30 December 2008

Up close and personal

One fine Sunday, after so many times postponing this outing, I finally managed to drag my whole family to Kuala Gandah, Pahang. Why this place was so appealing to me? Well apart from getting bored dealing with the hanky-panky of my office mates, Kuala Gandah is a place where The Department of wildlife and National Park established an Elephant conservation Center way back in 1989. This place of which located near Lanchang, can be reached in an hour non-spirited drive from Kay El. But if you want to be in our edition of Guinness book of World records and beat that time, rest assure a ticket by our dedicated 'mat misai' will reached your mailbox in no time. And that was what happened to me. But I don't blame them for shooting me on my back, even though some might consider the act as "dayus" . Like other departments which worshipped the six sigma or kaizen , they have their own KPI (Key Performance Index)and benchmarks to please their bosses . I am sure whoever shot me that day, will get his performance appraisal with a flying color.

The outing was worth the "saman" though. As the program starts at 2 pm each day, you have to be there earlier. I was so amazed by the punctuality of the visitors, which made me wondering how nice if some of our nasi lemak nation can adapt this attitude especially when attending meetings. Even though I am quite agree with some my colleagues who argued that rather than attending a meeting with the intention to just agree with whatever issues that being discussed, might as well having a chat in Yahoo messenger or listening to the sermon of Oprah Winfrey. The next thing you know, your effort can win you a place for a Tokoh Maal Hijrah. We should feel very proud and fortunate as we are living in the Boleh-land, where anything is possible.


Despite a photogenic pose by my two sons, this photo has somehow missed a column in our local tabloids. On the other hand, this place with their excellent environment and facilities can offer a splendid sanctuary for those who want to detox themselves.
A makeshift souvenir shop that was managed by one of the rangers. With such a low overhead, the price of souvenirs was quite reasonable. As usual, I got a personalised fridge magnet as a momenta to top up my collection for a mere RM6.00. My best buy ever.
Everybody was ecstatic for a joyride on these elephants. The ride was not as comfortable as any commercial massage chair that you can find in some shopping malls, but enough to get rid of the itchiness between my legs...I mean my back. On this rare occasion, I almost had cramped-feet since I have to "kangkang" very wide as my ride happened to be a very big adult elephant and I sat exactly on the widest part of this beast.After a hefty meals, the mahouts led the elephants for a bath. Unaware of the next move, the biggest surprise awaited this visitors as this trained elephant showed off with some freak acrobatic skills.
My second son (the handsome one in the forefront) out of the excitement, seemed very confused at the same time. Presumably having done some sacred ritual by pissing in his pant, could not make out between the mammoth beast and the party animals in the background.This skeleton of a deceased elephant was displayed in the information center. Coincidentally, I found many typical resemblances to this artifacts in my workplace. Skeleton walk around in my office compounds is a norm. This also reminded me of the skeleton in the closet that has been passed down from one generation to others. A weary face of the eldest elephant (69 years old) in the sanctuary. I would be retiring in my keropok-lekor state and looking after my durian and rambutan ochards at that age.
Next on the schedule was to visit a Deerland nearby. These diurnal Sambar Deer was legal immigrants from Indonesia (bali to be more precised). Looking at their motto 'peramah dan mesra rakyat", no wonder my family really felt at ease with them.It was good to expose our kids close to the nature at their early stage. Shown here was a hedgehog (remember Sonic the hedgehog?) and a cockatoo (and this one reminded me of that cute chocobos in my favourite final fantasy game) trying to make friend with my family.An open zoo concept in this Deerland is very interesting. You can get this close to the animals and other wild inhabitants like this wild sun bear and fed them. My exhausted entourage but contented at the same time. It was an outing worth a second trip.

24 comments:

lavidalabelle said...

wah thats really cool. tengok all the pics rasa nak pergi je ;D

patungcendana said...

salam. thanx for visiting my blog.

anak2 aku pernah ke Kuala Gandah...tapi aku belum lagi...akan pergi juga satu hari... :-)

bozzobattousai said...

i've always wanted to ride an elephant...mesti best dan bumpy...

a.b geldofg said...

wah cntikk...aku kena pergi..satu hari..kena kumpul duit dulu hehehehe

grow2g3th3r said...

wah... impressed!... nampaknyer Kuala Gandah tersenarai dalam list 'cuti2 malaysia 2009'...

DrSam said...

belle,
if seeing is believing, then you must go there and have a whole lot of fun.

Cendana,
This place is really good for friends and family outing.

Battousai,
Now we don,t have to go to Chiangmai to experience the elephant ride.

ab geldolfg,
You don't have to break your piggy bank to be there. Just hop in one of the tourist buses that frequent this place, probably as a tourist guide. If you are looking for a part time job, I am sure a man of caliber like you, this place will accept you with a big smile in their face.

grow2g3th3f,
yes...cuti-cuti malaysia.

Halezza Ibrahim said...

Syok le cuti2 malaysia u....

DrSam said...

Halezza,

Yes...I love my country.

ita.itu said...

mcm best jek..tp busuk la naik gajah tuh..hehe

Faisal Admar said...

1st, this is a movie title :P

i guess you got a lot of magnetic souvenirs on your fridge door? hehe get me a pic please. wonder how it looks like.

itchy between legs? omg! so obscene lol. i don't mind riding a horse but an elephant? after seeing how wild they can be when they are not in the mood? a big NO to me. thanks... hehe i'd prefer to snap some good pics of you then.

haha the boy behind him looking at his butt? careful. too cute can bring harm you know!

omg! the skeleton is so big! skeleton walking around your office? are they cute? or simply scary?

omg! isn't porcupine dangerous? ouch! that's scary tho.

the honey bear is cute. if its grizzly, i won't go near! hehe or worse polar... remind me of siberian tiger now.

DrSam said...

ita,

lagi busuk bau orang tak mandi pagi

DrSam said...

faisal,

didn't know that was the title of any movie. was it good?

Will post an entry on fridge magnet one day.

You should go to this place for a good bath with this animal. Soo much fun.

Unknown said...

salam..

salam kenalan bang.. knew bout you from arsaili.. sungguh hebat senturi gajah ni.. harus pergi

DrSam said...

salam PG,

salam menyambut tahun baru. harus kalau tak pergi takpe, tapi kalau wajib jadi berdosa plak.

DrSam said...

faisal,

My wife just told me about that movie. Robert Redford and Michelle pfeiffer innit?

a.b geldofg said...

hahahahahah...tq2...nanti aku aply hahahahahah

cendawanintim said...

inikan tempat ayah keje dulu??!!

patungcendana said...

happy new year sam... :-)may your book of life be filled with brilliant colours

DrSam said...

ab geldofg,
Good luck bro!

Cendawanintim,
Ye ke, dok ingat setabok ame. Patut rasa serasi semacam aja.

Patungcendana,
Happy new year to you too.

GC said...

I love family outing :)

great pics bro. i love to see smiling face, makes me feel happy :)

Faisal Admar said...

yes. its a cool movie and you know a song by celine dion "because you love me"? it was a hit once upon a time and its the theme song for this movie :) go figure.

eL said...

we went there! we went there! :-)

zafi said...

hahahahha
I went to kuala Gandah too as published in my blog.. What a day? Nice place to go with friends family... Appreciate our nature bro! :)

secretname said...

wah..bestnye..1day nk g gak situ..

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