Saturday 26 June 2010

A weekend getaway to Pulai Springs Resort!!

Every moment in life is spend in cherishing the past or preparing for future. We need time to stop, reflect our life and enjoy the present.We were looking forward for a holiday. Because of Sajeev's EMBA classes and Achu's school we kept it for a delayed gratification. Now that he is graduated we decided to celebrate his achievement and father's day at a quiet destination far from the madding crowd of Singapore.

His convocation ceremony was a wonderful experience. The graduates were all in high spirits and in the graduation gowns they all looked like grown up kids excited about their attire...The speeches were inspiring and thought provoking, especially the one made by the MD of Nestle Singapore, Mr Suresh Narayanan. The best of the best moments was when all the graduates were asked to stand up, turn around and thank their family and friends...It gives an escalated feeling. One that has to be experienced and known...
Back to vacation from convocation...:-) We didn't look for destinations far far away as Kannan is still a baby and Sajeev always wanted to drive to the location. So we decided to look for places quite nearby and site seeing was not in our agenda. Our search ended in the Pulai Springs Resort, Johor Malaysia, quite nearby Singapore. On 19th morning 7:30 we started from Singapore packing all the necessary items; food, clothes, favourite toys, toiletries...and what not???;-) We had printed the routes in addition to setting route in GPS. I do not really trust electronic devices till date as they can go haywire anytime.We cleared the Singapore immigration quickly as it was early morning and we didn't have to wait in long queue. An advantage when driving to Malaysia is that we need not get down at any of the Immigration, just sliding down the window glass is enough. Its after few years that I am visiting Malaysia and from the causeway near Woodlands, Johor just looked like a metro in Kerala. :-) We were driving towards Kota Tinggi and our GPS lead us to E2, getting a sense of wrong direction we decided to ignore GPS. One great fun is to ignore the female voice and move on, and it continues desperately to show us the way :-) There are lot of sign boards and finding way is not a problem at all. Once we had to ask a durian shop owner the way.I had to force Sajeev to ask direction (men are so reluctant to ask direction;-) no offense guys just a fact!!). Kota Tinggi town is a quiet and sleepy town. When travelling from Singapore we feel a sense of vastness,  like a place isolated by people. Its just that the density of population is much less compared to Singapore.

The waterfall resort car park was almost full. We put on slippers and walked towards the falls and the rainforest surrounding it. Coming from the land of the awesome waterfalls at  'Athirappally' (got to see it's exotic virgin beauty recently in the film 'Ravanan' by Maniratnam) and 'Vazhachal' we were not that excited by the small waterfall, but its not the place that matters. Me and Achu climbed down the rather slippery rocks to feel the water and it felt so nice against the feet...so cooling. Right from the origin the water looked so fresh and pristine. Small fishes were happily swimming around and were fearless by the human presence they experience everyday. Sajeev and papa went up the steps parallel to the waterfalls and Sajeev managed to get few snaps of the waterfall from its accessible origin. Kannan was frustrated about standing in the sunlight for long :-) we had no choice but to return. Achu was not that happy as I didn't let her wear the swimsuit and let her go inside the water. There were so many people(locals and tourists coming in groups) and no proper place to keep things safely and I didn't feel like letting her go in. Sorry Achu. Sometimes, amma is like this da...:-)

Aman had prepared Chappathi and karela fry for us. It was so yummy. We finished it off. Aman was of great help and assisted me in packing all the necessary items...We started to the Pulai Springs Resort.In Singapore Sajeev doesn't get to drive above 90km/hr but in Malaysia its a totally different driving experience.We got to see roads with few cars ...unlike in Singapore where we move in walking pace or even slower if caught in usually massive jams over the high ways... Both the sides of the road were lined by palm trees with thick lush green foliage.The way was picturesque and a visual treat... it brought me nostalgic memories of my home town...

(to be continued...)

         One of the highest accessible part of Kota Tinggi waterfall.There are several such small falls and few deep falls.
At the waterfalls
                                                         The Entrance    
                                The Majestic architecture of Pulai Springs Resort

Art in Wood
                                                            Golf Course


http://www.pulaispringsberhad.com.my/psb/pulai_springs_berhad.htm

2 comments:

  1. Cool shots.. Nikon D90 strikes again..

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  2. Thanks Rakesh!! Will convey to Sajeev :-)

    ReplyDelete