Trusssssmadi

sibuk nya....

These first few months are hectic. Meetings, meetings and sports and deadlines. So, i'm almost shivering with anticipation thinking about the trip going up Trusmadi. And it'll be happening in less than a week's time. I could already picture myself walking in a haze of wonder and awe at the surrounding. I'd be lying if i say i wouldn't be walking in a haze... no...more like waves of muscle aches and steady stream of perspiration. The plan to go for this trip only came about early January, so... no time to muster up real exercise plan. Not really crunch time. It'll be a battle of the will and the muscles ni.

In preparation for the trip, I bought a hiking backpack, a mini rucksack, a drybag, a really comfortable windbreaker, and some small important stuff. Argghh... i forgot to buy a pair of kasut mandahan. Aiyah...been meaning to buy a pair since 1945 (naintin porti paip if my friend boy marcel yang cakap la). Got to remember to get it tomorrow. Mona, my ever-knowledgeable friend, has recommended me a good place to buy one.

'Jan bili yang warna putih, cari yang hitam, yang hujung dia bulat", she advised.

"Oo..k".

She was the one also to encourage us and gang to makan ubat malaria. Asked if she could get them for me and she did. Untung oo kawan sama kau, Mona!!! Hehehe...

So, till the next entry. Au revoir, adios, hasta manana, ariaverdeci (wrong spelling ni), babai, sayonara and c u.

que sera sera

hi again.
i've a feeling this year is going to be an adventure. last year i was feeling hesitant. but this year, due to last year's events, will promise to be a roller coaster. some events are almost predictable, like my taking off my braces. sigh....i just know smiling will never be the same. i'll sure be smiling and smiling and smiling my face off. hahaha... so will eating. ooh... the food that i'm going to gorge myself with!!!

i digressed.

come 7thFeb, i'll hopefully be scaling Mt.Trusmadi with a few close friends. The 2nd highest peak in Malaysia. And if there be no obstacle, if Trusmadi challenge is a success, we'll scale Tombuyukon (3rd highest peak in Malaysia) sometime this year too.

Will post pics whenever possible.

happy new year to all.

2007-2008

A lot has happened this year. Some planned, some weren't. Frankly, i can't for the life of me recall (at the moment la), anything that had pissed me off. It could be because so many good unexpected things happened and they preceded and overpowered any real disappointments that i may have experienced.

We have a choice, right? We always have a choice. Between being angry and being happy. Being late or being early (or punctual). Being frightened or being brave. The choices aren't limited to what i just listed. Whatever choice one makes will of course dictate the outcome of events. And for me, I have always tried to live up to whatever choice that i have made. There is always a tomorrow to try and rectify any wrongs done. If there is no tomorrow, then, c'est la vie. We only live once. Oh we can die a thousand deaths, but we live but once.

um... some bad memories are trickling into my head and heart now... but i'm not going to dwell on them. The pain will always remind me that this is life. It can't be all high, psychedelic, idyllic, fun times. That the pain will remind me that i can still feel. It's being numb and bored that is a danger to most.

Ah... 2008. Have i any resolution for the coming year? naah.. no need for it being a new year to do that. But i do hope health and contentment (happiness is such a selfish state). Long term plan bukan senang to follow.. can be attempted though eh?

So, a very happy new year to all my friends and family. May it bring whatever it is that you endeavor.

bitten by waterbug

I have had this fascination for water activities ever since i learned how to swim. The fascination started waaaaay early lagi i think. My mum and Ina' (grandma) had told me of the story of how i nearly drowned in the water drum (u know la di kampung, the dorom air used to collect rainwater, normally put outside the house). They told me that i always liked to play with the water in the drum. i'd get a stool or something and go up the stool to play with the collected rainwater. I'd use the gayung and just scoop the water and pour it out and scoop the water and pour it out, or just run my hands through the water.

One day, I had gotten on top of the stool to reach for the gayung lah. It hadn't been raining for some time. The water level in the drum was not up to the brim but only half full. Therefore, the gayung had floated somewhere halfway down the drum. So, i had reached down to try and get hold of the gayung. i must have reached down so far and fell headfirst in to the wated. i was alone. My grandma (bless her soul) suddenly became aware that i wasn't making any water noise and went out to look for me. When she didn't see me on the stool, she went to the drum and heard splashing from within the drum. I was flailing still with my kaki di atas. She reached down and pulled me up. So, i was saved, though i didn't realize it then.

-the dratted drum-

It is fortunate that i didn't develop any hidrophobia though. If i did, i might be leading a miserable life of being prissy and annoying and not wanting to get wet la, don't want to get into water la, takut la..

I always considered one of my greatest achievement in U was learning how to float, dive and swim. hahhaha... but of course graduating was nice as well lah. Any free time i had thereafter was spent swimming in pools of swimmable water. I even had this Benson & Hedges dream wish (remember the tv show?) to jump off a boat or jetty and dive into the sea. Quite a tame wish la juga kan? Haven't done that but jumping off a ledge near the sea suda la.

I especially lurrrvved to swim at the Likas Sports Complex before it was renovated with roof on top (yee... too cold for me). I love having sun-kissed skin. Being fair and pasty white isn't the top of my wish lists. Almost 3 years ago, i took SCUBA diving licence. Went to Pulau Sapi for the test and had a fantastic experience. I also was fortunate to go for Star 1 course for Kayak. And two days ago, i went to Kiulu for a river rafting course conducted by Riverbug. Couldn't i be any more fortunate?

Nanti lah.... pigi Padas. it'll be like the phrase on the t-shirt i got from riverbug, "paddle or die". Sigh!!:)

time kici2

Way back when i was cuter..(koff..koff..)..

1 year old ++
Wiht me sis at a rumah panjang in sibu. I was probably 10.

Powerboat Race

woke up early this morning to the sound of Mona's msg ringing into my mobile (which is always by my ear).. kok..kok..kok... read the message. i replied... Uu..uu..uuuuu... hahahah... chicken talk.

mandi2, got ready. Mona came and picked me up afterwhich we proceeded to pungut si mel. Sampai KK, Mona parked in the Waterfront parking space. Off we walked makan TomYam for breakfast at Sinsuran. Not bad..


What's the occasion for the outing today? P tinguk Powerboat Race. Bukan juga minat sangat bah. Saja want to go have a looksee how this supposedly World Sporting Event is.

one of the hi-speedboats parked near the pasar ikan area.

Mona, nice shades... what's that di tangan ko?

yes... grand marnier filled chocolates (kana bawa dari Langkawi...)

siapa tu ah yang pakai tupi tu? Korean sasat?

mighty powerful lenses there camera-dude!

ada lagi power..twice the size and length oo.. but tidak terambil gambar.

time 9 something... not that crowded yet.

Go redboat go!

Naaa nah... me first!

Driver : err.. finish la the fuel, boss..

DIGI promotion in front of Warisan Square.

Yawnn...

Wuarrghh...

Was woken up around 8 something when Mel called. She asked me where i was and whether i was going to Kiulu. Nay i said. I will be going to another friend's baby birthday party nanti petang and I didn't feel up to driving to Kiulu and driving back so soon. Told her the flying fox is supposed to start at 9am. She said she was on her way there. ok.

On any other day, i would- at the drop of a topi- be on my way to Kiulu. There is a huge sense of relief for me whenever i go to Kiulu. I would even say aloud ," hellow again Malangang," whenever i'm nearing the place. It's a retreat for me. Sure there is work involved, the work is mainly outdoor activities which would render me sighing at the end of the working day, it still is a place to release tension.

Today I woke up with a touch of headache, macam mo damam ja, macam juga mo flu. My eyes felt puffy and too big for the sockets. aih... don't la sakit. Have a busy week ahead of me.

Kem Malangang, Kiulu. View from seberang sungai. The flying Fox tower

right in the middle. wheeee.....

citizen is me

pretty soon i'll be hopefully occupying my sierra lot and be a citizen there. Cun-cun la the artisans of Johaniaga Enterprise nih. Sooo santik my ceiling, my wardrobe, my study, my kitchen.. Beauty IS in the eyes of the beholder ba kan?

ni bukan artisans yg buat, Dapan Holding heheh... view from parking lot.

my plastered ceiling with the downlight. imagine if at night dis!

Aiya... 4got to calibrate the view... malas mo tukar lagi. lambat dis laptop.. my study wall..

cabaran selangor

i was lucky enough to be one of the 20 chosen ones to go to selangor for this yearly cabaran challenge. it was made to be like a variation of Explorace. stopping by each station to complete a certain task before continuing off to another. Taman Pertanian Seri Alam was a huge compound. heheh... some friends dubbed it Bukit Celaka instead of Bukit cherakah... fun though it was, some part of the management of the whole thing was very disagreeable. Food was lousy. sudala sikit. With energy sapping activities, would anyone feel energised with a small bottle of mineral water and an apple? or sayur masak garam only? There were over 200 participants and only 2 pathetic food queues. I heard some didn't get enough lauk by the end of the line.

anyway, some of the activities..

stesen jerat n perangkap. after making some difrent kinds of traps, this one, the 'serkap' was to be used to catch some ikan keli in the sawah. Reportedly some 80 ekor of the ikan keli were released into the sawah. All members of each group were to wade in and try catch 3. I caught one without the serkap. Pakai tangan ja ba. It was easy as the keli didn't have any stings.

The triathlon team. Although it was a relay event, everyone put their best effort. The first event was kayak(7km). I teamed up with Sufryadi (yang pakai tights and short pants tu) for kayak. Next was bicycle-7km (mazlan and rahmat) and finally running-5km, kasmani and roslee.

There's me with Sufri starting off. A very calm and collected man he is. Never rushed me into paddling fast. Just asked me to paddle steady and in rhythm. 7km tu! i felt like giving up halfway and throwing the paddle and see it sink into the man-made stream. Nasib i thought of this determined partner and the other team cheering us on. Mcm mau putus my left arm.

But i won't deny that i had my share of fun. The other team members made the trip enjoyable. Next year it would be Cabaran Kelantan. i'm pretty sure many would want to lobby to go to Kelantan. What lies at Kelantan? why... a trip to sempadan of course, buy lotsa cheap stuff.

tngc

hi y'all..

i'd like to say hi to my readers, those yang i didn't know knew about the existence of this monologue of mine. feel free to drop ur comments, if u feel like it.

okay. what's been happening? lots..

most recently, tngc rendezvous. ai...sly came late (still work attired) and so the beverage didn't flow as profusely as usual. C uncle didn't have the compatriot to keep the atmosphere high. My reason for joining this crowd? had texted c uncle earlier for dinner at the Cage. He replied that he was already full but if i dared, i could join him at tngc with a few friends. well, the word 'dare' implied i was going to be bombed if i joined. 'tngc' would be the place where he usually go to to be bombed (he's related quite a few occasions where friends of his kasi bomb kaw kaw), 'a few friends' were a mystery. c uncle reassured me that i knew this group of humans, so i won't feel lost.

k lah. pg la i to the place mentioned. first thing that struck my mind was, err... not very crowded for a friday nite out eh? after scanning the place, i walked over to a corner yang macam ada possibility of c uncle and gang. Lo and behold, ala.... dorang pulak. the youngest member of the group was drinking milo-ping. te hehehe.... what a rarity. a tame and very sober milo-ping in a sea of chivas coctail. and a non-billower of smokes too.( the same persona who drank glass after glass of orange juice in my previous meeting with them at Magma)

Did i say Chivas?(Oh.. belated thank u to Mat for the Chivas.. i liiiiike). c uncle whispered to me sometime in the hour that he prefers good ol' beer- which later came dengan banyaknya and tpaksa tius2 to finish. i shall not mention the names of the merry makers. nanti kedapatan susa tu. the pet names that they have pun kiut-kiut belaka. i might just ask them one day if it's okay if i use their names in my blog. not that people would kanal kan? heheh... ok ka tu sly?

i'll continue with other stories later. havta go out in a bit. ciao babes.