Bakam Waterfalls

#tbt 27/Dec/2020

What better way to end the year 2020 with an adventure into the unknown (cue Frozen 2 music). What a year this has been; I’m sure everyone can agree when I say we all had to cancel some kind of plans we had made for travel this year. I miss my hometown and family a lot since shifting to Miri late Oct 2019. So when this opportunity came, and with ONE SEAT LEFT – I grabbed it! Not knowing the full details of the hike, it dawned on me later on that I might have signed myself up for something that’s bigger than I initially thought. 

Early next morning, we gathered at one of Morsjaya kopitiam to have breakfast and among the topics of discussion were ‘what happens if we need to go no1 or no2?’ Wet tissues – check!, tissue papers – check!, leaves – aplenty through the trip! Then we thought, maybe we shouldn’t eat too much for breakfast, just in case. A short prayer by a significant person of God, and off we go. 

The skies were gloomy, and within 10mins after we took off on the road towards Bakam, it started to rain. Bummer – we were hoping that it wouldn’t. We made a stop to wrap up our stuff behind the Hilux with big garbage bags to keep them dry, and continued on with the 30mins drive up to the gate. This gate was unfortunately closed for cars to drive further into our destination; forcing us to park nearby and to start our journey by foot. 

_{(Kevin, William, Veron and Kai Shin in the car)}

Because the rain has started to become heavier, some of us put on a poncho to keep dry as we weren’t ready to get wet yet, but mostly also to keep our bags dry. One of the most important tips for a waterfall hike which we got from one of the uncles, was to put our belongings into a zip lock bag. That was the best tip ever!

In this case, even if it pours and our bags do get wet, the important things in our bags stay dry and safe – just in case of any accidents along the way like falling into a river. On another note, we should have just left our dry clothes/sarongs/towels in the car (and this is Tip no.2). Since we will get dirty and wet on the way back to the car as well, a big bag full of clothes & unnecessary load doesn’t help any hiker to cross slippery streams and balance on logs – trust me on this! 

The terrain along the way was picturesque and beautiful, a real treat for nature lovers. It takes about one and a half hours to hike to our destination; be prepared to get wet up till waist high as you advance in the trail which is part of the fun. the land is mostly quite flat and not much height, making the walk enjoyable and light.

Upon reaching the waterfalls, we were first greeted by the sound of the falling waters. And then like some kind of reflex, my heart started pumping and I got excited and walked faster to see what beholds ahead. The waterfall was approximately 60 to 90 meters high, with so much water falling over and over from the top of it. I just sat there absorbing and slowly taking in its glory and splendor; how great is our God! Nature in its natural uninhibited form, so magnificent and I get to enjoy all these. how wonderful are Your creations!

Other than just the view to enjoy, we also got a really special treat – freshly roasted corn!! Though I’m not a big fan of corns, I must say that these corns were unlike any other! Bearing in mind the fact that a particular strong man helped to carry them all the way, and the uncles started a fire there to cook them, made them all the more delicious.

I must add that this group of people that I went with were exceptionally helpful and caring. They made the journey light and enjoyable although it rained mostly throughout; and our bags and clothes and shoes were soaked through and through. anyone could have easily complained or grumbled especially on the way back when we were quite tired, but no one did.

There was a certain kind of goodwill with this team; a lot of hands were offered to each other for assistance (I’m so grateful) and each of us looked out for one another making sure everyone (and pet) made it through safely, specifically when you’ve lost your footing and can’t find a way back up.

Not sure about the others, but with the uncles around, there was a sense of warmth for me. Not only because they are a bunch of chill and experienced hiker-uncles, but they also reminded me of the precious times I shared with my hasher-dad going up and down Penang’s hills. This trip was a last-minute, no-regrets, soaking-wet, all-worth-it, adventure-filled, even inspiration-filled one; I hope I get a chance to bring my family here one day soon.

_{pic after everyone changed to dry clothes, and heading home}

P/S: sometimes pics tell us more than words do …. see below:

Lesson learnt.

A. Never underestimate a person’s journey.

B. Just because it looked like a simple act for one person, doesn’t mean it will be simple for me. Never take for granted the works/experiences that they’ve put in, which made the act easy.

SK School Transfer

I really really want to rant – but I’ve become too tired and too fed up to care about ranting anymore. It has come to a stage where ‘I just don’t want to talk about it’ coz even the thought of this whole ordeal makes me tired.

BUT, I feel the need to inform some parents out there who might be going through a similar phase, in hopes that they don’t have to go through what I have gone through.

Ever since our possible shift to Miri got confirmed, I have been gearing myself up and checking online and asking relevant folks about the process & procedures including the things needed for School Transfer. I checked with friends who are teachers who have been in school for many years; I spoke with the school office clerks; I spoke with the kids’ class teachers; even the PK HEM in school. One thing was profoundly interesting from all their advices – there is no proper system in place.

Each party gave me their advice – and each a different advice. One said to go Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri (Shah Alam for Selangor), the other said go to PPD, and another said just go to the Schools.

Thinking that going to the Schools (plural – as my kids go to different schools. not coz I kiasu/kiasi, Convents are for girls only) would be nearer, I went to the schools first. Which turned out to be a good move, because all I needed to do was to fill in the school form for transfer of school. So, here’s the gist of my journey, minus the drama & headache.

Process:

1. Know/Decide which School you want to transfer your children to. Get the School’s information i.e. Address & Contact number.
   
2. Go to the current school, fill in the School Transfer form. (Document: School Transfer Form, prepare copies of child’s MyKid card, birth cert, and parents’ IC) – Better yet, CALL the current school, and ask to confirm which documents they will require for this process. So that you don’t have to run around like I did.
   
3. Collect the signed School Transfer Form, and send it to the PPD (Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah) in that state. In our case, it was Miri AND Kuching. Because we have not yet shifted to Miri that time, but it took time to process the documents, Ayl brought the documents to PPD Miri first when he was on one of his business trips. He was advised to send one copy of all documents to PPD Kuching for authorization. So, ensure you have a few original copies from the school.
   
4. Make sure to get the contact number for the PIC in PPD, so you can call to check on the status of the transfer. We called to check a few times, and then got the confirmation that our transfer was authorized and confirmed from PPD Kuching.
   
5. While this process was happening, I went to the schools to meet up with their respective class teachers to inform the teachers on the transfer. At the end of the day, before the Student leaves the school, the class teacher is to hand over the Student’s records and information.
   Now as a parent, I have entrusted this task of handing over the documents wholly to the class teacher. What documents or records or compulsory paperwork that is to be handed over – I wouldn’t know anything; only the teacher knows. But it’s ok, I shall blame myself for being ignorant and too reliant on the teachers. And because of that, I am still paying the price because some documents were not handed over, and now it is causing complications and giving me grievances until today.
   
   IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS TO TAKE NOTE OF:
   A. KAD KESIHATAN
   B. BUKU REKOD AKADEMIK
   C. PAJSK
   D. LAPORAN PBS
   E. MARKAH UJIAN PSIKOMETRIK (for Std 6 students)
   F. MARKAH UJIAN TERAKHIR (only if it’s not in the Record Book)
   or you could find their results online at https://sapsnkra.moe.gov.my/ibubapa2/ Only if the teacher has input the latest exam results in the system. If the Student’s name has been transferred to the new school, you might not be able to view it anymore.
   G. FAIL PERIBADI PELAJAR
   H. LAPORAN LINUS/PRESTASI SUMATIF KSSR
   
6. Call PPD, and get their confirmation on the transfer. When the transfer is confirmed, we are to submit a copy of the stamped & signed School Transfer Form back to the respective schools before the children leave school.
   
7. After the shift to Miri, we went back to PPD with the intention of collecting back the signed Transfer Form, but was informed that the form that they have was not signed; and they handed to us the unsigned form. We were advised to just go to the school that we applied for, and speak to the people in the school Office.
   Perhaps things are more relaxed here in Miri compared to back in Selangor, the clerk took our unsigned Transfer Form and checked in the system and confirmed that both my children’s name are in their school system.

Since Arielle will be going to Form 1 next year, it was crucial that she has all her documents with her. But, her class teacher missed out a few important records and now we have some complications about how to obtain it now. Complications being her name has been transferred to the new school so the teacher from the old school was not able to retrieve it from the system; the teacher in the new school was ‘too busy and caught up with work’ to log in and print the records; and today being the last day of school.
…….. *patience *patience….. I shall not go into ranting mode.

So, that’s about the gist of it! MAKE SURE you check and double-check on all the documents above before your children leave the school. If not, thou shall hunt the class teacher down everyday until you have everything you need BEFORE leaving school permanently. Not sure why I am the one who needed to do the chasing down and up…. IF there was a system in place, IF people did their jobs right… IF IF IF ….

– Don’t make the same mistakes I did –

Even the Bible teaches us to learn from the mistakes of others.
Proverbs 21:11 –
New International Version
When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.

New Living Translation
If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded become wise; if you instruct the wise, they will be all the wiser.

King James Bible
When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.


Jadi, pandai-pandailah kalian. I hope this information is helpful! Oh, and if I have missed out anything, teachers out there – please feel free to enlighten. TQ

List of things to get for School

When Arielle first started school, we bought her the nicest pencilbox she wanted, you know the ones that has a lot of buttons to press and some small compartments will open; it has a compass and a detachable pencil sharpener – cool stuff like that, which comes with the latest cartoon (no, not Frozen) and then we got nice 2B pencils, quality erasers and a nice fancy ruler. For her bag, we got her one with wheels at the back so she didn’t have to lug her heavy bag on her small shoulders. Her grandma bought her a Tupperware bottle. First child and first grandchild going off to school… everyone was excited and excited for her.

Just one week in, she’s lost all her pencils. Another week in, her eraser is gone and is replaced with one of her friend’s; her ruler as well. Meanwhile, her pencilbox is slowly missing its detachable pieces. Sighsss…. this isn’t the end tho. After we replenished her pencilbox with new stationaries, they lasted for nearly 2 weeks max.

When Ashton started school, he didn’t have as much fancy stuff as did Arielle; we just decided to be wiser 🙂 But, we still got him some quite expensive stationaries to use in school. We rationalized, since he has most of the time took better care of his own things and is better at keeping them in proper, that he would also bring this positive attitude with him to school… naturally.

How wrong we were… (#facepalm)
He turned out to be worse.

his school shirt which he ‘accidentally spilled’ an opened marker pen on.

 

his school track pants which ‘his friend used a scissor on’.

Should I also mention, he managed to use a whole bottle of glue in one day at school (must’ve had a massive collage session during art lesson), break his plastic ruler AND PENCILS! into small pieces just coz he can, tear pages from his school exercise books to make his very own ‘origami’ and lose bottles after bottles of water bottles he brings to school everyday. He also broke 2 of those schoolbag with wheels and is now with his 3rd schoolbag, which is a backpack (coz no more wheels for you!) and the school year isn’t even done yet. (inhales……… exhales) 

So, what have we learned?
Here’s my list of ‘smarter’ stuff to get for School.

1. School Bags – we bought Arielle an ‘Astrokid‘ bag, one with wheels and is ergonomic for her back which lasted for nearly 3 years. I would recommend this bag, even though it is quite steep in price (retails for at least RM250) but if it means not having to keep buying new bags within a year itself, why not? Not so sure if Ashton was the one using it though…hmmm.
2. Pencilboxes – we don’t buy them anymore… hahahaa…. we just use those free/gifted ones in whatever shape or colour they come in. Our friends were nice to provide them as gifts knowing that they’re attending school now.
3. Stationaries – Mr DIY is our best friend. We buy erasers, pencils, rulers, sharpeners, glue etc in bulk and slowly, very slowly ration them to the kids when theirs’ run out. Sometimes I refuse though, esp when I just gave them a new one… the day before! Why is it so hard for them to be responsible for their own stuff?
4. Water bottles – originally we bought those BPA free ones, and they had Tupperware/Rubbermaid/Bro’s as well. After many lost ones, we just went to get some from Mydin and kept a few in storage just in case. Or they use whatever that we have; bottles gifted from company/banks. Sorry, too bad!
5. School attire – it is always wise to buy more than what they will wear, and keep for ‘just-in-cases’, especially their school shoes. We were fortunate to have extra ones for Ashton’s ‘accidents’.
6. Hair accessories – if you have daughters, going to public school would require black, white or blue hair ties/clips/hairbands etc. and the stocks for these has to be infinite…. yes, infinity and beyond.

So…. (glass raised) here’s hoping we as parents become smarter together, and avoid having to waste precious time and resources, including raising more responsible kids. Cheers!

 

Teaching

I’m sitting here teaching Arielle Mathematics, and waiting for her to respond to me … simple maths like how much is left after $$ amount is spent – basically, it’s addition/subtraction. Since she’s taking a long long time to think, I thought I’d cool down a bit by writing down my thoughts and ask myself some questions:

1. Why am I getting so agitated/frustrated?
2. Why am I raising my voice?
3. What does she learn in school when she can’t do a simple Q like RM1 – 0.45sen??
4. Is it because I have not followed up with her close enough?
5. Why do I feel like I’m gonna bleed through my ears, mouth and nose??
6. Is this normal when teaching one’s own child?
7. Should I be praying for more patience?
8. Could it be due to the fact that I’m also trying to swat that one-single-super-annoying mosquito that’s been trying to feed on me with the batt-operated racquet under the table?

And guess what? I also happen to see this just this morning… what does it even mean?? no homework?

 

*hands up* Can we please shift to Finland, please? Lesser mosquitoes there too.

so… Hong Kong

I was in HK for training last week, for a week with Talika and it was good to finally meet up with the peeps I communicate daily with online through skype and email for work. at least now, I have a face to match with the names I write to.

yes, if i haven’t mentioned it before, i’m actually working now at home – full time+flexi hour. so this guarantees my hours at home being ‘full-filled’ 🙂

so, back to Hong Kong. it has great food i can’t deny that, public transport is very efficient, very nice place for a social life as there are so many international people working and living there, and it’s safe; no snatch-theft or ppl breaking your car window to get the bag you left inside – the downside … crazy hectic rush humid small crammy – to  sum it up, if I were to stay for 1 more week, I’d be admitted for having fits or a nervous breakdown. the standard of living is high, like 3times compared to M’sia, living spaces are very small and very expensive, but if you want to live in a bigger place it’ll be far away from town. there are people everywhere from all parts of the world, all walking fast fast; even the escalators in the MTR (subway train) is fast and you’ll have to keep to the right if you don’t plan to walk up so that others can.

view from the office window; narrow skyscrapers

the buildings are all very high and slim coz the inside space is small, so they go upwards instead of sideways. in living quarters, there’s no ceiling fan, just aircon hence the greenhouse effect – super humid climate! in local eateries, the place is small too with MAX 50 heads so when it’s full inside, ppl queue outside waiting for others to leave. our experience of taking the minibus (max 14ppl) was thrilling, if I was single and on the minibus with my boyfriend – it would’ve been a romantic experience. we’ll be hanging onto each other so tightly!

LOL

in one day (Sunday), we got to Stanley Beach, Causeway Bay, Mong Kok and had lots and lots of local food and then all the way back to Sai Kung. it was really nice seeing HK in that way, before joining rush hour the next day. because we stayed in Sai Kung, just to get to the office, we had to take 2 buses and 2 trains and walk up a steep steep concrete hill with steps which became our morning exercise. all this in 1half hour… and the same routine going back. I really don’t know how my good buddy can do that every week!!

O.o”

so one week and it was enough for me, I was so ready to head back home – plus I was missing the kids and they were missing me. there’s no place like home…

there’s no place like home.

Still with Mr. Blue Eyes

 

where has the romance gone in the love songs these past decades.