The Nearing Effect

2 weeks more before the big day. I have registered myself to partake in a cycling convoy on 15 February in conjunction with Federal Territory Day - a daunting 35km ride with currently about 1,600 participants. Never cycled that far in a single ride in my whole life. And using a bicycle with 16" sized wheels with like 55 GIs (gear inches) tops; well, that is a bit too daring.

The morning cycle at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa.

Anyway, just to maintain a certain level of stamina, I completed my latter half of the 20km that I normally cycle to office per week - by encircling the entire Taman Tasik Titiwangsa  (translated as Titiwangsa Lake Gardens) 4 times. It may not be enough, but I do not want to wear out my body too much either. Better a slow but constant gradual build of stamina which lasts, rather then spurts of frenzied exercises which quickly dies down as soon as it started.

The route taken, a mix of pedestrian and back roads to give roughly 2.6 km per loop.

Hashtags: #bicycle #bike #cyborg #cycling #foldablebike #foldie #foldingbicycle #foldingbike #kl #klumpur #kualalumpur #lakegardens #routes #saibog #tamantasik #tamantasiktitiwangsa #tasiktitiwangsa #titiwangsa #titiwangsalake #titiwangsalakegardens #xds #xdsfa20

Portable Igloo of Plastic

The Bodypac 4Men1D tent.

First time bought a family sized tent - a product from Bodypac, 4 person, single layered, free-standing dome. With just a 2kg trail weight, it is awfully light and a pleasure to carry. And for the family, it was adequately spacious. Can't wait to try it this weekend, when my family will have a nice picnic at a beach on one the islands in Sabah :)


Update 30 January 2015

After testing the tent in bright lit room, holes
between the seams were clearly visible. 

After testing the tent in a bright lit room, I found that the tent will ultimately leak since the seams were not hermetic. Now, a liquid sealant for tent seams would resolve the problem just fine, but it is extremely hard to get in this country and bound to be expensive. I opted for a cheaper solution using just plain duct tape. Hope it works :D

Seams sealed with the kiss of duct tape.

The tent's interior.

Looking outside from inside. 

The tent fully closed.

Ready for another adventure :)

Hashtags: #bodypac #camp #camping #cyborg  #saibog #tent #tent4p

Replaying The Famous Putrajaya Loop

Cycling early in the morning
 to avoid the scorching
midday sun.

A bright morning with clear skies. A speedy ride. Sliced the pavement with eldest 7 year old son who just experienced cycling with 2 wheels the week before (before this, his bike was attached with assisted side wheels). A loop which took me several hours some time back (covered in a previous post here), now took merely 1.5 hours to complete, and that with my underpowered 55 gear inches tops XDS FA-20 bicycle. Best of all, even after finishing the 10.5 km loop, I did not even break sweat and was not even the least tired. I guess my recent hikings and cycling to office had dramatically improved my stamina. Nice :)

Jambatan Seri Gemilang (translated as Seri Gemilang Bridge)
supporting the Persiaran Perdana road. In the background is
the Putrajaya Convention Centre.

View of some the bridges in Putrajaya.

Hashtags: #bicycle #bike #cyborg #cycling #foldablebike #foldie #foldingbicycle #foldingbike #putrajaya #saibog #xds #xdsfa20

2nd Hiking Attempt To Empangan Klang Gates (Klang Gates Dam)

Muddy trail.

An unfinished "business" it was (covered in a previous post here). I was still warm from the last attempt several days ago and eager to find the trail to the forbidden lake (the lake is situated in a restricted area since it is one of the main sources of water for the entire Klang valley, including the capital city of Kuala Lumpur). At 4:40pm, I started off again on the same trail with my eldest 7 year old son. Despite him wearing flipflops (selipar Jepun) again (don't ask why), our pace was much faster than before, and we managed to reach where we last stopped just 30 minutes into the journey, compared to the 1.5 hours in the last attempt. The trail after that point however, was not so favourable. In fact, it was awful.

The junction where we heard the growl.

Shaded from the sun, the trail was left damp and slippery. Muddy puddles were everywhere. Furthermore, the path lead downhill, a descent steep enough that it worried me whether we would have the energy to climb the trail on the return trip. We stumbled along the path for about half an hour until we came to a T junction. There were some signs of motorcycle tyre tracks which lead to the left, but then there were human footprints heading to the right. I was still considering my options, until I heard a deep growl which sent shivers down my spine. The low growl of a tiger.

The steep slippery climb back.
This is only about a quarter
of the way up.

My son was terrified, and so was I. There were no houses or settlements for miles around except in the south westerly direction where we came from. Only the deep jungle awaited us. So the probability of encountering such a wild beast was, well, I did not dare to even contemplate. We turned around and slowly retraced our steps back up the hill, and out of the jungle.

To calm our wits and disappointment of not being able to see the forbidden lake, we climbed another hill which was cleared of trees and undergrowth, overseeing our housing area. Then we made our way home via a different route which we saw from above. On the way down, we found another trail with signboards indicating the area was a protected reserved area. Maybe the path (and maybe a shorter one) to the lake? I will try that path one day. However, upon reaching home, my son told me what he saw in the jungle which was truly eerie and frightening.

The other hill which we climbed to calm our nerves.

The view of our housing area, from
the other hill that we climbed.

He told me that when we ascended the hill during our return trip in the jungle, he saw a shadowy form of an adult tiger with red eyes following us on our right hand side, in parallel, several meters away from our trail. After a while, the ghostly embodiment moved away from us, went further into the jungle and disappeared altogether from his sight.

My Adidas Kampung shoes after the hike.

I did not see the tiger since most of my attention was on my son climbing the slippery hill wearing his flipflops. However, from cross questioning him, it was obvious that it was no tiger that he saw, but perhaps one of the jin, spiritual ghostlike beings which usually dwell deep in the jungle and far from humans. Me being superstitious? Perhaps. Still, it is something to consider in my future hikings :P

Hashtags: #cyborg #empanganklanggates #gombak #ghost #hiking #hikingintherain #jin #klanggates #klanggatesdam #muddy #muddytrails #saibog #sgpusu #sungaipusu #trail

Hiking Attempt To Empangan Klang Gates (Klang Gates Dam)

My son's first hike, in the rain. 

I got MC (leave with medical certification) for 2 days. Several weeks of daily rain which resulted in the worst floods in the country, impeded nearly all of my outdoor recreational activities. Still, I did not wish to stay in bed for 2 days either. I had to get out from home, a way to flush the negativity out of my body. Self-cleansing as some people call it. So, armed with umbrellas and a parang (a type of Malay traditional machete) for defense against stray dogs, I set off with my 7 year old son, in search for the trail which leads to the forbidden lake behind a hill near my home, a total (departure+return) of 2.5 hour hike in the drizzling rain. And as his first hike, my son did pretty well for such a lengthy journey.

The end of our hike. With the trail
flooded, we could go no further.

We found the trail, even confirming our find as we asked a passerby on a moped with off-road wheels struggling on the slippery muddy trail. But we didn't reach the lake. Our last several hundred meters to the lake was hampered by a slightly flooded trail. Could be dangerous for my son who only wore flipflops (selipar Jepun), especially if there were snakes or tiger leeches whose bite are quite painful. Next time perhaps, we will reach the elusive lake, God willing.

View of my housing area from the trail, with
low hanging clouds. Told ya (in a previous
post here) that cycling to my house would
be an overall uphill battle.

Our shoes and makeshift dual purpose
umbrella hiking poles. 

Hashtags: #cyborg #empanganklanggates #gombak #hiking #hikingintherain #klanggates #klanggatesdam #muddy #muddytrails #saibog #sgpusu #sungaipusu #trail