一个充满回忆的公园
陈抿川 撰写
进入国家公园的时候突然的勾起了很多回忆，想起第一次爬大汉山的时候是多么的辛苦，路途是多么的长。。。看着窗外的树林，吹着风，真的给我一个感觉，就像回家的感觉，心情是多么的好，拿着照相机往外就一直按快门，拍了很多照片，可是没有一张照片可以描述我当时候的心情。
那时候一位同伴睡着，另一位像我一样在欣赏风景。我离开座位到巴士最未端，想从那边照相，巴士摇摇晃晃地，我走到那儿却发现我已经错过了最美的风景。当时候我看到道路斜斜的很宽，路旁有一片绿绿的草地，草地上有一间小小的屋子，我被迷住了，来不及拿起照相机，车已驶过了。离开自己的那道窗口，想到别处得到更多，会发现自己可能失去更多啊。
到了国家公园，我们先去厕所，门口却没人坐在柜台收钱，只是放着一个收钱的小桶，旁边一张卡片写着：RM0.30。咦，这样自没人会偷钱吗？或进厕所没给钱呢？但装钱的桶内甚至几张RM1 的钞票，霎时觉得这里的生活很朴素、很简单，感觉变得很舒服。
我们找到相对便宜的住宿，一个床位RM10 。不过小屋里有4个床位，我们希望有人住进来，可以认识新朋友，不过又担心东西可能被偷，很矛盾。午餐在船上餐厅吃，餐后我们乘小船到对岸（国家公园），到柜台申请入园的准证。
我们沿着大汉山的路一直走，一路上回忆就如电影般地浮现在眼前，最后走到一条小河边。我们拾起石头，不断往河面丢去，石头在水面上跳跃，感觉很棒。天色渐渐暗了，我们拾了几粒比较美的石头做收藏，踏上归途。路上希望可以看到山猪之类的野生动物，可惜没有。
吃了晚餐之后，我自己一个人带了纸笔，坐在临河的椅上，静静听着河的流水声。冷冷的晚风不停吹着，就着微弱的月光照亮，我开始写下当时的感想。突然想起到现在都放不下的恋情，心里酸楚难免，一抬头，树影婆娑摇晃，叫我莫再想了。这时建和出来了，我剪断思绪跟他聊天。
在国家公园，舒服、放松得就像回到母亲的怀抱，却撩起了令我心动的回忆。
国家公园启示录
陈秀兰 撰写
国家公园是个充满绿色植物的天地，踏入热带雨林，空气中传递潮湿的气息，拥有最纯净天然的韵味，有别于城市里的尘埃满天，这里简直是天堂啊！眼前是一群群的“老祖宗”，越是年长，越是显得强壮有力，历尽沧桑所留下的痕迹，印证了它那不向命运低头的顽强生命力。眼前的雄壮景观让我想起了，我们民族英雄先烈们为我们播下种子，才有今日的百年老树（华教），为我们遮荫挡雨，让我们这些幼苗能茁壮成长。这就是所谓的“十年树木，百年树人”吧！
我畏高，平衡感弱，对于跳跃的活动向来拒于千里，尤其是跳高，只有撞杆的份儿。当知道这趟旅程安排到国家公园走吊桥时，心里难受得紧，希望可以略过这项活动。我的同伴都是运动健将，这种刺激活动，简直是符合了他们的意，由于知道我畏高，更是等着看我的好戏。这是个新尝试，同时也挑战我的极限，所以我硬着头皮上了。踏上吊桥的第一步，心里七上八下的跳个不停，桥板摇晃不定的，只能抓住两旁的围网来稳住自己的脚步。走到了桥的中心，我放手稳住脚步探头俯视，脚底是一片片绿叶，深不见底，我深刻的体会到，当下的那种存在感，此时此刻我就站在桥的中心，心里的恐惧与挣扎，瞬间化为乌有，唯有消除惧念，才能继续走下去。就像在日常生活中，人们往往在面对问题时，能闪就闪的，逃避问题的心态，当问题把我们逼到了死角时，才愿意去面对去反击，甚至有些人最终还是选择逃避，自我了断，结束了自己的生命。经此事，让我顿悟，逃避问题，只会使问题加剧恶化，相反，面对并解决问题，反而会使我们经一事，长一智。
无意间，我发现了一只幼蛾，它很努力的在地上打转，定眼细看之下才发现原来它受伤了，断了两只脚，拼了命似的一直鼓着翅膀，刚开始时因为没办法平衡，所以一直飞不起来。我轻轻的用手把它移到桌面上，可能是我的举动吓着它了，它更努力地鼓着翅膀想飞起来，一次次地飞起来，又跌到桌面上，它依然毫不放弃的，尝试飞起来，可是始终还是没办法飞走。我亲眼目睹一只幼蛾为了逃生而努力的尝试展翅飞翔，虽然最终它还是失败了，可是它不放弃尝试的精神深深地打动了我。是它提醒了我，即使受伤了又怎样，至少它没有放弃它自己，只要有一线希望，就要努力的去尝试，结果成败并不重要，努力奋斗的过程才是真正成功的精髓，这足以印证的你的价值，生命存在的意义。
人们生活的步伐实在是太过匆促了，往往都不会放慢脚步，看一看沿途的景观。我相信只要耐心观察，总有一些细节景观能启发我们生命的智慧。
Oldest Rainforest in the World
by Paul Chong
Oldest Rainforest in the World
by Paul Chong
Untouched by the ice ages and glaciers, the Taman Negara rainforest is said to have been in existence for more than 130 million years, the oldest rainforest in the world. During our 6 day stay in Kuala Lumpur and Klang, we took a day off to relax ourselves from the hectic schedule. Taman Negara National Park was our R&R destination.
We took a bus from the centre of KL to get to Jerantut. Reaching there, we were given a choice of whether to enter Kuala Tahan via waterway or by local bus. We chose the latter as our budget did not allow us the luxury of RM35 for a one way trip by boat. The local bus, was just like any other old styled bus, no air conditioner, windows are open and very noisy. At first, it was hell for us. The air pollution is terrible, factories were line up on both side of the road. We almost suffocated. After inhaling unhealthy air for almost an hour, everything started to get better. The air was fresher and cooler, the views were nicer, and we were farther away from urban civilization.
Two hours of bumpy ride was all it took for us to reach Kuala Tahan. The view was stunning. Almost everything was made of wood, and are green in colour. There were at least five restaurants floating on the 30 meter wide river. After checking in to our worst but cheapest ever accommodation(RM10 per head hostel), we set out for our main activities. With a growl coming from both Max’s and my stomach, we decided it was time for lunch.
Having lunch on one of those floating restaurant was definitely one new experience. I felt totally at peace when I sit there, the rocking of the river made me so at ease that I can temporarily forget about those unhappy memories and those stressful responsibility. I cannot help but laughed at the sight of siew lan gawking at the magnificent forest opposite the river. Yes, it was her first time being so close to unspoiled natural forest. She was trying as best as she could to memorise everything that she came across. This was my second time being so close to a virgin forest. My first time was when I climb the Gunung Yong Blar in Cameron Highlands.
The meal was OK, but we had to wait for 40 minutes. The long wait made us starve even more, we spent only 5 minutes to devour our food. Even siew lan, who was the slowest eater amongst us chomped down her fried rice in less than 5 minutes. I then grabbed our backpack and waved at a river taxi. It was RM1 per head to cross the 30meter wide river.
Just when I thought urban culture was out of the picture, a massive amount of chalet(Mutiara Resort) appeared in front of us. It was part of the national park. A five star resort with a price tag of at least RM400 per night. It ruined the status of the national park being the oldest rainforest in the world. My impression of huge jungles with only a few wooden huts were gone. At first we wanted to look for the waterfall. Our hopes were dashes when we saw the 55km distance. We then followed the sign to Lubuk Simpon, a swimming area. When we passed the jungle, I kept wondering the ages of these tree surrounding us. Any of those huge trees surrounding us must have been easily 100 years old!
En route to Lubuk Simpon, we came across a river. The river was crimson in colour. Its stillness and the abundant pebbles made it suitable for some rock skipping. I started rock skipping during my last visit to Pulau Langkawi. My previous record was 8 times. With conditions such as this river, the record was bound to be broken. Max and I easily made the stone skipped 10 times. With some refining, I finally made it to the 20 times mark. I thought I could challenge the world record on stone skipping. It proved to be a joke when I later found out that the world record was 51 times!
During our 40minutes stone throwing duration, Siew Lan had the liberty of playing with Max’s D1000 DSLR. It was her chance to learn how to use the camera. She snapped continuously at anything she could lay eyes on. I could tell that she was really happy snapping away with the camera on her hand. It was quite late at that time and was time to leave. I decided that we should pick one or two special rock as a token of memory. It was definitely the work of the nature (river), the pyramid shaped stone that we chose was very smooth and beautiful. It was brown in color and had black stripes.
Although we did not see any wild boars on our way back from Lubuk Simpon, we did manage to spot two wild chickens( as what Max calls them). They were generally blue in colour, but their tails were colourfully decorated. Red, green, yellow, blue all mixed together. They were beautiful animals, Max jumped at that chance to snap their picture.
Night time was not as serene as I thought it would be. Everyone stayed up due to the world cup fever. The locals painted their face colourfully and sat in front of the TV to watch the live telecast of Japan versus Holland. The Europeans did not lose out as well, they sat at a big long table and watched the match. Everyone cheered joyfully( and loudly) for their favourite team. In the end, Holland prevails. Our night at the supposedly worse accommodation was not so bad after all. We all slept soundly that night(maybe it was due to fatigue). The mosquito repellent incense worked wonderfully.
It was morning and we had to drag ourselves out of bed. Our itinerary was to walk the longest canopy walk in the world. A morning walk in the jungle was most appeasing. The walk from information centre to canopy walk took us 45 minutes. I did not expect it to be this long. We ended up losing 500ml of water and Siew Lan was panting for breath. As if that wasn't bad enough, her fear of high was soon put to the test. Being tied to the tall trees, we were at least 50m above the ground. 3minutes had passed since we took the first step, and Siew Lan’s face was already pale white.
Max and, I being very mischievous, jumped on the canopy walk. Siew Lan’s facial expression changed drastically, she was in real fear. It looked that she could start crying at anytime. To make matters worse, one part of the canopy walk was a ladder like staircase. Max and I had no problem going down the 45 degree gradient. But that was almost the last straw for Siew Lan, she started making weird noises. I thought that was it, she would stop there and cry forever. Unexpectedly, she made it through. It was difficult, but she summoned all her strength and courage and walked past the 20m long staircase. After the walk, we congratulated her, I admired her strength and courage to stare fear in the eye. In live, that's what we are supposed to do. When we are in fear, we should not run away. Facing it with all our courage is always the best option. It is just like vaccination, just once and we will not be afraid of the same thing again.
Another 45minutes and we were out of the oldest jungle in Malaysia. Although we did not get to do all the activities there, we certainly got the R&R we desperately needed. I love nature. I will definitely come to this ancient kingdom again. Next time, I will certainly try the rapid shooting, cave exploration, night trekking, and many more.
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