A Birthday Retreat

Aku mula merancang birthday retreat ni sejak awal Disember lagi dan insan yang diraikan tidak lain tidak bukan, insan yang satu, tiada duplicate - MAK. I called it a birthday retreat because we actually 'kidnapped' Mak to a private retreat to a place called Sekeping Serendah for a weekend. Mak was clueless all the way to KL from Teluk Intan until my bro, Shahrul made an exit at Rawang where we were already waiting for them. But still Mak had no idea it was to celebrate her birthday since her birthday is on January 1. My initial plan was to do it on December 31 so that we could celebrate it that night tapi kena buat a week earlier sebab the place was fully booked pula on that day.

Sekeping Serendah ni is a private retreat surrounded by lush greenery nature located in the town of Serendah. Ada 3 types of houses called sheds - 2 glass sheds, 2 mud sheds and the newest, 1 timber shed. Getting there was a bit tricky sebab memang tiada proper or visible signboards. Even some locals kat pekan Rawang and Serendah pun blur about this place. After passing through pekan baru Rawang and Serendah, kena melalui Perkampungan Orang Asli Serendah dan jalan tanah merah hingga ke pintu masuk tempat ini. Aku dah suspense masa melihat keadaan jalan dan sekeliling semasa menuju ke sini. Takut juga jadi kes tipah tertipu sebab bila tengok photo gallery in the website nampak tempat ini memang cantik. Bummer - there goes my plan for Mak's birthday. But as soon as we went through the front entrance, aku rasa lega ya amat sebab the place memang seindah seperti pics in the website.

Masa mula-mula learnt about this place, memang dah teruja nak tinggal di glass shed tapi bila called nak buat reservation, fully booked pula. Time tu pula cuti sekolah, public holiday and that type of shed pula ada 2 aje. So, had to settle with the next best thing - the timber shed. It may be the most expensive but the biggest with 2 bedrooms. Staying at the timber shed banyak mengingatkan aku kepada zaman kanak-kanak. Bunyi insects dan lantai kayu apabila berjalan di atasnya reminded me semasa tinggal di rumah kampung Opah dan Tok aku di Manong, begitu juga kelambu yang tergantung di katil. The last time aku tidur berkelambu ialah semasa Onyang masih hidup. Everytime tidur di rumah Onyang, memang wajib gantung kelambu. Yang paling menarik tentang tempat ini is all the sheds here has open-concept including the shower area yang berbumbungkan langit dan pepohon hijau. Everytime bersiram, memang paranoid juga tengok atas kut-kut ada Mat Skodeng menyorok di celah-celah pokok. Facilities here very basic and not lavish. Other than a fridge, microwave and cooking stove, there is no tv, telephone nor mobile network coverage here. Because there are only 5 sheds, memang boleh expect a lot of privacy.

We spent the day of arrival recce kawasan keliling, then spent some time at the waterfall about 5 minutes drive for brunch. In the afternoon, we headed to the Serendah International Orchid Farm about 15 minutes drive. Ke sini juga tiada signboard langsung that we had to stop twice to ask some locals. Tempat ini terletak di atas bukit dan dari menara tinjau di atas, memang boleh lihat pemandangan pekan Serendah dan kawasan sekelilingnya. Unfortunately around this time tidak banyak orkid yang berbunga but Kema and Mak beli a few to take home.

Mak's advanced birthday celebration dibuat pada malamnya. BBQ chicken and marshmallow by the pool side with simple dishes which we have pre-prepared and brought from home, hanya diterangi dengan scented candles. We had the pool all to ourselves. It was almost perfect if it was not for the cake yang melt sedikit masa on the way ke sini di siang harinya. Although rupanya dah terjejas sikit but the cake named Desire which we bought at Barkezin, Bangsar Village II memang sinfully sedap. It's a combination of white and dark chocolate with crunchy caramel almond. Tengok aje pic ni, tempting and cantik kan? After dinner, my youngest bro, Rizal terjun ke dalam pool. Sorang-sorang dialah cepak cepuk berenang ke sana sini tengah-tengah malam. The rest of us jadi 'pemerhati PBB' by the pool side sambil continuing with our dinner and BBQ.

The following day after breakfast, all of us spent the entire morning at the pool. Aku ambil kesempatan crash course belajar berenang from Rizal starting from learning to float and within a short period of time, I can already do some short strokes. I was either a fast learner or Rizal was a good teacher. Lepas ni, dah teruja nak pergi practice swimming di Armanee which has a resort-like pool. By noon, we checked-out but already talking about returning to this place for a family gathering. This time, kena plan and book awal-awal for the glass sheds.

For those who are seeking for a short escape from the hustle and bustle of city life, this is just the perfect hideout for relaxing and enjoying the tranquility of the natural environment. Visit http://www.serendah.com/ to find out more info and photos about this place.

What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong