Bentong Farm Sanctuary

Bentong Farm Sanctuary is a really nice farm to visit. Really HUGE (acres of land), and run by a really passionate lover of animals! Upon arrival at the farm you'll be greeted by about 30 plus excited and friendly dogs who love visitors.

squatting down amongst the dogs is Shahrul who runs the farm. I'm really amazed at the things she does at the farm for the well being of the animals under her care.

Picture of a goat pen

Visitors are allowed to step in and pet the goats. However, these are very nervous,  timid creatures. When we moved, they moved away. Once Nel moved a little too fast, causing these goats to start running around..almost like a stampede. So be gentle with them.



Many species of cows there. This one came forward and begged to be photographed. I obliged and took a photo of her.





Then this beauty stepped forward and said "Mooo...not fair, not fair, take my photo too!!" So I obliged too and took a photo of Moo.



Then we headed  to a lovely lake specially for terrapins and tortoise. It's amazing to note the many different species. Here's 2 of the many, Box tortoise and the black marsh turtle

"Peek-a- boo"...said the Black Marsh Turtle. Unfortunately for this poor fellow, this is the best he can do at  hiding himself, unlike the Box tortoise who can hide itself totally.

Then there were 2 ponds of ducks, a whole lot of chickens, and fruit trees, and a lovely stream for a picnic too! It's unfortunate that my camera went blank at that point. My girls certainly had a lot of fun at this farm!



"Daddy..piggy back please" asked Jo, after a long day running at the farm

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Other posts on this farm can be found here Revisiting Bentong Farm and Fund Raising for Bentong Farm

To get to the farm: Get on Karak Highway, follow the Kuantan Sign. Take the very first Bentong exit and pay Tol. After the Tol, you'll come to a T Junction. Take a left, and drive along the river for about 5 Km. You'll come to a small signage which says Perting Valley Camp. Turn right there and drive on stony road. Cross a little bridge and you'll come to Lotus Liberation Sanctuary. That is the Farm itself. Do call before going.

Living on a Boat House on Tasik Kenyir (Kenyir Lake)

We spent 3 days on a boathouse out on Kenyir lake, through rainy and sunny weather. It is one of our best outdoor adventures so far. We went with 3 other families and a total of 17 children. Living on a boat house is wonderful coz it sails away (very slowly) to the cleaner section of the lake, away from noise, away from pullution. It takes you on a journey that allows you to enjoy the beauty of Kenyir. 

TO read more, please visit this link on my personal blog. Living on a Boat House Kenyir.

On the right is our Boat House..which was actually just planks kinda built together as a sort of shelter.  Because there aren't really safety planks around, I'd highly recommend you get life jackets before going, and to keep them on your children at all times.

@Martha, 2011

Making Simple Puppets



We found this lovely book on puppet making at the library. And there are all sorts of fantastic projects in it. We tried one of the simplest project from this book which is the knotted puppet





Simply cut out a piece of rag cloth. Using old paper/rags, form a ball for the head. Stuff in and tie a knot around to form the head.

Add woollen strands for hair. Then tie a knot on both sides of the cloth to form hands. Finally, place a long stick/straw beneath the cloth (hidden) for children to hold the puppet during story telling. P.S a reminder to self..in the future, use a more suitable cloth coz this came out looking like a ghost. ;) . Also if you like, you could sew in buttons or other material to form the mouth, nose and eyes.
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Cup Puppets (idea taken from same book above)





Stick your self-designed cut out clothes on a paper cup



Add a head



Draw in features, add in accessories. Here I've added a belt and used wool for hair



Stick a stick/straw under for hands to hold



All four dolls that my children and I had fun making
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Cardboard Paper Doll by Jessy Phuah

This lovely doll has 2 sides, a happy face on one side and a sad face on the other.

How Jessy did it~ Cut out shape of doll on a cardboard. Make sure to also cut out a long strip beneath the doll (attached to doll) to stuff into a thick straw for hands to hold.

~ cut out material from unwanted clothings and wrap around doll to create a pretty dress. Stitch or stick in place.

~Stuff long strip beneath doll into a thick straw to strengthen it

~add woolen strands for hair and draw in the face



Here's the Happy side of the doll



and the sad side

Hope you enjoy the projects as much as we did or look for the book for more ideas, or create your own.



@Martha, 2011

Camping on a beach (Teluk Segadas)

                                                                                                                                Early this year we went camping at Teluk Segadas, which is a rather isolated beach situated on Pangkor Island. The beach is only accessible by private boat, or by trekking about 45 minutes through mosquitoe infested jungle. We're fortunate that we had a friend who owned a private boat. Preparing for the journey wasn't easy. It involved loading a lot of items on the boat, supplies for at least 4 days.


Green waters as we approach the island



Here we've just arrived at the island, and unloading. more work!

However, the beach is really really beautiful, heavenly, almost a paradise on earth. The children loved it immediately and started exploring the place.

Here's a picture of the beach. Not a soul in sight, except for a little camping site, consisting of shacks right at the end of the beach. That too was empty, except for the owner himself.

See how isolated we are? All alone.

 So what did the children do? Well they
-swam,  went crab hunting at night, played in the parked boats, made camp fires and built sandcastles.

Scooping out water. Rather rough waves here.

We also took a trip to main island. To do that we had to reload the children in the bigger boat parked further out at sea.

  Now for just a piece of warning if you decide to camp here.

1) Do NOT leave your things unguarded! Monkeys will come and steal things right from your tent! Once we were cooking, we had monkeys coming from every direction. In  the future, I might consider bringing a grenade for them. (kidding! )

2) Beware of THIEVES. Take your expensive belongings with you if going on a trail or boat ride. We thought the island was safe, and left our things in camp while away. When we got back, all of our expensive things were STOLEN! We prayed, and one of our kids saw footprints leading to the jungle behind our tents. After a 4 hour search in the forest, somehow, thankfully, we found EVERY single item stolen. The thief had hid our items in various spots of the jungle, hoping to retrieve them later.

3) Beware of STORMS! The second night of camping there was horrifying. We were hit by heavy rain, thunder and lightning, strong winds of at least 80 m/p/h. It was frightening. The wind threatened to blow our tent, or smash it to pieces. My husband and I held on with every ounce of strength we had to protect our children inside. Thankfully we made it through the night unharmed. But look at the pic below, it showed what happened to our friend's tent.

The damaged tent

 Finally..do not let the last part of the post deter you from trying it out yourself. haha.. FOr us it was certainly an unforgettable adventure! :) Heavenly if not for the storm and thieves.

@flourpaint, 2011

Jadi Batek - KL

I last posted about our wonderful Batik learning experience at Uncle Sam's Batik, where you get to learn Batik Painting hands on with a very good artist, who's also a very dedicated and patient teacher.

Well, here's another Batik center we found, Jadi Batek. I'd say, the experience there  was really worth the time and money as well. Price ranges from 30RM to 100++RM, depending on cloth size.

Some pictures.

you get to observe artists at work

this artist was using wax directly on the cloth, freehand drawing and his strokes were beautiful and neat.

learning how to use the canting

what a wonderful way to explore and express

almost completed work..

some of the completed works..

my piece of art

some completed work by artists at Jadi Batek

 Once you're done with your work, you can eat at the mamak across the road, really good food!! Then head towards the back of the mamak, and you'll find Two very huge and crowded Chocolate Outlets!! yummmm...

For more info you can check them out at http://www.jadibatek.com/.

@Flourpaint, 2011

Sematan

You'll know you've arrived in Sematan when you see these shops.

Sematan is quiet fishing village almost at the tip of West Sarawak, about an hour and a half's drive from Kuching. Here time stands still.. things are slow going. This little town is famous for its never ending stretches of beach, seafood!, padi fields, pepper farms and fishing of course! It's also a place where fish mongers go to collect the catch of the day before heading to markets around Kuching.

I enjoyed our short stay there, simply because of the peace and quiet.
Here's some shots from the town of Sematan.

Heavenly seafood for very very cheap. Half of what we pay in town.

Tranquility.... not a soul in sight except us....and the sand flies. haha...

The Red House... by a beach near Lunduk

Nel...my free spirited girl...running by the waters...into the sunset...

village roads that seem to lead to nowhere

beautiful pepper farms



little J searching for shell

shells shells...beautiful shells..

So if you're in Kuching and long for some quiet..do head out there to Sematan. You can stay at Palm Beach Resort, which offers cosy chalets.

@Flourpaint, 2011

Rafflesia and Raja brooke at the Ulu Geroh National Park

A Day after our wonderful Caving at Gua Tempurung , we headed towards
Ulu Geroh Forest Reserve which is located approximately 11 KM from Gopeng MCA. The 11 Km is a slow drive through very narrow and bumpy road. When on forest road, beware of traffic coming from opposite direction as you don’t want a collision.



Caught em' mating ---male on top??

 If planning on going, do contact Ngah at this number 017-5691227 to check first if there’re any Rafflesias in bloom. We called ahead and Ngah said there was only one, and it was “cacat” (retarded) with only 3 petals. We’ve seen lovely Rafflesias twice in bloom at the Gunung Gading National Park  before, but decided just to go ahead here to view a different species of the Rafflesia.

the beginning of the trail, just an easy walk through a muddy path

don't be fooled by its beauty, it's a LEECH!

The Trek to find the Rafflesia can take any duration between half hour to 2 hours, mostly through hilly paths, depending on where the Rafflesia is. Ours was just a short trek, but through VERY muddy paths with VERY HUGE  and HUNGRY leeches which will trek your feet down!

I had several huge ones on my pants, but thankfully none had the privilege of sucking my blood! haha :).  Some say applying Tobacco on your shoes and shocks will prevent leeches from crawling up. Let me tell you, it certainly DIDN’T work with the hungry leeches here. Our brave children went ahead and none got bitten. Just be watchful and keep walking.







 We found the Rafflesia after half hour of continuous uphill climb, and true it was cacat! Problem here is many tourists go through these tracks, and also local people go in and out several times a day to harvest durians. Our guide told us, when some people carelessly step on Rafflesia buds, the flower that blooms is then abnormal.



A bud, will probably bloom in less than a month from now

the 'cacat' Rafflesia. Probably deformed coz someone stepped on it while it was a bud. (so said our guide.)

So it's important to teach our children to trek carefully and not destroy the buds, which can be found on host vines.

After the slippery climb, we headed to find the Raja Brooke, and saw some Stick Insects on the way. Now this, was an AWESOME sight!

very huge stick insect!

A Close up of the Stick Insect



Raja Brooke Butterflies. According to the guide, they love the warm water here



closer look





 

  

The guide caught one for us. Some of us held it, but very gently so as not to harm it, and only for a while before we let it go. the children were all excited over this.



Close up of it's head

Finally, if you're at Ulu Geroh, do head to Gua Tempurung for some caving adventure!

Do visit this post Gunung Gading Rafflesia too.
@martha, 2011