Malaysian Spots – What’s Hot & What’s Not
Here are some of the pics I took during a cell group outing last month. Since it’s Visit Malaysia Year 2007, we wanted to do something locally flavoured. At the very least, we hope to increase our knowledge of what’s good and what’s not in Malaysia so that we can be better tour guides to our foreign friends when they drop by to visit. Ok, so now onto our adventures at the Sungai Gabai waterfall and Haji Samuri’s Kajang Satay.
What’s Not – The Waterfall
Initially, we wanted to go to the Sungai Tekala falls. It was supposed to be near two other waterfalls around the Ulu Langat area. But after a long drive through the rather remote area with lots of winding roads and thanks to the lack of proper road signs, we decided to stop at the very first waterfall we spotted – Sungai Gabai.
“Haiya, no point going further lar. One waterfall should be the same as the other,” we all said and drove into the very narrow dirt road heading towards the falls. To our amazement, the road leading to the falls was filled with lots and lots of cars. A middle-aged Malay man was directing traffic and instructed us on where to park our van.
“RM2, Encik,” he said to Eugene, the driver who paid him and was duly issued a receipt by the Penghulu of the kampung (village head). We were impressed by the enterprising village head who must have made quite a fortune for the village by providing parking spaces for the hoardes of tourists to this rather popular area. And if the parking attendant was indeed the village head (he did have a dignified look), then he’s humble as well.
We trooped out of the car and walked towards the falls with great expectations. We were looking forward to a peaceful time spent in cosy fellowship and being surrounded by the lush green nature and the soothing sounds of the cascading falls. Aaaah…
Excited about what lies ahead
When we stepped into the area, we were immediately lambasted by the song “Winds of Change” being played loudly. What the hey?
To our horror, these enterprising folks have rigged up a karaoke booth at the entrance of the falls. For RM1.50 per song, anyone can be a rock star for a few minutes. The din was awful. So much for a zen-like atmosphere at the falls.
The toilets were in a horrible state as well. No water at all. Makes you wonder why they charge RM0.30 per entry. Bleh.
The falls looked pretty good though. Tall and majestic. The only problem was, there were oodles and oodles of people milling about the place. We decided to go up to the higher levels in hopes of quieter spots there.
The bottom of the falls
The second level had very few folks but the place was very slippery and thus, a hazard. None of us wanted to make the falls our final resting place and so we moved on. It was a most tiring climb. Most of us were panting like dogs and wheezing like geezers by the time we reached the third level. There were a lot of people there but we vetoed the idea of going further up. This is where we will plonk our tired selves on and hopefully enjoy the experience.
The third level had a nice flat bed of water and large smooth rocks. Ideal for waterfall surfing. Quite a number of daring people did what the guy did below.
Waterfall surfer
But we were contented to just sit and soak our feet there. We observed a number of folks washing their hair with Palmolive shampoo just a few metres from us. Rather uncivic-minded to drown the poor water creatures and other waterfall bathers with their shampoo suds. Also, the air would have been fresh and pristine had it not been for the many smokers in the area. Thanks to them, the whole place smelled like Gudang Garam and Malboro Lights.
Soaking our feet is ok, but swimming is out of the question!
Still, the place looked quite idyllic in certain spots.
Crossing the bridge
An idyllic moment
My baby, the Nikon D50 generated quite a lot of interest in the crowd. Strangers would pose and smile as I shot scene after scene. Notice the smiling dude behind Cassy.
Cassy and her new friend
JR pondering on life
Under the bridge
JR whipped out his guitar and we sang some songs, ate some snacks and chatted to while away the lazy afternoon. After a few hours, we were ready to leave the place. For good.
The whole place was littered with fresh rubbish from this crowd. We saw the parking attendant picking up the litter and cleaning up the place as we made our way out to the car park. Thanks to his hard work, the whole place looked decent. But we couldn’t understand why is it so difficult for the crowd to pick up after their own litter?
Disgusted and jaded, we trooped out of the place. We couldn’t wait to get to our next destination.
Bye Bye Sungai Gabai
What’s Hot – Kajang Satay
The highlight of the day out has to be this. All Malaysians know that the best place to go for satay is Kajang. I received directions on how to go to Haji Samuri’s from my Kajang friend all the way in Edinburgh. Dude, the satay is fabulous! Big portions, not much fat on the skewered meat and oh so yummylicious. Thanks for the recommendation!
Walking towards the satay place
The satay
Satisfied smiles after the yummy dinner
Needless to say, the satay washed away the bad aftertaste of the Sungai Gabai waterfall :)
