A trip to Gopeng, Perak, Malaysia 29 Apr - 2 May 2011

This was a trip organised by NParks for volunteers of the Conservation Group at Central Nature Reserve.

Although most of my volunteering activities are at Pulau Ubin, Gopeng seemed too interesting to miss.

So, i just tagged along with a group of almost strangers to Malaysia. Fortunately, managed to get a friend, Peck Kheng, to join me.

29 Apr -Boon Cheong and Ling Ling (the NParks staff), were the organiser of the trip.

23 of us gathered at the travel agent Transtar at Golden mile at 10pm for the coach.

30 Apr - At Gopeng, we switched to two mini vans sent by the resort. It was already around 8.30am and we missed the planned Tim Sum breakfast! Thanks to the more than 2 hours jam at the Malaysia causeway. Instead we ate at a hawker centre at Gopeng. The local specialty 濑粉looked like 老鼠粉 but tasted much better with it's QQ texture and black sauce. Met a friendly elderly local couple. Started chatting and found out that they have a daughter in Singapore staying in my neighborhood Bedok! I know the world has become smaller, but not to this extent!

We reached the Gopeng Rainforest Resort at around 9.30 am.

  

Gopeng Rainforest Resort - Photo courtesy of Tan Boon Cheong

Met David, our guide. 
He is also the operator of the resort, togther with his wife, Janice.  

David - Photo courtesy of Tan Peck Kheng

Our truck - Photo courtesy of Tan Peck Kheng

Being late, we had to set off for trekking ferried in a truck right after that.

With a group of so many people, many of us had to stand. Tree branches and even durians were hanging low throughout the journey.

Ferried like foreign workers and ducking like Indiana Jones. Ha! Ha!

Reach Rafflesia Trail at around 10.30am. This was where we start our trekking. We saw the Rafflesia Cantleyi flower but unfortunately it's not blooming. According to David, they usually will only bloom for 4-5 days before dying off. Did not know till then that it is a parasitic flowering plant residing on another parasitic vines. The largest species is in Sabah. Hope to visit it one day.



Rafflesia Cantleyi

Other sightings included pill millipede, ginger flower, fungi, stick insect and moths.



Pill millipede - It gots it's name from it's round shape when curled up when disturbed. 



Ginger flower



Tiny fungi

Next, we set off to see the puddling Rajah Brooke's Birdwing. As many as 20 of them are there. A beautiful and magnificent sight indeed! Was so captivated by them, that even an attack by a leech at my armpit had became a non-event. I just swiped it away and continued with shooting. Macro shooters are weird, really.



   After lunch, we set off for cave trekking. A very tough and long climb.

Some parts of the trails are so steep that long ropes were tied along it for us to pull ourselves uphill way. Fortunately, Ling Ling, who is 5-month pregnant, and her 3-year old daughter did not come along. Otherwise it would be dangerous for them. Before we reached the Gua Kandu cave, it started to rain. Luckily we reached the cave a while after that.

Trekking in the caves was tough too. Several people, including myself, slipped and fell more than once. We even had to slide down, crawled on fours and squeeze through gaps. With my full photography gear on, I was stucked in a gap and had to be pulled out. For a brief moment, felt the embarrasement of an obviously well-fed person had to face. Ok, brother, no more teasing. I repent.

The formation of the cave, frankly, wasn't really impressive. An interesting alien looking subject  was found in the cave. Confirmed it's identity later as the Whip Scorpion.


Whip Scorpion

The biggest joy, ironically, was the completion of the journey. Nevertheless, unforgettable! Ended the trekking with a group photo of muddy buddies.



Photo courtesy of Tan Boon Cheong

By the time we reached the resort, it's nearly 6pm. Went shooting near the resort. Saw a tortise beetle that is so pretty with its transparent outer shell! On my unwritten wish list for the longest time! Too bad it flew off before i can call it's name. Spotted a crab spider with a butterfly prey in a Asystasia gangetica ssp. flower.

There are some wild orchids near the resort. Make it a point to peep into each one of them. No orchid mantis sighted.

Nparks staff managed to order some durians. Two out of four of them are great!



Durian Seller

Shower was a little torturing as there is no heater.

After dinner, decide to relax reading the Chinese papers that Peck Kheng smuggled in from Singapore. Seems like 晚报 is fairer with better coverage on election news of the opposition parties.

With aches from the cave trekking, decided to turn in early at 10.30pm. Intended to wake up at 6.45am for some macro shooting.

1 May - Went shooting near the resort around 7.30am.

Yes. Wake up late again. Subjects were a plenty but the area was windy.

They included a damselfly, a colourful bug, and sleeping bees.

After breakfast, it's trekking time to the Gerumtum waterfall. Another uphill task with slippery roads along the way. An Orang Asli (土族, not 主厨, which i heard it wrongly from Peck Kheng) was the co-guide.

David passed some tobacco for leech prevention to the now near paranoid group. Several people had been bitten in the previous trip. We had to wet the tobacco and apply it on our legs. Leeches are supposed to harden and dropped off upon contact with it.

We were shown various plants on the forest trail. Fatimah is used to increase fertility in women, just like Tongkat Ali for men. Bat spider lily is an interesting huge flower, but unfortunately the one sighted was withering.

There are many rubber trees along the trail.

The modern way of collection is using plastics bags instead of coconut shells. It could be easily mistaken as a packet of soya bean milk for the unsuspecting. There were many abandoned coconumt shells with stagnant water. David even found mosquitoes larvae in some of them. We started overturning them along the way to prevent mosquitoes breeding. Hopefully the relevant authority does something about it, especially when it intended to develop tourisim in Gopeng.

A bonus along the way was the durians found under the trees. We started to help ourselves. They tasted better than those bought the day before!
 
The waterfall was packed with the local malay boys. There were some people doing water abseiling at the top.

Gerumtum Waterfall - Photo courtesy of Tan Boon Cheong

 I decided to have my natural spa at the down stream while some of the members proceed to the higher end. It was fun and relaxing. Nothing beats the real thing. The water also tasted cool and fresh.
Indulged so much in it that I forgotten my important mission there: To check out the flora and fauna!

By the time I realised that there could be interesting damselflies at the downstreams of the waterfall, it's time to go!!

Luckily there was at least a nature photographer there!




Water Abseiling - Photo courtesy of Tan Boon Cheong

 Kee Seng had found many interesting damselflies at the various waterfall areas and posted on his facebook.

They included the 

Heliocypha biforata

Aristocypha fenestrella

Euphaea ochracea

and the Singapore extinct Green Metalwing!

Neurobasis chinensis


After lunch back at the resort, took on Peck Kheng for a game of Ping Pong. Perspire all over again.  While many decided to go for water rafting, I decided to take a nap ( while Kee Seng managed to shoot some more nice damselflies!) and to go for some shooting after that. Meanwhile, many had gone to Kampar river for a grade 2-3 white water rafting.

Went shooting around 4pm. There is a stream beside the resort. Spotted a nice black damselfly but did not manage to shoot it as the sand was very soft.
Managed to shoot a cactus fly. There were many of them on the Firebrand plants. Wondered whether it is the host plant. Also managed to shoot a moth found by David the previous night.

Cactus Fly - One leg missing

Moth found by David

Asked Janice about nature photography at Gopeng. She mentioned there are various nice species of damselflies, including a purple species, especially along the Rafflesia Trail. Migratory birds are abundant and even become residents of the wetlands there. Although the resort has been mainly serving tourists, special arrangements can be made to cater for photographers.

David bought Ling Ling and a few others to the Kintra Nature Park for bird watching. Many Herons gathered at a very big tree there and even a group of at least 6 Otters were spotted. Unfortunately it's very far for even birders.

The people who went for rafting eventually came back drenched as it started to rain in late afternoon. They enjoyed themselves very much, especially with the initially drop off called the   
'boom boom'. None of their rafts capsized.

Dinner was a delicious barbecue grill. The chicken wings were exceptionally well seasoned and good. It was then followed by another round of durian feasting. The best durian of the night was one that was bitten by a squirrel. It confirmed our belief that squirrels are the best durian pickers! Janice claimed that eating such organic durians (without pesticides) will not caused sore throat. So far so good it seems!

After the meal, me and Peck Kheng played mahjong with our room mates Michelle and Wan Hua. It was a 'hygienic' game. The stakes was a bowl of 豆花(bean curd) for the winner.  Peck Kheng taught us some nick names for the mahjong tiles. Nearly fall off the chair hearing some of the funnier ones.

Panadol , 黛安芬(a woman's intimate garment), Albert ("Al" as in the number one in Mandarin, bert as in bird), Bangali MinCeng (hokkien for an Indian's bed), OrDong (hokkien for乌东.乌as in 乌龟. The tile looks like one.). Sai (hokkien for 'shit'. Sounds also like 'West' in Cantonese.), Arka (hokkien for 鸭脚-duck feet ).

We played till midnight for  2 'winds' before calling it a day.

2 May - Awaken by the rooster symphony at 5 am. Managed to go back to sleep till 7am and it's shooting time again. Wished very hard that the bees would be still perching at the same location again. True enough, they were! Other subjects include a pair of mating insects, a damselfly, and a beetle-like insect found the previous night.

Mating insects

2 bees sleeping



2 bees awake - Rubbing their feet before taking off

 After breakfast, it's time to leave the resort. Wan Hua had arranged to fly back instead as her mini schnauzer illness had turned worst suddenly. Hopefully the family member will pull through.

Our last tour site was at the Kek Lek Tong 极乐洞 cave at Ipoh. It's uniqueness lies in the big opening  at the end leading to a garden. The garden has 2 ponds and a group of monkeys. They are pretty 


Kek Lek Tong

 aggressive. Seok Eng found a merlion statue in the cave. We wondered why.



Garden at the Kek Lek Tong

 Managed to reach Ipoh new town for it's famous hor fun (河粉) at 老黄. Other than the hor fun which is good on its own without ingredients, the meat balls, bean sprouts and chicken are all very delicious.

Food at 老黄

Michelle and Peck Kheng - Ipoh New Town

There are many famous and popular food at the town. One example is the 烧饼 at 鍾漢元. Only managed to try the 肉干( meat jerk) one as the 肉松( meat floss) ones are so popular that they have to be pre-ordered! The floss version with salted egg looks even yummier! Must planned to get my hands on them!

Don't get deceived by their traditional looking shop and the way they make their delicacies. They have a Facebook account at :  ChingHanGuan and a website at: http://www.chg.my/

Next was the 豆腐花 (bean curd) at 奇蜂 (funny mountain). I found the English name funnier than any mountain I know. Maybe that's a strategy to attract customers. The bean curd was soft and smooth. I found the sugar syrup version a bit too sweet though. There is the brown sugar syrup alternative but too bad it's sold out.

Other interesting food are the 鹽焗雞(salted chicken) and the Fruit Rojak. We were very keen to try, but our stomachs were simply too full!

Just before setting off from the town, simply have to try the 怡保白咖啡(Ipoh white coffee). Hmm. Still prefer my Bedok kopi siu dai (coffee less sweet) ultimately.

We set off for Singapore in a coach at around 8pm, saying goodbye to David and the very hospitable Janice.

Dinner was taken at Taiping (太平).

Home Sweet Home around midnight.