Sunday, April 18, 2010

Camping At Merang, Setiu


At one of the beaches at Merang, Setiu. The beach faces Bidong island and Redang island


This year, our school's annual camp was held at UDM's campsite in Merang, Setiu from 15-17 April. The campsite is about 40 minutes drive from our school in Kuala Terengganu and only a few hundred metres away from the jetty to Redang Island.



Well, I think UDM's campsite is one the best campsites I've ever been to. The camping ground is under shady trees facing a lagoon near the sea. It's a really nice place.



UDM's camping ground


Two years ago, we had the worst experience during the school's annual camp which was held at Hutan Lipur Sekayu (Sekayu recreational forest ) in Kuala Berang. The campsite is surrounded by thick jungle . It was really dark and eerie at night. During the last night at the campsite, some of our students suffered from hysteria. I can still remember that moment when we suddenly heard a loud scream in the middle of the night. A girl was the first victim. A minute later, it was followed by another scream but it was a boy. Strange..I've never heard of boys experiencing hysteria. The girl and the boy were actually quite a distance away from each other. Soon, more and more students were screaming.

It was not easy for us teachers to handle the situation. Everyone was scared and exhausted as it was in the middle of the night!. There were only less than 20 teachers on duty and we were supposed to handle 200 students . I can still remember that I was awake all night and couldn't close my eyes. One of the students were so scared she asked me to stay by her side. Little that she knew that ..cikgu dia pun sebenarnya bukannya berani sangat (I myself was so damn scared)....Eventhough we lied down so close to each other, we were still very scared. I think it was in everyone's head - "Am I going to be be the next person??" as we were aware that hysteria is contagious. It was a lesson to learn for all of us, teachers. The next year we decided to have a break from camping in the wilderness. We had the camp in the school compound instead. It was so easy except that there was no thrill at all. This year we decided to have it near the beach...

Camping is good for students as it teaches them leadership skills and responsibility in many ways. They also learn to appreciate nature



They also learn to cook..The students offered me their breakfast..cekodok hangus!



Facing the lagoon. There are a lot of crabs at the lagoon. The men teacher managed to catch a lot of crabs and the lady teachers helped cooking the crabs -buat gulai ketam


Views of the surrounding areas


It is near the jetty to Redang Island.




Found these wild flowers during a nature walk. Pertama kali tengok pokok ni..



Water activities for the students. My favourite water sport..kayaking

The happy faces of the best team for 2010 Annual Camp. They are my 6th former students


This year, everything went well at the campsite in Merang, Setiu. Nothing bad happened except that during the last night, there was a heavy downpour and we were not really prepared for it. Fortunately, there was no case of hysteria. We really had a wonderful time.

40 comments:

  1. What a beautiful place to camp!! I'm glad to hear that no-one suffered from hysteria this time!
    Have a lovely week!

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  2. The lagoons and view are breathtaking which is quite different from what we have in the state where I live. I've never gone camping but my brothers do it every year and each year, they always look exhausted and malnourished when they return. They would bring all these survival kits and high tech gadgets to make camping comfortable but they always returned looking horrible. Lol! I can imagine how a person can begin to go crazy at night away from civilization in the middle of the jungle. How scary!

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  3. What a nice camping activity!! But darkness is quite scarely!! wonderful post!!thank you for sharing!!

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  4. wahhhh!cantiknya terengganu kita :D
    owh i love those wild flowers tooo

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  5. tadi i baca post ni dari phone tidak berjaya la pulak buat comment so i dtg lagi dgn desktsop pulak heheh
    u sekayu orang cakap keras - da ramai pun mati lemas -
    but air dia mandi tgh hari sungguh la nyaman - cuma 20 mnit from my in law house kat KB :)

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  6. cantiknya wild flowers tu..
    sekali pandang tu nampak macam lavender...
    :)

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  7. Karen- Thank You Karen..yeah..thank goodness nothing bad happened. U too have a lovely week!

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  8. RoseBelle- Yes, it was really scary. It was the toughest moment and my worst experience. I dont wanna face that situation anymore:( BTW, you should join your brothers the next time they go for camping. Camping is a fantastic experience!

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  9. Mami- Yes Mami, it's really scary to be in the middle of thick jungle at night! One has to be prepared physically and mentally.

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  10. Zarin- I nampak pokok tu terus jatuh cinta sbb mcm lavender. Actually ada byk lagi di dalam semak samun which is further inside. Tak boleh nak reach..takut ular. Ambik dr jauh2 je..

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  11. Ermayum- kesian u susah2 dtg dgn desktop pulak. I appreciate it so much, dear. You... situ mmg keras giler. Days after the camp, budak2 I semua demam n masih hysteria lagi. I could feel it to u noe. Before the student screamed I heard it kat telinga I. Mlam tu mcm scary movie..Takkan lupa sampai bila2.

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  12. Lady Of Leisure- U r right. Mmg sgt mcm Lavender. I tengah jalan2 ternampak terus amek gambar. I tak penah nampak seumur hidup, U. Pokok tu kat tempat paya2 dekat pokok mengkuang.

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  13. Wow, that sounds a really wonderful place to camp. I am glad all went well this year! :-)

    Lovely photos and that breakfast looks really nice!

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  14. wahhh that's really good. My daughter hari tu went to this Manor house kat countryside for a week! they have planned activities and all that. She said it was one of the best times of her life. I tell you every school should do something like this. Really good for the kids. Good for you dear! Really proud of you .. ye lah with all the bad experience, you still did not give up ;D

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  15. Owh...so nice place to camp...bet it was super fun cooking crabs and all... ; ) and yes the wild flowers pic was great too! Love ur shots as alwiz... ; )

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  16. The students are very lucky. Camping at the such beautiful place and guided by the very caring teachers.

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  17. I dont like camping at all hahah sigh BUT what a nice place to camp! Catching crabs, kayaking wow! Everyone must had a lot of fun and most important no hysteria. Great post! ^_^

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  18. very eerie experience..luckily u berani..I tak blh org hysteria ni..teringat zaman sekolah dulu..it gave me goose bumps. by the way..I love the photos esp wild flower tu:)

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  19. Susannah- Tq Susannah. Me too am so glad everything went well and everyone returned home safely :)

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  20. Nana-Thank you nana. It's part of my duty pegi bercamping dgn students everywhere. Kat tasik, kat pulau, in the forest. Have to lah.... Every school mmg wajib buat annual camp.U r right it's good for the students..really

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  21. Nishalim-Ye la.. it's really a nice place. Teduh n sejuk je bwah pokok2 tu and the sea breeze sungguh nyaman! Makan pun sedap. For teachers we stayed in airconditioned challets and dormitaries. Students je yg dok dlm tents tu..hehe

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  22. Rb- Thank You Rb. Teachers nowadays are very different from teachers those days. Not only parents je pamper anak2..cikgu2 pun pamper their students..hehe

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  23. Hi Dita! Me too don't really like camping cause I have sensitive skin. Bisa gatal2 kalau buat outdoor activities. Once in a while, it's ok with me..

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  24. screamingmummuy- Actually I am not that berani but I put on a brave face for my students' sake. Kesian dorang.Masa sek dulu tak pernah ada hysteria at my school.Nasib baik..I love the wildflowers too!

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  25. nampak mcm dekat oversea..
    seriously beautiful..
    cekodok hangus tu pun nampak lovely :)

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  26. gambar crab takde ke.. huhuhu very scary dengar experiance in Sekayu... takuts ;)

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  27. the camp site sangat gorgoues! wahhh...your previous camping experience sangat scary la! what happened in the end?

    http://twinkywinkystars.blogspot.com

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  28. fatenton- Thank you. The weather was really fine..It was sunny and bright so gambar pun jadi ok.

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  29. Ojah- ye la i was thinking kalau ada gambar ketam kan best. Masa tu malam. I kept my camera in the chalet. Camera henphone so not clear hehe

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  30. Drama mama- what happened in the end???. Nasib baik the nex day we all balik. Panggil ustaz2 mintak tolong mlm tu. Cikgu lelaki yg handle. The rest of the students kita kumpul satu tempat open n tido dkat2 supaya dorang tak takut. The boy mlm tu jugak dah ok. The girls ada yg.weeks after tu pun tak pulih2.

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  31. I can't swim so I will definitely stay out of the water should I ever go camping :) Your camping site is absolutely beautiful, so much to see and do! About the night hysteria that happened..silence and darkness can play tricks on the mind so it was no wonder that the kids got frightened. Glad this year was better for you.

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  32. Seronok baca cita TK...
    Thank you for sharing :)

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  33. Xiao Yen Recipes- I think everyone can swim with the life jacket. We can even float on the water. Yes, you are so right it has something to do with the darkness and we were in the middle of thick jungle!

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  34. Pn Isah- Thank you Pn Isah..Waiting for your next recipe ni..

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  35. wahhh bestnye..saya suke gi camping.. tapi my father slalu tak kasik..hehe..tapi saya mmg suke xtvt2 camni.. the histeria part : mmg takut kan kak? kat sekolah dulu sesi pagi penah kene histeria..saya yg sesi ptg terus tak jadik gi sekolah..takuutsss...

    p/s : suke baca cerita akak:)

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  36. Hi TK,

    TQ for visiting my blog and for adding me to your bloglist.

    I have been browsing in your home here, interestng articles u have here. And also I can see that you love nature. Bye! You too have a wonderful weekend.

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  37. maya amir- wah bagusnya suka gi camping. I hanya suka kalau tempatnya best. Kalau dalam hutan kena pikir 2 kali. I sendiri pun kalau anak nak g camping hati berat je..Anyway, thanks for dropping by..

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  38. I amsterdam-Thank you for coming here again. Yes,I love nature so much!

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  39. Hilang rindu nak tengok pantai....tapi rindu sangat2 bila tengok jeti nak ke redang tu...teringat percutian kat redang dulu...bila la nak jejak pantai lagi ni...

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  40. eynda- Bestkan gi pulau..menggamit memori..

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