Sungai Ayer Puteh Waterfall and #TravelTips

If you are looking for an easy trail when visiting Gunung Ledang or even if you feel-feel wanna visit Gunung Ledang yet not wanting to climb us (I feel you dude), well… what you can do is just take stroll at Sungai Ayer Puteh and enjoy the waterfall. Don’t worry, it is not as tough as the want at Endau Rompin as this one is simpler and easier, most importantly this is pathed. Yup! There’s a proper path (hence I said stroll *wink*).

Am not sure whether is there any other way to get to the waterfall but I start the stroll from Taman Lagenda Gunung Ledang as I was staying here. Makes it rather easy I guess.

It is a loop trail so one can enjoy diverse riparian forest and streamscape (if there is ever such word, I can’t be calling it a riverscape as I feel it is to small kan), the of course the waterfall itself. The place is naturally taken care of, you’ll a few picnic area and gazebos along the stream suitable for family and group outings. Apparently if you are lucky enough, you might bump into black giant squirrel, dusky leaf monkeys and long-tailed macaques unfortunately we aren’t lucky. We only saw the tamed porcupine, Taman Lagenda Gunung Ledang popular resident. Will share more about the accommodation, surrounding and its resident – Bujang.

#TravelTips
1. Try to avoid school holidays and public holidays as it can get really crowded here.
2. Monson/rainy season is to be avoided especially, it is from November till February. This is for the fear of ‘kepala air’ or ‘large column of water’ (that rushes from upstream to downstream),  a very situation to be in.
3. Come in early, as parking me be scarce
4. Do not litter hence, bring own litter bag and dispose at your house or at proper a prober bin
5. Do not pluck any plant, ruin our beloved rainforest.
6. Do not feed wildlife. Human food is not healthy for wild and that it creates a  dependency on humans thus weakens the animals natural and it survival abilities. They can end up starving.

I found this on Wild Life Land Trust website and I thought it is good to share.

· Rinse all recyclable glass and plastic containers to remove any food remnants and odors. Some animals, like skunks, can get their heads stuck in containers and wind up starving to death.
· Cut and/or crush plastic containers, and cut each ring of plastic six-pack carriers.
· Feed your pets inside.
· Make sure plastic food wrap is rinsed and secured in a tied bag or securely covered garbage can.
· When visiting parks and similar settings, clean up after yourself and follow the rules regarding wildlife. Encourage others to do the same.

Gunung Ledang National Park (Taman Negara Gunung Ledang)
Batu 26, Jalan Segamat

Sagil, Tangkak
Johor

Photo credit : Azwan Ali 

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/azwanali/

Majestic Johor Eco Adventure Media Trip 2020 is in collaboration with Tourism Johor and all its sponsors with #GayaTravel Magazine as media coordinator.

Mee Siput | Johor’s Mamee (A Muar delicacy)

 
When I heard we gonna try Johor’s mee siput, I was overcome with joy. After all, I am so very hungry with the early morning activities. As the line was unstable at Taman Hutan Lagenda Gunung Ledang, I figure why should I even bother to google about mee siput kan. I should just use my creative and my smart ass brain to visualize how a mee siput would look and taste like. Rilek lah…
 
I was toying with the idea of should I blog or should I not, ‘if I were to blog, how would I angle this mee thingy?’. Should I just do a comparison with other states noodle (laksa Johor aside, cos I can do a ‘Laksa from every state’ article later-later [later-later = nanti-nanti. Camni lah I localize bahasa omputeh keh keh keh]). I was skewed to writing about mee udang, mee ketam, mee daging, mee ikan (fish noddle, popular among Chinese) AND MEE SIPUT.

Yup! This is how I gonna write it. Until lah I saw how the noddle looks like… have you guys seen/eaten mee siput before? Cos this is my first.

 
My expectation
Santan-ish soupy (with coconut milk gravy)
Siput sedut (mud creeper)
Fish cake
Spicy
Vege (namely tauge/green leafy vege)
 
In reality
Yup. Its dry like Mamee and you eat it like that jer

Kid you not. Okay okay… You don’t just eat it like that lah opkos. You put the sambal pedas manis on top and eat it like PIZZA (with hands). Some say you put both item in a plastic, crush it and then eat it. Bottom line is – NO GRAVY, NO VEGE, NO COOKING (well, the noodle is sold both raw and fried).

Imagine my shock and disappointment.
Penat jalan ikut the pakcik showing and explaining the mee siput-making process, and then I found out the noodle is served… Just. Like. That. Mau naik angin masa tuh. But you see, I am super cool lady hence I will not throw a fit just because the noddle is lacking in gravy, fish cake, slices and etc *eyes rolling*. So I did what any smart lady like me would do… and give a try. Tuh jer option pun kan.
 
Remember the song sung by arwah Sudirman?
‘To know Malaysia is to love Malaysia’.
Well, to love mee siput is to TRY mee siput.
And…. Mee Siput lah permenangnya (favourite line Khalishan).
Giler sedap hokkay. I bought 2 balang… sumpah tak tipu. You guys must must try, I think the sambal plays an important role, it is the sole contributor to the yumminess of the mee siput.
 
Here is how Johor’s famous old school snack is being made.

Mix the flour

Mee Siput is made of tepung gandum (wheat flour), tepung sagu (sago flour), air abu (sodium) and salt to taste.

Mix and knead the dough well

Flatten the dough and put it through the roller machine. Repeat the folding and rolling, dust it with flour if needed.

Cut into sections and feed the pasta sheets through the blade

Boil and later drain the water

Sun-dry it and later oven bake for packaging purpose

When searching, I found out that it is called mee siput due to the fact the noodle’s swirl resembles the snail shell. Snail in Malay is called Siput, just so you know (kot-kot lah omputeh baca, diarang bukan tau apa tuh siput kan). Aside from that, the noodle crunchy texture is similar to the shell of the snail itself (not that I have eaten a snail shell before hahhahah… kita bayangkan jer yek); ie. fragile and breakable.
 
Kak Chik Enterprise has been operating since 2012. They produced approximately 50kg a day for it to be distributed/sold all over Malaysia. Due to the high production volume, the ovens have to be custom made while other equipment is available in the market. I hope to see more of mee siput in Klang Valley, otherwise I will have to travel to Muar once a month for me to fulfill my craving.

 
Kak Chik Enterprise
KB 6 (B) Lorong 1, Kg. Sawah Ring
Grisek, Tangkak
Johor Darul Takzim
 
Mobile : +60196276578, +60196276570
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/meesiputkakchik/
 

Majestic Johor Eco Adventure Media Trip 2020 is in collaboration with Tourism Johor and all its sponsors with #GayaTravel Magazine as media coordinator.

My PACAT story | Endau Rompin (Selai) Takah Tempaang Waterfall

PACAT = Leech (that blood sucking worm like animal)

Despite that I absolutely love outdoor, I am no budak gunung; scared of pacat and get tired easily (mebbe weight problem kot ni 😋, takde kena mengena ngan gunung pun kan 🙄). Being a noob that I am when it comes to trekking, hiking, climbing or anything jungle… I will trust whatever Della says, the Mountain Queen. Hail!

Few days before we begin our trip to Endau Rompin (Selai) Johor, Della whatsapped us  on the packing list as she assumes most (if not all) are city kids. Ahhhh…. She knows us so very well. I immediately open the pdf file and saw the below list, I was pretty cool when reading it as everything is general knowledge then I saw the last item – YASSIN. Gulp. First thing that came to my mind was, Quran app is on my phone, Ayat Ruqyah and Yassin is under favourite. I got it - no worries.

Then it hit me, how scary will this trip be? Akan ada penampakan ke? Who is the team yang pandai baca-baca yek? I heard people say that Ayat Ruqyah ni panas… what if something shows itself? Ya Allah… sis ni jenis overthinking, terus menerus panic. I even thought on ditching the trip. But I was the one insisted to be in this trip *afcepalm*. I summoned all my courage and pack, InshaAllah we will be ok. Aamiin.

Except for item 11 & 12, I am set to go.
 
Things to bring/pack

1. Phone & camera
2. Sport shoes, hiking shoes, selipar getah (lupa nama, tapi diarang kata itu yang paling bagus)
3. Hat or cap
4. Leggings/shorts (if takut pacat [leeches] like me, pakai lah tights yea rakan-rakan)
5. Insect repellent (I even bought an anti-leech dulu-dulu socks, it works. Very avant garde 🕺hokkay)
6. Waterproof bag
7. Light snacks
8. Water bottle
9. Plastic sampah (jangan buang sampah dalam hutan, nanti Della marah, mothernature nangis)
10. Poncho
11. Headlamps (takyah kot)
12. Torch light (ni pun tak yah unless trek tengah malam, Memang tak lerrr)
13. Yassin (When I saw Della wrote this, I terus panic 👻... dok baca ayat kursi segala bagai masa trekking tuh)
 
You guys, feel free to add lah yek.

The day we did the trekking, I was overjoyed when I saw JPAM is with us and I (as usual) insisted that one is next to me reason being I operated my ligament a couple of years back (it was 50% torn and did not do my physio as instructed). At times, especially when going downhill it’ll hurt so I figure I should prep myself well. Demanding dak!?!
 
The trek is hard as we have to walk by the river cliff (korang leh bayang dak ni?), slippery due to the rain the night before, muddy (lecak) and lotsa and lotsa of leeches (pacat). Then we have to climb boulders and cross river (habis kasut basah bagai) just to see this Takah Tempaang waterfall (it better be worthwhile we said).

Some areas we do need to climb on steep slope, and some we need to jump over. boulders Me? I will go down on my two knees or sit and slide down, either this or kaki menggeletar turun. Takpe, pakaian kotor can be washed but if I injure my leg again (here in the jungle) someone will need to carry me back to the chalet. Padan muka korang, sis tak ringan tau. MUAHAHAHHAHHAAH (<- EVIL LAUGH, balas dendam).
 
We did arrive Takah Tempaang safely, the trekking took us approximately 2 hours or so. It was worthwhile. Do take note on my anti-leech socks, very avant garde gitew. The trip back was somehow faster or perhaps because we knew the route and what to expected.

My leech panic moment
Nope, it is not over till I say it’s over.
We got back to our chalet and freshen up before we call it a day. Everything went well, no leech sighting except 1-2 on my shoes and my avant garde anti-leech socks. Just FYI, how the socks works is that the material is very air tight that the leech will not be able to wiggle itself THROUGH the cloth (tak tau kain apa diarang guna but bagus lah!). I was pretty safe the whole trip and then…

As we left Endau Rompin (Selai) Johor National Park to Gunungn Ledang National Park, we decided to stop at the Shell for petrol and junk food. And I head to the ladies (toilet), and as I was ‘undo-ing’ (betul ke perkataan ni?) my jeans, I SAW A BIG FAT (KENYANG) LEECH stuck on my undie. I wanted to scream and decide against it as I don’t want to cause a commotion, I mean… my jeans obviously already down when I saw the leech. If I were to scream, no one will be able to help me cos I’ve locked the toilet door, right! I can’t unlock/open the door as it only means I have to put back my jeans of which I DEFINITELY won’t (the LEECH on my undie remember *eyes rolling*). I was confuse, I was in dilemma even though the leech has probably died (darah I manis sangat kot). The only thing I can do is to use the hose/pipe to pick it away. Sis kena berani hokkay, takkan nak lari keluar toilet dengan seluar camtu just to suruh orang tolong?!?! Viral pulak kang. Hahahhahaha…

Once I got the stupid leech out, I ran back to the van and share the scary experience with the group, this ‘friend’ of mine said :

‘Pacat tuh mati sebab kena penyet kat perut you yek?’ jujur dia bertanya. Nak maki-maki I rasa kat mamat ni.
(‘The leech died cos it got squeezed between your tummy is it?’ my dear friend asked sincerely. I felt like cursing him.

FINE!!!! I diet lepas ni. Makan dalam ok. HAHAHHAHHAHAHAA….
(FINE!!! I shall go on diet after thing. Got the hint)
 
📸 :  @picturesquephotostudio

Majestic Johor Eco Adventure Media Trip 2020 is in collaboration with Tourism Johor and all its sponsors with #GayaTravel Magazine as media coordinator.