Walling out the Mongols

Beijing is very hot in August.  Peter, our tour guide, brought us to visit a section of the Great of China called Mutianyu about 1.5 hours drive and about 70 m NE of Beijing.  This section of the Great Wall is said to be one of the best preserved and served as the northern barrier defending against the nomadic and warring lords from the North.  The alternative section to visit is called Bedaling, which is a lot closer to Beijing but can be very crowded during the tourist season.

Built on top of the mountains, the Great Wall in Mutianyu forms an impenetrable spine in an already difficult terrain to cross.  The whole scenery from the top is breath taking.  Mutianyu with its rugged mountains and deep valleys is covered by thick forest and lush green.  We took a chairlift to go up the Great Wall from the valley and descended using a wheeled-slide or known as toboggan down the mountain along a winding route.  Walking along the Great Wall from one watchtower to the next can be quite daunting especially if the elevations differ greatly.  It only made us to realize even more that the Great Wall is a real challenging masterpiece especially considering constructions in the past relies on manual and backbreaking labour. 

Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir & Batin

Two years have passed since my last entry.  I have now moved on to a new phase in my career. Those past two years have been very interesting. I felt very fortunate, privilege and truly humble for the opportunity given and entrusted. I gave my best and worked tiredly and hopefully it has led to something good for our beloved country.  And at the same time I want to convey my sincere thanks to all my colleagues and everyone that I have worked with in the last two years and helped me along the day. I pray and wish them all the success in their lives and career.  On the occasion of the Hari Raya, my family and me would like to wish everyone who celebrates Hari Raya Maaf Zahir & Batin.

Now I am taking a short break before I assume my new role.   

I Dare to Dream

Things have moved on for me. I never dream big. I am a realist and always rooted to my own sphere.

But one thing that I wanted to do is to run a marathon at least once in my life. It was 4 months ago on a cool Sunday morning that I wanted to be like Forrest Gump, on a whim for a run and simply decided not to stop. But I did reached my limit. From there I set my target to run a marathon by end year. First was to go for a half marathon - tickets were booked and training programme started.

By the third month of training I have run the half marathon distance twice. But the big test was to run in an official race. There I was with twenty thousands runners crowding at Marina Bay on Saturday.

Runners were released in several waves until the last wave flagged off at 8 in the evening. Running in such a big crowd was really intimidating. I was trying hard to stick to my rhythm, otherwise I won’t be able to finish. It was real torture. Not the best of my time. The Singaporeans were really fit.

Finally, crossing the finishing line nearly 3 hours later was a huge relief. My body was at conflict with my mind. It was the later that has more doubts. The full marathon end of the year now seems to be an impossible feat. Time will tell.

Colourful Arab Street

I have not been to this place for 30 years. Forgotten until last Saturday when my missus brought me there.

It was such a pleasant surprise to see how the place has changed and developed into a unique spot for locals and tourists to buy fabrics or to try out the traditional Malay or Mamak cooking.

Strolling around in the back alley, I found some colourful "shophouses" reminding me of colourful buildings in many Nordic cities.

Took the time to drop by at the mosque, seemed to be vibrant and full of activities.

As always the mosque is organizing iftar for the coming month of Ramadan. Every evening during that month some 500 people are served meal to break the fast. They are mainly made up of the low income and immigrant workers.

The iftar cost $3 per person which means every night would cost about $1500. Institutions or individuals can sponsor or part sponsor. They called it derma rahmat.

What is amazing is that the administration of the mosque is supported by SAP system, pretty impressive for a mosque to have that. But then MUIS or the Islamic organization in this country is well set-up in its operations.

Back to the Past

Back to the land of Oranje for a week for a couple of meetings.

This time I’m bidding farewell to my peers and colleagues whom I have worked with for the last 23 years. Most are now at senior positions and dotted around the world. Indeed it was sad.

We dropped by at our favourite restaurant in a northern town. The old man is still there, we were happy to see each other after nearly 2 years. As usual the mint tea and the shoarma were delicious.

Then followed by the usual stroll along the streets and canals in Amsterdam. The weather this year has been unusually cold for mid summer. But the long day light at least offset the outcast condition.

Last year, it was the the Icelandic volcanic eruption making huge disruption to travelling. This year the vegetable E. Coli scare threaten to have similar impact. But alas it quickly subsided and everyone back to eating salads like normal.

Bencana Buatan Manusia

An incredible picture that saddens the heart. The wars between Iran and Iraq happened more than a decade ago. During the wars and subsequent smaller war between Iraq and Kuwait, the skies were darkened during many days and months by the bombing and sabotage of many oil wells.

When one look at the sheer wastage and disregard of this God's gift to humankind, one would wonder what drives human being to do that. This is one clear example for all to see. But equally, there are other things although less dramatic, that we all waste a lot in our life.

In fact there are enough resources, water, food and space for all human being to live comfortably on this earth. But because of living standard disparity and incredible wastage all around, a lot of people on this earth are living poor. So lets not waste whatever is given to us and our country. And start working seriously for the future when we still have the resources.

Breaking the Mental Barrier

After months of training, with lots of perseverance and discipline, I finally reached my goal.... to eventually run a half marathon distance today. It has been hard, most of the time fighting the mental barrier, bits by bits building and maintaining the distance, and finally I managed to break my 18 km barrier to run the 21.1 km distance. The speed is still below 8 km/hr, nontheless to keep on running for more than two and a half hours is a real feat for me.

So the next target is to increase the pace and go for the ultimate goal - full marathon. Hopefully!!

I'm taking a week off from work this week - my first real break for 5 months. Took the opportunity to settle a lot of things, mostly to do with banks, bills and government matters that were well overdue to be settled.

When I went to downtown (Bandar) today, the place was awfully quiet. There was hardly a moving car as I was walking along the roads. And going to shops and other places was quite pleasant driving. There were hardly any traffic jam. It's the school holiday and many people are either on holiday overseas or just locked themselves at home or in the office.

Day 4: The End

30/5/2011

Distance 13.5 km, 5 hrs 50 mins, 2795 calories burnt, and level of difficulty: moderate but tiring

The last day of trekking. Sleeping in Camp 3 wasn’t without drama. The first thing we observed about the camp was the presence of sulphur powder laid around the edges of the camp. There was only one thing that came into our mind – it was probably to ward off snakes!

The other one was the presence of leeches on the floor which managed to crawl up into the camp from the loose wooden flooring. But worst of all was the story told by our two trekkers who stayed behind in the camp the night before that they heard children running and playing in the middle of the night!

The day break was a welcoming sight. The night seemed to be too long especially if the mind was restless to try getting a proper sleep.

Three of us made a dash to reach Camp 1 and later to base camp. That took nearly 6 hours. The sight of civilisation, the sound of mobile ring tones, the irisistable taste of 100-plus, all were indescribable after such a torturous journey. The leech attacks on this part of the trip were quite ferocious. A number of us got bitten and swamped with the crawling creatures at many unimaginable places. Alas the trekking was finally over.

We clocked a total of 51 km and nearly 26 hours of trekking over many undulating and challenging routes. We have done something that was almost impossible to imagine for city folks like us.

The awards were blistered legs, countless bitten marks, sore bump, torn pants, wet and soiled clothes, but compensated by elevated pride and a few kilos less weight.

We stayed at the newly built chalets, each costing RM220 per night. Next door sits the impressive restaurant and the reception centre. The hot shower and air-condition rooms were such a contrast to the places we slept for the last 3 nights.

Day 3: The Assault

29/5/2011

Distance 17 km, 8 hrs 50 mins, 5384 calories burnt, and level of difficulty: another day of torture.

The final 5 km to reach the summit, a 500 m elevation climb. The route was mainly through mossy forest, most of the time tip-toeing on large roots and overgrowths. In fact we were hardly stepping on proper earth as the whole place seemed to be made of piles of dead leaves and intricate network of roots and tree branches. Most of the time one would be looking at hollow ground below, at other times walking on the edge of steep cliffs saved by a small patch of earth and roots.

The final climb was littered with a number of rope climbs, a few instances of clinging to large roots and tired ropes for dear life. The upper body strength was tested to the maximum to be able to push further on the ascend.

We reached the summit after 3 hours. The celebration was quite long, much needed to please oneself after making such an incredible feat of conquering the in-famous Mount Mulu and perhaps our hardest climb ever in our life.

The descend to Camp 4 was equally challenging, a much shorter affair taking some 2 hours.

After a small meal, we proceeded to decend to Camp 3, our place of stay for the night. The rain however started an hour into the walk. Feeling cold, wet and tired, the whole place seemed foggy, dark and mysterious.

What was supposed to be an easy 7 km stroll became an arduous and lonely walk for me. It took me 3 hrs 50 mins to decend. With the whole place being muddy and slippery, the walk was a real torture. There seemed to be no end to the descend. I reached Camp 3 just as darkness set in, feeling totally drenched and tired. What a day to remember.

Day 2: Day of Torture

28/5/2011

Distance 14 km, 8.5 hrs, 5611 calories burnt, and level of difficulty: survival mode

Day 2 was warned as the toughest day. Andrew wasn’t joking, hearing the seriousness of his tone, I felt really nervous and silenced for a while. The first group of 5 set off at 7am leaving the rest and the supporting group behind.

The first hour was a gentle climb to an unmarked Camp 2. From there it was a 900 m climb that took a solid 3 hours to reach Camp 3 at 1270 m. We were a determined group, hardly stopping except for some intermittent short pauses to sip some water to quench the thirst.

The problem with the track was the lack of signboard showing distance or location. So it was like walking endlessly not knowing when the climb will end to reach our destination.

We reached Camp 3 after 4 hours. Totally drenched, we waited for another hour before Andrew turned up. The words from Andrew weren’t something that we expected. He was saying not only two in our group were struggling but all the porters were making very slow progress going up the 900 m climb.

After two hours at the camp, none of the porters managed to reach the camp yet. Andrew mentioned that it will take 5 to 6 hours to reach Camp 4 at 1800m. So five of us set off again at 1 pm. The first hour was again a steep climb before going onto an undulating plateau which seems to go on forever.

We reached Camp 4 after 4.5 hours at 5.30 pm. Although our sole leader was well ahead - reaching 50 minutes earlier! The place was quite cold and we were deperate for fresh clothing and food. Our fear was that the porters would totally abandon the climb to Camp 4. But after a long wait, it was such a joyful sight to see the first set of porters arriving at around 7.30 pm. The last one arrived at 9 pm.

Day 1: 72 Hours

27/5/2011

Distance: 6.5 km, 3 hrs 18 mins, 1878 calories burnt, level of difficulty: easy

We set off from the Mulu Park Base Camp at around 1 pm, marking the start of 72 hours without any contact with the outside world. Mobile phones became redundant in the mountainous jungle.

We stocked up as much bottled water we could possibly carry. Of course there were also a stockpile of energy bars and supplementary drinks in our rucksacks if required.

The start was an easy 1.5 km walk along a nicely built wooden footpath before setting off for a 5 km jungle walk. We passed through two small streams with water level almost knee high requiring the boots to be taken off.

Apart from the long walk along a muddy trail, the other real challenge was how to ward off from leech attacks. This small creature, a native of the steamy jungle, could propel itself towards a trekker. Once attached, it will start doing its business - sucking blood until it get bloated, sometimes without the person even realising it.

The best protection is to wear a pair of leech socks which provides another layer of protection especially for the vulnerable lower leg. Then add this by spraying with whatever anti leach or insect repellents one could find from the drug store. Anything that could help will make the mind a little bit less tense as we navigate the muddy and sometimes poorly marked path.

We reached Camp 1, standing at just 150 m in elevation, a simple hut by a river. A quick dip in the cold river water really freshen up the tired body after the long and strenuous walk.

The night in the jungle was quite dark and noisy. After a simple meal, it was time to take the night sleep. Suddenly the night was animated by lightning and a heavy downpour. The sound of the swelling and torrential river below made us realise that we were really in the wild and felt really vulnerable.

Back from the Wild

Just back from five days in the deep mountainous jungle of Borneo. At the back end of Bumi Bertuah sits the majestic Mulu Mountain range, dominating the skyline and standing there longing to be conquered.

There we were, a group of target-oriented corporate citizens, having a common passion for trekking and armed with Annapurna and Everest Base Camp experience, we set off for a 4-day trekking to conquer the highest summit of the mountain range – Mount Mulu. The offer to take on the Mount Mulu challenge was something that could not be refused.

Our logo – “Bring It On”.

Our group was made up of Hj Zainal, Leong, Hj Rosly, Al-Jeffery, Pg Khashiem, Hj Yakob, Iscramuon and yours truly.

We set off from Miri on the twin propeller plane for a short 30-minutes flight passing through the meandering Baram river, the land to the right almost completely savaged for the sake of palm plantations, whereas to the left still sits pristine jungle of the land known as Bumi Bertuah – Brunei Darussalam.

We landed on a small landing strip next to some protruding hills, on a flat land next to Melinau River that forms the boundary with the mountainous South. As we landed, we felt belittled by the Mulu Limestone Mountains that dominate the place.

There are a couple of prominent peaks that could be seen at a distance. Mulu summit is about 25.5 km from the Mulu Park HQ. It will take 3 days to reach that summit. The base camp is only 20 m in elevation and the summit stands at 2376 m. In fact in terms of actual climb this is higher than climbing Mount Kinabalu.

But the real challenge for the Mulu climb is that most of trekking have to be done in the most humid of condition which makes it really hard and tiring. The track is also seldom tried, a testimony of its reputation of one of the hardest mountain to climb.

We were expecting the worst, armed with some stories from previous trekkers. Our check list was extraordinarily detailed, but to limit 8 kg of stuff for each person for our porters to carry is difficult to achieve without sacrificing some basic needs of our modern living. On top of that it is needed (actually critical for survival) that each one had to carry 3 litres of water each day to overcome the steaming condition and the fast dehydration of the body.

We got the service of a very experienced guide by the name of Andrew, a native of the Bakalalan of Limbang, helped by another guide and a troop of 6 porters. Between them they have to carry our luggage, food and other basic amenities for the 4-day trek. Indeed it was quite a large group, 16 in total but the next few days would see that each person would be on his own to try to make the climb, even the experienced porters would face a real ordeal completing the journey.

Holed in an Island

It's another trip to Singapore again, this time staying at the newly renovated Shangri-La Rasa resort in Sentosa. I have never been here but was quite impressed with the setting and the unique view. The sea is just littered with possibly hundreds of ships of different sizes, a good sign of how strong and vibrant the country's economy is.

Sentosa itself is apparently a lot cooler than the city centre because of the constant sea breeze.

Staying at the resort is all work and no play though. In one of the evening, had the chance to hear an incredible talk from one of the key government figure, Ambassador Ong who is the Ambassador-At-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He shared the story on the challenging journey that the island state went through to be be successful and truly well developed and having a vibrant and mature economy as it is now. In particular, the main formula was the constant re-inventing of herself in almost all sectors of the economy over the last 40 years. This is even more incredible as the country has no natural resources, dwarfed and constantly competing with and under threat by the larger neighbours.

Shahbandaring

I came to know this new word from the local radio - Shahbandaring - I guess it means the act of going to Bukit Shahbandar for a bit of walk and exercising.

Indeed I can be counted as a regular Shahbandaring person .

For the regulars, one of the most annoying part of the park is the large troop of monkeys scavenging the dustbins and sittings on cars. Although they are not aggressive but can be quite menacing when in a group and dangerous for children.

There is now some development going on in Bukit Shahbandar to spruce up the place and provide more decent facilities for the general public. A new toilet block is in the making which will be a most welcomed addition to the park.

The backtracks however need a bit of attention. The small bridge across one of the stream is nearly collapsing. It has been like this for the last three months. With the current prolong wet condition in Bumi Bertuah, some of the trails are fast deteriorating due to erosion and are becoming slippery. Hopefully the park wardens have plan to rectify the problem.

Cricket and Life of Luxury

It's the cricket fever. Amidst the high tech and ultra modern buildings that make the city, the formidable forces that sweat and labour behind the contructions always remain anoynymous and hidden.

But tonight outside one of the sport shop at the Marina Bay Shopping Complex, we saw this amazing concentration of people from the sub-continent seated in an orderly and discipline manner watching the match between India and Pakistan. What a sight.

The Marina Bay Sands shopping complex is huge. Known as The Shoppes, it boosted a high-end and luxury shopping destination, filled with renowned luxury brands and designer labels shops.

But amidst all these, it is pleasing is to find a big food court within the complex and best of all it also has a couple of halal stalls. We learnt that the whole Marina Bay Sands complex employs something like 10,000 directly.

Green Revolution

Here in the heart of the concrete jungle, I was walking on a swath of greenery on top of a building. The building is part of building complex that forms Singapore's newest public hospital, the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. The rooftop gardens have been built to reduce heat and the impact of carbon dioxide. The hospital recently received a prestigious award for the way it was designed and built - green and energy-efficient. Patients at the hospital can be assured of a comfortable, soothing and healing environment through the enhanced daylight design, good natural ventilation and cooler interior environment.

On the Edge

On this trip to the land of no natural resources but plenty of smart people and innovative ideas, I am staying at their latest attraction - the landmark Marina Bay Sands Hotel which has nearly 2,600 rooms!

I always envy those who have been here before and having first hand experience of being up there on the 57th floor. This is where the SkyPark and the amazing swimming pool are located, offering the most breathtaking views of the city of Singapore. What is even more incredible is that this part of Marina Bay development was an empty piece of reclaimed land just three years ago.

For the next few days, I'll be passing by the Casino next door on my way to place of work at the Convention Centre. That Casino is just amazing, full of overtly rich people, having the most stupefying moment of their lives in parting away with their hard-earned money.

Indeed there are rows of ATM machines lining up outside the casino to feed the frenzy minds and the only winner is the Casino. Last year, the Casino generated 1.7% increase GDP for the country in the 9 months it operated!