Éclectique

So, 2012 is coming to a close. It sure doesn't feel like a year has gone by... This uear has definitely been an exciting, full of triathlons, committee events & adventures. :D Naturally, it is sad that the year is coming to a close. But, next year has more adventures in store! New year's resolutions... Hmm... Well, last year's resolutions were only partly met... :\ So this year, nothing special; keep up grades, get accepted to a school in Canada, etc. Perhaps, try a century ride before I leave Malaysia. I would also love to do the World Championship Distance for XTERRA Malaysia in April. Just a short post this time around. Can't come up with more substantial posts at the moment. Heh heh. On a different note, Happy New Year!

In light of the recent horrific shootings in Connecticut, I've been observing some debate amongst social media users regarding gun laws in the United States. Some are saying for people to always have their firearm loaded & on their persons, the younger the better, etc. On the other end of the spectrum, some are calling for either stricter laws or outlawing guns altogether. In my opinion based on what I've seen in the media (which may be biased/lopsided/etc), as well as during the recent Presidential Elections, the community demanding gun laws stay is rather powerful.  It was one of the topics of debate during the elections & if I recall correctly, neither candidate did much about it. Given the number of shootings that are happening recently, I think, no wait. I don't think, something NEEDS to be done about the gun laws.  Do I feel guns should be outlawed outright? Honestly, yes.  Is it feasible?  Probably not.  There will be resistance, issues...

So I did the Putrajaya International Triathlon last weekend.  It was a rather last minute event so not many people signed up.  Personally, I was skeptical about how well I would do as I hadn't been able to properly train for the past month or so, juggling school work, committee work and finals. Crossing the line in an unofficial time of 2:07:11, I was pretty happy.  Seeing as I'd never done such distances back to back compounded by the lack of training, I actually performed better than I did at Desaru.  Unfortunately, the rest of the field was rather experienced and I came in around the bottom quarter. :( My only issue with the course was the cycle route.  Why go on the highway?  Putrajaya has a very complete motorcycle lane system.  Why didn't the organizers use that?  They really should have.  On top of that, there were no signs and not enough marshals so at times, we were winging it, hoping they would place marshals at crucial exit poi...

So, I did my first duathlon last weekend. It was the Powerman Duathlon Asian Championships & some big names came down hoping to secure points to qualify for the Duathlon World Championships in Switzerland. The duathlon I participated in was held in Putrajaya. Such a beautiful place to race. I hope they do it again next year. A duathlon is run-bike-run & sounds easier than triathlon -- which is swim-bike-run.  It's simpler, yes but it is in no way easier.  Most likely due to the slightly different distances.  That being said, I like the duathlon distances better.  Maybe I should start doing the long distance triathlons after this. Anywho... Compared to the Desaru triathlon, I was able to put a 5 minute gap between my brother & myself.  Best part of it; I started creating that gap in the first run & he never closed it.  In Desaru, Akid had a 1 minute advantage out of the water but I was able to close it & we arrived at T2 (bike-to...

The last time I blogged was before my birthday. Wow. So much has happened in that time span.  My cousin, Hamid, got married, I raced the Desaru International Triathlon, did the Salomon X-Trail Run, went to Legoland, I coordinated a two-day Halloween bazaar, & last but not least, Hari Raya. Was kind of surprised when Hamid popped the news about getting married. Was so happy for him.  My family is very close to him & his siblings so we were more than happy to help out in anyway we could.  We all bunked out at a homestay in Pasir Gudang, his new wife's hometown.  After the wedding, we went to JPO! Muahahaha. JPO stands for Johor Premier Outlets and is basically a shopping mall selling high-end stuff for cheap.  Well, mostly.  Long story short, I got a Adidas AdiZero jacket! :D Akid got a running kit, Abah got a track jacket & pants combo for cheap, & Mama... well, Mama bought a lot.  O-O She got the previous generation F50 AdiZero r...

Religiously, I cannot endorse homosexuality.  However, the recent flurry of posts regarding a supposed guideline endorsed by the Ministry of Education offends me as to how shallow & simple minded they are when it comes to identifying homosexuals.  Their list pretty much includes majority of Malaysia. -,- Each category only has four items or guidelines.  Yes, there are only four things.  Who knew homosexuals were so easily identifiable, eh? Just to quote & comment. Quoted is in red italic  while comment is not. :) Symptoms for gays Have a muscular body and like to show their body by wearing v-necks and sleeveless shirts .  This applies to pretty much our ENTIRE athletic contingent.  Is the government implying they are gay?  Also, straight men do it to attract girls because let's face it, a well toned body is a big ego booster for men, and an attraction for women. Prefer tight, and light colored clothes .   I tend to...

Classes have resumed.  Last two semesters have felt like open season & I was the deer.  Mechanics & Heat  in the short semester, then Multivariate Calculus in the following semester were really a blow to my CGPA. I've probably rambled a lot about this so I'm not going to say anything more.  Let's just hope that hunting season is over & this little deer is not going to face anymore trouble. This semester I'm only taking 3 subjects; Thermodynamics, Electricity & Light, & retaking Multivariate Calculus.  Multivariate Calculus has a new lecturer so hopefully she's good.  Going to work hard at all my papers now.  Have to.  Need to bring up my CGPA so I can apply. Talking about applications, I'm now looking at Canada rather than the States due -- primarily -- to safety issues...  There has been literally a shooting every week.  It's frightening.  Going to apply to McMaster, University of Calgary, & Queen's. ...

So today, Aneez, Fang, Vic, Naufal & I went on a daytrip we had planned for quite a while now.  Things only came together so it was a bit rushy.  Pulled off the logistics, though! :D The original plan was to rent a van & go to Bidor, Perak.  After a few discussions, plans changed and we opted to visit the Orang Asli village in Trolak, instead.  The whole objective of the trip was to deliver the NoKero lights we had raised funds for during our events in school. Left rather early, and made it to the Sungkai exit on time.  Unfortunately, we got a little lost thanks to a mislabel on Google Maps.  Luckily, it wasn't difficult to get back on track.  Once we were deep-er into the plantation, we turned off the a/c & rolled down the CR-V's windows.  It was fun as we weren't going that fast.  The final stretch going up was fun to drive.  Hehe!  The village itself was very quaint, and despite being rather close to the Felda Resid...

So as most of the world is well aware, ongoing right now is one of the greatest sporting events in the world; The Olympics.  People all over the world have been glued to their TVs watching their favorite athlete run that bit faster, smash that bit harder, push that bit more, cheering them on, feeling their pain, their joy, feeling pride in their athletes regardless of a win or not. Malaysia may be a soccer-mad nation -- yes, soccer -- but when it comes to the Olympics; there is one sport that I can safely say ALL Malaysians are eyeing; badminton.  Since the glory days of the Sidek brothers, Malaysia has been a powerhouse in badminton.  The Men's Singles final was a replay of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  Sad to say, even right down to who won the match. :( Nevertheless, our Dato' Lee Chong Wei performed superbly, gave it his all, never backed down, but most of all, held his composure till the very end.  Chong Wei, you are one awesome player.  It is sad yo...

Ramadan is a tricky time to stay fit. It's very much possible, just for me, it requires more discipline compared to other months.  Usually after iftar, I'm either too full/worn out to do sports and/or I am going to tarawih with my family. My parents seem fine with me doing exercises late-er due to Ramadan but when something isn't in your routine, it feels odd. Maybe I still should train at night, like when I played rugby; we trained at night after tarawih.  I'll do that. So tomorrow night, night run. I'll try to hit 6km & see how I fare. Minimum distance I need to run is 4km. I'm sure my fitness is quite bad. I haven't really done much training since Port Dickson International Triathlon, which was about three weeks back or so... O-O September is going to be a busy busy month.  I have the Adidas King of the Road 10km road run, Taiping International Marathon (I'll most likely be doing the 21km half-marathon), Desaru International Triathlon (still ...

So, it's Ramadan now. A month of fasting.  :)  It's fun, actually.  Aside from the spiritual gains, at the end of the day, the food looks very good & one does feel more grateful.  Also, at least I'm on my term break so I won't be running all over school going to my classes.  Now, I just need to find a way to stay in shape.  If not, it'll be a month wasted.  On top of that if I don't keep up, come September -- & the numerous events I'm planning to enter -- I'll be screwed. I'll most likely be doing night rides, night runs, and the TotalGym after breaking fast, just so that I'll have the energy to do so.  If I do it during the day, I'll have difficulty fasting the rest of the day.  Plus, I want to try and maintain my current BMI else I might fall too low.  Gaining BMI during Ramadan with my metabolism is pretty much out of the question. Hehe. Sheesh.  Everything sounds so bland, doesn't it?  Nothing exciting...  ...

Recently, I've been hearing a lot of buzz abput Kiara being 'developed'. Bukit Kiara or simply 'Kiara' is one the few remaining green lungs left in KL so hearing/seeing news, videos, and pictures of it being 'developed' is very saddening. Outdoor enthusiasts from all ranges be it mountain biking, running, r even horse riding are all at the losing end of this deal. Many trails have already either been entirely demolised or cut up by roads and/or fences. The lingering question in my mind is why? What are they planning? Why doesn't the government seem to care? Well, that last question is a bit rhethorical. It really saddens me that development has started & ramping up. There are so many groups that use the trails. -sigh-. I feel like the government and/or people responsible are not doing their part in communicating w/ everybody who uses the park. I hope things turn out OK but not the way its going... Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.6

The smell of the trees, of nature, The shaded cover of the overhead canopy, That feel of the first crunch, As you transition from pavement to dirt The rush of wind past your ears, The blur of trees in peripheral vision, Your mind & body focusing on the narrow singletrack ahead, Left! Right! Lean back! Your instincts shout as you tackle the terrain, Your fingers playing with the brakes to keep your speed in check, That adrenaline rush as you hang time or smoothly tackle a rock garden, The feel of your suspension compressing & elation soaring, The pounding in your chest, your ears, The burning in your lungs, your legs, As you push through one more pedal stroke on the arduous climb, Clearing the technical switchbacks while holding the tempo, "Left. Right. Left. Right," Leaning down onto your bars to provide more power from your core to your legs, Or even standing up as you almost lose traction, That screaming success when you'v...

This past weekend, my little brother & I did our very first triathlon! I would've posted this earlier but I've been so busy... Anyway, here I am. :)  In this post, I will cover the basics of triathlon, as well as my experience as a fledgling triathlete. Who knows, anyone of guys want to pick it up sometime. ;D I'll start with the basics first.  Tried writing my experience first but they were too many loopholes that I felt an introduction was necessary. Basically, a triathlon is an athletic event where athletes have to do 3 sports consecutively.  Athletes start out with the swim, then move to bike (cycle, not motorbike), and finally to the run.  Distances vary depending on factors such as age, type of event, level of competition, so on and so forth.  For adults, a 'short' triathlon is known as a sprint triathlon.  On the other extreme, there is the Ironman. Crazy tough event but I digress. In a triathlon, you swim a fixed distance, then move to the...

So... Blogger has changed their layout for their dashboard. The blogs themselves look pretty intact so those of you who just read blogs won't notice.  I feel so... sterilized.  Really.  It looks like some kind of sterilized menu.  Barely any color -- though I do like the orange accents.  But, it is neater.  So that's a plus.  Here's a picture attached. So... It has been literally months since I last updated.  Good lord.  Anyway, in brief I climbed up Kinabalu in the middle of my semester, failed Mechanics & Heat -- climbing Kinabalu had nothing to do with it, honest --, finished my semester break & started my 4th semester.  Oh, & I'm going to be doing a triathlon in July. Mount Kinabalu was an amazing adventure.  Outdoorsman/woman or not, you MUST try it.  The second morning as you make the ascent to the summit at 0200 hours is one of the most magical parts.  It's so punishing because you're exhausted bu...

I saw this status on Facebook once; "You're 10 & you have a laptop, iPod & Blackberry. Dude, when I was 10 all I had was a Tamaguchi". When those things came out I practically begged for a Tamaguchi. Didn't get one. Instead, I had already been given something better. I just didn't know it at the time. When I was 6 or 7, my parents enrolled me into swimming class. The coaches said I was like a fish in water. Kept going & I almost made it to the State team. By this time I was still young, 12 at most, and didn't want to continue. Kept swimming for fun, though. In between 6/7 and 12, I had gotten a bicycle and I loved to cycle around on it. It was basic & had to use training wheels at first. One day, I realized that I didn't need the training wheels and convinced my dad that I didn't need them. That feeling when I first rode without training wheels, I felt like I was going really fast! Then at around 14, I picked up golf. Wasn...

It's that time of the year again, when we say goodbye to one year & join another. :) So far, 2011 has been a good year. Alhamdulillah. Insyaallah this will keep up. Looking back at my new year's resolutions I realized that I have achieved 5/6 of them. The only one I didn't achieve was the last one; getting elbow/forearm guards, which as the year progressed just fell out. Guess that means that I achieved all my goals. 8D Next year is poised to be another rocking year although I can see one or two potential speed bumps on the horizon. So, 2012 resolutions? Maintain an absolute minimum of 3.0 CGPA. At the moment it's at 2.98 which is frustrating as I could've gotten 3.0 Start digging around to start applications to the States Finish upgrading my bike So, without a further ado, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!