Welcome to the DARC Side

I just had words that my host from the party yesterday only just left DARC after an overnight stay and a hefty lunch. They hired a room which Anita used to shower the kids yesterday, a nice a roomy one, complete with the usual mod cons. As for the lunch, they served nasi padang every Sunday afternoon. And the patron were not charged a single sen, but urged to pay for what they thought the meal was worth .... And this novel concept permeate through to all aspects of the place. A strong sense of community.

As I mentioned, we took up membership to the place yesterday. It only cost us RM180 form the whole family forms year. And we would later get discounts for use of the facilities and horse riding lessons which according to my friend, were the most reasonable in town. You would not get the price anywhere near what offered anywhere else.

DARC offer care and training for the horses in their stable. They relied on members to volunteer in terms of time and money to make the place work. Therefore, the members felt that the place belonged to them, and most of the members hang around there regularly. You could even go a step further and sponsor the individual horses. And when it came to riding time, you would be able to ride your horse for free.

They adhere to strict regulations in terms of attire and etiquette. Members were briefed on the safety and precautions when riding and being around these animals. By training, you would gradually master the technique and could even became trainers yourself, or enter tournaments. A bit too early yet for us. We had yet to start any lesson. That would come in the coming weeks.

DARC however was not all about horses. Apart form the room and facilities for parties and events, they have motor cross, archery, gyms and play area for children. Around the rooms, they also had a swimming area for children. They have fencing lessons, and of course the restaurants. We had drinks yesterday while watching a football match at the centre.

Safety firstI don't think we were this good .... yetI had to convince the boys that swimming during party was not a good idea .....Of course you can choose to stay here overnightThe main issue would be logistics for us as we had to travel across town to get to Denai Alam. It should be bearable traffic on Sundays via the highway. And fitting that into their swimming lessons and later, sports clubs, their weekend would be full of activities.

As I mentioned, DARC had quite an atmosphere and we felt good signing up for membership. We would start our riding lessons soon, and it would not just be the kids, but for Anita and me as well.

More information about DARC here.

Horse-riding Party

Idlan had to miss his swimming lesson today - we would be taking him there tomorrow. Instead, we were in Denai Alam, attending the boys' friend's birthday. It was a party with a difference.

It was held at a horse-riding club - Denai Alam Riding Centre (DARC). We were not exactly familiar with the place, but the GPS helped us out. Although it did sent us through too many traffic lights. We were sure we would have got lost without the maps. But it was worth the search.

DARC is a family-orientated riding club, where the owner took up unwanted horses and raising them, often nursing them along the way. Most of them had been turned into rides, and the members could take ownership by way of sponsorship of individual horses or even come in as volunteers. But I would blog more about DARC later.

We started off all excited about the horses. My boys had never been up close with horses before, and the only time they had a ride was at Fraser's Hill a few years back. After being showed around, Idlan especially wanted to have a ride but he had to wait until the party started. That was after they had a pat and fed the horses some carrots.

I was starving by then, and even though it wasn't really a sunny day, it was still very warm and humid. The boys had some ice-cream to cool down while waiting for the party. The food was prepared by DARC, and the roast lamb was especially good.

The birthday boy was brought in on a pony for the cake-cutting. Then came the horse-ride for all the kids - when Idlan and Irfan got their first taste of riding on the back of a horse. They wanted more. And they persuaded me enough to become a member of the Centre.

I then had to leave DARC to attend to an admission at the hospital, with the rest continuing with the party. They were still dancing by the time I comeback, drenched in sweat, needing to take a shower. I was with the Dads watching football instead - Man City getting beat by Everton.

We finally called it the night at around 10. Our host would be spending the night at DARC - they have rooms for rent for those who wanted to ride early the next morning. All in all, it was an interesting party, and with us now being a member of DARC, we would definitely be coming here again and hopefully would be starting riding lessons soon.