Lundu!

Yeah! Went for a trip with my friends to Lundu.

12 of us altogether. Drove in 3 cars. Reached destination in about 1 hour plus. We stopped at the town for lunch. Wasn't a good experience for me. I ordered "lemon chicken rice". Well, usually they'll just pour some syrup over the chicken. But the cook was very generous. Poured syrup over the rice as well... Yeah... Imagine eating a plate of rice with Sunkist as gravy. And the kopi-O-peng I ordered was RM1.60...

Usually the beaches at Lundu are the destination of its visitors. There are 2 beaches in Lundu. Siar beach and Pandan beach. The one that we went to was Siar beach. We stayed a night at the Union Yes Retreat and Training Centre, just beside the beach.

Once we checked-in, we split up for activities. 5 of us (myself included) went to hike up Gunung Gading (GG) while the rest stayed behind to enjoy the beach. The entrance to GG is located between the town of Lundu and Siar beach. So from the town, you'll reach GG first, then Siar beach and finally Pandan beach.

I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Rafflesia... And there it was!

On an information board... unfortunately it wasn't the season for it... Bummer, it even has a season... but anyways, we still managed to get to see some of nature's beauty...

(look familiar?)

and best of all...

waterfalls! You'll need to hike there though. We managed to reach the 7th waterfall (our goal), and it was a well rewarded experience. The trail only leads to waterfall 1, 3 and 7. We bypassed the first 2 as they were not that "interesting" (according to my friend - I don't know, it's my first time there lol). I like to take photographs of waterfalls. With the right shutter speed, the scenery can be beautiful~

Taking some of the shots were risky business, for my camera, that is. For the scenery above I had to climb up the lower part of the stream where rocks were slippery and small but strong waterfalls were pushing down on me. I actually hesitated... Me falling is no big deal, but my camera would be gone if it goes into the water below. I thought of ways to get up without getting my camera wet, couldn't thought of any and gave up. I'll just leave the memories in my head. Then my friend asked me to hold my camera in my mouth. That way I could reduce the risk of falling into the water as I am able to be more mobile. Well, I did it, ignoring the possibility of getting infections into my mouth lol.

These are some of the shots taken at the upper part of the stream...

Back at the retreat centre, we had buffet dinner (they offer buffet dinner every saturday, RM25 per person), then played pool and foosball, played cards, going to the beach, while some jumped into the swimming pool.

I took my guitar out to play with another friend, and we thought we saw a shooting star lol. The sky is full of stars, away from the light polution of the city.

We spent the next morning at the beach. I woke up at 5am+ in hopes to see the sunrise, only to be disappointed by the rain! When there's rain, there're clouds! Oh well...

All in all, it was a great trip for me. Rarely I am able to go on a trip with them in a big group.

Perhaps it is my last trip with them together. It is only less than a year before they will all graduate and leave this place. Some may choose to work here in Kuching, but mostly would return to their hometown. By then most of my friends I'm close with will be gone. It's gonna get lonelier next year...