Once in a while I become a person in a place where everyone knows everyone else and I am just a complete stranger. Oh, you know you've been there too. Like when you go to a party your new friend is hosting and everyone else in the party works together or have been friends for a long time, and they talk about work that you know nothing about and have private jokes among themselves. And you'll be standing there, sipping gallons of punch because it shows that at least you're doing something while you'll be smiling around like a bloody gibbon trying to laugh at jokes you don't undestand. See? We've all been there.

I went to Kuala Lumpur to visit one of my bestest friends, and it happened to turn out that on last Saturday, 20th June 2009 (yes, that's right, a month to my birthday. Yikes!) her office mates asked her to go for a trip to the Waterfalls in Ulu Yam, which is located in the state of Selangor. Of course she insisted I joined them, and secretly I kind of dreaded this, because

a.) it'll be worse that the awkward party, because there will be no punch to drink

b.) there're only 3 girls and the rest of the 4-car trip will be boys. I mean, it's always easier to pretend to know a girl. Just find a topic to bitch about and you're all set.

But we went anyway, and Hana (that's my girlfriend's name) and I rode in a car with a pair of twins. Shirt-matching, look-alike, yelling, lovable 23-year old boy twins. I don't think I have ever seen a pair of grown-up twins before. And for the whole trip they argued about everything - the route, the food, the life. At one point they were swearing at each other so hard i thought they were going to rip each other's heads off.

After about an hour drive (or more) we were driving uphill to get to the waterfalls. On the way we passed by the Batu Water Dam, which is one of the state of Selangor's major water dams. Here's what it looks like.

And when we drove by it, the day was one of those moody. cloudy ones that just made the place look extra mystical. Heavy clouds were smoking around the green, lush hills. The water was calm with that eerie feel, like a Loch Ness monster might come out any minute. I could just picture myself doing Yoga for hours by the shore of the lake.

At the waterfalls things were not as bad as I expected it to be. I mean, this was by no means any match to the Kedah state's best waterfalls, but it was still be-a-u-tiful, like any God given's nature would look like as long as we humans don't start screwing it all up. (that being said, there were still trash everywhere in the bushes. what is up with all these assholes?) Hana's friends were also generally very nice to me, although like any male species, they get excited when there are huge colonies of them and thus begin an endless supply of swearing, middle-fingering, really bad sex-jokes and lots of roaring and jumping (imagine a gorilla thumping his chest, if you will). You just have to look past that and see the good in them. Again, sigh, what we girls have to do to except males as they are.

This was also one fo those rare moments in life when everything you read in 'Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus' are demonstrated exactly as how it was written in that damn book. A typical girls day out at the waterfalls would go like this.

"Find a nice place. Set out a matress. Wait till water is less cold. Get into water slowly and complain how it's freezing and that we hate this. Soak in the water while bitching. Then sit at the waterfalls and enjoy the running water which is very spa-like. Then find a sunny spot on the rocks and lie on the warm rocks while talking about the office bitch. Conversation carries on for hours about all the gossips in the world while paddling feet in the water. See if there are fishies in the water. Then go back on land, change clothes, fix hair, eat, relax and go back."

Meanwhile, a boys day out, as observed, went something like this.

"Find spot. Who cares about beauty. Just find a place with water. Set out matress, dump everything on it. Take off shirt, jump straight into water. Splash water on everyone else. Play some sort of sport in the water. Accomplish things, like 'how many times can we pass the ball around without dropping it in the water?' If it's twenty times, accomplish thirty on the next round, and so on. Ocassionally check swimming shorts to make sure it's not revealing too much of personal assets. Eat and pig out on food. Play land sports or games.Jump back into water. Accomplish more things with water sports. Meanwhile do not stop swearing and making lame jokes. Then go back on land, change, finish every food that was left behind and go back."

I rest my case.