The trip to Temburong was BEACA last activity for this semester and it was on the 15th November 2009. As usual we gathered before 6.00am at UBD parking lot and arrived at kianggeh’ speedboat terminal around 6.37am by bus. Everything was ready and well planned until the boat that the Organizer booked was a bit late (about 15 minutes late). It took 45minutes to reach Bangar and were later guided through the tour by Cecilia Yusof; a Temburong local.
By this time, I learnt a lot from my past experience especially from our sailing trip and knowledge I gained with my fellow BEACA’s. The great thing was that we already prepare for any worst scenario. All electronics I put in my airtight plastic bag and yes, as usual, “always wear life jackets.” Safety always comes first.
When we reach Bangar, I discovered Temburong was totally different from Brunei’s CBD through its infrastructure, the air, the surrounding and not to mention the traffic. The sensation was relaxing and no stress at all apart from lack of shopping complex. We had our quick breakfast (thanks to Dr.Asmah) until we reach the village’s road, it was totally disastrous because it is not well-maintained. After a quick breakfast we went to Batang Duri with a bus and a pit stop somewhere in the middle of the road to buy plastic shoes.
Once we reached Batang Duri, we travelled along the Temburong River by longboats called Temuai, appreciating and witnessing other interesting and breath-taking environment. There was this “tree house” build about 20 feet from the ground, colorful flowers at the river side, a few birds standing on the gravel rocks waiting for its prey(fish) and more, it was so wonderful and I can’t stop looking around. The river’s current was quite rough and making the boat a bit shaky but it didn’t stop me from taking picture of the fascinating and beautiful clean environment. Now I understand the actual meaning of conserving the “virginity” of the forest. I only learnt the theory of the structure of a river in my geography lecture and now I experience it and able to see what is it looks like.
Then again there was another pit stop for registration at the Ulu Temburong National Headquarters where it was used to be a partly government but now it is fully under private sectors. It was a sad thing to see when the natural beauty of the area was disturbed by man activities when they build jetty, concrete and wooden buildings and walls beside the river to prevent more erosion from the development at the area.
“Canopy walk” was our next challenge since we have to hike a 385m path and yes~ it was tiring but worth. At the top of the Canopy walk (about 100-150 feet) I was able to see the entire forest around me and it was… (Speechless). It was made of strong aluminum metal to prevent from rusting and long life time. I can see everything- the South China Sea and “Gunung Kinabalu”. Talking about vegetation, there were more species that I never seen before but one thing I know was the area was only for research so no cutting, no burning and no littering. “Leave nothing but footprint, take nothing but photo”.
Then we went to the water pool (wasai) to chill a bit and had a simple picnic at the “slip-off slope” of the river site (rubbish we carry back with us) and head back to Batang Duri. “Traditional Long house” was our next destination and it was my first time visiting the long house. When the y says “longhouse” it was sure very long!! And we were able to chat with the family members and I was quite surprise that they were quite developed in term of technology(up-to-date with the fast growing world).I found out that Temburong people have many different races, Ibans ,Dusun ,Murut and more. They work as farmers, handicraftsmen, tour guides and salesmen and many more. We visited a food stall and enjoy it when Dr Asmah treated us durians and the forest durians dubbed by the people: "Durian Tayie".
This experience has reinforced our cautiousness as we made sure we were prepared for the worst. We wore life-jackets, bought special shoes, brought extra plastic bags and brought a lot of drinks to prevent dehydration. Our perseverance and endurance has improved greatly, the past few weeks that despite carrying out such tiresome activities; we were still hyper by the end of the day. I have learned to not take things for granted and Cecilia has taught me the value of appreciating Brunei's forests with her continuous excursions as a tour guide. I've learned to apply whatever I've learned at school to real life situations and I believe all this has made me more confident and a better leader, environmentalist and person as a whole.
To cover every trip that I have experienced, it was enjoyable and I finally learned how the real life we’re facing now, how the environment is slowly degraded by our own people as well the culture and even deeper, I learned a lot about Brunei Darussalam. As this will be our last activity for the first semester, I would thank the rest of BEACA Friends and two incredible lecturers, Dr Asmah and Dr Irene for making this course successful.
November 24, 2009
Sailing on "JENNY"..
Early morning scenery along the Serasa beach.
This week activity was a little different than before because this week BEACA students were given chances of a lifetime to sail at Brunei Bay. It was on the 30th October 2009 at Serasa Beach (parking lot area). The plan should be started at 6.30am but due to some unexpected problems so everything starts at 7.30am. There was a bit of a problem when the safe boat that supposes to take us to the main sailing boat was capsized.
Moment when the safe boat was capsized.
What I’ve learned from this incidence is “Safety first!” Always wear the life-jacket, and remind people to wear the life jacket. Also, switch off phones when traveling over water or put electronic items in a water proof plastic bag. “Salt water” are way worst than any plain water when it comes to electronics due to its ability to conduct way better than any plain water. This is because of the electrons and other molecules contained in salt water are more compacted for electricity to pass through( better conduction of electricity) therefore electronics are higher chances to overloads and the components will be melted(due to overflow of electric charge). It is even worse when the electronic device is switched on which result to 100% condemned!!
The trip will covered Brunei bay area and some of the small island around. As we all know that Brunei Bay is the only mean of water transport area for huge cargo and other ship to stop and loading their cargo into Brunei. Apart from that is has the potential to become an outdoor recreation for boat educational research because of its variety of underwater wonders. It is the only gate through for exporting local dry and wet products to outside country apart from using air transportation.
This sailing activity Dr. Irene and Dr. Asmah manage to find a yacht owned by Captain Pete and his partner Aidee (wife) . They have a lot of experience on how to handle the yacht in any conditions since they have been sailing for ten years travelling from Australia to many countries including Brunei. They have two boats: Petima and Jenny. As the “jenny” starts sailing the crew start to explain all the information that is very crucial when we were on the boat, on what we should do and should not such as never run on board and always have one hand holding for support when walking near the edges. Always bring higher frequency GPS and radio to monitor any relevant marine information.
During the boat ride we learned some boat/sailing jargons such as “BOW” The front of the boat, “HALYARD” A rope used to pull up a sail, “KNOT” Measurement of speed referring to nautical miles per hour for boat and wind speed, “MAST” A vertical pole that is attached to the hull and carries the sails, “STERN” The back of the boat, “STARBOARD” The right side of the boat when facing forwards, “PORT” The left side of the boat when facing forward. These are the important terms used when we are on the boat. Apart from that, we are also given a briefing on how to use the GPS properly so that we won’t hit any shallow shore.
BEACA students enjoying the trip.
"floating farm" powered by solar power.
During the sailing I was able to see many fishing activity going on such as “floating farm”, owned by private sectors which also contribute to the economy and they even use solar power to generate their electricity. There were also huge container’s ship docking near the Brunei bay area since Brunei are said to be the cheapest place to stop by for this huge ship and there also no fishing tax( only pay for the license). There was also big jellyfish swimming near the surface along with the small fish swimming at the same phase with the boat. This show Brunei’s sea has the potential for tourists’ attraction and also for business purpose if it is properly managed. One of the places that I experience myself is the Pelumpong Island, a great place for relaxing with a great view aka “natural spa”.
Quick swim at Pelumpong Island.
From this trip, I’ve become more aware about what’s happening in Brunei, which include the economy (primary resource- fishing) , the environment and also, in return from this sailing trip, I’ve learnt more on how to be environmentally friendly in a way to protect Brunei bay and to develop environment sustainability. By learning more about boats, I gained more knowledge which also may be an important area one day. To become more concern by reminding the others to be ‘safety first’, helping those who cannot swim in case of capsized and to have the belief in myself that I’m doing the right thing. To sum up, this trip was very enjoyable and the experience that I gained will be another approach for me to struggle a battle in life.
November 21, 2009
polar Girl moment.
On the 23rd October 2009 BEACA students attends a talk from the 1st Bruneian girl that has the chances to go to the South Pole. Era, 23 years old an ordinary girl and working with the government at the ministry of foreign affairs and trade. Not to forget that she is also one of the ‘BARA” member who likes to involve with adventure and extreme challenges. The talk was held at the CLT in UBD where MPP of UBD, lecturers, BEACA students, and RTB, Borneo Bulletins and Brunei Times reporters came to explore and understand the role on her trip at the South Pole.
she also brief that the journey will be about 900km within 40 to 50 days which the expedition will consist of 8 selected commonwealth nations’ women; Brunei, India, Cyprus, Ghana, Jamaica, Singapore, New Zealand and the UK. Era also talk about when the expedition was advertised, within 100 women applied from Brunei 2 women were selected: Niza and Era. However, Era earned the place. Training was done in Norway due to the cold weather and in New Zealand as to adapt South Pole conditions and environments, like a wise men once said “practice make perfect” , so in this case they do a lot of training to prevent any injuries and be prepare if there is one.
The most interesting thing here is that the way she talks and the way she delivers her speech was so inspiring and very encouraging, the way people look at her saying that she does deserve it. Era’s experience made us contemplate on the many extraordinary and adventure there is in life. Another thing I had ascertained from this experience was that Bruneians needed to clean their records from being labeled under the “Janji Melayu” concept, meaning punctuality is very important. We Bruneians must also train ourselves to keep track of time and be punctual to benefit ourselves and the society, and never do things at the very last minutes.
The aim of the expedition was to unify 8 nations where this encourages teamwork and makes situations merrier, whilst we boost mutual understanding. Living in a group is very important as to ease any problems and living as a family aka teamwork, by doing so that particular individual can understand others and at the same time can improve one’s personality and knowledge.
When talking about financial matters, Brunei Polar girl project is very expensive but Era was so lucky that she was supported by Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD), Royal Brunei Airline (RBA) and other private community for her training. Everyone knows that expenses are the hardest obstacles when it comes to achieving what we want, but if we don’t try it won’t happen and always keep in mind that praying and efforts are the key to everything. She also said that it was a bless when one of her teammate from Singapore manage to get a huge sponsorship from Kaspersky, when this big computer company sponsored the Polar expedition as a whole. Era taught us to endure the hardship whilst doing our tasks, as good will come our way once we have overcome the barriers.
Talking about cold, Antarctica can reach up to -60 degrees Celsius. At that state anything can happen; frost bite that may leads to loss of body parts, hypothermia due to extreme cold and dehydration because of the cold temperature and dry air. Antarctica is like the Sahara desert where anywhere you go it will be white everywhere and absolutely nil vegetation.
Era also told us that as to maintain the natural habitat even though nothing living there excepts the “cold resistance animal”- the penguins and polar bear, so they have bring back their solid waste. “Take nothing but photograph, leave nothing but footprint”- always practice this!!
Foods on the other hand, all are dehydrated meaning in dry form; dried cooked fish, chocolate bars, dry biscuits and etc (everything is high in carbohydrate) and they need it for their energy and since they are in the extreme cold, their metabolism are high for maintaining their body heat and energy for their journey. They can make water by warming the ice around them. The women had to wear 3 layers of clothes, one of which is made from Marino wool, obtained from Australian sheep. The attire and tent materials are water proof (to prevent from getting frost bite) and wind proof, well designed for the harsh environment.
The expedition was very well prepared since everything has been planned for more than a year. The training consists of 13 hours of skiing per day, 7 hours of sleep and 4 hours overall tent set-up, dinner and etc (everything is well schedule and managed). The girls are also distributed into different post of work (inside and outside) as to ensure everything is going as it is. The most important thing Era emphasis at the talk is “time management” and last minute planning is a very bad habit and so not her style. Other than that are “teamwork”- This is ensure the expedition run smoothly.
All I can say here is Era’s situation required her to undergo an immense amount of patience and faith in God. Praying for something without putting any effort is pointless so both must b balanced. Always put faith in myself in anything I’m doing and always do the best for excellence. Era has taught me to chase after my dreams because that dream will make me gained the greatest thing that I have never felt in my life. Lastly but not least, always remember the environment no matter where we are and what we do, be friend with it because good things always come in the end.
she also brief that the journey will be about 900km within 40 to 50 days which the expedition will consist of 8 selected commonwealth nations’ women; Brunei, India, Cyprus, Ghana, Jamaica, Singapore, New Zealand and the UK. Era also talk about when the expedition was advertised, within 100 women applied from Brunei 2 women were selected: Niza and Era. However, Era earned the place. Training was done in Norway due to the cold weather and in New Zealand as to adapt South Pole conditions and environments, like a wise men once said “practice make perfect” , so in this case they do a lot of training to prevent any injuries and be prepare if there is one.
The most interesting thing here is that the way she talks and the way she delivers her speech was so inspiring and very encouraging, the way people look at her saying that she does deserve it. Era’s experience made us contemplate on the many extraordinary and adventure there is in life. Another thing I had ascertained from this experience was that Bruneians needed to clean their records from being labeled under the “Janji Melayu” concept, meaning punctuality is very important. We Bruneians must also train ourselves to keep track of time and be punctual to benefit ourselves and the society, and never do things at the very last minutes.
The aim of the expedition was to unify 8 nations where this encourages teamwork and makes situations merrier, whilst we boost mutual understanding. Living in a group is very important as to ease any problems and living as a family aka teamwork, by doing so that particular individual can understand others and at the same time can improve one’s personality and knowledge.
When talking about financial matters, Brunei Polar girl project is very expensive but Era was so lucky that she was supported by Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD), Royal Brunei Airline (RBA) and other private community for her training. Everyone knows that expenses are the hardest obstacles when it comes to achieving what we want, but if we don’t try it won’t happen and always keep in mind that praying and efforts are the key to everything. She also said that it was a bless when one of her teammate from Singapore manage to get a huge sponsorship from Kaspersky, when this big computer company sponsored the Polar expedition as a whole. Era taught us to endure the hardship whilst doing our tasks, as good will come our way once we have overcome the barriers.
Talking about cold, Antarctica can reach up to -60 degrees Celsius. At that state anything can happen; frost bite that may leads to loss of body parts, hypothermia due to extreme cold and dehydration because of the cold temperature and dry air. Antarctica is like the Sahara desert where anywhere you go it will be white everywhere and absolutely nil vegetation.
Era also told us that as to maintain the natural habitat even though nothing living there excepts the “cold resistance animal”- the penguins and polar bear, so they have bring back their solid waste. “Take nothing but photograph, leave nothing but footprint”- always practice this!!
Foods on the other hand, all are dehydrated meaning in dry form; dried cooked fish, chocolate bars, dry biscuits and etc (everything is high in carbohydrate) and they need it for their energy and since they are in the extreme cold, their metabolism are high for maintaining their body heat and energy for their journey. They can make water by warming the ice around them. The women had to wear 3 layers of clothes, one of which is made from Marino wool, obtained from Australian sheep. The attire and tent materials are water proof (to prevent from getting frost bite) and wind proof, well designed for the harsh environment.
The expedition was very well prepared since everything has been planned for more than a year. The training consists of 13 hours of skiing per day, 7 hours of sleep and 4 hours overall tent set-up, dinner and etc (everything is well schedule and managed). The girls are also distributed into different post of work (inside and outside) as to ensure everything is going as it is. The most important thing Era emphasis at the talk is “time management” and last minute planning is a very bad habit and so not her style. Other than that are “teamwork”- This is ensure the expedition run smoothly.
All I can say here is Era’s situation required her to undergo an immense amount of patience and faith in God. Praying for something without putting any effort is pointless so both must b balanced. Always put faith in myself in anything I’m doing and always do the best for excellence. Era has taught me to chase after my dreams because that dream will make me gained the greatest thing that I have never felt in my life. Lastly but not least, always remember the environment no matter where we are and what we do, be friend with it because good things always come in the end.
Big? Huge? Gigantic? Enormous trees?..Believe it or not? Believe it!
This week trekking was located at Kota Batu near the President of standard Chartered’s residence (just up the hill). About 30-40 minutes drive by bus from UBD. The trekking started around 6.40 am (bits late due to the road at Kota Batu are still under renovation so the bus has to go a bit slow).some used own transport.
This time I volunteer to be the sweeper. My job is to help my leader remembering the mark trail and clean any rubbish along the trail, and also not to forget marking the trail by tying red rope on the trees randomly and untied it at the end of the trekking. My group is the group 3( last group) Nazz as my leader, hafiz as the member, Chia Yie as the group photographer, Asri as the assistant leader and lastly Dr Irene as the shadow (guiding us from the back). It’s part of my job to help my group leader to leads us to the right path and help my group all the way in one piece. Preparing enough ropes for marking and remember the place where the leader should stop and explain the interesting part of the trail. I learned a lot on my past position as a leader so its my turn to help this week leader, like people said “two heads are better than one” so cooperation and teamwork are pretty important.
In this trekking, the activity are very challenging than any trekking we had before. Endurance and physically fit are put to a test where the trail are mostly steep hill (very very steep). by doing so, we are able to experience to keep our balance by stepping our foot between roots of trees and rocks to hold our whole body and balance our center of gravity while grabbing a strong roots or ropes to prevent us from falling or sliding down the hill.
I also learned not to tie the marking rope tightly as it can be reused and recycle. The most important advice from Dr. Irene was not and NEVER to go into forest ALONE because people can easily get confuse and lost if the trail are not familiar to us. even like what happened to me during my previous trekking with my group were lost even though we put marking along the trail, so from the past experience I learned that to used colored marking and never went to unfamiliar route. One more thing is that never enter any forest when it’s almost dark!!!
Apart of variety of plants and animals including insects, the structure of the landform are very unique and wonderful. There are valleys, ridges, protruding hard rock’s (that showed slanting bedding planes and vertically slating joints), a stream, water rapids, and a small waterfall. The stream had Iron Oxide deposits near pebbles, and potholes - signifying the river rocks contained iron. The rocks near the streams undergo chemical weathering. There are many processes happened to such awesome valley and ridges. Scenery that shows weathering of both chemical and physical that occurs for a very long time. It shows that this place can be used as recreational and education purposes both local and worldwide. This can boost the economy by improving its ecotourism.
Like previous trekking, plants and trees were very diverse such as wild orchids, Tongkat Ali, Simpur flower, Rattan (the trunks are very flexible and have spikes on it), soft and hard woods trees and more. Most of these are highly demand nowadays because of its uses and benefits. There are so many things that I can learn during this trekking and these knowledge are not only for my educational purposes but future benefits. Other than that I also learned that the areas are highly preserved when I see a lot of huge trees (more than 10 people to surround it).
In my opinion, this trip further developed my leadership and teamwork abilities and this hopefully will develop me to become a better person and to handle any event or problems much better. I also seized any chance to apply what I’ve learned to the trip. I’ve learned to never go to places I’m not familiar with alone, and to be more observant. This trip made me a better hiker as I challenged my fatigue and learned new hiking skills. Apart from that, I also learned on what to do if someone or anyone happened to be lost in a forest when I, Nazz and Chia Yie volunteered to search for the lost “team 1” during this activity with the guide of Dr. Irene. Although it was an exhausting trip, it was enjoyable and knowledgeable nonetheless. It was the best and can’t wait for another challenging activity.
This time I volunteer to be the sweeper. My job is to help my leader remembering the mark trail and clean any rubbish along the trail, and also not to forget marking the trail by tying red rope on the trees randomly and untied it at the end of the trekking. My group is the group 3( last group) Nazz as my leader, hafiz as the member, Chia Yie as the group photographer, Asri as the assistant leader and lastly Dr Irene as the shadow (guiding us from the back). It’s part of my job to help my group leader to leads us to the right path and help my group all the way in one piece. Preparing enough ropes for marking and remember the place where the leader should stop and explain the interesting part of the trail. I learned a lot on my past position as a leader so its my turn to help this week leader, like people said “two heads are better than one” so cooperation and teamwork are pretty important.
In this trekking, the activity are very challenging than any trekking we had before. Endurance and physically fit are put to a test where the trail are mostly steep hill (very very steep). by doing so, we are able to experience to keep our balance by stepping our foot between roots of trees and rocks to hold our whole body and balance our center of gravity while grabbing a strong roots or ropes to prevent us from falling or sliding down the hill.
I also learned not to tie the marking rope tightly as it can be reused and recycle. The most important advice from Dr. Irene was not and NEVER to go into forest ALONE because people can easily get confuse and lost if the trail are not familiar to us. even like what happened to me during my previous trekking with my group were lost even though we put marking along the trail, so from the past experience I learned that to used colored marking and never went to unfamiliar route. One more thing is that never enter any forest when it’s almost dark!!!
Apart of variety of plants and animals including insects, the structure of the landform are very unique and wonderful. There are valleys, ridges, protruding hard rock’s (that showed slanting bedding planes and vertically slating joints), a stream, water rapids, and a small waterfall. The stream had Iron Oxide deposits near pebbles, and potholes - signifying the river rocks contained iron. The rocks near the streams undergo chemical weathering. There are many processes happened to such awesome valley and ridges. Scenery that shows weathering of both chemical and physical that occurs for a very long time. It shows that this place can be used as recreational and education purposes both local and worldwide. This can boost the economy by improving its ecotourism.
Like previous trekking, plants and trees were very diverse such as wild orchids, Tongkat Ali, Simpur flower, Rattan (the trunks are very flexible and have spikes on it), soft and hard woods trees and more. Most of these are highly demand nowadays because of its uses and benefits. There are so many things that I can learn during this trekking and these knowledge are not only for my educational purposes but future benefits. Other than that I also learned that the areas are highly preserved when I see a lot of huge trees (more than 10 people to surround it).
In my opinion, this trip further developed my leadership and teamwork abilities and this hopefully will develop me to become a better person and to handle any event or problems much better. I also seized any chance to apply what I’ve learned to the trip. I’ve learned to never go to places I’m not familiar with alone, and to be more observant. This trip made me a better hiker as I challenged my fatigue and learned new hiking skills. Apart from that, I also learned on what to do if someone or anyone happened to be lost in a forest when I, Nazz and Chia Yie volunteered to search for the lost “team 1” during this activity with the guide of Dr. Irene. Although it was an exhausting trip, it was enjoyable and knowledgeable nonetheless. It was the best and can’t wait for another challenging activity.
November 20, 2009
week 10 - Diplomatic Residence.
The environment are still preserved even though there is human interference.
On the 18th October 2009; Sunday morning approximately 6.35am was BEACA’s week 10 activity. It was located about 20 minutes drive from UBD and about 5 minutes drive from Bandar. Anyway, this trekking was near the diplomatic residence, near the Yayasan’s school and the government’s buildings. I should say that this activity really challenge us mentally and physically. It was hard but fun because we manage to find a lot of plant and insect species.
A unique hairy fruit that largly found around the area
This trekking I volunteer myself as the leader and Hafidz as my sweeper. Dr. Asmah and Nazz were in my group. During this moment, I hold a very important job which is to lead my team out of the thick forest safe and sound. The forest was a bit tricky for my experience since it was raining the night before the activity and it was really slippery. Yet I take the challenge as to gain experience and knowledge for preparation of my future obstacles. We were in the 1st group. I had a hard time to recall the trek that we set up during the recce since all the mark and trail are all covered and washed off due to the rain. Simply saying everything is changing and all I and Hafidz can do is follow our instinct, heart and mind.
Part of the challanges along the path.
During our walk in the jungle, we found varieties of plants and insects inhibit the forest. Plants have the potential to be natural herbs of medicines. The most well known traditional herbs are the “tongkat ali” which can be used as an energy boosters or the “Kuduk-Kuduk” which is locally used as to reduce scars. Apart from that, I also found a few hard woods and soft woods grow wildly around the area (asked old folks by showing them the picture that we have taken during the trekking). This shows that Brunei areas are suitable to grow soft and hard woods for commercial used. Traditional herbs that are practice by Bruneian old folks can also be exported as to exploited Bruneian economy.
"Tongkat Ali" are wildly grown along the trek. this show that the ground are very suitable for the species to be grown in a bigger scale because of its worldwide demand and its potential( traditional medicine and also everyday nutrients).
parasite that live along with the leaves.
Some trees live together with the fungi or ferns because of the surrounding conditions due to its ability to supply certain nutrients for the trees.
Along the trekking, we were able to hear a lot of bird’s sound (since we’re asked to be quiet as not to scare any animal in the forest from our past activity). The trek was a bit slippery since it was covered by wet leaves and thank god that I learned my lesson to wear the right boots and long pants. Unfortunately we were lost when I found out that it was dead end on front of us, so I follow my heart to stick together and went back to the check point. Dr. Asmah called Dr. Irene and asked if we were going the right way or not and we were asked to turn back. It was a good thing to do to turn back where we came in. There is also this thing that old folks always talk about that never to say anything that is not good in jungle because you might easily get lost and they warned us not to say anything when we saw anything that is weird during our journey because it is actually the “penunggu” – superstition passed from generation to generation.
So we continued to head to an exit. We took 3 hours in this jungle and finally made our back to starting points near the parking lots. So there were lots of things which I could LEARN in this activity when our groups were lost that always to use a unique marking so that we will not get confuse with others mark.
Thick "frens" making the trek hard to recognise and confusing.
Collecting non-biodegradable rubbish as part of the activity.
I believe that by being confident and trusting our own instinct can lead us to the right way. Our intelligence and creativity help us to increase our leadership skills as well as team work is much better and worth in than anything else. Be focus especially when we’re facing obstacles and conflict as conflicts will help us to handle problems in our own ways without panicking. Thus, what I have learned from our activity will help me to face the future.
October 29, 2009
Rimba circle..
part of the trek..On the 9th October 2009, the trip was at Rimba area near one of the well known shopping place for the locals, the “Giant”. About 10 minutes drive from UBD, the activity starts approximately at 6.35am due to transport problem ( we only manage to obtain a minivan since all the bus were occupied and some of them are broke down) , then Azry volunteer to use his car for the remaining members that can’t fit in. Not to forget that this activity were filled with extreme adventure that need our endurance and team work of each team as part of the “survival”.
In this activity, I volunteer myself as the transport organizer. There were a few problems but with the help of the others we manage to solve it out .
We were divided into 3 groups, Sia chia Yie as our leader and mizah as our sweeper and the rest 3 of us Nazz, Hafidz and me. Were were th 2nd group to enter the challenging forest. The soil was muddy and the forest was quite thick with vines and grass. It was abit slippery since all the tracks were covered with wet leaves. But our teamwork spirit made it all goes smooth. As we go deep inside the forest, surprisingly we found a resting place for the wild boars, edible plants like “Umbut Luba”. This is used locally in home cooking and very rare to find since it grow far inside the forest’s stomach. “Sumbui- sumbui” or picture plant are also wildly grown on the sandy area, “Simpur” are also all over the area. Moreover there were also a lot of abandoned houses left undone and construction waste lying all over the construction site.
"Tongkat Ali"After about 45 minutes cutting and walking, finally we able to get out, surprisingly we were only about 500 m from the actual entrance. We saw a lot of abandoned nice buildings or more likely to be a residence.
What I learn in this trekking was having cooperation with the others as in helping and team work is very crucial. Always listen to each team’ leader and don’t try to do which are no ask to. “Water” should always be your friend because we can easily get dehydrated from walking too long.
As the conclusion, this trekking was fun and relaxing. Brunei is filled with surprises and wonderful things, this show that Brunei has the potential to be a well -known "ecotourism" in the future.
October 06, 2009
Be GreeN..Think Green..
Green ferns scientifically known as "bryophytes" wildly grown along the trek.
On Sunday cloudy morning, the 4th September 2009, BEACA students were assigned to do jungle trekking at Lucky Garden area. “Lucky Garden” is situated in Kampong Sungai Tilong, approximately 20 minutes drive from UBD (meeting point). Began the activity Dr Irene divide us into 3 groups consisting of about 5 person per groups (in my group are myself, Iemelda, Kim, Hafidz and lastly Azmy as the path leader). The journey start at around 6.45 am.
Brunei Darussalam are filled with lots of natural heritage and always been green throughout the year. Parts of the world that still holds its natural beauty and secrecy. Forest has been a major contributor of the world processes, example production of oxygen, medicines, foods, preventions of erosion, home of vast species of living things and more. There is still more of its “filling” that has not yet discovered. So, we should remain its “freshness”. Being friends with the forest, not destroying them.
During the activity, it taught us the leadership on how to handle any situations that we might encountered in the forest to prepare us of the worse case scenario that high probability might happened during any activity that involve walking in the deep forest. “Team work” is very crucial since the treks are slippery and tough. In this activity, it strengthened our “bonds” and taught us the meaning of friendship.
The aims of the activity are to emphasis our awareness on the environment, by gathering the rubbish that was left over on few spots of the trek by irresponsible individuals. Plastic bottles are non-biodegradable where it cannot decompose and lead to pollution. Plastics, bottles and tin can be recycle, reused again rather than wasting them. So, we collect them and divide them by their specification.
Doesn’t matter when and where, we should be responsible and care of our remaining natural forest all the time. Pick up any rubbish especially plastics and throw it to the nearest bin. “be responsible”