Hi people!

Finally! I had been trying to get on this mountain for more than a year after hearing about it. It's just that being a Negeri Sembilan state citizen, I wish to know about the touristic places in my own state as well.

Firstly, must give a big thanks to Gui for making it all happen. Actually, the plan was to bring my colleagues to climb Gunung Angsi. However, due to a colleague's request, I'd organize the trip at a later date. But then, I had Gui and her two housemates plus Mai Cheng who thought it would be on 8th May. Then Mai Cheng has to give it up at the last minute and I was near to postphone the whole thing and make it as one group trip later on 29th. Due to Gui's persistence and she managed to find 3 other friends to join as well, the whole group of 7 people thus began their trip from Seremban at 7.45am.

This trip totally doesn't follow the schedule I had roughly drafted out and you'll soon find out why. Firstly, we were supposed to have a fast breakfast of roti canai but one of the members, Murphy had two more friends coming of whom will be waiting at the Seremban wet market.

Murphy and Yuet Yen (not sure on the name, sorry) were much more familiar at the wet market than I 'shamefully' was. We met up with their friends Michael and Filo while having breakfast there. Gui and I totally agreed that we've found Abdullah's brother in the form of Michael. He's really talkative, spirited and says he doesn't know what to do if there were no outings on weekends.

After chatting with Michael who recommended us to go for Gunung Datuk Rembau, we decided on the spot that we would attempt that since 3 of us has already been on Gunung Angsi before. But before that, Michael and Filo took us to a Chinese temple in Temiang, Seremban. The temple overlooks a portion of Seremban town which was quite a nice view.

It was getting late, so we had to leave for Rembau soon. We reached the foothill and started our climb at about 10:20am. After a few minutes of trudging up the slopes, I realized that either I was starting to get old or I really need to exercise more often. Huffing and puffing like an asmahtic hippo is way too much! However preseverity prevailed - like Gui and I always say to ourselves - when exploring a new place, must 'kow-tim' (settle/finish) it. Then, don't have to come back again.

After climbing for more than half an hour, it started to... rain... And it rained unmercifully because it wasn't a drizzle but a real heavy shower. 5 of us looked reluctant to give up while 2 others were just the opposite (although we tried to persuade them even very much earlier on). Kok Mun was feeling dizzy while Lai Kuan's feet just couldn't go further. Hard as it was, they opted to stay behind. Both Gui and I supplied them with some sweet buns and fruits.

Gui, Ah Chat and I continued silently in the rain. Yuet Yen and Murphy had marched earlier on. The climb had two 'firsts' (first experiences) for me. I had never climb in heavy rain before. We just walked without cover. I had brought along a very light raincoat but didn't wear it 'coz I wanted to 'test' whether I'd get sick due to the rain (you knowlah how our folks usually ask us not to play in the rain - else we'll get flu or something). Just wanted to proove it was only H2O. (BTW, I was very much afresh the next day).

The second 'firsts' was definitely the ultimate yucky experience of getting sucked by leeches! Eew, when we finally reached the top of the mountain, I was quite hesistant of taking off my shoes and socks 'coz I couldn't bear to see what's lurking inside.

I held my breath as I slowly slid the socks off. I already prepared for the worst as I could see portion of the leech peering out from the tiny holes of the fabric. And... walla! One big fat leech and another two semi-fat ones hanging on to my right feet! Eee!!!

I looked at them with one closed eye - gross! Can't even tick them off with a leaf or twig. Regretted not bringing any castor oil (read from book) or salt (according to friends) that will 'make the leech go away'. Just then, we thought of a lighter and saw a Malay guy smoking a cigarette. He was nice enough to do the 'job' himself - sticking the cigarette butt at the leeches. I know it's mean but I couldn't bear sitting there watching them get full.

The top part of Gunung Datuk Rembau was quite tricky and dangerous. We had to climb a flight of ladders which were mounted on the rocks. A slip would cause a very serious injury or worse....

Anyhow, all of us got thru and we're so proud of Yuet Yen. She's one very jolly person - always laughing and all especially even in the face of danger or difficulty, she actually laughs out. I wonder when does she actually becomes edgy.

The view from the top at first was quite misty as the rain only stopped an hour earlier (we reached the peak at about 12:45pm). However, after a while when the wind blew away the mist, we were rewarded with a grand picture of hills and valleys around us. I always loved the view from the top of a hill/mountain. Don't you think it's wonderful? The beautiful tree tops with different tones of greens and yellow and sometimes even red. The tiny tops of houses, a snaky path or river, the distant mountains away, the cool wind blowing around you. Yes! It's like being on top of the world!

After spending more than 15 minutes at the very top, we came down to the spot where the other ITMers from Shah Alam were camping. There we made ourselves sandwiches - mmm... the tuna mayoinesse tasted delicious and yummy.

After resting a while, it was time to go down soon because bear in mind, our two friends were still waiting down there! BTW, other climbers who passed us would ask her whether we're one group with these two friends. They'd say - 'Mereka kata tak nak naik. Lagi dahsyat, mereka kata tak nak naik dan tak nak turun juga!' (Don't want to climb up. Worse, 'don't want to climb up nor down!')

When we reached the bottom, I was again confronted with the task of checking my feet for leeches again. This time it was worse, a really big fat leech the size of the tip of the thumb was snuggled in my shoes. Shook it off at the flowing stream. There were other smaller leeches shaken off too and one more pulled away (although this wasn't smart move - the bleeding will continue) as we had to go off already. And out of my preoccupied mind of fleding the leeches, I forgot to take along my bagsack which resulted in a second visit to the streams.

I think all of us were proud victims of leeches that day (when I went home, I counted 9 leech bites). Gui should be proud because she walked a majority of the total climb with her shoes' soles detached, leaving only one more thin slice of fabric and her socks to protect her from the direct contact with earth.

Only one photo shoot at the bottom of Gunung Datuk (Kok Mun was having the camera). Well, looked forward to seeing it of us whole group cheerily showing off our 'wounds' and difficulties (Gui's shoes).

Regards,
Li Li