Ulu Temburong, the untouched rainforest but touched my heart...

15th November 2009, my post for this week is Refreshment manager for our BEACA group activity trip to Temburong. I provided mineral waters (free) and 100 plus (our collection) and ask them to bring it before we went on speedboat (water taxi) to Temburong. As early as 6 am, I've already waited at Kianggeh Water Taxi area (where usually tourist or people go to Temburong with speedboat) because as told before, we will leave to Temburong with speedboat at 6.30 am, unfortunately, the speedboat came late and we leave from Bandar Seri Begawan to Temburong around 7.30 am.

water taxi (speedboat)

Along the route, we seen a lot of mangrove forests which line the Brunei River flowing out of Sarawak into Brunei bay. If you were lucky, Proboscis Monkeys and birds may be sighted along this route, however there are more likely to be seen in early morning or late afternoon but no luck today only birds are seen. After a long 45 minutes enjoying the view along the sea and river way, we finally arrived at Temburong at 8.15 am and then rest for a while having our breakfast with roti kosong and teh tarek at one of the restaurant in Temburong. 

After having breakfast, we continued our journey by bus, it take around 30 minutes to reached our destination where 'Temuai' langboats waiting for us. 'Temuai' is a long boat like a shape of banana and can accommodate 5 to 7 people including the driver of the boat. But first, as usual 'safety first', before entering the boat we have to use life jacket and rain coat (in case of raining) provide by the organizer. Life jacket is the most important thing to use first before entering the boat as what I have learnt from our previous activity (sailing). Occasionally the longboats need to be pushed over shallow water, or some of the river section must be walked around while the boatmen negotiate the rapid. We arrived safely at Ulu Temburog, but don't expect in dry condition.

Finally the highlight of the day a Canopy Walkway but before that, we have to climb a small hill and a stairway which is very tiring. After 20 minutes of torturing our stamina, we arrived at the start up Canopy Walkway. This steel structure rises some 50 meters from the forest floor to the level of the highest trees, and the view is quite breathtaking from the top, we can see Brunei Bay to the north and Sarawak's Gunung Mulu Park to the south. What a beautiful view, watch the birds, take in the view and wait for other jungle dwellers to arrive. But unfortunately, the time was limited (for safety reason and time management), we don't have a time enjoying the beautiful view of the untouched forest but then it's worthwhile.

view from the highest point of canopy walkway, green and beautiful

We continued our journey enjoying the nature at nearby waterfall. It was amazing, the waterfall is so original and very beautiful. We then take our time enjoying the waterfall by taking a bath and swim around it.  After a while, we then take a break enjoying our lunch near the river before we continued our journey to the long house.

enjoying the waterfall

By bus, we reached the Iban long house, where we were cordially welcome by the members of the long house. The long house consist of 16 family members, the room and veranda are connected together. We then have a little chat with them and even participate in playing their games. Iban tribe is also known in making mat, 'tekiding', basket and others, their skill is very good and their handiwork is very delicate.

Conclusion, Brunei is a home to some of Asia’s best nature reserves and field study centres, which offer an exciting array of ecotourism and adventure activities. Isolation, mountainous terrain, and a dedicated preservation policy have protected the the forest from destructive logging, clearing and plantation development that has scarred many areas of Borneo. The Ulu Temburong is a haven for scientists and all people who appreciate the nature. It's also an income resource for Brunei, it's also  provides a job for the local people, like our boatmen and guides, they grew up in this area. The river is their second home. It gives them access to fishing, fruit gathering, and hill paddy rice fields outside the National Park. This can be a good contribution in our economic and reduce poverty.

Next time, maybe someday I will go back to Ulu Temburong to experience a true rainforest experience which maybe includes at least one night in the forest. Exploring along the walkways at sunset, and experiencing the sunrise from the Canopy Walkway. Rise before dawn to reach the top of the Canopy Walkway as the sky begins to brighten. Sit above the tree tops, watching dawn over the rainforest, with the passing parade of wildlife, as a new day begins.

Go Green BEACA.......

Sailing and Sinking.....

30th October 2009, our activity is SAILING... sound interesting yeah... Believe it or not, it's more than interesting story to tell... We were really excited on our sailing activity, at 6.45am all of us BEACAan assemble at the parking lot at Serasa beach and ready to sail... The boat which bring us sailing around some island in Brunei Muara area is DREAM CHARTER. The captain of the boat is Captain Peter Moeller and the crew is Aideen Henry and she is the Captain's wife, ai ai captain...

Captain and Crew
Captain Peter Moeller is a native of Germany and a very experienced skipper. Having sailed all shapes and sizes of yachts throughout his life he decided to start a World circumnavigation in 1999.  He has spent the last 10 years cruising the Inland Waterways of Europe, Mediterranean, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, West Cost of America, Canada, Mississippi, through the Panama Canal, Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Australia, Western Malaysia, Thailand and finally Borneo. Mean while Aideen Hendry is a native of Ireland has been sailing over the last decade. Mostly having sailed on Multihulls when she met Peter a monohull was a bit of a change. Always up for a challenge she took to Sailing Vessel Petima like a duck to water! Aideen has previously built a 43ft Catamaran in Perth Western Australia and sailed from Perth around the top of Australia to Brisbane on the East coast. From there through Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, The Andamans and back around to Borneo.

The Pick Up
Having a very experience captain and crew on board make me feel confident sailing on their boat. About 6.50am, Captain Peter and Aideen pick us up with his pontoon boat at the Serasa parking lot and introduce them self. After their introduction they ask for 10 first volunteer to go on board on their pontoon to head for The Dream Charter boat which is situated around 1/3 kilometer from land but only 8 of us volunteer to go first (me, Dr Asmah, Nuh, Ayiee, Nazz, Asri, Diana and Keem) . Before that we were ask to remove our shoes, slippers or sandals before entering the pontoon. Dr Asmah ask the captain about the life jacket that we should wear it or not but the captain said it's not necessary to wear the life jacket because the sailing boat was not too far (he should suggest to us to wear the life jacket). Ok, we trust him since he's the captain but Dr Asmah worried than put it on, I just hold the life jacket in my hand.

The Unexpected Incident Happen
Ready and Go... at the beginning all went good but the unexpected happen. About half way to the sailing boat, we realize water entering the pontoon from the right front side of the boat, Aideen quickly ask us to go behind the pontoon but the water was too fast entering it, and suddenly it's takes only 5 seconds to filled it up with water. All of us fall in the water without wearing the life jacket except Dr Asmah. Oh my god... this is the moment where we struggling for our life... the moment where we don't expect this kind of experience, I can't imagine what just happen to us. I managed to the surface because I was holding the life jacket that make me floating after submerged and drinking sea water (not bad at all). All I heard is 'I can't swim' but no one was shouting 'HELP'. No one was panic at that time which was good because if we are panicking we could be injuring some one else or our self. The first thing I do is to make sure everybody is safe and sound by asking and counting them, it's not because of I'm the first aider at that time, it's because of responsibility to each others, love and teamwork. Everyone holding the flip pontoon to make we stayed afloat. Thanks God everybody is safe, that is the most important, everybody alive only a small bruise at Dr Asmah lip and the funny thing is Asri is still wearing his sun glasses (stay macho bro...).

After everybody safe and holding the pontoon, the captain and his crew push the flip pontoon to the shore. We were still in shock condition, Dr Irene and the others are trying to help and calming us. Life and death totally in God hand, this is my first unforgettable, worth, valuable, asset, special experience in my 30 years in my life. Although we lost our phone, camera, MP3, foods and others but all of that thing we just lost is nothing compare to our life (I lost my nokia N97 and camera). It's very unforgettable experience that we can't find in any books in the world.

The Sailing Must Go On
After what just happen to us, we agree to determine our plan to sail. It's showed our spirit is very highly enthusiasm, full of confident and truly motivated. The sailing plan is to stop for a swim and enjoy the view and environment at Pulau Pelumpong and then go around Pulau Muara Besar and back to where we start.

Our Activities
First, we stop at Pulau Pelumpong which is a very beautiful island, it's still in perfect condition, very natural and very interesting view. We should preserve this Island because it's perfectly situated and covered Brunei from any dangers such as big waves, enemies (before it's was used to protect Brunei from enemies) and others. We takes around 30 minutes enjoying on the island. We ready to sail again, now we are sailing around Pulau Muara Besar that took more than 3 hours to go around.

While we are going around the island, the captain and the crew gave us some explanation about the boat. They told us about basic sailing terminology such as BOW: the front of the boat, STERN: back of the boat, PORT: left side of the boat, SAIL: help move the boat. mainsail, head sail, storm sail, WINCH: a metal drum used to help raise and trim the sails, ANCHOR: an object that grips the ground and makes you stay in one place and many more. Aideen also thought us how to tide a rope, one called the 'King of knots', it is one of the most useful knots to sailors. It can be made quickly and easily and will never jam and the other is square knot, best known as sailors' knot, it is useful for joining small ropes together. She also gave us some activities to fill up along our journey.

Conclusion
Despite of losing some of our belonging, I'm glad that our group have a courage and enthusiasm to carry on our journey to appreciate the environment. We have learnt many thing in this activities, which is the most important simple thing we forgot is the 'life jacket' but than it was a mercy that everybody is safe. Some useful cautionary  for my self and people around me in the future is learnt how to swim, always wear life jacket before entering the boat and don't panic in frantic condition. Appreciating and exposing the nature is one in many ways to build our economic growth because it can attract tourist.  'Perseverance' is the word for this week activity, because from beginning we keep on trying, to continue do something in spite of difficulties. I'm so happy to be alive... Love you guys... Our sailing finished around 2.00pm.

(sorry no picture due to some unexpected happening to my camera)

The Last Trek: Big Trees

25th October 2009, the last trek was so so challenging because from we started the trek, where we have to climb a hill that make me exhausted (of course not only me, mizah, imelda, nuh, ayiee were exhausted too, we were in one group). The path that we are trekking is like a 'Lollypop' shape which is, we are going out at the same way we entered the trek and at some point we were going around the jungle.

As we went deeper in the jungle, there is a small river with a waterfall which is very interesting and beautiful view which developed by nature. There's also a big wall of stone (I don't know where they come from, I think it's already there since the earth exist, probably) and of course the big trees. The Big tree aged more than 100-200 years, probably the biggest tree I ever seen in Brunei forest, its' took more than 10 people joining hand by hand around the tree. It was very interesting experiences to share. We also saw an Ixora flower (some called it xoxo), 'sumboi-sumboi', ants, spider and others nature habitat.

We noticed that the first group was lost, luckily Dr Irene found them and managed to bring them out of the jungle, thanks God they are safe...

To sum up the points from our first trekking activities 'Lucky Garden' till the the last trekking 'Big Trees', I learned that Dr. Irene wished to design and exposed more experiences that would help me and the other group members get outside themselves to a greater extend and develope a greater sense of responsibility and empathy for others and also help us to become better stewards of environment and would not only benefit the communities they live in but would also offer us the important personal experiences in raising consciousness, increasing self-esteem through competency and developing a positive self-concept that includes a heightened sense of caring and empathy for the people and things in their environment.

We began our journey with enthusiasm, from observers appreciating nature, awareness of abuse in nature, understanding the nature and toward preserving the environment.

Brunei's Polar Girl

BEACA students was lucky when Dk Najibah Eradah or Era (26) give a motivational, inspirational and delightful talk to us which was held at CLT, University Brunei Darussalam. First thought of her, I think she was a very tough, tall and have muscle like body builder but then I was surprise when I first saw her, I ask my friend Asri 'is that the Polar Girl?' she was only an average girl not so tall, gentle behaving, talking in mild, kindly and pleasant girl. I was then shocked and challenged by her physical appearance... She was very lucky indeed....

She was sponsored by Kaspersky Lab, in fact Kaspersky Lab agreed to sponsor the entire team. She is scheduled to depart for the United Kingdom on October 31, 2009 and will meet her teammates from seven other countries namely Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.  

Her long ambition and struggle to achieve something for the sake of the nation has encouraged the first Bruneian woman to venture to the South Pole.

The South Pole is situated about 2,700 metres (9,000 feet) above sea level and the winds flow from it over thousands of miles down to the coast. The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects the surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole.

She mention in her talk that they will travel on ski for some 900 kilometres across the most hostile environment on Earth, enduring temperatures of minus 40 degrees centigrade, with winds that reach speeds of over 80mph and of course expose to danger and risk. One of the risk that she mention is 'Frostbite'. Frostbite occurs when tissues freeze. This condition happens when you are exposed to temperatures below the freezing point of skin. frostbite is not treated immediately then the damage and the frostbite becomes permanent, nerve damage will occur due to oxygen deprivation. Frostbitten areas will turn discolored, purplish at first, and soon turn black. After a while nerve damage becomes so great that feeling is lost in the frostbitten areas. Blisters will also occur. If feeling is lost in the damaged area, checking it for cuts and breaks in the skin is vital. Infected open skin can lead to gangrene and amputation may be needed.

She also mention about 'janji melayu'... In her talk, she urged to us to wipe out the culture 'janji melayu' because it will not brings any good in any way (I agree with that).

Last but not least, the talk was very motivational and inspirational to us. Its' open our mind and thought not just remain on 'bed of roses' but to go outside their 'comfort zone' and set up our own goals in life to ensure those goals are achievable through our own efforts. I just wanna tell you that we are very proud of you and we will pray for your save long journey to bring our country name to the south pole... You just add one more history for Brunei... who knows maybe i'll be the first Bruneian to the moon... nothing is impossilble for me...

'We Support You Polar Girl'

Diplomat Resident Jungle Trekking at Kg. Sungai Akar.

18th October 2009, the third trekking at Diplomat Resident, Kampong Sungai Akar. My post in this week is The Trek Organizer along with Asri Haji Mohammad. Our jobs is to organize the group, divided the group and keep the group save in and out. As we all are ready, we divided into four group. We started trekking a bit late because of some problem occurred with the bus.

obstruction from falling trees...


We start our trekking at 6.40 am. The structure of the trek is very challenging because of many obstruction from falling trees, slippery condition and the confusion of the mark. I felt like the trek is more and more challenging but the teamwork of our BEACA group have shown making me more highly spirits, enthusiasm, cheerfulness and energetic.

About an hour and 15 minutes trekking through the trek, I felt like we are almost at the end of the trek but the truth is we are not even half way through the jungle. At some point we were lost indeed because of too much enjoying the nature but managed to get back on track, at this moment every step that I took is torturing my stamina but somehow I have to keep up my courage to finish the trek. We notice that the first group was lost due to following the wrong mark but managed to get back with the help from Dr. Irene and Azmey. This is one of the most important lesson that we learnt today.

termites nest.... beautiful...


Along the trek, I saw weird and wonderful things that can be found in the jungle such as termites nest. Termites, build their nests out of mud and clay. They use the tree or stump as a support for their nest, and then move down the tree to find their favorite food: decomposing wood on the forest floor. How wonderful the nature is, we should preserve the jungle, it's a home for thousand of animal even termite has their own home...

After about an hour and 30 minutes of trekking through the jungle from where we lost, finally we managed to finished the trek at 9.30am. After hours of tired and exhausted, I think this is the day where my physical and mental is forcing to the limit, but in the end it is worth, we learnt a valuable lesson today. Teamwork is the key and we share our success in the end... as the trek organizer for this week, i think we have successfully accomplish our jobs, all of us are safe and sound, no one was injured... so in the future, i would like to organize another trek adventure for my family, colleague in the office and maybe for tourist to promote the nature of our country, to appreciate it, to enjoy it and to preserve it...

Rimba Trekking

9th October 2009, we are going jungle trekking again. For this week my post is The Leader and Asri Hj Mohammad became my Sweeper and my group member is Muhd Nuh and Ayiee. This is our second jungle trekking and this time it’s more challenging than the previous one. We started our jungle trekking at 6.30am and came out at 8.15am. The trek organizer divided us into four group, we were the first group to enter the jungle.

Leading the Way
As a leader, I have to be responsible for my group member. It’s not easy to become a leader, you needs a lot of courage and bravery to lead a group of people because you don’t know what dangers ahead you, so the leader should have a quality that makes him/her able to meet dangers without fear.

Ok, after I make sure everyone is ready, Dr Irene gave us green light to started entering the jungle followed by second group not very far behind us. The trek is bushy because of the grass ‘lalang’ sprout up fast since no one has been trekking there for a long time. It is not easy to track down our mark because the mark is not very clear and difficult to see it, we first mark it when we recce the jungle on Monday, 5th October 2009 with Dr Irene. Despite of the difficulties, we managed to find our way through the jungle and of course this is because of the teamwork that we have built up and the good help of my sweeper.

Along the trek, we have a chance to see a foot print of a wild hog but we are not lucky enough to see one. We also have a chance to enjoy the natural beauty of the jungle and the strange thing is, there is drainage in the middle of the jungle… hmmm… I wonder why?

After around 20 minutes, my group manages to get out through the jungle and wait at the checkpoint for the other groups. Our group has given a BONUS, which is 15 minutes break. This is because of the support in teamwork that my group shows along the trekking that give us advantage 15 minutes earlier than the second group came out from the jungle.

Our first plan is to get back the same way we entered the jungle after meeting at the first checkpoint. But after we discuss about our experience and we felt like the first checkpoint was easy, then we make a decision with Dr Irene to trek another way to go through out from the jungle and Dr Irene agree.

New Way
The second trek was challenging and much more interesting. Why is it interesting? Guess what, there is an abundant house inside the jungle, don’t ask me why. I’ve been thinking why they waste a hundred thousand or a million dollar of money to waste without making any profit??? And the most important sad thing is they destroy the natural beauty of the jungle just to build an abundant house. All these wastages can be avoided if they plan really carefully in order to give a profit for both sides. Last but not least, we accomplished our trekking at Rimba that end up at the executive housing nearby where we start. It was a very useful experience to learn and I learn a lot in this activity.

“A Successful Teamwork Beats With One Heart”

JuNgLe Trekking at Sungai Tilong

4th October 2009, each of us were given a responsibility to choose from our previous meeting on 28th September 2009 at SHBIE. We will be choosing different responsibility for each week until week 14. The responsibilities are:-
 The Trek Organizers,
 The Leaders,
 The Sweepers,
 The Secretary,
 The Treasurer,
 The Refreshment Manager,
 The Bin Manager,
 The Photographer,
 The First-Aider and
 The Transport Manager

The Responsibility
This week our activity is Jungle Trekking at Lucky Garden, Kampong Sungai Tilong. My responsibility for this week is The Sweeper. My jobs is to collect list of students in the three groups from Treasurer before trek, perform roll call of students before and after trek to ensure students are not left behind at trek site, ensure all students of the group walk in front of sweeper and assist the Leader.

The Transport Manager has arranged the bus for us to leave from UBD to Lucky Garden at 6.10am and we arrive at Lucky Garden at 6.35am. As we arrived, The Trek Organizer divided us into three groups. I was in group one as The Sweeper and The Leader is Asri bin Haji Mohamad (energetic and responsible), our group members is Mohd Nuh, Ayiee and Nazz.

The Trekking
We started our Jungle Trekking as a first group to trek down the trail. Oops I almost forgot, we as The Leader and The Sweeper along with Dr. Irene already recce the trek on Friday 1st October 2009 before the actual day. So we know where the route is, but it's up to our Leader to lead the way (I trust him) and my jobs is to assist him.

As this was our first jungle trekking, some of us didn't wear a proper shoes. The route was very slippery and muddy because of raining in the afternoon one day before the trekking start.

The Learning Experience
Along our way through the jungle, we are doing our community service that is collecting rubbish that has been dump by people. There are soil and water, wildlife, trees and natural beauty to see, to learn and to understand because this will give benefit to the future generations. I was very happy to see that our jungle is still preserve from their natural habitat. Its make me think how lucky is our country to have this natural jungle or forest. It is a home for a habitat such as animals, insects and plants. Do you know 70% of Brunei Darussalam is still covered with trees? This is a good news for us, our forest is still save and secure from human threat but we don't know until when, until when we can keep their natural habitat. It is important for us to conserve our forest environment and surroundings to produce oxygen for us to stay healthy and fresh and this need co-operation from all of us. BEACA student has given time to reflect upon their own personal observations, feelings, and relationships with the natural habitat by going in the jungle. Help us care for the forest, because forest can contribute to well-being of human kind in the world by its role to provide source for food, water, medication, fresh air and also give us protection against flood, land slide and other dangers, so think about it... we can save our forest, ‘The Forest, Our Future’.