running up Broga again

Past weekend,  we ran/hiked up Broga again. Thanks to CA’s very own The Wild Gym coordinator; Che for organising such event. As usual, it turned out to be a great escapade. You can never go wrong if you have a place like Broga! Although the meeting time was 7.30am, the Grim Tri (che, shaq and me) decided to start off earlier to catch the glimpse of sunrise from atop.  We were surprised to see such a huge crowd at both the peaks and palm plantation (where the carpark is) when we arrived. This place is definitely getting very popular among photographers and hikers alike. We ran to the first peak in dark, just in time to catch some earlymorning light. It was a rather cloudy morning.

With such steep but runable downhill, it took us barely 10 minutes to run down to the meeting point. Tengku, a young guy from IPTA, our dear friends Doris and Kash & family were there on time. We started off walking but slowly picking up the speed as we progressed through the trail. We had a buffet spread over a huge table-like boulder at the peak. Doris came with Butter cake, Kash with her shandong peanuts, Che with his still icy-cool Milo and Choc Milk, Shaq with Tuna Sandwiches, Tengku with his Sardine sandwiches and myself with cut veggies served with Mustard Honey dip. We had breakfast with a view! Priceless!!

Here are some of the pics taken (camera buat hal halfway thru …shucks)

wild whitewater weekend

Few weeks ago, I blogged about my strong passion in whitewater rafting. I love water activities and practically tried to get myself in any activities that have water involved! Past few weekends, CA collaborated with the local whitewater rafting expert, Riverbug, and organised a rafting and abseiling escapade at Sg. Itek, Gopeng. Nine friends/clients of CA participated in the outing - Zaidi & wife Zetti, Syukran, Anne, Amir and his bro & friend. We also met a nice Singaporean couple, Kiran & Omar; and trio-bachelors, Tengku, Fairuz and Fendi (first stopover of their cuti-cuti malaysia roadtrip). Ahhh the latter reminds me when I was young …

We went through several rapids with grades ranged from 1 -3, namely

Have a look at some of the pics taken:

More photos can be seen at my picasa web album (just copy and paste the add) or just click here.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ianyusof.corporateathletes/WhitewaterRaftingGopeng#

We were served great lunch prepared by the locals after the rafting. All the rafters were then transported to Kg. Geruntum located merely 45mins away from the rafting put-off point, where we abseiled down the Geruntum Waterfall. I’ll upload more pics on abseiling in later post. I plan to organise another rafting trip probably in Feb or March this year. Just look out for the updates in this weblog. Cheerio everyone!

Great run past weekend

Past weekend, CA’s very own thewildgym coordinator, Cheramiche (Che), organized a Trail Running cum PotLuck at Kiara Park. Twelve weekend warriors were there to take up the challenge. Che planned the route in such a way that it resembled the Salomon Trail Run, scheduled on 6th December 2009.

We covered about 14km of trail (based on Shuk’s odometer) and it was really a fun run with a really fun crowd. Here are some of the photos taken using my Olympus miu Tough.

We had a ‘buffet’ spread right after the run. Unfortunately, Syukran & wife Nazlee, and Doris & partner could not join us the potluck. For the rest of us,  we grabbed the opportunity to replenish what were lost during the run (well, based on Shaq’s HR monitor, he lost approximately 1,400 kilocalories). I prepared a do-it-yourself Salad SpringRoll. Big thanks to Kash and hubby for the one-inch thick watermelon slices (really sweet and juicy!), Syah for the jemput-jemput udang (springyly-soft prawn balls – with bite-size prawns in it), and Shuk for the freeflowing icy-cool 100+ and mineral water.

p/s – do check out these guys’ blogs too for more interesting stories.

KASH – http://run-kooky-run.blogspot.com/2009/11/kiara-trail-run-report.html

ENAIKAY – http://enaikay.blogspot.com/2009/11/sneak-preview-kiara-trail-run.html

SYAH - http://iamsyah.blogspot.com/2009/11/salomons-x-trail-and-janda-baik-weekend.html

SHAQ - http://lifeashaq.blogspot.com/2009/11/gbss-kiara-trail-run.html

CHERAMICHE - http://cheramiche.blogspot.com/2009/11/kiara-trail-run-14-nov-09.html

DORIS – http://doriscbwong.blogspot.com/2009/11/kiara-trail-run.html

SHUK – http://runningandsome.blogspot.com/2009/11/thingsof-trail-and-klang.html

SHAKHIR – http://wcr1414.blogspot.com/2009/11/trails-trails-trails.html

Come and join us at The Wild Gym

Corporate Athletes’ thewildgym was created earlier this year to provide the most recent reviews on parks, waterfalls, national parks, adventure activities and so forth. Our main aim is to get people to get active, and to get themselves involved in the outdoor activities, thus lessening the carbo footprints. For Corporate Athletes, the wild is our gym.

In making sure that reviews are proactively added and updated, Corporate Athletes is proud to announce thewildgym’s very own coordinator cum reviewer, and also a dear friend / team-partner of mine; Cheramiche, to look after this Project.

Cheramiche has a very strong passion in mountain climbing since 1999. He has even summited all the seven (7) top highest mountains in Peninsular Malaysia, known as The G7 mountains. He has also done several other mountains, including the highest in South East Asia, Mount Kinabalu.

He has also completed his first adventure race in the gruelling 24hrs race at Kuala Kubu Bharu way back in 2002. Since then, he just couldn’t get enough of adventure racing. He is also a team partner of macambagus; Corporate Athletes’ very own Adventure Racing Team. 

Now, he is one of the common faces in the major running events and adventure races on our local ground. In his free time, he loves to kayak, mountain-bike and bowl. His other hobbies include traveling, adding more Coke Collectibles, and photography. He is now a proud father of two sons.

This coming Saturday, November 14 2009, Cheramiche is organising a trail running at Kiara Park. There will  be a potluck kinda picnic right after. Following is taken from his blog. Come and join us for a good fun. 

——————————————————–

Attention all GBS! – Next Trail Run – Kiara – 14 Nov 2009 – Latest Update

Due to popular demand, we will be having another trail run this Saturday at Kiara Park. Shah suggested that we have a lil picnic so if u feel like bringing something to share, please do so. (sukarela)

In the mean time, here is the post-run ‘menu’;

• Delicious ‘home-made’ che-kodok by Shah
• Water and ‘iced cold’ 100+ by Shuk
• Tasty ‘mouthwatering’ melon by Kash.
• Healthy  ‘tummyfiling’ DIY popiah by Bro Ian

Meet at Kiara Park (TTDI) carpark (in front of the school) around 7.15am (we will try out the Salomon’s X-Trail route). Latecomers will have to run on your own la.. (as a reminder to myself as well not to be late). So please be punctual yer? There will be a group warm-up stretching before we start running (dengarnye our celebrity CA trainer will lead it? ).

See u guys this Saturday then! Dont forget your hydration bag/bottle as the run will be 1.5hrs – 2 hrs long.

Jom? for non-GBS also welcome aa.. I will be The Guide and dont worry, no one get to left behind (but u still have to run ok) we will stop for ‘take 5′ whenever necessary (and to make sure everyone are present).

Just a lil reminder : As we share the same trail with MTBikers, please watch out where you are goin, esp when running up or near a corner. Do shout ‘BIKE!’ if you think the person behind u is not aware of it.

Safe running and enjoy it! Tschuss!

-Cheramiche-

Gopeng Peanut Search (GPS)

Great news! Nomad Adventure is kind enough to extend the early bird entry fee of RM40/pax to Corporate Athletes. Just indicate “Corp Athletes” at the top of your entry form for their ref. Hope to see you there!

 

Gopeng Peanut Search (GPS) is a unique bike orienteering event around the amazing surroundings of Gopeng, Perak.

Each participant will be issued a race passport and a map for orienteering. The challenge is to visit as many checkpoints possible within the 5 hour period. Each checkpoint will have a specific orienteering puncher for participant to mark on their passport. Participant need to affix stamp in the correct numbered box on their passport.

There will be about 20-30 checkpoints around the race course. Points for each checkpoint will vary depending on the difficulty level involved in reaching it (10-20-30). Penalties will also be issued for lateness.

Winner is determined based on the points collected. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined based on the following:

• the competitor(s) that has visited the most high scoring checkpoints (and returned within the time limit)
• the competitor(s) that has visited the most checkpoints (and returned within the time limit)

Participants who returned within the time limit and achieved the minimum score will be eligible for the lucky draw. This is to ensure that all participants’ safety is accounted for and that sponsored items are fairly allocated out.

Although the registration deadline for  GPS is now over, you are still welcomed to join the fun. Just call my dear friend, Wye Yim @ 012-233 4717 to register, or visit Nomad Adventure’s website at  http://www.nomadadventure.com for more info. Their office phone is 03-7958 5152.

Please find below some important information for your reference.

Event Schedule (15 November)
Time              Activity
07.30 am    Registration begins & distribution of course map
08.30 am    Event Briefing
09.00 am    Event Begins
02.00 pm    Cut-off time for event. Penalties will be issued thereafter
Lunch
03.00 pm    Announcement of results. Lucky draw begins.
04.00 pm    Event ends.

Numbers & Goodie Bags Collection
Participants can collect their Numbers & Goodie Bags at the following venues:
a)    Friday 13th Nov
Corezone in SS2, PJ
2.00pm-8.30pm

b)    Sat 14th Nov
Earth Camp in Gopeng, Perak
2.00pm-6.00pm

BikeTrial Demo & Clinic by Syarul @ The Race Boy on 14 Nov
Nomad Adventure is proud to host Syarul @ The Race Boy who will be running special BikeTrial Demo & Clinic during event weekend. Details as follow:-

Date – 14 Nov (Sat)
Time – 2.00pm to 6.00pm
Venue – Earth Camp, Gopeng

Directions to Base Camp
The event base camp is at Earth Camp @ Kg Cholek, Perak. Report here for goodie bag collection and also for the race start & finish.
GPS Coordinates:
N04° 25’50.0”  E101° 10’51.9”

Hope to see you guys there!

A great hike this past weekend up in Nuang

Last weekend, I went up to Mount Nuang in Hulu Langat.  My bootcamp participants came along for the hike.  Saturday was an amazingly beautiful day, and we took full advantage and spent much of it outdoors enjoying the glorious hiking trails of Mount Nuang, the highest mountain in Selangor that stood at 1498m. Of course, we didn’t reach to the top, but we had a great time hiking upto Lolo Camp. Ginger flowers, come in large shape and colours, are thriving this season. Here are a few photos taken along the trail:

 p/s – the Adventure Bootcamp participants enjoyed the 6-hr hike very much, and spent some time dipping in the stream. They did a great job. With this complimentary trip from Corporate Athletes, the first series of Adventure Bootcamp is officially over

Outdoor Cooking

I used to spend my freetime hiking, camping etc. with friends and family. Sadly, I don’t seem to have that much privilege nowadays, owing to my busy schedule as the sole trainer of Corporate Athletes.

I enjoy cooking in the outdoors as well - the smell of burnt wood that gives the food a hickory taste, the rawness and freshness of ingredients. Basically, it’s a back-to-nature simple life.

I enjoy entertaining friends and family with food whenever we are in the outdoors, especially when the food is snapped up within minutes And I can almost assure you that none of these food are from cans or the instant type …. (you know how Malaysians are accustomed to those 2-minute instant noodles during camp-outs) … mine uses the freshest, simplest ingredients that one could find. The basics include veg-based stock Mirepoix (celery, carrots, onions), lotsa pastas, tomatoes, fresh herbs to avoid having to bring bottlles of dried herbs, dried mushrooms (just love them – it gives rather meaty texture to meals) and of course the Olive Oil.

During camp-outs, I cook about 4-5 meals a day in the woods. As most of my trips lasted over 2 nights, I normally have to prepare about 15 meals throughout the trip. Thanks to my gas-burner, I normally handled the outdoor cooking quite fast. In between meals, I take them out for adventure activities. I’m pretty much a full-time chef and trainer during these trips.

I enjoy it so much that I have my signature getaway created for friends, families and foreigners, known as Fitness Adventure Getaway. It’s definitely neither a tour package nor an adventure package. It’s more like a Fitness Training Bootcamp. So far, I managed to include following nationals in my track record – Australians, Germans, Europeans and Russians. To ‘exaggerate’ the foreigners’ gastronomical experience, I even served them our common malaysian cuisine like Satays, Ikan Bakar (bbq fish), cokodok (banana balls) etc., and all of these are prepared under the canopy of our heavily wooded forest! Talking about Outdoor Cooking to the extreme huh.

My first Bootcamp participants will get their first taste of outdoor dining today. They trained very hard throughout the Bootcamp sessions (the last session was last Tues), and I am very happy that they are living actively now. I am taking them to Gunung Nuang this morning. Everything is provided, courtesy of Corporate Athletes.

Have a great weekend everyone!

p/s – those who are taking part in the Siemen’s Run tomorrow, see you guys there. Good luck and enjoy the run. (I’m running with my client, and she’s doing it for her very first time – wish her all the best).

Expedition Report

I’m back to office with perfectly good tan. The weekend trip upnorth was all worth it. The kayak expedition went, …well, almost completely successful if the rain had not set in on the second day. But then again, that is what expedition is all about – filled with discoveries and suprises. It was Saturday the 15th. The weather couldn’t have been better. The sun shone bright on fifty of the expedition members. It was the best feeling on water for some. Ideally, that was the tagline of feelfree kayaks as well, where 25 nos. of its double seaters were used by the members of expedition. These are super flat kayaks, thus, making them super stable and suitable for beginners. The expedition started half an hour late than scheduled, but could be considered ‘on-time’ by the Malaysian standard especially when you have 25 kayaks doing ‘rafting’ formation for some last briefing. The day passed by without much hassle – passed the sea of rubbish fronting Fort Cornwalis and beyond, crossed the ferry path, and underneath the Penang bridge. By this time, the expedition team had separated into two teams – the Fast and the Slow. Most of the time, the Fast had to wait for merely 10 to 15 minutes for the Slow to catch up. But from Penang Bridge onwards, the Fast could no longer wait for the Slow as the water was choppy with some drizzle, with wind beating in. After paddling for a good 7 hours, and 35km away from the put-in point at Pusat Sukan Air Tanjung Bungah, we finally arrived at Pulau Ketam at 4.30pm. A lunch buffet spread (considered luxurious to satisfy our hunger pangs despite of simple chili chicken and fried eggs) awaited us at the village’s main hall. We took time to stroll around the small village and settled for a BBQ seafood dinner in the evening. We slept so tight after the good meal that not even thunder and lightning could wake us up. The next morning we set out for sea at 9.00am routing back to the same point when we started off the day before. In trying to minimise the distance gap between the Fast and the Slow, the Fast was forced to stay behind the Slow. The Fast took it real easy. These proved to slow down the entire team, almost shutting the eyes for some. Further delay set-in when the leader decided to stop for lunch at the famous Fort Cornwalis. With limited beach to park our kayaks, we quickly found shades at nearby park, while witnessing an on-road cycling race held for the local cycling clubs. By this time, the dark clouds were seen moving towards the Batu Feringghi area from north. We quickly finished up our simple boxed-lunch of colourless anchovy fried rice (but darn tasty) and boarded onto our kayaks. And true enough, nighmare started 20 minutes after that. With tides as high as 0.6 metres, we paddled as strong as we can against the wind and rain. We finally managed to arrive at the Pusat Sukan Air at 4.30pm but some of kayakers, probably in 4 to 5 kayaks, were rescued by the police patrol boat, with only one incident of capsized kayak reported. No one was hurt or injured. For a weekend filled with such memorable experience like this is hard to find, and I will definitely look forward to another kayak expedition in near future. A big salute to the Organiser – Pusat Kegiatan Sukan Air Tanjung Bunga (PKSA), Penang, especially to Hidayah and Girlie Tan, who made us feel like home (really respect your patience in handling tough guys like us…hehhehe). Thank you so much. Job well done.

Last Expedition of 2007

I have to admit that the last three months of 2007 are quite quiet with not many races to compete. The last race that MacamBagus competed was Genting Trailblazer 2007 on 11th November. It was a pretty good race and secured the 13th position in the Wild Category. With no other races to look forward , I registered for the kayak expedition in Penang. The expedition route is from Tanjung Bungah – Pulau Aman – Tanjung Bungah, covering approximately 70km in distance …. Not only that, we will also get the privilege to paddle alongside the yellow ferries and underneath the Penang Bridge …. something that I wanted to experience as a Malaysian… to get up close and personal to two of teh Penang highlights..:)… For those who wish to register, the closing date is November 30, 2007 and you can get the entry form by calling Penang Canoe Association at 04-890-9373.