Running and Trekking Gear

Yeah! It is year-end holidays and sales promo period. So I take the opportunity to upgrade part of my trekking and running gear. I went to the World of Sports in Subang Parade, Subang Jaya and managed to buy four items in one go. With the credit card in one hand and the membership card in another, I just join in the frenzy of Buy! Buy! Buy!

One of the big challenges of confirming a purchase is to test out the right size. Out of the four items that I purchased, the Adidas running shorts was a bit tricky in idetifying the correct fit in term of length, width and waist, only to realise the wrong choice when I started to compare with the existing ones at home. Anyway, I managed to exchange a better replacement size the next day.
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Columbia Titanium trekking pants

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The Columbia Titanium trekking pants, which will be worn in jungle possibly viewed by monkeys, is much more expansive than my office pants.

To live up to the keng chow name, the pants come with the sun protection technology that helps block damaging UV rays from reaching our skin, allowing for more carefree hours in the sun.

The Titanium also keeps one dry and comfortable – This moisture transferring technology moves and disperses sweat away from the body for quick evaporation, keeping one comfortable during physical activity.

Columbia fleece jacket in preparing for Mount Rinjani Trekking trip in June 2011

Another good place to buy these trekking stuff with reasonable price is from Themes of Nepal. We usually buy them before we start the trekking trip (insufficient warm clothing brought from M’sia) or after completing the trekking (in preparation for the next trip). Though they are cheap and well suited for trekking in cold, one issue is the poor quality of the zips which spoil easily.

New arrival of Adidas running shorts


Mizuno dry-fit T-shirt

Lai Kuan, a passionate lady trekker, shares with the U2runTrek eGroup about her shopping experience:

Yes, Columbia has some very nice clothing designed for outdoors which comes in SPF protection, Omni-dry feature, etc. The set back is that most sports gear shops in Msia carry many more designs and sizes for the guys but limited to ladies. Smaller sizes (especially pants) are hard to come by. I'd many a times left 'drooling' at the sight of the items but unable to fit in!!

Let me share a joke with you: whenever I go overseas, I love to shop at the outdoor retailers. They have a vast variety of outdoor stuff, if only they didn't make a huge dent in the pocket! haha... To cut the story short, I was ecstatic to find a pair of women Columbia long pants in my size (in Australia), in the odd sizes bin coz it was size: XS ! Grabbed the offer, came back, took a closer inspection and guess what? It's made in Malaysia (not in China or India or anywhere else) !!!

Just for info, UNI QLO in Fahrenhiat 88 (formerly KL Plaza, Bukit Bintang) has some fantastic and trendy winter clothing for those who might be going trekking in colder countries. Plenty of fleece pullover to choose from whereas we usually find fleece jackets in other shops most times.

The down jackets are very light and compact – no longer the old fashioned bulky materials which take up space and weight! Their thermal inner wear comes in thin hi-tech material which works base on your own body temperature. 'Cool' stuff that keeps your body warm ... :-)

UNI QLO in Fahrenheit 88 (formerly known as KL Plaza) - This advertisement was published in The Star newspaper on Friday, 10 December 2010

I remember seeing in TV news that this Japanese shop was opened recently; I could see that shoppers were lining-up like crazy way before the opening enthusiastically wanting to buy stuff from this retail outlet. If I would have known that they had good trekking stuff, you would probably see me lining-up earlier than them also … :-) Okay, I shall make a trip there during this year-end holiday mood seasons to check the cool stuff to keep one warm.

Posted by KC
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