The Banjaran Hotsprings Resort

 

I have never heard of the name 'The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat' until my younger daughter mentioned it. Her colleague had visited the place and was overjoyed with her stay there that she encouraged my daughter to make a trip there. She also mentioned that it was worth the while to have a holiday there, if not my daughter would regret for not visiting the place.

 

On the evening of November 9, 2014, my family and I arrived at the resort at around five o'clock. We were taken aback that we were allowed to go through the checkpoint at the entrance without any checking or inquiry by the security guards. At the reception counter we were once again surprised to be informed on arrival by a staff member that we were to stay at the garden villa No. 7 and No. 10. This was even before they verified our identity.

Later, I learnt from my younger daughter that the resort usually would get the details of the guests before their arrival. Most probably the resort staff had already anticipated our arrival. Hence, they had no need to authenticate our identity upon our arrival.

Later on we were requested to produce our identity cards for the purpose of registration and documentation. The check-in was done speedily without any fuss.

Within minutes we were ushered to our villa by a member of the staff in a buggy. In the villa, we were orientated to familiarize with the facilities in the villa.



Our garden villa was equipped with a dip pool and a smaller natural geothermal Jacuzzi pool. The Jacuzzi pool has an extra tap linked to the supply of hot spring water which is odourless (no smell of sulphur as the water has been treated).The toiletries provided were of high quality. No plastic bags and bottles were found in the villa which was in accordance with the Green Philosophy of the establishment.

The villa was enclosed within four walls so that we were confined in a world of our own separated from the outside.

 

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Dipping into the private pool, practising ‘one-breath’ swimming, followed by a session of spa in the Jacuzzi pool could be very relaxing and refreshing to the body and mind.

The shuttle service at the resort was by means of a buggy powered by electricity which is very convenient for the guests to move around to any spot in the resort.

A buggy was just a phone call away from us.  After we gave a tinkle to the reception office, a buggy would be at our doorstep promptly within a few minutes. At any time of the day or at any place of the resort, we could easily get the service of a buggy by contacting the reception office with a cordless telephone.

For my wife whose movement is impeded by her knee problem, the buggy service was really heaven-sent to her when moving around the resort visiting the Geothermal Hot Springs Dipping Pools, the Thermal Steam Cave, the Ice Bath, and the Meditation Cave.

 

We were delighted to have a dip in the open-air warm-water swimming pool.

We also found a time slot to immerse our feet in the Garra Rufa Doctor Fish Pool to allow the 'doctors' to perform skin therapy on our feet.

 

In the morning of the final day of our stay we took a cool morning walk along the trails enjoying Nature as we strolled to the Crystal Cave to try out a session of meditation.

The temperature of the air-conditioner in the enclosed cave was a bit high and we felt a bit warm and stuffy inside the cave. Nevertheless, we managed to meditate for fifty minutes.  

Later on I sent my feedback to the resort personnel who assured me that a technician would be sent to the cave to monitor and maintain the temperature in the cave throughout the day at 24 degrees Celsius.

Although staying in the resort is costly, nevertheless the facilities provided by the resort are comparatively cosy.

As one guest who had stayed in the resort put it figuratively, “Here I'm paying like a King, but I am also being treated like a queen!"

People may say that paying a little more than a thousand ringgit a night staying in a villa in this resort is rather expensive. Perhaps one has to look at it in a different perspective. If it is not expensive, it can't be exclusive. I would rather think that the money spent here is worthwhile as I could dwell in a peaceful and serene environment where solitude is very dear to me and it is hard to come by in any other place in the world.

To seek for a haven with practically 'ninety-nine percent' solitude is like searching for a needle in the vast ocean. The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat is such a 'needle' you would find. It is a wise policy on the part of the resort authority to limit the number of occupants in a villa to two persons and to disallow children below the age of twelve to stay in. In one way or another, these regulations would help to contribute to as well as to consolidate the serene and peaceful environment in the resort.

In this resort there are sixteen garden villas and nine water villas. Only two occupants are allowed in each villa. At its peak season, with all the villas fully occupied, the resort could only house fifty guests in total. According to a spokesman of the management in the resort, the total number of the staff working at the resort is tallied to be around one hundred and ten which is more than double the number of the guests staying in the resort during its peak season. It is of little wonder that a guest staying in the resort would get an excellent service hardly found elsewhere.

Most of the staff whom I had the chance to talk to shared the same sentiment of their liking to work at the resort. I, too, if given the opportunity, would be glad to join the rank and file even if I am not paid a penny so long as food and lodging is provided free of charge.

Drawing Circles

When I was a kid, my mother kept a few chickens and ducks in the backyard so that we could have them as offerings to our ancestor gods during any important festival. Thus, my mother could help the family to save a substantial amount of money for the purchase of poultry from the market.

Every morning, my mother allowed the ducks to go out and spend the day at a nearby pond. In the evening they would come back without fail to sleep in their own ‘sweet home'.

Once, a big fat white duck did not come home with her companions in the evening. It was reported missing! All of us in the family were worried that the missing duck could have landed itself on somebody else's dinner table.

As there was no provision in the law of the country for us to make a police report for the missing duck, the only option left to us was to consult our Taoist ancestor god.

According to our Taoist ancestor god, the duck would be back within three days if it wasn't already in stomachs of others.

We had waited for a day and yet another day.No news of the duck was heard of!

On the third day, all of us were quite uneasy and moody thinking of our missing duck whose disappearance could have caused us some money if we were to buy it from the market. We started to cast doubts on our Taoist ancestor god for misleading us into raising a false hope. We were quite convinced by now that the duck could have travelled down the gut of some unscrupulous and greedy fellows living in our neighbourhood.

Surprisingly, just before nightfall on the third day, the big fat duck came home waddling in with its buttock swaying from left to right in a manner not unlike the majestic gait of a king.

We were overjoyed to see the duck returning home safe and sound. We truly thanked our Taoist ancestor god for the accuracy of his prediction.

Our Taoist ancestor god was our ‘family consultant' for matters ranging from trivial ones to that of utmost importance. Whatever problems that any of our family members could not solve, or when he could not make up his mind, he would leave it to our Taoist ancestor god to make the final decision. And most of the time our Taoist ancestor god would provide the right solution.

Upon an occasion when I was still a school-going lad, my family encountered a financial crisis. For a number of days we had not made any business at all as not a single customer patronized our shop. All of us in the family were worried that if there was still no business done for another day, we would not have money to buy food on the following day. Everyone in the family was like " ants jumping onto a heated pan" (如热锅上的蚂蚁). We were desperately yearning for an urgent solution to our immediate predicament.

As a last resort, my mother had no choice but to instruct me to burn three joss sticks and praying to our Taoist ancestor god hoping that he would answer our prayers.

To our relief, on that evening a rubber estate smallholder entered our shop to purchase a number of items for use in his estate including a few sheet-metal pails. The purchase had eased our financial constraint for the time being.

According to my mother, our Taoist ancestor before he became a god,had learned the psychic art from his master while he was young. Every day his master would ask him to draw circles as a practice to perfect the art. He drew circles year in and year out for almost three years without acquiring any further knowledge. He was getting bored and disappointed as he doubted he had chosen a wise master. He was planning to leave his master; the sooner the better to look for greener pastures elsewhere.

Incidentally, a group of bandits came up the mountain while his master was away. These bandits had the intention of occupying and making the summit of the mountain as their fortress. They incarcerated our Taoist ancestor temporarily in a storeroom for keeping firewood, with the ulterior motive of making him an errand boy.

In the storeroom, our Taoist ancestor was getting bored as he had nothing to do. To kill the time, he picked up a branch of firewood and started to draw circles on the ground as he normally did for his daily routine. As he was drawing, he was cursing the bandits for incarcerating him in the stuffy storeroom without food or drink.

Minutes slipped by and gave way to hours. After a long time had lapsed when, all of a sudden, our Taoist ancestor heard a commotion outside the storeroom. On peeping through an opening in the wall, he was surprised to see that each and every one of the bandits was tied up with a rope. None of them was able to disentangle himself from his bonds.

Seeing this as a golden opportunity to escape, our Taoist ancestor quickly broke down the door and rushed down the mountain to make a “police report" with the county magistrate to send a troop of soldiers to round up the bandits.

Our Taoist ancestor wasted no time to search for his master and to update him on the whole incident in every minute detail.

After hearing the report from our Taoist ancestor, the master said in no uncertain terms that, " My dear disciple, you have done a splendid job!”

Our Taoist ancestor was rather perplexed by his master's respond. He begged his master for a detailed explanation.

To this, he master said, “For every circle that you had drawn, a rope was wound around a bandit. I guess you must have drawn quite a lot of circles in the storeroom!"

On hearing the explanation from his master, our Taoist ancestor felt somewhat delighted and somewhat ashamed of himself. All this while, he was thinking that the drawing of the circles was merely a waste of time. Little did he know that the circles that he had drawn turned out to become such a powerful weapon to round up the enemy.

From that time onwards our Taoist ancestor made a vow that he would follow his master faithfully and wholeheartedly in pursuing the knowledge of psychic power.

法师公公

 

 





儿时妈妈在家里后院养了几只鸡鸭以备过年过节拜祭祖先神明。一般上，妈妈每天都会让鸭子们出去附近的池塘戏水。

傍晚时分鸭子们会自动回来睡觉。有一次，有一只鸭子早上出门晚上却没跟其他的鸭子一同回家。虽然我们很着急，可是又不能去报警，只好去请教我们的法师公公。法师公公说如果鸭子在三天内还没进入他人的五脏庙的话，它必定会平安回来。我们等了一天又一天，还没见到鸭子的踪影，大家断定鸭子恐怕凶多吉少了。我们很可能被法师公公骗了。到了第三天傍晚，那只失踪的鸭子很淡定的一摇一摆地走回来。我们大家真的喜出望外。我们的'宗教顾问'果然灵验。真实不可思议！

法师公公是我们刘门历代祖先。因为他曾经学过茅山法术，所以后代子孙称他为法师公公。法师公公也是我们家里的守护神。家里大小事情都要烦劳法师公公指点迷津，並要求公公帮忙我们解决问题。事情往往在绝望时，会有峰回路转、出乎意料的结局。信不信由你！
例如，儿时店里好几天没有顾客上门光顾，眼看米缸的米快要见底了，而第二天的买菜钱又还没有着落，一家大小如热锅上的蚂蚁，不知如何是好？母亲唯有吩咐我在法师公公炉前上香，请求法师公公帮忙。无巧不成书，在日落前有一位顾客上门，化解了我们的燃眉之急。
根据母亲所说，法师公公自小上山跟随茅山师父学法术。学法的最初三年，师父每天只叫他专心画圆圈,也没有再教他其他的法术了。法师公公学了三年，觉得一事无成，很想放弃学法，下山另谋高就。他心里盘算着一旦时机成熟，马上就一走了之。

 

刚巧，有一天山上来了一大群的山贼。他们趁着法师公公的师父不在山上，想一举占据这山头作为他们的山寨。他们先将法师公公暂时关在柴房里，打算日后要差遣他，当作小弟呼唤。

法师公公在柴房里闷得无聊，拿起柴房里的树支当毛笔，一面骂山贼一面在地上画圆圈。过了一顿饭的时间，法师公公听到外面有一片的呼叫声。他从窗口探头一望，原来每个山贼都各自被绳子紧紧得捆绑着，动弹不得。法师公公赶紧趁机破门而出，下山通知官府将山贼们一网打尽，顺便一五一十地禀告在山下的师父。

师父对法师公公说：“这次是你立了大功！”
法师公公丈二金刚摸不着头脑，连忙问道：“师父，此话何解？”
师父说：“你每画一个圆圈，一个山贼就被一綑绳子紧紧的束缚着。相信你一定画了不少的圆圈吧！”
法师公公听了师父的解释，心里即高兴又很愧疚。他原本认为画圈圈是浪费时间的，却没想到它却有不可思议的法力。此时此刻他深切体会到师父的法力高强莫测。从此以后，他老老实实追随他的师父学法术。