The Cell

Here are some of the pics I took during a cell group outing last month. Since it's Visit Malaysia Year 2007, we wanted to do something locally flavoured. At the very least, we hope to increase our knowledge of what's good and what's not in Malaysia so that we can be better tour guides to our foreign friends when they drop by to visit. Ok, so now onto our adventures at the Sungai Gabai waterfall and Haji Samuri's Kajang Satay.

What's Not - The Waterfall

Initially, we wanted to go to the Sungai Tekala falls. It was supposed to be near two other waterfalls around the Ulu Langat area. But after a long drive through the rather remote area with lots of winding roads and thanks to the lack of proper road signs, we decided to stop at the very first waterfall we spotted - Sungai Gabai.

"Haiya, no point going further lar. One waterfall should be the same as the other," we all said and drove into the very narrow dirt road heading towards the falls. To our amazement, the road leading to the falls was filled with lots and lots of cars. A middle-aged Malay man was directing traffic and instructed us on where to park our van.

"RM2, Encik," he said to Eugene, the driver who paid him and was duly issued a receipt by the Penghulu of the kampung (village head). We were impressed by the enterprising village head who must have made quite a fortune for the village by providing parking spaces for the hoardes of tourists to this rather popular area. And if the parking attendant was indeed the village head (he did have a dignified look), then he's humble as well.

We trooped out of the car and walked towards the falls with great expectations. We were looking forward to a peaceful time spent in cosy fellowship and being surrounded by the lush green nature and the soothing sounds of the cascading falls. Aaaah...

Excited about what lies ahead

When we stepped into the area, we were immediately lambasted by the song "Winds of Change" being played loudly. What the hey?

To our horror, these enterprising folks have rigged up a karaoke booth at the entrance of the falls. For RM1.50 per song, anyone can be a rock star for a few minutes. The din was awful. So much for a zen-like atmosphere at the falls.

The toilets were in a horrible state as well. No water at all. Makes you wonder why they charge RM0.30 per entry. Bleh.

The falls looked pretty good though. Tall and majestic. The only problem was, there were oodles and oodles of people milling about the place. We decided to go up to the higher levels in hopes of quieter spots there.

The bottom of the falls

The second level had very few folks but the place was very slippery and thus, a hazard. None of us wanted to make the falls our final resting place and so we moved on. It was a most tiring climb. Most of us were panting like dogs and wheezing like geezers by the time we reached the third level. There were a lot of people there but we vetoed the idea of going further up. This is where we will plonk our tired selves on and hopefully enjoy the experience.

The third level had a nice flat bed of water and large smooth rocks. Ideal for waterfall surfing. Quite a number of daring people did what the guy did below.

Waterfall surfer

But we were contented to just sit and soak our feet there. We observed a number of folks washing their hair with Palmolive shampoo just a few metres from us. Rather uncivic-minded to drown the poor water creatures and other waterfall bathers with their shampoo suds. Also, the air would have been fresh and pristine had it not been for the many smokers in the area. Thanks to them, the whole place smelled like Gudang Garam and Malboro Lights.

Soaking our feet is ok, but swimming is out of the question!

Still, the place looked quite idyllic in certain spots.

Crossing the bridge

An idyllic moment

My baby, the Nikon D50 generated quite a lot of interest in the crowd. Strangers would pose and smile as I shot scene after scene. Notice the smiling dude behind Cassy.

Cassy and her new friend

JR pondering on life

Under the bridge

JR whipped out his guitar and we sang some songs, ate some snacks and chatted to while away the lazy afternoon. After a few hours, we were ready to leave the place. For good.

The whole place was littered with fresh rubbish from this crowd. We saw the parking attendant picking up the litter and cleaning up the place as we made our way out to the car park. Thanks to his hard work, the whole place looked decent. But we couldn't understand why is it so difficult for the crowd to pick up after their own litter?

Disgusted and jaded, we trooped out of the place. We couldn't wait to get to our next destination.

Bye Bye Sungai Gabai

What's Hot - Kajang Satay

The highlight of the day out has to be this. All Malaysians know that the best place to go for satay is Kajang. I received directions on how to go to Haji Samuri's from my Kajang friend all the way in Edinburgh. Dude, the satay is fabulous! Big portions, not much fat on the skewered meat and oh so yummylicious. Thanks for the recommendation!

Walking towards the satay place

The satay

Satisfied smiles after the yummy dinner

Needless to say, the satay washed away the bad aftertaste of the Sungai Gabai waterfall

Aaah, birthdays of dear friends. I love them. I love it even more when it's celebrated with those who care. And people who care will make sure that the birthday of their loved ones will not go unnoticed. Something memorable must be done.

And so, in honour of the birthdays of three of our lovely cell members, we elected them as fitness instructors for the night. Let us welcome the three healthy, vibrant girls!

They brought us through the three main parts of a fitness regime. This program is called "3 Minutes To Wholesome Fitness!" It consists of:

Warmup

Aerobics

Toning

The benefits of exercising are manifold. Most importantly, it generates fun and laughter. Very, very healthy side effects, dear readers.

After all that hard work, the three instructors finally get to rest and feast on their birthday cake.

Happy happy birthday, Nov babies! Thanks for being such good sports

Thanks, Eugene for the sabo' idea. Woo hoo!

This surprise birthday party was about two weeks in the making. Kat, Amanda's mom organised it and roped our cell to help out in the decor and games.

The Decor Team

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It was hard not to make Amanda totally unsuspicious but somehow Kat managed to do it.

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Surprise!

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Hugs and kisses from dad and mom

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"I didn't realise you guys can be so sneaky!"

We had the whole top floor of Nyonya Kitchen all to ourselves. The food was nice!

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There were a variety of guests - ranging from the very young to the old but young at heart.

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Rina's representative - her cute niece, Jo Jo

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Awwww... sweet kiss from a sweet babe

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Two boys in a drinking hole. Man, they are starting really young these days!

We played some games which involved making some animal noises.

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Nianci, the lovely game master and my voice (nearly lost mine in a bad cough today)

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This is the cow team. Moo...

Kelvin, Amanda's dad gave a touching speech which touched a chord in many hearts in the room. Such fatherly love is truly wonderful to behold. Amanda is indeed blessed to have a loving and godly earthly dad.

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And then, it was the birthday girl's turn to give a speech.

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"Thanks for coming, everybody. Yep, you all got me. Didn't see this coming at all!"

And blowing all 21 candles on her delicious chocolate birthday cake.

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It was a thoroughly rousing and enjoyable party. Happy, happy 21st birthday, dearest Amanda. May all the joy and meaning you have brought into our lives return to you in a bountiful measure - beyond what you can ever imagine or behold. We love you, girl!

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What do you get when you have a bunch of wacko people and a sporting birthday gal?

You'll get a:

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A gurgler

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A chicken walker

And last but not least, the lovely Miss South(ern) Park 06/07!

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If I am crowned Miss Klang, I want to world peace... for the poor chickens.

We had a blast playing Truth and Dare on our birthday girl Hannah. She's such a sporting and cheerful soul that she took everything in her stride and even said that this was the best birthday celebration ever! Wow. Maybe we should torture her more then.

Happy birthday, Hannah dearie!

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Nianci lost in an ice-breaker game at cell group last Fri.

"Sing something!" We all demanded as punishment. "Negaraku (our national anthem) also can!"

"Don't want!" she dug in her heels. "I rather cook Shepherd's Pie for all of you instead!"

Crispy on the top and succulent on the inside. Yummy!

Being Malaysians who love any and every opportunity to eat, we all decided that it was quite a reasonable trade-off. So we graciously allowed her to change her punishment.

It quickly turned into a full blown food fest. Then the cheeky girl volunteered me to bring the ice-cream dessert.

Amanda volunteered to bring yummy baked potatoes with bacon bits and sour cream toppings, and fizzy drinks.

These are simply to die for!

Rina got the mushroom soup to add on to Nianci's garlic bread. Eugene and Dianne got the ice and coleslaw. The rest brought their ravenous tummies. And we were all set!

Sing for your supper!

I want!

"Are you done taking pics? We wanna eat!!!

Finally can eat! Nyam!

Eat until sweat kau-kau

And we licked the platters clean

And to think it all started because a girl preferred to cook instead of sing. I'd take the singing any time