Camping trip of Ex Shans

Camping and nature are related to each other. 
People who love nature, may also love camping. 

Camping gave us the opportunity to reconnect with nature, encounter wildlife and see the stars at night when the weather permits.

 It is beneficial for the well being of a person. (Body and mind)

A camping photo of cyclists near Kudat airfield area.
Thanks to my former classmate Richard, for contributing this beautiful sunset photo to my blog.🙏

I have not done camping for many years. 

So when our former schoolmate, Henry, sent an invitation to us to camp at his camp site in Keningau, I jumped at this opportunity to join the group without second thoughts, even though weather forecast it may rain. But I took the chance.😄

My knapsack ready with comfortable clothes and other necessities for the "one night" stay at the camping site. I also brought along a hat and an ultralight disposable raincoat which I didn't display here but they played a very important item in my camping.

I had packed some first aid medicines for any allergies, pain relief tablets, eucalyptus oil as a mosquito repellant, lavender spray for the tent plus Elastoplasts. 

Headset for my music or watching Utube from my phone, without disturbing others when inside the tent. 

Biscuits when hungry in the middle of the night.

A portable light foldable fan with power bank to ventilate the air inside the tent, as it can be hot and humid.

A portable auto solar light. 

A good water bottle to refill drinking water and keeping ourselves hydrated.

A pop up tent like this is getting popular for light camping. Not only are they light to carry, but easy to set up (forming a tent automatically when out of it's pack). 

A good sleeping bag is a must.

Coleman brands has good review rating.

Our 2 days 1 night travel itininery:

Day One:

- A visit to Dragon fruit farm
- Lunch at Yun Fook restaurant before final destination to camp site.
- Free flow of fresh Coconut juice.
- Hot pot for dinner.

Day Two:

- Bus ride to Tenom
- Stopover in Tenom market for breakfast (popular egg rolls)
- Yit Foh Local Coffee Factory.
- Murut Cultural Center
- Lunch

There were supposed to be 15 of us going for this bus trip, but Richard preferred to drive his baby "Feroza" due to his camping stuffs while another mate had to cancel because he was not well.

So on the 30th April 2025 @8am sharp we departed on this 44 seater bus, arranged by our former Schoolmate Henry.  We were so happy because everyone can have window seats.
Travel in comfort! 😂

From my experience, the front seat is the best. Those with motion sickness should try sitting in front because the back is bouncy😜. 

All were excited for the trip. 

Some were going for the second time while others, it was their first trip. 

We stopped by a dragon fruit plantation. 

Plantation worker carrying a trailer, full of freshly plucked dragon fruits.😋

Free tasting of the farm's dragon fruits and juice. 

Rm8. 50 per kg of these freshly plucked red dragon fruits.

Before reaching our final destination, we stopped by Yun Fook restaurant for lunch.
The owners planted their own vegetables, rice and reared fresh water fish for their customers.

Rice from their own paddy.

Rear their own fresh water fish such as Talapia using hill water. It was muddy due to heavy rain, usually water is very clear according to Leong. 

Fresh crunchy stir fried greens, "from garden to table"

From garden to table- Stir fried Choy Sam

Fried fish drizzled with hot oil soy sauce

Steamed fresh giant Talapia 

Deer meat with ginger and onions

There were 2 massive crocodiles in the restaurant.😱

 Look at the barrier, I felt it was too low as if the crocodile can climb out .😅
I had to keep an eye on them, while eating my food, jussssssst in case😅

We arrived at the camp site past 12 noon.

On arrival, we were greeted with free flow of freshly plucked Pandan Coconut juice from the owner's plantation. Wow! This is life man!😘

After a long trip on the bus, we all arrived feeling thirsty and couldn't wait to quench our thirst.

Dorcas sending a message to the owner of the farm, "Thank You BossKu"!😂

Helen enjoying so much that she couldn't stop drinking😅

After quenching our thirst, we had to fulfil the 1st golden rule of camping and that was to put up our tents before the rain comes. 

Richard, an experienced camper, setting up extra sheet over our tent just to be prepared in case it might rain according to weather forecast. Even if it doesn't, the extra sheet above my tent is a blessing because it gave shade to my tent from direct sunlight thus making it cooler inside.👍

Our tents were up, so we can relax 😂

      

Two good friends, Double "D"s ( Doris + Dorcas) satisfied with their tent set up. 

After setting up our tents, we enjoyed a cuppa.

Look at Double "D"s! One relaxing on the "director" chair while the other on the "Empress chair" !😂

After tea/coffee, we went for a "walking tour" to the plantation. 

An educational Echo Friendly plantation Tour gave us a feeling of well being. 

Beautiful Pandan coconut trees

Childhood Memories - Benita plucking some ripen cherries from the trees along the path. 

I used to pick these cherries during my childhood days, where my homes were near jungles. These trees used to be widely grown in the jungle before, until our villages were transformed into a city area. At that time, these cherries were our chocolates and sweets because in those days, my parents couldn't afford to buy them for me often, unlike the present generation where most of them can afford most things.

 

Walking on this path reminded me of an article written by Jean Tebrek, "The Beauty in Nature"

Her words rang in my ears. She said," I felt beautiful when I was with nature." and i agree with her statement.

It's true that when we are in contact with nature, there is no need for perfume (bear in mind perfume attracts mosquitoes), any thick make up, any expensive jewelries, any beautiful dress or high heels.

All we need is a good pair of walking shoes to prevent slipping or tripping, comfortable shirt, long and loose pants to keep mosquitoes away, a bottle of water to keep us hydrated under the hot humid weather, and a moist face towel to wipe off any sweat. 

Continuing along the pathway, passing a few ponds, the reflection on these ponds of those hills, trees, grass, and clouds beyond, had a magical effect on me, I found this view  mesmerising. 

         

Look at this place .

"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere", a well known quote by Vincent Van Gogh, a Dutch Painter (1853-1890).
Don't you think the quote matches this place? 

There is beauty everywhere! The sky, the trees, the pond. Everything! Everywhere!

Unspoiled natural river 

Thanks to Henry for contributing all these beautiful shots from his high tech phone camera which mine was unable to capture so well.

This camp site has also been visited by students and teachers of schools for camping activities where school children learn the benefits of camping as well as reconnecting to natures educational eco system. 

One of the ponds in front of the camping site, has these glorious purple water lily flowers which they called in it Keningau water lilies . 

I have seen white and pink water lilies but never purple!

It was such a privilege to be able to see this giant clam. 

I wondered if they will produce pearls too?

Giant fresh water clam.

These clams were massive and they are everywhere in this pond. 

By the time we walked back to the camp site, sun set began. What good timing.

This is one of Henry's favourite trees. 

The silhouette of this tree stands out so beautifully and clearly under the bright blue sky and clouds. 

These tree's are named "lovers tree" because no matter where they are, they always grqw together in pairs.💓

Another beautiful sight of the "Lovers" tree, from the balcony in front of the camping site.

One of Henry's objectives for this massive land is mainly to protect and conserve nature by protecting the environment, preserving it's natural beauty as much as possible without changing the original shape of the place.

Beautiful unique photo shot of this sun rise at the camp site.

Another Beautiful Sun Set 

Changing of the sun's rays within seconds.

Waiting excitedly for night to come to see the stars in the sky.

 My son told me, Keningau is one of the best place to see the celestial bodies in the sky compared to the city .

 Dinner : Seafood hotpot.😋😋😋

Night came but the sky was cloudy so we couldn't see any celestial bodies in the sky.

The stillness, and quietness of the night filled the camp site with a feeling of peace.

According to weather forecast temperature was 21 degrees Celsius. 

I thought it was not going to rain, the weather forecast predicted it would, by 8pm thankfully still no rain. but I spoke too soon because it started to drizzle around midnight.

 Though the rain was light, it was continuous for about 3 hours.

 When it finally stopped the ground was completely soaked.

My tent was not heavy duty but thanks to Richard's extra sheet above my tent, it saved me some protection. 

One of our camp mates was fast asleep with her rain guard open. So when the rain entered through her little netting window, her pillow was soaked. Good advise to all, that before we sleep, to zip up our tent properly ,not only from the rain but intruders such as wild animals.

 

With my auto dim solar light on, I found my things easily. I could also listen to my music and watching utube with my ear set from my phone easily in the quietness of the camping site.

The sky was still not clear even after the rain stopped and I accepted the fact I missed my night under the stars but I still enjoyed resting inside my tent in privacy, feeling the quietness of the surroundings. I heard the nocturnal insects making rhythmic, melodic chirping sounds  leaving me so relaxed that I dozed off without any notice.😁

I dozed off for a short while. Not sure if I snored, so forgive me had I woken anyone with any noise I may have made. I had my alarm set at 4am as I wanted to embrace the early morning  freshness of nature in the countryside.

I thought I was early but my campmate was up even earlier than me.😅

Another one of the golden rules in camping is leave no trace. So I took my sweet time packing everything and then lastly dismantled and packed my tent up.
The beauty of nature is maintained at the campsite when it stays as it is without altering anything. No rubbish seen or left behind and the site has to look it's natural self.

Richard was up early to meet the morning with a good breakfast. 

Fried noodles and German bread with Nyonya Kaya spread. 

Very delicious morning meal with a cup of kopi O 👍.

I must admit he is a good cook 😄

Early hour of the morning, the birds starting to chirp.

Because of the rain, weather was gloomy so we couldn't see any sun rise but there was a  thick mist coming down over the trees which is equally as beautiful.

Saying our goodbyes before we moved to another destination, Tenom before going home.

A short visit to Tenom popular coffee factory.

Yit Foh Local coffee factory, the oldest and most popular in Sabah😅

Free coffee on arrival made from freshly grounded locally grown coffee 

We had to miss out the Murut Cultural Center as it was closed due to Public holiday.

Anyway the 2 days 1 night trip was still a success because I got the chance to camp again and eating those unforgettable "garden to table"  lunches, which we couldn't find in KK😂

We were all very grateful to Datuk Henry Hing for giving us this opportunity to camp at his private camping ground for free and arranging a comfortable bus for the trip as well as a brief tour to his plantation. It was a good experience and learning trip too.

The main thing was, I had so much fun as well as reconnecting to nature on this trip😊.

We also thanked our "Tour Prefect" (Ex Shans, Leong)😁 for guiding us throughout the trip and Benita (Ex Shans) 🌹as treasurer for making all bills right. Not forgetting Ah Fatt (Ex Shans)and Fatt Soh for being so generous for providing us all, a sumptuous seafood hotpot dinner.💓

The experience of this camping trip and the scenery of nature was amazing.  It was definitely a memorable one.🙏

Reference:

Keningau

Golden rules of camping

The benefits of camping

The Beauty of Nature

The positive effect of nature

Murut Cultural Center