Explore

Ouch Meter!

2008-05-27T22:28:00.002+08:00

It is amazing how one can take pain... Is it true that "pain is a sensation that I can choose to ignore"? I like the way the author of "Bravo Two Zero" when he was held captive. He wrote " my enemy can break every piece of my bone, only I can break my mind down".

I know I can be very task orientated. It is amazing to imagine how can one finish a 45 hours Tahan trail, and did a marathon a week later after having a hairline crack on his right ribs. I dun know how did I continue the 100km Japan Trail after spraining my right ankle at about 30km mark. hmm... Physical pain is probably something I can take pretty well... How well can I coop with emotional hardship?

What is more painful? Where can I find a true Ouch Meter?

Greetings from Philippines

2007-12-29T18:24:00.000+08:00

To all my dear friends…s

It’s coming to the end of 2007, is 2007 a good year for you?! May 2008 be a GREAT year for everyone!

It is Day 39 (29th Dec) at Philippines when this E-mail is transferred to be my blog post. Working at Philippines is a busy affair. I have been working 12 to 14hours everyday, and 6 days per week. I had missed 30 dinners for pass month. In fact, dinner is a luxurious affair. I only have that during my off days, Christmas, and on one of the days my project manager's boss was at Philippines.

There is little motivation to do physical training, and the body is like a drained battery on rest day. My favourite activity for rest day is “pretend to be Tare Panda”. That is to lie flat on my stomach and go into hibernation mode.

In Army, we call the similar activity free falling. The “aircraft exit altitude” is directly proportional to how tired the “jumper” is. I usually did my exit from space.

After seeing many growing nations, I would say Philippines is quite well of among ASEAN countries. The standard of living is equivalent to Thailand. The operators’ monthly salary ranges from 8000 to 10000 PHilippines Peso (1SGD to 28PHP). They had a 20% pay raise without knowing.

FYI, PHP has the highest ASEAN currency growth against USD in 2007. The paper proudly published that, without empathising to the Nation – it is tougher to sell Philippines product now.

There are heaps of islands in this country. 7107 is the official figure now. Philippines lie on the West Pacific “Ring of Fire”. Volcanic eruption under the sea may increase the island statistic.

The country is also exposed to the cooling effect of planet Earth. During my first week in Philippines, typhoon number thirteen (Mina) hit the country. FYI, all typhoons are named in alphabetical order. The meteorologists love to use ladies’ name to name them. Maybe because women can be scary, but they always hope it would be a gentle one coming. In States, the naming is continuous. That means after 26cycles, you should hear another “Katherine” (She maybe call “Karina” the next time)… It usually takes more than a two year for the repetition to occur in the big country. In Philippines, I guess the reset button can be pressed annually within 24months.

My mama believes Singapore is the only safe country on Planet Earth. When I was studying at Australia, she was very worried when she heard about the student murder case in Sydney. I tried to explain the distance from Brisbane is far from Sydney. I would never meet the murderer unless I travel the distant equivalent of Singapore to HatYai, Thailand. There was a curfew at Makati, during week one of my stay. The rebel seized Peninsula Hotel. I must say, the country is really ready for such incident. All rebels surrendered within 24hours.

There isn’t lotsa BUTTER on everyone breakfast table, but there is always enough JAM to delay everyone on the road. Filipina may not eat to their fill everyday, but there are always holes on tarmac road to create opportunities for people fill them up.

I stayed at Bellevue Hotel, Alabang, during my initial 26 days. There are two nice shopping malls near my hotel. One is for the “rich” the other is for the “richer”… A Nike Top which is sold at 50% discount at Festival Mall may have no discount at Alabang Town Centre. Anyway, for the factory operators, 50% discount or 600peso is a lot of money. Alabang (30km south of Manila) is a nice place to stay. However, the daily return travel time can be easily more an hour, depending on road condition.

General Air Photo of Luzon island
(Bellevue is the hotel I stay for 26days, Santa Rosa is the place I work)

For the last 13days I am staying at Techno Park Hotel, an Ulu hotel 3-5min drive to my work place. The hotel can be pretty noisy during weekend. The breakfast and internet connection isn’t awesome. The only plus is Mount Ma-Ki-Ling can be seen from my balcony... and there is a long road which I can see Makiling when running. I would love to trek at Makiling. I would love to trek up Makiling. Sadly, one of the local climbers told me the trail is no longer accessable after the last typhoon.

Life is tough!! Why can’t there be a hotel with a mountain outside my window and cute front desk meimei. I am returning to the cute meimei at Alabang tomorrow.

MaKiLing from Techno Park Hotel Balcony

For almost four hundred years, Philippines was a Spanish colony. The American marched and took over the command in 1898, following the Spanish-American War. The Yankees left during Dec 1941 (initial World War 2) after the Japanese hit Pearl harbour. On 20 October 1944, General MacArthur executed his promise to return to the Philippines. The landings on the island of Leyte were accomplished with an amphibious force of 700 vessels and 174 000 army and navy servicemen. The fight carried on till 2nd Sep 1945 when General Yamashita surrendered.

I think the Japanese really fight with very good sprit! Should there be no atomic bomb drop, I am sure the Red Army would continue till the last drop of blood is shed on the foreign land?! That is Philippines history, the influence of Spanish (people using Spanish name) and American can still be seen on many islands.

With much foreign influence, Filipinas are very friendly. Tourism is never a major industry in the country. The people in customers’ factory generally welcome my presence. There are friendly people who taught me Tagalog. The age group of my mentors shifted to the senior auntie when I told the younger gals I am thirty and have a “girl friend” who I love dearly. As of the men, I am working with a more hardworking group now. They understand I don’t play soccer and would only chat when I can achieve good machine output with low reject rate.

Volcano Taal from Tagaytai

It is my off day again. My previous break was spent at Tagaytai looking at Volcano Taal. I heard much of the volcano and wanted to climb it. However, it’s smaller and more expensive than what I perceived. To make things worse, the agent who wanna bring up the volcano insisted I should do with a horse. There is nothing special about this volcano, and I would prefer going to Rinjani again. This volcano was “skipped” when she was in front of me...

I had done the hour run today. More importantly, I am taking my dinner (Kim Bao) when updating this blog!

Celebrate Life…

Chee Meng

Techno Park Hotel de Laguna Bay

Already Thirty...

2007-11-08T09:51:00.001+08:00

There is a Chinese saying Nan Ren San Shi Er Li - “Men start to establish at the age of thirty”. Should I establish my career? Set a great ambition? Unlike the ancient China people, I can NEVER “Li Guo Zhi Tian Xia” (establish my country and rule the world) in Singapore.

Sincerely, I don’t know what more should I “establish”? Are there more things that I want to accomplish in my life? Maybe I should throw myself another challenge at the age of thirty? An iron man race sounds good, desert race is cool. Doing three mountains above 6000m within a season would be equally challenging.

A friend told me she wants to marry at the age of thirty! How can one plan and execute a marriage within a year? I was blown away when she told me the things she did. She is brave to be so truthful. The focus she had for getting married was tremendous. She had gone beyond my ability to stay focus when I was doing my Ranger Course.

Maybe I should think of marrying? I think getting married is tougher than doing combined iron man race, desert race and the mountain trip. It was not as if I never thought of settling down. But there must be a good reason to marry. I must meet the lady, and the lady must be convinced I am the man for her. It is tough for me to like someone whole-heartedly. I know by allowing myself to love someone, I am allowing that person to leave behind a foot print on my heart. I must admit, deep down inside. I can be super arrogant to love and too easy to give up. I would stubbornly leave the person I like if she is convinced she can find her “happyness” elsewhere.

Marriage aside, I was shocked that there are folks who can’t wait to tell me how happy they would be when I turn thirty years old. I can’t remember how many birthday “mocking” I had before and on the 10 Sep. I laugh over many of them, they are good reminders of what I have been treating these monkeys.

Among all greetings there is a special one. It would always be a special one. A friend wrote me a poem! I was super impressed, and read it a few times. Writing a poem is something beyond me in a million years. She wrote it remembering little things I did, saved the file on 10Sep, and sent it within the first hour of my birthday. Superb effort!

Apart from all the greetings, there were happy celebration moments with the three ladies, plus Michael and Alan at Vivo City. Linda Tan was nice to get a green tea cake. Well… I seldom have cake on my birthday.

My S.W.E.E.T (She Would Enjoy Entertaining “Teman*”) colleague, Ivy Ngiam, also organised a little gathering after SAFRA Adventure Race for me. Sadly, Joanne was not around. Nonetheless, I am glad to have Catherine, Kee Leng, Jack, Thiam Huat, Karen, Nicholas and Linda Tay. I had a cake again! I don’t know how Ivy did it… she got Kee Leng to get a very very big Tiramisu cake after their shape run. To empathise how big the cake was, we could not even finish half of it.

I had dinner with Dr Tan on my actual birthday. I was pretty looking forward to it. Sadly, she wasn’t in the best of her mood. I believe everyone does not like to be confronted. She had a bad day. It was the night that she “rain deep inside”. She said she is sorry. I thought that is fine… During Army days, I hate it when my sergeant wanted to inspect my weapon. To me, weapon is a sacred item. I would keep it operational ready. The sergeant doubted my pride for my weapon when he attempted to inspect it. Everyone has a personal “thin red line” when come to pride. Dr Tan probably felt the pride for work was challenged, when her boss asked her for a closed-door session.

After dinner, I was with Eric working night shift at a production plant near Redhill. The operators working on my line are largely from Southern Province of China. These people work diligently everyday. The only thing they look forward to is the monthly paycheck. After collecting the paycheck for 24times, they would see the passport which the company took away from them on Day 1. They can choose to reset the counter or go back to home after 24months. It can be a little sad looking at them. We speak similar Chinese; the only difference is… my grandpa arrived on Singapore 60years earlier.

518400 seconds is deposited into everyone account everyday. It is up to individual how they want to spend their precious time. I got to really THINK. It has been thirty good years. I had accomplished most of the things I aimed for. By doing that, I gained quite a lot and lose some.

I need to access…

Will my little ego hinder the objectives I am fighting for?
Am I on the correct time and space?
What more can I accomplish, what are the price to pay?

It is important not to climb all mountains. I planned to expose myself to more uncomfortable conditions and more responsibilities selectively. After looking back at some incidents, I won’t allow FATE to control what I want to do. Like climbing mountain, I’d strategise and test how much “faster, further and harder” I can push.

*Teman aka Kawan means friends in Malay

XinJiang Part 3 - To the Summit

2007-11-03T14:30:00.001+08:00

Video of the Mountain out "there" by one of the China Team Member, Xiao Hei

Joanne shared with me her experience boiling hot water during her recent climb at Cho Oyu. I would believe most people know how to boil water. Everyone knows atmospheric pressure drop as altitude increase. I believe my Sunnto watch register altitude base on barometer and temperature reading. I realised the change of pressure is quite proportional. Do U guys know the effect of the effect of pressure on water boiling point?

Boiling point is defined as the temperature liquid change to gaseous state. OR to put in more “chim”, it is the state when the pressure of liquid changing to gaseous state is equal to surrounding pressure. Pure water boils at 100degree C at 1 atmospheric pressure, approximately 1bar.

A rough guide - water boiling temperature decrease by 5.5degree C for every thousand metre ascend. If this is true, water would boil at 56degree C at Everest C4 (8000m asl)? Other interesting facts to take note, the time needed to boil the same volume of water increases. One good method to conserve fuel is to create high pressure in a low ambient pressure environment. Putting a firm lid on the pot helps to reduce the amount of kerosene/butane a climber needs to bring up the mountain.

My friend Kee Leng bakes cookies. She told baking powder is an alkaline which causes cookie to grow by releasing gas at high temperature. She also shared her experience of baking with more butter using white and brown sugar at vary temperature. My mum bakes too. While she doesn’t involve herself with writing paper for process, I am pretty sure she bakes better than Kee Leng. Hopefully, Kee Leng would not throw in so much theory and continue baking better cookie for me.

A little input on high altitude baking… water evaporates faster at low pressure condition. This can cause cookie to be too sweet. Also at high altitude, the cookie may “rise” excessively. In short, one should decrease baking powder and sugar while increase water and probably temperature when baking at high altitude.

If “Acclimatisation” is like doing homework, the trek for summit is like doing examination. My team has done the homework diligently. We climbed repeatedly to higher altitude and adjust our body to the pressure up “there”. Our bodies were busy growing red blood cells when we were “doing nothing”. There is a two days break before summit bid. I proposed going Tashkorgan prior to taking the examination. It is a much needed break for me. Through the experience of climbing Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro. I believe a break before doing a higher mountain would only be beneficial.

The trip to Tashkorgan was tiring but worth the effort

Minus Linda, my team and all three guides went down. We had the food prepared at lower altitude, and our stomachs seem to appreciate the food better. After ten days above 4400m asl, my body adjust comfortably at Tashkorgan. Rest heart rate was at 60bpm compare to 80bpm when I first hit 3200m asl. Apart from food, we have the ability to communicate to the outside world as and when we like. (The mobile phone reception at base camp is bad, one has to walk ten min to a solar power reception antenna)

After one night at Tashkorgan, my team returned to Mustagh Ata BC. Phei Sunn then initiated packing some food for friendly Linda Tan. I decided to pack more than her normal diet as she deserved the more needed nourishment. We also pack 2 chickens for our Chinese friends. The journey from 204 to BC was experiencial. I lose count the number of times the bike I took broke down. Our driver “Jiang Bie He” tried to repair his 6000yuan 4WD at his village (somewhere between 204 and BC). I seized the opportunity to take some photo of the local.

Photo taken at Jiang Bie He's village

Before the summit bid, Linda, Joyce and me chatted with the Koreans. Apparently, I received a Korea written letter from another European climber during my last acclaimisation climb at Camp 2. The climber told me, “Four Koreans are at C3. They look fine, and they have enough food and fuel. This is a letter for the BC manager.”

The weather during my final acclimatisation climb wasn’t fantastic. I wasn’t thinking much when I walked from C2 to BC. The content of the letter was reviewed by the BC manager. Apparently, the Koreans are doing the mountain Alpine style.
i.e. they do not have any guide, and the climbers have to be self sufficient in term of logistics for each camp. It is a very independent climbing method, but the risk can be high… In fact, Korea team went a little over the dangerous edge.

Mustagh Ata from 204

Mustagh Ata doesn’t look difficult at all. Like what my head guide, San Ji Mu, narrated, “It seem possible to climb the peak within a day from BC”. The tough part for the mountain is probably… “Father of Ice Mountain” looked too simple. When we were back from Tashkorgan, we realised three of the four Koreans rescued were in good shape now. The fourth climber, leader of the team, was yet to be found.

My team planned to stand on 7546m asl on 20 Jul 07. The weather was great when we set off for C1 on 17 Jul 07. While I planned for an alternate summit date on 23/24 Jul 07, I knew Phei Sunn could not extend her stay. Quietly, I hoped for the weather to last til our summit day.

The walk from C1 to C2

Moving from BC to C2 was easy. One can easily tell the difference between an acclimatised climber and first timer. As the weather was great, I took photograph as I approach C1 and C2. Sadly, my lips was burn as I move toward the sun. My pace was good, and I managed to reach these camp sites within 6hours. I felt better sleeping at 6200m asl then.

The walk from C2 to C3

The true challenge came in when we attempt C3 at 6900m asl. Linda was apprehensive as she did not even reach C2 during the last acclimatisation climb. Nonetheless, I thought she would be fine. She has a cutting edge over me. Her appetite was always better than me at high altitude. True enough, I lose appetite at C3, like the first time I was at C2. I only consume dried preserve mango and GU gel.

The weather for summit bid was much better, but it can be dangerous when clouds start to come it.
Above, Kim Boon's crevasse (death trap between C2 and C3)

Ambient temperature decreases by 6 degree C for every thousand metre ascend. The temperature drop can be harsher as region not exposing to land and sea breeze. At C3, the sleeping bag rated at minus 25c is not warm enough at night. I have to sleep with my fleece jacket.

On 20.07.2007, we attempted for summit. The sky was clear but the wind was strong. I believe the speed is at close to 10knots when we first began walking. The day break almost immediately after we start walking. Linda and me took the lead while Joyce is following close behind. She was using Linda and me as wind shield. We were told, such condition is considered good weather at 7000m. We tried to call for Phei Sunn to fell back a little. But the howling wind has upperhand in term of volume. It was pretty scary to see all the foot steps erased by wind almost instantaneously. I was unable to shout. To talk and walk is difficult at 7000m asl. I was happy with every efforted step, every step mean a new altitude record to me.

The final approach to summit

As we were approaching the summit, we saw two Tibetan guides coming down. Together with them was “something” wrapped in a sleeping bag. They found the Korean team leader at just above 7000m! I thougth of taking a shot to document this incident… Eventually, something stopped me. I thought there should be more respect for the dead alpine climber. He could had make it back to the C3 should there be a guide with him. He had choosen to take the risk. This is the third dead incident on the mountain during 2007 climb season. My nearest encounter of dead angel dancing around me.

San Ji Mu warned us about the turn around time at 1330. When it was 1330, we were searching for the true summit. It is not easy to find the pinnacle while walking on the plateau. Eventually, Joyce reached the summit, follow by me and Linda. All of us hit the summit after the designated turn around time. Descending was tougher than I though. I has not been eating proper food for more than a day, the summit push literally drain most of my energy. With the help of Ren Qing, I made it to close to 7200m. He started to feel a little snow blind and I walk the rest of the way to C3. I am thankful that sun set at close to 10pm at Mustagh Ata during summer.

Another night at C3 was pretty torturous. It was another night my body rejected food. On 21 Jul 07, Joyce, Linda and me make our way to BC at 9am. We heard about a Swiss lady who was evacuated the day before at C3. How I wish someone would come to evacuate me. I was able to walk but was really tired. My guide offered to carry my pack for me. I was quick to agree.

When we reach C1, I saw another Chinese group. They had finished their last acclimatisation cycle and were on their way down from C2. One of the couple look super tired. I felt better after changing to my trekking boots at C1. One of my guides, Hong Bo, who sent Phei Sunn to BC the day before was making his way to C1. He volunteered to to carry Linda’s pack for her. Linda rejected the offer stubbornly. Phei Sunn who had decided to turn back a day early was at BC, she left for Khasgar when we reached BC. We were congratulated by the local climbers. I was relieved I had ended my mission for 2007.

At BC, I started taking food… and remember about home.

Faces of Khasgar

XinJiang Part 2 - Acclimatising

2007-10-07T00:45:00.000+08:00

I have been very busy with work lately… There is less time for training, and I kinda losing focus on “Mission Impossible” for year 2008. Before going into 2008, I shall continue with what I have to do for 2007 – Pen my thought for “Mission Impossible 2007”. I am lazy and shall edit works of one of my team mates, Phei Sunn, for this blog.

Camels waiting to haul the load to Base Camp

The Trek from 204 to Base Camp

My team was at "Mustagh 204" on 5th July, it took the team almost one week to be "THERE". Travelling with three very different ladies is experiential. I wondered how Master Kim Boon managed 7 women during last year climbing season. I meet the rest of the support crew and some of the climbers around 3pm. The long waited to ascent for Base Camp began. The climb consists of 5 sections - Base Camp BC (4,400m), Camp1 C1 (5,500m), Camp2 C2 (6,200m), Camp3 C3 (6,900m) and Summit (7,564m).

Building Base Camp

What we need to do next is as Phei Sunn described – “Paint a Picture”. There is a series of drill that we have to do before going for summit. These drills are important as part we need to grow more red blood cells within days. “Acclimatisation” is the name of the drill.

Our First Acclimatisation Walk

Our roles for the next ten days were to go up BC -> C1, back down, BC -> C1 stay overnight, down. BC -> C1 -> C2 stay overnight, down. “Imagine the mountain as a canvas and you're painting. Every swoosh of the paintbrush paints a longer stroke than before. You get the picture. Except that each upward swoosh took an average of 5-8hours, and each downward ~3-6h, depending on physical condition.” All climbers have to go through this drill. My team was relatively lucky, while the weather wasn’t fantastic, we had the schedule on track.

Short Video on Acclimatisation Walk from C1 to C2

That was how we spent our first ten days - "acclimatising". In between every swoosh, we get a 1-day rest at BC. This is the day, we eat and relax. There is another Chinese team led by an experienced climb, Song Yu Jiang. While I dun have much opportunity to talk to him. I enjoyed going to his tent talking to his base camp manager, Xiao Mu. There is another guy who always spend his time at Song’s base camp. He, Zhou Jiang, is from XinJiang Climbing Federation. Zhou Jiang’s job is to stop the foreign teams from climbing without permit. He stand between Mustagh and my team during the initial climb phase. Nonetheless, he also helped my team to proceed with the climb at a lower “Communication Officer” fee.

XiaoMu, the BC manager for Song's team
Zhou Jiang and me at BC

While “painting the picture” sounds easy, but it's totally taxing. Base camp is at 4400m asl, 300m higher than the highest Mt. Kinabalu in SE Asia. During the first ten days, the team went to C1 at 5,500m three times. That is almost like scaling Europe highest mountain (Elbrus, 5642m) three times within a week. And C2 at 6,200m is like Denali (North America Highest Mountain). When we next reach C3 eventually at 6,900m before summit day, the team would have covered Mt Aconcagua in Argentina. And we aren't even at the summit yet!

Acclimatisation Walk from C1 to C2

I like to look at climbing as a very strategical mission. I prefer to plan them into phases, and claim my new altitude record bit by bit. BC was a rather luxurious affair, the best I had witnessed. At least the logistics and tents look impressive. The guy, Mr Shi Kai Feng, who set it up was a recent BC manager at Everest, hence the semblance of orderliness. We each had a tent to ourselves at BC -- the need for personal space & privacy during rest time was vital. There was just a simple problem - the food was horrible.

I never thought cooking is difficult when I was studying at Australia. Indeed, it is not that tough as sea level. One should take note how altitude can make a difference on cooking. If 1 litre of water takes 3min to boils at 100 degree C. The same amount of water would take around 20min to boil at about 80 degree C at BC. Do take note, the calculation does not take ambient temperature into consideration. My cook never done any high altitude cooking prior to my Mustagh trip. Phei Sunn tried to make half boil “YaKun style eggs”, but alas, boiled water was not hot enough at Basecamp to cook it even after 15min of soaking.

The food at BC (left), and food at Tashkurgan (right)

Food is an art to any true-blooded Singaporean. In the mountains, we need it to replenish and repair. My resting heart rates at Basecamp averaged 90-100. That was almost double our sea-level of my 50-60.Just sitting around doing nothing, the basal metabolic rates have increased. On each swooshing of 5-8hr, we typically consumed one packet of Gu-gel, some Oreos, vacuum-packed sausage &/ or chocs. In relative comparison, we take about 3-4 gels per marathon. That was how much abuse our bodies were getting.

Preparing food at BC for C1 and C2

At BC, food-oh-glorious was reduced to beneath functionality. There were tonnes of carbohydrate, but nothing nutritious that allowed for recovery of loss muscles, strength etc. Vegetables were always cooked with mutton, and after a week my team and me were sick of the meat. Sadly, I can’t also have problem eating (especially food with strong smell) at high altitude. So far, I know I don’t reject preserve mango and my favourite Triberry GU gel. High altitude does funny tweaking to one's taste buds.

We started fantasizing of everything salty. Like chicken-in-a-biscuit, potato chips, french fries... Then we tried asking our Cook to fry eggs sunny-side up -- they turned up drenched in oil with cooked yolks.

To me, mountaineering is about playing with science and logic. Every action would cause a reaction. One has to be dynamic to survive the terrain with uncountable possibilities of screwing up a climb.

Sunset from Mustagh Ata Base Camp

XinJiang Part 1 - Getting "THERE"

2007-09-23T00:47:00.000+08:00

Journey to Base Camp Mustagh Ata involved three flights and a six hours bus ride from Kasghar aka Kashi to “204”. “204” is actually the distance in kilometer from Kashgar along Karakoram Highway, KKH. Karakoram literally means “Crumbling Rock” in Turkish.

Mountains along Karakoram and Himalaya were form about 55millions years ago. KKH threads its way through 5 mountain ranges: the Pamir, the Kunlun, the Karakoram, the Hindukush and the Himalaya. The land (Indian continental plate) moves northward at the speed of 5cm/year. That is also the speed Tasmania is drifting from Antartica, or the rate our fingernails grow. Earth tremors every three minutes.

Mustagh Ata at 7546m asl along KKH at 4000m asl
look like a "simple" white mountain

Mustagh or Muztagh literally means “Ice Mountain” in Uyghur (Wei Wu Er language), and Mustagh Ata or 慕士塔格峰 mean “Father of Ice Mountain”. It is sometimes refer as part of Kunlun, although it is physically closer to the Pamir. The word “Pamir” roughly mean “pasture” in local dialect, it can be geologically described as a flat plateau which rises in excess of 4000m asl. Walking at such altitude is not an easy task. As the 20-century scholar-traveller John Staley wrote: ‘this is terrain in which birds in flight are seen against a backgroung of mountain’. The birds probably know about Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) long before human attempt high altitude mountaineering.

I was a little curious and unconvinced when read about John Staley remarks. I read about geese that migrant over Mount Everest at 8848m asl. I did a little search and found an interesting fact – “The highest-flying bird ever recorded was a Ruppell's griffon, a vulture with a wingspan of about 10 feet. On 29th November 1975, a Ruppell's griffon was sucked into a jet engine 37,900 feet above the Ivory Coast, more than a mile and a half higher than the summit of Mount Everest.” The plane was damaged, but it landed safely to tell the World the story.

Road from Khasgar toward Tashkurgan

On 29th June 2007, Linda and Joyce took Thai Airway to Chengdu at 8am, my Silkair departed about two hours later. I was shocked to see the ladies at luggage collection area when I reached Chengdu. Apparently, their luggage was lost during the transit at Bangkok. We waited a while for the paper work to complete. We realised our booked transport to Sim’s Cozy wasn’t ready after we cleared the custom. It took a while before three of us make it to Sim’s Cosy again.

This is the third time I am Chengdu. Mr Sim never fails to improve the environment of his little cozy guest house each time I visit. We paid the internal connecting flight, which cost us 4130Yuan/each. Zeng Xin, our trip coordinator came during late evening to discuss the trip. There were two main discreptancies to be sort out in the very beginning - climb schedule and a climbing permit which cost the team 8900yuan.

We met Phei Sunn at Chengdu, Shuang Liu International Airport the next day at around noon time. The team was supposed to catch the flight from Chengdu to Urumqi about two hours later. However, the flight was delayed. This delayed our arrival date at Khasgar. It was 1st July, we reached Khasgar, the start point of 1300km Karakoram highway which leads all the way to Islamabad through Khunjerab Pass at 4730m asl. History of Khasgar runs more than 2000years ago. There are official document of Alexander the Great conquer this piece of land, India King Asoka and Chinese emperors were also masters of this city. There is a saying, “One doesn’t know how vast China is till he sees XinJiang, and one doesn’t know XinJiang til he sees Khasgar.” The statement highlights the importance Khasgar as a trading city for central Asia.

My Team at Khasgar, turning cock-wise...

San Ji Mu at Bottom Right in Khaki Top, Phei Sunn, Lang Tou, Hong Bo, Joyce, Ren Qing, Me, Linda, Jian Qiang

The head guide for the Mustagh Ata is “San Ji Mu”. Ren Qing and Hong Bo would be assisting him to make our mountaineering trip a successful one. San Ji Mu is no stranger to me. He was also the guide for my Au Tai Na trip during Dec 2005. Together with four of us, is another Chinese climber, Lin Chong. We would only see him at Mustagh base camp.

Our expediation group would tag along one of the Xin Jiang teams lead by Yang Chun Feng. We met another guy, Yan Jian Qiang, the same day. We discussed about the climb schedule again. It is also during this period when we sort out our payment. 16000Yuan for the guide and 2225Yuan each for the climbing permit. Working with shrewd Zeng Xin remotely was not quite an easy task. My head guide would normal communicate with his chief guide, Su La Wang Ping, when he face a difficult situation.

As it is the very beginning of the trip, we are very “cooperative” when come to payments. I wasn’t too sure if Zeng Xin thinks I am stupid when I made payment without seeing any receipt. I was actually sticking to the S$4000 budget which I was told before of the trip. We were successfully with pushing the climb schedule early. On 2nd July, Joyce, Linda, Phei Sunn and me would proceed to Tashkurgan at 3200m asl. We’ll stay there for two nights and proceed to Karakul Lake at 3600-3700m asl on 4th July. The team would proceed to Mustagh Ata base camp at 4400m asl on 5th July. We tried to follow the rule of keeping the daily ascend within 2000 feet when we were above 2500m asl.

On 2nd July, we took the bus southernly to Tashkurgan. That is also the day my pink nalgene bottle parted me. We realised there are two timing in Xin Jiang, the official BeiJing time and an unofficial Xin Jiang time. All flights and bus schedules follow BeiJing time. However, if one needs to discuss timing with another local. It maybe wise to ask which timing does he refers to. For 9am bus departure actually mean 7am XinJiang time. Unlike Khasgar which consist of mainly Uyghur, Tajiks (Ta Ji Te ethnic group) are the main inhabitant of the town which is near ro Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Mount Kongur or Gong Ge Er from Karakul Lake

We moved north to Karakul Lake on 4th July. Karakul Lake is some 196km from Khasgar, about 8km North of Mustagh Ata and 8km South West of 7719m Mount Kongur. Karakul literally means “black lake” in Uyugur. But the water there is actually blue. This is place Kyrgyz (Ke ethnic group) nomad stay. Karakul is a good place to do a day hike. U may also arrange a horse excursion around the lake or simply laze under the sun admiring the two giants that was “pushed” off the Ocean bed. It is the first time I stay in the Mongolian tent. As we travelled in a relatively large group, we got to stay in the tent at 20Yuan per night.

Mustagh Ata from Karakul Lake

It is virtually impossible to pen the history of Khasgar, Tashkurgan and Karakul. As you have read, the places are link to many different ethnic groups. As the places lie on ancient Silk Road, many conquerors tired relentlessly to capture and hold this important trade route. I would use photographs to display people, food and sceneries between Khasgar and Tashkurgan.

Traditional Food of Khasgar, Mutton Bun and Kebab

Stone City and "Pamir" beyond

Smiles from XinJiang

Planning for the 2007 trip

2007-09-11T22:19:00.000+08:00

I had enjoyed long holidays during Year 2005. Year 2006 was a year of work and many races. Being deprived from nature, snow, high altitude and a good holiday. I wanted an uncommon holiday that can stretch up to a month. The holiday should be challenging and something I should have some difficulty accomplishing.

Wee Lee at high camp, over seeing Chulu East at 6500m asl

Since June 2003, I have never breathed the air above 6000m asl (above sea level). The decision was made during late 2006 - a high altitude (above 7000m) mountaineering trip. Many peaks were considered. Below are some of them…

Personally, I favor the simpler 7000er. The peak should have minimum avalanche risk and the mountain gradient not exceeding 60degree. Finally, we zoomed down to three peaks.
>>> Lhakpa Ri at Tibet, an easy 7000m peak next to Everest. The gradient varies from 20-48degree.
>>> Dhaulagiri VII at Nepal, one of the routes at northern flank is about 35degree. This peak is less explored. Snowfall is less during autumn season.
>>> Muztagh Ata at XinJiang. There are two routes to summit. Muztagh is described at one of the easiest peak above 7000m. The gradient is around 35degree below 7400m and 15-20degree above 7400m.

The price for individual peaks was considered with 3-5climbers in mind. Dhaulagiri VII was the first peak removed from the list. The total cost for climbing this peak is more than S$8500/climber. The main contributing factor for the exorbitant price is the climbing permit at USD3000/team. Lhakpa Ri can be done at around USD4200 – 4500 (excluding airfare) depending approach route to the mountain, Kathmandu or Chengdu. Muztagh Ata is most attractive in term of price. According to my China counterpart, the climb would cost S$4000. All costs would be covered from Khasgar onward. However, the journey to Khasgar is furthest and the estimated cost for flight was at S$1400.

During the early stage, I only know Linda Tan was extremely interested to climb a 7000er. She has been super helpful and very motivated. We started looking for teammates. We then invited a few friends who have done mountains higher that 6000m asl. Most of them have problem obtaining one month leave from their boss or love one. Initially, the team is formed with JiaYing, Joyce, Linda, Michael and me. As time passes, Michael and JiaYing realized they were unable to commit. Phei Sunn came in later.

During March, we were searching for possible agent. Summit Climb, San Au Xue Shan and Singapore Adventure Club are our possible choice. Sa Au was chosen as my team mates and I have good experience working with them previously. Linda did most of the coordinations after we decided on San Au Xue Shan.

Alan, Micheal and me did Au Tai Na at Hei Shui during Dec 2005 with San Au Xue Shan

Physical fitness is the hallmark for all outdoor activities, the team engaged into a series of trainings which include runs, long walk (6-8hours) with load, stair climbing on HDB and Bukit Timah nature reserve. We were training an average of three or four sessions a week. Personally, I also planned for a trip to Mount Kinabalu as part of my training before Muztagh Ata.

I was out stationed most of the time from April till May. I spent a total of three weeks at Korea and another three weeks at Munich, Germany. Training was very much disturbed then. There were little training when I was at Korea, and I can only do run when I was at Germany. Apart from work commitment, a fair bit of time was devoted to training.

Mount Kinabalu was the main highlight of my training. While Kinabalu is one of the highest pinnacles at South East Asia, it is lower than Muztagh base camp. I have Trun Wee, Yew Mun, Chwee Ling, Kar Eng, Lauryn, JiaYing and his GF for the trip. There are not many changes on terrain since I first trek the peak with Chee Yuan and his wife during June 2001. However the price and number of people climbing the mountain increased tremendously after the mountain was adopted by UNESCO during late 2001. Any booking should be done at least 4-6months prior to the climb date.

Mount Kinabalu via Mersilau Trail

Summit Shots of loving husbands and wives....

Apart from physical training, logistic is also another main concern. Thanks to Linda’s coordination, we paid little for the required equipment from NUS. I am impressed by her capability to pick 4 pair of boots, 4 set of snow shoes, some booties and mitten all by herself. She made things easy for the team. We only need to pick up what we need from her place.

Final Week at Munich

2007-05-04T03:41:00.000+08:00

Third and final week at München. I guessed I should really spend sometime to see the München I visited almost seven years ago. I revisited the Englischer Garten (English garden) and Olympics park again. I did not drink at the Chinese Tower nor did I pay two Euro to enter München stadium again.

Munich Olympic Park

April is an educator, JiaYing is with defence and Yifeng has been going round planet Earth taking photo. I remember how excited I was when I was traveling on Eurail using youth card with three other students then. Those were indeed the good days.

Chinese Tower at English Garden?

There is about 1.3million people living in München city. The number did not really grow exponentially over the decade. The habit did not change much over the years too… Englischer Garten is still filled with people during weekend who are there to dry the beer barrel. Weisse Beer or Dunkel (dark) Weisse beer never failed to bring people around the world to sit patiently waiting for another mug.

"Photo were taken repeatedly" at Marienplatz

Hofbräuhaus and Marienplatz are places that most tourists would never miss when they at Munich, I was no exception. Many photo were taken repeatedly when I bypassed these places.

Bavarian State Opera House on Max-Joseph Platz

I have been lazy and don’t have much chance to update my blog. Thanks to Labour Day, I won’t be was sitting in my room editing my blog. I am leaving Munich on 4th May at 2110. Should be reaching Singapore at 1930 the following day...

Second Week at Munich

2007-05-02T04:07:00.000+08:00

During my stay at Munchen, there is a lady who has been updating me all the running sessions my Singapore mates had. I thank Kee Leng during one of my E-mails to her. I appreciated that as her mail kept me from slacking. Below is the poem Kee Leng shared after one of the hill run… I hope she doesn’t mind I posted that without asking her for copyright?

>>> Some of the "Happy Feet"

hills run

as we stepped out of the air-conditioning

and headed towards the dark woods ahead

songs of crickets greeted us.

the air is clean and crisp

steady pattering of feet, 12 to be precise,

broke the silence of the cool refreshing night..

cruising by lovers, oblivious to the buzyness around them

basking in the soft moon rays

that shone through the lightly overcast sky

amidst soothing sounds of waters

as it gently transforms waves into bubbles

against the beautiful backdrop

of the glittering southern isles

feel the breeze and everything nice...

once again, we find ourselves on the familiar winding path

that will eventually lead us up to the highest point down south

taking in the splendid view of the our little island home

thoughtful reflections shimmering

on the road still wet from rain in the morning..

a stranger clapped when we passed by him and gal

strolling hand in hand

on the final stretch of road we cheered each other on

one by one, as we reached the end.

we made it.. though just six of us

clarence, joseph, keith

kee leng, ivy and charles

we completed hills run yet another round..

Below is my reply to her poem (I edited some info)

Hi everyone!

First of all... special thanks to Kee Leng. Her regular update makes me feel, I am not very far from Singapore. Is running with Ivy that inspiring? Or... so S-L----O-----------W that she has time to think of a peom? (Please dun start a war, colleague)

Anyway, I ve been doing my run at Munich. Nevertheless, I dun do more than 10km. With three runs a week, I cover ard 20km weekly. The sun is on overtime, she wakes up earlier and rest late every night. I kinda like that... esp when I knock off at 7pm, the route to train station is always bright and clear.

I dun hear crickets during my run, the lovers were always busy "Frenching", and the only ppl who would react to a mad mad running in singlet and shoes are those who r walking their dogs. As I only do my run in the morning, there's only a pair of "Happy Feet" bounding and pounding on the road toward Siemens Centre or Marienplatz (Munich City centre).

Unlike U guys, my interval is never on a regular distance. I only start sprinting when I see the traffic light turn green 20m ahead. I am learning to be a good Nazi, I will not start WW3 with my colleague, neither would I beat the traffic light... During my runs, my eyes are always busy. I am not looking for beautiful gals running, becos there is really not much sweet gals here. I look for something that is important to me... I watch out for street name and train station (so that I know how to orientate myself back to my hotel), shops and restuarant (so that I dun where to shop and eat).

My weekend was spent at Salzburg, Austria. U dun find kangaroo nor koala at Austria. I went to Füssen and screwed the photo taking session for the second time. Kee Leng says the castle looks magical at night. I would probably go for the third time... maybe I would see witches flying instead of ppl paragliding next time…

Happy training in Singapore.

Smile...
Chee Meng

I went to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, near Füssen, during my second weekend. Due to some restrictions, I did not go there the week before. Located at around 130km South West of München. Garmish-Partenkirchen is one of the ski resorts near München. As the name suggested, the town is divided into two parts, Gamarish the new town and elderly Partenkirchen which was at south Germany since Roman times.

"triangle with a dot in the middle"

The two town combined into in 1935 by Adolf Hilter in anticipation of Winter Olympics which was held there in 1936. During the Olympics, Alpine skiing was introduced for the first time. I shall called the combined town Garmisch like what the most Germans did..

On Germany map, there is a marking, "triangle with a dot in the middle", near Garmisch. 2962metre is indicated next to the triangle. These symbols identified Germany highest mountain, Zugspitze.

Looking at Garmish from Cable Car

While the journey to Garmisch is scenic, the cable car ride from Garmisch to Zugspitze is breath-taking. Cable car is probably the fastest means to Zugspitze. The cost for traveling from Garmisch to Zugspitze is 32Euro/adult if you can produce the Bahn ticket to Garmisch. Else it would be 37Euro for adults.

Looking at Garmish and Cable Car from Zugspitze

Though the sky wasn’t 100% clear on Saturday, we can see most places within 10km from summit. Lake Ebisee looks pristine from an altitude 2000metres higher. Temperature registered at 1degree C while we were exploring different corners of view mall.

Garmish from Zugspitze

Ski Equipment at SonnAlpin Ski Resort

After spending about an hour on summit, we proceeded to Germany highest ski field, Sonnalpin Resort. Aw may not be a snow mountain person. He is always sporting. Simon went a little wild. Both were racing toward our battle ground as I was busy taking photo.

Aw and Simon racing toward "battle zone"

Aw, Simon and I agreed touching, playing and fighting on snow denoted the best part of our traveling. I am pretty thankful for going to Garmisch instead of visiting the Swiss Alps. As Simon and Aw don’t climb, I don’t see much different with playing the snow at Garmisch and that at Aigle or Matterhorn? We played 2 against 1, 1 against 1, against all and with ourselves while we were on snow.

Lotsa casual photo were taken with melting snow in the shoes and under the jacket... Thankfully, no snow went under my pants.

Prost!!

We went to Ebisee Lake after having doing our German “Prost”.

A couple at Ebisee Lake

Sunset at Garmisch-Partenkirchenimon Station

Aw was tired as we were playing card during our train ride back München. I am happy becos I kept winning and loser distribute cards.

First Week in Munich

2007-05-01T22:22:00.000+08:00

I won’t write about Training at Siemens, Munich. As I believe all info should be kept confidential.

Aw, Simon and I stayed at Hotel Carmen during week one and two. There is nothing fantastic about the hotel. The only pull factor for the hotel is probably free porn channel? While the customer service is pretty good, but condition of the room does not meet my mark. Nevertheless, we stayed there for a fortnight because the training clashed with an exhibition from 23^rd to 29^th April.

Holensalzburg from far

During our first weekend, we got the Happy Weekend ticket to Salzburg on Saturday and Füssen the following day. It cost 29Euro to travel from Munich to these destinations (return trip).

I always want to visit Salzburg to see the filming ground for Sound of Music. Little did I know, the filming area isn’t close to city. Nevertheless, I am happy to see the place. The journey to Salzburg (some 160km South East East of Munich) takes two hours. There is adequate time for me to get my orientation while traveling. I kinda decide the team should see HolenSalzburg. My justification is simple. The castle is located on a high ground. Even though I can not get close to Sound of Music filming ground, I wanna see the city from the highest possible place. The walk to Holensalzburg is interesting, we crossed Salzach river, bypassed Residenzplat, Domplatz and Kapitelplatz before seeing Castle of Salzburg.

Statue near Residenzplatz

The tour at Holesalzburg is good. The audio guide gave good info on how Salz (Salt) burg (City) developed. Nevertheless, I dun like to move through the castle with someone running after my ass. I thought I can stay as long as I want on top of the castle. While the city is no longer a major trading area for salt no more. The charm remains as composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born there. There is some kinda celebration for Mr Mozart every year and the chocolate is probably as famous as his symphonies.

Salzburg from Holensalzburg

I was thinking of some friends the night before I go to Füssen. It was 22^nd Apr at Singapore then, I was supposed to do Mount Faber run with my running kakis. I messaged a friend. She was sick and not going the run. It is very seldom for her to sign up for running event. I was sad for her.

Instead of running at Mount Faber, I went to Neuschwanstein castle, about 160km South West West of Munich. The walk from Füssen to the fairy tale castle took me about an hour. 4km is no easy walk for Aw. I thank him for walking with an uncomfortable pair of shoes. I realized the walk is indeed a little too long and time consuming. If only we have bikes, we should be at the castle within 15minutes.

Flowers Along the way to Neuschwanstein

Hohenschwangau

Neuschwanstein

There is another castle which was owned by the same Bavaria King, Ludwig II. It is sun yellow Hohenschwangau. I was at the Füssen seven years ago with April, JiaYing, ZhenHui and Weilin. We did not enter any castle then. I realized I was smarter seven years ago. The cost for entering each castle is 9 Euro now. It shd be cheaper if U wanna go to both castles. Nevertheless, I dun think that is necessary.

We entered Neuschwanstein, the English guide spoke with German slang. I did not quite catch him at some point of time. Anyway, I am not superbly interested as what he said can be easily found on internet. Walking through all halls in 30minutes is quite a shame. Unlike Holensalzburg, we did not have the opportunity to roam within the castle.

The drawing within the castle is fantastic. I appreciate paintings that were done on round surface, especially if it is done inverted. It is not easy to paint on the wall especially when the drawing needs to be done with mathematical considerations. I wonder how those artists drew with such precision.

The more interesting part of the tour is probably when we explored beyond Marienbrücke, Mary Bridge. There is a short track after crossing Marienbrücken. I think the view from some part of the trail is even better, as one can explore from higher ground. I am thankful to King Ludwig II fascination over his beautiful castle. I wouldn’t be able to seeing the castle view without his foresight of having the bridge.

Neuschwanstein and Marienbrücke

After seeing the castle, we walk to the river which runs under Neuschwanstein. As Aw and me are running low for water. We collected the water melted from the Bavaria Alps. We took a bus back to Füssen. The sky was bright when we left the empty town.

Neuschwanstein from the trail beyond Marienbrücke

Before Munich

2007-05-01T05:38:00.000+08:00

Unlike the rest of my holiday, I am actually at Europe for work. The primary objective is to learn as much as possible and to know the restrictions for my 3 weeks machine training. I am psychologically happy to have another colleague from Malaysia, Aw, joining me for the same training. One of my Singapore colleagues, Simon, is also in Munich during the same period for different machine training.

Having three people for a trip is good, though I prefer 4 always. Aw is a funny man… he is capable of lightening the sprit anytime. With three people, we are given the opportunity to travel cheap during the weekend. In Germany, there is a “Happy Weekend” ticket system which allowed up to 5 people to travel to a nearby city at a discount rate. U may get to DIE BAHN web for more info.

While this is not my first trip in Munich, there is still a certain degree of excitement. I am here to do what I did not do, and collect sweet memories I left at Europe seven years ago. Thanks to Chwee Ling and Yew Mun. They are the invisible support for the trip. Chwee Ling loaned two Lonely Planet (Germany and Switzerland), two Frommer's (Munich and Austria) and an eight years old Munich map from library, and handed them to me on Friday the thirteen. My planning is simple, I don’t need to do a lot of research for traveling, surprises are welcome and there would be no rushing from point A to B. I do have some restrictions for this holiday. My colleagues are against expensive traveling and the longest holiday we can have is four days. For other people who are going to Europe, I would still suggest them to purchase EURAIL pass.

If there is only one place I can be again in Europe, it would be Switzerland. It is so far the cleanest and most picturesque place I ever been. Generally, Swiss are friendly people can communicate using English. Thanks to April, JiaYing and YiFeng, there is more than a thousand reasons for me to dream about Switzerland. I first backpack, touch snow, did my first trek (DNF), and meet the first tough lady in the country with a white cross, red background and square flag.

Simon and me took Thai Airway flight to Munich on 15th Apr at around 8am (Singapore time). Four hour is the transition time at Bangkok airport. I was at the same airport a month earlier with Kee Leng, Charles, Teck Wee, Qi Ming and Ying Kai. We were there for an adventure race at Kanchanaburi then. The foot massage at the Bangkok transit lodge isn’t as good as that in the city. Nevertheless, it is the recommended method to relax while waiting for connecting flight. Flying to Munich in the morning keeps me happy, the sun seem to follow me throughout the journey. As I went to Seoul recently, I caught some of latest movies like Pursuit of HappYness, Blood Diamond and Freedom Writers. The rest of the movies are not as interesting… Nevertheless, I am shock to find my all time favourite movie on Thai Airway, Forrest Gump. I reached Munich at close to 7:30pm (Munich time).

Happy 2007

2007-02-24T22:51:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year!!! New Year is good… like birthday or anniversaries, I always think for New Year as a time to reflect on the past and think about the future. The concept is simple and the execution should not be too difficult. There are two questions that one should always ask himself. Are you happy with the present Situation? What can U do to improve it?

Of course, it may not be easy to achieve what was planned. The best reason I can give for one’s failure is “Success” does not mean much or there is not enough reasons for the executor to hold fast to what was planned initially.

We encounter people in our short life. There are a few things that differ human from animals. We are typically lazy creature who can dream and work. Tools or other human are contributing factors to build our dreams, so that we can be lazy. We need bold people who can dream and work to build our little planet, and explore further beyond. If only everything is as perfect as it is to write.

RISK!! How can one manage risk? Sometime, it maybe better for one to give up what he or she has been holding on. Be it career, love one or other plans.

Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Birthday to all Human on Day 7 of New Year.

Race 2006! :)

2007-01-10T13:35:00.000+08:00

I was at Bangalore Hindustan Airport on 7th Dec waiting for SQ503, my flight back to Singapore, while writing this blog. The flight was delayed. I anticipated the delay as this scenario wasn’t unfamiliar. While waiting for the flight I recounted my steps for year 2006.

Year 2006 was a hectic year, “Year of Work and Race”. It was the year I rejoined the working society, on 1st March, after traveling and having great fun for six months after I graduated. I could vividly remembered taking the flight to Chengdu, SiChuan, during the second December weekend for a climb at Si Gu Niang Mountain, Rilong. Looking back, I don’t really miss the carefree time I had for 2005, “Year of Enjoyment”. Life was really fantastic in 2005 as I studied a two subjects semester (one of the subjects was not graded), and I did my thesis doing a project which I knew what was happening. I spent the rest of the 8 months traveling to Chengdu, Hobart, Melbourne, Kota Kinabalu, Port Dickson, Nairobi, Kilimanjaro, Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Lombok and Chengdu again.

I guess it is very much in me to look forward for new activities always. After graduating from University of Queensland, I never thought of going back to Brisbane again. I am not a heartless person. I do miss Brisbane, and I enjoyed my two years at Australia. However, I never thought of going back because I wanna experience new things in life. I thought things would be very different if I go back to Brisbane again too. The people who had made my two years in Australia meaningful are no longer there.

Year 2006 was a year which I literally worked and raced. Upon taking up the job as Technical Support Engineer, I managed family, work and leisure carefully. I understood my limitations, income and annual leave, when I start working. It was not easy to pump in money continuously to my new flat at Buangkok. It was even tougher when my old woman was not supportive in the beginning. She thought my ideas for renovation was impractical, and she feared I would abandon her after getting the new shelter. I knew I spent less time listening to her since I started working. The failure in communication was catastrophic. I always thought she trusted in me. I enjoyed the privilege of making my own decision for everything at the age of 19. I don’t go to her with questions. Actually, I saw no purpose going to mother as she couldn’t make decisions for me. The renovation issues were resolved after some “GIVE and TAKE”.

I did many races for year 2006. I had 8 race completion medals for 2006. I completed Singapore Duathlon, Melaka A Famosa Triathlon, Army Half Marathon, Genting Trail Blazer, Desaru Half Iron Man, Hong Kong Trail Walker, Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon and SAFRA Adventure Race. All these races made me super busy during some weekends and many weekdays. My “wake up call” for regular training was after the Desaru HIM. I realized during the race that a weekly training schedule was not sufficient, especially when I don’t cycle to work no more.

There are two kind of races, Solo and Group race. During solo race I talked and sang to myself after the crossing the start line. I motivated myself and kept my sorry arse moving. It was mentally challenging to do all the right things, like pee at the proper toilet and continue moving, especially when nobody was watching.

During a Group race like “Hulu Langat Adventure Race” and “Hong Kong Trail Walker”, I felt sorry for my sorry arse too. Nevertheless, I was obliged to push myself so as not to let my teammates down. I would relate my group races with Ranger Course, “I would never leave a fallen comrade” and “Surrender is not a ‘Ranger’ word”. So far I had been fortunate, my team mates never left me behind and I had not given up during race. Some of the races were really tough, but I thought it was tougher for me to give up.

While I had been busy with races…s. I am glad there is always a little time to disturb the rest of my friend… I am glad to go for a more “nuah” kinda trip with two of my ARMY batch boys, Yew Mun and Chung Wah. I am thankful to their wives for allowing me to take over their husbands for three nights at Phuket. That is probably the only trip I have been for the pass three years without seeing a mountain (minus working trips) .

I do hope I would have enough leave for year 2007. I wanted badly to see the white mountains again. I don’t think I wanna set my foot into SiChuan again. May I find my 2007 climbing kakis. I shall look forward to doing something I am not certain next year.

Adventure Races...

2006-06-15T17:28:00.001+08:00

It has been some good months since I update my blog. Life has been pretty good, I can’t complain about my new job at the “Nazi” Company. 99% of the colleagues are helpful and friendly, I hope I can know the shy 1% later.

I have been busy with issues after the Rinjani trip. After Indonesia, I helped Joanne with the organization of Ace Adventure Race III, Dusk to Dawn. I am not sure if this is the first adventure race conduct after the night fall, but it is definitely one of the most interesting races Joanne planned.

The race was initiated months before the commencement. However, the some issues were overlooked during planning phase. Water festival at Marina is a great boost for publicity. However, good publicity also work against the planning.

Singapore is indeed a well-organized country. I never know one has to go through some many departments before initiating the race. If an adventure involve public road, Traffic police must know. If the racers bypass a park, NPark must be informed. State owned land would be Singapore Land Authority Department, the railing along the road belong to LTA and there are many other departments taking care of the water, grass, stone and sand on the little island.

I was in charge of a little sector at Marina South. The racers would bypass Marina Park, soon to be Integrated Resort and Sheares Bridge. I enjoy helping Joanne for races as I got a good share of fun during the organization of the race.

Human like to have fun. I would prefer everyone around be can have fun with their daily task too. I always see everyday as a new personal challenge or new fun. During the organization of the race, I see the racers as customers. Not all customers are reasonable, there bound to be a few ignorance customers. It is much up to the management of the race to educate and retain these people.

I would say Ace Adventure Challenge III is not a well-execute race. Unlike AAC I or II, I see a different hiccups. It is very difficult for top person in an organization to micro manage his or her staff. Like and UN-like many "Private Limited", funding is and is NOT always the main issue. The management needs to be skilled with some outdoor activities. No organizations can get the dedicated and proficient people with money alone. There need to be more dynamics like inter-relationship of a management to make the organization a better one. It is important to have everyone valued. An uneasy task….

I would be going for an adventure race at Malaysia with Karen and Ivy on the coming weekend... I am very green with such race. There is too much room for improvements, my team and me would need more training sessions should we attempt another race.

Training Advice Part 2

2006-06-05T23:40:00.001+08:00

Training Advice is never completed without understanding Ur diet. I am writing a mail in continuation of my first mail on training advice… Here are some basic facts on diets.

The measurement of food intake is in calorie. Calorie (cal) refers to the amount of energy need to raise the temperature of 1g of water by 1c. 1 kilocalories (kcals) will raise the temperature of one litre of water by one degree C, equal to 4.2 kilojoules.

The amount of food one should eat daily is very much dependent on the body mass and physical activity level. For a rough gauge within 24 hours period, for

1. Very sedentary people (restricted movement, such as patient confine to a house), 13 kcals is expended for every pound of body weight.

2. Sedentary people (Office Job with little exercise), 14 kcals is expended for every pound of body weight.

3. Moderate Activities (Students doing regular exercise), 15 kcals is expended for every pound of body weight.

4. Very physical active (vigorous activity at least 3-4 times a week), 16 kcals is expended for every pound of body weight.

5. Competitive athlete (daily activity in high energy sports), 17 to 18 kcals is expended for every pound of body weight.

For example, a 70kg soldier is considered “Very physically active”, he would need

(70kg x 2.2) pounds x 16kcals = 2464kcals of food intake daily.

We take in carbohydrates, protein and fats in our daily diet. The energy contribution components shd be as such.

60% carbohydrates (CHO), Energy contribution for CHO is at 4 kcals per gram

10% protein, Energy contribution for protein is at 4 kcals per gram

30% or less fats (Ideally less than 10% Saturated fats or fats remain solid at room temperature aka animal fats and 20% Unsaturated fats or oil that is in liquid form at room temperature aka plant fats), Energy contribution for fats are at 9 kcals per gram

The implication? For the 70kg soldier,

1478.4kcals or 369.6 grams of food should be CHO

246.4kcals or 61.6 grams of food should be protein

739.2kcals or 82.2 grams of food should be fats

After a conversion in term of food mass intake…

72% or more should be CHO

12% or more should be protein

16% or less should be fats (5.3% animal fats and 10.7% plant fats)

Therefore it is always safer to less fatty food since fats are present even in plants like peanut and corns.

However, fats are needed in our daily diet for absorption of Vitamin A, D, E and K. It is the primary source of energy for body at rest. Fat is the primary fuel and acts as insulation between skin and vital body organs during cold weather. Now U understand why fat people are less afraid of cold weather? Haha…

Nobody can live without taking fats.

There is something interesting about the carbohydrate (CHO) we take. We always hear whole-meal bread is healthier than white bread, and brown rice is better than white rice. Why is this so???

Low fiber processed starches (White bread, White rice, Pasta) and simple sugars digest quickly. This lead to

1. Glucose entering the blood at a rapid rate

2. Increase of blood glucose and insulin (VERY BAD for diabetic patients)

3. Increase glucose conversion to fat by the liver

Rate of digestion and entrance into the blood is governed by another measurement call “Glycemic Index” or GI. Glucose is the only free form of food that can be digested immediately by body without much processing. It is of 100 GI and used as a gauge for GI.

Glycemic level (GI) of some of the food are as follows…

Glucose 100
Carrot 92
Corn Flake 80
White Rice / White Bread 72
Brown Rice 66
Rasins 64
Banana 62
Potato Chips 51
Orange 40
Peanut 13

For exercise – Avoid high GI food 15 to 45 min prior to exercise. As high GI food may lead to early fatigue. That is probably why Rasins bread is preferred over white bread before exercising. After exercising, blood glucose decrease and food of higher GI would be prefer for rapid recovery.

Carbohydrate loading is a method used by sportsmen for races. There are a couple of methods for loading. Personally, I have tried one of the methods during my last year marathon. It is achieved by proper planning a week before the race day (Sunday).

I take low CHO food from Mon to Wed with my normal exercise regime. This depicts the CHO in my body. I took high CHO food with little training from Thu to Sat . My body stores more CHO than it normally does and it does not want to fall short of CHO again. Thus, I benefited with higher CHO storage on my race day on Sunday.

Protein is a primarily used for repairing of body. It is also expended when the CHO level in body is too low.

Apart from Fats, Carbohydrate, and Protein, our body needs Water, Vitamin, Minerals (E.g. Calcium, Iron, Sodium, Potassium, Chloride) and many other components to maintain the system.

Vitamin can be found in most fruits and vegetables (except Vitamin D which is rich is sunlight). Vitamins degrading start when the fruit or vegetable is picked. The process can be reduced by chilling. Degradation of vitamin can be reduced by

1. Avoid cutting and trimmed of fruits and vegetables. It is because oxygen will break down Vitamin, increase exposed surface area equal to faster break down. It is therefore important to cut the vegetable only when you want to cook it.

2. Microwave cooking, steaming or shallow frying with very little amount of water and a tight-fitting lid.

3. Minimise the reheating of food.

Iron is needed for endurance training. There is about 3-5g of iron in the body. Iron is important for formation of hemoglobin in Red Blood Cells. Ladies need slightly more iron than men since they have important dates to keep track every month.

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body (about 40% of total minerals). Most of them at stored in bones. We only absorbed 20-40% of calcium in the food we ingested. Calcium is the key participant for muscle contraction. Low Calcium will lead to low bone mass, thus increase the chances of fracture.

Having a balance diet is very important, never binge if U want to reduce your body mass. It is unhealthy to lose more than 1kg a week. Watching Ur diet and exercising will ensure Ur healthy… A friend of mine just wrote in her MSN recently, there is no sure thing as dieting; only changing of life style. I think that is probably the most truthful statement.

Stay healthy and never stop exploring!

Kia-Ora!

Chee Meng

6th March 2005

Training Advice Part 1

2006-06-05T23:35:00.000+08:00

Below is a mail I wrote previously when I was free while studying at Brisbane.

Dear mates....

I always want to write something with regard to one of the courses I took during the previous semester, Human Movement Studies. The subject has a lot of interesting facts and important matter on how U can train more efficiently. I ve extracted some of the interesting knowledge to share.

Do U know why U should not do exercise after having a meal?

There are roughly 5-6 litres of blood in a human body. When resting, 5 litres of blood circulate around ur body within a min. Up to 50% or 2.5 litres of the blood goes to Ur liver and stomach during the process... Only 1 litre of blood goes to the muscles.
When U exercise, ESP for cardio exercise the blood circulation can increase up to 5 folds easily. However, most of the blood or up to 21 litres goes to the muscle now. The blood to heart also increases from 200ml to 1 litre. During this process, the blood to liver and kidney drops to 750ml or less than 4% of 25litres of blood.

Do U know why we need cool down after exercise?

Since the blood circulation can be up to 24litres per min when one is training with majority of the blood flowing to muscles. Cool down is necessary to return the excess blood the heart so that blood can be redistributed again efficiently. This help to reduce muscle soreness and reduce body temperature too.

So how much exercise is enough?

For Health benefits, adults should accumulate 30min or more of MODERATELY-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days of the week. That is equivalent to 3km brisk walking. This can be done with break in between. For HIGHER Intensity training, it can be done at 3-5 times per week at 50-85% of VO2 max or Ur Max heart rate.

Max heart rate can be calculated by 220 minus age. Eg. I m 28 now. My Max heart rate will be 220 - 28 = 192.

How shd training in gym be conducted??

It is only logical to start a work out with the larger muscles group. i.e. Chest, thigh and abdominal. It is because the largest muscle group are normal the strongest and can substain fatigue for a longer period of time. U need your chest and abdominal muscle even when U are training your bicep with dumbbell.

How many sets should be done?

For maximum benefit, it is advisable to complete three sets of exercise.

What is the weight one should carry?

The weights one carried is very dependent on his or her mass... It is normally measure with respect to 1RM and your mass. 1RM refer to One Repetition at Maximum weight. For example...

For male,

Bench Press, it is 100%-110% of body mass to be consider average

Bicep Curl, it is 41%-54% of your body mass to be consider average

Shoulder Press, it is 51%-67% of your body mass to be consider average

Leg Press, it is 200%-210% of your body mass to be consider average

For Female

Bench Press, it is 70%-74% of your body mass to be consider average

Bicep Curl, it is 35%-39% of your body mass to be consider average

Shoulder Press, it is 47%-54% of your body mass to be consider average

Leg Press, it is 175%-189% of your body mass to be consider average

If U want to improve your muscular power (ability to carry heavier weight) do 80% of your 1RM at 6 reps for 3 sets.

To improve your muscular endurance (ability to carry weight for longer period) do 60% of your 1RM at 15-20 rep for 3 sets.

Do U know?

The absolute work done (energy burned) for walking 10km and running 10km at the same? But running 10km is a more high intensity exercise and Ur heart get to work harder and become stronger.

There is 20% oxygen at sea level and on Mount Everest? But the partial pressure is different. At high altitude, the distance between air molecules increase.

Our body make up of 70% water. Divers only need to equalize the 30% pressure in the lungs, ear, nose and throat region when diving.

Think I shall stop here now... Leaving for KL later tonight at 2359. Will talk a little on Nutrition for the next mail.

Life is good, enjoy it!

Kia-Ora!

Chee Meng

23rd Jan 05

Lombok Part 2

2006-02-24T09:31:00.000+08:00

Monkeys are regarded as the pest of Rinjani, because these animals have been fearlessly pushing the boundary of the camp site. The monkeys are smart enough to operate a tent zip and were often caught red handed for stealing food. As stealing is not a crime punishable by dead, the speed of these monkeys is incredible, these monkeys continue their daring behavior.

The team stayed at the crater rim camp for another day before descending to the Lake Camp on 21^st Sep. The campsite next to the lake at 2000m ASL is scenic. We camped at the area which is directly opposite Gunung Baru, the new mountain at 2363m ASL. This mountain was created during a volcano eruption in the 1994. Locals believe the eruption was caused by the sprits. These sprits did some “renovating work” to by arranging the stones to beautify the way at the foot of the new mountain. The scenic view is captured and put onto all Indonesia ten thousands rupiahs.

There are nice sulphur hot springs near the lake campsite. Kian brought the team to the spring, the religious significant of these springs were explained while we were walking towards the volcanic water feature. After spending a lazy hours at the spring, the team gladly made the trip to the campsite where we enjoyed fresh fish food next to the lake. It is always nice to watch TV at home before sleeping. However, television program can never be as interactive as Patrick. He gave a talk on the TCS, SBC, Taiwan and Hong Kong Drama before we return to our tent.

We made the way up and down to the next campsite at 9am the next day. The route began with a 600m ascent to Senaru Crater Rim. Joanne, Jack and Thiam Huat claimed the crater rim is another “Kodak” point. We reached the 2641m ASL at noon time. I took some shot at the high ground. But I don’t think the shots were fantastic as the sky was overcast with cloud.

After a short lunch session we started walking down a “rocky stairway”. The way toward the campsite was covered with cloud then. It was raining when we reached the next campsite. Kian supervised the construction of tents and the food preparation. It was there that we realized our restless “alarm clock” can be eaten. We slept after enjoying another story telling session but Patrick.

We were out of the mountain by 23^rd Sep 05. Upon departing the jungle, the team went for a shower at a “new” waterfall. It is one of the best places on Earth where U can stand on the flat ground (evidence that it is a new waterfall) and enjoy water pouring from more than 15metres. The team returned to Mataram city. Thiam Huat, Alan, Patrick, Ivy, Karen and me decided to visit the Gili Islands the next when majority of the team chose to return to Singapore on 24^th.

Six of us spent three days at Gili Trawangan. Gili means small island, there are a lot of Gili around Lombok (Gili Air, Gili Meno, Gili Lawang, Gili Sulat, Gili Nanggu…) . It is always nice to visit one of these Gili. Though Gili Trawangan is the touristiest among the Gili, this Gili provide the best infrastructure. Looking at the bright side, the crowd is smaller compare to Bali.

We did snorkeling on 25^th Sep using one of the many glass bottom boats. I always thought divers should have good water confidence. I am very wrong, there are divers who find drinking sea water very intimidating. The scariest thing is when you realize one of them is your snorkel buddy.

Return to Singapore on 26^th Sep… It is another trip that I wish it could last longer.

Lombok Part 1

2005-11-26T13:51:00.000+08:00

Gunung (Mountain) Rinjani is located on an island called Lombok. The birth of Lombok is closely related to the “Gunung” which is also one of the volcanoes in the “Ring of Fire” region. I believe many are unsure about the locality of the island. Lombok is at the east of Bali, the touristy island which was bombed on 12^th Oct 2002 and 1^st Oct 2005. One can easily visit Lombok by taking a flight to Mataram or boat from Bali.

I spent ten days at Lombok and the Gili islands. The journey began on 17^th Sep, the day I completed my blog on Africa. It is indeed cool to keep traveling from one destination to another. Especially, when there is not shortage of good companies. The trek to Indonesia second highest volcano was organized by SAFRA and Ace Adventure. Mr Jack and Ms Joanne who respectively represent their organization were the advance party for the trip.

Using the Krisflyer mileage which I accumulated while studying at Brisbane, I save myself $220 when I took the Silk Air flight to Mataram. It was evening when I landed on the Indonesian island. While Indonesia share the same time zone as that of Singapore, the sun set earlier as it is about “two hours flight” East of Singapore.

If “Resting is for a longer journey”, I believe “Food and Water are essential for trekking a mountain”. Joanne brought the group of 16 trekkers to a restaurant next to Mataram Mall for the local delight and Jack encourage the team to drink more water as the humidity is relatively low compare to Singapore. I got to know two of the climbers Alan Soh and Patrick Poh better when we shared room for the first night. Mr Patrick could be annoyingly talkative! It was difficult to send the message “Let’s Sleep!” into his little brain.

With wake up call from the nearby mosque and pre dawn attack of the mosquitoes, we woke up for earlier than plan for the breakfast is provided by Indradi Guest House. Two vans were catered to ferry the total of 18 trekkers including Joanne and Jack to Sembalun Lawang at about 1100m ASL. Due to a little miscommunication between the drivers, the vans took different route to the “Garlic Village”. Nevertheless, both parties meet up at about 3 hours 30 minutes later.

Indonesian has an interesting way of serving food. They would cook all the food one ordered, keep them in the kitchen and serve them all together. It is probably their idea of having meal together. It is about 3pm when everyone taken their lunch and we started ordering the dinner immediately after we took our lunch. We moved on the visitors’ centre near our lodge and learn about the geographical history of one of the 155 volcanoes in Indonesia.

18^th Sep 2005 coincide with the Chinese Moon Cake festival on lunar calendar. We shared moon cakes, lanterns and little game of mahjong before hitting the bed under the concrete shelter.

I woke up early again, not because of mosquitoes or mosque, but to passion to view sun rise. The team set off the climb to the crater rim camp at close to 2640m ASL the next day at close to 7:30am, the team of 18 is supported by 16 porters and guides. Porters of Lombok adopted a unique manner of transporting logistic. They tied bags, food, bottled water, tents on both end of a thick bamboo, and balance the weight on the shoulder.

Among the rest of the climbers, I also know Ivy, Karen and Thiam Huat. It is important to good companies for trip, else I rather travel alone. The ten hours walk is slow paced and pretty relaxing. However for people has not been stretching his muscles regularly, muscle cramp is part of the trek. With a luxurious 90 minutes lunch break during the climb the team enjoyed better scenery while ascending.

Reaching the Rim Camp at about 5:15pm, we rested for a while before the Jack herd the “endurance” climber to the camp site just before sun set at 6pm. There is something I like to compliment the Indonesian logistic support team, they always remember meat protein as part of the meal essential.

The moon rise at about 7:15pm, temperature at the 2640m ASL could drop to about 12-15c as the wind began to howl and moon continue to shine. My friends kept the sprit high to combat the surrounding ambient. The neighbouring team thought resting is important, we returned to our tents shortly after we were advised on the volume of the conversation.

We woke up at about 3am for a very early breakfast and left at 4am for the summit bid. Unlike traditional summit, summit of Rinjani is the highest point part of the volcano rim. Nevertheless, it is the best place to view the caldera, volcano depression, of the mountain which used to stand 5000m tall. The 1000m climb is not difficult, but the final stretch to the 3726m pinnacle can be a little strenuous due to the scree slope. Personally, I think I can handle scree slope well. BUT for descent not accent. Probably the best way to tackle a scree slope is to place every footing steadily on the fine sand. Resting the foot on a loose rock could be dangerous for climbers behind. The climb is interesting with the sun rising and Mount A-Gung, Bali holy volcano emerge from at a distance.

I was having the best view of Lombok at about 8:50am. Well….. How can one keep track of the time during trip? With digital camera, keep snapping. After taking many shots, the team is happy to descent. It is only during the period when the sun is high that I took the opportunity of closing at Switzerland national flower, Edelweiss, more closely. Reaching the camp site at volcano rim, I see the pest of Gunung Rinjani!!!

Issue 6: Cape of Good Hope

2005-09-17T01:30:00.000+08:00

If only I had more time, I would not take the flight from Durban to Cape Town. There is a “Great Ocean Road” at

South

Africa

named the “Garden Route”. If only I have the opportunity to visit

South Africa

again, this will be in one of the must do list.

Cape Town is the province capital of Western Cape with 4.2 million people, equivalent to Singapore. I met Aubrey at Cape Town International Airport and stayed with him for four nights. Once again I need to thank Aubrey, a Zambian friend I known in Brisbane. He played the host so well that I am unsure if I can do the same for him when he comes to Singapore next Feb with his wife. I would certainly try my very best.

I went to University of Cape Town for a little visit, the day I arrived. The university just celebrated 175 year anniversary last year. Cape Town is one of the few cities that enjoy mountain soaring above 1000metres as back drop. Another city that I can remember having the privilege is Hobart with Mount Wellington. With such a prominent landmark, it is useful for sailors’ navigation.

On 2 Sep 05, Aubrey, Karen and me headed South to Cape of Good Hope after checking weather for the day. It is always more interesting to visit a country with a local. I gained knowledge of the place and view of people living in the country. Cape Town and water near Cape of Good Hope used to be an important harbour that the Dutch and British used to fight for the rights for using it. A battle was conducted in 1795 at Muizenberg before the opening of Suez Canal. Who won the battle? Check your answer or guess at

http://www.southafrica-travel.net/westcape/cape_05.htm

The bay that stretched from Muizenberg to Simon’s Town is called "False Bay". During the early years, ships coming from the east would stop in this bay mistaking it to be Table Bay. It would be very “exciting” if a merchant ship tried to dock in Navy harbour? We stopped for lunch at Simon’s Town. Simon’s town is home for South Africa Navy now and the last railway stop.

We stopped at another important tourist landmark, the Boulders. It is the home for about three thousands African penguins which started with two breeding pairs in 1982. Do you think the penguins are master of breeding? Well… the breeding of African penguins can only happen if human stop uncontrolled harvesting of penguin eggs. Think again, there were 1.5 million African penguins in 1910, by end of 20th century, only 10% of the original number remains.

There is an interesting fact that is shared by both Navy ship and penguin. Do you know why are all Navy ships painted grey, and why the penguins refuse to take off the black and white tuxedo?

The answer is “CAMOUFLAGE”.

We reached Cape Point at close to 3:30pm. Many people including me used to think Cape Point is the place where Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet. Even the restaurant at waterfront of Cape Town would suggest Cape Town is the place where the two Oceans meet. I think the mistake has commonly accepted.

How do Scientist or Geologist determine and name these Oceans. How are boundaries drawn? I used to watch a documentary about how the sharks did a migration from India all the way to South Africa. The sharks would automatically make a turn back to India before reaching Cape Town. How did these sharks do that? Did the sharks follow the curry smell of Indian Ocean back home?

If you had watched “Finding Nemo”, you would probably know about the famous EAC or Eastern Australia Current. The movement of all current are determine by Mother Nature. The official meeting place for the two Oceans is at Cape Agulhas, which is about 300km south-east-east from Cape Point. Water from Indian Ocean is warmer at 20c, faster at 90-230km/day and more powerful, transporting 80 million m³ of water per second. For Atlantic Ocean, Bengula current is cooler at 14c, slower at 16-40km/day and transport 15 million m³ of water per second.

We saw another big bird that does not fly when visiting the Cape of Good Hope. Actually, there was not too much good hope. There are a lot of ship wrecks near the Cape. Sailors centuries ago need an effective charm to cross the little cape, for India, South East Asia and China.

Day three at Cape Town was spent at District Six Museum and Table Mountain. Everyone knows South Africa is a relatively young nation. The first president was chosen by people of South Africa in 1994, Mr Nelson Mandela. District Six is an interesting museum, it was opened by the people who used to stay in District Six.

District Six was a large compound that the Blacks, Whites and what the Whites labelled “Coloured”. Being a Chinese, I am proud with my colour, please call me “Yellow”. Haha… Well… I thought we should all be addressed as Earth-ings. Interactions between nations have brought cultures beyond five oceans and seven continents. Nevertheless, I have to admit racism is real and will always be around. Ghandi, Father of India, has been fighting for rights of human almost 100 years ago. Do you know Ghandi actually spent a majority of his life in South Africa? He was greatly inspired to retaliate and fight in a peaceful manner, when he was denied public transport meant for the whites only.

I am always glad to have a lady with me when I need to do some shopping. With Karen around, I purchased the presents for some friends. I sincerely apologise to those I who I met empty-handed. Green market of Cape Town is the place for some tourist souvenirs, the art of bargaining should be put into good practice.

Ascend to Table Mountain was conducted in a touristy manner. While there are up to 300 established route to the table top. Karen and me choose to tackle the mountain in less than ten minutes using the cable car! The rationale for using the expensive mode of transport (110 Rands return) is to view Cape Town and beyond before the table cloth covers the mountain. Sadly, we spent quite some time in the souvenir shop on top table top.

On 4 Sep 05, we visited Robben Island, the infamous prison where Mr Nelson Mandela and many influential political members of South Africa spent their time in. If South Africa is as racist as it was twenty years ago, I probably would not visit the country. It is at Robben Island that I learnt the importance of international effort in a making of a country. While thanking Mr Mandela for holding fast to the "dream" against racism in South Africa, I shall not forget to wish MM Lee K Y of Singapore a happy belated birthday. Sorry Sir, I am about two hours late.

Departed Cape Town on 5Sep.

Kia-Ora!

Issue 5: Dragon Mountains

2005-09-16T15:44:00.000+08:00

Drakensberg is also known as Dragon Mountains. Locating at the KwaZulu Natal (KZN) Province, the highland is probably the where “People from Heaven” came from? On 26 Aug, Karen and me departed Durban at 0530. Karen started driving, but she did not last the drive because “Queen Elizabeth” kept summoning her back to sleep. I took over the last leg, the car was park at Bushman’s Nek. We were then transported to the Sani Pass Backpackers which about 5km away from the start point of Giants Cup trail. A prearranged transfer brought us to Sani Lodge Backpackers.

After gathering some information from Sani Lodge Backpackers and Sani Pass Hotel, we were offered a free ride by people of Sani Lodge Hotel to the start point of the 60km track. I am very touched by the good service and grateful for the free map that covered half the track. I would feel extremely uncomfortable to start any trail without a map.

Day one of the track began at about 1230hrs. As we started the trekking late, we did not see other trekkers along the 13km scenic track. Walking at altitude from 1500m ASL to less than 2000m ASL was very comfortable. We reached the Pholela Hut in Cobham Reserve within five hours.

Well…. I thought I have come to the stage that I don’t really like to plan my trips. I prefer to be spontaneous to changes. It would be good to have some ideas of what is going on before every journey. My preference is to make decisions on the ground. I was thankful Karen understood that, when I “destroyed” her plan. I kind of combined day two track with day three accidentally. We skipped the Mzimkhulwana Hut in Cobham Reserve for Winterhoek Hut in Garden Castle.

The walk on 27 Aug was eventful, it was a black day for me as I dislocated my left shoulder for the first time while tried to make a rock climb pose. Sadly, the photograph did not turn out the way I want it to be. I would rate the level of pain at 6 on my “Ouch-meter”, the pain impaired some of my moment. Thankfully, it is left not right shoulder again. I had been trying to keep my right shoulder intact since I drop it some three years ago. I was able to write to Chloe and Choy Ping telling them life is never too bad even you change your job. I had to inform Joanne I can not commit the technical climb at Naya Kanga, Langtang, Nepal. There was an interesting saying, “Life is 10% how yo make it, and 90% how you take it.” I could never agree more.

Day three walk was pretty relax, we reached Swiman Hut in Garden Castle in less than six hours. Swiman Hut is probably the best hut along the trail, the mountain setting around the region is beautiful. Sunken valley is located at the South East while Castle Garden is at the North West. Karen said she would become a song composer or a poet if she could stay Swiman hut longer. My life was spared as she did not see my toes laughing. However, a little mishap happened when I tried to set fire using the spare petrol from my MSR. I “arson” some hair and eye lashed when the lighting up the wood at the fire place within the hut. Having some burnt some hair was not a big issue, but some of my eyelashes curled after exposed to intense heat. This posed a problem when blink to moisturise my eyes. The top and bottom of the eyelashes would interlock, keeping my eyes open was uncomfortable.

29 Aug 05 began with a beautiful sun rise. Instead of heading off to Bushman’s Nek, we left our backpack in Swiman Hut and did a side trail to Sleeping Beauty Cave. There was no sleeping beauty, but the cave is definitely there. We had our lunch and proceeded with the track. The memory for the CF card was running low, so was my film.

For more information on Giant’s Cup Trail and other track at Drakensberg, please check out

http://drakensberg.kzn.org.za/drakensberg/

http://www.ecotravel.co.za/Guides/Reserves/Drakensberg/Activities/Giants_Cup_Hiking_Trail.htm

http://www.drakensberg-tourism.com/drakensberg-hiking-trails.html

After the trek, we returned to Sani Lodge Backpackers. There was something I liked about this lodge. There were two cats during my stay! Cats appeared around 30millions years ago, the primitive carnivores are commonly known as “Miacids”. They evolved to three main species – European wild cats, African wild cats and Asiatic desert cats. Domestic cats are believed to be part of African wild cats, due to the tabby markings.

Karen was against me buying cat food for the two cats. I’d encourage feeding of the cats. There was an interesting story about Prophet Muhammad and his cat, Muezza. The Prophet found his beloved pet asleep on the sleeve of his robe when the call for prayer was sound. Instead of waking up the cat, the Prophet cut off his sleeve. When He returned, Muezza bowed in thanks to Him, Muhammad was guaranteed a place in Heaven. Think about it, the Prophet went to heaven when he did not disturb the cat. I bought cat food for not one but two cats! I should have at least two express tickets for redemption.

When I was studying at Brisbane, Benny, Valerie and me often go for short trips leaving behind the two cats. We could do that because unlike dogs, cats could ration food. If one is interested with a budget stay at Sani Pass area, please go to Sani Lodge. For booking and more information go to http://www.sanilodge.co.za/. Do remember to feed the cats if they are still there. For better service with higher budget, I would highly recommend Sani Pass Hotel, http://www.sanipasshotel.co.za/.

With the kind assistance from Sani Pass Hotel, we managed to “burn” 512MB of photo into CD. Karen and me gathered some information on Sani Pass, gate way to Lesotho, from Underberg. If Drakensberg means Dragon Mountains, I guessed Underberg probably mean under the mountain? We needed a 4WD transport to cross from South Africa border to Lesotho border, the day tour to Sani Pass and Africa Highest Pub would cost 220Rands (S$1 = R3.88). After some careful considerations, we decided to cross the 8km no men land with our legs and trekking pole.

I am pretty glad we made the choice of driving to South Africa Border and walk to Lesotho to collect the stamp on my passport... This gave me the flexibility of stopping and looking at rocks and flowers whenever I wanted.

Issue 4: Gold Coast of South Africa

2005-09-16T01:02:00.000+08:00

After ten hours of driving with shifts, petrol, toilet and lunch break, Karen and me reached Durban (

South Africa

third largest city) just before 2100hrs. Durban is a city with population in excess of 2.5 million. Though it is the largest city of Kwazulu Natal Province, it is not the Province Capital. The capital of the province is called Pietermaritzburg and it is located centrally. Kwazulu Natal literally means Place of People from Heaven.

Staying in a self sufficient apartment called "The Palace" did not make me a king. In fact, I was thought to be Karen’s travel MAID! Nevertheless, I enjoyed the spectacular sunrise view and sea breeze of Indian Ocean everyday. I have a lot of free time everyday when Karen attended her International Surgical Conference. It was in the city that I got to check E-mails and read about facts of South Africa more regularly.

South Africa is one of the top 30 richest countries (in term of GDP). Interestingly, South Africa is rich but the unemployment rate in the country is relatively high at close to 30%. Think about Singaporeans complaining when the unemployment rate of our mother land was at 4% previously.

Crime rate is high and personally I think it is not a very safe country for solo female travellers. In 2003, there were 52000 reported rape case. About one woman was assaulted every 23sec and one in two ladies was raped at least once in her life time!! For guys, young men aged between 16 to 29 were likely to be shot. The cause for the death due to penetrating wound is probably second to AIDS. About 4.5millions of the 48millions population are affect with AIDS!! I hope all the statistics had improved over the last two years.

Ironically, it is the high penetrating trauma rate for Karen’s conference to be held in South Africa. I never thought of visiting the country that lies below the tropics of Capricorn if Karen had not been tempting me with the free lodging at Durban. My routine in the city was simple, I need to send and pick Karen up from Durban International Conference Centre, prepare breakfast and dinner everyday. Do you understand why I was thought to be “MAID” instead of “Mate”?

Nevertheless, I think of this country as a safe destination with little "travellers' common sense". I would suggest few the following preventive measures.
Please do not to cover your face with a tourist map.
Never flash money or hang camera around neck in the public.
Put your money at different places. If there is no need for you bring all the money out from the hotel, don’t do that.
Never brave beyond the travellers’ territories.

While Durban is the busiest port of Africa, ninth busiest in the world. There are nice surf and good beaches. I was happy to brave the surf of Indian Ocean (part of my morning routine) with many other travellers who supported the growth of hotel industry. The fourth Holiday Inn was built along the touristy part of the coastline.

Keep Exploring New Ground!

Issue 3: Big Five

2005-09-15T02:48:00.000+08:00

I enjoyed the view of East Africa highland while cruising from Moshi to Kenya International Airport in a little bus. My breathing was steady then, while my heart rate had dropped to sea level. I can feel the high altitude with “big white cotton” hanging on top of trees. The flight from Nairobi back to Johannesburg via Namanga was pretty smooth. I sent a SMS to Jeanny wishing her “Happy Birthday”, and wrote 15 postcards while waiting for my flight, SA 182, to sail me through the cloud.

Do International Airlines do posting of postcards for the passengers FOC?
I was pretty shocked when air the steward denied this practice, more surprise when South Africa Airline did not have free playing card for passenger to entertain themselves onboard! My friend, ShuiYen, had been collecting playing card of different airline. I thought South Africa Airline would be a good contribution. Karen who took Air

Tanzania

from Kilimanjaro Airport to Johannesburg was denied the free postage service and playing card too. Probably only few international airline companies offered that?

Karen collected the romantic purple car and had a little fun driving around Johannesburg before meeting me at airport. There are nine provinces in

South Africa

. Joburg is located in the smallest province, Gauteng, which covers 1.4% (17000km²) of the country with close to 18% of the population (8 million people). According to my Zambian friend, Aubrey, Johannesburg aka Joburg is the fourth largest city in Africa (Cairo of Egypt is the largest). The city is also nicknamed “Egoli” which means “Place of GOLD”! Think about it, 40% of the world’s gold has been found here! I do not have much time to find out more about this concrete jungle. Karen and me set off for the Safari at Kruger National Park (NP).

Unlike Mount Kenya NP and Kilimanjaro NP, Kruger NP is named after a person. Paul Kruger, President of Transvaal (South African) Republic from 1883 til 1900, established the NP in 1898. The NP grew in size over the years. Today it is one of the most important landmark of

South Africa

. The 20000km square NP was indicated on the map when I was flying in from KL to Joburg!

I used to believe if one needs to see animal, just go to the zoo.

Singapore

has one of the zoos on planet Earth. I would normally tell my foreigner friends, if there is one place you need to visit in

Singapore

, make it the Mandai Zoo. This is probably a good recommendation for most people except Aubrey. 7600 animals of diverse species and the night safari zoo can never match a NP in the eyes of a real nature lover. I respected that, and could not agree more. There may be less species of animal in a Safari, but one would definitely learn more in a safari than a zoo. Probably, this is one what my Prime Minister, Mr Lee, meant by “study less and learn more”.

Do you watch documentary about animals in the wild? Personally, that is one of my favourites. Others would be about travel and culture. I used to think the person who videoed predators ambushing their prey very cruel. They could have warned the poor veggies. Sadly, during the three days stay in the NP, I wished to see the cats in action.

I saw three of the "Big Five" (Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Leopard and Lion) except the cats. The three cheetahs kinda replaced the leopard. But nothing can ever replace the King of the Savannah! I love lions, this beast is often portrait to be the King, a leader with grace. The fact is he is a king when comes to reproduction. Male lions don’t or seldom hunt and but get to eat first. A male lion can mate up to 40 times, and sleep up to 20 hours a day. Think about it, if a lion is sexually active for three days, it has had more sex than a normal Singaporean man. According to a report by Durex, Singaporean men only make love twice a week. Probably all men need more than a wife, that is why we normally see a few lion but a lot of lionesses?

Cheetahs are interesting cats, they are known for the capability to accelerate to a speed of 100km/h in 3 seconds for 200-300m. Little is known that Cheetahs are the most “out-dated” cats. Cheetah can never retract their claws. The paw prints of a leopard and cheetah can be easily differentiated. At the turn of the nineteenth century there were about 100,000 cheetahs on earth in a range that included India. Cheetahs in India were wiped out by the 1950s. Today cheetahs are extremely endangered, with only about 12,500 alive in Africa. Namibia, with an estimated 2,500, has the largest population. Because there is only one cheetah species in Africa, the cats are particularly vulnerable. Seeing cheetah was definately more rewarding than seeing leopard?

But how can one tell the difference between a leopard and cheetah? Other than getting a supervising, conducting and safety officer for 100m sprint race, one can tell a cheetah from a leopard by the black tear marks running down its face. So far, only April identified it correctly. There is an interesting fact about leopards, they drink blood seldom water, and leopard would never change its spots. Do you know the size of human eyes will never grow? Now you know why you used to look so cute.

For more information, on big and small cats check out...
http://www.bigcats.com

Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo are veggies. There are nothing interesting about them. Haha… If Joanne tied three of them together, they would make good anchor points (easily up to 8000kg) for Ace Adventure Race III racers to do rappelling.

In animal kingdom, all predators are “Built for the Kill” and the preys would try their very best to escape. Giraffe and Zebra camouflage themselves. No two zebras have the same strips. Imagine a herd of zebras being chased by lionesses, the young zebras have to recognised their mothers using the stripes on their ass! Thanks to God, many cats can not see the camouflage prey well.

A good nature reserve is determined by the number of predators. I can not remember the exact figures, but it was said one hectare of good grass land can support one zebra, and it takes up to 100 zebras to support a lion. I believe I saw hundreds of antelopes (Impala, Kudu, Springbok), zebra, giraffe but NO lion!

Meow! Meow!!

Issue 2: Freedom Peak

2005-09-14T04:05:00.000+08:00

The bus journey from Nairobi was not too exciting. I tried to plan everything to perfection, but new situations caught me! Normally, when I need to take a bus or train, I would try to determine the direction I am travelling. This is very important for choosing the seat at port or starboard side of the mode of transport. During the 7-8 hours bus journey, my knees would press hard against the seats in front of me when the driver depressed the brake pedal. Thankfully, it is not painful. I would rate the level of pain at 1 on my “Ouch-Meter”. It is not painful, but the discomfort was sufficient to keep most people awake.

Choon Wee and me reached Moshi at about 4pm. We went to explore the town. Generally, I felt Moshi is a much safer place compared to Nairobi. The town is laid back. I like the setting of this little town, there are a lot of sunflower plantations in the highland. Weather was not too humid and cooling during August. Probably one of the better season for climb Mount Kilimanjaro aka Roof of Africa at 5895m ASL. We waited for another Singaporean travel mate, Karen, who arrived on 9 Aug 05 at night.

I was pretty concern about Karen for this mountain track. Though Kilimanjaro is not a tough peak, the altitude posed a challenge for most climbers. Doing the mountain in six days is not an easy task, especially when we were trying to tackle the Western Breach. This route was listed to be technical a few years ago. I have reserve thoughts for route from day two to day three. We were expected to sleep at 3800m ASL on day two and 4600m ASL on day three. There is no opportunity for proper acclimatisation for Karen. There is a medicine commonly known as “Diamox”, the pills are normally taken for people who experience altitude sickness. I would never encourage taking medication for climbing. For climbing is purely for fun, never for pain.

The climb started on 10Aug 05, as planned. We were supported with 2 guides, 6 porters and “1 phantom cook”. Day one was relatively simple. We trekked from the cultivation, through the wet tropical region from Machame Gate (1800m ASL) to Machame Camp (3000m ASL) in six hours. After Mother Nature switched off the light, the sky cleared gradually. I witnessed some of the best starry sky. How I wish RuiMin can be around to navigate me across the countless the star constellations.

However, Machame route (my guide, Prosper, prefers to call it the whisky route) is not for some ladies. There is no proper toilet, and we slept in tents throughout the climb. There is another Marangu route, which is also called the “Coca Cola” route. This is a better route for trekkers prefer a more proper shelter at night.

Day Two, we entered the Moor lands region (third climate for Kilimanjaro). My guide, Prosper, started chanting “pole pole” (pronounce as “po-le” or “pole leh”) and “A-ku-na Ma-ta-ta”. “Pole Pole” means “slowly slowly”. If U can remember from the movie “Lion King”, there was a song called “A-ku-na Ma-ta-ta”. In Swahili language, “Ma-ta-ta” means “trouble or worries”, “A-ku-na Ma-ta-ta” literally means “NO WORRIES!” I like that!

Contingency planning started at Shira camp instead of Lava Tower. At 3800m ASL, Karen experience mild headache. Advices from Francis and Cooper’s map became an important asset. I knew the option of skipping Lava Tower and proceed toward Barranco and Barafu Camp direction. However, this opposed the plan of seeing and touching the glacier at Crater Camp. The glaciers at Kilimanjaro are receding. According to the IMAX movie produced years ago, it was said all glaciers would be gone by year 2020. Missing the glacier would be a great pity. It was actually the beautiful glaciers instead of the summit that drew me to Tanzania. Summiting Uhuru peak is an extra bonus from Mother Nature.

Thanks to Tan SiYan. There are more information on Kilimanjaro! For those interested read
http://www.ewpnet.com/kisummap.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilimanjaro

Karen was very determined to see the glacier! I believe her passion for the big ice cubes was much stronger than mine. As she had similar number of high altitude experience, I left the decision for taking Diamox to her. We proceeded from Shira camp to Lava Tower at 4600m the next day.

Day four is a relatively short walk. It took us about three hours for a DIY transfer from Lava Tower to Arrow Glacier at 4980m ASL. The campsite was nearly bare with rocks. We were into the fourth climate, the “High Desert”. As the gain of altitude for day four was not too abrupt, Choon Wee, Karen and me proceeded with a short acclimatisation walk as we have a lot of daylight hours.

14Aug 05 was the day that we tackled the “technical part” of the track, there is nothing too technical for the usage of ropes. However the initial route of the Western Breach can be pretty dangerous, everyone who attempted this route needs to clear the initial 300m before sunlight hit the glacier. My team started climbing at 5am. We were not fast, but relatively steady. I love this route very much. The rocks are big and easy enough to hold. I felt myself doing a little rock climb along the way. The sensation of dancing on rocks was fun. I was also happy to photograph this route. However, Prosper thinks it is not too safe to hang the camera around my neck. I hate it when he wanted to take away my trekking pole, thinking I should use my hands to climb instead of legs to balance. If weapon is important to a soldier, I believe I did the right thing for not handing over my trekking stick.

Nine hours was not a bad timing for the climb, we rest at Crater Camp by 2pm. Cloud was covering the camp site. We were blessed with good fortune just prior to dinner time. I believe Karen would crawl out of the tent if needed, just to touch the glacier.

Summit walk was relatively easy from Crater Camp which is 5700m ASL. Ascending 185m took us 90 minutes. We spent about 30minutes at the summit, I am pretty glad we are one of the first few team to reached the summit as the team has lot of time to pose for summit shots. Descending from the Freedom Peak or Uhuru Peak was fun! I enjoy the sensation of breathing denser air freely.

Tips were given at USD7 per day for guides and cook, and USD5 per day for the porters. The guides received additional USD40 camping at Crater, while porters who sleep at Crater earn an extra bonus of USD20. Total tipping was of a hefty USD500.

Tanzania is a good destination for revisit too… I would love to see Africa third highest peak Mount Mawensi at 5149m ASL closely. If Tanzania named herself the “Land of Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar”, I would be an incomplete traveller for I have yet to visit the beautiful island that was once war torn. For more info, check out http://www.allaboutzanzibar.com/ . Diving at this island would be fun!

Never Stop Exploring!

Kia-Ora!

Chee Meng

Issue 1: Kenya

2005-09-13T23:41:00.000+08:00

Jumbo! The word “Jumbo” means “Hullo”! This was the first greeting I received after spending almost two days transiting and flying to Nairobi (Kenya Capital). I used to hear people telling me they took three or more days to travel from Point A to Point B via flight, train or car. I thought that is pretty impossible. Sometimes, I am really thankful Singapore is a flying hub. While Singapore can fly directly to New York within a span of 18hours, it is not simple to sign your name at certain remote areas of the planet.

I arrived 16hours late at Nairobi airport due to some technical fault of Malaysia Airline. The flight from KL to Johannesburg was delayed for 11hours. This led to me missing the flight from South Africa to Kenya. Finally, I understand why one of the flight magazines suggested,” If you are straddled in a foreign airport, pray that it is Singapore Changi Airport.” Sleeping at Johannesburg airport wasn’t easy.

David’s brother, James, met me at Kenya airport. He was full of zest and started explaining to me about the Kenyan people lifestyle. He told me all the vans painted with a horizontal yellow strip are called the “Ma-ta-tu” (Ma-ta-tu means thirty cents). These are the public transport for most Kenyan since the 1960s when it only cost 30cents then. However Ma-ta-tu would normally race on roads, making the roads very unsafe. There is this common saying in Kenya “Ma-ta-tu Ma-ta-ta”, meaning “the vans are troubles or worries”.

While I was late, the schedule for Mount Kenya continued. I started the trek the day I touched down. That was pretty tiring for me as I’ve not been sleeping well for the last 48hours. The journey from Nairobi to Nanyuki (Central Highland) bypassing Karatina (one of the largest open markets at East Africa) was pretty interesting. We bypassed coffee, corn, french bean, sugar cane, cabbage plantations, not forgetting the many police road blocks along the way.

While we were at the Equator, James highlighted an interesting phenomenon!
How can one determine if you are standing at the Northern or Southern Hemisphere?
James said when one turn on the tap, water turn clockwise down the sink if you are at Southern Hemisphere, anti-clockwise at Northern Hemisphere. How do you think water would flow on Equator?

Singapore, Choon Wee and me, met Kenya at Nanyuki. My guide (Peter), Cook (Moses) and Porter (Joseph) made a fast purchase, and started the trek at about 1:45pm from Mount Kenya National Park Sirimon Gate at 2600m ASL. The walk to Old Moses Camp was slow as the altitude was above 2500m. This is an altitude that human may start having altitude sickness. I am happy with the pace as I have enough time to see some wild baboons along the track. After about three hours, it started drizzling. Low cloud hindered distance viewing. Another twenty minutes passed, Peter made a right turn into a small trail and we saw Old Moses Camp in no time.

It was dark soon and dinner was served promptly. I am very pleased with Old Moses Camp, there are beds with mattresses, and toilet with flush system, if U need drinking water there is a tap in the hut. However, there is no flag pole!! I would love to raise a white flag if not white underwear to my cook! Well… dinner began with a plate filled with pop corns and biscuit, main dish was potato, veggie and meat which covered almost 99% of the plate. No meal was completed without fruits! I crawled into the sleeping bag to massage my poor stomach after the outrageously sumptuous meal.

In the morning, I witnessed some of the best toilet view at Old Moses, the sky was cleared while Batian (Highest Point of Mount Kenya, Africa second highest peak at 5199m ASL) and Nelion unveiled themselves. I took a few photo shots before checking my rectum clear. Day two is a slightly longer walk. We started at about 0715hrs, I enjoyed the gradual 900m ascent with flora that we don’t get to in tropical Singapore. While looking at the slopes of the valley, I found distinct difference in the density of plants. With knowledge imparted from “Singapore Best Climbing Instructor”, Mr Lim Kim Boon, I started wondering the amount of sunlight each side of the valley receive over the seasons.

Before reaching Shiptons Camp at 1600hrs, I saw some “Possum”!! Oh… these little “Possum” look alike creatures are actually called “Rock Hyrax” or “Dassie”. These mammals are not related to the marsupial family. An adult hyrax is about 45-60cm long, and the closest relative is actually elephant.

I spend two nights at Shiptons, the first night was bad as I could not adapt well to 4200m ASL suddenly. The headache effect wear off fast on the second day after an acclimatisation walk (3hours return) was done to Hauseberg Col, 4700m ASL.

“Summit” push was done on day three (second night at Shiptons). Traditionally, a lot of summit push (especially High Mountains) is done in wee hour. This is probably because of safety. Doing summit push at night is easier as rock, snow and ice are held together by water defrost during the day. It is also nice to see sun rise after a hard climb. Anyway, the summit climb from Shiptons took about three hours. Many tried to find Kilimanjaro which is located at about 360 - 380km south of Mount Kenya. It was said that viewing the “Roof of Africa” from Point Lenana (Tourist Summit of Mount Kenya at 4985m ASL) is possible on a clear day. Obviously, the day was not too clear when I summit.

Peter, Joseph, Choon Wee and me began the descent after spending an hour at Point Lenana, at about 7:15am. Moses who did not summit was not lazing, he actually prepared a light breakfast before the ascent and another breakfast when we return to Shiptons Camp. The team began the walk down at about 10:30am. The air was dense and moist, lusty green vegetation give me a feel of richer oxygen. I felt stronger as I descent. I reached Old Moses with Moses and Joseph at about 4pm. Choon Wee and Peter arrived 30minutes later. I am pretty glad the rain missed me by minutes. We had another night at Old Moses Camp.

Tipping is an integral part of a good trek. Choon Wee and me forked out USD50 each for the support crew. I would like to express my appreciation to the cook, Moses. He took good care of my Osprey Aether 60, backpack, throughout the trip. One bad thing about him… he over fed me during all the dinners! The desire for food continued when I reached Nairobi where Choon Wee and me proceeded to a restaurant, the Carnivore. As the name suggested, Carnivore is a place for meat only. I tasted camel meat for the first time. The crocodile died in peace when I told him the person who prepared the food, cooked it with effort.

Kenya shall remain another possible destination for me. I would love to visit the Samburu National Park which is some 90km, direct bearing, from Mount Kenya National Park. Safari at the NP would be fantastic, this is one of the best places to see thousands of wildebeest, zebras, other veggies and maybe some lions!

Africa Trip Updates - Introduction

2005-09-12T02:34:00.000+08:00

This is the introductory issue of my trip updates after spending 35days at Eastern and Southern Africa. During the short five weeks, I collected passport stamps at Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Lesotho. The trip to the second largest continent was incredible! I am glad the getaway was at a place where most Asian, more specifically me has little knowledge about.

I would divide the updates to six issues, specifically targeting the area I explored. They would be Kenya, Tanzania, Kruger National Park (South Africa), Durban (South Africa), Drakensberg (South Africa and Lesotho) and Cape Town (South Africa).

Africa, this continent probably contains details of the beginning of all mankind. The earliest “proto-humans” were the “australopithecines” (literally “Southern Apes”). Some of the first human-like fossils are found in this massive piece of land. To cut the geography lesson short… I shall skip to the stage of human which is probably very important for the development of modern mankind. The Homo erectus (human that can stand in an upright manner) was than transited into the more modern mankind, homo sapiens, and finally our type.

Wanna learn more? Check this out…
http://anthro.palomar.edu/homo/homo_1.htm
http://www.northave.org/MGManual/Earlyman/Eman1.htm
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/hufossil.html

Why was Homo erectus an important phase? It is important, as the brain is close to the size of modern mankind and they are able to walk better with both legs. This gives human the ability to make and use tools. I would love to impart this quote from my beloved 1WO Simon Kang to many people especially soldiers and a friend Linda.
“Keep your hands free U need to use them for fighting (holding Ur weapon/ice axe).”

“Our Army” always empathise the concept of “thinking soldiers”. Thinking must be very important? But if one doesn’t execute what he thinks, it would have been pretty useless. Then one day, one of these “people” must have thought we should document our thoughts? Language and transcript began. Anyway, there was an interest National Geographic issue (April 2005) on another kind of Homo erectus discovered at Flores.

Flores is an island next to Lombok, my next destination, while Bali and Java are located at East of Lombok. To make the Geography lesson more simple, Java is an island where our important neighbour Indonesia’s capital is located. But the size of these human are smaller in term of size than their “cousin” at Africa. Many questions were posed, like how did these people sail to Flores?

Wanna learn more? Check this out…
http://www.nature.com/news/specials/flores/index.html

I think I have kinda developed a writing style for all the E-mails updates. I thought Lonely Planet has been of great influence for I love to talk a little about History and Geography. These are the important components that contribute to culture. Unlike most news, books, magazine or internet, they may exaggerate the cost of living and danger level slightly. I thought this is probably very important for media holds social responsibilities to the places they reported. I would prefer to downplay certain issues. Please take note, the rest of the six issues only reflect my personal thoughts.

I would try to put in more names and place where I got the info from. Probably, I need to let my faithful readers where these facts are quoted. As I am not very smart, I am very glad I am surrounded with intelligent people like U. Special thanks to my favourite National Geog and Discovery Channels.

Kia-Ora!
Chee Meng
12th Sep 05

Next Destination

2005-07-30T02:39:00.000+08:00

Many friends..sss asked, “You are not getting a job?”
I replied, “Nope… probably next year? Haha…”

Some friends asked, “Where is your next destination?”
I announced, “Africa!”

I never thought I would be visiting Africa. I thought Tibet would be a more interesting choice for it is much cheaper, and the great plateau offers majestic mountains that were previously part of Indian Ocean sea bed. However, there is a switch in plan as I could not find any travel mates for Tibet. Hmm… after my several trip, I told myself I would be more selective for travel mate(s).

Africa is a land of great diversity and contrasts. This is true of its land, climate, people, and wildlife. The continent of Africa comprises one-fifth of the total Earth's land mass. It is the second largest continent (after Asia) and is divided into 56 different countries. That is close to 30% of the countries listed in United Nations. Do you think at least one of the African countries deserve to hold a permanent seat in United Nations Security Council?

FYI, Britain, China, France, Russia and USA are permanent members of UN Security Council. These countries were elected after World War 2. The five countries are given the special privilege of veto vote prior any new proposal, including declaration of a war.

UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, is hoping to use the UN's 60th anniversary this year as a springboard to revitalise an institution that has been tarnished by scandal and damaged by the angry divisions over the Iraq war.

One of models suggested the expansion of the permanent council seats from five to 11 -- with Brazil, Germany, India and Japan already having launched a joint campaign to get four of those slots. The other two would likely go to African nations (News from CNA on 20th March). Hopefully, members of the continent would strive hard for the positions.

Africa is by far the world's poorest inhabited continent. The population is estimated to be close to 850million now (compare with China’s 1.3 billion strong, December 2004). The United Nations' Human Development Report 2003 (of 175 countries) found that positions 151, Gambia (A narrow republic surrounded by Senegal in West Africa) to 175, Sierra Leone (A republic in West Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1961) were taken up entirely by African nations.

A friend from Zambia who work in South Africa told me, “if only people in Africa would stop fighting for power and resources, the continent would be a better place to live.” Do you know Africa is the major producer for Gold and Diamond? I would like to quote my friend again… “It is definitely easier to dig 10cm to plant a seed than 10km mining kingdom underground”. It is very wrong if you think Africa is technologically backward.

End of my personal thoughts on political issues… Probably some Geography lessons in the next posting. :)

After Australia

2005-07-15T14:13:00.000+08:00

Once again I am back in the little island, a place I call “home”. Life has always great at my side, since “today should always be better than yesterday”.

It has been almost a month since I first returned from Australia. The initial 12hours in Singapore is pretty exciting. The immediate destination is to my friend’s warehouse in Tampines where I departed my bicycle. I helped him to load some stuff into his van for a bazaar near Raffles Place. I had an hour of rest before leaving for the bazaar. The journey from Eastern Singapore, Tampines, to central Singapore is a mere 20minutes. This timing is impossible by flight in Queensland. Well… I realized I can never be trapped in Singapore for long.

I picked up the Air Asia ticket, and did a last minute arrangement to meet one of my Army buddies, Yew Mun. He responded to my 30minutes warning order. Fantastically, he arranged to pick up another Army buddy, Lok. As we were having lunch, we met another platoon mate. What a small world, small country… I began to appreciate the accessibility of the tiny nation.

After lunch, my “private chauffeur” sent me to RGS where I picked up the students and make my way out off Singapore to Senai Airport at Johor, Malaysia. Journey is pretty smooth, as my “friendly travel agent”, Aileen from PacWest travel, has made the pre-arrangement. Unlike Australia Budget airlines, Air Asia works on a “first come first sit” policy. I was trying to get some rest with while the 14 to 16 years old girls were displaying their strong enthusiasm toward the highest pinnacle of South East Asia. The group reached Borneo, third largest island in the world after two hours flight.

Interestingly, my first mission at Sabah is to identify “Mr Jeffery”, my friendly bus driver. I wasn’t too lucky, I used my first hint “Call a Friend” for assistance. My friendly travel agent wasn’t useful. I found my friendly driver using two guesses. The two hours bus journey to Kinabalu Park was uneventful. Jeffery is relatively safe compared to the cab driver who sent me to the same destination five year ago. I saw Aileen at 1600metres ASL (Above Sea Level). The mountain air is as cooling as it can be at 11pm. It was about 1am when my friendly travel agent explained to me the three groups of climbers and their independent schedule at Kinabalu.

“Kinabalu” is a Malay word that means “Chinese Widow”. The legend for this name came from the Chinese sailors who came from China during Ming Dynasty in search for the dragon’s claw that would make the Chinese King immortal. The Chinese officials did not find the dragon but found themselves rhino horns (Dragon Claw?) and more importantly foreign wives. When the sailors left, their wives climbed the highest mountain in Borneo. The ladies looked out from the Chinese Junks which look very different from the Malay boats. After many disappointing days, months and years, the women turned into stones! Unlike Australia and NZ mountains, Mount Kinabalu continues to grow every year. However, this mountain grows differently compared to Mount Everest. Mother Nature probably fed the mountains with different milk?

I was introduced to my group of climbers during breakfast. There are ten adults and ten primary school young adults ranging from eleven to twelve years old in my group. I would choose to disregard their age for I never believe in one should be forgiven for ignorance for outdoor. Mother Nature never closes one eye for the ignorance. Outdoor is never easy, I would teach, but if my clients choose to learn the hard way, I would never stop them as long as it is with safety tolerant. Summiting is a lucrative bonus for all climbers, but not a must. My personal objective for the trip was to bring everyone safely up and more important back to sea level.

There is a Chinese saying “study ten thousand books is not as good as travel ten thousand miles”. I firmly believe in that… Starting at 1800metre ASL after a 4.5km bus ride, the team cleared the 2200metres (Mount Kosciuszko stands at 2228metres) within 2hours. I began my lessons on the flora, terrain and human reaction at different altitude. The climb is slow but steady. The rain forest justified its name 4pm. The climb continued in the rain as it was too early to start the night trek. The last member managed to reach Laban Rata at about 3300metres at 5pm after eight and a half hours climb.

Personally, I feel the teachers in charge of the primary school are outdoor enthusiasts. Sadly, one who is interested in outdoor is not good enough to lead the team. Lions are led by the strongest lion within the pack. I m not sure if followers are young lion, but I am definite the leader is not the strongest among the pack. I started empathizing to my clients how to adapt in the cold. We plan to start to start the climb at 2:15am.
>>> One personal note, I have nothing against the teachers. Just sad that the kids could have been more exposed.

In many mountains, it is common to do 14-18 hours climb on summit day. Watching the orange cloud from the East, seem to be a norm but never a must. My clients planned to stay at Laban Rata for two nights, these is not an easy task for two of the students. Due to safety reason, we decided to evade them. The summit climb began at 2:45am after my clients had some biscuit and hot milo, courtesy from PacWest Travel.

The weather was never at its best. The climb was relatively smooth, three of my climbers pulled out when the climb began while two clients decided Sayak Sayak (about 3800metres ASL) was decent enough for a new altitude record. I respected one of the teachers use did the climb using sheer will. The last man of the team managed to summit at 7:45am to 8:00am. All returned to Laban Rata by 11am. No injury incurred at this point of time. One of the teachers volunteered to descend with the two students who had mountain sickness.

I did not fulfill my mission as the teacher who made the descent sprain her ankle while making her way back to 1800metres. I managed to settle the administrative issues with the assistance of the Malaysian guide and Aileen’s SMS after descending to 1600metres on Thursday.

Friday was spent on sightseeing at the Kinabalu Park which is easily four times the size of Singapore. There is a hot spring discovered by Japanese soldiers during WW2, tree canopy walk made by the local and war memorial for the Australian soldiers within the region. We took a flight back to Singapore on Saturday morning and my mum got the opportunity to see her ugly son at around 3pm. Thankfully, she doesn’t know her son has did a climb at Sabah before going back home. Else I could have been disowned and become an orphan now.

Next destination will be to Kenya and Tanzania at East Africa. The Somali plate has created a basin to feed millions of mammals in the plain. May I see the lions and rhino on the vast savannah? The objective at the countries is to climb two of the highest mountains in Africa. Kilimanjaro (5895metres ASL) and Mount Kenya (5200metres ASL) are snow peaks which are very near to the equator. I would not summit Mount Kenya for it is pretty technical, this summit is nicknamed the "Matterhorn of Africa". After taking photo the two summits, I would fly to South Africa to do a trek and view the Cape of Good Hope.

More Updates… Never Stop Exploring!

Kia-Ora!

Chee Meng
15th Jul 05

Mount Kosciuszko

2005-06-10T17:25:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I was at Melbourne, the flight to Brisbane took approximately two hours. Nine days journey at South-East Australia has proven to be a refreshing break, good recharge before the Exam on next Saturday, 18 June. During the short trip, I had good fun reviewing the series of events happened over the recent years. I could have stayed in Brisbane and think quietly. However, the travel bug got better of me, bugging me for new explorations!

After the warm up trip at Grampian on 4th June, I proceed to Thredbo on the 5th. Thredbo is a little alpine town within Kosciuszko National Park. The park is named after a Polish military leader Thaddeus Kosciuszko (1746-1817). This park was important for summer cattle grazing until it was founded in 1944. The construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a hydroelectric project completed in 1972, left an extensive road network that is now heavily used by tourists. Several large dams and lakes are associated with utilisation of the renewable energy, hydroelectric projects.

The broad shaped valleys around the main range are a result of glacial action during the ice ages and make for easy access to the Main Range which offers fantastic cross country skiing. Other interesting activities for the adventurous are challenging downhill runs, cycling on the steeper faces.

Kosciuszko National Park includes Australia highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko at 2228 metres or 7,310 feet. It is the largest national park in New South Wales, Kosciuszko National Park extends 200km north to south, from Tumut to the Victorian border, encompassing an area of some 6500 square kilometres. The scenery includes almost all of the high country, with ten peaks above 2100m, forested valleys and a treeless plateau with glacial lakes, as well as the headwaters of Australia biggest river system.

Upon reaching the Thredbo, 1370 metres, I began my search for a shelter. Thanks to the helpful information counter, I manage to find the cheapest roof at $26.50 per night at YHA Thredbo. Appreciation of terrain started with visual followed by foot recce to the start point of Merittius Track. While there were patches and snow and ice on the slope and rivers, I was pretty lucky as the route to the summit seem cleared. I foresee little or no difficulties all the way up 1900metres.

On 7th June, I proceeded with the walk up the mountain at 0730hrs. The sky cleared slowly as the surrounding air is picking up speeding. After close to two hours walk, I was at 1900metres point. It was there and then that I realised the chair lift for skiing operates!? Nevertheless, I did not regret walking. I felt more relax when I saw the 6.5km route ahead was cleared. As I was at higher elevation, the ears and fingers staged a demonstration that they are feeling numb.

I fasten my pace on the plateau, and breathed Australia highest air at 2228 metres at 1055hrs. I enjoyed myself on the summit, looking at the surrounding peaks for 35 minutes. I saw more people while I was making my descent. Smarter people who discover using the chair lift is a better deal compared to waking up early.

While I was walking toward the chair lift, the wind relaxed its pace, and I started see more blue components at up above. As time is on my side, I decided to take a longer 9 km descent track. I began an expert taking self-portrait making use of the granites and stretching my left hand faraway. Suddenly, I felt a strong sense of respect to the Taiwanese ladies who are capable of making ten different postures and expressions for taking Neo-print. Proud that I even know some female friends who have the similar talent too!

I started thinking about the 13 hours bus ride excluding the two hours transiting Canberra. During the progress of brainstorming what should I do after I "met five people in heaven" (Mitch Albom), I grabbed two copies of outdated National Geographic accidentally. I thought it would be interesting to learn about how Swedish were forced to open the door of Finland to the German. Like the Thais did to Malaysia and Singapore during World War 2. Other captivating news about Africa, Tibet makes me ponder more about the world political issues like the chances of States "Liberating" North Korea when the poor country can not offer a drop of oil.

There were many other issues that I thought was pretty fun to probe. Like
Why do human travel?
When would men fight/kill each other?
How much money a man/woman need to be happy?
What is the difference between facial and shower gel?

Kia-Ora!
Chee Meng
10th June 05