Route Without Horizons - Titi!!!

Happy Chinese New Year to all!

again, another mind numbing exercise to meet all related to u...if not watching chinese reruns on tv, den it's eating,eating and more eating.... it helps that i have got a good book. a trilogy in fact, and finished in good time too....b4 i go on..i think i better finish my 3rd day...i dun wanna lose the memories to the merciless course of time. on to Route Without Horizons - Titi!!!

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woke up to aches from the past two days but the natural airconditioning of the highlands more than compensated the whining muscles. i had always wanted to get up early at frasers and take a walk in the numerous trails around the hill.. but as always the tiredness ensures a longer time under the blankets.

the name of the hill takes after an european journeyman who apparently either lost his way or decided to lead a hermitic life on this quaint little protrusion north of KL, the capital of malaysia. how selfish he must be to keep this place his own...expectedly, the layout and designs of the cottages and stores in the middle of the hill oozes a rural style of architectural more at home in europe than south east asia. heck, there's even a mini clock tower with a roundabout smack in the centre of town. i wonder if witches were ever burned there..keke..

View from our room (time to invest in a panoramic lens)

dear's company has a corporate bungalow available for booking, so we decided to check the place out as we might even decide to return to the free accomodation, especially if the place proves cosy and scenic enuff. after the hotel breakfast, which was admittedly disappointing compared to what we had b4, we headed back to pack up our belongings and leave the apartments on our way to look for the place. ah siong had just woken up and breakfast was essential, so he headed straight to the town for it while we milled around looking for the bungalow. and boy, it didn't disappoint. there are like 5 to 6 huge rooms and large communal halls for gatherings and longing around. with a garden and private carpark, this place would be high on our future trips here.

with siong full and satisfied, we headed back down fraser's and i thoroughly enjoyed the ride being the lead and an unobscured road ahead. i hadnt ridden far out for a long time and my skills on the bike was rusting in singapore. thankfully, all the twisties slowly brought out the
confidence in tackling those treacherous falls. even dear felt the difference with my riding as the days pass.

after an hour of sweltering heat, i was panting like a dog in the shell station. the cool morning and hot weather played punk with my immune system and nose, making me feel feverish as the unforgiving sun pelted its golden arrows into my eyes. i also blamed my stupidity at taking an extremely cold shower in the morning. half an hour later on the roads, there was a sign which seemed a godsend. 'genting highlands - 26km'

even dear was getting hot and flustered at the beaming sunshine and imagine our absolute delight when isaac signalled his intent to go up the 'hill'. 20 kms of winding roads and the air had noticeably became more cool. suddenly, the sun didn't bite anymore. onward we push until finally, we were approximately 1000m above sea level, if my memory serves me correctly. it is much cooler in genting, given that we had just experienced an unusually warm spell in fraser. (it wasn't as cold as the last few times we've been there.)

we stopped at the starbucks at the first world hotel and munched into our tea. starbucks is famous for standardising their prices all over the region but it just seemed so bloody expensive to spend 25 ringgit just for tea per person! anyway, we were glad of the cool air and the much needed break and i settled into my first step into genting since i was 7 years old.

Starbucks for tea

huge contrast to the heat down below

my parents are habitual visitors to this place and have often told me of the wonderous changes that have taken place. theme parks and the basic developments of infrastructure have indeed transformed the place into a gambling haven. along the way up, it was heartening to see many locals benefitted from the overwhelming number of tourists into the area and the development it brings. however, all these developments can be attributed to a single chinese man who single handedly built up this empire of gambing dens. the rich only get the richer...

the scale of development (only one rich chinese man has such clout to improve the infrastructure)

having fun

down genting

on with the journey back, we headed along the kerak highway and i planned to deviate into the western regions of negri sembilan. if only to extend our riding hours and also to meander through one of the most talked about roads, the Titi range. just as we were about the enter, we headed into a scenic spot with the whole of KL at our feet. 5 min past when the imtimidating rainclouds burst through. the weather had been extremely kind to us, allowing us the opportunity to take excellent pictures and travel in safe weather. the rain in the early hours of evening was indeed well timed.

the smog and one more reason to get a panoramic lens

the sweeps in Titi are large and well banked. control of the bike is easy and the lanes are slightly larger, giving a certain sense of safety in our lane. lining the sweeps and contours are the high trees and huge columns of earth to our right and deadly falls to our left. i had read abt this british traveller who fell off a cliff while travelling in india. amazingly, he survived but with a couple of broken bones. with that in mind, i had no intention of going over.

soaking in the atmosphere in titi

wat a panoramic might do to this pic

i wasn't peeing

as the day darkens and the rainclouds gaining up on us again, we sped off trying to reach the NS highway before the conditions became real bad. As it is, the rain came pouring after last light, and my hellas were put to good use. tired and hungry, we made a detour to malacca for a western meal by the sea. the new year was approaching and i wondered where i would be and what i would be doing when it really comes....


as it is, proof that my new year was spent signing for petrol in pagoh R&R....a weird way to spend the new year but a mighty great way to end the last one....one ride i would certainly look forward to for years to come....