It is a beautiful Sunday morning, the last Sunday of September two zero zero four, the sky were clear blue.... The week had been wonderful, for last Friday evening we organized a dinner for a couple of friends and it turn out to be successful...And yesterday I was invited to a prayer secession tahlil at a friend's house at Taman TAR, we Moslem do have congregation prayer secession from time to time, either at the mosque or at one's house, a day to pray for those love one that had been call to the lord .. It usually end with a feast....At such occasion we usually meet friends who live in the vicinity...Well it was great and hope that the week a head would be great as well...

We love entertaining friends, it is one of those things that we love to do from time to time, and enjoy doing that ever since, so last evening we invited some friends, two couples that we know to have dinner at our place....I told them that I would be doing the cooking and that it would be something special....One thing that I know well that my spouse is a real good cook and together we planned to organized a simple dinner and entertain our guests with something special and as usual I would help her to do the cooking .. When inviting our friends, I told them that we would have a sorts of a simple dinner, not the usual kind but something different....Actually I was just trying to find a excuse for a get together among old friends, to chat, yarn, just for the fun of it all... We folks are still full of energy to enjoy life, so a small gathering among old friends around a dinner table makes a wonderful evening...The invitation was for eight in the evening...So after all had been prepared, I start with grilling the lamb, the way I always like to do, the chicken was to be lightly deep fried so that it would be just right and tasty as ever....So just after seven we start to do the grilling and by eight everything had been organized...The last item being the French loaf cut to pieces and spread with garlic butter were place on the small oven to bake just right, so that it could be eaten still hot.....Since the dinner was among friends, there were no protocol and it makes thing simple....And just before eight they arrived, we welcome them and sat to chat while getting things ready for our get together dinner.... We had prepared something different, sorts of a western dinner and non of those traditional foods......There were grilled lamb, lightly deep friend chicken and the special chicken wings. And salads to go....So we all sat at the dining tables and enjoy the dinner while we chat along, everyone seem to enjoyed the food and I am pleased that it is so...For my real concerned was that the foods would be enjoyed...We continue to eat and chat along, many subjects that came to our mind at that time, including stories of old times in our youth, it was nostalgic and some events tickles us and everyone laugh their heart out.... One of our guests is a former QS and the other an Engineer, who were trained in the UK in the sixties.... The few that had to opportunity to further their education in foreign land and came back to their homeland to give their service, thus had contributed to the development of the beloved country, Malaysia.....The retired engineer love western food and I believe he is really going to enjoy the spread tonight...And when he saw the spread he was delighted..We talk about old times in the government services and then later on their own trying to make a living, where along the way, like any journey it was never smooth, with hiccup from time to time, but eventually everything went right and now be able to retired in peace and harmony and continue to enjoy life..... I use to tell the youth of today that they must continue to work diligently, smart and with sincerity and take everything or events that comes along as just a part of life and not to fret but instead take it in strike and continue on using past gain or failure as an asset rather then a liabilities.... By doing so would makes one face the world with confidence and would eventually succeed in life, just like us who had been on that road before....Life is like that and remember it is a journey of adventure and in every adventure, the are pot holes on the way....And it is this small events that unexpectedly happened on the way that makes the journey an adventure...... Well time passes and we continue to chat and then after the main course end, we served them with fruits, varieties of it, some like the curtard apples are fruits that are quite rare, thus some of my friends had not really taste it before , they tried and enjoyed it... Then we had coffee just brewed and of course there are the odd one that preferred tea instead of coffee, but me nothing like a good cup of coffee after a hearty dinner.....It is the taste of coffee the makes the dinner a complete one...... We continue to yarn and then one of our guest told his charming wife that it is already twelve....And she replied... Are you one of those character in the story of the Cinderella..... The Mrs like all ladies do were exchanging notes as well and enjoy each other company, with us man intrude from time to time to get included in their chat....Her husband smiled and continue to chat and then He says that we all should call the night off since it is already pass twelve....See how times flies, when you are really in the mid of enjoying the evening.....With that we end the great evening get together, with everyone in a sorts of festive mood.....Happy with the evening and to us the host it was indeed a really a happy moment, for like our guests we really did enjoyed the evening....We bid good night, happy that everything went right tonight.....What an evening..... We would plan another event some other time.......God willing.....Thanks my friend for making our life so wonderful.....Have a nice day.

The floating restaurants at the river in Kuala Tahan, we had dinner at one of these restaurant....It was indeed an experience to enjoy an evening with love one and friends at such a enchanting place...Oh! What a way to live and enjoy life... 

[continuing the trip to Taman Negara]..... Since the road end at the river front, we decided to look for our accommodation at the Rainforest Resort..... When I made the booking the night before the receptionist who took my booking, told me that there are road sign showing the where about of the Resort and he said that we could drive straight to the front of the Hotel.... So how do I get to booking this hotel....Well the story is like this, actually I do not have any clue as to the existence of such resort.... My first choice was the Mutiara Hotel, that was recommended by our daughter who made the visit to Taman Negara recently.....She say that we should stay there so I check the internet for the hotel site and learn more about this, it is a four star hotel and the rate is not that expensive, so I tried to book two rooms for the duration of our stay there, but when I made the booking, I found out that if I did not take the room reserved I would have to pay for the reservation.....Well....What if I had to cancelled at the last minute....One can never tell...And not to take the risk I decided not to book through the internet and since it is not a holiday period, my spouse say that there would be plenty of rooms, so it would advisable to just book it a day earlier.....So a day before leaving for Kuala Tahan,I call Mutiara Resort and was told that for the days that I requested, the hotel are fully booked.....Well.... What to do, we planned to leave tomorrow....I then ask for advise from the receptionist and was kind enough to give me the number of the next best resort that I could enquire..... Thanking him...I call the Rainforest Resort and was told that there are rooms available for the days requested.....So I made a booking and hoping for the best...... The receptionist at the Rainforest Resort even told me that we could drive right to the front of the hotel......Well luck was on our side and on arrival at Kuala Tahan and after looking for a while we found the hotel, a sprawling complex of new buildings and an imposing reception hall and awaiting our arrival are a set of fine young man and woman smiling, providing us wary travelers a sight of relief....Our two room was just waiting and after looking at several other rooms we decided to take the room that was assigned to us....A great room with all the modern amenities and well done washroom......We settled down and took a rest and then at about six in the evening decided to go out to look for more adventure and perhaps a great dinner by the riverside......We were rather surprised to see the floating restaurants, that many and throng with European tourist enjoying their dinner, across the river is the Mutiara Hotel and the National Park's management office, so we decided to get across and it cost just fifty cents one way to cross the river by boat, it is just a two minutes crossing and yet we had the difficulty of boarding the small boats, for the spouse of my friend had a phobia of boats and was reluctant to get into this small boats...It was a hilarious occasion.., I thought at first when the ladies were talking about not taking the boat were just a joke and would eventually passed, but then when it came to the real thing, it was a difference story altogether....My spouse was willing to try but the other lady was real afraid..... She was so frighten that only after some gentle persuasion, would she board the boat...It was indeed an exciting events, but then it is one of those thing in real life, that happen to people who had never been on a boat crossing a river before.....As for me I enjoy the river boating for in my youth I had done it many time and enjoy it like any adventure in our youth.....After getting four of us into the boat....The boatman took us across the river and then we had to climb steps, pretty high to get up the top of the bank of the river, where the Mutiara Hotel is situated, among lush forest trees, the hotel was built to accommodates all those old forest trees, the floral and fauna intack, making the setting of the hotel complex such a picturesque sight, like a well designed setting in a play....Well blend with its lush green forest surrounding....We walk around the resort complex and enjoy the evening wondering under the lush canopy of forest trees, that had been there for million of years...It is just like going back in time, the air were so fresh... Living in the city for so long, we sometime forget the real smell of freshness and what it is like to live in natural surrounding, like these area in the National Park.....Seen at the chalets are many western tourist, sitting at the balcony enjoy the wonderful atmosphere and quietly reading books, passing the evening like those Rich and Famous that one see in the movie.....We wonder a while and then decided to get back across the river and look for a place for dinner.....[to be continue]

A picturesque scene on the Tahan river as we move upstream and watch the wonder of the world's oldest forest...The scene all along was spectacular, the lush jungle touching the base of the river with a reflection making a beautiful mirror images...A panoramic view like those seen in the postcard, but here it is for real, you could touch and feel the cool flowing water, so clear that you could see the rocks at the bottom and the fish that makes this its habitat, the atmosphere were fresh and you could feel the freshness of this virgin forest, a forest that had been there for million of years..... To my wife and me it was a ride of a life time in our golden age...What a day...To witness nature in its greatness, unspoiled by the progress of time..Anyone that visit Malaysia must makes it a point to visit Taman Negara, the Malaysian National Park.....

[continuing the trip to Taman Negara].....Since the area around the toll plaza is new, there were no shaded area for us to take a rest...They only had a washroom and a small prayer hall, we call surau....So after ending the chat with the security man....I sat in the car to cool down with the air condition comfort of the car...My wife had all along sat in the car and took to reading the morning paper... In a while my friends arrived and say sorry that they a are a bit late....Not to worry I say....We had plenty of time to start the adventure....His wife took his car and drove off with her mother to do an errant while He jump into my car and lead us to a relatives house nearby, so that I could park my car and we would just go in one car, his, a Japanese four wheel drive.....We drove on and soon arrived at the relative's house at Kerdau, a small town out of the main road to Jerantut that we seldom get to, but with the new Highway this once sleepy town and village became nearer then before and easy to get to...At one time the only way to get to this small town was by river....Well time has change and we are now in a new Kerdau....I drove in and met the relative...He asked me to park the car under the garage and then went into the house to rest and as usual chat while waiting for my friend's wife to finished her errant......While waiting my friend took me to see his orchard which contain many fruits trees of various varieties, like most orchards in the country side, it has been left unattended, for the old folks are no long there to tend to it and their children, like my friend now live in the cities....It is what we call progress....Well life is like that....After a while his wife came back and without much a do, we depart for the National Park....She took the wheel with my wife sitting in the front seat and us the man at the back seat...Oh! What a change....We are now being driven by a lady driver all the way..Normally in this country the man would drive and the Mrs would just sit and enjoy the journey...But today..It is a different story all together...The lady had taken over the tradition and with confidence...Like what has happen in the west...The lady in the east are joining the route of progress like their sister in the west...Some years ago you hardly see ladies drivers but now it is a familiar sight...But for today it is special, we man got the opportunity to sit at the back seat and enjoy the ride...Amazing the changes that is happening in this country....With all the confidence she drove on this unfamiliar route....For non of us have driven on this stretch of road before..the road from Jerantut to Kuala Tahan....We first had to get to the town of Jerantut....After a while of driving and us enjoying the trip...We arrived at Jerantut and surprise..Oh! What a surprise, the once sleepy hollow, a small town in the rural area has sprang up so big with many new buildings and as busy as ever, with its own traffic jam, just like those towns on the west coast...Personally I am surprise to see this town...It has grown so much since I visit it some years ago...Well one can never tell what are happening in rural Malaysia....With the booming economy, prosperity are everywhere and its shows....We passes slowly through the town of Jerantut and then proceed on to look for the road to Kuala Tahan, where the National Park is situated..... With the opportunity to just sit in the car,a rather rare opportunity to me...We chat along and enjoy the scenery all along the road, amazing the development that has take place all the years, the Kerdau Jerantut road were wide and well maintained and straight all the way to the town, there are no more forest along the road.. Instead there are plantations of Rubber and Palm oil...Some of the primary export of Malaysia to the world.... Just after the Jerantut bridge we saw a large saw mill and the sign of the road leading to our destination, Kuala Tahan....The road look good, so we proceed with caution as non of us had travel this road before... The lady driver were good so we just relax and enjoy the journey, punctuate with small talk of the great scenery of Palm Oil estate all along the road.....There were patches here and there of the Malaysian jungle, the forest with all the shades of green everywhere....We proceed on and at some places the road wind it way around the hills and at some place there were patches of damaged road, probably made by the timber lorry or those lorry that carry the produce of the plantation such as palm oil fruits to the factory for processing.....So we now knew that we had to be careful of such lorry and drive slowly....We soon encounter patches of the bad parts of the road...But not that bad that it is not possible to drive through...We were expecting the worst but the bad patches were not that bad and our journey was rather smooth all the way....After about a hour of driving we arrived at Kuala Tahan and drove straight to the end of the road and beyond us lay the Jelai river, a tributary of the Pahang River......We had arrived at our destination by road.... What a day....History is made.....I had never dream that I could get here by road and today we did it....Great....Happy.....We look for our accommodation, The Rainforest Resort......[to be continue]

It has been a great weeks, first last Tuesday, the seventh September we went to the hinterland, in the heart of the Malaysian forest, that is said to be some one hundred and fifty million years old....It is the Malaysian National Park, locally know as the Taman Negara...It was in nineteen thirty nine that this part of the Malaysian forest was gazette by the then colonial government as the National Park ....Thanks to those people that at the time saw the need to save this great hinterland, a piece of the good earth that was never touch by the ice Age, thus all the floral fauna have been preserved for million of years...Going there is like going back in time...What a place to visit and enjoy the adventure of a life time....I have been there some forty years ago in my youth, at that time it took almost the whole days to get by road and by river upstream, on the great Pahang river, where there are many rapids that had to be cross to get to our destination....At that age of our youth it was always an adventure to ride on those slow boats and then when the boat encounter the rapids crossing and could not get through, we all had to get down into the river and help to push the boats across those fast flowing rapids....But then it was fun all the way.....It was then but now in our golden age,some forty years later..It is a different story all together....My wife had not been there, and want to make the trip but then she did not want to venture on by going by boat upstream,so the going had to be postponed many time....And then another couple, a close friends, says that they wanted to make the trip to the National Part and that we all should go together...He said that his friend had got there by road....What? I said...It is not possible....Well according to his friend it is now possible...The had made the trip by road...And tell the story of the holiday at this wonderland of Malaysia....In Malaysia the development are going on all the time and sometime if you do not follow the news, you are lost as to what happen...In this case a road had been built and I did not know it exist,....Well that is good news, for now my dear wife would be able to make the trip....So together with another couple we went on the trip by car.....I drove all the way from Kuala Lumpur taking the new Highway and while our friend who at that time live in Kuantan, left Kuantan for our rendezvous at the Temerloh toll plaza.....We left Kuala Lumpur at just past eight in the morning, the weather was fine but a little bit hazy, anyway it did not bother us since we are heading to the hinterland, where the atmosphere are different for the city, out there the weather would be just cool and the atmosphere clean of any man made pollution...The place we are heading is the National Park, a large stretch of land covered by dense jungle, with river flowing all along, the water fresh as the mountain dew.....We arrived at the rendezvous site at just past nine thirty in the morning and after paying the toll, I drove the car to a parking lot and wait for our friends to arrived....This toll plaza is new, one of it kind on this part of the country....It is an interchange to get out of the highway to the towns and villages nearby, for the highway do not pass through the town like the old road, it bypass all the major towns like all Highway do....I waited there and soon got into a chat with the security man, a local who must have just got a new job at this place..... Like any new development projects, it created jobs, now that the road is ready....Other jobs are available, like the security man I was talking to, there are jobs for those toll collectors and other odd jobs to keep the toll plaza a pleasant place to stop....With the Highway came the opportunity to do business for the local at the various roads R & R, where the wary drivers would stop for a rest for refreshment or to have lunch or dinner....It is now a sorts of a culture for all those that frequents the Highway to stop at the R & R from time to time, to take a rest, to fill the tank of their cars or to take their breakfast, lunch or dinner whenever the time they makes their stop, for on a long journey it is wise to stop from time to time, the least is to take a short rest before proceeding on....It would refreshed oneself up making the journey safer.... I always make such stop and it has became a ritual to me when I travel on the highway.....Since I love to drive....The Highway make its more fun and enjoyable to travel.......I continue to chats with the security man while I wait for my friends to arrived.....[to be continue]

A river trip upstream at Taman Negara [Malaysian National Park] at Kuala Tahan in the state of Pahang.....The boatman was real expert in getting us upstream throught the many rapids....It was indeed advanturous journey all the way....an advanture of a life time....