FRIM

Feeling so frustrated at work, I decided to take a day off just to forget about work. I called Eunice and asked her which day she would be free so that we could go somewhere. She replied "Any day".

I took leave on the 21st and decided that we should go to FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia) to check the place out - mainly to see if we could bring the kids there some day.

MCTC heard about our plans and decided to come along. He needed this exercise for his "Operation Chilling" and we were more than happy to have him go with us. The plus factor is that he would drive us around.

We left my place at 8.15am, had breakfast at the Nilai rest area and arrived at the Sg Besi toll at about 9.30am. Traffic was relatively light, though at some point, it was a little heavy.

The ride was smooth until MCTC decided to use the highway to Kepong.

From there, he got the Selayang Hospital and Sungai Buluh Hospital mixed up. He kept wanting to go towards Sg Buluh even though we kept telling him to go towards Kepong.

We arrived at the Sungai Buluh Hospital and that was when MCTC realised that he was supposed to look out for the Selayang Hospital.

A few u-turns and detours later, we were on the right track. We went to Kepong and from there, there were many sign boards pointing towards FRIM.

We finally arrived at FRIM at 10.30am. At the guard house, we paid RM7.00 before driving into the large compound.

I had in mind a place full of tall trees, walking / jogging path, a little road that would lead to the car parks, a building and toilet facilities. I imagined it to be like Big Basin, CA. I was totally wrong. There were lots of buildings and even a school there. There were proper roads from the entrance right deep into the miniature "forest".

Not knowing where to go, we drove around the huge compound.

We drove around for a bit just to get our bearings right. We found the information office at Block 6 and made some enquiries. The lady on duty was kind enough to scare Eunice off with the mention of leeches being plentiful that day as it was raining earlier. And because of that, Eunice refused to walk on any wet trails.

We drove a little further, parked the car and started our hike on Rover Track. There was a tree which had fallen during the night and it blocked our way but we managed to walk over it.

The pathway was easy and we were able to have a decent conversation without gasping for air. It was indeed a nice hike. The air was cool and clean from the rain that morning. We came across some other hikers and joggers.

After about 40 minutes, we came to the canopy walk turnoff. Earlier, the info lady mentioned that the canopy walk was closed for maintenance from April 20th to May 25th. We didn't make that right turn as we knew that it would be a waste of time.

We walked on and came to a very nice waterfall. There were a few other waterfalls but this was the best.

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There was a time when the pathway was filled with dead leaves and it felt like autumn.

We finally came to a proper road... and civilisation.

It started drizzling when we were on Jalan Symington. Being experienced hikers, both Eunice and I had an umbrella each incase the rain got heavy. I brought a cap and Eunice brought at least one poncho. We were really well prepared for the rain but we didn't use any of the rain gears.

We saw banners leading the way to the Malay Tea House and headed there.

We decided to stop for a break. We bought some kuih and drinks.

Then we continued on with our walk.



We saw bamboo trees and I told Eunice that Pandas love bamboo trees.

Then we saw the name of the tree on the tree bark saying "Eucalyptus ..." and I told Eunice that koalas love eucalyptus.

The above houses looked warm and cozy. Looked like a place for the FRIM workers but I couldn't tell for sure

We finally arrived at our starting point. A total of 1 hour and 54 minutes since we started our walk. Phew! That was our exercise for the week.

We changed and left FRIM for Lau Yat. I wanted to get several things but only ended up with a 4G SD card, which I bought for RM35.00.

Time seemed to have flown. We planned to leave KL by 4pm but was about 15 minutes behind time. We didn't even have time for lunch.

Traffic was alright and we managed to get to the Sg Besi toll just after 5pm.

Our late lunch was at the Nilai rest area. It was 5.20pm and we were indeed very hungry. We gobbled down our food and started our journey back.

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It was 6pm when I got back. What great timing. :) I still had time for a slow shower to get ready for my class at 7.30pm.