Swordie Bloggie

I’m feeling very lazy right now… But i need to update my blog… It’s almost 4 weeks i did not post anything… The reason being i’m not only lazy but too busy and tired.

OK, roughly about 3 weeks after returning from Mount Kinabalu, to be exact 28 October 2011, I went there again from 21-23 November 2011… Yeah I know it’s crazy… Everyone were saying that.

This time we took the Timpohon route which is shorter and less challenging compared to the Mensilau route. In the last expidition, it took me almost 12 hours to reach Laban Rata, but this time I reach there in 7 hours… Yeah I know it’s still lame coz other only took around 4 hours… :p

And this time I did not carry any backpack at all while climbing… Not even the small backpack I carry during last expedition… I let the porter to carry both my backpacks… Yeah I know this is double lame…:p Actually I did tryvto carry my small backpack like before, but I feels I’m too exhausted carrying it… So after carrying it for about 200m, I passed it to the porter… :p

After returning on 23rd November, I still feel ok… Not much pain on the legs… The next day I went to work… But on friday, my legs getting painfull and my left arm was hurting… Actually I slip and slam my butt when I was goung down with the rope after the checkpoint near the summit… I did not realize my left butt side was briused till last night coz I thought it was just ‘pain’…

I think my body is mutating too… Probably coz of the altitude and wheather up there… For sure I lost weight I guess… I think I’m about 90kg now compared to 95kg a year ago… I know that’s too lame… I should use the austin quick weight loss if I wan to lose more weight, but I thing I’m ok with this for now… Anyways, i should stop here for now…

I wanted to write about my Canon Photomarathon trip and Mount Kinabalu expedition, but not now… there are many things I have to settle in the office… and furthermore, I’m going back to Mount Kinabalu next week… 😛

Yea, I’m busy with not only office craps but also for our next Mount Kinabalu expedition preparations and training… there will be 12 people in the expedition…

Although I just came back from Mount Kinabalu about 3 weeks ago, I still worried about my fitness… in the last expedition through Mensilau troute, I walked for almost 12 hours… I almost did not made it to the middle of the mountain. And I did not go to the summit the next day… two reasons, I don’t want to waste more of my energy after walking 12 hours the previous day… second, I know I’m coming back soon… 😀

So I tried training again after we came down from Mount Kinabalu by climbing Bukit Padang… but man… I feel more heavy than before… so to make sure I have enough energy to train and for the next trip… I decided to use GNC Live Well energy products…

So during lunch hour today, I went to GNC Live Well outlet at City Mall… Before, I thought GNC is the type of products for slimming or weight loss thingy… you know those chain retailer promoting their best weight loss pill all over in every mall around town… But that is so wrong, thanks to my friend who explained to me during our last expedition. OK, back to GNC’s City Mall… I bought some energy stuffs… three types all together… and to get some discount, I join as a member… as a GOLD member for RM30… 😀 I tried the Strawberry Banana before I went to gym just now… and it is true… it really energized me… I can do reps after reps without getting tired… I did feel a bit tired, but after resting like a minute, I feel I still can push more… I just hope I don’t get addicted to this stuffs… 😛

Manage to hike Bukit Padang today evening… missed my hiking yesterday coz I have to do my own Paramedic Jobs after almost completely knock out by gastric yesterday morning… I really not sure if it was gastric coz I don’t think I have gastric problem…

The food I took yesterday to recover… chicken rice, porridge and tea.

I’m trying to figure out what lead to my migraine or gastric yesterday… so, the day before, I ate fried rice with some sausages before I went to hike Bukit Padang in the morning. It was windy, I not dare to go to the top… so I turn back. In fact, I was so exhausted at that time… I thought I will be fitter after returning from Mount Kinabalu… but probably the fatigue is still eating me up… Then I skip my lunch… I only ate a bar of sneakers and two can of Milo… dinner, I did not eat much… so I guess, lacking of energized food was the reason I got knock down the next morning… but lucky I recovered although there is still slight pain on the left side of my head every time I cough… hope it will completely gone by tomorrow morning… coz I’m going to have meeting whole day tomorrow which I really hate… if meeting every day, when can I do my real work?…

Sunset at the top of Bukit Padang today.

Anyways, today hike was great… I was quite energized… and I met Gusip training there too who is also going for the Malaysia Guinness Book of Record in two weeks time at the peak of Mount Kinabalu… hopefully it will be a success.  And I also met a Datuk there… he look so active and fit… we chatted a while and when I told him that I just came back from Mount Kinabalu and I’m not fit coz I took almost 12 hours to reach Laban Rata through Mensilau route, he laugh… he said he did it 4 hours only and carried his own backpack… without porter… I was like ARRGGGGHHHH…

Wow… almost a month I did not post update on this blog… 😛 I guess, this posting is gonna be a sum up of what happen in that 4 weeks or so…
From 14th to 16th October, with two friends, we joined the Canon Photomarathon 2011 in Kuala Lumpur. This is our first photomarathon… was planning for the last year photomarathon in Penang but did not make it. The photomarathon was awesome… we went there for experience… and yes we did have hell of experience… and of course hoping to win some prizes… And we are planning to join one or two or more of the 4 countries photomarathon next year… Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

After came back from photomarathon, our branch office turning headless… 17th October was the duties handing over coz our head is going to head a new section… so more duties for me… 😛

Then more duty craps came… on 20th till 22nd October, have to attend office workshop at Beringgis Beach Resort… and I have to present my 2011-2015 plan… which I put it so simple and short… only 3 plan for five years… 😛 Anyways, I did enjoy myself while at the resort…

Then came the ultimate energy buster… the Mount Kinabalu expedition by our office from 26th to 28th October. And I’m very thankful that I did train a few months by climbing the Bukit Padang during weekend… and also the exhausting one day photomarathon… This was my 3rd climb to Mount Kinabalu… the first time, I manage to reach the peak… the second time, I only manage to reach the Gunting Lagadan… the middle part of the mountain coz I encounter muscles cramp at four places… both my thigh and both my calf… But this time is different… we used the new and longer route… the old route is called Timpohon… this new route is called Mensilau route… and it is longer by 2KM… according to those who use this route before, it is easier… but man… they are so wrong… it took me almost 12 hours to reach Laban Rata… 😛 We started around 8.30am… and I reach Laban Rata around 8.20PM!!!… man… I run out all my energy… but will talk about it next time…

Then after came back from Mount Kinabalu… legs are all hurt for the next two days… and more crappy works in office… was attending meeting almost everyday… I really hate management works… 😛 And there are few wedding invitations… but can’t see all the engagement rings coz some of the date and time are clashed… have to say sorry to some… 😛

And today, when I woke up around 9.30am… my left eye was hurting so much… the pain is linked from my left eyeball to the top of my left head… there seem like a wire or hose… it hurts like hell… and it’s still hurting… especially when I cough. By 10.30am, I went down to take my breakfast… but everything seem not all right… my stomach started feeling uncomfortable… and I started getting nausea… in fact I vomited twice… but not much… then I just knock down my self at the couch after taking 2 active fast panadol… which I brought to Mount Kinabalu and I never use it… around 2pm, I woke up and took some food… And becoz of this pain, I did not go train at Bukit Padang for my next Mount Kinabalu climb in 2 weeks time… hope it will be a success…

I have lots to blog but time is not really on my side… wanted to write about my preparation for Mount Kinabalu climb end of this month… well I do have some times to spare… but every time I’m in front of my notebook, I will start playing games on Facebook… or surfing at news portals… 😛 I’m just too tired and lazy… I can’t concentrate writing…

I have been training by climbing the small hills at Bukit Padang… about 200m high… with my friends and colleagues… during weekend, I can climb 2 times now… but during weekdays, most of the time I only manage to make to half way coz not enough time. I have to rush from office at 5pm… go home, change, then rush back to Bukit Padang. By the time I reach there, it will be about 6pm… and I will reach halfway of the hill around 6.20pm… and it will be quite dark already… 😛

This week I wanted to carry a backpack while climbing so that I can get use to the heavy loads during the actual climb at the end of this month… but I feel awkward carrying backpack at Bukit Padang at the moment… so the only thing I can carry with me are my watch, handphone and a small bottle of water… luckily I’m not the type wearing jewelry… 😛 the only jewelry I have is my watch… and I miss my old titanium jewelry… my titanium Casio G-SHOCK MRG-1 Metal G… now I have the Casio PRO TREK PRG-500-1 which is not made of titanium… I like titatium G-SHOCK, but I guess since I’m into outdoor adventure now, I have to forget them and go for PROTREK… 😛

Anyways, that’s all about my preparation for now… there are lots more to talk about… 😛

After the exciting 6 hours journey on 24th August at Kalabakan road, we decided not to return with that road to Kota Kinabalu… furthermore the weather was cloudy and raining. We returned on 26th August through the common old road which is much longer… I think about 600KM or so and more hilly paths where it will pass Mount Kinabalu.

We reach Tawau around 4pm on 24th, and booked into Heritage Hotel. And this is the first time I have to change room. Before we went out around 6pm for dinner and ‘work’, I checked the windows to make sure it is locked, and it was not… and I can’t lock it. The latch is locked but not hooked… 😛 I decided to report it later when I come back coz need to rush for dinner… ‘buka puasa’ actually since my two colleagues are fasting for the Ramadan. But we were only back to the hotel around 10pm something… coz after dinner we actually went to install and configure the server and troubleshoot the network that night at our branch office so that we will not be rushing the next day… after all we are still excited with the journey I guess… and it is ‘puasa’ month, easier to work at night.

I called the room service and reported the window problem, and they sent two maintenance guys. They tried and said, they can’t unlock it coz they don’t have the key and the person in charge of the key has gone home for the day. The other guy assure me nothing will happen… it’s safe he said. I scolded him… I asked him what happen if someone kill me tonight?… the other guy was more professional and said, they will find a solution, they need to talk to the manager or something and they left. A few minutes later, the reception called and inform they can’t unlock the window, and the only way is for me to change room… 😛 So change room from 312 to 212 😛 . . . Continue Reading »

I need to find something about sports science or something… … eBooks on sports science… online courses for sports science… I need anything as long it is about building stamina…

I’m trying to build my stamina and endurance for climbing mountain this October and November… I don’t want to miss this two outdoor adventure… Right now, I do feel I’m progressing with my weekend hiking training… and the other day, I found a video on how to breath properly… it said, must breath using your stomach so that more air can enter the lung and more oxygen can enter into your blood… 😛 I tried it and it seems to be true… getting tired less… but the only problem is, it is hard to tell your brain to breath using your stomach… while hiking, I get confused whether to use my chest or tummy to breath… 😛

And getting cramp in the middle of nowhere is very scary… the last time I climb Mount Kinabalu, I got cramps on four places at the same time… on both my calves and on both my thighs. You can’t turn back coz no one is going back yet… the only way is to continue forward… and virtually I was crawling…  😛 Maybe this time I get an online degree programs in physical therapy to prepare myself… 😆 I don’t want to experience it again… 😛

Anyways, if you are looking for college, you can use this link http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ to National Center for Education Statistics to narrow your search… it’s quite details… 😀

This year, I’m planning to climb Mount Kinabalu twice… well, I don’t know if I’m fit enough to do it… the first one will be with our department’s sports club in October… and the second one will be with a group of friends in November… October climb is more then 50% confirmed. As for the November climb, it still depends on everyone’s commitment and fitness. Mount Kinabalu is 4,095 metres or 13,435 feet high. The trail to summit is about 7+ kilometres. It’s a long climbing trail.

Currently I’m trying to build my fitness… especially my endurance… I sit, eat and sleep too much… I’ve tried climbing the small hill at Bukit Padang… which is only like 150 metres high with trail about 900 metres… it was quite hard… :p And I’ve downloaded a training software called runtastic for my Samsung Android phone which can track the distance, altitude, speed and some other stuffs. To protect my phone from being knocked, sweat or rain, I bought the H2O Audio Amphibx Fit Waterproof Armband and the H2O Audio Surge 2G Waterproof Sport Headphones. I bought them online from H2O Audio… it’s quite expensive coz they are waterproof… but the courier charge made it super expensive… 😛 But lucky I manage to get a 15% discount coupon for the items.

Usually when I buy stuff online, I will Google for coupon code first before I checkout. You can easily find coupons codes shared on the net… you just have to search for it. For instance, if you shop a lot from KMart online store, you can easily saves coz there are loads of kmart coupons on the net. When I Google for H2O Audio coupon, I found one which gives 5% discount. But when I register for the H2o Audio newsletter, they email me the subscription confirmation together with a 15% coupon code 😀

Last year, was planning to climb Mount Kinabalu… It supposed to be a unique climb on 10.10.10 but it did not materialize. This year, there is still a chance to make a unique climb on 11.11.11 😀

The fist time I climb Mount Kinabalu was in 1990 and the second time was in 1994. On the first attempt, I manage to reach the summit. But on the second climb, I experienced major muscle cramps on both legs… calf and thigh muscles… having cramps on 4 places on your legs is horrible… virtually I was crawling to Panar Laban… the overnight stop over in the middle of the 4,095 metres or 13,435 feet high mount.

Anyways, this year there are two opportunities to climb… organize by the office. But it is not on 11.11.11 but somewhere in July and September. And I don’t think I can get myself ready for the July climb… maybe the September is possible.

To climb mount, a lot of fitness preparations are required… especially to those who are not active… like me… 😛 And must buy light and thick clothing… the thick or winter clothing must be waterproof too coz the temperature during the summit climb at 3 am is very low and wet… but no worries, these stuff are easily available nowadays from the outdoor or camping store.

If I really want to go for the September climb, then I must get myself fit from now… 😛

Last Sunday, 13 February, four of us… Disney, Malcolm, Stevenson and Me went to Tuaran & Kota Belud. We have been planning for this trip since last month and we supposed to go on 6 February but unfortunately everyone has plan on that day. We also having difficulty choosing a suitable date for this trip coz of the wet season… we need to have clear sky to take the Mount Kinabalu photo… yea, that was our mission, to take the Mount Kinabalu photos.

The rainy season for almost 3 months already made it uncertain for us to go… unless we all have waterproof cameras then we don’t have to worry about the heavy rain… but still, the mountain will not be visible or clear when it rain and when clouds surround the mountain. But luck was with us on last Sunday… although it was raining the whole day on Saturday, I was surprised to see the sky so clear on Saturday night… I can see thousands of stars on the sky… no clouds… wow… 😀

I woke up around 4.15am and immediately went to prepare for breakfast… all I have to do was make a cup of tea and put the hams and sausages into to microwave oven… I have fried the hams and sausages the night before… I packed the rest of the sausages to bring along for the trip. Disney picked me up around 5.15am and met the rest at KK. We stopped at Mc Donald, Jalan Sulaman to pack breakfast coz the others have not take their heavy breakfast… I bought a cup of tea which I did not drink… but I drank it on our way home around 1.30pm.

The trip was wonderful… the sky was a bit cloudy but it was actually very hot and I received sunburned on my neck. And it was for me to test my new Canon 7D which I just received on Friday after waiting for it for almost a week 😀 That camera is damm good… my old Canon 400D and 40D looks like dinosaur… 😆 All together we stop like five times at five different places to capture the mountain… the sunrise and the clouds surrounding the mountain is very challenging.

Along the trip, we stop at one hanging bridge and saw a family bathing and washing their cloths at the river… we took the opportunity to capture their life. It was great… I feel like going back there next time and do different way to capture their life… Then we stop at Kota Belud Tamu… this is my first time here… and it also a wow… then we had our lunch at the Kota Belud Pasar Tani… the food is damm bloody tasty… and I even got a shocked when we paid for the food… for four of us, the food is just RM16… that RM4 each… In KK it will cost us more than RM25… :O

Then on the way back, we saw funny stuffs too… like excavator bathing itself… I was frozen when I saw it… can’t even lift the camera and snap the moment… then saw an almost accident… a Viva suddenly did an acrobatic in front of us by doing 90 degree and luckily manage to recover while overtaking on a bend… on a bridge… 😛 Then lastly we saw a lion dance show at Mengatal Town…