Random Clouds

CL finally revealed that she and Tiong had been testing my endurance during the past four hiking trips. Now that they knew I could safely complete the loop with them (although I was lagging behind 😂 ), today they felt more assured to leisurely introduce me to some of the plants at Bukit Lunchu.  Late afternoon sun over the Plentong Blue Lake. Simpor 星果木, the national flower of Brunei. The leaves are can be used to wrap tempeh . Soapbush 毛野牡丹 The berries are quite yummy! We jokingly called them our Malaysian blueberries. A braid-like liana. One prominent feature in Bukit Lunchu is liana 藤本植物. They are long-stemmed, woody vines that climb or twine around other plants. According to Tiong, the thinner ones are at least 100 years old while the thicker ones are probably 300 years old!  An open-heart tree root. This round mushroom reminds me of a pizza dough 😄 Lots of pitcher plants. I didn't even notice until CL pointed them out to me. Rock covered in green and yellow moss. CL said wil

Today we took our usual route to Bukit Lunchu from where we get the panoramic view of the Plentong Blue Lake. The shimmering water of the Plentong Blue Lake in late afternoon. The faraway mountain with a flat top is Gunung Panti 猪头山 in Kota Tinggi. At the eastern side of Bukit Lunchu is the Seri Alam Green Lake. We continued on to Bukit Tiz 黄金山 in Seri Alam. Bukit Tiz is called "The Golden Hill" in Chinese due to the many rocks here covered in yellow moss. It's said that when the morning sun shines on these rocks, they look like gold! Unfortunately, humans need a reminder not to destroy Mother Nature. Descending Bukit Tiz, we passed by "The Five Fingers Rock" 五指石--a huge boulder miraculously supported by five smaller rocks. Tiny Fungi "The Seashell Rock" 贝壳石 named after its natural shape. Heading Back

I met CL while on the hike to the Foon Yew Blue Lake and have since been hiking with her and her husband. As we normally start at 4.30pm, it's imperative for us to return to the main road by 6.30pm before it gets dark. For CL and her husband who have been hiking almost daily for the past 3 years, the 2-hour hike through different terrains in Plentong / Seri Alam is like a stroll in the park. But it's a boot camp for someone like me. I can't even catch up to them on flat ground! 😂  Thankfully, they and their other hiking buddies are extremely patient. Someone would always walk with me at the end of the line. Even though it's the year-end monsoon season, CL's motto is: "As long as it's not raining when I step out of my house, I'll go hiking!"  So here we were hiking to the Plentong Blue Lake despite the looming clouds. Just about 15 min into our hike, the rain moved in fast from Bukit Lunchu area. We quickly took out our umbrellas. Within seconds, r