Hill Tour

I've been busy for the last 3 months actually. Though not riding, I managed weekend warrior stuffs with family and friends from the neighbourhood. Not the extreme ones but rather some light exercise in the rhythm of my falling stamina as age crept in.

We trekked a lot actually, well actually four times at four different places to be precise. I kind of fond of the exercise since it fits the time table and the commitments just about nice. It can be done not so early in the morning so I can still perform Fajr solat at the surau. Though the trekking starts at 8.30 a.m. and ends almost noon, we still have the shades of tree canopies. Best of it all, everyone are free to bring along their family and kids.

The first one was Bukit Broga.  Of course the first one should be the shortest and the most doable for almost everyone. It was great to have kids around with their buddies, racing to the top. It builds stamina, strength, endurance and abundance of confidence for them. And the fathers can slowly walk behind creaking our backs as we watched them hurdling up like Barry Allen.

The sweat and glory became complete with a nice breakfast of lempeng and sambal tumis at Semenyih with the family of trekkers. You guys should try it. The lempeng I meant, after the hike it taste awesome.

With the adrenaline still lingering, we planned for the next trail. Bukit Apek or Bukit Segar as the place is named by its frequenters. So close to our place, we started a bit late to let the weekend crowd dispersed. Crowded trail is not awesome especially when humidity is high and the trail is inclining most of the initial time.

Bukit Apek was a revisit for some of us but that was few years back. The sudden rise of ground gave a very morphological result to our body, trying to catch our breath and at the same time synchronizing our climbing legs to the task. And, do not forget those young climbing legs whom races to the top, allowing fathers to yell out to them once in a while with our snoring voice. It was not pretty I tell you.

Then we scale up Bukit Gasing. I've been longing to be here but I don't have the slightest idea how does it feels to climb a hill in the center of PJ busy town. This majestic green only can admired every time I used the NPE.

OK this green is perfect for PJ folks and it's nearby population whom find it too far to travel to a more vast greenery like Hulu Langat. It got the proper built path, a small stream which at times hardly seen flowing under fallen trees and shrubs, and it has those short and bursting climbs ending at view towers.

The final leg of our hill tour is a long trek to Kem Lolo. After assessing our gathered stamina from previous so called 'training' which was merely reasons to whack nasi kandar post activity, we are confident to hurdle deeper into Hulu Langat Reserve for more adventure. And of course, we do brought our kids along to share the experience.

Broga Hill with younglings from Al-Ansar

Bukit Apek @ Bukit Segar, 5km from our homes

The subdued moment above PJ greenery

Overlooking PJ State, NPE & Klang Lama

Gateway to Mount Nuang, Hulu Langat

Dip-pool at Kem Lolo after an hour hike

Old abandoned local dam

Last kopek before heads home

Qurban al-Ansar 1435H

Alhamdulillah dipanjangkan umur dan dimurahkan rezeki oleh Allah swt untuk bertemu lagi Eid Adha 1435 Hijrah. Entah tahun ke berapa aku decide untuk beraya di Selangor aje instead of balik kampung, walaupun raya jatuh pada long weekend break. Announcement kenaikan harga minyak sebelum raya membuatkan semangat terbantut untuk pulang ke kampung.

Seperti biasa, jemaah kawasan kami tidak akan ketinggalan untuk merebut keberkatan dari ibadah qurban, 7 ekor semuanya. Aku kena lead lembu no. 3. Sedangkan aku bukan terer sangat pun hukum hakam ibadah qurban tapi dengan tanggungjawab yang dipikul, aku cuba sedaya upaya menjayakan amanah diberi. Just nak kena make sure ibadah qurban untuk lembu no. 3 ni berjalan lancar dengan tenaga kerja yang cukup, kemudahan tempat menyembelih, peralatan, tempat pembahagian daging dan pengagihan daging qurban mengikut syariat dan tidak lupa, kebajikan petugas-petugas. Level task macam project manager jugak lah ni.

Alhamdulillah solat raya di surau seperti biasa. Penuh tapi tak melimpah, maybe sebab ada yang pulang ke kampung. As usual teks khutbah tidak pernah tinggal dengan pesanan dan peringatan tentang tujuan hidup kita di dunia. Hopefully kita sentiasa dibuka pintu hati oleh Allah swt untuk menerima pesanan khotib.

Aktiviti kemuncak memang ibadah qurban. Kami takde nak tunggu or ikut protokol. Group mana yang dah sedia, dah cukup korum, lembu akan ditumbangkan dulu. Lembu group aku yang kedua ditumbangkan sebaik aje geng koboi dah cukup. Dah siap tumbang dan ikat kaki dan dah ready di lokasi, kami cuma panggil je specialist sembelih untuk menjalankan tugas. 

Tunggu sampai condition lembu dah betul-betul nyaman (lebih 4-5 minit), geng melapah pun memulakan tugas. Setiap tahun aku cuma menggunakan pisau blade besar beli kat kedai alatulis aje. Dah tentu tajam, nak pegang pun senang & lepas pakai boleh buang je blade tu. Kalau cukup dengan bantuan memegang kaki-kaki lembu, yang melapah kulit serta yang expert mengeluarkan isi kandungan dalaman, semua boleh settle tak lebih 20 minit (anggaran aku). Kali pertama aku terlibat dalam aktiviti qurban 2-3 tahun lepas, kami ambil masa lebih sikit sebab belum terer.

Stage ke-3 is memanggil tukang kapak. Tugas dia standby on-call (sebab kapak tak banyak). Sampai masa untuk membahagikan lembu tu ke lebih kurang 6 bahagian supaya senang dibawa ke kawasan pengagihan daging. 6 bahagian bermakna (4 kaki termasuk peha + 2 bahagian badan kiri kanan). Kepala satu je la. Memang kapak diperlukan untuk lebih mudah memisahkan bahagian-bahagian tersebut.

Stage ke-4, panggil pick-up untuk membawa bahagian-bahagian lembu no. 3 ni naik ke surau, untuk dipotong-potong daging dan pengagihan. Sampai di stesen pengagihan, plastik-plastik agihan dah stand-by ikut nombor lembu. Plastik untuk daging ke fakir miskin 15kg. Plastik untuk daging ke peserta qurban, 1 bahagian 2kg. Untuk masak 5kg. Yang selebihnya untuk agihan petugas dan jemaah, packing sekilo. Aku terpaksa delegate tugas ni kat member sorang lagi sementara...

...aku kena make sure kawasan sembelihan lembu no. 3 bersih dan lubang takungan darah siap dikambus semula demi kebersihan. So, aku pi balik ke tempat sembelihan & kambus & bersihkan apa yang patut. Then lari balik ke surau untuk join kerja pengagihan. 

Sampai di surau semula, Alhamdulillah cepat aje dah almost selesai menimbang dan membungkus mengikut timbangan agihan. Masing-masing cekap menjalankan tugas. Aku kena pastikan bahagian agihan sampai ke penerima yang sepatutnya. Tulang-tulang juga kami bungkus sekilo untuk pengagihan. Kepala & kaki, kami serahkan ke pihak Pengarah qurban untuk membuat apa yang sepatutnya.

Wakil dari fakir miskin pun sampai untuk collect bahagian mereka. Aku juga menyerahkan bahagian-bahagian qurban untuk para peserta lembu no. 3. Yang selebihnya, anggaran lebih kurang dalam 25kg yang dah dibungkus sekilo, dikumpulkan bersama-sama dengan daging lembu-lembu lain. Then pengarah buat announcement untuk pengagihan daging sorang sekilo & tulang sorang sekilo. Or satu rumah sekilo aje, untuk petugas dan jemaah.

Alhamdulillah majlis selesai by 12.30pm. Setiap tahun kami dipermudahkan oleh-Nya based on pengalaman merancang dan perlaksanaan. Bab penutup ialah aktiviti membasuh perkarangan surau. Wifey & anak aku dah pi beraya ke rumah parents dia dulu selepas stage sembelih tadi. So tinggal aku & my eldest son yang involve aktiviti qurban. Balik mandi, solat & baru aku ke rumah in-law untuk menyelamkan diri ke dalam lauk pauk raya yang disediakan. Kurang selera  sikit sebab maybe penat sangat. Sebelah petang bateri badan dah mula nak kong, so aku bergegas pulang semula ke BTHO untuk melabuhkan diri di atas sofa...zzzzz

Itu semua pengalaman aku involve aktiviti qurban di surau kami. Tempat lain maybe lebih kurang sama or maybe ada sedikit kelainan. Yang pasti, objektif kami sama iaitu menyahut seruan agama seperti dalam firman Allah swt:

Bismilllahir rahman nirrahim

Sesungguhnya Kami telah mengurniakan kepadamu (wahai Muhammad) kebaikan yang banyak (di dunia dan di akhirat). (1) Oleh itu, kerjakanlah sembahyang kerana Tuhanmu semata-mata dan sembelihlah korban (sebagai bersyukur). (2) Sesungguhnya orang yang bencikan engkau, Dialah yang terputus (dari mendapat sebarang perkara yang diingininya).(3) - surah al-Kauthar

Rare

Meanwhile, something that may have been an outdated news due to the training excitement, again. We have a new family member. A second attempt at having a cat in the house. Daughter's been asking about it, which I have no idea of where she had the idea from. I know cousins and friends have cats, but our previous attempt at Lego, a kitten adopted from Janda Baik, was not quite successful.

No. It's not that the cat died or what. We just send it back to Janda Baik after deciding that we were not ready with the additional responsibility.

It's all about responsibility. And someone have to carry it all. If they cumulatively decide to have a cat, then the drama of pointing fingers will occur when it comes to having the job done. For example is the cat waste management, cat food issues and of course the expenses. The expenses will come from the parents. The daily routines will create issues.

Cats is cuddly. I was made to know that males are the most cuddle-some. A friend told me so, and it's true. Those eyes will definitely make you 'cheroiii...'.

Our month long experience with Lego was nothing. We had to learn more. I had to firm out that cat facilities should be top notch before bringing in the cat. We were fortunate that the previous owner passed us the cat condo worth 500 bucks complete with cat bowl and all other accessories for FREE!

We had trouble with his name. Yes, it's a HE. Not a big issue actually but simply enjoyed calling numerous names. Mom called him Rare. It was supposed to be for another kitten that we planned to adopt a month before, but too bad it was involved in a road kill. Innalillah. Daughter preferred Snow, from his fluffy white fur. I would simply call out whatever names that cross my mind, that would normally be Lego or Rare.

My youngest would normally play with him, testing his flying trapeze skills. Daughter will make him the 'kitty hand-rug' while enjoying her novel. Mom will test his vocal skill ambitiously thinking that cat can also talk. My second will simply ignore him since he worries too much if the cat ain't got enough care & love. Me, on the other hand is the supervisor making sure everyone play their role, and that includes Rare himself.

So far, Rare has been a good cat. I like him except when he follows me around when I arrive home everyday. I know that he needs a good scratch from me at least a minute or two. 

Some say that he needs to be neutered. That would be some kind of a bit cruel for me...at the first thought of course. I started google-ing and learned that it's not against the religious if neutering can help avoid unfortunate things like hygienic issues and stuff like that.

OK, I introduce you to Rare, Snow or whatever his name is...

Photo by Yasmin

 

The highlight of the week was planned to being dirty playing mud and dirt with buddies for a ride into Kemensah. It has been ages since our visit and we kept on wondering for its existence. Plans were laid out towards the weekend, but not until Friday evening when Amir decided to ring the bell. He made a request for me to usher him for Sunday's school sports day. 

"Abang masuk 3 acara tau ayah." And I wouldn't want to miss these. I've missed some of his soccer matches but this is no exception. A few messages threw across the whatsapp board and we are good to go for Sunday.

Back in my mind was also to substitute my ride. I had no choice but to do it on Saturday which is a seldom thing. I need a mid-size ride after 2 weeks idling. And I was also contemplating to do one at the same time since Friday would normally be a hectic day till night and a Saturday ride would be creating more lactic acids equals suffering.

Browsing for a last minute group ride, BJCC would normally ride on Saturday and they planned for Kuala Klawang from Batu 18. Blessed. I chose to join them, but still before I hit the sack, I was still hesitant.

I had to do this. Left home and drove to Batu 18. That would be abnormal, but I had to be there in time for the roll-off at 7.30 a.m. It rained in the wee hours, resulting to a very cold morning in the small town Batu 18 and English climate up in Genting Peras. 

The torment started straight after the descending towards Titi, the 20km ride to Kuala Klawang and back (the breakfast session was of course OK), the ride back to Titi, the climb back up to Genting Peras and back to Batu 18. A combo of 10% pleasure and 90% torture. That was a wrap and I spent the rest of the day sleeping it over with very tight hamstring.

OK. The actual highlight was the sports day. Amir did 3 events! I tell you, this guy is a master in doing these kind of stuff. The ones that does not require 5 minutes or longer staring at books. The psycho-motto thing is superb for him and I don't have the slightest idea where he get it from. I don't do sports day or football friendlies in my hey days. Not until I was in the 20s. But Amir excels without even knowing his age boundary.

For the first time I came across hurdles at a primary school sports day. 80m hurdle for the first event and I saw him at the first lane. He was strong throughout but the last hurdle caught his stride and he toppled. Lucky it was on the field. I knew he was crying from the frustration and not from the fall, but when I saw his team mates comforted his way back to the team tent, I decided to let him grow and deal with the fall as an athlete.

I missed his winning 200 meter dash while I was away awhile but KakLong was there to cheer his victory. I bet that it was a priceless moment.

The grand finale was the 4 x 100 meter dash. Favourites. Amir was the second runner. When he received the baton, the Blue Team was second. But he managed to be first at the last 20 meter before passing the baton to the third runner. However, a small accident happened between the runners and the baton fell from the third runners grip. Then, they were second in position again. But they kept the strength and maintained the place till the end. Alhamdullillah.

I am proud of this fella. A 2 minutes pep talk earlier in the morning in the car was my only chance that he understands winning and losing is not about luck, but plain effort, prayers and Allah almighty's bless. 

"Losses are just another way of Allah's decision to give us something better. Winning is also Allah's way to tell us that we can only ask from Him and no other."

The 4x100 Blue Team feveret. Sorang lagi pi beli air sirap

Hat yang ni iklan...tapi champion in the making
cuma belum tau speciality

Bapaknya dapat naik 1 kali je podium tu :P

Naufal, our jiran missed his 2nd runner up long jump medal

Ramadhan-Syawal Escape

Sebulan la kot genap update blog. Takde aktiviti selain 'interval training' kem Ramadhan yang mana aku rasa KPI kali ni tak sebagus tahun lepas. Setakat attempt untuk maintain aje, nak score ada liat sikit. Mungkin faktor usia...boleh?

Tahun ni juga aku langsung tak campur aduk kan Ramadhan dengan sebarang aktiviti riadah, walaupun pada awalnya aku bercadang begitu. Adalah lebih rasional nya aku concentrate aje kat Ramadhan tu sendiri rather than aku terkejor dan berlari dan kayuh macam 11 bulan yang lain dalam setahun. Walaupun beberapa event ada dalam list untuk di 'sign' kan tapi masih sempat untuk aku prepare selepas Ramadhan. Lagi pun, macam biasa, tiada target pun. Bukan pro athlete atau ada penaja yang menaruh harapan setinggi langit. In fact, 'interval' Ramadhan yang memang sepatutnya aku fikir secara serious dan balun macam lepas sebulan tu ada event marathon. Betul tak?

Hidup ini hanya sekali. Semoga ada rezki untuk berjumpa Ramadhan Sale lagi tahun depan.

Gambar takbir tak dak. Ni selepas takbir dah balun lemang siap-siap...
...bersama jiran tetangga dari perantauan :P

Menjelang Syawal, travel plan tahun ni di adjust sikit. Kami solat di 'kampung halaman' kami sendiri, no other than Surau Al-Ansar, BTHO itself. Sejak dari raya eve, aku dan Amir dah follow program takbir. Sambung lagi pagi. Sempat jugak test suara tarik macam Hattan. Hahaha.

Sejak pemergian arwah ayah 3 tahun lepas, aku make sure pagi raya bersama mak. Tapi tahun ni, aku mintak izin mak untuk adjah. So pagi raya tahun di in-laws pulak. Lepas soru & isi tangki baru kami bergerak ke Selatan.

Suasana raya di Johor memang tak pernah gagal dengan kemeriahan. Berlanjutan sampai raya ke-5. Memang ziarah tak habis-habis. Alhamdullillah suasana gembira di kalangan saudara mara dipelihara. Aku pulang ke KL dengan rasa puas hati. Masuk kerja raya ke-7 pun takde malas-malas, itu pun sebab 'tray-in' backlog sebelum raya kena kasi settle. Sampai la ke hari ni, aku masih mencungap dengan tugasan mencari rezki halal.

Ni Geng Orang Kampung Junior Chapter mai beraya kat Diket's Joints :]

Cungap atas saddle jangan lupa. Ahad lepas jugak sebelum pergi perang dengan kambing open house, aku tunggang balik basikal. Nasib baik jumpa di bawah timbunan habuk. Tapi kaki dan jantung sungguh payah nak synchronize. In fact dua-dua main lagu sendiri-sendiri dan yang menanggung seksanya ialah conductor, aku ler tu. Konon ada cubaan nak test threshold kat last 2KM sebelum exit Lenggeng/Mantin tapi ternyata sekali irama dan lagu hanya mampu bertahan sejauh 200m. Adeh...pedih.

Balik lagi seksa. Penghargaan untuk Ziff dan Junior di atas perkhidmatan 'bike towing' all the way back to BTHO. Memang supa-domestica la syarikat anak beranak ni.

Setelah sebulan tak beriadah, bukan aje rider yang 'pancit'... hik hik uhuk..

Setelah beberapa hari dan ketika aku bermuhasobah sambil termenung lepas ride tu, nampak gaya aku dah patut start tukar objektif aku beriadah. Kita nantikan timbal balas selanjutnya dalam episod yang akan datang...entah bila.

Setahun sekali layan hat yang ni...

Burger Stadium

Free sikit weekend since tak berjimba menjalankan tugas chauffeur sepenuh masa. A few classes for the kids takde in Ramadhan. And the Sunday will be a great big hole without outdoor stuff. Will think of something later.

Sambung citer weekend selepas Hatyai pulak. Kena gak citer as a record and since it is one of those interesting stuff yang jarang aku buat. Balik kampung halaman menziarah bonda tercinta sebelum Ramadhan dan pi tengok Liga Perdana kat stadium. Tengok bola kat stadium paling rare & dah lama tak pekena.

Though I was a bit hesitant to accept my sister's invitation (she's a big fan of team Johor Darul Takzim ), I had to do it bukan sebab JDT tapi sebab I'm a big fan of my little soccer star. Amir nak sangat pi tengok football match kat stadium and get the live experience from the thousands.

It was the last match for JDT in The League and the opponent was another big team, the Red Giant. Selangor daaa. Apa lagi, bila giant dah bertemu giant, we hava giant crowd la. 

Beli la jugak jesi, so kena jadi model

The trip to the ticket stand that afternoon brought me back to 20 years ago in the 90s when the Southern Tigers was the favourite in both FA Cup and the League. My memory is a bit vague and I'm not a good football follower. I just go and watch and enjoy myself. My best guest is, I was still in my secondary school era when night visas was a bit flexible for a teh tarik session or a football match watch like this. 

OK. Cukup la nostalgic tuh. Dah tua-tua senang sangat nostalgik. OK, kerana Amir, ayah turutkan sebab Amir juga perlu rasa pengalaman macam mana ayah dulu jadi sakai stadium. Haha. 

Paling aku tak boleh imagine sebelum aku decide untuk pi, is the TWO hours waiting. Sister told me we had to leave for the stadium latest by 6.00 p.m. to get a good seating position. What?! And we need to do nothing for the next 2 hours 45 minutes until the match start? Adeh.

Sekitar stadium dah macam pasar Uptown, penuh dengan gerai souvenirs and food especially the all time favourite Burger Stadium with their motto 'sebelum game RM1.00, lepas game 5 kupang'. Tapi la ni dah naik ke RM2.

Kami agak kelewatan memasuki stadium. Stadium dah padat. Langsung takde ruang untuk kami. Cilok & menyelit punya usaha, dapat la jugak positioned ourselves sebelah scoreboard, at the top most row...standing with so little room to move. Even nak melonjak Yahoo! pun tak boleh.

20 tahun tak menjejak kaki di sini

Lucky la football fans ni always in hyper mode and creative, hence the 2 hours were spent with Mexican Waves and singing macam kat Wembley (old skool selalu refer Wembley je). Dinner burger and air kotak aje. Dah level survival la ni.

The match started and crowds were always with the usual cheers and complaints and suspense throughout the 1 hour 30 minutes. Penat. And I was standing almost the 4 hours campur waktu menunggu. Kalau ada waktu kecederaan, kompom aku pi mintak referee untuk keluar stadium. Lucky la Amir dapat seat, if not sure bonk ler aku nak dukung dia balik ke kereta.

Ada brader approach aku. "Bang, resit bang?"
oooo...ni rupanya guna resit tu

Game ended and I was eager to know whether Amir serik nak pi lagi or otherwise. As expected and the true blood of Diket will always seek and enjoy the adrenaline. "Lain kali ada game bola, Amir nak pergi lagi la". With hands on our shoulders we sang the JDT fan song.

Aku pun tak tau macam mana depa selamat seludup masuk flare daaa...

Dua and 3 Hills

The momentum just kicked in and I let myself play along. The rhythm is just nice with some family activities thrown in to make it merrier. Hence, the weekend is packed and solidified with awesome adventures and fun.

Approaching the OCBC Cyclethon for the kids, we didn’t prepare much. Only at the last minute, that particular Friday evening we were excited about it and ushered Amir and Umar for a spin around the block. With 3 laps and sprint intervals at each, in a fun way of course, we just hoped that it would be enough.

SK-2 Cross Country

Saturday morning was Amir’s school cross country run. His third year now and training was blatantly done during his soccer trainings at school and the evening soccer play with the neighborhood kids. We didn’t hope much but I reckoned that he has the legs for a placing. I was casually being there without raining him with pressure and just make sure he runs safely and smart. Deep inside, we understand that each of us had some expectation for success. Umar, as usual the biggest supporter when he requested to tag along.

As anticipated, it did turn out successfully though the waiting was a bit doubtful due to the time taken for Amir to arrive back at school and the number of kids finishing. He looked focused and strong charging towards the finishing line. He came back to me with satisfaction completing in third place! Alhamdullillah. We waited for the prize giving session and dashed back home for rest before the evening’s OCBC cyclethon.

Jr Toks

“Amir pakai strategi ayah bagitau. ‘Start slow & habis kuat’,” his quote over lunch and I respect him for holding to the advice. Kinda touching too.

OCBC Cycle Malaysia

Right after ibu came back home, we ventured into the Saturday afternoon traffic into KL town towards KLCC where OCBC cyclethon took place. Not quite a strategic venue though, since car parks and other logistic issues were the biggest challenge. Why didn’t they consider Putrajaya for such a lovely venue with beautiful landscapes and whole big roads for every cyclist?

Amir and Umars’ age category was scheduled to start at 3:15 p.m. However, upon arriving at the venue, we saw almost every kid had entered the holding bay and yet it was still an hour to go. They blew the horn early! Mere minutes after Amir and Umar got themselves in, the fun began with a bang! There were easily 50 little cyclists between 7-9 years old with all kinds bike. The atmosphere was so full of fun! Naufal, our neighbor and their best friend decided to tag along as supporter. And not forgetting KakLong thw whole life fan as well ;]

With the railings guiding them throughout the big circle in front of the Twin Tower, it was almost similar to a grand tour criterion stage, only a mini size one. The dashing and zooming of these little tots with big hearts was a great scene. We found our spot to cheer them along the course. Amir zoomed by with full concentration. He didn’t bother our shouts and cheers. Moments later Umar bobbing by on his undersized bike, upon hearing our cheers he found us and waved in excitement. So funny la this guy.

Konar baring or drift?!

Lead man

You're supposed to bite it, not suck it!

Yeay! Kami setuju esok kami tak akan kacau ayah ber-jimba!

Laps after laps, 4 altogether I counted, fatigue faces drooled in on everyone though some still have the courage to fight on. They completed the challenge and were guided towards the medal and drinks station. Such a very short adrenaline rushed for the kids as well as the spectators. Thumbs up guys!

3 Hills Backyard Ride

All the conundrums a day earlier was throttled at a manageable pace handling domestic tasks with tender loving. Sunday came totally for dad. The usual ‘kampung’ suspects planned for a smaller scale ala-Colmar ride. A short, localized non-travelling required and quick dash back home. We chose Bukit Sungai Tekali a.k.a. Bukit Hantu, Genting Peres and Bukit Ampang for the day’s menu, just nice for the climbing legs momentum workout.

Crowd was just nice. With 8 manageable buddies, we rolled off from the usual joint sharp at 7:30 a.m. Sunday traffic was light into Hulu Langat, only at the usual breakfast joints along the way. Quite a while since I went up Bukit Hantu, where the day’s first climb was managed at a slower pace reserving for latter.

The road was closed from traffic at the foot of the hill. Halfway up, we came upon a massive landslide that have taken away half of the pavement and the earth beneath it. Scary sight. The fall was too deep to survive which was almost the same magnitude that occurred to the road to Sungai Tekala.

Regrouping and down we went, heading towards Peres. Now the pace has throttled up and some decided to play catch. It was a fast climb and almost took most of my legs. We didn’t stay long since strong wind gushed through the Peres top chilling our sweaty form in seconds. The descending was fast too; basically everyone was synchronizing for the same thoughts for ‘roti canai’ at the usual Batu 18 stall.

After the ‘chase’ for ‘roti canai’, we had the bobbing idea about Bukit Ampang. 50-50.  Somebody rubbed salt to the wound some more when an idea came up to ditch the last climb. However, most of us were used to the pain from last week’s ride; hence we scaled Bukit Ampang under the knifelike sun. Though not as steep as Bukit Hantu, and not as long as Peres, the rising temperature adds up to the challenge. Legs almost jellied halfway up but it stood where it was supposed to be, on the pedal. Alhamdullillah.

Only four of us left to ride back to Batu 9 and BTHO. I had the privilege to draft one of the finest bikes and cyclists. I couldn’t recall who was doing the work up front but it was a good strong one, awesomely cruising at 30-ish km/hr. I just had my senses gone numbed and kept on revving ignoring the pain.

The ride back home was satisfaction concluded. We went for a group ride in a synchronized rhythm less the sentiment issue, enjoying the camaraderie in the same passion, or shall I say it was one awesome sentiment-free-ride! 

Segenggam Ilmu

Tatkala dunia sekeliling sibuk berlumba-lumba mengejar impian masing-masing, aku hanya akur dengan kehendak Illahi dalam menatang tanggungjawab yang telah diamanahkan olehNya. Satu tanggungjawab yang di dalamnya mengandungi proses pembelajaran untuk pengalaman baru yang secara dasarnya merupakan titik permulaan untuk cabaran-cabaran yang akan datang.

Lumrah dunia dan lumrah manusia, evolusi hidup perlu dilalui mahu atau tidak. Orang yang disayangi akan lebih membawa pengertian dalam perjalanan hidup kita, lantas mengorek setiap inci komitmen dalam diri ini demi untuk melihat kejayaan.

Sesungguhnya segala ketentuan yang hakiki adalah ketentuan Illahi, namun seperti yang diriwayatkan, kita adalah kita yang kita bentukkan. Kecintaan dari Yang Maha Esa merupakan titik perubahan sama ada ketentuan kita akan menerima anugerahNya atau tidak.

Jiwa kehambaan dan senantiasa redha dalam mencari ilmu Allah digalas dengan penuh cermat agar tidak sekali terlondeh dari pegangan. Tatkala bahu dan tangan terasa lemah, tatkala itu seruan Illahi menyeru kembali agar perjuangan diteruskan demi mencapai ketaqwaan sebenar. Begitulah yang dirasakan hubungan kasih sayang dari Pencipta Yang Maha Penyayang.

Hari-hari yang berlalu diambil sebagai pengajaran. Hari yang ditunggu-tunggu muncul tiba dengan penuh rasa sayu dalam kegembiraan dan kesyukuran. Genangan air mata berkaca seketika, memikirkan kebesaranNya dalam memberi nikmat dan balasan tatkala suasana hingar bingar di institusi. Segunung tahniah dan syabas dari hasil perjuangan yang tidak berbelah bagi.

Jazaakumullahu Khairan Kathira

Allahuakbar 

Genggam bara api biar sampai jadi arang

Dirt to Dirt

Aku rasakan gema takbir raya Aidil Fitri macam masih lagi segar di cuping telinga. Kini gema takbir raya Aidil Adha pula muncul, lantas sedikit sebanyak membawa aku mengelamun seketika pada suasana ibadah haji yang acap kali aku saksikan di kaca TV. Bila lah aku mampu nak melalui pengalaman ibadah Rukun Islam ke-4 tu ye? Niat dah ada, kemampuan sedang diusahakan. InsyaAllah.

Seperti tahun lepas, aku decide untuk just chillax di KL bersama-sama mengerjakan ibadah qurban di kampong tercinta BTHO dengan orang-orang kampong. Al-maklum, BTHO dah menjadi kampong ku & juga kampong anak-anak aku nanti. Jadi, sebagai menjalankan tanggungjawab ber-kampong /berjiran, jangan sekali-kali kita abaikannya. Lagi pun, apabila mendengar laporan trafik, aku cuma mampu menggeleng kepala.

Kemeriahan kami bermula sebaik sahaja selepas menunaikan fardhu Maghrib di surau. Ribut petir mengiringi bacaan takbir kami sehingga masuknya fardhu Isya’. Lepas tu kami berduyun-duyun bertakbir ke lapan buah rumah jirang-jirang yang lain sambil mengharung gerimis di malam raya (fuiyo! Dah bunyi macam lagu balada beb).

Kids paling enjoy. Yep, everything aku buat untuk kids. Zaman budak-budak aku dulu, kurang dapat peluang sebegini especially exposure ke dunia Islamic. Penerapan melalui parents dan hidup berjiran yang bersyariat aje lah salah satu channel kita mendidik anak-anak ke arah jalan yang benar! Benar Pak!

Habis takbir dah hampir 11.30 malam. Kids memang lepak & perut ayah dah semakin terbina. Ngeh ngeh ngeh. Lapan rumah beb. Rumah ke lapan dah ramai main cuit-cuit aje makanan yang dihidangkan.

Alhamdullillah setelah semalaman hujan, pagi raya menyinarkan hari yang sangat indah. Takbir raya bergema seawal selepas fardhu subuh. Hasil kepenatan semalam, aku hampir mendapat subuh gajah. Setiap kali lidah ini melafaz takbir, tahmid & tasbih setiap kali itu juga hati ini terusik dengan kebesaran yang Maha Esa.

Al-Ansorian in action

Ibadah qurban bermula 9.30 pagi. Alhamdullillah semua berjalan lancar. Sedangkan kami ada limited time untuk settle kan semua sebelum solat Jumaat. Berkat ukhwah orang kampong, semua kawtim.

Sabtu pagi aku sudah lambung Amir untuk kayuh. As usual memang dia tunggu aje pelawaan aku. Tambah lagi dia nak test kayuh baru & bib baru. Hehe. Layan kat Putrajaya aje. Park kat Taman Empangan & both us spinned our way towards Alamanda interchange & turned back.

Macam biasa kalau sekali sekala long distance (for his level la), akan aku terima beberapa complaints. Aku layan aje. On our way back to Taman Empangan dah nampak muka hampir bonk tapi aku this kid memang strong, cuma kena play around sikit dengan mental dia. So, bila aku nampak ada traktor trailing 500 meter belakang kami, aku challenge Amir not to give up and to stay ahead of the tractor seberapa lama yang boleh. He sure did. On the way balik, dalam kereta member dah lelap kena aircon. Hehe. Lepak ler tu.

The key event for the weekend was yesterday. Attempt kali ke-2 aku kembali menerjah trail mountainbike. Ni semua hasil lambungan kaum jugak. Sign aje. Since first attempt aku kat UPM MTB Fete awal bulan hari tu went well, aku sign untuk seksaan di Slim River MTB Jamboree pulak.

Kami car pool 4 orang seawal 6.00 pagi. First time sampai Slim River. Venue kat taman tasik. Ramai dah participants beratur kat starting line. As usual, with our casual mode we joined in at the tail of it.

Alwin & Azmar were men on a mission. Targeting to qualify for placing their category. Aku? Setakat nak kasi habis with minimal suffer. Al-maklum training pun casual mode.

Rolling start on-road for almost 5km. The 1000+ participants all strung out and aku tercungap-cungap untuk catch up putting myself as close as possible to the front, which is actually impossible la sebab aku tak nampak langsung yang depan sekali tu. Hahaha. Takpe, just trying be motivated. Antara tujuannya ialah untuk mengelak bottle neck once dah masuk trail.

99% from the overall trail was riding in a palm oil plantation road. It was totally undulating with ruts, cow dung, bukit ammah and steep fast descending sections for the whole 42km (eh? Dah macam marathon distance meh?) Punya lah aku tak power & jugak perhaps trail yang demanding super power quads and calves, aku kawtim dalam 3 jam setengah jugak lah. Champion kawtim sejam setengah. Which means the surplus 2 jam lagi tu was pure penyesalan :|

Alhamdullillah kaki tak meragam dengan cramp atau lemah kepala lutut. Endurance OK cuma strength aje aku kurang. Sebab malas training. Weather was also a bit on the killing side. Bukan aku nak salahkan cuaca tapi memang betul punya cabaran. Tatkala sinaran mentari tajam menikam setiap ruang kulit ini tanpa sedikit pun tiupan angin sepoi-sepoi bahasa di saat sedang meng-granny panjat bukit, setiap kali itu juga lah memori ngeri Sahara Jamboree mengimbas kembali. Meremang bulu tengkuk beb.

OK. 100% Slim River trail are rideable. Bila steep climb, aku engage grannies dan spin lenggang lenggok so as not to impose any stress to the legs. Bila part super sonic descending aku cuba layan full concentration with light taps on the brake levers so as not to introduce any unwanted crash nor endo.

Lantas untuk tempoh masa 3 jam lebih dok perangat saddle tu, minda aku mula membuat beberapa perhitungan statistic ringkas (sebenarnya nak bagi hilang bosan & penyesalan…keh keh keh).

1.   Kayuh cross country mountain bike is equivalent to kayuh interval on road bike. 3 jam lebih punya interval pace memang totally demanding.

2.   Kayuh off-road tiada ruang untuk lalai atau santai, hence memerlukan focus & perhatian throughout the whole thing. Unless terus dismount & chillax bawah pokok kelapa sawit :]

3.   Kayuh road boleh coasting or drafting, but not here. Your legs, your effort.

Setibanya di garisan penamat, aku menghela nafas lega yang amat. Jumpa kaums pun aku masih belum mampu untuk bersembang & hanya mampu duduk sejenak collecting my thoughts back yang dah spread out all over the trails tadi. Cuaca yang sangat panas menyebabkan aku hanya mampu dehydrate seberapa banyak yang boleh & mix dengan fruits yang penganjur sediakan.

Badan memang lenguh-lenguh from the ride beating. Kaki juga masih sengal sikit-sikit from the long hauling. Bila badan dah tuo, recover may take longer. I can live with that, sebab aku bukan extreme weekend warrior yang setiap minggu masuk event. Keh keh keh.

Tapi it was a good ride, especially when it is a birthday ride. Takde la teman ni beriya-iya sangat plan for it, cuma coincidence aku signed up for the event with the same date. Dah lama tak suffer, perhaps it could be the start of more sufferfest to come.

Aksi ketap bibir sebab tahan kejung
buah pinggang :P

Thumbs up to the organizer. With a small fee of RM50, it was a great event, cool goodies and awesome prizes. And how come other events like running and road bike races still want to cekik the fee too much and yet give sampah in the goodies with cheapskate prizes? Kena kaji tu.

Tripping - Langkawi D4

Day 4

It should be our last day. Ler…ada lagi rupanya. Tak reti nak balik rumah ke? Hahaha. Wait till I tell you towards the end. It’s going to be the final, I promise.

And we have almost the whole day to ourselves to just do whatever. Orang kampong kata “free and easy” la konon. Konon ye.

Since dah tidoq awal, we had enough rest then. So, kids bugging to go to the beach. Semalam tak dapat main kat beach sebab cuaca tak mengizinkan & dah lewat petang. Hari ni supposed depa kena kasi puas hati chillax.

Weather was still gloomy from yesterday and still wet. Overcast all over the horizon, so panorama nampak lebih mandom instead of terang benderang from the typical beach scenes. At least takde lah golap kulit ni haaaa berjemur ye tak.

Slowly the beach nestled in with crowds coming in every other minute. Joggers, swimmers, shutterbugs. And the resort management did their job well by having housekeeping personnel keeping the beach clean. Bagus lah kan? No wonder la beach nampak bersih.

After a while, I got tired of sitting, watching and waiting. Kids were having a great time, of course lah. Kids. Aku decide to walk the beach to other end which seems to be something worth discovering. The solitary moment I seek.

Mengatur langkah demi langkah, aku observe pelbagai jenis beach resort sepanjang perjalanan. From individual chalets to high class properties. Very high class ones, where they have their own outdoor bar by the beach, sure depa serve cocktail dengan payung kecik tu kan? Beach benches bersepah, typically catering for the mat sallehs la. Orang Melayu idak nya nak berjemur.

Nearby islands seemed so close and reachable if aku ni adventure sangat untuk pi redah. However, the walk was just another typical walk along the beach tanpa sebarang benda menarik yang aku boleh share. Sempat la jugak gatal tangan nak on kan endomondo just to check on the distance. 2KM aje.

We saw the skyline turned grey telling us that rain is approaching. From the point of standing, and due to the open horizon, we could see the phenomenon of rain eating up the land and sea, screening the power of monsoon. Apa lagi? Berterabur ler lari balik chalet.

We checked out at noon and decided to drive pusing island. Singgah kat tourist spot beras terbakar sat, beli towel mandi dari China yang mak aku pesan. 3 helai RM20 tu. Hahaha. Then to Pantai Pasir Hitam. Telaga Air Hangat (nice facilities but there's something wrong with the drainage system coz the hot spring didn't drain properly causing some sort of contamination look). Then dah sampai balik pekan Kuah. More or less covered 60km. No wonder la Ironman Langkawi kena pusing bike leg sampai 3 kali nak cari 180km. Hehe.

Model Paksaan Pantai PAsir Hitam

Our flight back to be at 10.00pm, hence still lots of time to bask around. Fikir punya fikir, suddenly wifey decided to give it a shot at the cable car ride. Ooooh! She missed the first ride sebab belum prepared. Hehe. Yes, we took the chance to take a friend’s advise that the sunset therapy from Gunung Mat Chincang was priceless. Tapi sebelum tu kami pi pekena laksa power kat jalan airport dulu. Memang lazat, bukan aje sebab rasanya, but the location tepi pantai tu dah cukup 'moment'.

'Moment' beb. Rasa macam nak bawak balik otak udang tu

6.30 p.m. dah sampai peak. The part where Umar dok pi usik ibu dia masa dalam cable car, kita skip la. Hehe. Tak ramai orang tapi semua have the same agenda. We just chilled, enjoying the cool mountain breeze and the gorgeous view. On the west side is the Telaga Harbour. The north view, range of padi fields surrounded by mountains. The east side, where it is still untouched, lay across green mountain range with solitary coastline. It was quiet, just the whispering wind brushes through our faces. The typical mountain 'moment'. Hurriedly brought me back through the timeline while atop Mount Tahan, Mt Kinabalu and a few others. The same 'moment'. I was touched. Touching la pulak. Tapi aku serious ni beb. Keindahan ciptaan Allah swt yang macam ni lah yang memang aku appreciate sangat setiap kali aku melangkah kaki mendaki gunung zaman dulu-dulu. It  bring me closer to the Creator. Subhanallah.

The South Platform.
Almost like city in the sky

Maghrib at 7.03pm. Thus the moment for sunset therapy came. Takde bersenjatakan camera canggih, so I have to be thankful with what I have. The light penetration was just pure and full of sincerity. Masa ni amik gambor dengan camera cikai pun memang kompom chun. With slight overcast covering the sun and the skyline, it was just a dramatic view.

East. Telaga Harbour

West. Sunset therapy

Magical

Tak payah tunggu lama-lama. Tak lama lagi dah nak gelap. Even when we reached the carpark pun dah golap. Time to check-in at the airport. Satisfied with our tripping days.

However, the thrill didn’t end soon. While we were queueing, ibu showed me some figures which doesn’t add up. Err…flight schedule ni sebenornya tunjuk pukul 10.00am or 10.00pm ye?

OMG! OMG! OMG!

Tak payah citer banyak. Memang dah sah ler ayah tersalah beli tiket & kita overlooked the flight time. Aiyak. Consultation dengan airline counter didn’t help much since the tickets dah kira hangus. While the next flight fare would be too cekik sebab dia ikut normal rate.

Staying another night for the next morning flight will just add up to more logistic issues and of course cost. So, we have to face abang Tony’s counter for the last resort. Sorry bang Tony, hang memang double ‘A’ la. Hahaha.

We purchased for the flight at 10.40pm. Kids are running out of juice but they stayed cool and rational. Tabik from ayah. It was cold too. Takpe atas plane ayah mintak pinjam selimut & Amir boleh tidur for an hour before kita sampai KL ye.

“Mintak maaf encik, selimut kena beli”.

“Mintak maaf encik, sila naik kan semula kerusi sebab kami dah nak sampai”.

“Kacang ada tak?” Jangan harap!

And we only enjoyed our so called nap for half an hour. And the captain took us another 15 minutes from that point of landing until la plane betul-betul parking, which was tersangat jauh. Senget buah pinggang aku dukung Umar sampai ke terminal building.

OK la. We deserve to be penalized for the carelessness. Takpe. Alhamdullillah. Overall the tripping went well, minus the minor glitches but it was an enjoyable experience.

Posing ala Ustadz Azhar Idrus :]