A Cruise on the Mighty Rejang River....

When I first heard about this cruise, I was thinking to myself, must be some speedboat ride down the Rejang river, go stay in some longhouse or hotel in the small towns, chill a few days then back again. Skeptical, I know but that is how is it when you hear about these things in a small town. "Aiya, won't last one la.", " Too expensive. Why want to spend such money?"... Yep, these are the basics complaints Sibu Foo Chows will say.

But, I soon realize that this was no joke when I decided to go on a walkabout in town during the Gawai holidays and try to take some good photos. Somehow, I lack the mood to take photos ever since I got back. But, I found my subject. The "Pandaw", the Cruise which will take tourist on a tour of the Mighty Rejang river. Okay, for those who don't know, the Rejang River is the longest river in Sarawak.

Day 1: Sibu. Transfer from Sibu airport and aboard the RV Orient Pandaw in the bustling city port set close to the local markets and temples. Free time to explore the town on foot with its attractive streets of old Chinese shop houses; redolent of Malacca or Penang but without the tourists. From here the fast express boats depart for the interior.

Day 2: Kanowit. Cast off at dawn and proceed up the mighty Rajang. Morning stop to visit rattan workshops. Here the river is still wide and full of shipping. At the river station of Kanowit we visit the Brooke Raj Fort Emma, of wooden construction and amazingly surviving intact after 150 years. Explore deeper inland by long boat up the Kanowit River and voluntary jungle trek back to the Pandaw moored at Kanowit.

Day 3: Kapit. Morning walk through Kapit; the last major administrative post on the Rajang River dating from the days of the White Rajahs. Visit of the Teresang Market, full of intriguing fresh jungle products and a fascinating mixture of people. It also offers a variety of local 'kuih' (cakes), the Chinese temple and Fort Silvia, originally called Kapit Ford. In the afternoon, visit of the handicraft and tattoo museum and then continue to a traditional Longhouse. We will experience the traditional “miring” (goodwill) ceremony, taste the "tuak" (local rice wine) and will be able to witness the 'ngajat' (Iban warrior dance) and perhaps take part in it.

Day 4: The Baleh River. Just above Kapit we turn up the main tributary of the Rajang, the Batang Baleh navigable for a Pandaw for another day's sail. We will cruise through the most narrow and scenic part of the journey, through the deep jungle we will see forgotten and modern longhouse and rice fields on the hills. Logging is strictly controlled by the Sarawak government, who has a strict replanting program. We will visit a logging camp and stop overnight at Nagamujong village with its long house, school, clinic and church. We will also see loading points for coal coming from mines deep in the jungle.

Day 5: Pelagus Rapids. Return down the Baleh to rejoin the Rajang and proceed another 40 km towards the Pelagus Rapids. This section of the river is incredibly beautiful with thousands of islands, reefs and shoals. Navigation here can be difficult depending on water levels and it may be necessary to transfer to long boats to continue our journey. Full day at Pelagus resort, designed in the longhouse style, is overlooking the famous Pelagus rapids. There will be opportunity to trek in and around the resort through the primary rainforest so rich in fauna and flora, otherwise inaccessible to the casual visitors. We will take lunch at the resort and in the afternoon further possibilities to trek in the area or to relax at the resort's own swimming pool.

Day 6: Song. Cruising downstream the Rajang River and we will stop in the early morning to visit a rubber plantation. Then continue to Song, a small river station between Kanowit and Kapit. We stop here to make a boat trip up the Katibas River and the opportunity to trek part of the way back to Song. Continue downstream through evening.

Day 7: Sarikai. In the morning a quick stop at the pineapple island to get a taste of the famous Sarikai pineapple. Then continue with the boat to Sarikai. Explore the village on your own, with the possibility of visiting the mosque, market and to buy the famous pak cheng (herbal soup). Afternoon visit the Sebangkoi deer farm, and stop at a longhouse with pepper plantation.

Day 8: Thanjung Manis. We now enter the Rajang delta area with its rich agricultural life. Stop at a Malay village to visit the famous Songkat weaving workshop. It counts the royal family and Sultan of Brunei amongst their costumers.

Day 9: Sibu. Dock in Sibu early morning and disembark. Transfer to the airport for you onward journey.

So that was the iterenary. So guess how much it cost... Come on guess...
For 8 days 9 nights, this cruise will cost you, depending on their choice of the 30 cabins, between US$5,000 and US$3,255. Pricey man.... RM 10000 min for a cruise down the river. Anyone interested?? So what about the service? What will you expect? 5 star gourmet? Room service? Lets see... From their web, *click*, it is to start on July the 1st. And to think they have 1st class service lined up for the passengers to come, well, lets just say I saw it differently..

Still looking for people to work for the ship....... HAHA....

What about food?

Lets just say, I hope this poor little guy is not on the menu.

I am happy to say I will be in Sibu on the 1st of July to witness the openning or the launching of the Cruise. Rumour has it that it is fully booked for a year. Hopefully it is so. Sibu needs tourist income to help out with the economic woes.

For those who are wondering what I have been up to since I got home? Well, I am doing my industrial training in an architecture firm called "Kumpulan Design". Don't let the entrance fool you. The office I work in is very nice. The people are nice as well. Well, 1 month plus to go...

Going to enjoy every minute of it.

Think positive and everything around you will be positive.

Genesis Culture...

This is my first time buying a T-shirt which costs more than RM20 besides charity shirts and club shirts. But this was an exception, I got this shirt because it was how do you say, A Limited Edition by one of the designers of Genesis Culture, Daryl in his series, Dreamwalker. If you are interested, you can visit Genesis Culture at the website http://www.genesisculture.com.

So I went to their booth last Saturday and got this T-shirt with the name Food for Thought but sadly they did not have my size so they said they will deliver it to me. So I paid the RM40 for the shirt. Why??? Because I felt it was the best way to express myself while doing my Studio work.

So it arrived today, together with Darren's t-shirt from another series.

From the bag, it still looks okay. But did you wonder why it is called food for thought?


Well, this is why.......

Literally Food for Thought. Eat your brains out. HAHA.... Well, it is an interesting way of expressing myself in a design class. Taking ideas from our lecturers aye? HAHA..


Who says I will just eat the brain for ideas, I will eat the bulb also. Love the shirt. Sadistic I know but its a cool cool idea.

Too look for more designs from this designer,
you can visit http://www.genesisculture.com/v2/catalog/dreamwalker-series.
For others, just visit their Main website, http://www.genesisculture.com.

DELIcious at Bangsar Village 2

Can you believe that after 3 years in Kuala Lumpur and it was my first time in Bangsar? HAHA. Yes, I am such a "jakun" or "sakai". Well, the reason I went there today was becaue the whole family met up with my dad's friend who stays in Bangsar and he invited out for lunch. So at 1230 P.M., we met up and went to a cafe called "Delicious" and surprisingly, the food there is indeed delicious.
Sorry that I didn't take pictures of all the food we ordered but these are the few.

The salads are the must tries when you do head down to the cafe for a meal.

Roast Duck & Pamelo Salad with asian greens is to die for....


So is the grilled beef salad.. Just all so yummy....

Another thing I would recommend is the pies...

Mum ordered a Sheperd's Pie... Yum yum yum!


And as for me, I ordered the "Seriously DELIcious Cheeseburger" because I didn't know what else to order.

Well, some other things which my Dad and brother ordered which I didn't manage to take a picture is the "Mama's beef Bolognese Spaghettini", the "Four Cheese Macaroni", the "Carbonara Spaghetti" and the "BBQ Whole Chicken (don't know the actual name)". But according to them, it was DELICIOUS!! So for the rest of the menu, you can check out *click* or drop by their place at Bangsar Village 2 at Bangsar..

Ahhhh.... Tummy so full!!!

TPC first flashy member meeting 08'

T.P.C. had its first meeting (finally) after many meetings and discussions between the new directors of the club on Thursday evening with an attendance of 30++ people. Not bad really, some of us were expecting more, while some were expecting only 10 people. HAHA. But we had to launch it anyways. It was considered as a successful meeting because we saw many new faces in the club and the response by them were generally great.

Whats with the face? Hey, I am not lying okay...


Though we started slightly later due to venue problems and because we delayed another 15 minutes for some who might be late. But the rest of the time, the meeting ran smoothly.

HAHA... First off was the introduction of the new committee members by Wai Sie, T.P.C.'s prez. And then it was the introduction to the rest of the things like the shirt, events, etc.

After all the boring talk (sorry Y.C., it was not that boring), it was time for an ice-breaking session. SO what did we do for our ice-breaking? Guess what, the theme for the game was cam-whoring. We passed pieces of paper down to the members and also the EXCO, then we asked then to write one word that describes themselves. Sounds easy? Nope, the next thing to do is to sign your name and pass the paper back to us. Then we distributed the papers. Of course no one is going to get their own paper. You will be getting the other people's and what the person holding the paper will have to do is to find the person, then pose for him/her camera, the thing that describes the one snapping the photo. Sounds fun? Well, I didn't enter the game because I wanted to snap moments of the game. I can't wait to see what the members produced. HAHA. Will be seeing the pictures they took (hopefully) during the weekend.

So here are some of the moments during the game.

Darren introducing and explaining the game

Sherman got this piece of paper. "Quiet". Hmmmm... All it reminds me of is his sleeping pictures. HAHA...




Acting cool for what? I thought you were suppose to be messy?

This is the best time to see natural posers as well.

"Penang Girl" HAHA.... Aaron L sure is 100% a natural poser.


Daphne is shocked? I thought she was a natural?


See... Natural..... Guess the word people!


Nyah!- she got Sherman's paper and Nyah was the word.



Some were such good posers that as soon as the camera points at them, they pose.

The game did warm up the atmosphere. We got to know the members and they got to know us better. Which is a good thing. I just hope that this will be the start of a new begining for the club. We really want to inspire others to be phlashers like us.

Thats all folks. Oh ya, after seeing all the poses, I dubbed this the Lamest pse. You know why....

Signing of,
Phlasher Ron.

TPC PHLASHERS ALERT!!

After a long hiatus, the photography club is back and running at full force with the new EXCO meeting frantically to fulfill the needs for every members in the club. Activities have been planned, t-shirts to be sold(after all of you guys agree to it that is), and of course, more phlashy phlashy. For those all and new members or people who wishes you to join, I strongly encourage you to come to our first meeting this Thursday.

Click on the logo to visit our website.

If you want to know more about this weeks meeting, JUST click on the photo above. Drop your books for Thursday and grab your cameras and join us on our journey in to the Phlashing world.

HOPE TO SEE YOU GUYS THERE!!

Phlasher Aaron