Turtle Nightlight ~ Ma' Daerah

27-29 June '08

Went to Ma' Daerah, a turtle sanctuary at Kerteh. Why would I go there just to see turtles??? Well I haven't been to these places before, plus I really like animals, and the whole turtle sanctuary thing sounds really intriguing.

Shall start with this place Kerteh. It's like a small town, and to those who does'nt know where it is... It's in Kuantan. Nah, it's at the edge of Terengganu, near Kuantan. So still remember your form 2 /3 Geography syllabus??? It's one of the place in Malaysia which has aplenty of petroleum. Besides that, their quite famous for their keropok lekor.

The fellow Taylorians took a bus to Kerteh. As the turtle sanctuary was far in, we had to walk around 15-20 mins or so. And it's a steep road at some point, some of us nearly slipped. Eyes must be on the ground most of the times, it's not only muddy and rocky but dunky as well... loads of cow dunk.
This picture reminds me of New Zealand. AHhhh... just that there's no pine trees and the cow weren't black and white. Every morning they will be let out and start grazing grass. Want to know how to differentiate a KLites from the others? Just ask them what animal is that (in the pic) and surprisingly they will answer horse. I heard my friends shouting :"Wow, there's horse here!!" I followed them, and saw something that looks like cow. Geeezz...
Couldn't wait to see the sea. (tho just came back from Redang) We walked straight down to the rocks near the forest. Were told not to go there or wander around at night as the sanctuary was surrounded by virgin forest.
This is the view from the rocky zone. What's a nice view without a nice person with a nice smile with a nice tan?! =P
Everyone was excited! Jia Yi~ Shi Hoay~ Julie~ Pheikvay~
Balitong's familia....
Newly built toilet.
Supposed to be the girls'.
The boys' loo doesn't have a door for every shower.
Ended up, boy's and girl's loo.

The wheather was scorching. Even the cat followed us lazing and lying around.

Turtle time! We get to see experts act as midwives. The turtles may take more than an hour to find for the strategic spot to place their eggs in. So when the turtle dug a hole, the midwife will start to collect their eggs as soon as they are laid.

At the same time, we the volunteers will start to help them to count the number of eggs. After counting, transfer the egg to a bucket, then bring them to hatchery. Write at the board the date
and number of eggs. All this small steps are crucial. When they are hatched, we will count the number of hatchlings. If the numbers doesn't tally, we have to find out the reason whether they were unhatched or undeveloped.
Once they are hatch, we immediately let them out to the sea. Take around 50 days to hatch. Lower temperature will result to more male hatchlings, vice versa.
The pit
Turtle tracks looks like the tractors. One way to know whether the island or beach you go to has turtles, is by spotting parts of jellyfish at the seaside. Jellyfish is a delicacy among the turtles.
Aliens... It's slightly brighter than the blue sand we saw in Redang. I went for a walk with pak cik, to check on the other turtles. And he collected what he called kunang-kunang for me. Asked him isn't kunang-kunang same as kelip-kelip which are fireflies, he said yes, just that these has no wings. (sweat)
We took our blanket out and slept on the beach. Was hoping some turtle come up to me and sleep with me... hehe. Woke up early in the morn waiting for the sunrise. Was right in front of me... coool! Snap... snap... snap...






I'll be back!!!
Interested to volunteer, kindly apply to this site http://madaerah.org/
Quick tip: June and July is the time where the turtles comes up frequently. Thus, you get to see the turtles laying eggs and hatchlings.







Bukit Tinggi ~ Colmar Tropicale

20-22 June '08

Right after Redang, my family and I went to Bukit Tinggi. After all the heat at Redang, finally getting chilled at Bukit Tinggi.

Guess it was due to global warming, Bt. Tinggi ain't as cooling as before.

Right, so the usual thing: First day and last day at apartment. Second day went to Japanese Village, Botanical Garden and of course Colmar Tropicale. No rabbit park this time, my house already have two...

Can see the apartment there?! It's Meranti Suites...

Golf course. Loved by all golfers... with its temperature cooler than those down the hill...

It is filled with "sakuras", which gave it an extra credit.
The Japanese Village. We are allowed to stay for 2 days 1 night, it's pricey though. They really have nice landscapes there....

Mom and Aunt.

We went to the Botanical Garden right after that... Varieties of plants and flowers. Yet only one thing caught my eyes....

Infertile banana tree....

New French Castle.

"My hobbi ze plucking feathers... " They can't stop plucking!

Their feathers are all around them...

View in Colmar Tropicale. Make you feel like you were once in France...

Here's the thing, if you can bare the tranquility and scenic view, then you should be enjoying your trip. If not, drive on to Genting... =]

job... my job...

I've got accepted!!! By camp 5 last Thursday...

What have I done so far? I haven't started working yet. Still undergoing training.
Training=No pay! haha

So how's being trained at camp 5 like? It's quite professional. I'm like the guinea pig actually. They have implemented on the training modules. And I'm the first one to experience it, a total of 9 modules(long ones), holly molly...

I've been sticking very close to my operational manager, Sharon. Even my colleague say I'm like a small little duck following behind her... (Wanted to joke at first: You meant she's a duck too?! But since it's not nice to joke this way to a manager so I held my breath... what's more? she's pregnant)

From Monday to Wednesday, was busy reading manuals. Then she'll start bombarding me with questions. Today I went at 8 am, so that she could spend more time on my trainings. Managed to finished 3 modules in one shot. Woo hoo... Yet something happened, so she didn't feel like training me so much, so all the way she kept saying I don't know.
'What should I ask the person?'
"I don't know"
'Fine!'
I answered with a nice tone lar of course. Was doing data entry, then half way a call came up. Forced to answer. I spoke quite slowly, did not intro myself and went on with bookings. Right after I hung up...
"Hey... Don't need to tell people this is camp 5 is it? What about your name?"
So in my mind, I kept practising... ~Hello Good Afternoon! This is camp 5! Chin Wei speaking! How may I help you?~ Over and over again... And she called from her office to check on me... Eventually got tongue-tied lol...

Apparently, today was quite fun. I prefer walking around and absorbing things rather than sitting all day long and study. With Sharon, however strict she is, she's still have the smiling face at all times. Guess she's glad with me memorising all the price and all, and eagerly putting me on schedule this weekend, instead of next weekend. And I learnt faster by not doing the right thing first...

The toughest question she asked was:" Do you want to climb???" I couldn't climb for free yet, not until I start my duty... Wanted to say YES so badly. Was counting the odds of her yelling at me. So I intelligently answered a firm 'No'. Smart choice. 'cos she called me good girl in the end.

Couldn't believe I'm reading this much during my holidays... Can't wait for tomorrow! 4 hours assessment. And will be done!...for the time being...

Aight... Signing off for now!

Attract positive thoughts by first thinking postively!

Beaches... Fine Sands... Big Blue Sea...

16-19 June '08
We talked about it half way studying for Trials... Time flies... slipping away from our hands... Looking back at Redang trip now, it's like so long ago.
Waited for our chartered bus at Taylor's Business School at 10 pm.
Shouldn't bother waiting there so early, M'sians are just so fashionably late.
Departed Subang at 11 pm...

Reached the jetty at around 7.30am. Yup it's Nikki!!! Surprisingly she agreed to join my class trip... Miracles do occur...
Waited till 9 am for the boat to come...

Finally reached Redang! woohoo... Look at the sea, still can smell the salty taste in the air. Just loved it… ahh…Laguna!!! Did not get to get a taste of haven, too pricey… stayed at Redang Bay instead. Besides the fried fish and Wernny’s bed, everything was pretty awesome…
There’s 2 snorkelling sessions per day. Making it 5 times during our 4 days 3 nights stay at Redang. And we had an extra one, at Redang, to see baby sharks.


Did not know we must do a short ritual before jumping in…

Managed to get Samuel to be our sandman. Stared at this pic for quite some time, thinking what is that white thing poking out… Ahh, it’s the dead coral, as Samu’s nipple, kekekeke…

Haha… Samu’s horny look!!! Melvin seems happy touching IT!!! Girls beware! First, he talks about Chong Yi’s arse all the time. Second, he’s doing this to Samuel..


Guess too much of UV rays… Plus studying A Levels for one and a half years really get you a little cuckoo… (Notice my expression..lol)


Room 85! Our activity room.

Break into groups… Some played snap, some twister…
While waiting for the next round of twister, was busy learning how to hold Isabella… Wolf’s baby…
The one beside me… Andrew. The one who sort of help us settle things, after that dumped us aside for diving. Yeap, Isabella is the flute… Looks like a guy more than a girl to me…


Don’t I look like some orchestra performer?!As professional as I can be…


Should see when Adiel was still playing. Stuck his leg between my legs on purpose. Because of that, they call this game, Battle of the B**ches. And I won! That’s because I’m not a B, I kept going to a corner and let the rest B around and eventually they got tired and lost their balance… Or maybe I’m a B- B for Brainny!!!

Our rest area… hammocks all over…

Hamburger and mouse? ! Gee… who’s that?


Sort of drank beside the pool. Nadia: “OMG, don’t tempt me la…”

This is the place where Nikki, June and I went to chilled out between the snorkeling sessions. Redang Beach Resort. Very happening place, they have really good music at night. (Nik and June… What I did there, remains between your two ears ya… hehe)

Turtle… saw it from the boat! (Torte’s friend)

Hashim… using the comb as his mic. Final farewell speech. Boy, you really shocked me when you threw the coconut at Melvin… Yet it was hilarious!

Climbed to the top of the rocks… Lighted up candles and talked our hearts out.


We were quite bored when it comes to night. Practiced the song that I learnt years ago on the guitar that Andrew “borrowed” from the Burmese.

And as usual, Melvin will start seducing guys…

Love is in the air… Saw this on the way to our parrtaayyy…

Caught red handed again…

Went kayaking on the last day. Felt ecstatic after it…

Sand therapy… hehe


Our kingdom!!!


JH’s turtle… Em.. Laying eggs…


Due to the harsh climate at Redang. Many of us experienced natural selection. These are the fittess, who managed to crawl out from the bed to watch sun rise.

Who wouldn’t wish to stay longer?


The _ s….


Couldn’t figure out why Paul is under JH’s armpit… but yea.. enjoying our last moments at Redang Beach. I did the bubble effect! =]


Had a shot with Paul at More More Tea Inn… .


PM 12 ;P



Thanks for all the pics Paula… You’ve captured every moment…


I’ll be back soon…

Sorry no bikini… I looked sportier in this right?

(Look at the clouds, looked like I’ve thoughts bubbling out…)