Hello, dear blog. Long time no see. My last post was in March 2016 so it's fair to say I kind of neglected you there. Not that I have any obligation towards you, but I miss you nontheless.
So, the reason I haven't been posting anything lately is because I just couldn't find time for it. With work and kids and stuff, I simply find it difficult to actually sit down and write.
Anyway, where do I even begin? Just a little heads up. This will be a long-winded post, as I normally cover stories or events that I consider to be the highlights of my life or noteworthy, and since I haven't posted anything in a while, I'd like to pick up where I left off.
THE RUN
Last year I was actively jogging. Well, not exactly jogging, but walking (though I no longer do it this year and I know I need to immediately get back on it). At the time, it didn't matter where my current location was, I would take long walks of up to 3-5 kilometers whenever I get the chance to do so. At home I would walk not only around the condominium area itself, but I would exit the vicinity and walk along the roads, and sometimes I stray down onto the nearby PLUS highway or into the woods. This sense of adventure was what drove me to keep on walking.
Later on I joined a 3 kilometer Culture Run with a few of my office mates which was held at some lake park in Kuala Lumpur (I can't remember the name of the place). Due to the theme, I ran wearing a kain pelikat/sarong and a baju melayu (Malay traditional shirt). It was interesting because the run included checkpoints where runners had to stop and do a short Zumba dance session. It was cute and fun. It was organized by some UITM students if I'm not mistaken. Though the two of my friends didn't quite like the event overall, I loved it.
This consequently led me to join another run a few months later. I was in the zone and so my sister-in-law invited me to join a 10 kilometer run organized by IJM Land. Now, unlike the previous event, this one was organized by the 'big boys'. The fee costed way more, with a larger crowd including professional runners as well (at least I thought they were, the ones in full gear and fancy gadgets).
This one took place somewhere in Shah Alam. So we both joined the other runners in a Zumba warm-up session. At one point, as we were Zumba-ing
our butts off, they turned off the lights and somehow the Zumba session
turned into this free-dance-disco-freak-out session and by the end of
it, we were all so hyped we seemed like we were ready to chest-bump each other and run ourselves stupid. Good thinking, organizers.
So the sky being dark still, we flagged off in an orderly manner. Some started running off the bat, some walked fast, some simply walked. I walked right from the start to finish, having mentally/physically prepared and to mainly conserve my energy for the 10 kilometer journey. The route was along a stretch of an emptied-out highway with a fairly impressive countryside view the whole way through. As the sky started to glow its first light, I thought to myself "what have I gotten myself into?" Indeed, just as I had expected, it was extremely challenging. I walked without any problems the first 5 kilometers through. As I reached the 6th kilometer, exhaustion started to kick in. They do have these checkpoints where we can stop and drink some water, but that does very little in helping to shake off that exhaustion. My feet started to feel pain. Both of my hands started to feel numb. I still wonder why the numbness of the hands. Like really really numb and tight. Perhaps it had something to do with blood pressure and elevated heartbeat due to excessive walking.
At this point there were only a handful of people behind me. And as they overtook me, I began to feel somewhat worried, seeing them shrinking into the distance and start to disappear. Suddenly I was all alone. I was officially the participant who will finish in last place, if I would finish at all. To top it off, there were crows cawing above me. They sounded like vultures, waiting to eat me when I die on this desert highway. Then soon enough, the bike marshals appeared. They were the ones guarding and keeping watch along the whole 10 kilometer route and now they have turned their undivided attention on me. I had about 5 of them cycling by my side, giving me moral support. One of them even put on some loud dance music on his portable speaker to encourage me. I was rather embarrassed at that moment. I tried to get rid of them. I told them to leave but they insisted to stay with me as one of their primary tasks was to make sure nobody gets left behind. So be it. I honestly felt so tired but I know I had to complete the course. And so i did. By the time I reached the finish line, I quickly made my way to the side and crumbled to the ground. It was a huge achievement for me. My sister-in-law was supportive but she admitted that she kinda had doubts on me a little bit. My ex-boss, Mr. Ron thought I would never complete the whole course and neither did a few of my friends. I had proven them wrong. And most importantly I have proven it to myself, that I can achieve absolutely anything if I put my mind to it, regardless of my weight. So that was my first 10 kilometer experience. And I do not plan to do another any time soon. Maybe i'll just stick to five kilometer events for now. I now have two medals that I proudly hang..um...in the closet.
HOSPITALIZATION
So earlier this year, on 8 February 2017 I was admitted in the Columbia Asia Hospital, Setapak for an anorectal abscess. An anorectal abscess is when a 'super zit' or a 'bisol' appears right on the anus, causing excruciating pain at the slightest movement or touch. In often cases, minor surgery is required for immediate relief and to drain the concentrated puss contained inside the abscess. Anyway, the last time I was admitted was at Hospital Tawakal in 1992 or 1993 for a condition called G6PD. I dreaded the day I would return to the hospital and lo and behold, there I was. I absolutely hate needles and I knew this day would come sooner or later.
So they poked me for the drip. Then they poked me again, this time with a huge needle at my lower spine for anesthetic before the surgery. and oh my, did it hurt. Before I knew it, I was paralyzed from
the
waist down. It was strange and unsettling for me as I have never underwent a surgery
before. I told the doctor that I was still very frightened of the
situation. And I just knew that the anesthetic doctor would then give
me a dose of that happy drug i've always been hearing and been curious
about. It immediately turned that scary moment into a worry-free, happy
experience. I became extremely talkative and somehow, any negativity
just melts away. I have no idea what that was. It might have been morphine
or something, I don't know. And i'm pretty sure that's how laughing gas
at a dentist would also feel like.
So the operation went well. But the next night was
horrifying because my
IV got messed up and so they needed to poke a new hole. The nurse tried
it on the back of my right hand and failed. This was turning into a
nightmare. The doctor came, tried two pokes on my right hand and two
pokes on my left hand and still couldn't find the vein to place the
little tube. I was begging for them to stop but the doctor was
resilient. Finally he tried poking on the front side of my left hand and
it went through perfectly. I spent two nights there eating bland
hospital food and sitting on a plastic bowl filled with salt water for
the open wound on my anus to heal. Me and my bloody bum, literally. This
was a very painful experience. Having the abscess was extremely painful,
the spinal injection was agony and the healing process itself has its
painful moments not to mention defecating and the cleaning-up that
followed. If you end up having an abscess one day, pray that it not be on
your anus.
KAWAN
24 January 2017 was the day I started the recording process for my acoustic malay song Kawan. This song took quite a while to finish because Che En the studio guy had a pretty tight schedule lately. He's been dealing with vocal and dance classes, doing voiceovers and narratives for audiobooks among other things. I was lucky enough to get him to squeeze-in my recording sessions. So on that day we managed to get the acoustic rhythm guitars done. We recorded two tracks, one on the left and the other on the right. I returned to record the electric guitar solo on 2 February. Amidst all this I was admitted to Columbia Hospital on 8 February and was discharged on the 10th. On the 14th of February I returned to the studio to get my vocals done and returned again on the 17th to record the tambourine. The song was officialy ready on 7 March 2017 but I just had to return it to the studio on 3 April 2017 because I felt like doing some 'repairs' on the vocals. So then, somewhere in May the song was finally complete and ready so I came to collect it and that was how the song came to be.
SCRAMLER
In April, amidst the recording of my song Kawan, Che En the studio guy invited me to join him and his bike buddies The Itik Bikers on an off-road dirt bike expedition through the jungle of Kemensah. As the curious ever-so-adventurous person that I had always considered myself to be, I accepted the challenge. I've had always wanted to try out at least one extreme sport in my life and so I finally got the chance to do so. I went out to hunt for knee pads, elbow pads, gloves and rubber boots. After obtaining these necessities, and some physical and mental preparation, I was ready to take the jungle. Che En had warned me beforehand that this activity tends to be very exhausting in nature, especially for beginners. One might think it's a piece of cake, cruising on a bike, simply twisting the throttle and all but that is simply not the case. So in the morning of 24 April 2017, we arrived at the warong near the starting point in Kampung Kemensah and had our breakfast there with three of his pals Rahmat, Mel and Darul. This was also where we met the guides/coaches, a quiet young dirt bike enthusiast named Remy and another middle aged man with a passion for bikes, art and DIY stuff named Pian. Pian was the leader of this expedition. These two are adrenaline junkies who bear extensive knowledge about dirt biking and wear full dirt biking attire so you could immediately tell that these people are bad-ass professionals.
At around 9am we were brought to this nearby garage where all the bikes were parked. We put on our safety gear, started the engine, had a few lap exercises and the journey begins. As I was still trying to get the hang of this, they stormed into the jungle enthusiastically and I found myself eagerly trying to
keep up. The trail starts to get rough and I was impressed by the tyres that these bikes have. Unlike normal tyres, these tyres have huge knurls on them and they grip well and keep the bike from sliding too much on these harsh off-road conditions. The trip was all fine and dandy until the trail starts to turn steeper and steeper. I was also amazed at the fact that these bikes, with only 150 horsepower, are powerful enough to pull my weight up a very steep hill, and I mean very, very steep. So steep that I thought to myself "no way, bikes aren't supposed to climb hills like this!". I began to feel worried knowing that we will be utilizing the same route upon exiting this jungle. Making our way up to the top of the slope was challenging. Then we reached a plateau, the first checkpoint where we stopped to rest. I was breathing heavily up to the point that I felt like passing out. I was out of breath and hyper-ventilating. Never did it cross my mind that it would be this exhausting. Rahmat and Mel took a wrong turn and followed the wrong trail by mistake. Remy went out looking for them so it was a long wait, giving me more than enough time to recover. As they got back and reunited with us, we continued our journey.
Now this new slope is not only extremely straight and steep, it stretches upwards as far as the eye can see. To make things worse, the pathway is striped with 'trail scars' as I would like to call them. They are these lines which formed on the ground due to bikes passing through excessively, so much so that it becomes deeper and turns into gutters or drains. So when a bike passes through these trail scars, the rider has to separate their legs from the bike and somewhat crawl their legs along the top sides of the gutter as there would be no room for the legs to rest and this alone is tiring as hell. So we pushed through and we made a few stops here and there but by noon we finally reached Lubuk Tedung, a beautiful river deep in the jungle. Inaccessible by car or foot, I would say this river is very well preserved. We had lunch there and bathed in the cold water as well.
After two hours of rest, we were ready to head back via the same route that we came. Again, I kept losing my energy more and more as we made our way through resulting in me having to make frequent stops therefore slowing down the whole team. I became very worried because my body was reaching its limit, there were still significant ground to cover and the day was getting dark. The others had to continue moving on as most of our bikes do not have any lights for night trips. And Che En only had his prescription sunglasses on so it wouldn't be safe for him to stick around either. So it's just me and Remy. I was extremely weak and at the brink of giving up. Suddenly this mystery guy appears and offers assistance. A humble character with a sincere smile, giving me advice and continuous support which actually lifted my spirit somehow. I was motivated by his words and was no longer worried. With that, I got up on my feet and I tailed his bike through every bump and gutter. To my surprise, I did not become tired at all from this point on. This led me to believe that being worried actually has a huge impact on our energy and stamina. I truly believe this. So we swiftly made our way through and made it out of the jungle in one piece. By the time we reached the garage, dusk had turned into complete darkness. We reunited with the rest and closed the session with a cup of hot coffee and cigarettes. The mystery man turned out to be a villager here in Kampung Kemensah, also a dirt bike enthusiast who knew the guides well. What a unique experience. But if I were to do this again one day, I will make sure i'm better prepared and in a much healthier state. The video below was recorded by Che En using his Go Pro camera and it is 46 minutes long.
PORT KLANG
Shortly after my dirt bike experience, Me and one of my colleagues, Halim planned a random day trip. Well, the destination was random but taking the day off together was planned. We did this before and the previous trip was to Pengkalan Balak, Melaka. This time we went to Port Klang. Both trips
bear the same goal - to find the ultimate spot for a chess duel. I specifically chose Port Klang because I have never been there and had always wanted to see it. Indeed, the time had come to tick it off from my bucket list, an itch I needed to scratch..badly.
Though Port Klang doesn't really have interesting spots other than that infamous seafood restaurant by the dirty beach full of garbage, and a few other spots for chendol and such, but it ended up on my list because it remained a mystery to me through the years. How does the place look like? How far is it? Because it sure looks damn close on the map. How is it not popular or made into a tourist spot since it is the closest beach from Kuala Lumpur? Why was it turned into this industrial area that it is today? All these questions just made me curious more and more.
So we got there at around 10am, went sightseeing on the beach and from afar, the beach was colorful. As I got closer, those colors were in fact plastic bags filled with garbage. And these bags cover the entire beach! The water was filthy and brow. in color. Well, I had expected that the place
would be dirty because many had warned me. But as I gazed deeply into the water my thoughts strayed for a while, and I envisioned what the place wouldv'e looked like if it hadn't been turned into an industrial port, if it was not heavily polluted by man. It would have definitely flourished with beauty. Too Bad.
So we proceeded to Pantai Jeram, a thirty minute drive from Port Klang to find a place to eat. After a delicious kampung-cooked lunch, we found the perfect spot for our chess game. A single hut or pondok situated right by the beach. Away from people, away from noise and distractions, just the sound of waves splashing into the sand under the heat of noon. So we managed to squeeze in a set of three games and I
emerged as the victor. Had some ice cream before we left the
spot and went to have some durian chendol and bakso at a warong
nearby. What a great way to close up the session. We left Pantai
Jeram with a contented heart and we shall do another expedition
PHUKET
The Phuket video won't be available for viewing on mobile phones due to the use of copyrighted music.
Backtracking a bit, last year in October 2016 the whole office went out on a staff trip cum budget presentation on the beautiful island of Phuket, Thailand. We went to Pnom Penh, Cambodia in 2015, Bali, Indonesia in 2014 and Hanoi, Vietnam in 2013. Wow, I've been with this company for quite some time now, right? So we stayed at a posh hotel in Patong called The Kee Resort. We got the meeting overwith as soon as we reached the hotel, right after lunch. After a scrumptuous rooftop dinner that night, me and the guys strolled down Bangla Street, a long stretch of road also known as 'Walking Street', full of bars and nightclubs and white folks drinking and partying. Mostly Australian, for some reason. Bangla Street is the main and only attraction in Patong at night. The streets around it have typical nightmarket stalls selling food, clothes, souvenirs and stuff. We were so arrogant knowing that we had 2 nights to spare, we ignored everything around us, spending the whole night looking around and just walking through Bangla Street and the streets around it. Little did we know that the city will be on total shutdown for months after this particular night due to the death of the king of Thailand.
Anyway, we walked along and around Bangla Street until we reached the famous Patong Beach and hung out there before walking back to the hotel. During our walk back, nearly every pub and nightclub had a tout hanging around up front yelling "Ping-pong! Ping-pong! Come!", trying to invite customers in to witness a supposedly unique show of some sort. And apparently, every single establishment at Bangla Street were serving ping-pong! What is ping pong? I'm pretty sure it is not a 'Thai Girl Show' or 'Tiger Show' as Malaysians would call it, where girls dance around poles like in strip clubs. So we made it back to the hotel in one piece and had a good rest. The next day, much to our surprise, news spread that the king of Thailand died that night. The government of Thailand put a ban on any form of entertainment in the country for 3 months. Meaning, all entertainment establishments in Thailand such as nightclubs, pubs, bars, karaokes and such are forbidden to operate and the shutdown will take effect for a whole 3 month period, as a sign of respect. There goes my plan to go see a live band, and I guess I will never find out what a ping-pong show really is.
So earlier in the morning we had breakfast at the hotel. We then went straight out for our pre-booked snorkeling/island-hopping trip. Now, the islands that we will be visiting are pretty much the same as the ones I visited during my honeymoon vacation in Krabi. Only this time it included Monkey Island, a small island full of monkeys (I wonder how they got there in the first place). Unlike the Krabi trip which we cruised on a traditional tailboat, this time we were fortunate enough to ride in a speedboat. It was much larger and more comfortable. But as what comes with space, so comes the crowd. I can't recall the number of islands we visited or its names, but I do remember this one particular island called Maya Bay, the beautiful island where the movie The Beach was filmed. During my Krabi trip, we simply passed by as the island was too crowded and there was no space for the boat to dock. This time I finally get the chance to set foot on it. The sand was fine and white. The water was so blue just like how a swimming pool would be. It was a sight I would remember for the rest of my life.
After snapping some photos and dipping in the water, we continued our journey. It was a long journey until we reached a spot to snorkel. Snorkeling was fun if I had a pair of prescription goggles or something like that. I tried putting on those huge goggles with my glasses on but it wouldn't fit. So I carried on snorkelling with my poor vision and I was no longer snorkelling at that point but rather just swimming. I had fun nonetheless.
It was nearly 2pm and we were all starving. The next island was where we had lunch. A delicious thai buffet lunch at a resort restaurant. We all ate in our wet bathing suites. Well the next place we visited was Monkey Island where it was a weird sight seeing monkeys stranded on a small island which was part forest and part hill. The monkeys look cute and all but be mindful of what you do there because these monkeys are hungry, and they will steal from you. Not to mention they keep fighting among themselves to compete for food from visitors and it gets really ugly and aggressive sometimes.
The day was looking bleak and it looked like it was going to rain. But thank God it didn't. We made our way towards the last island. The place was crowded and the boat had to wait for a spot to dock. It was during this wait that I felt really really sick. I am not prone to sea sickness but I came to learn that the most challenging moment is when a boat stops and stays at a particular spot a few meters away from the beach and the boat sways madly up and down and side to side in line with the continuous bumps of waves. I actually became very dizzy from this and started to feel like throwing up. I tried my best to hold it in and I mentally succeeded in preventing myself from puking. Probably a talent I never knew I had. But I felt terribly sick. We finally found a spot to dock and when I got off the boat, I immediately went looking for the toilet, looking forward to throwing up as a means of quick relief. But at that moment my body simply couldn't do it. I made a quick recovery though after sitting down for a few minutes. And as I walked along across this very small island (probably about 1 kilometers in length and 30-40 meters in width, yeah, very small), I noticed that there were no forests or hills on it. The island has an elongated shape, is full of sand and in the centre is the long row of make-shift bars and restaurants where people come to indulge in delicious barbecue meals. The whole island is a huge beach. A few coconut trees here and there and that's it. It was cool to me because I have never seen anything like it. It was a beach-island in the sun, perfect for a glass of mango juice to cool you and your sea sickness down. So it was getting late in the evening so we left the island and made our way towards the mainland. The trip was exhausting but fun and interesting at the same time.
At night we went out for dinner at a seafood restaurant quite far from the hotel. It was a beautiful beachside restaurant. Delicious food too. We then headed back to Patong and as expected, the whole city was a ghost town. The once crowded, hectic and lively Bangla Street was now empty, dark and quiet. Only a few stalls and shops continue to operate like the ones selling clothes and souvenirs. And also some convenient stores like 7-Eleven and the likes of it. Other than that, there was absolutely nothing to see. "Where did all the crowd go?" I wondered. We walked through the empty streets and reached Patong Beach. What I found was both funny and amusing. Since all the clubs and bars are closed, all the white folks took over Patong Beach. They flocked to the beach and continued partying there. As the Thailand government also put a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages as part of the mourn for their king, there is no stopping these guys from having a good time. I admire their spirit. The beach was too crowded so we left. Had a few strolls down the streets of Patong and then we headed back to the hotel.
The next day was free and easy so we went for a swim after breakfast. Then we went out for lunch on our own near the mosque. We roamed the streets of Patong further than we did the day before. The streets seem empty and abandoned still. But there were a few shops open for business so that will do. We rented a tuk-tuk to see the rest of the city. With a proper price, we told the driver to take us on a tour around Patong. Phuket is known for their special tuk-tuks which all have colorful LED lights and loud music as a form of tourist attraction and to give that disco feel to all those party animals who come to party. How thoughtful, Phuketans. Phuketers? Phuketians? Anyway, the thing is, not even music was allowed during the mourn, so we only got the lights in our faces. At night we visited a mall and had dinner at another halal restaurant near the mosque. After dinner, we took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel and continued walking around, again. There was not much to do when the whole city, in fact the whole country is on full shut down. So wandering would be the best option, I guess. We had some burgers, fruits, drinks and fried ice cream, and went back to the hotel to sleep. Fried ice cream is this DIY ice cream made on what looks like a frying pan. It is actually a cooler. They pour mixed flavored liquid cream on the pan and it slowly freezes the liquid into solid form and is then scraped off the pan and put in a cup and there you have it, home made ice cream! You can pick an array of flavors that they have on the menu and you can even mix them up to your liking. I would definitely recommend mixing strawberries and bananas. And they use real fruits instead of artificial flavorings. Oh, it tasted so good. We went to sleep that night with a happy face, and tummy. The next day was our last day staying there before heading back to reality. We ate breakfast at the hotel, checked out at noon and the van took us straight to the airport. Adios Phuket. You will be missed.
Not to forget this unfortunate incident that took place at home last year. I walked outside one afternoon to find my baby missing a wheel.
So there you have it. A few of the highlights of my life for the past year. As I mentioned before, I hardly have time anymore to do a write-up. But every now and then it would be great to have a place to vent my thoughts. So, that's what's up.
So, the reason I haven't been posting anything lately is because I just couldn't find time for it. With work and kids and stuff, I simply find it difficult to actually sit down and write.
Anyway, where do I even begin? Just a little heads up. This will be a long-winded post, as I normally cover stories or events that I consider to be the highlights of my life or noteworthy, and since I haven't posted anything in a while, I'd like to pick up where I left off.
THE RUN
Last year I was actively jogging. Well, not exactly jogging, but walking (though I no longer do it this year and I know I need to immediately get back on it). At the time, it didn't matter where my current location was, I would take long walks of up to 3-5 kilometers whenever I get the chance to do so. At home I would walk not only around the condominium area itself, but I would exit the vicinity and walk along the roads, and sometimes I stray down onto the nearby PLUS highway or into the woods. This sense of adventure was what drove me to keep on walking.
 |
| The culture run was fun! |
Later on I joined a 3 kilometer Culture Run with a few of my office mates which was held at some lake park in Kuala Lumpur (I can't remember the name of the place). Due to the theme, I ran wearing a kain pelikat/sarong and a baju melayu (Malay traditional shirt). It was interesting because the run included checkpoints where runners had to stop and do a short Zumba dance session. It was cute and fun. It was organized by some UITM students if I'm not mistaken. Though the two of my friends didn't quite like the event overall, I loved it.
This consequently led me to join another run a few months later. I was in the zone and so my sister-in-law invited me to join a 10 kilometer run organized by IJM Land. Now, unlike the previous event, this one was organized by the 'big boys'. The fee costed way more, with a larger crowd including professional runners as well (at least I thought they were, the ones in full gear and fancy gadgets).
 |
| Extremely exhausted after the 10 kilometer run |
So the sky being dark still, we flagged off in an orderly manner. Some started running off the bat, some walked fast, some simply walked. I walked right from the start to finish, having mentally/physically prepared and to mainly conserve my energy for the 10 kilometer journey. The route was along a stretch of an emptied-out highway with a fairly impressive countryside view the whole way through. As the sky started to glow its first light, I thought to myself "what have I gotten myself into?" Indeed, just as I had expected, it was extremely challenging. I walked without any problems the first 5 kilometers through. As I reached the 6th kilometer, exhaustion started to kick in. They do have these checkpoints where we can stop and drink some water, but that does very little in helping to shake off that exhaustion. My feet started to feel pain. Both of my hands started to feel numb. I still wonder why the numbness of the hands. Like really really numb and tight. Perhaps it had something to do with blood pressure and elevated heartbeat due to excessive walking.
At this point there were only a handful of people behind me. And as they overtook me, I began to feel somewhat worried, seeing them shrinking into the distance and start to disappear. Suddenly I was all alone. I was officially the participant who will finish in last place, if I would finish at all. To top it off, there were crows cawing above me. They sounded like vultures, waiting to eat me when I die on this desert highway. Then soon enough, the bike marshals appeared. They were the ones guarding and keeping watch along the whole 10 kilometer route and now they have turned their undivided attention on me. I had about 5 of them cycling by my side, giving me moral support. One of them even put on some loud dance music on his portable speaker to encourage me. I was rather embarrassed at that moment. I tried to get rid of them. I told them to leave but they insisted to stay with me as one of their primary tasks was to make sure nobody gets left behind. So be it. I honestly felt so tired but I know I had to complete the course. And so i did. By the time I reached the finish line, I quickly made my way to the side and crumbled to the ground. It was a huge achievement for me. My sister-in-law was supportive but she admitted that she kinda had doubts on me a little bit. My ex-boss, Mr. Ron thought I would never complete the whole course and neither did a few of my friends. I had proven them wrong. And most importantly I have proven it to myself, that I can achieve absolutely anything if I put my mind to it, regardless of my weight. So that was my first 10 kilometer experience. And I do not plan to do another any time soon. Maybe i'll just stick to five kilometer events for now. I now have two medals that I proudly hang..um...in the closet.
HOSPITALIZATION
So earlier this year, on 8 February 2017 I was admitted in the Columbia Asia Hospital, Setapak for an anorectal abscess. An anorectal abscess is when a 'super zit' or a 'bisol' appears right on the anus, causing excruciating pain at the slightest movement or touch. In often cases, minor surgery is required for immediate relief and to drain the concentrated puss contained inside the abscess. Anyway, the last time I was admitted was at Hospital Tawakal in 1992 or 1993 for a condition called G6PD. I dreaded the day I would return to the hospital and lo and behold, there I was. I absolutely hate needles and I knew this day would come sooner or later.
So they poked me for the drip. Then they poked me again, this time with a huge needle at my lower spine for anesthetic before the surgery. and oh my, did it hurt. Before I knew it, I was paralyzed from
 |
| Still high from the sedative |
So the operation went well. But the next night was
 |
| They finally got it after 6 pokes |
KAWAN
24 January 2017 was the day I started the recording process for my acoustic malay song Kawan. This song took quite a while to finish because Che En the studio guy had a pretty tight schedule lately. He's been dealing with vocal and dance classes, doing voiceovers and narratives for audiobooks among other things. I was lucky enough to get him to squeeze-in my recording sessions. So on that day we managed to get the acoustic rhythm guitars done. We recorded two tracks, one on the left and the other on the right. I returned to record the electric guitar solo on 2 February. Amidst all this I was admitted to Columbia Hospital on 8 February and was discharged on the 10th. On the 14th of February I returned to the studio to get my vocals done and returned again on the 17th to record the tambourine. The song was officialy ready on 7 March 2017 but I just had to return it to the studio on 3 April 2017 because I felt like doing some 'repairs' on the vocals. So then, somewhere in May the song was finally complete and ready so I came to collect it and that was how the song came to be.
SCRAMLER
In April, amidst the recording of my song Kawan, Che En the studio guy invited me to join him and his bike buddies The Itik Bikers on an off-road dirt bike expedition through the jungle of Kemensah. As the curious ever-so-adventurous person that I had always considered myself to be, I accepted the challenge. I've had always wanted to try out at least one extreme sport in my life and so I finally got the chance to do so. I went out to hunt for knee pads, elbow pads, gloves and rubber boots. After obtaining these necessities, and some physical and mental preparation, I was ready to take the jungle. Che En had warned me beforehand that this activity tends to be very exhausting in nature, especially for beginners. One might think it's a piece of cake, cruising on a bike, simply twisting the throttle and all but that is simply not the case. So in the morning of 24 April 2017, we arrived at the warong near the starting point in Kampung Kemensah and had our breakfast there with three of his pals Rahmat, Mel and Darul. This was also where we met the guides/coaches, a quiet young dirt bike enthusiast named Remy and another middle aged man with a passion for bikes, art and DIY stuff named Pian. Pian was the leader of this expedition. These two are adrenaline junkies who bear extensive knowledge about dirt biking and wear full dirt biking attire so you could immediately tell that these people are bad-ass professionals.
At around 9am we were brought to this nearby garage where all the bikes were parked. We put on our safety gear, started the engine, had a few lap exercises and the journey begins. As I was still trying to get the hang of this, they stormed into the jungle enthusiastically and I found myself eagerly trying to
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| Our expedition from the starting point to the Lubuk Tedung River |
Now this new slope is not only extremely straight and steep, it stretches upwards as far as the eye can see. To make things worse, the pathway is striped with 'trail scars' as I would like to call them. They are these lines which formed on the ground due to bikes passing through excessively, so much so that it becomes deeper and turns into gutters or drains. So when a bike passes through these trail scars, the rider has to separate their legs from the bike and somewhat crawl their legs along the top sides of the gutter as there would be no room for the legs to rest and this alone is tiring as hell. So we pushed through and we made a few stops here and there but by noon we finally reached Lubuk Tedung, a beautiful river deep in the jungle. Inaccessible by car or foot, I would say this river is very well preserved. We had lunch there and bathed in the cold water as well.
After two hours of rest, we were ready to head back via the same route that we came. Again, I kept losing my energy more and more as we made our way through resulting in me having to make frequent stops therefore slowing down the whole team. I became very worried because my body was reaching its limit, there were still significant ground to cover and the day was getting dark. The others had to continue moving on as most of our bikes do not have any lights for night trips. And Che En only had his prescription sunglasses on so it wouldn't be safe for him to stick around either. So it's just me and Remy. I was extremely weak and at the brink of giving up. Suddenly this mystery guy appears and offers assistance. A humble character with a sincere smile, giving me advice and continuous support which actually lifted my spirit somehow. I was motivated by his words and was no longer worried. With that, I got up on my feet and I tailed his bike through every bump and gutter. To my surprise, I did not become tired at all from this point on. This led me to believe that being worried actually has a huge impact on our energy and stamina. I truly believe this. So we swiftly made our way through and made it out of the jungle in one piece. By the time we reached the garage, dusk had turned into complete darkness. We reunited with the rest and closed the session with a cup of hot coffee and cigarettes. The mystery man turned out to be a villager here in Kampung Kemensah, also a dirt bike enthusiast who knew the guides well. What a unique experience. But if I were to do this again one day, I will make sure i'm better prepared and in a much healthier state. The video below was recorded by Che En using his Go Pro camera and it is 46 minutes long.
PORT KLANG
Shortly after my dirt bike experience, Me and one of my colleagues, Halim planned a random day trip. Well, the destination was random but taking the day off together was planned. We did this before and the previous trip was to Pengkalan Balak, Melaka. This time we went to Port Klang. Both trips
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| The famous seafood restaurant overlooking some oil riggs |
Though Port Klang doesn't really have interesting spots other than that infamous seafood restaurant by the dirty beach full of garbage, and a few other spots for chendol and such, but it ended up on my list because it remained a mystery to me through the years. How does the place look like? How far is it? Because it sure looks damn close on the map. How is it not popular or made into a tourist spot since it is the closest beach from Kuala Lumpur? Why was it turned into this industrial area that it is today? All these questions just made me curious more and more.
So we got there at around 10am, went sightseeing on the beach and from afar, the beach was colorful. As I got closer, those colors were in fact plastic bags filled with garbage. And these bags cover the entire beach! The water was filthy and brow. in color. Well, I had expected that the place
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| Those colors are in fact plastic bags full of garbage! |
So we proceeded to Pantai Jeram, a thirty minute drive from Port Klang to find a place to eat. After a delicious kampung-cooked lunch, we found the perfect spot for our chess game. A single hut or pondok situated right by the beach. Away from people, away from noise and distractions, just the sound of waves splashing into the sand under the heat of noon. So we managed to squeeze in a set of three games and I
emerged as the victor. Had some ice cream before we left the
spot and went to have some durian chendol and bakso at a warong
nearby. What a great way to close up the session. We left Pantai
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| Perfect location for our epic battle |
in the future, perhaps somewhere a bit further.
PHUKET
The Phuket video won't be available for viewing on mobile phones due to the use of copyrighted music.
Backtracking a bit, last year in October 2016 the whole office went out on a staff trip cum budget presentation on the beautiful island of Phuket, Thailand. We went to Pnom Penh, Cambodia in 2015, Bali, Indonesia in 2014 and Hanoi, Vietnam in 2013. Wow, I've been with this company for quite some time now, right? So we stayed at a posh hotel in Patong called The Kee Resort. We got the meeting overwith as soon as we reached the hotel, right after lunch. After a scrumptuous rooftop dinner that night, me and the guys strolled down Bangla Street, a long stretch of road also known as 'Walking Street', full of bars and nightclubs and white folks drinking and partying. Mostly Australian, for some reason. Bangla Street is the main and only attraction in Patong at night. The streets around it have typical nightmarket stalls selling food, clothes, souvenirs and stuff. We were so arrogant knowing that we had 2 nights to spare, we ignored everything around us, spending the whole night looking around and just walking through Bangla Street and the streets around it. Little did we know that the city will be on total shutdown for months after this particular night due to the death of the king of Thailand.
Anyway, we walked along and around Bangla Street until we reached the famous Patong Beach and hung out there before walking back to the hotel. During our walk back, nearly every pub and nightclub had a tout hanging around up front yelling "Ping-pong! Ping-pong! Come!", trying to invite customers in to witness a supposedly unique show of some sort. And apparently, every single establishment at Bangla Street were serving ping-pong! What is ping pong? I'm pretty sure it is not a 'Thai Girl Show' or 'Tiger Show' as Malaysians would call it, where girls dance around poles like in strip clubs. So we made it back to the hotel in one piece and had a good rest. The next day, much to our surprise, news spread that the king of Thailand died that night. The government of Thailand put a ban on any form of entertainment in the country for 3 months. Meaning, all entertainment establishments in Thailand such as nightclubs, pubs, bars, karaokes and such are forbidden to operate and the shutdown will take effect for a whole 3 month period, as a sign of respect. There goes my plan to go see a live band, and I guess I will never find out what a ping-pong show really is.
So earlier in the morning we had breakfast at the hotel. We then went straight out for our pre-booked snorkeling/island-hopping trip. Now, the islands that we will be visiting are pretty much the same as the ones I visited during my honeymoon vacation in Krabi. Only this time it included Monkey Island, a small island full of monkeys (I wonder how they got there in the first place). Unlike the Krabi trip which we cruised on a traditional tailboat, this time we were fortunate enough to ride in a speedboat. It was much larger and more comfortable. But as what comes with space, so comes the crowd. I can't recall the number of islands we visited or its names, but I do remember this one particular island called Maya Bay, the beautiful island where the movie The Beach was filmed. During my Krabi trip, we simply passed by as the island was too crowded and there was no space for the boat to dock. This time I finally get the chance to set foot on it. The sand was fine and white. The water was so blue just like how a swimming pool would be. It was a sight I would remember for the rest of my life.
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| The beautiful Maya Bay where The Beach was filmed. |
It was nearly 2pm and we were all starving. The next island was where we had lunch. A delicious thai buffet lunch at a resort restaurant. We all ate in our wet bathing suites. Well the next place we visited was Monkey Island where it was a weird sight seeing monkeys stranded on a small island which was part forest and part hill. The monkeys look cute and all but be mindful of what you do there because these monkeys are hungry, and they will steal from you. Not to mention they keep fighting among themselves to compete for food from visitors and it gets really ugly and aggressive sometimes.
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| The MAH/Mahtec team. We sure had a great time! |
At night we went out for dinner at a seafood restaurant quite far from the hotel. It was a beautiful beachside restaurant. Delicious food too. We then headed back to Patong and as expected, the whole city was a ghost town. The once crowded, hectic and lively Bangla Street was now empty, dark and quiet. Only a few stalls and shops continue to operate like the ones selling clothes and souvenirs. And also some convenient stores like 7-Eleven and the likes of it. Other than that, there was absolutely nothing to see. "Where did all the crowd go?" I wondered. We walked through the empty streets and reached Patong Beach. What I found was both funny and amusing. Since all the clubs and bars are closed, all the white folks took over Patong Beach. They flocked to the beach and continued partying there. As the Thailand government also put a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages as part of the mourn for their king, there is no stopping these guys from having a good time. I admire their spirit. The beach was too crowded so we left. Had a few strolls down the streets of Patong and then we headed back to the hotel.
The next day was free and easy so we went for a swim after breakfast. Then we went out for lunch on our own near the mosque. We roamed the streets of Patong further than we did the day before. The streets seem empty and abandoned still. But there were a few shops open for business so that will do. We rented a tuk-tuk to see the rest of the city. With a proper price, we told the driver to take us on a tour around Patong. Phuket is known for their special tuk-tuks which all have colorful LED lights and loud music as a form of tourist attraction and to give that disco feel to all those party animals who come to party. How thoughtful, Phuketans. Phuketers? Phuketians? Anyway, the thing is, not even music was allowed during the mourn, so we only got the lights in our faces. At night we visited a mall and had dinner at another halal restaurant near the mosque. After dinner, we took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel and continued walking around, again. There was not much to do when the whole city, in fact the whole country is on full shut down. So wandering would be the best option, I guess. We had some burgers, fruits, drinks and fried ice cream, and went back to the hotel to sleep. Fried ice cream is this DIY ice cream made on what looks like a frying pan. It is actually a cooler. They pour mixed flavored liquid cream on the pan and it slowly freezes the liquid into solid form and is then scraped off the pan and put in a cup and there you have it, home made ice cream! You can pick an array of flavors that they have on the menu and you can even mix them up to your liking. I would definitely recommend mixing strawberries and bananas. And they use real fruits instead of artificial flavorings. Oh, it tasted so good. We went to sleep that night with a happy face, and tummy. The next day was our last day staying there before heading back to reality. We ate breakfast at the hotel, checked out at noon and the van took us straight to the airport. Adios Phuket. You will be missed.
Not to forget this unfortunate incident that took place at home last year. I walked outside one afternoon to find my baby missing a wheel.
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| Some idiot stole one of my rear wheels. I no longer park outside the condominium compound. |
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