…my cuppa iced coffee…

Organised by Discovery Sports, VMY Go Green Selangor was the fifth installment of similar events, in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2007. While previously known by different names and held in different states in Peninsular Malaysia, this time they decided to go back to nature, in Selangor, hence the name Go Green Selangor.

This was the first time I joined such event. While I generally got the idea of how the game will be conducted, I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. Well, number 1, I had never met my other team members (the team was assembled at the last minute), and number 2, I had never touched a bicycle, much less ride one, for the past 3 years or so. So you can imagine how embarrassing it would be if I was the only one who could not keep my seat during the whole game.

Note: I would like to apologise in advance to my non-Malay-speaking readers. Some of the terms I used will be in Malay or native language, of which I do not know their English equivalent. I will try to explain what they are to the best of my knowledge, although that would probably make this post a very long one indeed.

The contestants were supposed to gather at Dataran Shah Alam at 8:00 am but knowing how these people are with time management, I only got there around 9. Hehehehe… A good thing too since my other team members also got there late. Anyway… we registered, collected the goodies, checked our blood pressures (mine was a bit on the high side for systolic) and collected our bicycles. We were Team 17, MyTV3 Members. There were 20 teams altogether.

Before flag off, we were informed that this would be a wholly cycling event. No canoing, no swimming, no running, no bus riding. I thought we had to ride our bicycles all the way to Kuala Selangor. Man, that is like 200km away!! (I think.) As it turned out, we rode our bicycles during flag off, cycled around 400m and then it was a bus-ride all the way to our destination. Phew! What a relief that was.

Selangor Fruit Valley

Our first stop was the Selangor Fruit Valley in Rawang. It took us around 45 minutes to get there. The 2000-acre orchard is the source of tonnes of fruits of various types, sold all the way to Europe and China. Unfortunately, it was not fruit season then, so we only saw leaves instead of fruits. And there I was… thinking of dancing from tree to tree.. enjoying succulent, sweet, refreshing fruits.. juices running down my chin.. and laying face down on the ground after tripping over roots! Hahahaha… Okay, you can stop daydreaming now.

Our tasks at the fruit valley were 1. to gather some fruits as per the list given, and 2. to make “rojak buah” (fruit salad) from the fruits gathered. So we cycled all over the place, at 12 noon, with the sun right on top of our heads, looking for pineapple, star fruits, “limau kasturi”, “jambu madu”, “kedondong” and “nangchem” (a cross between jack fruit and “chempedak”) — I’m sorry, I don’t know what their English names are — and by the time we finished and got back to the Centre (we were one of the last teams to arrive), we looked like medium raw barbecued sirloin steak.

After lunch (damn, I was hungry!), we moved on to task number 2. None of us had any extensive kitchen experience beyond boiling water and cooking instant noodles but we managed to produce one decent-looking and edible, if marginally, “rojak buah”.

Taman Alam, Bukit Malawati

Our next destination was “Taman Alam” (Nature’s Park) near Bukit Malawati, Kuala Selangor. The park was opened on 27 September 1987, the first in Malaysia to have mangrove swamp and fresh water lake system together at one place. Okay, I admit… that one flew a little bit too fast over my head. Can anybody help and explain that part? I’m a bit lost.

Anyway, our tasks at the Taman Alam were simple: 1. collect garbage from the mangrove swamp, put them inside colour-coded sacks (brown for glass, blue for non-biodegradables like polysterine, and orange for plastic and aluminium cans), bring the sacks to the Centre for later recycling, 2. paint the fence along the walk (I’m not sure what’s the appropriate term), and 3. answer some questions about the park. However, we had to skip task no. 2 since we were running out of time.

Just so that you know, each of the tasks we performed will give points to the team. If we do something extra, we may be given extra points. And if we miss something, or do something bad, our points will be deducted. All these will contribute to the overall score, tallied at the end of the event.

Sungai Sireh Homestay

Our final destination for the day was Kampung Ampangan in Tanjung Karang, where we spent the night before the events on the next day. Even though we got there later than expected, the reception was rather extraordinary. It felt like the whole village was there. We were celebrated with “kompang”, “bunga manggar”, “pencak silat”… Even flower petals were thrown onto our paths. Wasn’t that something?

We were then served light snacks: young coconut drink and some traditional cakes served on “nyiru”. Mmmm.. I’m not sure how to explain what a “nyiru” is, but I found this on the internet (modified a bit):

“Made from thin strips of Bemban stem or bamboo skin, nyiru are essentially shallow oblong or egg-shaped or round trays used as winnows for padi and other farm and household applications”

Well… you can see what it looks like from the photo below.

We were then introduced to our foster parents, Ahmad Hulaimi Said (the father) and Khamsah Hj Abdul Rahman (the mother). The four of us stayed that night at their house, together with our new foster brothers and sisters. Decent folks, really. I liked chatting with my foster mother, although I should probably call her sister since I don’t think we differ that much in age.

“Majlis Puputan”

That night, all the contestants were invited to participate in an event special for the “Jawa” and “Banjar” ethnic groups. It was called “Majlis Puputan”, a combination of several events: name announcement (don’t ask me what or whose name. I missed that one, somehow ), “bacaan berzanji”, “bacaan marhaban”, “cukur jambul” (the shaving of a baby’s head, or cutting of a baby’s hair) and “istiadat mendodoi” (singing lullaby to a baby – the traditional way).

After the event, we were treated to a local delicacy – “Nasi Ambeng”. It was a combination of rice, fried chicken, vegetables, dried fish, “tempe” and some other dishes that I can’t recall, served in a big tray to a group of people and everybody just… dig in. Yeah, I know. It’s… errr… well, I think I’ll let you choose your own words for that. It was a first time for me, so I was a bit hesitant at first. But then I thought, what the heck. It’s the local custom, so I might as well give it a try. Besides, I was so hungry I could eat the whole serving by myself.

It was entertainment time after the late dinner. I must say the local singers and musicians were actually quite talented. Very entertaining too. We got an extra treat that night – a “zapin” dance by some of the contestants. Apparently we had 2 teams who were dancers from Istana Budaya.

Later on, the results for the first day was announced. As expected, my team was not in the top list. But we did win one award: The Worst “Rojak Buah” Ever Made. The second worst was won by our sister team, MyTV3 Rovers. Hahahahaha…

So that was the end of day 1.

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Related post:

• VMY Go Green Selangor – Day 2, 30 December 2007
• VMY Go Green Selangor – Day 3, 31 December 2007