Mountain Biking in Kemensah

I bought a new mountain bike 2 weeks ago and I've been dying to test it out on some terrains nearby Zoo Negara, Ampang. I went with Jimmy, the biking enthusiast and also a fellow hiking partner. Since this is my first time mountain biking, Jimmy taught me a few things on biking like raising the seat so that I don't look like an overgrown child riding a mountain bike. He also taught me some gear switching stuffs like if I'm suppose to go uphill, I should swiitch to a lower gear...all those info went into one ear and came out the other year because I couldn't be bothered about it. I just wanted to ride the bike into the wilderness. Here are some pictures :
My new mountain bike
Jimmy, the biking enthusiast
After the first monster hill
Discussion on why I should stop being a cheap bastard and get a helmet for safety
Downhill all the way!!!!!

Apologies All Around

I've been neglecting my blog. My daily 200 readers are fuming mad. I promise , starting this week onwards, there will be blogs galore.In the meantime, I shall present my faithful readers with my half naked pictures. Enjoy :

Going Ga Ga Over Gunungs (Kinabalu)

Mt Kinabalu:4th Highest Peak in South East Asia

Gunung Kinabalu. The 4th highest peak in South East Asia. I miraculously conquered her in 2006 without any preparations. At that time, I was 30
years old, cocky and over confident and I expected Mt Kinabalu to be a walk in the park. I did no research. no training and have never climbed any mountain beforehand. My line would always be "How hard could it be?"
Three guys attempted to summit Mt Kinabalu. This was how unprepared we were. The night before the climb, all of us were living it up at the infamous Sheningan's in Kota Kinabalu.

5 hours before climbing Mt Kinabalu

We came back at 4am and our climb was scheduled at 10am. We didn't sleep immediately as we were still mucking around until 7am. I drove our rented car to Kinabalu Park and we left Timpohon Gate at 11am sharp with no proper breakfast.

This is us 1120am into the hike

This is me 1230pm,1 hour into the hike

Me again at 115pm

Ghaffor and Raj couldn’t wait for me any longer and went ahead. Bastardo friends. So, it was just me and the guide(Nelson).I was so tired that I would lie down flat after 35 steps. It continued like that until Laban Rata but my faithful guide would patiently wait for me. He occasionally looks at the leaves and tie his shoelaces while I'm lying down. He never gave me the dissapointing headshake nor did he chide me for my lack of preparation.

Guide Nelson, checking leaves for the 55th time

Desperate to reach Laban Rata, I kept asking Nelson," Berapa jauh lagi?" His answer would be the standard "Satu jam lagi".BALLS !!! More like 3 hours. Determined to finish, I mustered every ounce in my body to push forward.

On my hands and knees crawling towards Laban Rata

Another 2 hours to go, I was on the brink of starvation. I had no food on me and there was no concept of kedai runcit along the way. For the first time in my life, I begged for food. I asked the guide if he had any food in his bag. He cooly unzip his backpack's side pocket and produced a Tiger sekut which I wolfed down immediately. It was the best tasting biscuit on the planet

The best biscuit on the planet

With ant like energy, I was getting close to Laban Rata and the time : 530pm. I've been climbing for 7 hours. Oh how I suffered. The worst part is thinking that I've reached Laban Rata but only to find out I had to walk another 20 more minutes to my room. The 2 bums were already sleeping and they had apprently reach the room at 3pm.
At 2am. I was feeling much better now that I've ate a RM30 excellent buffet spread of fried rice and half boiled eggs(Sarcasm is the word of the devil).Hiking up to the summit was no less different than hiking up to Laban Rata. I employed the same method as I used going up to Laban Rata. Take 35 steps, lie down flat for 10 minutes, get up, take another 35 steps, lie down for 10 minutes, and it went on like that until the summit.

Exhaustion under the pale moonlight

Although exhausted, I was determined to reach the summit. I wouldn't be able to face myself if I had not finish. More than anything, I wouldn't be able to face Rocky if I had quit halfway. GO THE DISTANCE !!!!

No introduction needed

Finally, through guts and determination. I finally conquered the 4th Highest Peak in South East Asia and I was rewarded by some amazing sceneries.
.

The Summit

Low's Peak

Descending was another hurdle. Gosh, I hate descending even until now. Going down, I took it easy. Step by step. No lying down.I left Laban Rata at 1pm and arrived at the Timpohon gate at 6pm.
Here's my advice before climbing Mt Kinabalu : Don't ever go to Shenanigan's the night before.
Anyway, I was glad I didn't quit when my whole body told me to. This goes to show that a little bit of push and a never say die attitude will always be my greatest asset. Here's a little song that goes with this theme :

Jika kau fikirkan kau boleh
Kau hampir boleh melakukan
Jika kau fikirkan ragu-ragu
Usahamu tidak menentu

Jika kau fikirkan kekalahan
Kau hampiri kegagalan
Jika kau fikirkan kemenangan
Kau hampiri kejayaan

Engkaulah apa kau fikirkan
Terkandung dalam pemikiran
Kau fikir boleh melakukan
Fikirkan boleh

Percaya apa kau lakukan
Tabah apa kau usahakan
Bertindak atas kemampuan
Engkau boleh

Girls go crazy and throw their panties at me when I sing this song to them.
It's cheesy but you all know this song by heart.

True Stories

1. I was caught drunk driving in Jln Raja Chulan after a heavy drinking session at Hard Rock Cafe. I told the cops it was my first week working in KL and before that. I've never been outside of Kelantan. Also, I told them I had to entertain some major clients. My Kelantanese accent, address on my IC and car number plate pretty much convinced them. I was let go with a warning and the next day, I still drove under the influence of alcohol. It happened 5 days ago.

2. When one of my ex girlfriend broke up with me, I had to return back her VCD player. Little did she know, I painstakingly removed the warranty sticker without causing any tear, opened up the casing of the VCD player and had some internal wires cut.
3. One time, my boss was discussing work with me and I opened up an existing document in Microsoft Word for reference. He wanted to read the last page, so I pressed Page Down. He said " Press Ctrl End" to go directly to the last page.
Instead, I pressed "Ctrl N". Not once but several several times and new blank pages kept opening. Microsoft Word made me look like a damn fool. You can't blame me, Windows has a million short keys. Try pressing "Windows Icon + M". Bet you didn't know that.

4. I was in KLIA queing up with 9 other strangers frustratingly waiting for our long awaited taxis. Then, an employee from the Duty Free shop came near the queue and asked " Siapa tertnggal botol arak di kaunter tadi?" I looked around, nobody was responding and 2 nano seconds later I said "Ohh, sorry bang, saya tertinggal tadi. Lupa. Terima kasih ya".The chap cooly pass it to me like it was mine.I went home with a free Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

5. I was conned by a perfume conman in Cairo.


No one knows about these stories except moi. What's yours?

Bukit Tabur

I go through a mid life crisis once a month and how I address this issue is to climb a mountain or a hill. It doesn't matter as long as it's punishable. I will look for any opportunity to climb and this morning I climbed Bukit Tabur , a hill overlooking KL City and the Klang Dams. It's pretty interesting because it's doesn't just involve trekking, it involves climbing over jagged edged rocks as well. So, it's pretty daunting for a beginner(I write as if I've conquered Everest before).
Anyway, here are some pictures of Bukit Tabur:

My Destination Right At The Peak

Bukit Tabur is like a mini Mt Kinabalu. You rarely see mud or brownish treks on the way up. You also don't have any pesky branches blocking your way. An hour into the hike, you will be rewarded with the view of the Klang Gates Dam.

Klang Gates Dam at 9am

Shirtless 5 minutes into the hike.How is The North Face gonna sponsor me?

Nearing the peak, you will be presented with a few obstacles that requires you to actually use a rope and a lot of upper strength.

Check out the bod

The Peak,KL City in the background

It takes about 3 hours to complete the whole hike.

The English Patient

The Englsh Patient. My favourite movie of all times. I probably watched this movie like 300 times. A hundred more times than Grease. I read the book back when I was in university and although the book was slow, I was wondering how Anthony Minghella(the late director) could make this novel into a movie…because it's bloody messy with all the characters involved (Almasy, Katherine, Geoffrey, Hanna, Kip)

I was in my university video library room when I chanced on the movie. I had just finished classes and wanted to kill time.
So, I registered the tape(VCD technology was at it's infancy in Malaysia and just so you know, in the USA, they skipped the VCD technology and jumped straight to DVD after VHS. This info is courtesy of a fellow blogger, Sri Kanth Siva who never fails to repeat the same story to me for the past 7 straight years now. You've met people who often repeat the same stories right?

There I was, alone in the video room of my university library. Why am I always alone? Marathon alone, camping alone and now watching a movie alone! Anyway, after 3 hours, I came out of the video room…..dazed and confused. Not confused about the movie but more to life in general. Yes, this movie affected me big time. Ralph Fiennes was such a tortured soul in the movie. The English Patient was also pendorong for me to visit Egypt (Went alone as well)

Recently, when I was In Dubai and hanging by the sand dunes..I managed to relive my English Patient fantasy.

Same right?

Dubai

We transited in Dubai after 7 days in Turkey to meet my brother and sister in law. They've been in Dubai for almost 3 years now. My brother was all geared up for his compulsory routine tourist guide responsibility.Throughout his stay in Dubai, he has taken at least 5 of our relatives on his customised tours.
Our first stop is the only 7 star hotel in the world. the Burj Al Arab. You need to pay at least 200 Dirham just to enter. Yup, just to set foot only. Gedebe sungguh.

The tallest building in the world by next year,The Burj Dubai

My brother and I inside Jumeirah

Overlooking the Dubai creek

Hanging around in the desert

Topless in the desert

Sheikh Muzaffar Al Teoh

I've always loved the Middle East for their history, culture and food. Visiting Dubai was amazing and I have thank my brother and my sister in law for this unforgettable trip.
Let's drive to Oman next time !!!!