Journey to east coast of Peninsular Malaysia

[kuching]

IMHO, why not? I'm just curious as to why you assume that you will have to give up your jungle adventures when you are no longer single, first because there are women, Asian or otherwise, who are interested in trekking/nature (though they are probably in the minority), and second because your girlfriend/wife might not mind you going even if she herself is not interested.

Don't worry lah.

Ok...the problem now is I can't find a girl. So, the rest of the problems (such as family outing in the jungle) are not important at the moment.

[kuching]

Before the sunset, we went to Bukit Bauk area to search for Paedocypris sp. (the smallest fish). We couldn't find the peat swamp but we found a small blackwater river:




And, we found Betta imbellis :





After half an hour later, we left & headed to Chukai town to stay a night there. It was a heavy downpour around 9pm.....& the rain stopped at 10pm....1 hour of heavy rain! At that time, I was thinking that it wouldn't be easy to look for fish on the following day as the water level must be pretty high now.....



The next day, Zahar brought us to this peat swamp forest on the most southern part of Terengganu. When we reached there, Zahar told me that the water level was very high....


The peat swamp:







And we caught Betta tussyae of Terengganu:

[kuching]

The flowers of orchid, Dilochia wallichii. (found at the roadside near the swamp)





Flower of wild ginger, Alpinia sp.




Unidentified species:






Then we went to the next location at Santong. The water level of this blackwater river is very high......after spending almost an hour, I only managed to catch a juvenile of Parosphromenus paludicola. And I failed to catch Betta pi !!! What a disappointment !!!



The blackwater river:




Juvenile of Parosphromenus paludicola.

[kuching]

My mouth was wide opened when i caught this snakehead (Channa sp.).....Oh my goodness! 1/4 of its body was eaten by something bt still it managed to survive & swim !!! I saluted to this fish before releasing it back to the river.





Catfish, Kryptopterus sp.






The little jewel, Boraras maculata ....only 2cm long.





Six banded barb, Puntius hexazona....very common barb in the blackwater.




And the common aquatic aroid, Cryptocoryne cordata var. cordata. (in submerged condition)

[kuching]

And don't forget to try this when you are visiting the east coast....lemang! Lemang is a traditional Malay food cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick.....& it is made of glutinous rice and coconut milk. Taste very nice!!!

[MrTree]

I think it's a Staurois.

If I were you, I would take out my torch light after the rain.

Now my most wanted stuff in Malay Peninsula is THIS long long & merah merah

[kuching]

I think it's a Staurois.

If I were you, I would take out my torch light after the rain.

Now my most wanted stuff in Malay Peninsula is THIS long long & merah merah

Lim did go out at night but he didn't find anything....

[kuching]

At noon, Zahar dropped us at a bus station at Dungun. He couldn't join us for the rest of the days, so we said goodbye to him & we took a bus to Kuala Terengganu. The scenery along the coastal road is so beautiful. too bad I can't get down & take the picture. I'm sure I'll be back there oneday to photograph the scenery of the coastal area of the east coast. The white sandy beaches are everywhere & sea water is crystal clear!

When we arrived at K.T., we took a taxi to Tasik Kenyir (tasik = lake). We planned to go there to search for an unidentified species of Betta which looks a bit like Betta pugnax.



The resort where we stayed for a night. Only RM70.00 for a night! Cheap huh?





Sunset at Tasik Kenyir.






Lim is searching fish at the edge of the lake.





My mouth wide opened again.....this time I was so excited to see this Hoya is flowering all over the tree trunk!!! Sooooo beautiful!!!
Is this Hoya coronaria ???





Close-up of the flowers !!! First time in my life seeing so many flowers of Hoya in the wild!!!

[kuching]

Tasik Kenyir is the largest man made lake in South East Asia. Those hills which didn't sumerged into the water became the "islands".

One of the "islands" at Tasik Kenyir.




July 16, 2007. Lim & I decided to visit a waterfall near our resort. We hoped that we could find the Betta....but after 2 hours of exploring in the waterfall area, we didn't find any Bettas except Channa gachua & a species of Cyprinid.

Saok waterfall.






A cascade at Saok waterfall:






The water is crystal clear!!!

[kuching]

The juvenile of unidentified species of Cyprinid.





Same species as above. Found at the waterfall area.






I think this aroid is Alocasia longiloba.






Unidentified species of frog - species A. (in the water)






Unidentified species of frog - species B

[kuching]

Anyone can id this giant orchid which the stem is very big & long?





Unidentified species of ground herb.

[kuching]

July 16, 2007. 12.30pm. After leaving our resort at Tasik Kenyir, Lim & I took a taxi back to Kuala Terengganu. From there, we took an express bus to a small town called Machang of Kelatan state. By the time we reached this town, it was late afternoon.

Although Kelatan is a muslim state, I didn't feel any different from the rest of our country. We stayed a night at a hotel not far from the town. From the hotel, I could see a hill called Bukit Bakar. That is the place we planned to go on the following day to search for an endemic species of pitcher plant called Nepenthes benstonei.

At 8.30am, we took a taxi to the foothill of Bukit Bakar. There is a road to the summit of that hill, so I guess it's easy to find that plant by walking on that road to the summit(615 meter).

The road to the summit:






The road is shaded by the rainforest.....





The tropical rainforest of Kelatan.






After one hour of hiking, we still couldn't find N. benstonei except the common N. mirabilis. I asked Lim why this species is so hard to find. Then, when I turned the corner.....I shouted at Lim .....NEPENTHES BENSTONEI !!! Hurray!!! I found it! It's growing on a slope near the road.


The 1st N. benstonei spotted by me.






At 1,000 feet, N. benstonei is everywhere !!! (except inside the dark rainforest)






2 pitchers of N. benstonei on the rock (open area):

[kuching]

The inflorescence of N. benstonei.




Close-up of the inflorescence (male flowers):






N. benstonei. The temperature at the shady area is only 24 degree Celcius !!! (it was a cloudy day) I guess the open area is in between 27 to 30 degree Celcius.







The red coloured N. benstonei (leaves & pitchers are red coloured!!!)

[kuching]

The long pitcher of N. benstonei !!!






What a beautiful pitcher! The pitcher is not very big.







These 2 pitchers got a bit of pinkish coloured!!!





This one is probably natural cross hybrid, N. mirabilis X benstonei (?)






The close-up of the red pitcher of N. mirabilis X benstonei (?)

[kuching]

And this one is N. benstonei cross with N. mirabilis ???




Close-up of the pitcher of N. benstonei cross with N. mirabilis ???





N. mirabilis with "red lips" !!! Wowwww....sexy!!!







Should be N. mirabilis ?





Unidentified species of terrestrial orchid:

[kuching]

After so many hours of hiking & sweating, we descended to the foothill & look for fish at this small clearwater river.




First time seen this fish, Danio abolineatus ....but it's one of the most common fish in northern Peninsular Malaysia (including east coast):





At 3pm, I left Kelatan & took the bus to KT. Lim booked another bus ticket to go back to Penang on the evening.....so we're separated at the point. After taking my dinner, I went to stay a night at KT airport before on board the morning flight to Sepang airport near KL. I was alone in the airport (except the airport security guards) that night......what a real nightmare!!!


On the following day, before going back to Borneo.....I got few hours to hang around in KLCC shopping mall:





Outside the mall is .....used to be the tallest building in the world, the twin tower:





Home sweet home! At 7pm, I could see the coast of Borneo from the window of my flight......I could see the river mouth of sambas river of Kalimantan....which is not far from Sarawak.





THE END.

note: another trip coming up next month.

[josh]

[QUOTE=kuching;259878]Anyone can id this giant orchid which the stem is very big & long?





Tiger orchid (Grammatophyllum speciosum), the biggest orhid in the world, did u take some home?

[kuching]

[QUOTE=josh;260007]

Anyone can id this giant orchid which the stem is very big & long?





Tiger orchid (Grammatophyllum speciosum), the biggest orhid in the world, did u take some home?

No....no empty space in my luggage.

[josh]

[QUOTE=kuching;260010]

No....no empty space in my luggage.

Sound like a big harvest i think this plant are a bit too big for you to carry, but its a valuable one

[kuching]

[QUOTE=josh;260012]

Sound like a big harvest i think this plant are a bit too big for you to carry, but its a valuable one

Sarawak also got this one...but haven't find it....