Picnic At Ulu Yam

With the popularity of air travel on low cost carriers, most Malaysians these days have been able to enjoy overseas travel to various destinations. However, as is always the case, some people who have traveled overseas may not have been to places in their own country - I have American friends who live close to Disney World in Florida, yet have not visited the theme park until I showed up to visit them!

This week-end, my friends and I decided to have a family picnic at the Ulu Yam waterfalls. To be honest, before this trip, Ulu Yam is just another name of a place as far as I am concerned. I have heard about the waterfalls and picnic spots in this popular local destination but never made any attempt to check it out.

The picnic was organized pot-luck style. Each of us brought a dish for the rest to enjoy and I was assigned the role of making gado-gado Indonesian style - what would I do without Siti, my Indonesian maid? Torah brought home-made nasi lemak, Mahani was given the task of making fried mee hoon and Audi brought her secret-recipe fried chicken.

The trip, through Kampong Nakhoda, Batu Caves, took slightly more than an hour through narrow, winding road. As we arrived around 11 a.m., the place was already crowded, and we learnt that some folks had actually camped overnight.

As with most recreational facilities in Malaysia, the place was poorly maintained, rubbish was strewn around and we were the only ones who brought a garbage bag to take care of our litter! As for the toilets and changing rooms, well, while I did not puke, they are not in a condition we can be proud of. I don't understand what it is with the Malaysian public; we keep our toilets clean at home but visit any public toilet, and you will know what I mean. It seems like the minute we step out of our homes, some of us turn into ugly, inconsiderate, dirty, monsters!

Poorly-maintained facilities aside, Mahani, Joe and Bakar were determined to have fun and they had a great time frolicking in the cool waters of the pool below the roaring waterfalls.

Mahani, Joe and Bakar Enjoying The Cool Waters!

Several youths were seen showing off their skills in riding the falls and not to be outdone, Joe and Bakar did us proud when they, too, took the plunge! Click on the video below to see Joe taking the "heart-stopping "plunge"......

Riding the falls (above) and swinging into the waters Tarzan-style (below)

Aaah...the exuberance of youth!

For the rest of us in the group who were either unable or unwilling to get into the waters, we did the next best thing - dipped our feet in the water!

To round off our outing, on the return journey, we stopped at the Indian Temple at Batu Caves so that our overseas visitor, Sandy, could snap some I've-been-there photos!

Nori, Sandy and Mahani with the Statue of Lord Murugan in the background

Batu Caves is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is the focal point of the Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia which attracts over 1.5 million pilgrims annually.

It is worth mentioning here that Jim's Mercedes was vandalized while we were enjoying the picnic. The window screen on the driver's side was smashed and a cell phone and some personal items that were left in the car were stolen. As can be expected, it will be a long, long, time before we would think about having another picnic!