Bukit Tabur - Meticulous Mount of Melawati

Taman Melawati -a quiet and peaceful neighborhood in the Klang Valley. The place I grew up, my back yard, my playground. A perfect abode, and one I call home.

It is famous for Bukit Tabur, an imposing 300 m quartz ridge, shaped like a sleeping gargantuan prehistoric leviathan. A great hiking hill, yet reports of accidents -serious and fatal- were on the news these recent years. The collection of my climbing photos here demonstrate how relentless it was. Unlike Mt Kinabalu or Tahan which are lengthy and laid-back climb, this one is brief and jagged -kinda 100 m dash of mountaineering. Let the ascent begin!  

Team Tabur, right to left: Emri, Haris, Eivon, Ajib, Ina, and Pak Ali.

Bukit Tabur - Our lil' Everest. We hiked peak to peak from east to west (right to left).

Ulu Klang Dam from the base of Tabur. Nice shot from Emri.

Ajib was way ahead of us!

Eivon almost threw up from the initial climb. Girls, take note.

View of Melawati from one of the peak.

Like a tiger sneaking for the prey...

Sermon on the Mount -with reluctant audiences.

Facing Bukit Tabur Timur. Notice the dam on the left and forest rape to the right.

In awe of the Nature's bounty and beauty.

Rugged climb on razor-sharp rocks.

Ajib celebrating his victory over the painstaking ordeal.

"The sky is blue. And God's evidence is elegantly everywhere..."

Girls standing a few centimeters to 200 m cliffs.

I'm about to bungee jump down the dreaded abyss!

R&R on top. Titiwangsa Range in the background.

Another team trudging for the next peak.

Almost noon, no wonder it's searing hot.

Best rock climbing position of the year.

Pak Ali tried to imitate, but failed miserably.

Ascending to touch the face of Heaven. Were we almost there?

Portal to the land of elves...

At the westernmost resting site. Drank water of joy (air bersuka ria). Planning for our next hike. Note the comfy moss. Pure bliss.

Detail of the moss from earlier expedition.

At the westernmost end. No more peaks to climb.

Ascending is one helluva challenge. Descending is another.

One of few points with ropes. I believe this one is accident-prone. Don't worry guys. If she could make it, so could you.

The kings of Tabur. Emotions ran supreme. No word could express more.....

Indeed, we were the king of the World!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Special encounter with origami cranes. We believed they were placed there to ensure safe journey for hikers.

Overall climbing, I must say the initial climb was the most demanding. The rest was fine, with intermissions of pointy climbs and scaling cliffs. Yet, the ordeal was rewarded with awesome views of mesmerizing Mother Nature and a satisfactory sense of being there -one only mountaineers could ever feel. The overall journey back and forth took about 3 hours. I lost a few kilos as well! Also, the climb might look hard at first that many turned back after reaching the first peak -with barely nothing to see. No matter, exhilarating fun awaits for those who dare.

Last but not least, I found an article about Bukit Tabur from a fellow blogger. His climb was extremely harsh yet gilded with ethereal beauty. Click here to discover more 

RESPECTO.
 

Taiping & Kuala Kangsar - Perak Twin Serenity

After a few weeks away, I returned to Kuala Kangsar. This time I experienced the small town since I didn't have the opportunity to do so during the Lenggong speleological journey. Me and Ajib went to Taiping first thing in the morning, indeed the First Town in Malaysia with many titles with 'first' in everything, like first museum, first zoo and first lake garden. The latter was our first stop:

The Taiping Lake Garden. Algae bloom at its best.

Judging by age and size, this must be the First tree in Malaya

The town is an old yet bustling one. The trace of British Malaya remnants are present everywhere. The spirits of the colonialists survived, in form of decrepit buildings and old trees. If the tree above could talk, it would say something like this -"Come later at midnight and see how spooky I am".

Taiping Zoo -where animals are held captive, at mercy and whims of humans.

The Taiping Zoo is adjacent to the garden. Next, Taiping Museum. As an artifact aficionado, I went to lots of museum. I expected this one to have items came from Pangkor Treaty, Birch assassination, Larut War or other things uniquely Perak-ish. Instead, we were bored to death with cultural stuffs seen many times in TV. Seemed like 1Malaysia on tour. They forget to add the title 'The first boring museum in the world'. Yet, the nature lover would find their time worthwhile here:

Taiping Museum - not in the mood for bone soup

Few things unique -Assassination plaque 

F-86 Sabre: Let's kill the commie cunts!

Now, the real adventure begin. We stopped by at the Taiping War Cemetery, where the brave WW2 dead soldiers were buried. It was intersected by a road shown below, dividing into 2 section -Caucasians and Asians. Talking about afterlife discrimination. Yet the place was neat with cut grass and trimmed lawn, adding relaxing element to the serene environment. I bet the gardener comes here everyday just to keep the dead happy in the hereafter...

Taiping War Cemetery - orderly burial, but down under is another story...

Yep, because in wartime they had to bury the soldiers randomly and quick. So the remains are effectively EVERYWHERE on site. That explained some exhumation taking place when we were there in order to identify the remains, even after more than 60 years past..

Asian section. Living guerrilla and fallen ones.

I wonder how the dead would react to this. Yes, you will be remembered forever in the cyberworld.

 

My own personal respect to the fallen soldiers.

My journey wouldn't be complete without some food feast. Here we are, indulging on prawn noodles at Mee Udang Mak Jah at Kuala Sepetang. They are many stalls available, but I suggest you go for this one.  It cost RM7 for usual noodle, but we ordered the special one for RM11. Simply delicious! Long queue, yet it worth the wait.  

Lucky number for the groovy grub.

"Your Taiping adventure is futile without a stop at Mak Jah" -Ajib, a Perak native.

The light was drawing its curtain, and we went back to Kuala Kangsar. We stopped at the famous Ubudiah Mosque. Truthfully the most beautiful mosque in Malaysia. I have a special esteem on Sultan Idris, one who ordered the construction of the imposing edifice. To build the mosque, he ordered expensive marbles from Italy, and some were broken by on-site raging elephants. The construction was halted many months and sadly not finished during his lifetime. He was buried in the tomb next to the mosque.

Mind you that the cost was a staggering RM200,000 -money obtained via loan from the British. Now you know how the colonialist kept their power here in Malaya. It's not by force, but by temptation of money and superficial power. I felt divided to see the mosque whether as a proud present to our generation, or a symbol of the past spoilt lifestyle.

Nevertheless, Sultan Idris will be very proud! - Ubudiah Mosque

Where he was interred, along with the successors, and later, our beloved current Sultan Azlan Shah.

Sunset heralding the end of the journey, with Idrisiah school in the foreground.

Moral story is, imagine what will happen to our name 100 years later. Will it still be remembered? As honorable as the quiet soldiers of the War Cemetery? Or as pompous as Sultan Idris? Fortunately, Internet is the key.

RESPECTO.