The Sentimental Luddite

Is sentimentality over-rated?

If you've chanced by the article about a tomboyish girl and her 11 year old pink scissors given by her mum (which she hated) and now cherish in memory [in Starmag today, 3rd of October, TheStar.] it might trigger your thoughts a little.

My dad had a watch, given by his dad, which he used for more than 45 years. He couldn't part with it even when it breathed its last (despite innumerable fixes and CPRs). And I believe he's still keeping it somewhere safe, laying in the midst of his black hole of a Cabinet

Then there's this guy in ?japan ?UK who has been using the same Gillete Razor for 75 years.

I bet if you're Gillette, he'd be The MOST LOYAL customer ever, that you wouldn't want, LOL. Coz his first purchase, is his last purchase..

Do you have something in your keeping that you know will practically be useless, even as a decorative piece? I know I have plenty....

Nowadays, there's a Gadget-Grabbing Techno Rage that surrounds us, Iphone 4 being the recent case in point.




With radio deejays, blog posts humming the Apple's Tune, there's really been a craze over it...

but, as I've said in my facebook wall-post,

Going out for dinner that day, we saw how many parents gave their childrens gadgets; initially it could have started with a mobile phone java game- parents passing the phone to child who claims they are bored in order to shut them up so that parents can do their shopping in peace.

Now we have dad, mom, and child playing with gadgets during dinner, with grandma looking forlorn at the food because no one is talking at a meal.

I believe children who you shut up with gadgets, will really no longer talk to you when they are adolescents, being absorbed by the fancy tech, and the relationship will just turn worse into adulthood.

So I'm a luddite; until we can really plan, and educate them about using it responsibily. I've seen People who get caught up with gadgets, often turning into otakus, becoming less adventurous, reliant on their GPS, lose their natural instincts for adventure... bla bla bla..

Coz I really pity the grandma... and discussion with my colleagues on it. 3 out of 4 of them recommend that they should buy grandma a gadget.

It's really Sweat inducing, their mentality...

Technology should improve communication, not stifle it. Especially within families.

---

That said, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, as they are entitled to the autonomy over their own cash. But maybe you'd like to hear me out...?

Although often situations make me hail 3 times to the person who espoused

"Nature is awesome, adventure is wholesome, Human Beings, plain troublesome"

I'm actually sentimental with human relationships as well. And striking up conversation with strangers on my trips and forging unique relationships has always been a part of me, and has always enlivened my adventures everywhere. 或许我贵人运不错？

My latest trip to Brunei alone has two such people touch my lives. One who is a resort manager,


(the guy in blue, that's my saviour!)

who went out of his way to help secure a stay for me at a rival lodge because I'm a student who couldn't afford his accommodation. This swell guy actually called two other tour operators and even concocted the story of me being an exchange student to help me secure a stay in Ulu Temburong, without which these pictures would never have been taken.

Another is a poor little ol lady who has no friends, cheated by her husband in relationship, and of money by the hubby's little vixen, and ostracized by her own family because of her subsequent depression- who was my tour guide, personal transporter and story-teller in and out of Bander Seri Bagawan.

Sabah- where the resort operator for Halleluyah hill resort gave us a whole apartment to ourselves when we paid the amount for a room, invited ruhui for hot showers in their own home, and dished out finger licking meals fro a paltry RM5, just a stone's throw away from Mount Kinabalu. Their numerous pets entertained us, as much as their owners did!

Over in Terengganu,

there's this extremely tasty yummy juice drink that's almost 100% real, thick, fruit puree sold in a little shop for RM3.00, and I would return to the stall like a homing pigeon everyday after cycling through KT.





I chatted with the lady during my 1st visit, on my second visit, she offered us free keropok lekor,


and on my 3rd visit, we enjoyed a coconut mango, straight from her garden!... It's a stall I vow to return to if and when I go there..

then there's also this gentleman who runs a bubble milk tea stall opposite Ping Anchorage, where I was staying...

had a short chat with him... then on my second visit, he invited me to play badminton with his pals, and even prepared badminton shoes in addition to the racquets for me because he knew I wouldn't be well prepared.




So on the last day before I left terengganu, I had a great game with uncles and aunties in terengganu, haha...

That,

Friend, and friends of said friend while in UK, Cheery lil lady Yumi while in Hong Kong, ... another lady who gave me a discount because I didn't have enough cash with me, no questions asked while in terengganu; marvelous people who I would not have met or talked to were I having me head down looking at a GPS instead of asking for directions, or playing a Java Game instead of striking up a conversation with a fellow bus passenger. Therefore, I'm a placard carrying dude who lifts the sign: a handphone, should be a handphone, and nothing more.

Speaking about losing our natural instincts, strip the handphone of a teen anywhere- and he'd rather part with his wallet no matter the amount or cost- and you'd find him dumbfounded,disorientated and lost in the city. this is not conjecture. This came from an Interview I made with one. And Experienced with many, my relatives included.

why are we revolving our lives around gadgets and tools when they should be just an aid, a hammer we occasionally use, a lightbulb we change now and then.

By the way, how many 21st Gen Y adults do you need to change a lightbulb? 5;

one to call up a electrical engineer friend to complain,

one to tweet :"OMG! D wurld 's ending, 'm blind, 'm freakin scared X("

one to blog about his blackout experience in an overdramatic fashion,

one to surf wikipedia to find out,

and one to turn to DIY-for-dummies to learn how to unfold a collapsible ladder)

Har har..says you. now, which 3 parts should you suspect is bust when the flourescent light blows out?

Gee... My post looks pretty protracted by now... but, this is a topic that I will certainly return to, no doubt about it...

I'd end the post with this video on sustainable consumerism, enjoy :-) It starts slow, but it will certainly not ring hollow.

The price of consumerism- on the planet, on other people, on ourselves,

Notice what are:

Externalizing costs

Planned and perceived obsolescence
The purpose of an ad, is to make you unhappy with what you have.

By buying the newest gadget that money can buy, are you falling into the trap?

ps.- the answer, the flourescent tubing, the starter, and the choke.

Musings- Passing the buck?

Caution- This would be one of those hard to understand posts, again :-(

Eh recap recap we're gonna do it again;
again and again, nothin' gonna change;

Rain rain, rain down the pain;
I will stand up to it;
stand up to the pain;

Embers of the flame;
tears of the shame;
crying, well, that ain't lame;

coz it helps to deal with the pain

Part of what shaped me into who I am today, silly as it may seem, stems from lessons I got, from Japanime.

The first anime that gave me a sense of direction, the unmistakable lesson of reasons to be, raison detre even, if you will

was Samurai-X.

Kenshin Himura, he was my hero of sorts.



He thought me about standing up for those who didn't have a voice,
to be true to myself, (oh how hackneyed can this be? LOL), to fight for what I believe is right... and that "truth" is what you perceive as real, though there may many versions of it depending who you are talking to ... where justice means very different things depending on where you stand.

Because of sanosuke Sagara, I punched the wall, hoping to train my knuckles into fists of steel. Futae no Kiwami- well, turns out there is Wolf's Law.. which states that bone hardens and toughens from stresses placed on it.

conversely, disuse weakens the bone, much as what is experienced by astronauts in zero gravity.

Either way, I punched my way thru year 2001 to 2010.. and indeed I have pretty tough fists.. if I may say so hohoho.. Few times, I punched till my hands bled. Just recently, I bled my knucles again, despite wearing protective bandage... and it was only a Sandbag... well me keeping at it for half an hour contributed much I guess!

Now I have a sense of deja vu with Naruto with the "pain" Arc...
The anime was so so from the start... dipped down very badly during filler arcs before shippuden.. and now things are really really picking up.

I think, these few days, watching selected episodes of the anime....
I figure that Jiraiya is my favourite character...




I don't know... maybe its him passing on his hopes and dreams onto his disciples.

Maybe its because:

Much as I try to better myself, in terms of spreading the conservation message...
I just seem to be knocking into many brickwalls.

From 2001, when I first brushed shoulders with environmentalism through the river terrapin conservation programme in Dungun, Terengganu with Prof Chan...

(prof chan is the one in the middle)

During which I ran into problems with a Canadian volunteer over the washing of plates. I spoiled her "system" by pouring away dirty dishwater which I thought she was gonna pour into the river... and that tensed up things in the camp...

Then came Anthony, the youngest kid on the block... I tried to take him "under my wing" in a way by showing off Pioneering techniques from my Scout years... But somehow I built a wall around myself during that time. He went on to become the Bayer's Environmental Envoy for 2008, and had a stint inGermany.. whereas I grovelled here still.. LOL

Maybe through both these incidents, Prof chan has a weird aura around her when Im around.. It lingers when I met her in 2008... this time for a turtle conservation programme with SEATRU in Pulau Redang... there is this wall, I don't know... that separates me from her... It just feels awkward... It really rears up during the environmental carnival when I asked a favour from her... things in fact.. turned cold.

Another event would be with Mister Choo Chee Kuang, a seahorse conservation expert, hailing from UMT (or KUSTEM as it was once known), along with Prof Chan...

I had two experiences with him- once in 2005 and another in 2007, If I'm not mistaken...

In 2007, I saw my picture that was taken in 2005 glued to the wall along with other volunteer's photos at the research house in Gelang Patah... I was wearing a blue shirt with the words: "Environmental Philosophy" in that picture, Lol... but It was baggy and prompted a fellow volunteer... I think it was Ching Foong's GF- to comment...

"WAH! these two years must be a lot of Stress for you hor, to lose so much weight?" -.-'''

haha putting a very "yeng" photo of him here!

That aside.. during this trip out into the sea, during a transect/ quadrate sampling, I wasn't able to release one of the seahorses that was still within an untied plastic bag on a transect pole before the tide came in... and We didn't know the fate of that poor little seahorse. I have no idea till now, how I committed the blunder- cum- murder... but things stiffened thereafter, this time with Mr Choo...

My environmental Carnival was plagued with different kind of problems... many problems..

Job delegation problems, team member issues

The Dean wanting to convert the English themed carnival into a fully Malay language themed event at the very end. ( I have no issue with the language, but that was the at the very last moment when all my publicity was in English, in the website, in the magazine, in new strait times)... He let me have my way.... but in a show of defiance, the Dean protested by giving his opening speech in BM .. The crux of the matter? "we're called Universiti KEBANGSAAN Malaysia" so all things should be in Malay...

my lapse to place recycling bins during the event,

my error for not informing stalls to not use polystyrene and plastic bags...

My inexperience, overestimation of my abilities to shoulder everything- which stems from my inability to delegate work well- resulted in a less than stellar Environmental Carnival... of which I'm still sulking over....

Well, Despite honing my skills at public speaking, reading up on team-work as well as leadership, I'm afraid I failed terribly, nonetheless...

then there's also this weird guy Bernard... (oh man, it takes some guts for a weirdo to call another weird.)...arggghh... most of the relationships I built in the name of conservation are brittle, high strung ones... including the most recent, withDr Chan Kah Yein... i wonder why....

So, Back to what lead me into this post...
These events, coupled with failed lectures onto my fellow friends regarding environmentalism, failed recycling projects in my KTDI hostel... made me sorta wanna give up on this cause..

Not give up 100%, but give up putting too much effort into it for the fear of disappointment and failure...

I feel that, maybe I'm destined to pass my spirit and my cause onto my children..

to expose to them the wonder that is nature from very young and cultivate in them a sense of enjoying the simple pleasures in life... to instil in them the passion of an environmentalist, and for them to carry on the cause of conservation for me.

Damn, That's from a 23 year old guy talking like he is 60.

but I can't help but feel Jaded, and taxed from pushing for greener change.

I.... have I lost the fight?

Maybe I should take more heed from naruto's never say die spirit instead of Thinking of passing the baton on..from Jiraiya who didn't have a choice.

Sigh.

The Rant/ Rap at the start is paying homage to one of Narutonime's theme song- "Make some noise"

Ulu temburong Canopy Walk, Brunei

Ulu temburong

As stated by lonely planet and other guides, It really is not advisable to enter ulu temburong independently. But hey presto! according to the lonely planet website- here

Tour companies in BSB offer a variety of packages. The standard rate is around B$245 per person for a two-day trip to the park, including an overnight stay at a Murut village on the way up the Sungai Temburong. There’s plenty of scope for group rates and other discounts, though it’s cheaper by far to get the boat to Bangar and either book at the tourist office (B$85) or hang around and try to negotiate a ride-along with an existing group.

It turns out that this is the current situation here. (from my personal observations)

there are 4 operators.

only Ulu-ulu has a resort within the park.

Those located outside the park are Freme, Sunshine, Trandie Marina

Trandie is the oldest, running the tour for 12 years

-they have an obstacle course for the adventurous individual/ teambuilding exercise

The others are quite new, but they all have additions such as the rapid rider service ($15)

The boat ride up from BSB is still $6. The Water Taxi takes around 45minutes to arrive at the new jetty in Bangar. You can find the Jetty easily. Its a 5 minute walk from the local bus terminal.. just walk towards the big body of water and turn left.. just after a row of kedai makan, you'll arrive at the jetty. There are 2 companies running the water taxi, however the price is the same. the red taxis arrive slower, I heard. but the difference isn't that much ~5-10 minutes

Once you get to Bangar,
-the new bangar jetty

the tourist office is located just across the road.. in a non-descript building. Flanking the office, is the youth centre. (you can stay @ the youth centre by informing them before hand)

Your choices at this point is-

1) enquire at the Tourist office (they have pretty weird opening hours.. on some days they open at 10 and close at 2?!!)

2)Wait for other tourists groups to arrive and see whether you can tag along. But its quite a gamble. You need to pre-book your stay in the park, and from my experience, the price is the same- ie you won't be able to get the group rate by virtue of "joining" the group.

3)You can push your luck even further, though that will inadvertently making it even harder to turn back, by hitchhiking/ finding a taxi to send you to Batang duri (around ten minute's drive)

If you're all for adventure, I think the distance is fairly walkable. you can visit one of the few remaining longhouses- AMO longhouse- along the way. I estimate walking will take 30 minutes. Once you're there, you may book your stay/ day trip with Freme/ Trandie Marina Resorts.

4) Other options to get into ulu temburong is via the Outward Bounds Brunei (below is the yet to be completed OBB building)

or via The Universiti of Brunei Darusalam, Biology Department... and book your stay at the Kuala Belalong Field Research Centre. You need to contact Dr Zora, The lecturer in Charge.

It will be possible if there is a concurrent research group going though, they won't be able to cater to an individual going there. the research centre is located 1km upriver away from the park HQ..

What type of activities to do while in there?

1) Waterfall tours- there's Mr Small waterfall (where you can swim) and Mr Big waterfall ( photography only!)

2) Canoeing

3) Suspension bridge walk..

4) BUT OF COURSE, THE CANOPY WALK!

5) Drift down river on floats, back to park HQ.

do discuss with the tour operator and see whether they can include all of that into a cheaper package.

As my main aim to be here is for the Sunrise canopy tour: here's some additional info:

Sunrise tours to the canopy is better done by the Ulu-ulu resort as they are located nearer.

you should get up at 5 am and should be able to get to the canopy within 30 minutes.

For Trandie, you need a minimum of 4 pax before they consider taking you on the sunrise tour.

Its actually quite a hassle for the Tour operators who need to pay their own workers overtime (they usually start work at 730am)

Thus if they wanna cater for guests at 4, their workers need to arrive by 3! and the forestry officials need to be notified 1 day beforehand

regarding the need to sign guests in at ungodly hours.

These inconveniences will be translated into costs which will be transferred to the consumer.

That said, It is still recommended that you take a sunrise tour should there be one.

The magnificient sight of mist covered can only be seen that way.

The Animals rise with the sun. Especially gibbons and I gather that you can hear their calls crescendo and reverberating throughout the forest when they rise and shine.

Hornbills, if they do fly in front of you,
will do it early in the morning as well!- from what I heard.

however, the climb to the canopy isn't that tiring, if you make it the first event of your day,

instead of some ppl opting for the waterfall first. "Sheesh!"

In my case, I had to tag along with another group, and they went for the Sg Apan waterfall. After that, my legs became wobbly due to the uneven trek to the waterfall had my legs contorting into different positions, straining rather untrained muscle groups.- photos along the way to the waterfall:

Unique rock patterns

The canopy walk is extremely safe, I did not experience any sway with the wind, maybe because there was no wind at 11am!!

the way up to the canopy walk

Tension cables holding the tower in placeNote one single unit of the aluminium tower is about 2m in height


multiply that unit by 20-30

do climb up the observatory instead of going up and down the aluminium towers straight without once looking down, like some did! It defeats the purpose if you make the event a who gets down the fastest sorta test

It's a looooong way down

Do you have fear of heights?
bring a pair of binoculars..

but if your cam lens has a zoom function of at least 400mm equivalent, you'd do just fine.

(as I was on the tower @11am.. there were no misty sights, no hornbills, no gibbons, just swiftlets, bees and the occasional fly..lol)

pack at least 1 litre of water, you'll need it.

You won't get to see mount kinabalu though! Despite the sign.

Now the boat ride into the National park is really something to be savoured.

you get 3 different types of experiences

Riding in the cool wind, with water splashing onto your face now and then,

riding into some turbulent waters... giving you lil pumps of adrenaline

You'll see different species of riverine plants... some stretching up to 50 metres into the air...

you'll feel that you're in a canyon sometimes, boxed in by the two riverbanks that climb straight up into the air.

The air is fresh, you'll want to remind yourself to take in a few extra breaths!

If you're really lucky, gibbon/monkey troupes would swing past and hornbills will fly over head.

Its pretty safe to carry a DSLR on this boat trip, just make sure that you point it downwards and use the person sitting in front of you on the longbaoat as a shieldm Like I did!

You do not need a stabilizer in the form of a tripod/ monopod on the canopy, so save yourself the trouble of lugging it in, @$#$@&%&*. Yeah I did just that.

wear sleeveless clothing if you're not too fond of your own bong, and lather on some sunblock unless you wanna have JAX like arms like me () ()

Get a pair of amphibious shoes like this pair of ZABA northface trainers- sans socks.

Alternatively, your tour operator will provide you with a pair of Jungle adidas- One piece Rubber shoes that have magnificent grip although not something you'll want to appear with in KLCC.

Rapid Rivers should be fun!

The river currents aren't that turbulent that they will throw you off. and the water isn't that deep at all. Still, should the conditions be less than ideal, the operators shall withdraw the event, and money back guaranteed.

Mosquito repellants aren't that high on my list- I don't think they really work anyways.

DON't forget to SWIM in the river! you must. once the equilibrium between your bodyweight and the downstream current is achieved, you'll find yourself slowly drifting underneath the canopy,looking at the underside of gigantic leaves.. an extremely soothing sight.

Fishing can only be done by locals, so don't think about it.

Here's a map for you!

stay the night at Batang duri/ Go straight it for a night at the cabins of ULU=ULU.

I heard that there are cabins in the park, but since the tourist office has since moved from the general post office, I couldn't find it, and couldn't book a night there.

Maybe you can save more by informing the tour operators that you wish to camp instead of chalets, you'll be bringing your own meals etc.
I chose to camp instead of staying in the chalets
It depends whether you've tasted local food. Trandie's fod is yum yum!!

For more photos of Brunei/ Ulu temburong, please visit My facebook album (1), (2)

I hope what I shared here has been useful, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at willow.by.the.well@gmail.com