bandung.. It's very convenient because you can wear them on your waist.. I can easily reach for titbits during hiking hehehe sometimes I put my handphone inside too.. Used it during Pahang River Raft Expedition, Kenyir Expedition, Irau Expedition~ Yeah I bring it along to most of my programs.. hehe

This is my newly-bought 45+10 L deuter SL~ Cost me a lot.. RM 415 Urgh!! but the colour is just compelling.. I like the combination of red and maroon.. To me it symbolize determination and energy chewah!!! hehe very neat too.. Lots of useful compartments just like my blue act lite.. Unfortunately, I'll have to buy the rain cover separately~ huhu tunggula nanti bila ada duit wuwu T_T

This is my eiger sling bag =) love it so much because you can actually extend the width.. There's a zip below it.. Lots of compartments.. I put my passport, my MP3, my titbits, the batterries for my camera.. seriously useful \(^^)/ It cost me around RM 23.. Bought it in Padang.. It could've cost me more than RM 50 in Malaysia.. My friends were like so excited during our visit to that eiger store... everything was cheaper CheAPER ChEApEr

This is my deuter camera pouch.. It has a strap at the back so you can strap it anywhere you like.. Sometimes I strap it dekat my pouch, sometimes dekat tali sling bag, sometimes dekat pinggang punya tali hahaha nda tau la tu apa.. It's such a convenience sebab it could be strapped to anything I want to strap it to.. Senang when it comes to "camera alert" time!!!!!!!!!!

These are my sleeping bag (the green one).. RM 17 kot.. Can't remember.. Bought it a long time ago.. And the black one is a rubber mat.. Cost me RM 25 because it's Eiger.. Very berjasa in providing me comfortable night sleep...

hurm smashing items they are!!!! Happy to have them \(^^)/

Hope to conquer more peaks with 'em \(^^)/

Told you I have more than just the GIRLIE STUFFS hehehe

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Pulau MAnukan and Pulau Sapi Adventure

2nd May 2009~

I've been a Sabahan all my life but have never been to any of the islands that surround it.. To make it worse, I'm not even sure of their names.. So on that cloudy Saturday, Pijah and I woke up early and set out to the Jesselton jetty to meet up with my friends from UIA to explore Manukan Island and Sapi Island..

Boat's fare: RM 25

Snorkelling set: RM 15

We board a small boat to Manukan Island.. The wave was brutal that morning and the boat was melompat lompat. I was so afraid that I would puke when we arrive.. But the boat ride was joyful \(^^)/ WEEEEE!!!! Just like a ride on the saddle of a terrified horse or a fierce bull.

Since it was my first time ever to set my feet on an island.. The ones with corals~ I was mesmerized by the different colours of the sea water.. From dark blue to aqua marine and then turqoise.. So beautiful.. It reminds me of something Mady said during our kayak training.. About the different density of water, about the different heat of each of those colour... Interesting if I have some of such knowledge...

We straight away seek for a place to put our stuffs.. Finally we found a nice place under a shady coconut tree.. Straight away put on our BA and jumped into the water to snorkel hehe I was pretty excited.. I have no prior experience so I have difficulty breathing through my mouth when the mask blocked my nasal airway passage huhuhu

We searched and searched for the corals.. There were very few.. The guys told me corals are very sensitive.. Sensitive to heat, sensitive to pollution and etc.. Manukan is very crowded with people, so it's not surprising to not find any coral.. So we went further... As we go further I found the fish was bigger... I've never really appreciate the way the fish swim you see.. I saw that they wriggle their bodies to swim in the aquarium.. But in the deeper region of the sea, I saw them flap their fins like THE BIRDS!!! Soo0oo0O CUTE!!!!

We brought along some bread with us and fed the fish.. I got scared when the bigger fish came to swarm the area where the bread float just in front of us.. It looked like as if they were piranhas whose about to eat on my flesh!!!

After Manukan, we head for Sapi Island... I was already tired then so I changed and just rest.. I even slept for about an hour.. What woke me up?? There was a wild boar scavenging for food at a nearby trash can.. Well, only one got that close.. From where I rest, I can see another 3 in a distant.. Huhu how did these boars got on the island?? A mystery left unsolved since Kenyir~Wild boar seem to be EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a lot of FUN that day~ Thanks to Bubble, Apek and Yassin for inviting us along~

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