* Taman Negara Ride - an eco-adventure (9-11 August 2002)

by: andrew siew


An old Malaysian registered car eased into the small Caltex petrol kiosk while we were relishing our Magnolia ice creams. "Ada orang jatoh; nak rosak," he muttered in Malay much to our consternation. But Alex understood exactly what had to be done and in a second, Kevin and his son, Brooks were alerted. The absence of handphone signals in this remote area exacerbated our concerns.
Yawn, yawn and yawn! My jaws seemed to be on auto-pilot, opening and closing mechanically; I could not stop yawning. The shrill alarm had jolted me out of bed at 3.45 am. “What an unearthly hour to be roused from slumber!” I remembered telling myself. Then it dawned on me - Taman Negara!

My parents – father, Philip Siew, is an SRMC member – mother, sister and I, arrived in our car at Gelang Patah Esso station at about 5.30 am, two hours ahead of the scheduled time! The early bird catches the worm, so they say. We did not regret losing sleep because the other participants who arrived an hour or two later, spoke of “a mad jam at the Singapore side of the 2nd Link.” Phew! Our road captain, Alex Quah, handed out route maps and gave a detailed briefing on safety and ride procedures. Vroom…vroom…engines roared and we were off. The first leg of the journey was very smooth with Kevin Teo, Serene Lee and Paul Kan doing a marvellous job of ensuring that everyone was on track and saving the convoy precious time. Along the route, the convoy made a few comfort-stops and to top up. The journey progressed well in the scorching heat. Nevertheless, we were thankful that the weather took on cooler hues after our lunch stop at the small town of Karak. The next stop was at Caltex station where most of us enjoyed some ice cream. Someone noticed that Zamran, the sweeper was not with the group. A local family arriving in an old car told us that one of our bikers had apparently encountered some problems and had been held back. Alex sprang into action with Kevin and his son, Brooks. All of us at the petrol station were worried and concerned. We could not be updated on the situation because telecommunication signals in the area was poor, thus disabling our hand phones. We were left in suspense until Kevin and Zamran returned with the news that Serene's bike had stalled, due to a blown fuse and Zamran, as the sweeper, had stopped to help. The next shocker to hit us was that Alex was now missing-in-action! He had failed to notice Zamran's signal and ended up kilometres away from the damsel in distress! As luck would have it, he found his way back after a slight delay. We couldn’t figure out how he could have missed the bright signal lights of Zam’s car! Half an hour into our ride, Zamran was to lead for the final leg of the journey into Taman Negara. Unfortunately, some miscommunication caused Alex to miss a turn and the convoy ended up at Taman Negara's ferry point instead of the resort. The lake was huge and we later learnt that one could easily get lost and end up at different spots around the lake. It began to rain heavily and the bikers quickly put on their rainwear. The convoy backtracked into town to review and reset our bearings. We lost our way again! With some help from the villagers, our convoy made good progress till our car was detached from the rest at a traffic junction. We could not see the convoy ahead of us and panicked! Fortunately, we were not alone - "Ah Kong" and "Ah Ma" on their newly-acquired VFR 800 looked lost too. Again, we stopped and asked for directions to the resort. As we drove, we realised that the route could be different from the one taken by the convoy; we didn’t see any of the bikers. Just as we began to feel worried, we saw Kevin and Brooks in their maroon ST at the road junction ahead. We heaved a sigh of relief as they guided us along a narrow road leading to the resort. It was already nightfall and pitch darkness had overtaken us. The bikes and cars with their bright headlights created an interesting aura when they swerved to navigate the potholes in the bumpy and winding road. My! Were we glad to reach Agoh Chalet at such an hour. A head count was taken and it turned up two missing bikers - Paul Kan and Andy Ng! They were concerned enough to remain behind the convoy to spot and lead our car and the VFR800 to the resort. They appeared about an hour later together with Zamran who had gone back to look for them. We were relieved that finally, all heads were accounted for. After a welcome cold shower , we were most thankful for the sumptuous dinner that was laid out. We particularly enjoyed the reasonably-priced Ramly burgers and the internet café which allowed us to surf the net at RM4 per hour. Day 2 started with some drama when Andy Ng returned from his usual morning jog and found a snake slithering outside Ah Kong's room. Fortunately, the reptile was prudent enough to avoid human contact, the consequences of which are beyond my imagination. This unexpected episode did rouse everyone of us from our deep slumber. After breakfast the brief on the itinerary for the day sounded exciting and exhilarating! First, we tackled the 45-meter high Canopy-Walk and then went rapid-shooting in long boats followed by rubber-tubing down the rapids. We had a marvellous time and most of us looked like boiled shrimps at the end of the day with our sun-baked tan that we had acquired. Midway through lunch, Kevin and his wife, Serene, went back to town to fix the fuse of her sports bike. Brooks was left under the care of Alex. After the morning adventure, everyone was so hungry. The lunch spread was grossly insufficient so the helpful Alex turned on his charm to ask for more ‘ayam’. Though we enjoyed the curry chicken, we felt a tinge of regret when we noticed that the ‘kampung’ chickens we had seen earlier in the morning were missing! Then someone pointed out that Brooks was also missing. A quick scan of the location failed to turn up any signs of the primary 6 boy. Even the toilets were searched. Just when Alex decided it was time for him to take his foster-father’s responsibilities more seriously, Brooks appeared with a bottle of mineral water in his hand. The relief in Alex’s face was glaringly visible! Next came cave exploration. Certain parts of the caves were so low and narrow that we had a trying time squeezing through the openings, often, through ankle-deep waters. There were many bats hanging from the cave ceiling and someone joked that the water dripping down from the ceiling was actually bat urine! We had lots of fun and thrill exploring the caves. We were entertained at dinner by Robin Ow who belted out song after song, accompanying himself on a guitar he had borrowed. We passed the hat round and presented him with a tip of RM10 for his impromptu performance which would have won him loud accolades and better returns at the Hungry Ghosts ‘getai’. Hear, hear! After dinner, it was time for the night safari. We were divided into three groups, each accompanied by a guide. We spotted several mammals and reptiles, including a pangolin, the sighting of which was rare according to our guide. The safari had to be aborted when the rains dampened our spirits. By the time we reached our lodge, it was pouring buckets. Once again, Ramli burgers save the evening for us. Breakfast was at one of the floating restaurants on the rising waters of the river bank. The heavy downpour the night before had caused the wooden platform to the restaurant to be submerged in water; so we did the next best thing and waded across to our tables with our pants rolled up. After breakfast, it was time to get ready for the return journey. There was no traffic congestion and the entire journey back to Singapore via the Second Link was smooth and uneventful. Despite the unscheduled dramas and occasional hiccups, this trip has turned out to be fun and has added value to our family bonds. I would like to express appreciation to the Storm Riders Motorcyling Club, its organisers and members for allowing us this opportunity: “When We Ride, We Create A Storm; We Do Ride Through Storms”.