Cho La Pass - Nepal 2007

Next posting is on Sunday 17 June 2007. Thanks for your continual support in visiting this KC&SR weblog. It has been of great fun for me to write all these reports and share photos of running, trekking and other outdoor events with you. I hope you enjoy reading and viewing them.

In less than one week’s time, I will be flying off to Kathmandu on May 23, the capital of Nepal to begin the 17-day great trekking trip.
x Wendy - Relaxing and enjoying a cup of hot drink in the evening ... surrounded by mountains, cool fresh air and clouds amid a beautiful and serene landscape. File pix: Ladakh, India in August 2006.

Append below is the schedule of the great trekking trip:

1. 23rd May Wed KL – Kathmandu (1340 m)
2. 24th May Thur Kathmandu fly to Lukla (2840 m) – Monjo (2844 m)
3. 25th May Fri Monjo – Namche Bazaar (3440 m)
4. 26th May Sat Acclimatization : Everest View Hotel
5. 27th May Sun Namche Bazaar via Khunde – Khumjung (3780 m)
6. 28th May Mon Khumjung – Dole (4200 m)
7. 29th May Tues Dole – Machhermo (4480 m)
8. 30th May Wed Machhermo – Gokyo (4790 m)
9. 31st May Thur Gokyo Ri excursion (5357 m)
10. 1st June Fri Gokyo – Tagnag (4700 m)
11. 2nd June Sat Tagnag – Cho La Pass (5420m) – Duglha (4620 m)
12. 3rd June Sun Duglha – Tengboche (3870 m)
13. 4th June Mon Tengboche – Monjo (2840 m)
14. 5th June Tues Monjo – Lukla (2840 m)
15. 6th June Wed Lukla fly back to Kathmandu
16. 7th June Thur Kathmandu
17. 8th June Fri Fly back to KL

For a comparison of altitude, the peak of Mount Kinabalu is 4,100 meters; Genting Highlands is 2,000 meters above sea level.

During this trekking trip, we would be able to see Mount Everest from a distance. Another highlight will be walking on a trail covers with snow.
x Ladakh, India ... August 2006

The Team Lead for this trip is Wendy. An avid trekker, she has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa (5,895 meters). As for her next challenge, she is considering to scale Mount Akonkagua in Argentina (6,959 meters).

Please click here to view Wendy’s previous trekking trip in Ladakh, India in August 2006. The Ladakh trip was tougher as trekkers camp in the wilderness in freezing temperature. However, in this trip, there will be proper tea-houses for accommodation.

Please click here (and scroll down to correct event) to view photos of another trekking trip to Kalapathar by Francis Toh, Tsu, Tammy and four other Pacesetters runners in September 2006. x

Trekking to Everest Kalapathar by Francis Toh, Tsu, Tammy and a few other Pacesetters Club members in 2006. The peak of Mount Everest (background, in the centre) is visible from a distance.

Please click here (and scroll to 28 August 2006 for Trekking in Yunnan) to view photos of trekking trip in Yunnan by PK Chan (centre; in the photo below) and other Pacesetters members.

Signing off

Cheers!
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KC Leong a.k.a. Penguin-1

Berkelah Waterfall

Please click here to view photos taken by Chong YF. The images are razor sharp with good colour balance. When in the photo album, click Slideshow (this method, the photos are bigger).

On May 12 -13, Chong YF and a group of friends went for a one-night camping trip at Berkelah Waterfall. It is located in Pahang about 46 km before Kuantan Town traveling from Kuala Lumpur.
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Chong YF
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From the starting point of the trekking trip, the journey is 8km or requires two hours of trekking to reach the waterfalls.

It is a beautiful series of eight cascades with the highest and biggest about 60 meters in height. The whole hill is actually one huge granite block with the river cutting through the stone hill.
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At the end of the trek is the first campsite in the woods where there is a magnificent looking twin-falls of about 30 meters high. What a view to behold!

Being a Pacesetters runner, he likes trekking and camping when not running. His famous quotable quote is: With all these strenuous running and cycling, we should take on more trekking and enjoy nature.

If you are interested to join him in the next trekking or camping trip, you can contact him at: kiara_9234@yahoo.com

It is nice and cool sleeping here, never mind the hard surface

Awesome, Breathtaking, Clean, Delightful scenery

Convenient campsite which is just next to the pool

Parting of two hills?

Picturesque wonderland right at our door step - Pahang.

Yes, we will plan to go there.
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By KC

Klang Gate Ridge or Bukit Tabur Climb

Please click here to view 41 photos jointly taken by Jason Lee and Weng.
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On 2 May 2007 holiday, Weng, Jason Lee and friends climbed Klang Gate Ridge (or Bukit Tabur). Here are some of the photos taken by them.
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Weng was offering a helping hand at this tricky spot

Unique grass on the ground

Jason Lee is thick in the action

Ground covered over with moss

Klang Gate Ridge

Different type of moss on the ground

Weng (in blue) and Jason Lee (in red).

Kuala Lumpur City View

During May 1 long holidays, Jason Lee, Weng and I went for a photographs taking session. Only Weng knows the way. Traveling along Middle-Ring Road 2, he exited near Ampang Jaya area. And later drove up a hill passing by the housing estate.

That morning, the sky was not very clear as we could see that Kuala Lumpur (KL) City was engulfed in misty-like effect – pollution, I guess.

Weng and Jason Lee in action

Your truly in action

Jason Lee and your truly - exchanging photography tips


We later went up the hill and the prism-like watchtower. We even have a better panoramic view of KL City. The unobstructed and elevated location would give a different mood at night admiring the night view. I think it is also a good place to "pak tor" (courting) too that can enhanced the mood while admiring the distant view.

The prism-like watchtower structure improves the view further
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Looking out from the posh restaurant. Notice the bird at 11 o'clock direction from Twin Tower.

At the entrance of the Viewing Hill - Pusat Pelancongan dan Menara Tinjau

A majestic, age-old tree

The photos above are selected from Jason Lee's, Weng's and your truly's photo albums.
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By KC

The photo below showing the night scene is "borrowed" from internet.

Nepal Trekking - The Preparation

The much anticipated event to my 17-day Nepal trekking trip is drawing closer – 09 days and counting! One of the most important survival gears to bring is a pair of good sunglasses, as informed by Wendy, the Team Lead. So, over the week-end, I went to one of the Sunshine Runners who owns two eyewear centres. Her name is Lynn Choo (click here to visit her weblog, or click the link on the left sidebar of this KC&SR).

After selecting a few, I finally chose one: reasonable price (a few hundred ringgit) and big enough to protect not only my eyes but also my face. I did not choose one which is very expansive as I told Lynn that: “in the wilderness when we go back to basics, not many people will pay attention to the sunglasses”. Yeah, I remember a few days ago, Miss Paris Hilton who appeared in the front page of Star newspaper also wore a pair of huge sunglasses to protect her face.
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Yours truly at Lynn's eyewear centre in Bangsar Shopping Complex, Kuala Lumpur. Yow yeng or Leng chai or not?
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Sunglass Joke

Let me relate to you my funny experience: Many years ago (before I join Pacesetters Club), I went on holidays to Koh Samui Island, Thailand with another four friends in backpack style. We then traveled en route to Hua Hin, a little seaside town 200 km south of Bangkok (on the opposite side of Pattaya). A peaceful and scenic place, it is the favourite resort of Thailand’s royal family including the King of Thailand with his summer palace adjoining the beach.

Our team leader, John, bought a pair of original Rayban sunglasses there that cost about RM 300 equivalent. While visiting the night market the same evening, I also bought one similar trendy design of Rayban for about RM 18 equivalent.

The next day, we went sight-seeing. While John was walking coolly in his original under the hot sun, I have to use my hand to shield the glare and squint my eyes to look at the surrounding though I was wearing the sunglasses. My friends were having a good laugh upon seeing my action.

Lynn’s Eyewear Centres

If you would like to buy eyewear or spectacles, you can visit Lynn Choo's eyewear centres as follows. She should be able to give you very good rate.

M & J Optometry Centre
D-0-11, Block D, Plaza Damas, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Sri Hartamas. Tel: 03-6203 9688

Lot S14, 2nd Floor, East Wing, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Jalan Maarof. Tel: 03-2094 8736

email: mjoptom@yahoo.com

Note: for Pacesetters runners, Plaza Damas is just next to the running course from Bukit Aman car park en route to Sri Hartamas. You can even run straight into her centre while having your Sunday morning training runs.

By KC

The Super Ultra-marathon Runner

Note by KC: Have you ever tried doing calculation while running a 10km or 20km race? This is my personal experience: I am not able to compute other than straight forward arithmetic. I believe that with the non-stop jerking while running, it may affect the brainpower.

Another reason could be due to too much blood is channeled to the limbs leaving much less blood in the head necessary to do the computation. Anyway, I am not able to answer the question whether running is harmful to our brains. I will keep that in mind when I attain the (bmw) 7 Series one day.

On 28 April 2007, while standing precariously at the peak of Klang Gate Ridge, I asked Tan Ay Peng (a Pacesetters runner) this question: “How many full marathons have you run within a year?” He pondered for a while amid his rest, and then he said “20”!

I was impressed. For most runners, we probably do one in Kuala Lumpur International Marathon in March; another one in Singapore International Marathon in December – that was exactly what I did for the past few years. At times, I run another one in mid-year.

Below is an extract of email from Tan Ay Peng, a super ultra-marathoner, publish with consent. In December 2005, he did four full marathons and one ultra-marathon. Wow! This is an amazing feat!

Hi KC,

Thank you for your time and thank you for Tey Eng Tiong’s interest in my running records.

I wish to apologize for a mistake in providing the information on marathon running to you off-hand. Upon Tey's kind enquiry, I made a "stock-take" and realize that the 20 times of marathon running was in the period of 15 months – not 12 months – which was from March 2005 to June 2006. In the 20 run-counts, I take Singapore Mc Ritchie Ultramarathon as two, a 30km Great Eastern as one.
Tan Ay Peng standing at one of the peaks of Klang Gate Ridge. Photo was taken on 28 April 2007.

The details are as follow:

Month / Year (Count)

03/05 (1) Malaysia KL marathon;
06/05 (2) Thai Lanshaga Nakhon marathon;
07/05 (3) Malaysia Melaka marathon;
08/05 (4) Thai Songkla marathon;
10/05 (5) China Beijing marathon;
11/05 (6) Thai Bangkok marathon;
12/05 (7) Singapore Std Chart marathon;
12/05 (8) Brunei marathon;
12/05 (9) Thai Hadyai marathon;
12/05 (10) Thai ChiangMai marathon;
12/05 (11,12) Singapore Mc Ritchie Ultra marathon (95km);
01/06 (13) Thai ChomBeng University marathon;
01/06 (14) Malaysia Grt Eastern 30K;
01/06 (15) Thai Isan KonKen University marathon;
02/06 (16) Thai Rajchaphat University marathon;
02/06 (17) Thai Kumpangseng Airport marathon;
02/06 (18) Philipine Manila Pasig river marathon;
03/06 (19) Malaysia KL marathon;
03/06 (20) China Xiamen marathon;

Outdoor Quest at Gopeng

By SC Yeoh

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Please click here to view 241 photos taken by SC Yeoh.

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[When in Yahoo photo album, click View Slideshow; change speed to Fast. To return, click Arrow at top-left of page]

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On 26 April 2007, early morning Shih Ming, Siok Leng, Lee and wife, Lina and husband, JooAnn and I (SC Yeoh) drove to Gopeng, Perak for our whitewater rafting, rock climbing and abseiling trip.

This trip has it all. From the excitement of tackling large rapids, enjoying the serene, beauty of a gentle paddle through lush rainforest, it was our invigorating day spent at one with nature. It is an exhilarating experience and every one of us was enjoy it very much.

Let’s see some of the picture taken below.

JooAnn was very happy while gearing up.
Story behind why she was laughing: actually she was wearing the helmet upside down.

Safety Precaution Briefing - Not Okay sign? ... not in their vocabulary.
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Rock climbing - Where is Tarzan?

All the leng lui and leng chai... SC Yeoh is on the left.

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Sunshine

The two photos below were taken by Jason Lee on Friday 20 April at around 7:20 p.m. This unique sunset shows the ray of light illuminating the orange sky. Much like the show "Sunshine" (starring Datuk Michelle Yeoh) that the sun is loosing its radiation when darkness falls.

However, the reach of the orange hue only cover the western part of the sky. Beyond the cloud, the sky was still in faint taint of blue.

The photo below showing a stunning sunset taken by WENG.

This unique and awesom sunrise was captured by WENG on Wednesday 25 April morning at 6:50 a.m.

KC

Leading a Pack in Climbing up Klang Gate Ridge

I looked to my left and then to my right. It seemed to me that there were two trails. I pondered for a while to make a right decision. Holding torchlight in the darkness before dawn, I was leading a pack of eight trekkers climbing up Klang Gate Ridge.

At times, the terrain was engulfed by trees and the surrounding was almost in pitch black. In contrast, standing on the rocks not blocked by trees, I could see the stars on a cloudless sky. Looking further away, I could see the lighting of Taman Malawati area.

Super marathoner Tan AP (right) and friends. Vincent (left) has just returned from climbing Mount Kinabalu

We arrived at the base at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday 5 May. The original plan as suggested by Wendy was to start early so as to reach certain elevation to see sunrise.

The pack: Wendy, Ms Ann, Mr. Leong, Tan Ay Peng and seven of his friends; and not forgetting yours truly.

Wendy was in a hurry to return home so she started the ascent with Ann and Leong. In her absence, I automatically became the Team Leader for the other trekkers.
View of Klang valley from The Ridge

That was my third time I climbed up this side of the ridge. The second time was done on last Saturday. However, the first climb was nervously completed in October 2006. At that moment, I was fearful of standing next to the cliff and manoeuvring on the rock that looked dangerous to me.

Please click here to read my first report and photos on Klang Gate Ridge (also called Bukit Tabur).

After a few climbing trips up the ridge, I have overcome much of my fear and I am able to tackle the steep slope with much confidence.

With three sessions of gym work per week, I am maintaining much of my stamina though I stop running completely in recuperating of my heel pain. Walking at the forefront, I could step up my pace or slow down. There was occasion that I was about 30 meters from the pack and I even have sufficient time to record a little note in my 555 memo pad.

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Kelly - tackle this tricky part of the rock obstacle with ease

All of TanAP’s friends were first time climbing up Klang Gate Ridge. However, a few of them have been to the peak of Mount Kinabalu. There is a lady trekker by the name of Kelly who was a runner, and she was able to overcome rock obstacles with ease.

There was not much coloured hue that morning. However, we could see the ray of sunlight piercing through the clouds.

I was climbing with my new maroon backpack meant for the coming 17-day trekking trip in Nepal on 23 May. In order to strengthen my shoulder, I carried four litres of water in the bag though I only drank 1.25 litres.
Sunshine on my shoulder... makes me happy

The climb took about two hours one way, and the returning journey took the same amount of time as well.

On the way down, there were quite a number of trekkers on their way up in batches. We even saw a group of International School pupils (mostly mat salleh) led by their teachers trekking up the trail.

All of Tang AP’s friends were satisfied with the climb. While descent, I could hear them cheerfully exchanging conversation with other trekkers (on the way up) happily proclaiming that they were first time climbing this ridge after reaching the peak.

I was pleased too that I was able to lead a group safely return from climbing Klang Gate Ridge. Special thanks to Wendy who introduce trekking as an alternative outdoor activity to me other than mere running.

By KC