JIAR PHOTOGRAPHY: 2009

Not many people may have a chance to take a picture of this fast and very shy beach crab. However i was one of those fortunate people who happened to capture this image with a bit of luck.

Not more than 5cm in length and about 2cm in width this crab can be found along the shore. They move extremely fast and you would be lucky if you're still able to see them from a roughly 5metre distance apart between the crab and yourself because less than this, the crab vanishes quickly into the sand through small holes which they themselves create.

To capture an image of this crab you must have patience, a tele lens, stalking skills plus some luck. I was able to capture this image because there was this one crab that when i came near to it, one step at a time, the crab didn't move away even with less than 5 metres apart. Instead it stayed there motionless. So i kept on taking more steps closer until this crab was just less than 2 metres away from me. After that i didn't want to move any closer. With my 18-200mm lens, i was able to fully zoom in and i then took my shot. The crab still appeared small despite zooming in and so i had to bend my body close to the ground very slowly, making sure that i didn't make any further steps as ground vibrations would cause it to disappear.

A few weeks ago i read an article on the Borneo Bulletin mentioning about how nice this wasai menteri was and so i was on a mission to search for this wasai and tried to have a close look at the wasai myself. It was on a Sunday afternoon about 4pm I started off in search for this wasai. As stated on the newspaper, i directly drove for the sungai akar/menteri large roundabout. When i arrived there i headed for the menteri road and i passed the new RTB building in oppposite direction of the highway. About 1-2min after passing the RTB building, i saw lots of cars parking at the opposite side of the highway and i thought that this had to be the wasai. I had to take a U-turn though before i could reach at car park area.

Apparently, i was not alone. There were other visitors who had come earlier and i could hear their voices screaming from outside. Below are all the pics that i took in my shock visit and i can tell you one thing, i was extremely taken aback to see that the area was totally polluted with lots of rubbish. I could not understand how some people could still afford to take a bath in this polluted water. It was not long untill i got a chance to see the first pool and about 2-3 mins from there, there was another one.

I was also amazed that the area had diverse flora and fauna and the biodiversity was beyond my expectations. Sadly, this diverse biodiversity was already spoilt with human interferences and it wont be long before it slowly disappears and probably more species of insects, plants and animals will disappear into thin air. I think that the authorities should do something about it. This site could have been a really wonderful place where people can spend quality time with their families had it not been adversely polluted and contaminated with trashes, human food remains and old clothes and many others.

Switching to macro

Ants and flies feed on the rubbish and human food remains

The tree trunks create a nice pattern

How can such a creature (hen or roaster??) be found at this place? It must be lost unless if it happens to be an 'ayam hutan'.

The largest species of ant

Here's the wooden platform where you can sit and enjoy taking a bath

Water flows continuously from this bottle

This is the bamboo that collects the freshwater

Water is collected at the far end of this bamboo

You can take a shower just by sitting under this plastic bottle. The water flows continuously.

My first glance i thought this was a bra...i wouldn't be surprised though after seeing shorts and other remnants of clothes which were deliberately left at the site...but this one is just a plastic bag.

An empty plastic bottle of shampoo floats around

Water flowing through these rocks

You can take a shower from the outlet of this bottle

Just passed the 1st pool you'll see another pool about 2-3 minutes walk and this is the picture of that second pool. The unique thing about this pool is that there is water flowing through a long bamboo. At one end of the bamboo you'll see a plastic drinking bottle is cut partially and is attached to it and the opposite end of the bamboo is attached to the rock where freshwater flows through it. It's an absolutely a creative piece of work.

Shorts are left here

Carvings on the rocks are left for momento

"ROMEO WITH LOVE"

Trashes can be seen almost everywhere

Visitors should carry their rubbish away from the site

Trashes are accumulated at one place and are just simply left there

Trashes in the foreground spoil the pic

This is the first pool that you will come across from the moment you enter at the entrance. It's quite spacious and it's also a perfect swimming pool for small kids as the water is not too deep. I was only able to shoot it from here as these people wanted a little privacy.