Crazy Horse Memorial

Mention Mount Rushmore and everyone will know it... Well... either that or the mountain with 4 Presidents' Head... :-) Mention Crazy Horse and 99%, if not 100% of you will go "Huh?!"... "Kuda Gila?". Crazy Horse is not literally a horse that has gone off his bonkers but in fact, one of the great native Indian war leaders alongside Geronimo and Sitting Bull... Ha Ha... Who??!!

Although these great people from American History were from different tribes; Oglala, Apache & Sioux respectively, they share a common goal... Fighting for their tribe's survival and ancestral lands in the face of the onslaught of the white settlers. You can get an idea of what these people were faced with from movies such as Dances With Wolves and Geronimo.

Anyway, it was during my University days that I drove down to South Dakota with a few of my friends and it wasn't till we went to Mount Rushmore that we heard of this ongoing project to carve another monument dedicated to the American Indians similar to Mount Rushmore. I have always been in awe of native american indian culture so before you knew it we were driving up the road to the the monument's visitor centre.

Like Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial is being carved out of a granite hill... Think it's easy? Think again. They use dynamites and precision engineering. Work commenced on the face in 1987 and 10 years later, they have just completed the face of Crazy Horse. Long way to go. But I think it's really interesting that you are able to see it in progress. They have a Web Cam at the visitor centre that will allow you to see the progress of the carving so check it out at the official Crazy Horse Memorial Web Site.

If you have the opportunity to visit the monument, don't miss it...

Save Our Sea Turtles

A cause that's very close to my heart ever since I volunteered for my first wildlife conservation trip back in 2003. I was introduced to it by my friend, Sam and since then I have returned almost every year. Come this June I will be returning as a Sea Turtle Research Unit (SEATRU) Volunteer to Chagar Hutang for my 5th time.

The first time I went, it was to experience actual conservation work and didn't really know what to expect and of course, it would be my first trip to Pulau Redang. But since that first trip, every return trip has been a journey of discovery... The landscape changes, the people change, the fellow volunteers are different but I guess if I were to list them, the following would be some of the reasons why I do it...

1. It's a worthy cause. Give back to mother nature.
2. Nature at it's best. Fresh water, fresh sea air...
3. Imagine watching a turtle crawling up the beach to lay it's clutch of eggs... trust me, it's a sight you will never forget.
4. Making new friends. My first trip there, I met 4 other volunteers... They are now some of my best friends.
5. Cutoff from the rest of the world... Can you imagine customers not being able to reach you on your handphone? Woo Hooo.... This alone is reason to go...
6. Your own private 300m long beach. It's all yours... Tourists are not allowed.
7. Of the people I have met there, 50% have or are planning to go again. I have gone 4 times and I am planning to go again.
8. It's way cheaper than Orca, Rhino or Tiger conservation.
9. Genuine Kampung, fisherman cooking...

One hope that I have is that I'll be around in 15 yrs time and when I return, some of the new turtles crawling up the beach to nest for the first time will be one that I have watched hatch and crawl from their nest to the sea back in 2003.

Well... I'll write more about my journeys in subsequent blogs... Till then, you can find out more about the program at the Turtle Research & Rehabilitation Group.



Volunteers 2003 (L-R): Sam MJ, PA Lim, Ng Poh Ling, Man (Staff), Eric, Ng Ai Ling, Shiaw Yang, Slyvester (Research Asst.)





Volunteers 2005 Top (L-R): Sam MJ, Cherng (RA), Ean, Mei, Shiaw Yang, Eric.... Bottom (L-R): PA Lim, Staff, Morita (RA)






Volunteers 2006 (L-R): PA Lim, Yee Suan, Hooi Hun

Volunteers 2007 Top (L-R): Felina, Nurul Radiah, Adie (Staff), Man (Staff), Ai Wa, Sang Sang, Karen.... Bottom (L-R): Seik Ni, PALim

Immobility

Groaaaannnnn... This is officially my 2nd day without my trusty 'steed'... Fortunately Sulyn's been kind enough to offer me rides to and from the office the past 2 days and tomorrow as well...
It's depressing having to dish out the sum of money but the thought of having a my 10 year old car look brand new... well.. at least on the outside, is keeping me away from depression... :-) I've pretty much been collecting nicks, dents & scratches as I hate how everytime I get the car fixed, new scratches will appear very soon (touch wood)... There's some pretty mean looking dents all around but none as bad as the one I acquired on Saturday... and the roof's also showing signs of rust bubbles... So I thought what the heck... Might as well invest in getting it fixed and repainted... There goes 2k....

Mechanic told me he'd get it done latest by Tuesday... Hope I can frackin' last till then... It's weird though being a passenger... I've been so used to driving people around and I guess I like having my hands at the wheel... But oh well, at least I can have a couple of minutes more shut eye while Sulyn drives...

Thanks Sulyn!!!

Fraser's Hill

What an exciting but exhausting weekend it has been. The first trip I've had with some of my friends & colleagues in a long time. Sulyn booked the Wavertree bungalow and ten of us planned to drive there in 3 cars on Saturday. Quite a simple plan actually... We were to meet at Setapak for breakfast and would start the journey at about 10 am. Well.. things pretty much went according to plan till' it started raining on the Karak Highway. It was still a pretty pleasant drive and within an 1.5 hours, we were in Raub following the signboards to the new path up Fraser's Hill at GAP... which was when we hit the first obstacle.

There was a boulder that fell onto a bridge thus the road was impassable to traffic... since mid March. Unfortunately, none of us knew. Well... it was supposedly all over the mainstream newspapers but since the recent general elections, I had stopped reading mainstream newspapers so... I take it so had everyone else. But anyway, the road was closed and we had no choice but to use the other route known to us... Through Tanjung Malim and Kuala Kubu Bharu. There was supposedly another route through Genting Highlands but none of us were familiar with it so what the heck...

After deciding to try the other route we started driving back along the Karak Highway to MRR2 then it started raining heavily. Just before the Karak rest area where I lost control of my car after driving into a puddle... Groan... All I could do was try to steer the car into the side railing rather than to end up in the path of other vehicles... Fortunately, I regained control shortly after... Thank God everyone was alright.
Anyway, after stopping to check on the car and finding no major damage other than dents... well... it could have been worse... sooooo... Well.. thank God the drive was pretty uneventful after that. There was some confusion as to which route to take after exiting at Tanjung Malim but after sorting that out, we eventually got to the Gap where we queued with other cars while waiting for our turn to drive up the 8km, winding, one-way road up to Fraser's Hill.

A trip that was supposed to take about 2.5 hours became a day long drive from one side of the Central range to the other side.. phew... But oh well, it was well worth it.

The last time I had been to Fraser's Hill was when I was very young... Not more than 10 I think and I went with my family and some family friends from Singapore. Not much that I can remember from then except for a pony ride but from what I can see, I believe things have not changed much since then. Tudor cottages, chalets or bungalows are available for rent. Ours came with meals as well and very big, clean and spacious rooms... and a fireplace as well.

Fraser's Hill is named after a Scottish pioneer by the name of James Fraser and consists of seven hills. Fraser's Hill is quite popular with locals and foreign tourists due to its greenery, fresh air and flower gardens. Bird watching is a very popular activity here and ornithologists 'flock' to Fraser's Hill for the annual bird race. There are also activities such as horseback riding and archery.

If you're looking for a nice place to enjoy nature and cool air, it's definitely worth going to. Check out the conditions of the road as the route to Gap is well known for landslides and erm.. misplaced boulders.

Oh well, car's with the workshop now... a hefty RM 2,100 price tag to get it back in shape and have it re-painted. Sigh.. imagine where I could've flown to... My last trip to Vietnam for 10 days cost me only RM 1,000.

Alright... Where to next??!!

Backpacking

Travelling has always been one of my favourite pastimes... From as far back as my younger days when my mom would bring us to Singapore on the train. There are many ways to travel... Those who look for the convenience can simply opt for tour packages whereas those of us who are more adventurous can travel on our own whether by renting a car or by backpacking.

I guess I'm fortunate to have been able to pretty much try a lot of different modes of travelling. Each has its own pros & cons but I'd have to say that regardless of whatever setbacks there may be, backpacking's pretty much my preferred mode of travel... I guess this goes all the way back to my first backpacking trip to Europe where I travelled to parts of Spain, Lisbon (Portugal) and also Helsinki (Finland). The main reason why I chose to backpack was the cost. I was hoping to save by making my own travel arrangements and as well, wanted to have a feel of staying at Youth Hostels... Considering the conversion rate to Euro, doesn't take a genius to figure out why... :-)

But anyway, I guess I liked the idea of wandering on my own. I have pretty much travelled on my own in the past in Vancouver & Toronto. Those were quite easy as all you needed was a tourist map from the nearest tourist information center. From then, just identify the places you wanted to see and just walk around on your own... Backpacking is also a practical means of travelling especially if you like wandering around instead of following a timetable. With tour packages, ask anyone who has gone on one and they would tell you the same thing... Waking up at 7 am... rushing through breakfast.. whizzing on a tour bus from one place to another... and worst of all.. tourist traps!!!

Back in Spain... I had first planned a rough itinerary that included places like Sevilla, Toledo, Granada, Barcelona and so on... But due to some unforeseen circumstances, overstayed at Sevilla... I eventually decided to forego Toledo and moved on instead to Granada. This flexibility, I really liked. I was then able to wander around Sevilla a little bit more and in the process was able to visit Italica, which was an ancient Roman town... This has always been a dream of mine... Short of planning a trip to Rome... I could also move around at my own pace as compared to going on a tour package.

Since then, I've backpacked to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam... all of which are long stories of their own but I guess I really feel that everyone should backpack once in their life... Tell me your experience and why you like or don't like backpacking...