Joyful Summer (Part 2b)...

Before i got no mood after writing my pissed off day, i thought i should just post this entry first.

Went to Stong with Laiyi and a few FOOT com peeps. It was my first Odac trip other than those Pelepah recces. Seriously, Laiyi was the deciding factor when i chose to go Stong. Money is always an issue to me because by going one trip, it could have lasted me 2 weeks instead. Laiyi told me he wanted to go trekking during this holidays and jio-ed mi along. I thought it would be a rare chance to go trekking with him and this was only our first trek together despite us knowing each other for quite a no. of years.

Off we go on the 17th July. We met up at Woodlands Seng Siong to buy our food before crossing the customs to board the train. We had dinner at the famous duck rice store which we would visit almost everytime we go msia. Our train ride was at 7pm and it would take about 12hrs to reach Dabong. I was quite excited since it was my Odac trip and heard from friends that Stong is a beautiful place. I couldn't sleep that night not because im overly excited but because the top cabin of the train was just simply too squeezy for my long legs and my trekking bag.

We reach Dabong at abt 6plus am and those vain people(*hahaha) started to take photos. After having breakfast, we started the first activity of the trip=>Tunnelling. We gotta crawl under a very narrow hole to get to the other side of the tunnel. It was pitch dark when we switch off our torchlight and its really . There is this interesting place in the huge cave where there is a circle patch that is always clean from leaves. 2 interesting explanations=>the scientific one, it's because of the air circulation. The unscientific one is of course by supernatural forces. Some other interesting features are the limestone walls which seems to glitter. Overall the experience is good for i always imagine living in a cave like those in ...hahaha...

Afternoon was the start of the water trek up to the campsite. It was quite tiring and i was already panting less than halfway through. And i drank water like camel storing water in its hump. I gotta admit that my fitness level was not there. Morale was "high" as we kept shouting,"Reaching reaching", only to find that there was a lot more steps to go. But perserverance did brought us through when we finally reach the campsite. I wouldn't say it was a tough trek. It's more like climbing many flights of stairs but the climb was worth what we gonna experience later.

We went to play the waterfall slide not far away from our campsite. It was really fun especially the excitement of sliding down the last 5metres. I went up and down 3 times before Grace denied all of us the chance to slide further more(hahaha no offences...). Somehow she got this phobia and freak out and set on the butt catchment area for a very long time. The crowd went from cheering Grace to self entertaining themselves before eventually leaving the waterfall to cook dinner. (Of course Zhenhan is there to accompany her la...) Finally, Grace did muster enough courage to slide down the waterfall(i believed she's more afraid of darkness than the waterfall slide...hahaha).

Dinner was splendid. I could never imagine myself eating pineapple rice in outfield. But Odac do wonders...hahaha...i think Odac has produced quite some potential chefs. Even condemn king Laiyi also said that it was nice(I wont tell u all the pineapple rice is cooked by serene...hahaha..). I certainly ate my fill and after meal it was game time. We played the Tongka Tongka game and the concentration game. Being a noob at such games, i was lucky that i didn't lose to do a forfeit as there were noober noobs around...hahaha...After having much fun and laughter and some chit chat session, it was bedtime.

We had wanted to go to the summit the next morning but the trek leaders discourage us by saying there was nothing up there except for some boulders. (Gary we know you want to slack!!! hahaha...) Serene, Ruyan, Laiyi, Mike and me agreed to wake up early next morning to catch the sunrise but to our disappointment, it was a cloudy morning. Nevertheless, we took some beautiful pictures of the dawnbreak despite the fact that it was chilly. We set off after breakfast to carry on with our water trek, but this time bringing only oursleves. I thought the slide was the only highlight of the Stong trip but i was wrong!

We went further up the hills to reach another waterfall. Too, it was scenic where we took quite some photos there. The interesting part of the trek was when the guide brought us to this part of the waterfall where there is a pothole deep enough for a person to submerge. The water was cooling and it felt quite shiok when i was totally submerged with water gushing through me. And then there is a small opening behind the waterfall where 2 person can squeeze in without getting wet. Neway the strong current from the fall almost washed my "hotpants" off me and i gotta grapped onto my pants while trying to squeeze into that hole.

After all those nonsense, i lay on a rock to sunbath. Not long after the trek leader called for everybody to get prepared to descend. I nearly fell asleep on the rock and i was in a daze when i woke up. One misfooting and my leg went into a hole between the rocks and got brusied. TMD dulan! For the whole trek, i got so much bruises and blisters that i decided to call myself Bruise Chen. After reaching the campsite, we chop chop packed up everything and descend to the foot of the hill where we took a van back to town. The train arrived near 11pm. We took the top cabin as well but this time i was just dead tired and had a good sleep till the morning. If you think the fun and laughter end here, you are wrong!

Back at NTU, after washing stores, we played barefooted samba soccer where only the girls can score. There were instances where people were sliding about in the muddy field and instances where we all just broke down laughing(like yongshi attempting to chest the ball!!). It was a fun way to end a trip and i've definitely enjoy myself throughout...Shall upload the pictures later...