kayak (part 1)

Last Saturday (24th May 08) was a kayak day for me & a few work friends! And by a few I meant 22 ppl only :) Good job LengChai for organizing this trip. I finally have the chance to kayak, at Borneo Highlands, Kuching some more. Thanks for feasting my eyes on the beautiful Sarawak River, even though its chokolet in color lar.

SexyLips pick me up at 7.15am. He was even kind enuf to provide morning call service... hehe. Arrangements was made to meet our guide at a 10th mile Kopitiam (opposite MBKS) that served the Most Expensive Normal Ko Lo Mee at RM4.00... sigh...

That's us, 6 cars all together following the van with the kayak to the starting point of our adventure:The road was good except for a few section of the road where there are huge holes. And the scenery on our way there was very "GREEN". But it rained which made me anxious.

This is our start point at Kampung Benguh, a Bidayuh Village. I took this while it was still drizzling. Stop raining liau lar... I know I prayed for a "not too sunny day" but I don't want a "not too sunny but annoying drizzling day"

yay... NEW paddles... I was eying it like a hawk... must grab it 1st... I'm so Kia Su sometimes:hhmmppphhh.... we were called "auntie" :~( as among the "wiser generation" in the group of not-as-wise-kids, but that did not dampen my mood... u kids all watch out, I'm gonna kick ur soli little ass on the kayak... muahahaha

Before the adventure start, **look at our smile** we so happily sign the WAIVER AND RELEASE OF LIABILITY form Azmi slip us to fill and leaving our fate to the heavens...

This is the BEFORE Photo Shoot of the Happy LT Family. yo SexyLips, what's your hand doin there???

After applying layers of sunblock (& some1 even put on those disgusting smelling insert-repellent) & putting on our life jackets, 1 more shot of us.. yea. ..we admit we all r camwhore...

Azmi & crew then demonstrated to us the correct way to paddle and how to steer the kayak on the ROAD, really. We even have to let car pass by sometimes... yea, we are always these cool:

But the problem was, after the demonstration, I still din know how to paddle & steer bcoz we were busy monkeying around:We were also advised 2 put all priceless belongings into the *cool* waterproof tote bags in case of any stunt show like kayak acrobat.We began to make our way down to the river with our kayaks. By we, I actually meant the GUYs carried the kayak down to the river bcoz it's the given privilege for the gentleman. Thank you guys.

Then the girls cat walk (so slippery can die) down the river with the stylish paddle. I was color co-ordinated too, yellow paddle, orange life-jacket, pink t-shirt & red tot bag. If I die here, must die without fashion disaster adding to the description.Salivating Gentlemen all waiting by the river bank, even got 1 that can't help but whistle loudly too. Can guess who's the color wolf??ah.... I miss this kind of stream, with pretty pebbles & icy cool clear mountain water. When I was a kid during the weekend, my parent will bring us to Sungai Raya, about 10km from Sri Aman (where I grew up) for a dipped & sometimes I'll tag along my mum looking for bamboo shoot by the river bank. My dad will start a fire for BBQ'ing the corn or potato. ah... that's why I would not changed my parent for any other in the world. They r da BEST. eh... soli, suddenly keluar tajuk pulak...Once at the edge of the water, we were told the term was ‘put-in’, that is – putting the kayak onto water. We expect to kayak downstream from here and to reach Semadang Village in 4 hours time. yay ... the kiasu me chose the NEWEST & most pretty rainbow kayak & quickly jump into position:

Look out...serious girl power coming through. Now if I could only figure out how to steer this thing man... We played kayak bumper cars for about the first 15 minutes as we all me & partner tried to figure out what we were doing. I was in the front of a 2 person kayak and I had absolutely no idea how to steer the thing. My partner in crime, SexyLips was having a GREAT TIME too with me screaming non-stop since start point as we keep ramming into big rocks, kayu la, other kayak etc., Plus the water at the beginning was very shallow so we kept getting stuck. Then I realize everybody passed us & we were the last kayak although we were the 1st kayak to leave... so pai seh la...

At 1st I did not get to enjoy the view but just concentrate on NOT DOIN the KAYAK ACROBAT... only when we were further down where the river started to open up, the river was wider so it was harder to ram into anything that I started to enjoy the view. It's not only Nature at it's BEST but the view, it's simply breathtaking. The air was sweet without all the extra favor that we add-in from our car exhaust... muahhaha... my comment can b used for V1S1T M@L@YSI@ Ye@r 2oo8. Music were everywhere if you listen carefully, the sound of birds chipping, the humming of inserts & the sound of river flowing over the rocks.

One of the requirement while kayaking was splashing people with the chokolet river water. U should try it sometime. Just get close enough to the other kayak & start splashing using the paddle provided for bigger impact.Then the BEST THING happen, the river was flowing rather fast and there was a bend just in front of us but u know lar... our kopi license din help much & our kayak just kinda rammed the side river wall & in split seconds we succeed in performing the Kayak Acrobat. Cool... I was seeing things underwater. Well I just kinda flip with style & let the river flow carry me while gripping hard on the paddle (it's NEW & Expensive le). We're sweep to the shallow river side, totally wet, with a few bruises to remember this exciting event. I was still wearing my sunglasses babeh. While SexyLips lost his for a while but managed to grab it back but was bengkok oledi. We were the LAST, so nobody captured this special performance of ours, pity.

Then after getting on the kayak again after Azmi towed it to us, we kinda lose control of the kayak AGAIN which made me screamed towards Azmi that I wanted a change of partner. SexyLips was stabbing me with his piercing eyes but I don care anymore. I'm swapping SexyLips with the more experienced & reliable guide.

From then on, it was just JOY ride. Going through currents only required some steering, which I left to the professional. More work was needed on still waters. Sometimes, a protruding drowned tree branch will gently claw the bottom of the kayak as u pass. Luckily I have a ‘motor’ sitting behind, so I can stop when I feel tired, which was often :)

911 rescue mission in progress, the 1st thing to save is the Paddle, it's new & expensive u know:

Swimming Malaysian Style, aka with all the clothes on... hehe. After Azmi came & inspect the kayak, found there was a big hole on the bottom of the kayak and was filled up with water. It was too heavy & unbalanced, that's why it capsized..

The guides flip over the kayak & let the water flowed out. Then like Mc. Gyver (SexyLips, it's pronounce as Mc-Guy-ver) the guides repaired the kayak using wood & branch from the trees. I was amazed. With that we managed to continued our journey. wee...

The river is banked by massive stones in some places, eroded by centuries of water to form rocky overhangs, a unique wave-like rock formations. I was fascinated & surprised to see so many bamboo plants along the river. According to Azmi, there are more than 50 types of bamboo around these area.

After a while, noticed the water level in the kayak has increased.

Me : Boss, a lot of water in the kayak lar...
Azmi: No lar, it's normal to have water in the kayak.

Then, as we were negotiating a bend, Azmi failed to avoid a protruding dead branch. The water level in the kayak has been worrying me.

Me: Boss, really a lot of water in the kayak...
Azmi: hmm... something is wrong, kayak getting harder to control. We better stop to check.

By then the 2 kayak in front of us has disappear. So we were alone. I help Azmi carried the kayak up the bank. Upon checking, the damage area causing the leak was exact same as the earlier capsized kayak. Too much co-incidence lar... Azmi indicated that it might have been damage while transporting it.

hai... I was the 1 who pick this kayak because it was NEW, again the Kia Su attitude in me, cannot help it mar.
"Keng X 3, Keng Tiok Chau Leng Ngen" = "choose X 3, end up with Rotten Longan"

That's how I got rewarded with a nice long rest on the beautiful river bank while Azmi was busy getting rid of the water trap inside & repairing the kayak with whatever was on hand and around that can be used, even plastic wrapper was not spared...

After McGyver completed his mission, we were back on the kayak and revving to go. Soon we caught up to SexyLips & SexyBum, actually they were waiting for us. SexyBum was starting to imagine BAD stuff happening bcoz I disappeared for so long... I laugh when they tot I might been rape or something... siau... very rich in imagination...

to be continue ...