181210 to 12 Trip to The Shorea
181210 to 12 Trip to The Shorea
We took a 3D2N holiday to The Shorea for a relaxing holiday from Monday, 10 Dec to Wednesday, 12 Dec. Esther and David were at the church Youth Camp from 10 to 14 Dec, so they did not join us.
Here’s the location of The Shorea (reference from Seremban):
DAY 1 – Monday, 10 Dec 2018:
We packed some clothes and the guitar and lap-cajon, ready to make some relaxing music at the resort. As usual of our trips to Malaysia, we drove off at 4:00am and crossed both checkpoints in 8 minutes! It was rather foggy (regular rains these few weeks) but when the road was clear, we had some good speed.
Nearing PJ, we refuelled at Seremban R&R and made a detour at Puchong as the highway was jammed due to a major accident. Travelling by a slightly longer route and with the morning traffic, we reached home at 8:00am.
Then we went out with YowCH’s parents and Li Li for breakfast at Taikong coffee shop – very nice food.
After eating, we went to Giant to buy our sundry and food. We reached PJ home at about 12:00noon, repacked and left for The Shorea at 12:30pm.
Taking LEKAS, the road was next to empty. However, upon reaching the kampung area, the road became smaller, and finally a single shared lane on the way up to the Shorea. We reached the resort at 2:00pm (early check-in, normal is 3:00pm).
The car was rather muddied by the dirt-roads. The unit assigned to us was the Cassia, which has 2 bed rooms, a toilet, a pantry and a private pool.
We took a dip and relaxed while we waited for the Lai family (owners of the resort). They reached Shorea at about 4:30pm, and we had some time to chit-chat and catch up after not meeting Chee Seng and Bee Ling for 20 years! The three Lai children were there, too, Leonard, Rachel and Geoffrey.
This is the view of the Cassia from the main pool.
Chee Seng designed the place, and included a queer tunnel to link between phase 1 (Shorea Resort) and phase 2 (Shorea Estate) where we were staying.
At 7:00pm, we joined the Lais and the Shorea staff for their annual Christmas party.
Our guitar and cajon provided entertainment from their talented staff. We also shared the strong soju that we brought along.
By 11:45pm, we returned to our rooms to sleep. The temperature at night was about 21°C.
DAY 2 – Tuesday, 11 Dec 2018:
We woke at 6:30am for the hiking trip planned at 7:30am, but he boys were knocked-out. That’s Geoffrey sleeping with Joseph and Samuel.
We had some light breakfast at 8:15am.
We started off from The Shorea at about 8:50am. Our guide was Wan, a local aborigine, and Geoffrey joined us. Chee Seng walked with us until the Water Treatment Plant (start of the jungle trail).
Here’s a sketch map prepared by The Shorea team.
There were a few crossings of the river.
At 10:35am, we reached the nice waterfall, about 5.5km from the start.
A leech got to Samuel.
The boys had fun in the waterfall pool.
That’s Grace holding the flower of petai.
Joseph and Geoffrey climbed up to the higher level!
We left the waterfall at 11:25am. Wan carried Samuel down (all the way until the Water Treatment Plant) and Samuel enjoyed a nap on Wan’s back.
Our muddy boots at the exit.
We reached The Shorea at 12:55pm, a total of 4 hours from the start to the end. Here are the leech wounds on YowCH and Samuel.
The Lais were planning to leave for home, and we took a photo of the two families.
All of us, including Geoffrey, took a dip in the pool to cool off after the long hike.
Chee Kean, Ming Meng and Jeanne arrived at about 1:00pm, and we had a great time of fellowship over lunch.
At about 3:45pm, the Chans left while we drove to Jelita Ostrich Farm, but it was drizzling and the farm closed early. So we returned to The Shorea to rest and relax.
At 7:20pm, we had fish for dinner! And some wine that we brought along.
After dinner, we rested and went to bed at about 10:00pm.
DAY 3 – Wednesday, 12 Dec 2018:
We woke up 7:30am and had breakfast at 8:00am. Samuel took this photo:
At 8:45am, we drove to Jelita Ostrich Farm again, and this time, it was open.
After paying the entrance fee (RM10 for adults, RM8 for children and RM1 per pack of corn), the first animal that greeted us was a goat.
We learned that black ostriches are males and they have pink beaks. Females are grey.
The ostrich egg can carry the weight of an adult, if we step on it gently.
Highlight of the trip: ostrich riding!
Grace declined, of course.
The staff even staged an ostrich race to show how fast the birds can run with a rider. We learned that in the wild, ostriches can reach 70km/h and it can carry up to 200kg on its back.
They had horses, cattle, chickens and rabbits at this farm.
We bought a souvenir ostrich egg shell, and left the farm at 10:15am. After laying out our clothes to dry, we had some time to relax until our late check-out of 12:00noon (usual is 11:00am).
The nasi lemak brunch at 11:30am was great.
The leech wounds after one night.
One last family photo before we left The Shorea at 12:00noon.
The drive back to Singapore was rather good, except for a few stretches of slow traffic due to road works.
We detoured to D’Pristine (our condo near Legoland) to take a look at the completed building, reaching at 3:05pm.
After that, we bought some caps and a book at Mall of Medini, and had KFC.
After KFC, we refuelled at Gelang Patah, and joined the check point queue at 5:05pm. We cleared Singapore check point at 6:00pm, almost an hour. Facing the regular Singapore evening traffic, we reached home at 6:25pm.
We thank God for:
1. Safe travels;
2. Meeting up with YowCH’s parents and Li Li;
3. Meeting with friends (Lais and Chans);
4. A nice relaxing resort holiday;
5. A good hike to the beautiful waterfalls;
6. Fantastic experience with the ostriches; and
7. Seeing the completed D’Pristine condo.
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