Beatings Of Mud

My T-shirt after riding to work in a
slight downpour. Fortunately, I change
to my office attire after cycling.

Hmm. I seriously need mudguards on my XDS FA-20 bike. The plastic mudguards are lighter, but the ones made from metal are somewhat more elegant looking. Or should I refrain altogether from riding in the rain?

Hashtags: #bicycle #cyborg #cycle #cycling #cyclingintherain #muddy #mudguards #saibog #withoutmudguards #xds #xdsfa20

Evanescent Moves Amidst Shadows

Countering a sudden jab at the ribs.

Had the chance to attend Kelas Kemahiran (translated as "Finesse Training Class") of SCPH (Silat Cekak Pusaka Hanafi, a Malay traditional martial art, a brief about it is covered a previous post here) at INTEC (International Education College), Shah Alam. This level of training can only be attended by students who have completed the SCPH syllabus. In other words, the speed, strength and variety of attacks far exceeds the normal SCPH classes. With such quickness, makes the offensive moves extremely difficult to see (thus making the training more effective), especially amidst the shadows of night.

Even this level of Kelas Kemahiran is considered still at a basic stage. More advanced levels are more situational in nature, recreating situations when confrontation may occur. This includes situation where both defender and attacker are at extremely close to one another, training with both defender and attacker stand extremely close to one another in a same kain sarong (a cloth about 2m long sown into a closed loop); holding a baby and at the same time defending from multiple attackers, training by holding a small pillow or a bag of flour and surrounded with multiple attackers; defending from multiple attackers with both arms tied, etcetera. Hope I can witness such high level practices and narrate them in future blog postings :)

The playground was an excellent place for training.

The class supervisor explaining the deadly moves of SCPH.

Hashtags: #cekak #cekakhanafi #cyborg #pusakahanafi #saibog #silat #silatcekak #silatcekakpusakahanafi

Cycling To Work, At Last!

My XDS FA-20 bicycle neatly parked
under the table at my office cubicle :)

Hehe :) Another target achieved this year. Today, I now started cycling to work using my XDS FA-20 bicycle. For this initial attempt however, I did not cycle from my usual place at Sentul where I usually park my car. I had to cycle from the nearer Kampung Baru since I had to service my car there. Distance travelled to office, 3.6 KM (if from Sentul, it would be 5.4 KM). The journey only took me like 10-15 minutes.

Upon reaching the office, a security officer offered assistance in showing where to park my bicycle outside the building. I politely declined and mentioned that I would be bringing my bike upstairs into the building to office. He looked curious, then smiled when I folded my bike into a small neat lump of metal, and made my way inside. Other officemates I encountered on the way up were also quite surprised and congratulated me; and upon seeing me, a Human Resource (HR) staff even lamented that HR now needs to look at policies on bringing bicycles into office. Haha.

I think cycling to work is a great healthy lifestyle. Feels good too, with endorphin hormones released after the exercise and all. Hope that I can be consistent in this. After all, the overall convenience and speed of riding a motorcycle is quite tempting, especially when I can fetch wifey and have a quick bite with her during lunchtime. Maybe I can do it alternately, 1 day riding the bicycle and the next day riding the motorcycle, then back riding the bicycle, etcetera. Hmm. See how it goes :)


Update 16 February 2015

So far, so good. Still cycling to work. twice per week :)

Hashtags: #cyborg #cyclingtowork #cyclingtooffice #saibog #toofficewithbicycle #toworkwithbicycle #xds #xdsfa20

Ramblings On Ultralight Backpacking

My "new" notebook backpack.
Awfully comfy :)

Yeps, the most comfortable notebook bag ever - fully breathable back mesh, bundles of foam on shoulder straps and lumbar support, adjustable back length and all. I started bringing my Deuter Futura Vario 50+10L hiking backpack to office today to be used as my "new" notebook bag. 3 reasons why I did this:

The first is that I needed a new comfortable notebook bag for my HUGE & HEAVY 17.3" 4 kg notebook with adapter. Normal notebook bags just seem uncomfortable to carry such load, and the previous notebook bag eventually got shredded under the weight.

The second reason is waterproofness. My Deuter backpack is not waterproof. It has a rain cover stored at the bottom of the pack, but it will still be a sore if you have to wade through rivers (like in my previous trip to Bukit Kutu posted here). Unless your stuff and clothes in the backpack are safely kept in watertight Ziploc bags, they will definitely get wet. The storing stuff in a tied dustbin bag approach is not adequate to stop water from seeping in, especially when half of the backpack is submerged in fast flowing fluid. There are other bags which, although not as durable as my Deuter backpack, will at least keep your stuff in the pack dry, even when submerged in the river.

The third reason is that the hiking bag is heavy. With a dry (empty) weight of 2.24 kg for a 50 L capacity, the bag is far from being an ultralight backpack (a bag in the ultralight category would normally weigh around 0.3-1.0 kg for the same capacity). Never mind the extra cushioning and ventilation. if one have tasted "ultralight backpacking" especially after climbing a mountain, chances are, he/she will not look back and will inevitably pursue the lighter option.

I have tasted such "ultralight backpacking" when climbing the upper half of Mount Kinabalu several years ago, and only recently that I came across the term and the approach to realize it. Reminded of how exhilarating it was to backpack light, bit by bit, I plan to shift my paradigm, to relearn packing by only bringing the essential stuff and be as light as possible. My target? A full backpack (backpack + tent + food + water + clothes + all other stuff) with a total weight of only 7 kg. Better late then never :)

Hashtags: #backpacking #backpackinglight #cyborg #deuter #deuterfuturavario #futuravario #saibog #ultralight #ultralightbackpacking

Awesome Day, Awful Night, Amazing Sight

Resting by the lakeshore at Taman Wawasan.

A venue with beautiful scenery, with only a handful of people, with more than 1 km of 100% flat pavement for the young cyclist. Not many places fit such description. But deep in the heart of Putrajaya, there is a stretch of totally flat road with stunning view, perfect for the kids to practice their cycling. That stretch of asphalt is, again, at Taman Wawasan (translated as Wawasan Gardens), running parallel to the lakeshore for roughly 1.4km. A secluded place known to the locals as Putrajaya's best kept secret garden.

The route that we took. We parked at the end of Jalan P2a, then cycled to Jambatan Seri Bestari (translated as Seri Bestari Bridge) about 1.4 km away.

At the end of our route, below Jambatan Seri Bestari
(translated as Seri Bestari Bridge).

Around 9am, via car with bicycles in the bonnet, the whole family travelled to the obscured parking place under the Putra Bridge. Funny that the place was so near to the overly crowded Dataran Putra (translated as Putra Square), yet parking spaces were in abundance due to it's hidden location. With wifey waiting in the car with the baby, my two elder sons and I dismounted our bikes from the car and away we went. A surprise since the usually empty Taman Wawasan (from my visits covered in recent posts here and here) was now a lot livelier with cyclists. Still, apart from gardeners, no visitors were on foot. Many were on bicycles (roughly about 15 riders), a few on motorcycles and 1 with a car (maybe lost I guess). We completed the 2.8 km journey (1.4 km x 2) within just 30 minutes and went back to my MIL's (Mother-In-Law) place. An awesome day out with the kids. Then disaster struck.

Resting by the highway side for the car to cool down.
This was near Plaza Tol Salak Selatan. 

On the way, the car's thermometer shot through the roof. Since we nearly reached my MIL's place, I just parked the car at her place and let the car cooled down. Before going home to Kuala Lumpur, I refilled the car's radiator after finding it empty. A quick inspection concluded only a minor radiator leak. With a 5 liter water tank as backup, it should be enough till we reach home, or so I thought. Confidently, we started our journey back to our home. But just after 11 km into our departure, the car's temperature shot up again. This time the car guzzled water by the loads. We waited by the highway side for half an hour before starting the car again, then sped to the nearest Rest and Service (RSA, R&R, Rehat dan Rawat) area, about 2-3 km away to replenish our 5L backup water tank. There, again we waited for another half an hour to let the car cool down for me to refill the radiator. I estimated by stopping at strategic locations along the route and repeating the process, the return journey should take roughly 6 hours. That mentioned, it normally takes just 1 hour from Putrajaya to reach home. 4 hours later, we finally reached the car's service centre. We then left our ill-fated car there to be serviced the next morning (the service centre was along our route to our offices). Borrowing my BIL's (Brother-In-Law) MyVi car, we continued our deary journey home. Well, it was not all that deary, because when transferring stuff from our broken down car to my BIL's car, I found this!

My XDS FA-20 bicycle fitted nicely
in the small MyVi compact car.

It fitted perfectly! The MyVi car is a small compact car, and the fact that my XDS FA-20 could fit nicely in the leg room of the back passenger seat is a sight to behold, and with extra room to spare! Amazing! Despite the ordeal my family and I had gone through that night, I closed my house's front doors with a smile :)

Hashtags: #compact #compactbicycle #compactbike #cyborg #cycling #cyclingwithkids #myvi #putrajaya #saibog #tamanwawasan #xds #xdsfa20

Right At The Doorstep Of Prime Minister's Office

Practicing relentlessly till
dusk for the big night.

In the blistering midday heat, they quietly endured. No clouds nor trees nor shade, they continued relentlessly till dusk. Practicing, preparing, for the coming time after sundown. Furnishing on what was to be written down as one of the major milestones in the history of martials arts in the country. A quick Google search indicated that no other martial arts has ever conducted such an event right at the very doorstep of the Prime Minister's office. Silat Cekak under the umbrella of PSSCPUHM (Persekutuan Seni Silat Cekak Pusaka Ustaz Hanafi Malaysia) led by the grandmaster Tuan Guru Dr Md Radzi Haji Hanafi, was the first to do so.

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, together with
Tuan Guru Dr Md Radzi Haji Hanafi and the Silat
Cekak Pusaka Hanafi team. In the background is
the Prime Minister's Office building.

Road To MySilat 2015: Putrajaya. A night organised by PSSCPUHM with the support of National Department for Culture and Arts (Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara); attended by Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Minister from the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kementerian Dalam Negeri); and participated by 500 martial artists from the Silat Cekak Pusaka Hanafi fraternity. A night which will long be cherished and remembered by many :)

One of the buntings at the scene. 

500 martial artists awaiting orders during practice. 

Practicing a demonstration on using the Parang Lading, one of
the two official weapons of Silat Cekak. 

A photography session after a long day practicing. 

The big night.

The stage full of VIPs.

The grandmaster, Tuan Guru Dr Md Radzi Haji Hanafi,
giving a speech. 

Waiting for the Silat Cekak demo. 

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, declaring the ceremony.

Weapons used in the Silat Cekak demo. 

 Ready for the demo.

A Silat Cekak martial artist displaying the moves.

Part of the Silat Cekak demo. 

500 martial artists from the Silat Cekak Pusaka Hanafi
fraternity, executing moves simultaneously.

Hashtags: #cekak #cekakpusakahanafi #cyborg #jomsilat #mysilat #mysilat2015 #pusakahanafi #putrajaya #roadtomysilat #roadtomysilat2015 #rtm #rtm2015 #rtms #rtms2015 #saibog #silat #silatcekak #silatcekakpusakahanafi

Scorched Earth

A graveyard or what? What the heck is it?

Exploring the neighborhood with my son. Yep, been living for several years at the place already, but until now I still yet to fully explore the area near home. There were many roads which were difficult to access by car due to steep terrain (greater then 25% slope gradient), and many more were mere off-road trails which can only be explored using trucks or scramblers. Using my road motorbike, I tried some of of those off-road paths where I deemed my tires would not get stuck. And then I found this.

What is this place?

Curious, I parked my motorbike in middle of the trail, and continued further by foot. It was a an area roughly the size of 3 football fields. A hot barren wasteland. From a rusty old signpost, it read that the area was a project to build a mosque which seemed to have been abandoned for several years. Building a mosque for the community is a good thing. But building a mosque with an area of 3 football fields on top of a hill in the forest? Bad oversight perhaps? I simply cannot comprehend the logic behind it. Though I'm no nature advocate, I do know that such half-cooked projects only destroys the environment and the natural landscape. And could be dangerous for the kids too if they explored such places by bicycle or foot.

*Sigh*

Hashtags: #cyborg #bad #badplan #badplanning #destroyed #earthdestroyed #halfcookedprojects #naturedestroyed #saibog #scorchedearth

Lis Na Ree, All Budget Beach Stay At Kuantan

The reception and dining area.

At last, at 2am we finally reached the Lis Na Ree Resort. The 3 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan was surprisingly not sleepy. Thanks to my sons making a racket in car more than halfway of the journey. And the trifle traffic at such late hours made a smooth constant 110kmh drive nearly all the way. This was not the first time we went to Lis Na Ree, and finding it's somewhat hidden pathway was a breeze.

The beach from the resort.

3 years have passed since we last visited the place, and since then, nothing has changed. The air-conditioned room and amenities were the same, the bed slightly dusty but stainless nonetheless, the bathroom was basic but clean, and the swimming pool slightly murky due to the monsoon rain. Even the breakfast menu was similar, with the same mediocre tasting fried rice and unpalatable fried noodles. Fortunately, there are stalls serving delectable nasi lemak and other savouries nearby at the main roadside. But the monotony did come with a silver lining. The lodging price remained the same, still at MYR $120 per room per night despite the crazy fuel price hikes over the years. And the beach remained secluded, pristine as ever :)

The rooms. We chose the ones facing the road
and not the swimming pools for better privacy.

The swimming pool. There is also a kiddies pool.

The budget breakfast. That is all there is.

Eating the fried noodles reminded me of it's awful
taste. The fried rice however, was fortunately OK.

The unkempt swings.

The lone beach soccer yard.

The secluded beach.

Not a soul in sight :)

Getting my feet wet.

Sunrise.

Majestic morning clouds with adequately big sea waves for a bit of fun :)

Hashtags: #beach #holiday #kuantan #lisnaree #pahang

The Gift To Pierce The Darkness

The Fenix HL-30 headlamp.

A wonderful gift of light by him it was. In the wee hours before midnight, he suddenly phoned, asking if he and his family could come over to our house deep in the woods since he was bored. Well, why the heck not. After all, he is my only sibling brother. On his arrival, he gave me a small trinket. His hobby as a collector convinced him a replacement for it, and his old one needed a new owner. We had about an hour's chat before he left.

Currently all the headlamps I ever owned. The 2
headlamps from the right cost just MYR $20 each.
However, both have now deteriorated to the point
of being unreliable after serving me for many
years, even in sub-zero temperatures on top of
Mount Kinabalu, one of the highest peaks in South
East Asia. The 2nd from the left is my MYR $10
headlamp, earliest used in a recent expedition at
Bukit Kutu. And the leftmost is the newest member
of the group, the Fenix HL-30.

The trinket that he gave me was a small marvel, a slightly battered but fully working Fenix HL-30. A high quality 100-200 lumens headlamp costing MYR $130, compared to mine MYR $10. From the photos below, the difference between a budget headlamp and a professional one is just staggering. Plus the fact that a friend had previously mentioned my budget headlamp shone brighter then most of my friends' headlamps (from my previous hike at Bukit Kutu here), simply left me dumbfounded.

I needed 2 headlamps (from the 2, 1 is for backup) for cycling and hiking, and his gift fulfilled my requirement perfectly. Thank you, Bro!

The light from my MYR $10 headlamp.

The light from the Fenix HL-30 headlamp. Whoa!

Hashtags: #cyborg #fenix #fenixhl30 #headlamp #headlight #saibog

Sharing The Gem At Lanai Seni MATIC

Rehersal on the night
before the big day.

Many martial arts constantly evolve to better their effectiveness by absorbing techniques from other martial arts. But what if a martial art is proven time and time again to be so effective, that it does not need to use such tact, and hence is left preserved, untainted in it's original pristine form for hundreds of years? A martial art which is easy enough to be practiced even by those who are literally blind; effortless enough that it could be applied even by the handicapped; effective enough that it could counter multiple armed assailants at once; and above all that, simple enough to be learnt and mastered without prior knowledge in self defense, all within 6 months, 2-4 hours of training a week. Such is the martial art from the Malay ethnic called silat, specifically Silat Cekak currently headed by the rightful heir, grandmaster Tuan Guru Syeikh Md Radzi Haji Hanafi, under the society named PSSCPUHM (Persekutuan Seni Silat Cekak Pusaka Ustaz Hanafi Malaysia).

Originally practiced exclusively by some of the supreme commanders of the old Malay empire (the supreme commanders are called panglima and are themselves the best masters in Malay martial arts in order to attain such rank), this gem tradition was only relatively recently been exposed to the modern masses. Within just under 50 years of its exposure, it has garnered about 250,000 practitioners from various walks of life and has also shattered multiple local Malaysian records to back such claim such as The Largest Martial Arts Performance in 2010, attended by 7,356 active practitioners. On 19 November 2014, in a move to promote the martial art to both the local and international tourism arena, PSSCPUHM had shared it’s traditions to the public at Lanai Seni MATIC (Malaysian Tourism Centre, also known in Malay as Pusat Pelancongan Malaysia). And I was lucky to be part of the organising committee for such a grand occasion.

Do enjoy some of the photos of the event :)

Participants for the silat demonstrations line up. In the background looms
the Petronas Twin Towers, one of the tallest buildings in the world. 

A bunting of the grand event.

The event, surrounded by tall buildings.

View from another angle.

The VIPs in the huge Malay traditional-like shelter.

The live band for Malay traditional music. 

Some of the traditional Malay clothings on display.

A display for the Parang Lading, one of the two
official weapons of Silat Cekak.

An unfinished Parang Lading. The handle, made from
a female buffalo horn, will be shaped later for show.

A display of traditional Malay dance. Silat Cekak which
is purely for self defense, does not have dances.

Silat Cekak practitioners with the modern city skyline.

The Silat Cekak demonstration.

The Silat Cekak demonstration from another angle.

A Silat Cekak practitioner fending off
multiple assailants at the same time.

The VIPs signing the occasion's guest book.

The lively ambience at the event.

Another view of the festive atmosphere at the occasion.

The grandmaster called Guru Utama, Tuan Guru Syeikh Md Radzi in a mock initiation
ceremony called Majlis Ijazah. Only the grandmaster alone could run the ceremony.
Within the true practice of Silat Cekak, there can only be one grandmaster at one time.

The grandmaster explaining the Majlis Ijazah initiation ceremony.

The grandmaster giving some tips on certain
exercises within Silat Cekak.

Practitioners of silat usually bathe in hot boiling oil as a sign of bravery
(actually, the oil's boiling temperature has been drastically lowered by
adding vinegar to the oil). It is different in Silat Cekak where the
practitioner has to bathe in normal water scented with kaffir lime (also
known as makrut lime, with the scientific name Citrus Hystrix, in
Malay it is called limau purut) as a sign of self purification. It can
distantly be compared to wuduk (ablution) within the practice of Islam.

The grandmaster Tuan Guru Syeikh Md Radzi Haji Hanafi explaining
the specifics of Parang Lading. Mainly for self defense, it is the only
known non-firearms weapon capable of countering the so-called "king
of weapons", the tekpi (also known as sai in the martial arts world).
However, it is extremely rare for a Silat Cekak practitioner to be
endowed with a Parang Lading. 

The grandmaster showing the technique to unsheathe the Wali Jantan,
another official weapon of Silat Cekak. Different from Parang Lading
which is used for defense, the Wali Jantan is used primarily for
offense. Parang Lading is rare amongst Silat Cekak practitioners, and
the Wali Jantan is even rarer still.

Showing how Parang Lading is made by the mastersmith, Zul Golok.

Another view of making the Parang Lading.

Some of my Silat Cekak friends manning the booths.

Hashtags: #cekak #cekakpusakahanafi #cyborg #saibog #jomsilat #mysilat #mysilat2015 #pusakahanafi #silat #silatcekak #silatcekakpusakahanafi