Kerling 16 Jan - 17 Jan 2010

I brought friends, this time, to Kerling for the weekend with Jazreen leading a convoy of 10 vehicles. The weather was fine and the road trail was alright with no obstacles even with 2 river crossings.


























My daughter droved the whole journey and tested her skill crossing the river and meandering the corners and she did pretty well. We had 2 choices whether to camp at Camp Aircond or go further up, a new spot founded by Jazreen. After recee, we found the new spot unsuitable and a bit cramp for the whole group and decided to camped out at Camp Aircond. We started unpacking and as usual setup the base camp first, followed by the kitchen area. This time around, we used 5 stoves to cook dinner and usually dinner time is always the best.



































The weather is cool and by no time most of us were asleep EXCEPT for a select 2 who began talking until the wee hours of the morning and someone else joined them.. hem..hem wonder who? The kids were already swimming and had to be called for breakfast. After breakfast, we cleared the kitchen and packed the balance breakfast into plastic wares for consumption after swimming. With the packing done and loaded into the vehicles, we braved ourselves for a dip in the river. The water is cold and could see the kids trembling in the water but they are having so much fun and could not care less about the coldness. The adult males bathed vigourously and avoided staying longer in the river.



































The trip down was easy but we stopped at Kolam Air Panas for Suhaimi to check his vehicle. The problem was detected and he will stop at the nearest available workshop, for re-checking. We headed to Batang Kali for lunch but Suhaimi went straight to the workshop. After lunch, we break convoy and said our departures to all and thanked everyone for the trip.



http://picasaweb.google.com/pakmid/Kerling1617Jan2010

Ulu Tamu Feast 1 Jan- 2 Jan 2010

It's been a while since we have gone off-roading and during the recent new year holiday, we decided to camp out at one of our favorite spots, Kem Hamzah at Ulu Tamu. Our two friends Nordin & gang, Jazreen & family went there earlier to set up base camp and block the campsite. We reached the campsite in the evening, the males setup tents and females setup their kitchen area. After setup, we chatted with our old friend 'Bear' coincidently relaxing at the same place. Nordin, sponsored a whole lamb and brought Omar, the Chef, to specially cook beriani gam for lunch the next day.










My wife cooked my favorite dishes - asam pedas daging cincang and rojak tahu for dinner. We invited a family (they arrived quite late and was setting up camp) for dinner as they camped next to us. It was a simple meal, steaming rice with spicy asam pedas and rojak tahu, the ambience - cool and slight drizzle....imagine! After dinner the ladies peeled and sliced the onions, some cut the vegetables, others assisted Omar with the misc-en-place and frying. First, we cooked the lamb beriani and while its cooking, we cooked the dalca. When Omar sauted the ingredients for the rice (washed and drained), the smell engulfed the whole campsite - it was nearly 0130hrs. Omar showed the method of underlining a cloth (preferably muslin cloth) to separate the rice and the lamb beriani. After that we had to seal the pot circumference with dough (ensure that it is sealed properly) and let it cooked with low/small flame. By the time we did that, it was already near 2.00am....! I very glad that my wife managed to learn from Omar on the preparations and method of cooking beriani gam and would want her to try it out one day.









For morning breakfast, we had fried rice, bread, omellete with sausages. After breakfast, the kids had fun swimming in the river, while the men did some off roading to Kem Dubai. After all the excitement, the kids and adults enjoyed the balance of the breakfast spread. Everyone lazed and waited eagerly for lunch - nasi beriani gam with lamb beriani, dalca and ala minute fried chicken. Everyone commended Omar for the beriani gam and will always remember the wonderful hearty lunch.! After lunch we cleared the campsite and started packing our things. After enjoying ourselves in the river, we called it a day and set out home, the smell of beriaini still lingered at the fingertips.....









For more pictures, please view .......

http://picasaweb.google.com/pakmid/UluTamuFeast1110