day off

On most holidays I'm more than happy to spend it assuming a catatonic state. Lots of sleep, lots of mind-numbing tv, lots of eating. On occassion, I will be inspired to get off my lazy bum and pursue the adventurous, active image I have of myself and do something new.

Then there are the days where you do a little bit of both.

For the 4-day long weekend we decided that the regular repertoire of DVD and/or movie-marathon needed spicing up. There is nothing wrong with watching 4 movies in 2 days or staying indoors to re-live the Star Wars saga. But I had just finished re-living Lord of the Rings so for the sake of my sanity, I needed to balance out all that sitting down with some standing up.

There were a few options thrown around: a food trip, a day trip, a hike or a walk around a garden trail. But one thing was for sure, it needed to be outdoors. If you've ever seen me, then you'd know that there is nothing about me that says, "outdoor-sy". I am squeamish about bugs and dirt and stuff that goes "squish" when you step on them. But when I have the chance, I can get down and dirty with the best of them. I am not a primadonna.

That said, we finally settled on visiting a forest reserve with the idea of having a picnic there. In my head I had images of flat ground, maybe a picnic table, and some trees for shade.

I got a waterfall, mossy rocks and a ceiling of leaves.

nature's touch

The falls was just a short hike up from where the trail started. Management was considerate enough to create a stairway for visitors to get to the top. The falls weren't steep but just gradually sloped down, with the water collecting in a pool at the base of the rock face. Halfway up we realized we weren't the only ones with the idea of visiting nature that day. A little off to the side we spotted a couple doing their pre-nuptial photo shoot and by the mouth of the falls, we could hear a large group of students (probably on a fieldtrip as they were all in uniform) frolicking in the water.

Not really in the mood to jostle for space, we opted to set up our picnic table by the foot of the falls, where the view was infinitely better anyway. Here, we could dip our feet in the water while enjoying the sound of rushing water.

what lay before me

our picnic table

Having packed sandwiches for lunch it was easy to sit back and enjoy the day. My only worry for the day was actually how to finish the gigantic club sandwich that was my share. It felt like no matter how many bites I took, it wasn't getting any smaller. Hahahaha...

starting on the sandwich

siksik, liglig at umaapaw

Being outdoors was quite comfortable even though we were out at the height of noon. Surrounded by foilage and water, the air was refreshing, albeit moderately humid.

loving the color green

After lunch we decided to make like monkeys and clamber up the rocks just to enjoy the scenery. The water was pretty clean and almost ice-cold, which made it a treat to walk through. The water wasn't very strong so it's not like we were in any danger of getting swept away. Besides, it was just fun.

go upstream like the salmon

falls up close and from the top

the obligatory cam-whoring shot

(you can see at the back where we set up our picnic)

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

foot spa

Shot on location at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), 52109 Kepong, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. Tel. No. 603-62797000