This was a trip one year in the making.
Way back in the middle of 2010, a few of us were quite taken by the idea of spending one cell-phone less weekend in the privacy of a shed made of glass in the middle of the forest.
Sekeping Serendah is known for its minimal carbon footprint glass sheds, timber sheds and mud sheds, surrounded by orang asli (indigenous people) villages and lush green tropical forest. Running right through the sheds is a bubbling brook which provids the comforting sound of running water, similar to that of an electrified water installation at rich people's mansions.
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| The bubbling brook |
Following the advice of most other reviews of this restaurant, we ordered one steam fish each, plus some other dishes like vegetables ("Fu Yu Yau Mak"), tofu and sweet sour chicken, for sharing. We ordered the medium-sized fish though, as the usual smaller-sized fish wasn't on the menu that day, and for some of us, eating a whole fish was quite an ordeal.
Our journey continued after lunch, and after a stressful twenty minutes drive (for me) through Rawang Town, paying zen-like keen attention to the soulless female voice of our Garmin GPS and with a convoy of cars following me blindly behind, we were greeted by the gated and guarded compounds of Sekeping Serendah.
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| Artfully arranged rocks which greeted us upon reaching |
The glass shed is a two-storied setup with walls mostly built with glass, and is equipped with beds and pillows (which gets damp at night), metal couches with cushions, basic kitchen utensils and nature right at your doorstep. The owners of the retreat were quite honest in their assessment of the sheds, and admitted that the sheds are intentionally kept basic and free from lavishness, "glorified tents" as described by them.
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| One of the two glass sheds we occupied |
There really was nothing much to do at this beautiful retreat, except to enjoy the best that Mother Nature has to offer, which was quite impressive considering its close proximity to Kuala Lumpur city. We decided to explore around a little, first by dipping our feet into the cold waters of the swimming pool...
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| Ugly feet courtesy of KC. Ugly hand scratching butt courtesy of Andy |
...then by dunking our entire body into the cascading waters at a fall nearby (five minutes by car, twenty minutes by foot)...
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| Do I hear wedding bells? Ethan & Lil, Mel & Lihow, Liz & KC & Me... |
...while some "smart" people chose to pick on somebody twice their size.
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| Chronology of events - Blissfully unaware Ethan. Annoying Liz. Vengeful Ethan. "My-legs-too-short-to-kick" regretful Liz. |
We also took a short walk into the forest, right behind the our glass sheds.
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| Beautifully cemented walkway slabs so you can walk through the jungle, without getting your feet dirty. |
The fire for the barbecue was started by six in the evening, right as the sun was about to set and the rain that had fallen a couple of hours ago begun to subside. We brought along a wide array of lovingly marinated lamb, chicken and pork chops as well as expertly cut capsicums, onions, mushrooms, inflammable marshmallows, and the likes.
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| View from the second floor of the Glass House. |
The mini get-together also gave us a chance to remind ourselves of how old we already are, and to officially recognise this awareness of our deteriorating digestive systems, lowered alcohol tolerance and decreasing-metabolism-caused weight gain, we celebrated the May babies' birthdays.
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| Happy Birthday Lihow & Jean! |
The following morning, we had an American themed breakfast of eggs, bacon strips, leftover BBQ chicken wings and Nescafe, whipped up by the "Father-Mother" couple of our little band of weekend warriors, Liz & KC.
Since we had a heavy breakfast, lunch was no longer part of our itinerary, and our short weekend getaway to Sekeping Serendah was concluded with each of our three cars headed for different direction, one towards Kepong, one back to Damansara and with me finding my way slowly back to Puchong.
An Ode To My College Friends
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| From left: (Top) KC, Shiun, Ethan, Andy (Bottom) Liz, Lihow, Jean, Lilian, Sze Hoon |
The end of the world came and went without any obvious signs of disruptions during our stay in Sekeping Serendah, except for the mosquitoes which were biting and sucking like there was no tomorrow. As life goes on busily for all of us, opportunities for college mates reunions like this seems to be interceded by longer and longer periods of inactivity.
So although not all of our closest and dearest college mates were able to make it this time, I for one am glad that this weekend happened, and I'll be looking forward to our next mini adventure (I heard it is a housewarming party, with special appearances from friends long thought lost in Singapore).
Till then!
Post-scripts
- To view the pictures in a larger size, please click into the respective pictures.
- For more information on Sekeping Serendah, please visit their website here http://www.serendah.com/home.html or leave me an enquiry in the comment section below.
The following is a replication of my review contributed to Trip Advisor which contains more detailed information than my musings above.
Since there were 10 of us in the group, we booked 2 glass houses for a total or RM 1,300 (RM 600 per house - which is suppose to accomodate only 4 guests, and an additional RM 100 for 2 extra guests). We chose not to cater, and had BBQ for dinner, and cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast the following morning. BBQ utensils were fully provided, even new steel nets and charcoals, as well as 8 skewers per house.
1. What we loved about this trip:
- being surrounded by nature, fresh air and the comforting sound of a nearby brook.
- BBQ for dinner
- taking a dip in Serendah Falls (20 minutes walk from the Glass House)
- close proximity to the city (less than an hours drive away)
- no telephone reception means guest can just focus on family and friends who are present without the distraction of smartphones and internet.
- plenty of photo opportunities for photo enthusiasts.
- should try the popular steam fish at Lan Je Restaurant in Rawang Town, 20 minutes by car away from Sekeping Serendah retreat.
- the caretaker should provide a quick tour of the houses, especially the many electricity switches.
- greater care should be taken to keep the mattresses free from bed bugs. Many of us came away with bug bites that itch for days.
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