PD Triathlon 2008 - Part 1

Album 1 (181 photos using Nikon D200) by courtesy of Jason Lee... click here
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Album 1 (151 photos using Nikon D70s) by courtesy of WENG ... click here
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Event: Port Dickson International Triathlon 2008

Date: Sunday 20 July 2008

Venue: Admiral Marina & Leisure Club, Port Dickson, Malaysia.

Siok Bee - Body marking at Transition Area
xCalm before the storm
x Get Set ... Go!
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The distance is 1.5 km
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For a change... instead of the tarmac as in running
.Completion of first segment
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Looking fit and good
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Nice shower but the participants are more focus in the next segment of the race

Posted by KC

Pacesetters 8th Track Meet

Stay tuned for photos of leng chai and leng lui from Port Dickson International Triathlon held on 19-20 July.

Event: Pacesetters Club 8th Track Meet
Date: Saturday 28 June 2008
Venue: Panasonic Sports Complex, Shah Alam
Photographer: Chan Wing Kai using his new camera: Nikon dSLR D300

Please click here to view 193 photos by courtesy of Chan Wing Kai.

Parade of the runners
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Bukit Aman Team - Looking good

In red - Michael Gan, Pacesetters Club Footloose Editor

Mark II and Tony

Go! Go! Go!

Staying focus of the runners ahead

Posted by KC

Tall Tales Contest

Please click here to view 54 photos taken by yours truly (KC).

Immediately after work on Monday 14 July 2008, I drove to attend a special event (Tall Tales Contest) organized by Speakers’ Dream Toastmasters Club – the club where I hone public speaking skill. Click here to know more of the Club.

Traveling along BestRaya heading towards Kuala Lumpur, I was caught in a 45-minute traffic jam. The 3-lane highway was squeezed into one lane caused by police roadblock in anticipation of protest by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s supporters. It was really an ironic situation that due to this sodomy case, the majority of folks in Kuala Lumpur are affected. Most people were not pleased with the traffic jam especially when the petrol price soared so much recently.

The Tall Tales contest is similar to a normal Club meeting except that all speakers on that day will be regaling the audience with a 3- to 5-minute long tall tales of their own making. These are not ordinary speeches. The speech must be highly exaggerated, improbable in nature and have a theme or plot. Of course, it would be fun if the speech is humorous too.

During the meeting, The Contest Chair, while addressing the audience, said: "... when come from the front, it is tsunami; from the back, it is sodomy. Now we can adjourn for tea break and have mee." The phrase rhyme... The audience gave a good round of applause.

Posted by KC

L-R: K. Loghandran (Contest Chair), Ong Siew Chien, Mok Soo Pon (with the sash), Koh Teck Lee, GG, Azmi, Chow Mun Yuen.
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Lyn Loh (left) posing with other toastmasters members
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K. Loghandran - the Contest Chair
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Good laugh - responding to the hilarious and exaggerated speeches
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The venue: Kelab Golf Perkhidmatan Awam (KGPA), Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

Posted by KC

Planning for Post-ABC 2nd Dinner

Okay, Tai Kim Wone, one of the trekkers in the recent Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) treks, is organizing a dinner at Kuala Lumpur which is planned in August 2008. This time, the main criteria are to select a restaurant that offers good food and karaoke room for singing.
.Cheban (left) and PK Chan (with a unique hat) were singing Nepalese song

We realize that a few of the trekkers could sing while we were having our celebration in Nepal immediately after descent from ABC. In that cold and rainy night at Bee Hive View Guesthouse in Kyumi, Nepal (two days after descent from ABC), we were celebrating in a small but cozy dining room.
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Cheers! Cheers!

Imagine 12 trekkers, 6 porters, 2 mountain guides and Cheban (Trek and Tour Agent in Nepal) were packed in a 13x13 feet room. While Cheban and his mountain guides and porters were singing the Nepalese folks songs, the Malaysian trekkers were trying to show their singing ability by singing some Western, Chinese and Malay oldies.
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Kumar (left, second mountain guide), Cynthia, LimKH and Lili

That evening, the Nepalese songs sounded better and Cheban and his team were better singers. We were tapping our feet amidst the melodious songs though we could feel the vibration of the room were a bit unusual. Next morning, we saw that the dinning room was actually mounted to the side of a cliff next to the roaring river!!
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The six porters

To be continued…

Click here for the posting in Kyumi.

Click here for the first post-ABC celebration dinner in Kuala Lumpur.

Photos by Weng

Written by KC

Pacesetters Footloose

I was extremely hardworking last weekend. I completed constructing two online webpage versions of the Footloose magazine in just one weekend. That also mean I was not that hardworking previously as the December 2007 edition took almost six months to get it done.

For readers who like reading stories on running, you would have many reports to read, spanning from Shanghai International Marathon (by PK Chan) in the north to Blackmores Sydney Run (by Tey Eng Tiong) in the south.

Click here for March 2008 online Footloose.

Click here for December 2007 online Footloose.

Click here for main page of Footloose.

Click here for Pacesetters Club Homepage

From the Desk of Pacesetters Club Webmaster… i.e. yours truly (KC)

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Gunung Datuk and Durian Feast

Please click here to view 46 photos taken by yours truly. While in photo album, click Slideshow; click F11 to expand photo, click F11 to return.

Please click here to view 24 photos by courtesy of Miss Wong Chee Sum.

A group photo before the climb. Chee Sum is at far left.

The final ascent before reaching the peak

Katya, our model with the king of fruits. She is from Moscow, Russia.

She was attacked by leech twice: arm and leg... while other trekkers were unscratched.

Hor is very good in opening durians

Hmmm... looks good

And taste good ... eating durian at the peak of Gunung Datuk

At Weng father-in-law's durian orchard. The durians are low... Katya can even hold them

Angie, try this... it is good!

All-you-can eat durian feast in the orchard. There was so much that we could not finish the durians. It was raining at that moment, about 2pm (Sunday, 13 July 2008), so all are confined to the only shelter there.
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Thanks to Weng and Hor for making the durian feast possible.

Posted by KC

D 700

Scroll down for trekking at Gunung Datuk and durian feast at durian orchard...

I received an email from a friend, not sure who is the author. It is about Durians of Balik Pulau. Part of the content is reproduced here.

In Penang, Malaysia, the best place to get good durians is in the town of Balik Pulau, on the southwest corner of Penang Island.

The following is a selection of branded durians photographed during the 2004 and 2006 Asia Explorers Durian Feasts.

D11 "Number Eleven" is a very popular durian in the 70's. It has creamy yellow flesh with a pleasant taste and a subtle smell.

D604 The D604 was first cultivated by the late Mr. Teh Hew Hong of Sungai Pinang, Balik Pulau. The flesh is quite sweet, and has some "body" to it as the seed is small

D600 This durian originates in Sungai Pinang in Balik Pulau. The flesh has a bittersweet taste to it, with a touch of sourness. The one that I documented is a bit hard.

D700 The flesh is darker than D600, like chrome yellow. Also slightly hard. Crispy, but the smell is not very strong.

Recently, I was treated to a variety of branded durian. Never in my life that I could taste so many branded types in one go: XO, Red Prawn, D24, D94, D88 and other "D" Class durians. Maybe that explain why Mercedes cars has "C" and "E" Class but no "D" Class models. The XO type is extremely creamy; while the Red Prawn, true to its name, is reddish-orange and is a little bitter. My friend, Wai Yin, commented that there is another clone called W D40 which can be purchased whole year round from Tesco and Carrefour.

The letter "D" has many meaning: In durian, the letter "D" stands for Durian; in camera, it represents Digital. If you are displeased with another person, you use "D" to denote an animal. Even a movie uses it as title - The Initial D.

A more affordable full-frame DSLR
The introduction of Nikon's new D700 may been one of the worst kept secrets in an industry with more leaks than the Titanic, but it was still something of a surprise coming so hot on the heels of the D3 and D300.

The Nikon D700 was announced on July 1, 2008. The D700 is slotted in Nikon’s lineup between the D300 and D3, which is fitting given that it shares characteristics of each. The D700 is a 12.1 megapixel, full frame DSLR, which features the image quality found in the pro-level Nikon D3, yet it has the more compact size of the Nikon D300. The D700 features the some sensitivity levels found the D3 - covering an extendable range of ISO 100 to crazy high ISO 25600.

Note: Chan Wing Kai has just bought a Nikon D300 for about RM 6,000 (camera body only)
Nikon D3 costs around RM 16,000

Jason Lee and CS Wong both own a D200 each. Click here...
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Ang Sim (Red Heart) Ang Sim is a durian with flesh which is quite soft and very sweet, and dark yellow in colour. It also has a nice aroma.

Khun Poh This durian takes the name of the late Mr Lau Khun Poh, who first budded it. Khun Poh has beautiful orangy flesh with a slightly bitter-sweet taste and a heavy aroma.

Hor Loh (Water Gourd Durian) The flesh of the Hor Loh is very soft, dry and quite bitter. It has a sharp smell to it. Hor Loh was first cultivated at the Brown Estate of Sungai Ara. It got its name from its appearance resembling a "Hor Lor" pumpkin. If the durian hits the ground hard when it falls, the flesh tends to be bitter thereafter.

Ang Heh (Red Prawn Durian) Ang Heh originates from Pondok Upeh, Balik Pulau, and has a round-shaped husk. The orange reddish flesh is highly aromatic, very soft with a bitter-sweet taste.

Xiao Hung (Little Red Durian) Xiao Hung, whose name means "Little Red One," originates in Sungai Pinang, Balik Pulau. The flesh has a bittersweet taste to it, with a touch of sourness. The one that I tasted for this write-up is a bit hard. There are only one or two seeds per section, but the flesh is thick.

Yah Kang (Centipede Durian) Yah Kang is one of my favourite durians. Although its flesh is whitish, the taste is superb, milky, like very sweet, melting chocolate. The name "yah kang" means centipede, and accounts for the number of centipedes found at the foot of the tree, hence giving it the rather unusual name.

Chaer Phoy (Green Skin Durian) Chaer Phoy is shaped like a small canteloupe. The skin is bright green, giving it the name which means "green skin". Chaer Phoy has creamy white flesh which is a bit dry, not too sweet but tasty.

Ang Jin (Red Yoke Durian) As the name suggests, Ang Jin Durian has deep orange flesh. It is very sweet and tasty.

Trekking at Gunung Datuk on Sunday, 13 July

Okay, we carry a few durians to the peak of Gunung Datuk, courtesy of Weng.

She is from Russia. Stay tune for more pictures ...

Posted by KC