TREKKING UP THE ROCKY MOUNT - Part ONE

Bukit Tabur (Taman Melawati) - one of the few hills left for us, the urbanites to value its beauty and serenity. With the massive development taking place and hill cutting by those greedy developers in the name of Development, the natural beauty will be gone before our eyes. Let us all enjoy what we have today and do our very best to preserve it from destruction.

And so, on Sunday morning (22/3/2009) Albert and Mandy picked me up at 6.35am and headed towards Giant, Taman Melawati to meet up with the rest of the group. By 7.00am, we headed towards Bukit Tabur which is 10 minutes away. Started trekking up at 7.15am.

(Photo taken with my Sony Ericsson G502 phone camera)

At the start of the trail - all the way up,up and up. Awwww . . . not sure if I can survive this . . . . . . . .

And just less than 20 minutes everyone was shooting and clicking away with their camera

Yes, there was a human traffic jam on top of the hill . . . . and what's so interesting?

This is what everyone wanted . . . . . . . .
Isn't this beautiful . . . .

Our first stop after almost 40 minutes. Yes, carbo loading because after this you need to have lots of strength to push yourself up! And young lady, stop laughing. Albert was explaining the goodness of eating banana.... hehehehehee

Look, even Eddy our mountain guide and big brother agreed with him
Eddy and Soon were discussing something really serious - how to handle this group of 'naive and innocent but seems to somehow know everything' bunch of trekkers! Look like Soon (in orange singlet) is telling Eddy, ' hey brother, I think we better charge them RM100 each before we start the journey. Its a tough road ahead.'
Now, you see what I mean! They are expecting me to carry them up there.

Yeah, you can laugh lah while I'm still suffering down there

That's Yee Mey, the fairest among all . . . Oh, no! How can I make it to the top? Soon! Where are you?

Heheheeeee . . . . Since you don't want to pay the RM100, you find your way up! Look, I am up here and all of you still down there. You want me to throw the rope, pay me first . . .hehehehe . . .see who is laughing now

Yes, PEACE to the World. Thats the universal language.

As we thought we were at the top, we were told to descent on the other side of that big rock again? Both our tour guides are really torturing us to the maximum. Up, down, Up again the Down . . .

And Albert, our camera man can still put up a BIGGG smile. He may be an accomplice too

Finally, we managed to have a real group photo before making our way down

Left to right: Woei Leong, Soon, Mei Khau (MK), Yee Mey, Soon Hoong, Albert, Eddy, Mandy, Miss Liew and Albert

Just before we made our way down, I managed to capture another group coming up right behind us on the other side. See that white patch in the middle ? Yes, they are a huge group of trekkers making their way up. We were there earlier on. Wow!

We were just a couple of months away from the durian season. This is how the king of fruits look like before it turn into that spiky look

Finally, after 3.5hours, we made it back to the foothill.

We are truly grateful to have Eddy on this trip. He has been really helpful and patiently guiding us all the way up to the top. Without him, we might not have such a smooth and enjoyable journey. And a big TQ to Soon who has been unselfishly lending a helping hand in assisting us crossing the most difficult path.

Eddy and Soon - 3 cheers for you. Looking forward to another trekking with both of you in the near future.

More photos in action in the next posting.

SUPPORTED LIVING PROGRAM - CAMPING

Venue : Forest Reserves Institute of Malaysia (FRIM), Kepong

Date : 17 - 19 March 2009

I was indeed very grateful that I was invited to join the group in their 1st outdoor camping at FRIM. This may not be the first outdoor adventure for them but is their FIRST outdoor camping with minimal facilities.

Yes, for many of us, there may not be any challenge since we still stay in chalet and electricity is provided. But this is not the same for the youths with learning disabilites and physically challenged. This is not my first experience but I always look forward to such event as they truly taught me about life and being appreciative for what I have.

We departed from Taman Tun Dr Ismail at about 11.30am with 5 of the youths and another one joined us the next day. Arrived at FRIM before 12 noon. As we approached the camp site, we found our camp site was across the hanging bridge. Some were excited but we were worried for Choong Jien as his limbs are weak and may have difficulty to cross the hanging bridge. While most of us made our way to the chalet, Choong Jien stayed behind to take a short break. Later, assisted by Fendi (the Community Support Assistant for the OPTIONS program) he slowly made his way to cross the bridge.

Despite being physically challenge, Choong Jien is indeed a very determine young man. He crossed the bridge step by step with little help from Fendi. Bravo!

(Looking on from behind : Yin Chun, Choong Jien and William) Hey! Look what I found . . . FOOD! Heheheheee . . courtesy of Wendy - Chung Jien's mum. Its stewed chicken . . . . . . eeeeemmm yummy, yummy...

Trying to start the fire. We put in lots of dry leafs to create as much smoke hopefully will scare the mosquitoes (our no. 1 enemy at that time) away and later added in dry branches for a small campfire.

Oouch! What's going on? Walking round the fire? When the flame became bigger, suddenly Fendi hailed the stick and started walking in the circle followed by the rest . . . . . oohhhh he got a 'message' from the ancestor reminding him that he was from the tribes. So, we happily joined him to honour his ancestor. It was really fun!!! (Believe it or Not?)

Its dinner time. Each one must dirtied their hands and cooked (barbecued) their own meal or sleep with an empty stomach. The choice is yours! Thats the rule in the camp - order by the Camp Commandor (in red tee)

Photo for the album (taken by Mettilda John, Executive Director of Dignity & Services and Program Director/Founder for OPTIONS program) : left to right - Ken Han, Choong Jien, Yin Chun, Qi Han, Fendi and me

Breakfast time. Its bread with peanut butter. I guess we were protesting because our normal breakfast supposed to be soup noodles, nasi lemak, burger, half-boil eggs . . . . and you only gave us bread and jam? hehehehee . .. .got you! We were just wondering when the rain gonna stop otherwise we will be stucked here the rest of the day.

Early lunch at the cafeteria. Budget - RM5.00 per person. If you spent more, you have to pay the extra yourself or work for 2 hours at the cafeteria! Again the CHOICE is yours! Guess what happen . . . ???

Having fun at the waterfall. Peace to the World - thats the message from Ken Han

(Photo taken by Ken Han) Relaxing at the Malay Tea House. Given the opportunity, people with learning disabilities can live like any ordinary persons and are as capable too.

Qi Han! Put that ice cream away! We're supposed to have TEA!

(Photo taken just before departing the camp site)

Front: Ken Han, Qi Han and Yin Chun

Back: Choong Jien, Asha (a volunteer), Julie and me (Yes, we have 2 Julie's in the camp)

Stopping by at one of the mamak shop for a glass of teh tarik in Taman Desa, Kepong.

Yes, a happy ending camp. This is a great experience for the youths and all are looking forward to the next camp where we can have more activities. This camp taught the youths to be a survivor. Being independent, responsible and sensitive towards other people's needs. We definitely have lots of fun.

A big thank you to Dignity & Services for inviting me to the camp. Till then ..... see you all at the coming JW Gift of Dignity Relay on 19 April 2009!

Qi Han will be competing in the relay. So runners better be prepared for the challenge!

KOMTAR TOWER RUN 2009

Date

Sunday, 31st May 2009

Time

6.00am

Venue

Foyer, Lebuh Teck Soon, Komtar

For more details, please download the entry form now!

ORANGE RUN 2009

Dear All,

The OR09 Team is pleased to inform you that BHPetrol’s Orange Run which is an annual event on BHPetrol’s calendar will be held for the fourth time this year. The Run which is scheduled on 12 April 2009 will be organised with the Malay Mail as the official media partner and Pacesetters Malaysia overseeing the technical aspects of the Run. We will be working in collaboration with IPD Petaling Jaya and MBPJ to ensure the smooth flow for the run.

Entry forms will be available in the Malay Mail, BHPetrol website, Malay Mail website, at seven selected service stations, BHPMart and On The Road motoring magazine from 17 March 2009 onwards. The official entry form is enclosed in the attachment above for your convenience. Photostated copies are acceptable but they must be in this official entry form.

Malay Mail will be running a series of stories over the next 3 weeks covering the pre-event publicity for OR09. The first OR09 article will appear in next week’s Malay Mail dated 17 March 2009. The story will feature The Official Launch of OR09 by our MD, Mr Tan Kim Thiam.

The entry form will be enclosed as well.

Second story featuring the BHPetrol ladies challenging all the ladies “out there” to join in the OR09 will be out in Malay Mail a day or two later. (We will have the photoshoot done Monday 16-3-09 at 11am at Maxis office – details to be communicated in a separate email)

So come and join in the fun. As they say, if you can’t run, then walk because there is a limited edition OR09 bag to be given away to the participants plus other offers. Invite your family and friends to join in the Run as there are now 6 categories opened to all Malaysians and permanent residents.

See you there !!

The OR09 Team

INTERNATIONAL GOLDEN TOWERTHON 2009

Date

26 July, 2009 (Sunday)

Time

7 am

Venue

Basement, KL Tower

Fee

MYR 10.00

Category

Cat A : Men & Women 70 years & above

Cat B : Men & Women 60 - 69 years

Cat C : Men & Women 50 - 59 years

Cat D : Men & Women 40 - 49 years

Organised by

mediPRO Unit (UKMMC)

Elderly Society of Hulu Langat

Menara Kuala Lumpur

For more details, log on to

http://www.mysenam.com/towerthon.asp