it's Bukit Jambul

I have been updating on places I go for work out.... I missed this one though --> Bukit Jambul.

We frequent this place long before our May-expedition plan. This place is in bukit jambul... obviously :P Near Inti College.

a short hike on tar road, then u'll see this track on ur left... usually we'll do warm up here before goin up the track.
There are 2 main tracks.... We are only familiar with the right fork... not sure about the other track, heard it's more 'muddy' (if it rains) or some sort laa.

One good thing about this hill is, the stairs... yaaa... the stairs! hehe.

B.Jambul can be a very short hike for those who are good with stairs... but can be a lil challeging to newbies.

I remember my first time, alongside with some other newbies. I was panting hard and kinda dizzy while another 2 vomitted on the way up. So never underestimate this place :P my first time... i think I took around 35 minutes to reach up. with recent ongoing work-outs, it took me 10 minutes to reach the top :-) happy!

it's a good start for jungle track hikers :-D recommended !
If you are practising for a bigger expedition, goin up and down for 2-3 times is highly recommended.

Once u reach the top, there's this hut where they have weight-lifting equipments available to public. Open gym kinda thing la. So hot hunkies with 6packs + toned muscles can have this spot all for themselves and work it out, man.... :P

And there's also outdoor gym equipment available... so u can work-out ur cardio as well :D

Left: the hut with weight equip, Right: the outdoor equip

or u can just rest....

and enjoy the view:

with a cup of hot ginger tea, crysanthemum tea or just plain waterfree for public.


sometimes you will bump into people who will be carrying one/two bottles of 5litre water to the top. The is water supply on top but the water pressure is quite low. Ouh, on the side note, there is a toilet too, so dun worry in case of emergency :P

Hehehe...

Okies, that's about it... Updates on my work-out places or aktiviti2 cargas recently. This photos are taken after our May-escapade (which I will update later).... this is to so-call warm down from our big hiking expedition... heehe.

Till then... up up up we go !

:*

Stamina bertangga ke Bukit Bendera

WOKES..... mari Cargas semula.

Kali ni ~ Bukit Bendera.

Bukit Bendera or Flag Hill is one of Penang's most popular tourist sites. One of its main attractions is the Cable Car... the other would be the view from top.


To reach Bt Bendera on foot.... there are quite a number of tracks... One from Botanical Garden (MoonGate), then another from Youth Park. Even from MoonGate... there are more than 1 track for us to choose from.

I went hiking there 2 times recently. We started from Moon Gate. There is another track - from the Jeep Route, so it's tar road all the way up. From MoonGate - hill track.

mula-mula... so semangat!

Then jadi mcm nyawa2 ikan bila tgk the stairs.... Stairs of Horror as Zue put it. Tgk je la... byk steps n curam2 jugak :{~

First station: Station 5 ~ here, we have outdoor gym instruments... Free drinks (plain water / chinese tea)- not sure on weekdays ada tak... and resting/lepaking spots.

CONTINUE:

Phew... no mo stairs of horror! but challenging nonetheless. Quite interesting track :-) Nice View along the way.

Our second Station.... Station 84 ~ Resting place and Plain water available.

From station 84.... we can choose whether to continue on hill/jungle track or jeep route (tar road). On our first time, since there were only 3 of us, girls... we chose the tar road since someone told us that the hill track is a bit confusing and we might get lost....

TAR / Jeep Route:
So here's our Tar Road journey, Hehe:
(marked Red - a track approaching from other fork) - this is where we tembus kuar on our 2nd trip.

Yeahhh..... Sampai...Jeep route 5.0 km :D for us: (2.5km from station 84 + hill trek, not sure)



Hill / Jungle Track:
The following week.... we chose the hill trek.

It's very challenging.. very steep and dirty :D but at the same time... nicer view :D
And actually we were quite lost... we were supposed to come out at 4.6km fork.... But we kinda pusing2 bulatan mana entah... and got out at 3.8km, hiking back on jeep route. taking us longer time than expected.



at 4.6km.... we chose another route... not jeep route.... and finally... made it UP to the TOP!




My rough sketch.....
Both these tracks start from Botanical Garden (MoonGate / JeepRoute).



Actually there are more tracks.... There was this guy who told us, they climb to station 5 and from station 5 they use a different track known as Bukit Pondan before exiting to station 84. Aikk bukit pondan? Never heard of it before... maybe next trip eh.... hehe

Ok Bukit Bendera sudah..... What next? :D

Monkey Beach & Muka Head Lite House

Hiking- Monkey Beach & Muka Head Lite House.

Last year and the year before, we went to Kerachut Beach. As story-moried before, Kerachut Beach has meromitic lake and we were lucky enough to have experienced both the phenomenons.

This time, we chose different track. Our target destination = Monkey Beach but the ultimate goal = Light House. For Canopy Walk, we had to take a different fork but we didn't as were not interested to do canopy walk that day.

Look at the board... Monkey Beach is also known as Teluk Duyung? Monkey is Monyet in bahasa and Duyung is Mermaid in English.... Hmmm.... i still can't figure out how to infer this. maybe there's some logical .. no.. maybe some mythical explanation to this :P

All the way, the sight of the sea can be seen / heard.

After around 20-30 minutes...


What caught our eyes:

We passed this building and the beach.... Continued our hike to monkey beach.

And the track got more challenging. The roots, the rantings... which is which pun tak sure daa..

A bit of stunts here and there:

And finally... Monkey Beach.. see any monkeys or duyung (mermaids) ??
Roughly 45minutes.

Yap..Boat Service is avalaible. But on that day, we decided to hike to and fro...

Rehat kejap.... 15minutes.

Then... Ok.. go on?? Hmmmm... the signboard says 1.2 km.. Well... only 1.2 km left maa..

But... OMG.... so la mencabar!!! curam nyaa.. hukhuk....

I was not prepared mentally for the curam-ness... but.. anyhow... after susah payah.... 3o minutes later.... all of us were up there!!! in the lite house... up and looking down at this:

looking over d horizon

Me in d lite bulp:

hmmm...
if I switch On the lights.. will my shadow be seen in the sky just like batman's?

Going back to Monkey Beach

We had our lunch at monkey beach... (kerusi, bench, meja disediakan)....

Sewaktu aku tgh melahap kepak ayam....

mereka datang untuk membuktikan point: "What? mermaids?? This is MONKEY Beach, ok... our Beach! so now gimmie ur chicken or I shall.......%^^&^%$#"


Agak scary, but pandai-pandai lah ... Finish makan cepat-cepat... they came in a group to get wat's left to be scavenged... diggin in the rubbish bins and all...

We hiked back....and we reached the visitor centre at around 2.30pm...

ERK.... My kasut terkorban otw hiking balik... huhu... Imagine hiking back with one side of the shoes ternganga... of course... by the time sampai balik.. jari2 ku sudah melecet... adeh...


BUT.... summary: MMG besss..... and Puas Hati !! :D

Menuju Puncak Gemilang Cahaya...

Back to Active Mode... Cargas! Cewah ...

I did gain some extra weight lately... but that's not the only reason why I am actively working out these days. There's this Cabaran bulan Mei.... a goal to be achieved and for that, I neeeed lotsa lotsa stamina! Stamina!!! phew.. @_@

Btw, it's kinda hard to keep up with gym since I am always on wheel back n forth from my hometown and cramped with workloads. But gosh, I really have to push myself now... May is just around the corner. Like one of my friends said "Semuanya akan berlaku dalam bulan April" Yessz....for me tooo! cramp lah semuanya. Hmpppt... takper, will have my redemption in May, InsyaAllah. Isytihar ia sebagai bulan bercuti-cutian... hehe...

To feed my rusty blog... maybe I shall update on my "stamina-seeeking" activities hor?

Here's one recent one. Hiking BM Hill, the Bukit Mertajam itself or also known as Hutan Lipur BM, or Cherok Tokun Hill.

The bukit :p on top of d hill, there's a stesen pencawang letrik. BM's trademark

With Kak Ilah, Zue, bullert and my sis, we started hiking at 8.30am. Kak Ilah and Bullert took 45minutes, I reached in an hour followed by Zue and Mely 10 mins after that.

So most of the journey up, I was hiking alone tailing Bullert and Kak Ilah and being tailed by the other two. It was tiring - sign that stamina tak cukup? huhu berjaga-jaga lah kamu. It was like neverending hike.. aduih... then after the last pitstop (tempat exercise), I thought it was just a few minutes away.... but no... it was not. But I made a point that I have to continue and reach the top no matter what.. so I just went on and on. "ayyoo di manakah kau wahai pencawang letrik"

Then a girl walked pass me, she looked very determined too. I tried to catch up with her so that I would not be hiking alone somehow.. haha. After a while, she stopped and asked "Berapa jauh lagi?" to which i answered "Taktauuu lah... huuu.. masih tak sampai-sampai ni" Hahhaha.... Her friends had stopped hiking at the last pitstop, waiting for her return from the top...

Catching breath... then both of us continued. She stopped when i stopped to catch some deep breath... and we continued. An elderly couple came down the trail and we asked "How much longer?" When they replied 5 minutes, we got excited... phew.

It took us more than 5 minutes... but we made it finally.....Kak Ilah and Bullert were lepaking, waiting for the rest of us. To mark our kejayaan menuju puncak.... here's a kenangan shot. Her name is May, we got her email to send her this pix. She's from KL and it was her first time hiking there... bagus, bersemangat :-)

Then, Zue and Mely sampai.. aikk with Marlina too... aikk and my bag? Zue was carrying it. Opppss.... Mely gave up on the bag after 3/4 of the journey to which Zue came as savior. And all the while, Zue who got thirsty and kinda dehydrated, carried the bag not knowing there's 2 bottles of water in it... Haha... adeh....all hell breaks loose when I opened the bag and teguk ayaq dengan penuh nikmatnya... wakakaka...

On our way back, we passed by this dog that I saw lingering at the same spot when I climbed. We stopped at the spot to snap some photos. This is view of Mengkuang Dam from Bukit Mertajam. Waa... kalau bleh slide trus sampai ke mengkuang dam kan besss....

Sedang asyik melihat permandangan.... i realised that Toby (yaa.. sudah ada nama, ok) was looking at us with a very sad look. If I was not imagining it, I think I'm kinda sure he was asking for water. Instinct.. hoho. or maybe because I read Toby's mind as his head moved in parallel with my water bottle. I tried pouring some water at the side of the road, but by the time he came near to drink, it was absorbed by earthground. Maka, sebab tu lah terjadinya adegan di bawah ini:

Tuang air dalam petak2 ini... Hehe dan Toby pun minum dengan bahagianya :-) Keshiannyaaa kat dia... Toby si mata Hazel.. This dog looked wellgroomed and had a tag collar. Not sure if he belongs to the stesen pencawang letrik. Guard-dog? But why is he outside the compound and loook so sad and dehydrated and kesian?? :( Marlina saw Toby again few days back and gave him chocolate... (ok, chocolate adalah dilarang ya lain kali sbb nanti haiwan dpt sembelit). Why is Toby still there? Kena abandon ke?? Huhu... sabar ya Toby, kalau aku naik lagi, bawak KFC snack plate kamu mahu tak?

Ok... Till then..

Marilah berlari-lari, berjogi-jogi, berpanjat-panjat.... yeehaaa...

photo credit: BB Fazz

the middle child...

Re-post from facebook.. i had problem earlier to copy into this blog.

Mom used to dress us alike. At times three of us would have the same dress material and color but with different designs. Sometimes, mom only dressed two of us alike and the other differently. I’m the middle child. As a result, (I had a middle child syndrome... opps..) would be either dressed similarly to my elder sis or my younger sis. Some other times, mom would just dress us all differently. But most of the times, I would end up being boria (uniformed) with either one of my sisters.

It’s actually very cute of my mom and some of these dresses were tailored by my mom. I love em and I even remember how it felt wearing them.I never really rebelled over the similarities until I was a teenager. By then, I made sure even the baju kurung cloths are not of the same motifs. Drama Queen, yes.... but now, tak kesah...siap sistem barter baju with my sistas...

in jeans....obviously trying to be different

The shoes… different from the dresses, we usually had the freedom to choose our own shoes... I can recall the shop we always went to...(still operating in bm) Ouh... talking about dramas... i clearly remember one incident... and it was all because of a pair of shoes.

This white shoes… I don’t remember choosing this one, but I remember loving it so much. I was proud of this pair of shoes and I made sure no one touched it.

One day (I was 5 years old) my mom allowed my sister to wear it, we were all supposed to go to the town. She always wanted to try it but I never let her near em. I went all amok and wouldn’t budge until I got my shoes back. Mom tried to persuade but I wasn't listening... so mom left me with dad at home, and went to town with my 2 sisters. I cried, holding on to my beloved window pane, looking at them leave the house with my sister wearing my white shoes. I cried out loud…and shouted “Ye Sappate…” (my shoes) over and over… and I must have fallen asleep crying. Hahaha… :P

Spent the rest of the day with my dad… It was fun as my dad was trying to build up my mood back. When it was getting dark, they came back and headed straight to the pasar malam (night market, just a walking distance) after informing my dad.

Dad dressed me to join them there. Reaching the pasar malam, we slowly walked down the slope; then I saw my mom and sisters not far away. I was very excited; I have forgotten all my anger by then. Forget the shoes… I miss them already! I let go off my dad’s hand and ran down the slope towards them. I vaguely hear my dad shouting something to me. Last thing I remembered, I saw a bright light.


I opened my eyes and I was lying on the road. There was a motorbike in front of me and people surrounding me, and my mom, sisters and dad. I was hit by the motorbike. It was nothing serious but due to that small impact, I fell on the road and had a deep graze wound on my knees and some scratches on my hands.

Then I was carried back to our house. I remember both my parents tending to me while my sisters curiously watched me crying dramatically. My parents put biskut Jacob’s on my arms to sooth the bruises. (Some old-grannies remedies for in-house medication) My mom was not angry, like she was earlier that day. I only see love and deep concern in both my parents’ eyes.

Of course, as I grow up, I realized mom was not angry because she didn’t love me but because I was just overly rebellious. :P:P~


All because of a pair of white shoes...

Lessons I learned:

1. Never to be toooo selfish
2. I will never let go off my dad’s hand again (metaphorically speaking)
3. Parents love… can never be compromised
4. Road safety = important... even in pasar malams. (I hate crossing roads even until now)
5. biskut Jacob's is a multi-purpose food.

:-) how time flies... how fast have we grown...my niece is now 5 years old.....