Final training at Batu Caves

The steps training at Batu caves on Saturday, 15 October 2011 mark the final training before we take on the Mount Kinabalu Climbathon challenge on 22 October 2011.

It was a last minute change of venue from Gunung Nuang as this is supposed to be a safe and easy training (since we have come thus far in training).

A few of the other participants are doing their trainings at Apek Hill and Gunung Nuang also.

Do click here to view photos taken by yours truly (KC). Three photos in the album are by courtesy of Mak CK.

 

The challenging 252 steps of Batu Caves. Try going up in quick succession, you will experience how tough it is ... :-)

 

L-R: Mak CK, Tee EK, ChongYF, KC Leong, Patricia Yap and Eileen Gan.

 

Amazing power – 500c.c. x 24 bottles x 3 boxes = 12kg x 3 = 36 kg !!

I helped to carry another box and I have to take a breather at mid-point.

 

A group of Chinese nationals from Shanghai are visiting Batu Caves. This guy is not very fit. Not used to the steep gradient, he almost fainted that gives us the scare.

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We tried to offer our help much to the appreciation of his lady group members who said that we are very helpful and kind.

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MakCK is trying to keep him awake by engaging in conversation with him.

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We later accompany him to go down the steps for fearing that he would trip and fall.

 L-R: Mak CK, Micki and friend and KC Leong

 

Micki’s Microsoft Extreme Challenge versus MakCK’s Terry Fox Run. Mak is assisting in promoting the run that will be held at Padang Merbok on 13 Nov 2011.

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Terry Fox Run T-Shirt for charity is RM30 each. Get one today from MakCK to raise money for cancer research !!

 

Very yow yeng pose ... Patricia Yap, Eileen Gan and Micki

 Flexing the muscle ... Steven and his loved one

 

Auspicious entrance ... L-R: ChongYF, Patricia, KC Leong, TeeEK, Steven Onn and his loved ones, Eileen Gan.

 

Patricia Yap showing the Terry Fox Run T-shirt that she is supporting ... this photo courtesy of Mak CK.

 

Temple in Batu Caves

We adjourn for breakfast at the Indian stalls within the compound of Batu Caves ... Patricia holding the nicely done wafer thin pancakes (Dosai) that is in the shape of a hat.

Posted by KC Leong

G.Nuang Trail Training

After months of trail training, the day for the Mount Kinabalu Climbathon challenge on 22 October 2011 is almost here. With two more weekends to go, part of the group members went for the trail training at Gunung Nuang on Saturday, 8 Oct 2011.

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The final training at Gunung Nuang will this coming Saturday, 15 October 2011.

Click here to view photo taken by yours truly (KC) ... click Slideshow for bigger displays.

Tough guys at Gunung Nuang - (L-R): Chong YF, Leong WW & 2 friends, Rothman Fong, ChooTS, Sivalingam, Mak CK, Chiew Hong, Dr Shara, KC Leong

 Various type of trail running shoes. Okay, I notice that half of the guys are with hairy legs. Are you able to guess which is yours truly's shoes?

 

Before the stream crossing - Dr Shara, ChooTS, MakCK, Chong YF and KC Leong

 

At the signature tree of Kem Pacat ... Dr Shara, Mak CK, ChooTS, Rothman Fong, Chiew Hong, KC Leong with ChongYF high above

 Many campers are seen camping at Camp Lolo also

 

Stream crossing made easier -- MakCK looking at the kids playing in the water ...

 

Some kind-hearted people even tight a good quality rope across the stream to facilitate safe crossing of stream. Seen here are two models demonstrating the usefulness of the rope when confront with slippery landing ... :-)

 

Adjourn for lunch; this time, we went to a different restaurant located between Hulu Langat Batu 14 and the Ampang Lookup Point.

 As recommended by the waiter, we ordered grilled tilapia fish and pandan chicken

 

The tilapia fishes are caught and then cook and serve...

Preparing the grilled lamb

Posted by KC Leong

Impression of China (2)

The journey continues ... do click here to view photos in 2nd album by courtesy of yours truly (KC).

Our cruise ship spent a night lay at anchor in this area.
 

That reminded me of my Mount Rinjani trekking trip (Lombok Island; June 2011) where we just pitch the tents and camped out-of-no-where in the wilderness ... click here.

 

Taking a boat ride in the Shen Nong Xi (or river). Powered by 4 boatmen, they can carry almost 15 persons.

To earn a daily wage of 3 Yuans, they have to came from far in the same boat for almost 2 hours (one way).

 

Trackers of Shen Nong Xi (or river) pulling the boat

 

This is the commercial shot extracted from Internet; it always look much better compare to real life ... :-)

With the construction of the dam across Yangtze River, the water level rises substantially.

All the peripheral streams/rivers are now swell with water; so the trackers don’t have to pull their boats in the shallow water anymore.

When we took the boat ride, they just demonstrated to us how the boat was pulled (photo above) – minus the action in nude ... :-)

 

Linda, the guide of our Shen Nong River cruise, introducing the history and culture of the tribes here. She lives in the nearby village.

Accompanying the sales of the book, she also sings one of the songs in the audio CD that is being promoted.

 

The journey on the Yangtze River continues with the spectacular and unique landscape ...

 

On this afternoon, we have 2 hours or less of sunshine. It was cloudy on most of the days on or before boarding the cruise ship.

 

Many of the towns are established along the river.

 

The primary image on the reverse side of the new 10 Yuan note is a view of the famous breathtaking Three Gorges of the Yangzi River.

The horizontal line at the gorge is the upper limit of water level marked by heavy rainfall.

 

Debris is seen floating on the river after massive flooding at upstream due to bad weather.

The same bad weather was experienced at Zhangjiajie when we went up the mountains and could not see any view.

 

Buffet meals offered in the cruise ship. Every time we started our meal, whether breakfast, lunch or dinner, the cruise ship would start to move.

So, what is your deduction?

 

Farewell Banquet Dinner hosted by the Captain on the final evening before we arrive at the destination - ChongQing city

 

We started the journey from Yi Chang; passing by Three Gorges Dam and disembarked at ChongQing.

 

The staff or workers in the cruise ship double-up as armature performers to entertain the passengers.

 

Arriving at ChongQing city with a population of 33 million people (even more than the whole of Malaysia)

 

Breakfast at the 39^th floor of The Landmark International Hotel, Guangzhou.

 

Sightseeing at Guangzhou new commercial square. The tallest building here is the Guangzhou Business Convention Centre.

 

Yours truly (KC) with Guangzhou’s telecom transmission tower in the background.

 

This is an elegantly designed car made in China that can rival those cars from Japan.

 

Free and easy shopping at Shang Xia Jiu Square (direct translation: Up Down Nine Square) where the whole street of almost 1km long are lined with shops; lots of shoppers here.

Enchanting night view of Pearl River (or Zhu Jiang). The Landmark International Hotel is on the far left.

Posted by KC Leong

Impression of China (1)

Impression of China – 11 days tour (from 15 September 2011) of Feng Huang Ancient Town, Zhangjiajie, Yangtze Cruise, and a brief tour of ChongQing and Guangzhou cities.

Please click here to view photos taken by yours truly (KC) ... In Picasa photo album, click Slideshow for bigger displays and captions.

 

Touch-down at Guangzhou International Airport ... upon arrival, take high speed train to Changsha. After the freak accident happened a few weeks ago, the speed is reduced from 400 km/h to 300+

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For the entire journey of 2.5 hours, the speed is set to 310km/h maximum for a comfortable, steady, vibration-free and silent ride. We alighted from the train at almost 12 mid-night; when we retired to bed in hotel, it was almost 2:00 a.m. the next day.

 

The famous Phoenix Ancient Town (or Feng Huang Ancient Town) of history and culture with the unique local architecture.

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Walking on the wooden slabs requires confidence and stability; however, it requires a bit of manoeuvring when confront with people from the opposite direction without dropping into the water.

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A senior is seen here collecting litter on the river.

Nina – our friendly, dedicated and untiring tour guide at Zhangjiajie. Graduated from a local university and speaking fluent American English, she belongs to the Tu Minority people in Zhangjiajie – one of the minority tribes in China.

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This is how we should carry our backpack to avoid pickpockets.

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According to her, she is practising the 'cry wedding' – a custom of her Tu minority people where a new bride is to cry for one month preceding the wedding ceremony. The cry is a reflection of a girl's ability and virtue; the better the cry, the girl would gain more sympathy from the relatives and would then get more ‘ang pow’ (reward) money.

Seeing double – enchanting night view of Phoenix Ancient Town

 

The famous UNESCO World Heritage of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.

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In the National Park, 3,000 skyscraper-like stone pillars stand in various shapes are arranged in vertical-cutting appearance.

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The unique and majestic mountains in the background are where the floating mountains in the blockbuster movie, Avatar, got the ideas from.

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Yours truly (KC) in the photo.

 

The tour group of 20 from Malaysia.

 

Comfortable and luxurious hotel stay

 

Good food for every meal including two bottles of beer and a bottle of soft drink.

 

Taking a mini train into the inner part of the park for better view of the mountains ...

yours truly (kC).

 

Close view – taking cable cars up the mountain. Unfortunately, it was bad weather for the past few days and the whole mountains are covered with mist or cloud.

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At higher ground, visibility is bad and could not see anything. The group then descend the mountain queuing for almost one hour for the cable cars to return to base.

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Looks like I need to re-visit this heavenly mountains another time.

 

Enjoying the performance at night for a grand feat of sight and sound at Zangjiajie

 

Theatre hall with high-tech equipment in an ancient setting

 

Start of the Yangtze River 5-star cruise from Yichang town.

 

We met a group of French tourists, almost 50 of them and the biggest group; follow by the Malaysian group, about 30.

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A few of them join us in light exercise and a bit of fun on the top deck. 

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The ship is ferrying 150 passengers – maximum capacity.

 

The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. This project benefits in flood control, power generation, navigation improvement and promote tourism.

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The spillway dam, located in the middle of the river course, connects the two powerhouses at both sides.

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With the completion of the dam, the water level at the upper river rises substantially; while the water level at downstream is now much lower ...

 

Hence, the large-scale shiplock for ships to travel from lower to higher ground, and vice versa.

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Currently, the China Government is building the large-scale shiplift, a one-step vertical movement elevator for smaller boats that would take only 45 minutes to clear (compare to 4 hours of the shiplock); target to complete by 2015.

Precision handling – notice the two cruise ships are parked touching one another when entering the chambers of the shiplocks.

 

Cheers! Welcome dinner from the Captain. On his right is the English/Mandarin speaking guide; on his left is the French/Mandarin speaking guide.

 

Entertainment in the cruise ship while waiting to clear the five shiplocks that require a total of 4 hours.

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To be continued ...

From KC Leong