Raising children..: February 2010

WE climbed Broga Hill (near Semenyih) on Mon, and my children can't stop talking about it. My children, especially Nel totally loved that trip. We arrived Broga at 7:30am, although ideally 7am would be better coz it gets hot quite early.

the start of the climb. palm oil estate and the jungle in the first 10-15 mins of climb.

Anyway, I discovered that my daughter Nel, and my bro’s 2 older kids are way way fitter than me! They ran while I was taking it step by step. (Man! I’m so UNFIT!) but then again, I had to look after Jo who is not as fast and strong yet, while Ml had to look after Lu. There were times when the 3 older children were a peak ahead of me!

Altogether there are 3 peaks at Broga. I think the longest climb would be the one to first peak.The rest are easier, although the constant climbing can be tiring for an unfit person.

beautiful view from the 1st peak

photo of 2nd peak (taken while resting on 1st peak)

3rd peak! the children's favourite !

Children loved 3rd peak, coz there’s a tiny portion where you have to use ropes to help you over the boulders. They absolutely loved that. As for little Jo who’s not much of a climber, lotsa hugs, encouraging words and snacks got her to the top of 3rd peak too. Thank God for the cold ribena which I’d prepared the night before, that really helped her through. All together we took 3 hours, which included stops for sandwiches, snacks, drinks, and chit-chat on top of second peak with friends. I think Nel would've accomplished it at a much shorter time, coz she was running most of the way.

Coming down was a little more tricky coz the path is mostly sandy, so it was a slippery descent. On certain paths where there were hardly any clear steps, the children took the opportunity to slide down. And mind you, they did it at quite high speed, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Almost like sledding on ice! Haha… (I overheard some adults saying “we should try sliding too but none did. Haha..

journey down..

Lastly I think anybody can do Broga, coz even little Lu who’s just 3, made it all the way (but it included several tiny falls) and sheer determination, coz he practically crawled some of the steeper paths and all without complaining too! Bravo him!

Little Lu (my bro's 3 yr old), refused to be carried, and climbed like this most of the journey

Things to bring along if you’ve got young kids joining-

-power drink (ribena), junk food, chocolates, tissue, wet wipes, change of clothes, band-aid, hats, sun block and good shoes.

To cool off after the climb, we proceeded to the waterfall at Hutan Lipur. Very suitable for children as it has a lovely, shallow stream with lots of sand for play.

Then we headed off to the famous ikan bakar (grilled fish) shop located behind the Chinese temple. we were very hungry and ordered about 5 fish cooked Asam, tomyam, spicy bean sauce, steamed and nyonya. Very fresh.

This is the restaurant which serves good ikan bakar in Broga

The children did not want the day to end yet, so we went to Rabbit Funland, (right across from the entrance to Broga Hill) where they fed and petted goats/kids, rabbits, ponies and monkeys. The highlight was watching newborn rabbits….and of course chillin in the hammock with an icecream after a very long long exciting day.