The first day of ASEAN Explore
Quest Malaysia (AEQM) 2014 started with a visit to Sunway Lagoon Theme Park,
one of the most popular theme park in the country. The theme park also boasts
for having the world’s highest, largest and most thrilling water ride – The
Vuvuzela!
Dato’ Haji
Azizan Noordin, the Deputy Director General of Tourism Malaysia was present to
flag off the event by sounding the air horn, followed by loud cheers of the
participants. The first activity of the
day was for each and every member countries to come up with their own unique
welcoming dance and theme song. This was followed by a few telematch games
which lasted until late noon. After lunch, the coordinator announced the winner
of the telematch which went to team Malaysia. A one hour free and easy was
later spent by the participants exploring the theme park while some were seen
busy snapping some pictures before they call it a day at about 4pm.
The second day of the ASEAN Explore Quest Malaysia 2014 took
the participants to Homestay Kampung Lonek in Jempol, Negeri Sembilan, about
90km south of Kuala Lumpur. The two hour journey by bus passed through the state’s
capital town of Seremban and the more scenic Kuala Pilah town.
Kampung Lonek (Lonek village) is located in the district of
Jempol, about 20km from Kuala Pilah town. Patches of paddy farms greet visitors
as they enter the village. The villagers are mostly farmers and small traders.
Experiencing a homestay in a
traditional village or “kampung” is perhaps one of the fastest and easiest ways
to get to know the real Malaysia. Guests will discover that things here move at
a slower pace than in the city, and for those who relish the quiet calm of the
rustic life, this is possibly as good as it gets.
Hajah Badariah Ahmad, the chairperson of the village
homestay association was already prepared to greet the AEQM entourage with a
group of ‘kompang’ percussionists when we arrived shortly before noon. After a short
welcoming speech and briefing by Hajah Badariah, the participants were divided
into three groups before we were brought around the village in special trams
for a tour and demonstration of dodol making, mengemping padi (flattening of dry rice) and kelulut bee
farm. We also got to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the paddy fields,
irrigation canals and the traditional village houses during the two kilometre
tram ride.
In the next event, two members of AEQM, one male and one
female were randomly selected to be the bride and groom of a traditional malay
mock wedding. Ms. Ying Kanyapatch of Thailand and JV, the hot vlogger from
Vietnam were the lucky ones. Dressed up in the best songket costumes, the
couple was paraded to the altar with the beat of the kompangs complete with a
full entourage. The audience and the wedding couple were then feted with display
of traditional dances and silat performances by the locals.
The last event for the evening was a village telematch of
F1, tarik upeh and coconut bowling before we proceed to Port Dickson where we
will be spending the night at Grand Lexis.
End of a long and tiring (but fun nevertheless) day 2….
