Night rider

Since my muscle is still "dormant", I decided to do week-day solo rides...which means I have to cycle at night due to my hectic daily schedule. So that's just what I did...after picking the babies from their kindy today, I went to "MyRide" shop..the intent was to get a flashlight for my bike and a bike for Neena...but I end up buying 3 scooters (alloy - RockBike) for the kids...since Neena decided she's afraid to cycle and prefer the scooter instead...and the towkey became Rm300 richer this evening!

After a light dinner with the family and Isya' prayer, I started my journey.....went to Wangsa Melawati from my rumah pangsa, took a break and long chat with Bro Zul my F.I.V. team member (getting some info on some team issues lah!) and his surau buddies....the I rode back to VWM using another route. Total distance of about 10km.

I am just happy to be able to scale the hill from Wangsa Melawati up to the VWM Seri Wangsa 2 road (see pix...notice KLCC and the elevation of the road below the bar...that's the easiest part of the route!).

Rhino needs tuning form a proper mechanic soon...gear shift is not smooth and the disc brakes are not gripping as good as it should. Otherwise, it is still the same good 'ol Rhino!!

Well......cycling & photography...the rather rewarding ways for me to deal with years of being bullied & ridiculed by The Zoo Creatures...they may have their titles, perks, positions & "power", but to those heartless people - F U ALL! Ahahah!!

I have my life to enjoy!!

I just want to ride....so, see you at the top or the bottom!!

From Rover Trail to Steroid Hill

I have been here before...but that was ages ago...
less weight, more fit....
...but it's always refreshing to ride down (or up!) the memory lane...
...or more appropriately - dirt & mud path!

1.

That's the elevation map of rover Trail & Steroid Hill, courtesy of Dr Azmi. (If there's lotsa extra dough lying around my home workstation I'd get the same Garmin thingy!) These hills are in FRIM, Kepong....

...and that's where I spent half of this Saturday cycling with some of the usual gang & two new friends - both are professors.

The group can actually be divided into two - the memang-fit & the nakjugakjadi-fit...I'd definitely be with the latter, the last in line in terms of "qualification" mueheheh!!

In total the memang-fit group did about 17km or so if I am not mistaken, while the rest did about 13km. They did more because they went up Steroid Hill but we waited for the at the base. Apparently, according to the FRIM Penguatkuasa who were there to guard the unmarked entrance from Sg Buloh Hospital Kusta are, the hill is actually named Bukit Hari...there's a story behind it but I do not intent to write it here, maybe you can ask me when we meet or go for a ride...perhaps?!

2.
I had a good night sleep & rest and by 530am I was up & ready for the trip. Packed the T-Bolt (or I fondly nicked Rhino) into the car andperformed Fajr prayer by the roadside of the cond before meting Sy Din & Elda at the stated rendezvous point. Journey to FRIM was smooth, we managed to dodge the traffic which apparenty was hectic by 7am according to AbeDib.
By 830am, we were rolling toward Rover Trail, climbing from the reservoir point. T&T on the first 300m for me since I am not fit yet! The climb is smooth & interesting. Checkpoint was at the picnic waterfall place and from there, everything is smooth and moving downhill. Wohooo!! The discs brakes were really useful and the challenge was not to "tergolek-dog". I tried my best to redistribute weight at the far end of the seat and "look where I wanna go", not where I do not want to go! As simple as it may sound, that rule is actually vital!

3.
I am quite glad to say that FRIM is the same as it was in the early 90's - at least from my point of view - the thress are there, the waterfalls are still cool as it was...yeah, some things are not meant to change at all! The difference would be the entree charge used to be Rm3 but now it's Rm5 per vehicle per day - for a very valid reason. According to Bro Z (a 'Penguatkuasa' we met at the border of FRIM & Sg Buloh), the cars are insured for any damage due to "natural disaster" in FRIM. Trees or branches can broke down etc...so, what is Rm5 for that matter, aye? furthermore, it's a one day access...so if you somehow cycled away from FRIM and found yourself next to the Kusta Hospital building (abandoned) in Sg Buloh, you can still re-enter FRIM from any gate at no cost....well accept your effort to cycle back to FRIM laa...it's quite a long one from Sg Buloh...I have done it back in 1997...and my housemates said this when I got back home - "Mung giler ke apa" heheh!

4.
The top of Rover Trail after a steep 300m climb (aduih! for me lah!)
The waterfall picnic area is nice & cool as it used to be. From here, I am champion la...downhill dirt, mud & gravel, ehehehe...the trick is to allocate the weight to the rear end of the seatpost - behind the seatpost would be better....otherwise you can tumble easily...BUT too much weight at the rear end of the rig may also cause a wheelie-action...no good for traction and you can also fell down....SO, pandai-pandai sendiri la how to survive! It's ok to fall...as long as you can manage to get up and ride again...otherwise, you know you are in trouble!

5.
That shot ------->
....would be the highest point I reached before descending to Steroid Hill's base check point. I had a massive cramp just before I reached the Steroid Hill base - good thing Dr Azmi was there to assist me! Darn...my muscles are still dormant. I need to do more..at leat 5km everyday.
The fit & courageous group would be The 2 Professors (they are really Professors ok!) and Sy Din & Elda (tepuk! tepuk! tepuk!) who managed to scale Steroid Hill and DH down. Lesson learnt - get good disc brakes!

Steroid Hill (Bukit Hari) base point

6.
We had some grubs and borak a bit after we scaled down Steroid Hill....a great outing indeed!

Well done Rhino!

7.
I could not post up photos as I wrote this, had to put it up much later. P1 has not been performing as it used to. Infact this entry could have been posted much earlier if it's not because of the farking P1 unreliability.
They are going to get another round of bashing from me today...definite.

Picnics

....Kuala Sedili
1.
What have the kids been up to lately? Well, apart from exploring new stuff at their new Chinese Medium Kindergarten & Daycare Centre, they went back to Johor recently to have a gathering with their cousins. Almost turned back to KL halfday due to some noises I heard on the left front wheels - but after a pit stop at Ayer Keroh fly-over (and couple of hundred moolahs flew away at the Al-Ikhsan outlet there!) everything was ok. Must have been some road debris on the calipers or something I guess.
Anyway.....they had a great time. First up a picnic at a small campsite by a stream near Air Terjun Kota Tinggi (been ages since I last been there!)..but the water is not clear (it rained heavily the night before) so we decided to go to Kuala Sedili, I have NEVER been there and as for Tok Abah pulak dia kata last time dia pergi was in the 1960s!
It is a very nice place - we had lunch and then splashed for more than an hour - tengahari buta tu pukul 2pm!! We had a great time, together the whole family.

2.
That's Alisya trying to build her sandcastle. Timing sket Minah ni sekarang, demanding. A sure sign of growing up....but she'll want me to hug he at night if she's cold...she will always be my baby!

..and Aliya too...would want me to hug her to sleep though sometimes she'd woke up at around 2am to go to Mama!
Naufal...hmmm...asyik2 NGOMPOL! Aiyooo pening la mamat nih!! Aheheh!



...Blogspot is kinda ridiculously unreliable nowadays, uploading is almost impossible and there is no e-mail support from Blogger anymore. I don't mind paying like FlickR Pro if the service is and support is good, ini macam nak lari jer drp support users, hampeh...
...P1WiMax pulak dah kena taji 2 kali baru today I get to upload quite easily...such a stupid reason they gave - Your condo is not in our coverage area - when the fact is I get yello & green constantly and there's a massive bill board not even 700m from here stating it's WiMax area. Chet! Another hampeh!

Another Saturday ride with PERS

1.
Had another Saturday ride with PERS (Putrajaya Easy Riders) buddies with 3 new members - Sy Din Elda & Haikal. I was not really well on that day - Aliya & Alisya & Mama was a bit under the weather I did not even go to the AKAR Exhibition (my first exhibition for 2009 with CHAPs) and I just got about 4 hours of sleep. Anyway, the ride was fun, the only regret was I should have bought the gel saddle....MUST BUY IT soonest possible lah!

2.
We did not do much off road this time (which a bit of a minus for me lah) but we covered 28km with average of 14km/h or so. The majority was on T-Bolt while wwe have Sy Din on Fuji Tahoe & Elda on Diamondback. Both hardtails. Aliff lead the way while Dr Azmi sweeps the trail...not much of a job because the ultime tail-end would be MOI!
Well at least we managed to scale (termasuk "turun & tolak style!") 3 hills, and found ourselves on PICC overlooking "The Forbidden Bridge".
Oh well...lesson learned - must get a good rest 0 at least 5 hours sleep the night before any ride, a definite! Owh....a proper warm up & warm down too...no excuse!

3.
The next week ride may involve more off-road than previous week. We'll see how it goes. I am going to Perak on Sunday next week - spend some time enjoying the nature with the kids....as what we did last week after that cramp experience!! We had great time - the whole family - picnic at a riverbank & beach...Kota Tinggi & Kuala Sedili. Will post it up once this frigging WiMax technical glitch is settled....one big similarity of any service providers in Bolehland - UNRELIABLE within a short time frame of impressive service!! Why can't they understand the simple concept of less is more!

22km a-la-cyclo-cross on the 24th Jan

1.
That's the distance I cycled with the Putrajaya cyclists. Frankly, I was surprised I managed to do it which is not bad considering this is the first time I cycle in a group for more than 10 years and this is also the first time I hit the dirt for after more than 6 years! Challenging for me (but maybe not to many of the gang today!!) and very very VERY exciting.....will do more of it in the future - DEFINITE!

2.
What I liked about the ride today was we managed to cover many kind of surfaces - road, walking path, sand, dirt, loose dirt, bushes, wooden platform, bike trail, gravel.....really exciting experience since each surface gives different traction and thus requires different maneuvering skills.
We started quite late - I was the first to be on location (and last to reach it on my T-Bolt, ahahaha!!) and at about 8:25am we started rolling, roadies leading the way (and quickly vanished from our radar shortly after!). We did our pace and stopped at many interesting locations - to take photos and to listen to briefing by the gang (seasoned and very experienced government officers, army high rankings, engineers, town planner, architect, doctors, pilot, multimedia producer...a motley of friendly people! (owh yeah, and a business analyst who thinks he should have been a photojournalists/ documentary photographer!)

3.
After the ride we had a feast (ohh yeah.....we deserve it!) and after the feast I took the toll of being so careless not to do proper warm-up & warm-down - MASSIVE CRAMP!!! Darn it, it really hurts.
...but it did not stop me from going to to Ted's studio - just to divert my course and pay a visit to the good old Saujana Impian neighborhood clinic! Got some pain killers & muscle relaxant (and a good advice from the doctor - as what I got from the Motley Bunch - get a good rest!)

4.
A couple of isotonic drinks from 7-11 and a chat with Napie & Ted after collection Ted's part of the job we are doing, I then went to the car wash place and got my old car a good bath...and the T-Bolt too.
The drive back to the condo was really painful tho.....and I just could not do anything after a decent lunch with the kids, got online for a while, did some prayers then I took the muscle relaxant and the next thing I realized everything was dark and cold....of course....it was 9pm when I woke up from a good rest!! Muscles relaxed, spirit raring to go for another ride, I had dinner with the kids and off I go..to get the T-Bolt from the car and bring it up to the condo laaa...not for another round of cycling!!

5.
Good achievement for a start..infact, it's a bit too high a benchmark but nothing is wrong with that...I bought the T-Bolt because cycling was my passion - and IS still my passion together with photography, different arena, for different purposes. Owh...I need to remind myself to get a better seat for the rig - the wider & comfy ones used by some of the bunch from Bridgestone or Velo or whatever brand I can get lah! because when your butt hurts being on a slim and sporty looking seat. Other than that, I think the T-Bolt was worth every sen I spent....wonderfully light when climbing and sturdy on dirt, sand & gravels.....minor "stunts" here and there.....great rig at a very reasonable price.

6.
Looking forward for the next ride!

Koleq revisited

1.
Okay, I am not one of those who would boast around telling every living being he went to MCKK...I'd just say I went to Sekolah Melayu Jalan Stesyen to avoid all the unnecessary mumbo-jumbo. Not that I am not thankful to Allah because it was my parents & even my own prayers been answered but I just prefer to not boas around - for what lah? Of course, some people would just attack the bunch who came from this so called School of Kings. Lantak korang la! Yg wa tau, I was there and enjoyed the camaraderie of my Xantheus Commune.
MCKK Serang Lagi!

2.
The shots here were taken at the end of 2008. Decided to drove to KK after a wedding invitation in Ipoh, hoping to get a room at the KK Resthouse but apparently everything is full house - including the homestay places!!

Masa yg tak pernah cukup?!!

1.
That's my problem...and this year i am not going to let it happen. every single moment counts - priority to my kids & family & my journey to become a professional phorojournalist/ documentary photographer/ and get some more bigger dough with my commercial jobs too, insyaAllah.

2.
What's been going on the past 2-3 weeks would be the transition part of our "new life". New because we are not going to have any maid in the house - except for weekend cleaner & care takers, 2 of that would come for one day - Sunday or Saturday.
New because the kids are starting their Chinese education - fairly OK for Neena according to the Principal BUT may be a bit tough for Alisya & Naufal....insyaAllah they will do fine.
New because Mama is going to more classes related to her own passion & business intent.
New because I have decided to take my passion more seriously and have been getting positive response & collaboration with established local professionals - not that I am retiring soon but I would know when to make the move insyaAllah...and more importantly, I just want to be free from the current organization & some of the people in it - muak & mual already with their personalities and such - and I have become more sensitive to arrogant people...and more. All these people, nak menang sgt tak abis2, silalah menang, kat akhirat nanti settle la with my Allah.

3.
The past 2 weeks been very hectic, as mentioned...with jobs, exhibition planning works, outings & taking care of the kids at the same time.....by end February we should be accustomed with this "new life"....insyaAllah....

T-Bolt

1.
...managed to get myself something from what I managed to make from last year's effort....will soon be re-living another passion that I have long neglected (since I got Alisya & Naufal!)

2.
Unfortunately, I only managed to ride the rig once (itu pun hari dah panas tapi sebab "speret", henjut jugak la!)
....been extremely busy and tired - moving to the new place AND looking after the kids first few days in the new kindergarten....and just about to complete burning back-up of the original files for my first official job in 2009 (well, we have one more session before editing can be done and prints negotiation/ finalization can be executed) but bulk of the job is done - Alhamdulillah...more to come insyaAllah....
Wanted to write about many things but maybe in the next couple of weeks after things are espected to be much smoother, insyaAllah.

3.
Dalam pada sibuk, sempat jumpa AbeDib for lunch (a long lunch!) and talked about many stuff, cycling being the main topic....InsyaAllah, will joining for weekend rides (maybe weekdays too if there's too many weekends booked for jobs and whatever)...the only thing is I need a proper gloves...and more solo ride to re-condition myself....so far only managed to conquer the hill up to the condo and ramp it up to the second floor of the parking lot, straight to the door of our home....not bad for a start, a bit too high as an initial benchmark actually.....oh well, we'll see how it goes!

4.
It's just a Proton...nothing wrong with that, right?

Runabout

Runabout
1.
I am feeling guilty. Very. Aliya is not well - on & off - and we have been busy clearing the house while the kids have to spend the day with
grandparents. We have not celebrated Aliya's 3rd Birthday due to the messy environment at our new condo and the house. Really yrying to
make it that by this evening the house should be cleared and by the end of the week the condo should be in a more 'presentable' condition
Insya-Allah.
2.
On Thursday I totally forgot about lunch as I tried to clear up the boxes in my room! I realized of only when I was placing order for
dinner with the family later in the evening. Aliya vomitted but she was in a good mood most of the evening. Have to get Mama to spend more
time with her....which means I have to clear the house alone this afternoon.....
3.
The SRi is back to it's prime condition....well, almost! A bit of tweaking (and couple of burnt wallets) it will be better than it used to be. 3k down the drain (and maybe a sprrding ticket right after I took the SRi from Mike's place), all I can say is Alhamdulillah.....worth every sen spent (or to b spent - as far as the speeding is concerned!)...anyway it is just a Proton....not a German marque!
4.
Have to rest....Must! It is gonna be a hectic weekend...and it seems like this blog is gonna be updated via my small iPod Touch more often than always...

•Transmitted via torque's iPod Touch•

The end of the year

The end of the year
1.
The Internet connection at the office hasn't been good at all.....I
wanted to write more but time is a big constraint on me. Writing on
the move? Not having the correct tool yet. Might be getting a proper
mobile soon since the P900 has been 6 years in service, the longest
ever period I have ever sticked to a mobile. My preference would never
be any Windows based device. Symbian and perhaps Apple or Blackberry
would be my choice.
2.
It is already 2009 as I wrote this. Been a hectic year to the end,
2008. My last achievements would be clinching a Rm3k wedding job at
the last moment, moving the heavy stuff to the condo and single
handedly arrange the hall and finally get a reliable workshop to get
the SRi really fixed (though quite reasonably costly!)
3.
We went to the pool & playground floor to watch the fireworks. I think
this would be the first time I watch fireworks in kain pelikat. Aliya
loves it while the twins enjoyed playing the swings instead. Hopefully
2009 would be kinder year to me & my family. One thing for sure, I am
making my next gearshift in photography, working more seriously with a
couple of professionals on different fields to start getting serious
money. Dah muak kena tindas & naya dgn manusia yg riak bongkak
takabbur, juah, mudah lupa diri & tak kenal erti syukur & rendah
diri....with people like these playing cards of your future survival,
you cannot rely on the organization anymore. I have had enough bashing
& backstabbing, I have positively took the action against the negative
situation & for the past years I have crafted my journey outside the
organization and the target now is I just want to focus on giving my
kids & family more decent life without relying on the organization too
much.....please help me Allah.
4.
Can't wait to drive the good ol' SRi tomorrow.....and maybe spend some
moolahs for myself......Hmmmm.....

•Transmitted via torque's iPod Touch•

Stronger Than Hate

1.
"....Chaos, rampant and age of distrust...
Confrontation, impulsive sabbath..."

"I stand above their remains
My vengeance I have regained
I don't know what lies on the floor
I won't be locked up anymore..."

"Run..."

Some of the lyrics, phrases, words, sentence or
whatchamacallit that have been in my head since 1980's....Slayer, Sepultura and The Punisher. The kind of music and character not meant for any wussies & wannabe....feels like hitting the pedals strong...Jamming anybody?

2.
The kids took their grandparents to dataran Merdeka recently, to visit the KARNIVAL USAHAWAN DESA 2008. Interesting stuff....even felt like walking the memorylane..

I learnt to cook rice in bamboo from one of my fosterfamily in the jungles of Pahang when I was selected by JPM & JHEOA (BAHEIS) for a program that lasted almost a month....sedap nasi tanak dlm buluh ni....especially when you eat it with lauk-pauk kampung.....perghhh!

Neena was happy to get her favorite snack (one of her favorite snacks!) - keropok lekor....

A can of Dr Pepper to start the weekend.....Part 2

1.
The kids are quite confident to perform or do what's need to be done in front of crowd nowadays. Not bragging about how talented and smart they are nor am I saying I am shaping them to become performing artiste....no, I don't have to brag about how talented my kids are - because my kids are my kids and they are not for show-off or be treated like trophies!

I spend time with them because it is a great gift from Allah - not because I want to write about it & tell the world how good a father I am lah!! I let them choose what they like to do, with some guidance. If they succeed, then - ALHAMDULILLAH....and one thing for sure they will never be a failure because whatever it is everything is destined by ALLAH thus why I try not to be like many kiasu parents dumping their kids into many activities just because they can afford it OR others are doing it, and knowing not what is it that the kids really like....the true person inside the little body. Oh well, I am not going go give a lecture on that...what I want to write here is about a competition Alisya & Naufal casually did - sand art competition at the new shopping complex I mentioned in the earlier entry.

When the DJ (ala2 DJ supermarket punyer type lah!) announced about the competetion, Alisya & Naufal decided that they want to take part - not me who influnced them....of course, Neena was curios what's going on but her age is not qualified to take part, so, yeah in 4 years time you'd be able to take part too ok Neena?!

Though Mama was quite unsure of the outcome, the kids made it through...Naufal got the consolation price & Alisya, got the 3rd place ALHAMDULILLAH.

Congratulations Kakak & Abang!
A small achievement but its your step towards the future! I am so proud of you both! (...and you too Neena!)





2.
Naufal walking the pad where he actually took his first lesson to walk. Shot recently when I took him to KLCC Park. I told him that was the spot where he used his walking-trike with his first Adidas. The shot is available in the earlier entry of this blog.
Alisya accompanied by Neena (read: tukang sibuk) on their first ever congkak game taught by Mama.....

Neena and her Touch, (what to do...whenever I am back at the rumah pangsa she will claim it's hers!) admiring the photo of Dibo The Gift Dragon & friends. The kids now have upgraded my status from "Can only be KingKong" to "Yes Ayah you can be like Dibo"

.....heaven siut...ada anak2 mcm Alisya, Naufal & Aliya & always spend time as much with as possible them! ALHAMDULILLAH!