White Waters ahoy; The Conquest of Tabor!

White water rafting was truly one of the BEST experiences of my entire life. The speedy waters and enormous rocks truly match in sync, creating a perfect aqua environment to put my steely nerves to the test. Fortunately, Unc Eng managed to get hold of a big group of us who's willing to participate in this event. Members from SJ and Klang turned up in big numbers to tryout the rapids. We and a bunch of guys from Oxbold(extreme sports group) were the only ones there at Kuala Kubu Bahru. We started off with a LONG briefing and then went uphill to practise floating downstream. For most it was just another day in the pool, but some had to overcome the fear of water, or drowning. Kevin lost his spectacles and Win Win lost her slipper! So it wasn't as easy as everyone thought it would be!

briefing in session

that's me, rescuing Cheer Cheers from drifting away!

So, when everyone's ready, set and go we got into our respective floats and paddled away! At first the guides brought us to a calm and quiet area to practise the basic strokes like "LEFT FORWARD!", "FORWARD PADDLE!", "BACK PADDLE!" and some other essential techniques.

"wait...what paddle again?"

I was in the same boat as Jonah, Eunice Lee, Penny, and Micah. After the practice session we then proceeded to the REAL thing. The rapids had 2 stages, divided and labeled as cannons. The first cannon had a deep fall known as the "Chicken Drop" mainly because those that passed through this drop don't dare continue but really it was nothing compared to the second cannon! The mother of all drops in the entire course was one known as the "pregnant mother" because not only was it a higher fall, but also there was a good number of rocks enclosing the vicinity!

ready...steadyy...

I was even thrown out of the boat a few times, partly because I wanted to, but still I remembered how difficult it was to get to the top of the water due to the strong currents and rocks. I flew out of the boat headfirst, knocked into the guide, slammed into some rocks and went through a series of rapids and rocks and only after floating for about 100 metres I was rescued. Dang.
We then had a break at a rocky plain and some snack bars and fruits. There was even a mini waterfall to wash up! We then had a few more rapids and floated the rest of the way back. Lunch, followed by some chit chat and it's off to home.
Truly I had an awesomazing time at KKB, and I would definitely like to go for greater heights of water rafting at of course, greater speed and danger!

ARR! ye pirate scoundrels!

THE CONQUEST OF TABOR

Backtracking once more to the 16th of October, a group of 5 congregated at dawn, only to scale yet another mountain. Unc Eng(darn he's tough for a 50 year old man!), Yih Ting, Sis. Ai Lin, Jonah and I had appointed this day to set foot on the peak of Gunung Tabor at Melawati. The mountain wasn't a tall, sky scraping one, but it was wide and the inclines were very steep. Some reaching to a good 85*! Our journey started off by walking towards the entrance of the climb, on some gigantic pipes which channeled water from the Klang Dam.

I wasn't lying about the size

At about 9am we began the hike and met some people descending already! When asked, "was it tough?" they told us about the steep and rocky climb, ropes, dangerous cliffs and other obstacles and made my blood curdle with adrenaline! Jonah and I let the adults lead the way while we wait for our turn. The adults ALWAYS lead the way first.

see? told ya!

We made it a point NOT to look at the camera while posing for the entire climb! Which means we did some..

POSING!

FOREVER FORWARD!


while waiting for the adults...I just had to :D


yaa babeh shades!

About midway through the climb we looked from afar and saw a sight to behold.

Nature.

From the halfpeak we could see the water reservoir and the Klang Gates which housed this huge body of liquid. It supplied this essential resource to the Klang Valley and the regions adjacent to it. The entire KL city was available for our viewing pleasure as well! Thank God for cameras.

I also noticed Wolverine was among us!

see! I wasn't lying!

About an hour and a half into the climb, we started facing the tough obstacles. We had huge rocks to mount, cliffs to hang on to, steep and narrow crevices to squeeze past and other challenges that stood in our way. Yih Ting and Unc Eng decided not to continue the climb but Sis Ai Lin, Jonah and I powered all the way through. We hiked to the peak, or as we thought so, the peak until some Malay uncle came along and we had a little chat.

Me: Bang, sudah sampai puncak ke?
Bang: Belum, lu tengok kat situ, tulah puncak!
Me: ... *jaw drops*




We were faced with a predicament. Whether to climb that bloody rock or not. We were exhausted, thirsty, technology deprived, hungry but yet we continued the journey! When we reached the base of the final peak, we were utterly shocked to see what we saw. A great and steep slope of nearly 85* stood magnificently in front of us.


The ropes did not give us a good sense of security and assurance mind you. They were old and rotten. So yeah, we had to use our hand and feet like Spiderman to get to the peak. It was INSANE! The fear of falling and death was real and with every step you take, who knows if you're going to take another? But as our spirits and strength would not fail us, we conquered the Tabor at the end!

ohh sweet sweet victory!

"cheyy, kecik jer!"

Now with the ascent done, the descent was EVEN WORSE! Going down the steep incline was tougher than we thought but with God's providence we managed to slowly dismount the tall beast. It was so steep that you couldn't see where to put your feet without craning your neck out!

Slowly but surely we managed to return to Yih Ting and Unc Eng who were resting at the 2nd peak. We then had a quick break and descended back to civilization as the sun began it's scorch routine!
What a great experience, feeling the fright of falling to your death especially was an eye opener for me as we weren't prepared for what we faced and scaled. Glory be to God!

The Tabor, conquered.