White Water Rafting event is an initiative to promote other “boat and paddle” activity to the students of SMU via SMUX-Kayaking team.

In 2012 episode of White Water Rafting, we brought a total of 39 participants to Kuala Kubu Raru, near to the capital of Malaysia, to experience exciting white water rafting in the Slim River. Slim river is a “grade 3” river which is suitable for all level of participants.

The participants were split into group of 6 for each raft, together with 2 instructors to steer the raft in the river. The entire rafting session last for about 4 hours and our participants had a busy time following the commands, “to the left!”, “to the right!”, “to the front!” and “to the back!”.

These commands are needed to gather the crews to the respective side of the raft, so that to assist the instructors in steering the raft using our body weight.

Other than white water rafting, our participants also experienced jungle tracking where our destination was a nice and cooling mini waterfall. Lastly, not forgetting the “tubing session” which our participants sat on a rubber tube and flow lazily along the river for about 1KM, before reaching our dormitory.

The event ended with a group photo taken together with the nice mountainous scenery as the backdrop, before we board the bus and head back to Singapore.

“Is Rajah similar to Suku?”

That was a common question I got from most trekkers who were at the info session. “How cold will it be? As cold as Suku?” It seemed like Suku was super cold and many trekkers have learnt their lessons from it and they packed in quite a few jackets to combat the 12 degrees coldness that Shalan (the suku guide) told us.

Day ZERO,25th February, 2012- The Departure

The awesome trekking team met at 6pm and departed from Kranji at 645pm after dumping all the unnecessary stuff that we brought along, as to lighten our load. We handled over our extra goretex, pillow, jackets and what not to our mummy, Kengwei before heading off to the custom.

When crossing the custom, Qingyu realized that she brought her boyfriend’s passport instead (LOL) and Mingyong accompanied her back to take her passport before meeting us at City Square at a later timing. Swee Chen was another FUNNY person who took the bus that went to Victoria Street instead of Woodlands Checkpoint and she claimed that Zephan(BIG TREKKING BOSS) was pissed off with her for that. The rest of the team proceeded first to City Square to have our awesome dinner. We split into three different groups to have dinner till 915pm (NANDOS, KIM GARY, SHABU SHABU) before the other four came. They have their own candlelight dinner (Zephan and sweechen at MacDonald’s & Mingyong and Qingyu at Shabu Shabu! SO SWEET.)

After having a SUPER FULL dinner, some even went off to Secret Recipe to get cakes (YUMS) and our water supply. At around 950pm, we head off for our bus. We started our trekking process from there according to some people (MDM TAN, the bus contact just told me to keep walking straight till I saw the petrol station) as it was quite a long walk from City Square. Not long after, the bus came to pick us up and YAY our journey to the starting point of Gunung Rajah (BENTONG, PAHANG) begins. Everyone was pretty active on the bus. The year 4s(Wallace, Nick, Esther Ong, Qingyu) + Mingyong were happily  playing card games( Monopoly Deal if I’m not wrong) and Zephan, Debbie, Jonathan, Swee Chen, Siew Hwee were happily singing while our dear Mei Lin was in her own LALALAND.

Day ONE, 26^th February, 2012- The Beginning

We started off with breakfast at this Malay store around the corner to have our (self-service) Beehoon, rice, teh tarik and what not. After which, the bus took us all the way into the base camp. (Everyone on the bus looks like they were all preparing for war.) The guide (Kay) gave us a short briefing and after proper warm-up, OFF WE GO FOR RAJAH! J

The starting was tough I must say, it was steep inclination for 20 minutes. (Super tiring… Qingyu felt uncomfortable after the climb, but thankfully she recovered after awhile!) According to the guide, after we finish 20 mins of tough climbing, the rest will be easy. True enough, the path was so wide and there wasn’t much inclination. It feels like a walk in the park. Jonathan (supposedly serious) was cracking jokes along the way and the people behind seemed to be very entertained and I could hear laughter from afar. (Guess that’s the best part of trekking, when you have fun along this trekking journey)

After walking for 1 hr or so, the guide told me that we will be resting for 5 mins at Jungle Gate which is the starting point of Gunung Rajah. (Just when we thought that we were already in Gunung Rajah, we are not; it’s merely the starting HAHA!) Some people (Wallace etc) were joking and said that we have reached the peak and YAY we can head down already (I WISH). We took a short break and off we go, the start of jungle trekking. Thankfully, the weather for the first day was good all the way until the night. The trek route was still relatively flat and everyone moved at quite a comfortable pace. The only thing was the overhead which we often hit into. Everyone went smoothly, we took short breaks here and there and after trekking for close to 4 hours, we reached our awesome lunch place. (The river was so awesome). The only dangerous part was the going down part (it was relatively high and its 90 degrees steep). However, with the help of the guide as well as some macho guys, we managed to get most down while some took a different route and they got half their bodies wet. (I guess they had a different kind of fun hor Mei Lin hahahaha) The water was so chilly for the legs after a long trek. I could really tell that many people had fun with the water or chilling their drinks in the water (Jon). We took our 1 hour break there, enjoying our lunch (biscuits, cereals, chocolates and WANTON MEE) and taking a short nap.

 After the rest, we felt invigorated and off to head off to our first campsite (where we would be staying for the first day!) Abit more ups and downs (rather challenging) for about 1 ½ hours before we reach this super pretty waterfall where we took tones of photos! SUPER SUPER PRETTY. We stopped by there for awhile (abit longer than originally planned). Everyone had so much fun playing with the water there. Jon had so much fun that his specs actually flew into the waterfall. But well, it was nice seeing so many people helping to make sure that his specs will not swiped down by the current and also helped him find his specs (MINGYONG eventually found it for him! Jon must take care of your belongings in future okay!) After a mini discussion with my TM (Zephan) as well as Kay, we felt that it was possible to make it to the second campsite before sunset (roughly around 630pm) . Hence, we decided to bring the team to the second campsite instead. This will indefinitely shorten the plan for the second day. Since, it was all the way up to the peak, it might be too tiring for some of us, and hence, we decided to give it a last PUSH. We trekked at a faster pace so that we won’t have to night-trek. The route wasn’t simple, a lot of up slopes but oh wells.. we made it to the next campsite at 545pm! (THE GUIDE JUST TURNED AROUND AND TOLD ME I GIVE YOU BONUS, WE REACHED ALREADY!) That was one of the happiest lie I ever heard (hehehe everyone was so happy after a long day trekking in the jungleJ)

The best part about the campsite was that it was super spacious. We had so much space for tents and cooking areas (something to be thankful about in trek) and the water source was near! (makes bathing and washing so convenient woohooooo)

All three teams started cooking their sumptuous dinner (went round to look, the food for this trek is amazingly good hahahahaha.) We managed to finish cooking before the thunder and rain came pouring down. After the signal from the thunder, all groups went to pitch their tupes to prepare for the rain except Group 2 (Eugene etc) The rain was rather heavy, so everyone cuddled together in the tupes (SO CUTE) and started HTHT-ing. After HTHT-ing, everyone went off to sleep (rather early at around 9 plus HAHA)

Day TWO, 27^th February, 2012 

Day 2 was supposedly the toughest day of the three days due to its constant up slope. (However some told me that it was easier than Day 1 which was a good thing. People all became so ZAI: D and I guess it’s a lot easier to trek w/o the heavy, big, bulky trek bags) According to Kay (the zai guide), it takes around 5 hours to reach the peak of Gunung Rajah. Off we head for the peak!

Time check: 8:30am. It was supposed to take us 2 hours to reach the water point.We ended up having our early lunch there. We were pretty on time and didn’t have to stop for breaks (HOW AWESOME!) After the 2 hours mark was down, we were only leave with our final challenge (the SUMMIT). The trek to the summit wasn’t easy for many as there was a rock climbing element involved. Many just stood there with their jaws dropping (many were like HUH? Do we seriously have to climb this 85 degrees steep wall?) I guess there wasn’t any choice for us other than to trust the ropes and guide. The guide passed through the first hurdle effortlessly. After much encouragement and assurance from the other trekkers + support from Zephan (who was so noble to sacrifice his leg for people to step on WOW. But it’s damn dangerous, be careful next time), everyone managed to get up safely (SO PROUD OF EVERYONE! It was really not easy plus there were a few people who were generally scared of heights, hope you all conquered all your fears after the rock climbing at Rajah.

The tough part was done and off we trek towards our endpoint, THE SUMMIT. Everyone was very excited as the guide said the peak is 360 degrees which means you can see the whole of Rajah from the peak. (Excited hehehe) So, everyone trekked at a reasonable speed. Just when we thought that there’s another 30 mins more to the peak, the guide stopped us, warning us to off our mobile phones to prevent lightning from attacking us. The every next minute, he just turned to us and said CONGRATS THIS IS THE PEAK. (so unbelievable to be smoked by the guide twice. But still it’s a happy thing)

The only saddening part will be the fact that it was so cloudy that we could not see any scenery that was shown in Google. But I’m sure everyone was so happy that we reached the peak (LIKE FINALLY!) GOOD JOB   Time check: 12:50pm

Hanged around the peak for awhile for photos J

GROUP SHOT J

  GROUP -1

Group – 2

GROUP -3

The Organising Committee for the RAJAH Trek

The two awesome guides (KAY AND MALAS)

The Senior Trekkers ( Year 3 & 4)

Time check: 1:30pm! Off we descend, down to the first water point. It was rather steep, muddy and slippery due to the heavy rain the night before. But thankfully, it stopped so we didn’t have to trek in the rain at all (WOOHOO how lucky can we get? J) Overall, the climb down was rather smooth, just that everyone was holding onto the branches and trunks for support and making sure that they are safe (HAHA rule of thumb: safety always come first) Before reaching the water point, there was a last tough hurdle which was going down the 85 degrees- steep wall. The guides asked 4 strong guys (Nick, Wallace, Zephan and Jon, the rest of the guys also strong k hahahaha) to go down first to help support the rest.  Each of them was stationed at each of the crucial point (going down is definitely way scarier than going up). Oh wells, after much encouragement, everyone managed to trust the ropes and the helpers and came down safely. The whole journey went smoothly without much stopping except the last part where we were supposed to cross the river (with a current that was rather strong) before we could reach the first campsite where we would be resting for the day. We got there safely even though a few people slipped and fell into the water (good bath?) The campsite was as big as usual. Enough to pitch 4 tents ( cos one of our tent poles spoilt..) but well it was still comfy! We reached there at around 6pm, before sunset J (NO NIGHT TREK FTW!)

One good thing about the campsite was that it is super duper near the water source.  Washing and bathing was just like a few steps away. After dinner that day, a few of them went to play with the lanterns  we even had a special event “TODAY WITH ZEPHAN” whereby our dear TM made his speech and found out more about the trekkers that were on the trip and their feelings for this trek. (Awesome chat by the waterfall, if only there’s some light) After an approximately one hour talk with our TM, we went off to sleep. (Another early day, slept at around 10 plus in preparation for the final push on the 3^rd day)

Thanks Mingyong for the LANTERN

Day THREE, 28^th February, 2012 

FINAL DAY FOR THE TREK (supposedly short, should be able to complete it in 4 hours according to the guide). Got to say that everyone was extremely early that day, almost everyone was ready by 815am (way earlier than the guides). It looked like everyone was ready for the final battle. We set off at 840am. We crossed the river and then marched down to the next stopping point which is 1 hour away. After a short break, we continued our journey and this time, we will be heading back to the Jungle Gate J “Seems like the end is NEAR!!!” HAHAHA. YAY the route to Jungle Gate was also constant flatness. HOW AWESOME can it get? We didn’t even stop for a minute in the 2 hours journey to the Jungle Gate.

s Nick, Jon and Wallace helping the rest cross the river

Nick, Wallace and Jon helping the rest with the river crossing

AWESOME JUMPSHOTS NEAR JUNGLE GATE J

After walking at a relatively speed, we finally reached the JUNGLE GATE (: We rested for close to 7 minutes under the shades of the trees, to have a bite of food and have a sip of  water before we dash down the wide flat road ( a walk in the park). I could really tell that everyone was happily walking down as people started chit-chatting, singing etc. It was really a nice road down. Time check: 12:32PM. Now we are left with the final stretch down the really super undefined route down-slope. We marched down under the guidance of Malas(the other guide). Its hard to comprehend how they could walk down so fast. I guess we all just need to trek more so get used to such routes (Everyone go for RINJANI summer trek HAHA). We eventually reached the ending point at 12:55PM! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY finally. Super proud of those who trekked for the very first time (Han Xu and Esther Ong) , those who trekked with us for the first time (Xuan Zhong and Michael) and to the rest GOOD JOB! We did it eventually. I would like to applaud Qingyu for pushing herself to her limits and always trying to keep to my pace. I hope all of you had fun J

Time was given for wash-up and till at 2pm, we boarded the coach. Everyone literally slept the whole way till the coach stopped for our lunch break! LUNCH-TIME: KFC The food never tasted so good LOL. We reached JB close to 9 plus so we got to abort our plan of having seafood at Taman Sentosa L but still we had awesome dinner at Kim Gary./ShiLin. After dinner, we headed straight to the Malaysian custom and then back to Singapore! HOME SWEET HOME

This marks the success of the GUNUNG RAJAH TREK :> Thanks all for making it such a success: D It wouldn’t have been the same w/o you all! Awwwwww.

Ps. Take care of the sandfly bites all my lovely people. DO NOT SCRATCH IT OR IT WILL START GROWING EGGS (TRUE STORY)

Okay, last but not least, photos of the scenery

WATERFALL

Jungle Gate

We had a record number of exchange students coming on the trip! 26 Exchange students and 16 locals! Sounds like a trek organized by the United Nations to foster international relationship and for cultural exchange.

It was a Saturday and some of us had a dreaded make-up lesson, but anyways this did not mar our plans to have a good time exploring Pulau Ubin. All of us assembled at Changi Village Food Centre by 230pm and we started moving off to Changi Point Ferry Terminal for a bumboat ride to Pulau Ubin.

All smiles for the upcoming trek!

 Every participant gathered at Pulau Ubin and we were ready to move off by 3pm! Our first destination was the highest point of Pulau Ubin, Bukit Puaka. The trek up will allow participants to have a trekking experience in a typical ascent scenario and will treat you to a nice view of Pulau Ubin’s quarry and wilderness that you can NEVER see in Singapore nowadays.

View from the “summit” of Bukit Puaka (Picture credit to Keng Phang)

Group photo at the “summit” of Bukit Puaka (Picture credit to Keng Phang)

It was 4pm and the skies were not looking good. From a distance we could we the impending rain hitting us. Everyone scurried to waterproof their valuables and put on raincover on their bags.

We made haste to Jelutong campsite to set up tents and shelter. Just as when we are reaching the campsite, it started to pour and everyone hurried into the pavilion for shelter. Tents and tarps were brought out to set up shelter.

Setting up the tents

Luckily the rain subsided after about 30mins, and everyone helped set up the tents in unison. With a spark of geniusness and creativity, an improvised extension of the pavilion’s shelter was made.

Extension of the shelter

It was about 530pm, tents and shelters were set up, it’s time for dinner!

Zephan explaining the significance of the “lou hei” ingredients and process

Steamboat! (Picture credit to Keng Phang)

Vincent tasting the ABC Soup. One of the best dish here!

Zhong Huan’s group with noodles with what it looks like to be cream based. Yum!

All smiles during dinner! 

 Double rainbow! (Picture credit to Keng Phang)

After the rain… (Picture credit to Keng Phang)

After every group displayed their culinary skills, it started to turn dark, and it’s time for a get-together sharing session. As it was too wet and difficult to set up a camp fire, we had our gas lamp came in handy!

We had a sharing session, and despite the different backgrounds we are from, it was very heartwarming to see everyone engage in lively conversations, with each sharing their thoughts and not forgetting jokes that brought laughter to everyone! I hoped we did not disturb the other campers around us…

The night ended pretty early at like midnight as I was pretty beat. . zzzzz

I was greeted with nice cooling winds and fresh air the following morning! (:

But it was time to break camp ):

With quick bites from biscuits, cookies and breads that we brought along, we cleared the campsite in swift motion, and ensure that all litters are properly disposed of. Campsite etiquette!

Keeping the tents

By 830am, we were all set to leave the camp site, and this pretty much marks the end of the Intro Trek.

Despite the rain, and the very short trek, I have seen all smiles and plenty of exchanges between everyone. From sharing our experience in our lives when travelling, school life, food habits during the dinner session, and funny moments in our lives! Even though it was held at Pulau Ubin, surely it would give everyone an experience of how it’s like to trek on gradient, experience in rainy conditions outfield, as well as a camping experience.

Here I would like to extend all my thanks and gratitude to everyone who made the organizing of this event possible!  Happy New Year!

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Mount Rinjani

The trekking team will be heading to Mount Rinjani, located in Lombok, Indonesia, this summer from the 2^nd to 10^th May. Rinjani is the second highest volcano in Indonesia, at the height of 3726m. Rinjani is also a popular trekking destination for trekkers all over the world. We will be hiring guides and porters for the trip and the itinerary is as follow:

May 2: Departing Singapore for Bali (DPS), then transferring to domestic flight for Lombok Praya Airport.

May 3 – 6: We will be starting the trek on 3^rd morning and it will take around 4 days 3 nights to complete.

May 7 – 10: On the 7^th, we will depart Lombok for Bali by domestic flight, for R&R activities. Flight back to Singapore will be on the 10^th evening from Bali(DPS) airport.

Click Here to sign up!

The day finally reached. Fortunately, most of the participants reached school on time,  giving us ample time to do administration work. Although there was miscommunication with the bus driver in the beginning, it was solved quite quickly and we proceeded to johor bahru on the time which we had planned.

It was a fun ride there as everybody in the bus was mingling with one another, sharing their feelings and anticipation for the event. The entire process at the check point went faster than what we had thought it would be.

Finally we reached the paintball venue! The weather was at our side and the venue was great! It has many different combat fields. Also the instructors were very helpful and detailed in their introduction about paintballing. However, there were some delays at the beginning due to some administrative work, resulting in some people feeling impatient.

Without wasting anymore time, we proceeded to the games. The people were broken up into different groups whereby they were allocated different fields for their first games. The games were very exciting and breathtaking as the people inside the field zoomed from one corner to another strategically. Their goal was to take the flag in the middle of the field, before the opponents. Everyone in the field was eyeing for the flag and at the same time, attempting to shoot down opponents. Indeed, when you are hit, it is quite painful, but the intensity and exhilaration in the field overwhelm you such that it is nolonger that pain.

The event was quite well organized as everyone had played at least two times, at two different combat fields. At the end of the event, many people had with a great sense of joy and satisfaction. Afterwhich, we proceeded to Tamah Sentosa Seafood Restaurant where everyone indulged in cheap sumptious seafood.

All in all, the day went quite smoothly. Although there were some hiccups in the beginning, we managed to bring it together and made our first event a big success!

written by Chua Yee Ting

A picturesque view of Pulau Ubin

When asked about Singapore, many people tend to associate Singapore as a concrete jungle with its perfectly manicured trees, bushes and paved roads with meticulously spaced out buildings. Few would imagine that there exists an island just 15 minutes away from the city that still retains some of its village charm. Pulau Ubin is an escape for avid mountain bikers who love taking the road less travelled-the off road trails.  The small island attracts many tourists, families and couples who enjoy taking photos of the beautiful scenery especially weekends.

Our Ubin Participants

We started our day bright and early by gathering at the Changi Ferry Terminal at 8.30am. Most of the participants were regular SMUX members, but that day we had the pleasure of hosting an exchange student from Austria who was particularly delighted at venturing the lesser known places in Singapore with us. It takes 15 minutes by boat to reach the Ubin jetty.
On the bumboat to Pulau Ubin

Some of the participants bicycles sun tanning on the deck

Upon arrival at Pulau Ubin. 

Renting our bicycles

After getting off our boat, we made our way to the bicycle rental shop. There are quite a few shops around with quality mountain bicycles. We used this time of trying out our bicycles to get to know each other better. For many of us, it was our first time doing mountain biking so we were really excited!

All ready to start the adventure!

As long as there’s a camera, we have to pose!

Hong Taa briefing the participants on the route

Before setting off, Hong Taa, the training IC for the event briefed everyone on the route we were about to take. Although small in size, Pulau Ubin has many interesting places to explore. Just like the efficient friendly tour guide he is, Hong Taa gave an energetic explanation on the trails we were going to explore.

Happy faces after finishing the beginner’s blue diamond trail

We started off doing the easy blue diamond route. With well beaten paths for us, it wasn’t too difficult for anyone as we went up and down the slopes. We survived!

Us with our bicycles at Ketam Quarry

At the end of the blue diamond trail which was slightly more difficult due to the steep up hill, we were rewarded with the very beautiful view of the quarry and the blue sky. As with all fences, we were meant to climb on top and take photos while sitting on it! The Ketam Quarry as its name suggests was a quarry that was converted in to a lake. Once used for industrial purposes, it is now a postcard worthy photo taking spot.

Reach for the skies!

We can conquer anything even with our funny faces.

Going down the rocky slopes of the difficult double black diamond trail for expert riders

While most of us rested, the adventurous few tried the most difficult trail in Ubin. The challenge is all part of the fun as Warren made his way down the rocky path. After resting for a little while and plenty of camwhore photos later, we made our way down the hill for lunch.

Kayakers came to join us for lunch.

We quickly made our way back to the jetty for a well deserved seafood lunch. True to the SMUX family spirit, the Kayaking team came to join us for lunch. While we were cycling in Ubin, they were kayaking around Ubin. It was quite a sight as they parked their kayaks right beneath the restaurant and walked up the stairs to join us.

Our seafood lunch was scrumptious!

Our fried sotong with sweet sauce. Yum!

Enjoying the greenery at Chek Jawa

After our lunch at the jetty, we took a walk along the mangrove swamps of Chek Jawa. The mangrove swamps are very well preserved and still teem with wildlife of all kinds.

Walking along the Chek Jawa boardwalk

Going up the Chek Jawa viewing tower.

 
A wonderful shot of our heads looking down from the tower

 

Tired but happy faces

After trying out the mountain biking trails, taking postcard worthy pictures and taking a nice long walk admiring the sea view of Chek jawa, we finally had to go home! It definitely was an adventure as we spent 5 hours in a jungle trail with great company and a delicious seafood lunch. Do join the SMUX Biking Team for more fun rides in future!

written by Melanie Tan