Belum Rainforst

The Belum Rainforest and Growing old 

I know I say this every time, but this one really has been a long time coming, Quite a lot has happened in the last 4 weeks, so I’ll do a couple of updates over the next few days. 

Casting your minds back to the August Bank Holiday weekend, which is apparently still a bank holiday over here, my company selected us and 61 other members of staff to take part in a trip to the Belum Rainforest, located just south of the Thailand border around 400km from Kuala Lumpur.

This was effectively a huge and very corporate team building exercise in effort of celebrating the Malaysian day of independence from the British some 50+ odd years ago (eyes on floor.) The next 3 days were to be dominated by a treasure hunt, with teams of 4 solving clues and travelling to destinations in an effort to gain points and win the grand prize.

I'm more familiar with waking up with a half broken back in a tent mid Reading Festival this time of year, so the thought of having a lie in, taking it easy and perhaps watching some Homes Under The Hammer re runs on iplayer was an embarrassingly attractive one. Alas, it wasn't to be.

Waking up at 4am was a slap in the face and like a zombie I went through the practiced motions, shower, dress, facebook etc. Breakfast at half 5 consisting of anchovies, rice and a spicy sauce was a punch in the gut and it’s safe to say my disposition was not in the best of moods by the time the corporate spirit was pumping itself up to new heights. Gaining a parcel of self awareness, I found myself at the HQ, face down on the table and trying to summon what energy reserves I had to push me through the day

Finding it an uphill struggle to align myself to the wave of good will and giddiness that seemed to have descended over the office, I needed to begrudgingly accept a shot of this corporate juice or descend into a moody prick for the rest of the weekend. And no one likes a moody prick.

Brunsfield convoy on the 5 hour trip north

This would be achieved through the medium of music, specifically our Team Cheer (Queens) which we had to proudly display in front of the rest of the participants. If, like me, you used to cringe at episodes of The Chuckle Brothers to the point in which you would have to turn the TV off, walk out the room or mute the sound you will understand that this thought of such a display of unbridled enthusiasm hurt me deeply. I was not looking forward to it.

Queens Mottthheeerrffuu....

However, filled inexplicably with a new found vigor, fuelled by the ever almighty Queens chant I bellowed the timeless words “put us to the test!” as my teammate Pei Pei dutifully responded “We are the best!” This was shortly followed by our triumphant fists being raised into the air, I found myself ready, willing and eager for the days challenges. Well, sort of.

We set off, the checkered flag waved enthusiastically by our boss and we were on the road, heading to our first destination, Oasis Square apartments. First destination I hear you shout? But isn’t this meant to be a treasure hunt? Very true, and it certainly wasn’t as simple as that, to unlock the mystery destination we first needed to find the clue and arrange them in the right combination to form a gigantic puzzle, the image of which would lead the way. 69 Brunsfielders poured out of the front doors of HQ, scattering in an instant among the foliage in an effort to claim their piece of the pie.

Oasis

We arrived at our next destination and took the obligatory group photo (one of roughly 10-25 thousand that would be taken over the course of the weekend), fished for balloons with string and then burst them with a crushing stomp of the foot to unlock the next clue, hidden deep within in the form of a scroll. This quest led us to the Oasis site offices at the back of the complex, with the location of our next challenge.

Over the course of the day we engaged in many challenges involving cryptic puzzles, the answers of which were literally right in front of our faces in the form of store signs and advertisements. A cruel irony then, that when the answer is starring you in the face that it is so difficult to find. Water sports, zorbing and a zip wire called the flying fox took up most of the afternoon. At 12:30am we finally arrived at Belam, I ate the first proper meal in over 24 hours and collapsed in bed.

This happened

The next two days were over flowing with a range of challenges whilst being ferried around by powerboats and going on walks through the rainforest. Bathing in ice cold waterfalls was a particular highlight. There was a rather unsettling point in which we travelled to a very small community living in the middle of the national park on this small island, home to no more than perhaps 20-30 families. Upon arriving I felt rather like an intruder, and after completing our challenge of constructing small book cabinets and handing them over to a group of local children, the staged nature of the event and the insessent photography left a some what sour taste in my mouth.

Rainforest trek

Putting that aside, I went expecting a Butlins come forced participation school trip which I half expected to loathe, but came away from the experience grateful I had been allowed to take part.

Island Ting

I was given an egg to take care of the entire day to be returned
unharmed. Suffice to say this little guy never got to see sundown. 

Belum itself was an incredible beautiful place, 130 million years old with luscious and dense forests, composing of hundreds of islands separated by an intricate lake system that were once valleys. (To put it into perspective, the Amazon rainforest is about 55 million years old)

Anyway, it was flooded to provide the source for a hydroelectric dam (or to drown communists, but I can’t remember which one came first) and as we boated around you could hear the old forest that remains beneath the surface of the water scraping against the bottom of the boat.

Miami Vice Malaysian Style

The last night there was a big celebration and formal meal, with each table competing against each other for various prizes and the winner of the overall hunt receiving 500 Ringit (100 quid) each. Not bad for a company run trip. The night reached it’s climax with all members of staff being beckoned onto stage, handed miniature Malaysian flags and bellowing the Malaysian national anthem and a song I have a suspicious feeling had a deep undercurrent of anti British rule sentiment, but w/e. This part of the night was particularly surreal, but when in Rome I guess.

Overall it made a much welcome and needed contrast to the built up areas and smog heavy Kuala Lumpur. To see a blue sky and breath deep alone made the trip a worthwhile one. Oh, the hotel was 5 star and the food was great. I stole some soap from the bathroom.

At some point during this mess I turned 20, a thought I had been pushing aside for quite some time and tried to keep on the down low through the course of the weekend, being that I still have the same mental age that I did 5 years ago.

 Growing old is depressing, but on the upside after a good 3 months of relentless practice I've finally mastered how to pronounce "th". It's the little victories in life, y'know.