Nature: Glamping it up at Janda Baik

It was the year-end holidays, and in line with cuti-cuti Malaysia, we decided to return to Janda Baik in Pahang.

It's just an hour's drive from KL, on not too windy roads, to cool fresh air and natural jungle beauty. We fell in love with it during our last camping trip in 2014.

(Read about our previous rough-it-out fun adventure here.)

5-Star Camping

This time, we decided to level-up and stay at Sailor's Rest, a homestay turned glamping campsite —one of the first, if not the only, in Malaysia.

The campsite layout

Glamping, or "Glamorous Camping", is ideal for those who want to get back-to-nature with all the creature comforts. We took two glamping tents — a 2-bedder and a 4-bedder — which came with beds, plush pillows and quilts, a stand fan, light and power points! It was really five stars by camping standards.

Set against a misty highland backdrop

Spacious and comfy ... definitely how camping was meant to be

But in case you forget you're actually there for camping, there are still insects and bugs and a night-time chorus of frogs to remind you. And being right next to river (the main attraction for us), the sound of running water is a soothing lullaby.

The river at our doorstep

Parks: Walking with Elephants

I've heard a lot about the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary in Pahang but never made my way there. After all, it's in a different state, and I really didn't know what to expect.

Thanks to my friend who made all the arrangements and allowed us to tag along with her family this past school holiday.

It was a pleasant and relatively easy 1.5-hour drive from PJ, mostly down the Karak Highway with a 10-km trunk road to Lanchang. There is a huge sign right after the Kuala Gandah toll so you'd know to turn right.

Nice scenic drive

Hard to miss this

There were several packages available for visitors. If you just wanted to bathe the elephants (the main touristy attraction), it's RM10 per adult, RM5 per kid, plus RM50 for a guide fee (for a group of up to 10 pax).

Since it was our first visit, we decided to take the educational tour package for RM120 (we took 2 packages because of our large troop). This included a guide, a chance to get up close to the baby elephants, food preparation and feeding. The elephant bathing was an optional extra. There were different coloured stickers stuck to our ticket to show what we paid for.

There were several informative exhibits near the reception lobby.

Nature: Our Turtle Adventures

One of the purpose for our recent holiday in the East Coast was to enjoy the natural beauty of the beautiful Malaysia. Some of the things I really wanted the kiddos to see were sea turtles nesting and fireflies, so I planned a couple of excursions for our time there.

Turtle Watching

Turtle nesting season in the east coast of Malaysia is from May to September.

We got in touch with Pak Su, a well known local expert guide who brings tourists turtle watching nightly at Teluk Mak Nik, Terengganu, which is about a 15-minute drive from Club Med Cherating.

Turtles usually come up at night, so the meeting time is 9pm and can last till past midnight. Mindful of that, we "strategised" to go turtle watching on the first night of our holiday so the kiddos would not be too tired out from a whole day of activity and will be able to stay up.

We arrived at 9pm at the meeting spot. A small crowd had already gathered, comprising guests from various hotels.

After an introduction and briefing from Pak Su, we crowded around a small basket of green turtle hatchlings from Pak Su's hatchery (he buys the eggs to hatch them in his hatchery). They were the cutest little things, with their tiny little flippers. We were repeatedly reminded not to use flash while taking photos to avoid damaging the newborn turtles' eyes.

Visit: Kahang Organic Rice Eco Farm

We made a trip down south to the little town of Kluang, Johor, with the extended family. Hubby spent many of his growing up years there, so there were plenty of family and friends to catch up with.

We stayed a new hotel, GL Hotel, which is pretty decent. The rooms are quite small, but the family suite was perfect for the kids.

We made the mandatory stop at Barney's for a scrumptious Western dinner. Definitely a must-try when you are in Kluang.
Open daily from 11.30am to 10pm
Address: 5 & 6, Jalan Yayasan, Kluang
Contact: 07-774 4992

The chef showing his chops

We also had another mandatory stop at the original Kluang Station Rail Coffee, located at the railroad station. for its trademarked kaya buns and nasi lemak.

The Kluang-ites in our group also got a chance to experience something new at the Kahang Organic Rice Eco Farm (KOREF), which is about a 40-minute drive from our hotel. The sun was hot, but the breeze was so cooling that it was an enjoyable day out.

There were many activities you could try out, such as rafting, water obstacle course, farm tour,  fish feeding, flying fox and water walking ball. There are several packages you can choose from. We paid RM35 per adult and RM25 per kid for 2 water-based activities and lunch.

We spent a lot of time on the rafts!

Floating in the middle of nowhere

Obstacle course fun

Nature: Save the Environment with BYOB

There's a neat little shop in Damansara Kim called BYOB, which stands for "Bring Your Own Bottle".

We all know how harmful plastic bottles are to the environment, so with this little concept detergent store, we can now find a way to reduce wastage of our empty plastic bottles.

BYOB collects used mineral water bottles and empty detergent containers etc and refills them with eco-friendly household cleaning products. The products are produced using less chemicals by an OEM local manufacturer that produces and exports to companies in Singapore, Australia and the US. The product range is rather extensive — from car care and clothing and fabric detergent, to floor and kitchen cleaners, as well as personal care and a natural range of supplies.

Since we have a mounting stash of plastic bottles at home, we brought some over and left with bottles of floor cleaners (lavender and lemon), glass cleaner, fabric softener and laundry detergent. They were pretty affordable — about 20-25% cheaper than the cheapest range in the hypermarkets. Hopefully they work as well, then we can can see some significant savings in our monthly grocery bills. 

So check it out if you wanna reduce or reuse plastics and save some moolah while you're at it!


BYOB DAMANSARA
15, SS20 11, Damansara Kim, 47400 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 012-2455480

Opening hours:
Mon-Fri: 10am-6pm
Sat-Sun: 9am-4pm

Nature: We're going camping now, we're on our way!

We had a nice school break over CNY. Normally, we prefer to stay in the deserted city during the holidays, but this year, after the festivities and visitations, we decided to take the kids for an overnight camping trip at Janda Baik, Pahang.

We were introduced to a little road shoulder spot, sandwiched between an orchard and a river. It wasn't much to shout at, but it was perfect for our little getaway.

Our tent by the river

Nature's bounty

The kiddos really took to the river like ducks to water. It was really a fun-filled playground, with clear running water and lots of little critters, from frogs and tadpoles to little fish and stick insects.

And what's a camp without a camp fire? Especially when there are marshmallows to roast and s'mores to make! Also good to warm up on a chilly morning!

It was a short but definitely worthwhile trip. It was great to get away from the city and creature comforts and journey back to nature.

No iPad zone — time to read, write and play games

The best things in life are truly simple and (almost) free! Boy #2 was especially reluctant to leave. "I like this world!" he exclaimed.

Nature: Adventure in Fraser's

Fraser's Hill used to be a favourite childhood haunt, but it's been many years since we made a trip there. So when the opportunity arose, up the hill we went!

First stop: Visit to the Jeriau waterfall. Water was freezing cold! A real refreshing treat.

The next day, we took a short hike down the Pine Tree Trail.

 

The diverse flora ~ God's beautiful creations

 The kids were real troopers!

Under and over

Scrapbook memento of our trip!

At the Paddocks.

Pine cone art: Happy Malaysia Day!

Nature: Dangers of Plastic

We spent some time today going through some Youtube videos about the dangers of plastics to the environment and other living beings.

We started with the Midway Film, which has gone viral online. It was a shocking documentary preview about the stomach contents of dead birds on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific. It definitely impacted the kids, who asked to see it again.

We looked at more videos about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Warning: Some of the videos contain swear language, so steer clear from those.

This one, below, is one of the safer and informational ones we watched:

So apart from the emotional impact, what do we do about the newfound knowledge?

Well, we can't really live without plastic in one form or another, but we can definitely reduce and reuse it. We talked briefly about how we can cut down on unnecessary purchases, especially of cheap plastic toys, as they eventually go into the trash pile somewhere. And we gained a greater appreciation for the world God has blessed us with and learned more about how to take care of it better.

Nature: Atapchi on the Beach?

We overheard over breakfast that there were thousands of jellfish eggs on the seashore.

Intrigued, we ran out to check. And yes, along the shoreline were tens of thousands of transparent white jelly-like creatures, which looked a lot like the atapchi (pine seeds) you get with your ais kacang.

But I didn't think they were jellyfish eggs. Upon Googling, I've surmised that they are probably sea salps. If anyone knows better, please let me know :-)

God's creations are incredible!

 

Nature: Ants'hillvania

What we did today: Watch ants painstakingly build their forts grain by grain. Girl has declared that part of the garden protected territory, a mini Ants'hillvania.

Close-up of ants

Unfortunately, the rains came and watered down the hills. Poor ants had to start all over again.