Bakti Siswa @ Felda Lok Heng

Just a couple of days ago, we went to Felda Lok Heng for some community service. Bakti Siswa, as it is called, is like this - you go in and be "anak angkat" of one of the participating family. You stay there with them, but you have to join all the programme lined up. No its not a free loading either, these families were paid some money for that.

So off we go to Felda Lok Heng, Kota Tinggi!!

The first stumble though, came as early as on the first day. We were told to wait for the bus at 7.30 a.m. Guess what, we waited for 1 hour plus for the UKM drivers to drive the buses here. WTF!!

But still, over 40 of us still managed to embark safely to Kota Tinggi.

After some long long journey which was filled with sleeping and more sleeping, we reached our destination at 3.30p.m. We were served with some foods to cure our starving stomachs.

Then, we were assigned our "keluarga angkat" (foster family) and go home with them, only to take bath and get to know the house we are going to spend two nights there. At evening, we were to be playing some local sport call petanque. Apparently, their main evening sport is this.

petanque is just like lawn bowl...only in a traditional way

the nearest to the tiny ball wins, every ball for one point. First to 15 points win.

That night after prayer, the game continues but i and another engineering faculty dude who were assigned to the same family decided to chat with the foster father Mr. Jamaluddin Hashim. He has 4 children, of whom all were quite successful on their own right. The eldest is even a doctor. He is, no doubt very proud of this daughter.

In Felda, there are many benefits the settlers can get. Felda even sponsors the children to further their studies and many other useful courses. However, Mr. Hashim said that many were not interested and they are more comfortable lazing around waiting for parents to feed them.

Apparently, their TV can received Indonesian and Singaporean channels too! We watch and Indonesian show called the Miss Celebrity Indonesia, which was won by the most "not beautiful" finalist.

The next morning we had aerobics, which was miraculously attended by all UKM participants and lead by the elders from Felda Lok Heng. And they put many guys to shame by outlast and outfit them. Serve them right.

Then the real fun begins. Our first trip of the day is to the palm oil plant nursery. Here, all baby oil palm plants are palnted and taken care off before being sent to the real farm to be planted. Of course they do tell us a lot of things but as you know, i am more interested in sightseeing than hearing. But i ask the only question that come to my mind. How long does it take from planting a seed to the day we got the return? 4 years. And compare that to rubber trees that also need the same soil as palm oil.

beautiful? I think the same....

up close and personal, people.....

Next on our agenda is the oil palm farm. Here we are to walk through the farm and reach the factory. My fantastic friend Aiza was unfortunately carrying some injuries and the walk was a chore since we were in nursery and it worsen in the oil palm farm. Poor girl...

me at the entrance to the farm

Aiza who by now is half-dead but still play on for this photo..We had many scandals already so for you who saw this picture and think of anything, save it.

Felda seems to be very creative. They manage to convert the palm oil waste into fertilizer. They called it forming, i think it is because they wait for those waste to foam. The smell stink by the way.

we hiked a lorry to the foaming pool. this photo is deliberately taken this way so that you know how chaotic this bunch of law students inside the lorry

This fantastic technology is, however, not shared with other companies. If this is shared, surely the environment would be better. When i ask if they had any plan to sell the technology, they are non-committal.

the final level foaming pond

this is how they spray. However, only ten years old above trees can be sprayed. Every three months spray one time.

Then, we get to get into the factory for real. In the factory, we were glad to be treated with a tasty lunch. Tha should be our breakfast though but we were delayed at the nursery so it became our lunch. I must say, the foods are good, but poor Aiza would not be joining us in the factory but to rest in the bus while eating the food in the bus all alone!

We do see a lot and learn a lot about the factory. One advice to be given to the kids. Study hard or you will end up in the factory everyday! That is not a good thing. You had been warned.

However, it is said (i do not know if it is true) that the engineer there work only one day per week in the factory and their salary is, well, high. Maybe it is not so good that i reveal the figure here.

factory!!

Just so you can see the smoke that came out. by the way, that is Geok you are seeing.

i am not kidding you, the smoke smells sweet

We skipped the jungle trekking part as it was already too late. We organized a motivation talk for the local students here on that afternoon, while we ourselves busied ourselves by making some beautiful bookmarks for the benefits of the disabled institution in this place. Later, we had a futsal match, which the UKM girls teams were thrashed badly by the Felda Lok Heng teams while the boys teams fared much better but still lost. Nevermind, it is the sporting spirit and friendships that matters.

That very night, we organized another talk, this time on family and relationship for the benefits of the older generation of the settlers. I do not think it is wise for me to list out what the ustaz said lest my blog be the religio-political battleground.

The next morning was the time to say goodbye. After the closing ceremony, the buses were, of course very late again so we bought some drinks for all the "parents". Everyone was happy so i don't mind taking out some money. Afiq was so nice to share half of the cost and Shahrul lent his bike for us to get those drinks.

When the bus finally arrived, it was an emotional scene as this time, it is farewell for real. Jasmine was crying so badly and so do many others. They had really treat us very well and it is always hard t say goodbye. May they always have happiness and good health.

Some pics we managed to take together

After we left Felda Lok Heng, we went for a round of fun in Desaru. Geok and Shea Erl still owe me those beautiful pictures. Better get some from Aien too. Haha..

Note : Special thanks to Geok and Aiza for lending me their phone for me to take pictures. Moral values - do buy phones with picture taking capability.

More notes :

1) The Felda Lok Heng settlers are mainly well-off, mainly from the generous Felda and also the recent palm oil price hike. They need not our help financially but as their children had grown up and they are left at home alone, i think we brought some colors to their life, which is not at all a bad thing.

2) Don't ask me how the Felda scheme works and how much they earned. I do not think i should reveal them in public domain.

For all the great memories, we thank all the people involved directly and indirectly.

Petrosains photos

queuing up to get into the Dark Ride, the entrance of Petrosains












In the Dark Ride, nothing more than some video show












Have fun with hurricane anyone?















does nothing more than ruining my hair













We found a scale!













Wonder why orang minyak? your guess is as good as mine..












this is how a certain space tourist exercise















and this is how he sleeps!
















bzzzzzzzzzzz















who cares?















some beautiful video call



















the "reused" band













wait...that didn't come from dump site!




















Grrrrr........
















nice dinosaurs plastics














now this is great















high five to the worker on oil platform...














this is where those workers stay















another kids playground!!













i dedicate this bomb to all who deserved one....









so long folks...

Food Review : The Ship in Jalan Sultan Ismail

After we went out from Petrosains, our stomachs told us to eat something or they will organize a mass demonstration.

But we are so smart to get out from KLCC at 5.30pm that we are caught in a massive jam.

After a draining and energy sapping drive, we finally reach The Ship. Yes.....our stomachs are saved now.

The Drinks

We ordered a coffee and some concoction which i forgot what it is called. The coffee was just like any coffee you can get from places like this but the other drink was great! But that came witha price tag of RM 8.00

Yup, the right hand side ones cost you Rm8


The Foods

XY ordered a french sounding chicken that is cooked with red wine while i ordered a "normal" sounding chicken called the Black Pepper Chicken. While waiting, we were served bread and butter as appetizer.

This thing cost RM 20.90


This meanwhile, also the same price :p


I always wonder why bread is appetizing. Perhaps i am just not a European.

Anyway, before i managed to savor my bread, the main course came. Needless to say, that was fast and i was hoping that they do not just reheat those foods.

But the foods were good. They are worth every cents you pay for it. The taste was just right with the right portion for each of them.

Then we got another plate of Yong Chow Fried Rice, not because we were still hungry but rather to taste it. I mean, eating Yong Chow Fried Rice in the Ship?






The Yong Chow Fried Rice







I remember when i wrote about Ah Koong Eating House, i mentioned that if you were to provide for a food that can be easily obtained at half the price, make sure you are special. Now, you can get a Yong Chow Fried Rice easily for RM 5 but The Ship charged RM 13.90. So what you get for more than doubling the price?

Plenty. While the taste might be a bit westernized, the quality is there. You get to eat a nice YC Fried Rice. Plus, there are more than half a dozen of large size prowns in there. Imagine how mush the normal Chinese "big wok" gonna charge you for that.

What else, oh yea, you get impeccable service for the price you paid plus the fantastice ambience.

The Dessert

We ordered a banana split to be shared. It consist of three scoop of ice cream together with some fresh fruits and of course, a banana that is split in the middle. It was as good but nothing really special.







Look at that Banana Split!









Impecable Service

The first thing we realised upon stepping our foot into The Ship was that almost all the service staff were foreigners. The only remotely Malaysian looking staff were the captain (i think, or maybe he is the vice captain?) who looked more like a blur Hongkie than a Malaysian Chinese.

However, the service they rendered were fantastic. They were prompt and efficient, though sometime they might not catch you. However, they were well trained and you can be rest assured of their capability. In fact, when we had our YC Fried Rice served, they asked if we were sharing it and gave us two sets of cutlery. The same goes to our Banana Split, they gave us two spoons.

And you won't have to look at their "i-had-a-bad-day" faces as they won't show you any. I just had many fair share of experience even when i am paying them so much for those foods and The Ship is definitely not one of them.

The Ambience

The Ship was designed to be like a restaurant in an old ship. Most of the interior material was made from wood. You get to see some nice painting and some knots that normally a ship would need to tie.

The ambience was great. It is worth the money you spend on the food.

We were Satisfied

Who is not after a hungry stomach is filled with delicious food?

Verdict : Go dine in The Ship!

A Day In Petrosains KLCC

Why would anyone go to Petrosains KLCC?

a) Your school had a trip there.
b) Your children wanted to go there
c) You as a teacher need to bring the kids there
d) You wanted to go there (haha)
e) Your girlfriend wanted to go there

As the second part of my princess birthday celebration marathon, we went to Petrosains today. Unable to sleep last night (maybe i slept too much in the evening, err...correction, i do slept too much), i woke up very late the next day, causing our Lake Garden trip to be postponed. Neway to Petrosains we went, not without sesat-ing before reaching.

Petrosains is situated at Level 3 KLCC. It is an edutainment park that largely cater for school going children, so you can imagine my enthusiasm in going there, but since THE princess wanted to visit, there is no saying no.

For normal adult, the price was RM 12.oo but as students, we had a 20% discount. That was one of the little benefit to be called a student.

We were to sit in a dark ride which is essentially a short ride while being entertained by some not so state of the art video show. Then we were officially inside the park where our legs take over the job. And let me be very frank. The first part of the park is a bore. These confirmed my belief that Petrosains is for kids.

They did the normal exhibition on chemistry, biology, geography etc. with a very kid-like scenario. The attraction that greet you is the simulation of hurricane. Inside the capsul, you will be blown by up to 130km/h wind that do nothing but ruffled my hair. And since that i had a bad hair day for the rest of the day. It does tell me that wax does not last in a hurricane so you can forget about your appearance if you are in the middle of one.

What are the rest...oh yea, you get to measure your weight in digital precision for many times in the park. I think there are around two machine that essentially measure your weight but i doubt the reliability since Princess' weight chages each time she stood on one.

And you will have all the usual suspect, some glasses, some stones, some space info and some photo taking places. There was a musical performance today where the kids said they were using recycled items to make some music. I would say that is a misuse of word. That is reused waste that they are pumping some not so harmoniuos sound that will get you a vist by the police if you do it at home. Your neighbor will not be so considerate and praise you for the effort.

Things get a little interesting for photo taking purpose when we entered into a dinasour era exhibition. And damn, we even got to smell some bygone era air, which they simulated by putting loads of dunno-wat gas into it. But the dinasours are so little and so plastic that i see even the kid are not interested. But they are not there to talk anout dinasour, they are there to talk about how these unfortunate dead bodies were turned into petroleum that were pumping money into Petronas' pocket.

Then we enter into the space column. Here, a huge collection of exhibition that will make you jealous of why we are paying RM 5 millions for one Sheikh to play with all the toys. There is again some not so magnificent but quite smart video show and a miniature petroleum dredging model playground that proved a hit with the kids. Maybe tehy will aspire to work in an oil platform sometime in the future. Afterall, turning some knob to scoop some stones out is fun.

A little exciting moment for me come after we waited like 30 minutes to board a helicopter simulation. Nice one i must say.

Then we are treated with a real bit of reality of how an oil platform looks like and how much fun living and working there. I can only say i am glad to be reading law.

"Deng deng deng, we are closing in 30 minutes, go play all you can and get the hell out of here" What the fuck? We are not even half way through! So we rush through what proved to be the most interesing part. This section is called Speed and here we are treated with all kind of fun simulations and games. We can drive an F1 car, do some strenuos exercise to compare our weight-to-power ration with a bull, a Proton Waja and an F1 car. i mean, what the fuck? Compare with a bull? So naturally, i am 4 times weaker than a bull in that ratio and many times behind an F1 car. If there is 4 me, i can beat a bull. Do they expect that makes me grateful to God that gives me a strong body that still loses to a bull? Bullshit.

In that section also, we can test our speed of throwing a baseball (i can never enter American baseball team with only that slow), skiing, driving an F1 (did i said that already?), do more exercise, etc etc. BB should come here. She can then diet while learning Science. Only RM10 and you can exercise while marvelling at all the exhibition cannot be bad right?

"Deng deng deng, we are closing, now get the hell out of here so that we can clean up and go home". Fuck, i haven't done yet! Just when i am getting into mood they ruin it. So before we left, Princess still manage to be a few second of virtual goal keeper. And off we go.

Oh, we actually played for 3 hours already! Damn, now we are tired and hungry. Its time to eat.

Verdict :

Should you go Petrosains?

Yeah you should, just rush over the first part and play more toys that the space tourist we sponsored managed to play, and get to the Speed section ASAP before they close down.

Alternatively, wake up earlier and be there as early as possible and play the whole day.

***Note : Blogger having problem today so cannot upload photo.
photos will be uploaded soon, together with the next food review.

Fasten Your Seat Belt, People

This is especially for my friends who never like seat belt.

What is the meaning of life?