Teaser: My Trip To Tioman Island

In a couple of days time, i will be embarking on a trip to one of Malaysia's renowned island accompanied by family and friends, and frankly speaking, i'm looking forward to it! i mean who wouldn't, it'll be a weekend of sun, sea and sand. i know it's not a reason for me to get excited about, it's only an island with a beach right? well, of course it is...but my excitement stems from the fact that i'll be going on a long-overdue vacation (even if it's only for three days and two nights), woo hoo :D!!

my objective of going there is different from the rest of the group. the divers are going for their refresher dive while the non-divers will be snorkeling. since i'm neither a diver nor has any interest in snorkeling, i'll be the only odd one out to breath in the surrounding, chill out and relax in my own way...and since i get bored easily, i'll be bringing my office work along just in case.

i can't say much about the place because i have never been there , but as per wikipedia's entry, it was one of the location shoot for a 1958 movie- South Pacific and selected by Time magazine in the 1970s as one of the world's most beautiful islands. having been raised in Sabah with its share of abundant islands, i am expecting that it'll be no different from the rest of the islands that i've been to.

curious of what to be expected, i googled it up for images. what i saw didn't really impress me, i mean come on, i used to work for a resort with a similar environment and surrounding for four years!

(left: Tioman, right: Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort- my previous heavenly working place)

there wasn't anything special or striking except probably the diving areas and corals, but hey...the place is yet to be seen, who knows what other excitement awaits.

finally i found an excerpt from a website which revealed a legend of how the island came to be:

"The dragon-like appearance of Tioman Island is at the root of a legend surrounding its origin: A dragon princess from China was flying to her prince in Singapore and stopped to rest in these calm, warm waters. Enamoured by the beauty of the area, and the waves lapping at her sides, she discontinued her journey and took the form of an island"

i smiled, not because of how charming the legend is but because of how wrong it sounded in certain levels. it just proved how emotional the opposite sex is. my argument are as follows:

a) A dragon princess from China was flying to her prince...
--> seriously, in Asian culture it is still culturally inappropriate for the women to just take off and be with the opposite sex...and this happened in a traditional age! Desperate much? :D
--> her action of flying to another territory just to meet with her prince is clearly an act of passion driven by emotion.

b) Enamoured by the beauty of the area, and the waves lapping at her sides, she discontinued her journey and took the form of an island...
-->> the resting part was acceptable, but to rest to the the point of refusing to wake up shows how lazy and half-hearted she was with her initial quest to be with her prince. it's like she was in an emotional roller coaster unsure of what she had wanted. it's best to say that she was a young dragon who wasted her future chasing for something insubstantial :D.

the point of the story was, women are generally driven by their emotion that they fail to see the logic and rationality of their actions and its consequences haha :p. apparently there are other legends as well, but it needs translating so i skipped it and stuck with this one hahaha.

okay, getting back to the trip, here's a snippet of what we will be doing:

Objective:
1. To welcome the east coast diving season.
2. REFRESHER DIVE before heading to Sipadan in April.
3. To abuse the duty free beverages in the island.

...Tentative Itinerary:

18th March (Friday)
0200: Depart KL by carpooling.
0800: Arrival at Mersing Jetty Ferry transfer to Tioman.
1200: Arrival at Azmi Dive.
1300 - 1600: 1st dive, If time permits do 2nd dive.
1900: Dinner and merry making.

19th March (Saturday)
1000 - 1600: 2 or 3 dives for the day.
1900: Dinner and merry making

20th March (Sunday)
1200: Depart Tioman
1500: Arrival in Mersing and depart for KL.
2100: Arrival in KL

based on the info above i believe there're are couple of things that all of us in the group unanimously agree on, which are 'to abuse the duty free beverages in the island' and 'merry making'!!

**Holy crap, i just realised that the drive from KL to Mersing takes about 6 hours!!! Die lah like dis!! :D.

i'm now actually experiencing a headache just thinking about the long journey, geezz.... will post an entry after coming back from the trip, fingers crossed that everything will turn out just great. ciao :)

Wall Climbing at Putrajaya Challenge Park

okay yeah, i know this entry was due last week but i've been too engrossed with my so called normal life that i 'had' to postpone the posting :p.

okay, as promised in my previous teaser i shall now blog about what wall climbing is about from my own perspective (well okay, probably from someone else's as well :p) hahaha :D

to know more about what this extreme sport entails, we must first be familiar with what wall climbing is. in other words, the basic or humble beginning of how wall climbing came to be.....

okay, i'm just not motivated enough to explain how it came to be, so i'm gonna skip it hahaha. but what i can tell you is that, wall climbing stemmed from rock climbing (duh...hahaha). after a couple of centuries later, a smart dude decided to share the wonderful experience of having callous hands from spending too much time clinging on man made rocks or structures (though the outdoor ones are real haha) like cliff monkeys :p.

as far as i know when it comes to indoor wall climbing, there are three types of activities you can choose to do:

a) bouldering
b) lead climb/ top rope
c) solo climb/ free climb

the differences between these three are: ropes and a partner. you need a partner for the rope but the rope doesn't necessarily need a partner, confused much? :).

to begin with, few essential paraphernalia should be prepared before any climb is conducted and is used depending on the type of climb. as per the image below, the designated shoes are for any kind of climb, the harness is for top rope/ lead climb and solo/ free climb and the chalk bag is used to store the chalk powder to keep your palms/ fingers dry at all times.

okay, in bouldering no rope is used and a partner is not required since it is just an introductory for beginners to understand the concept of wall climbing techniques and are structured to be of a decent height with less risk for injuries. for experienced climbers, the bouldering wall is used to hone their upper body strength and traversing skills.

(source: EP News)

in top rope/ lead climb, a rope and partner is needed because the wall is much higher (like three times more) compared to the bouldering wall and your partner is there to ensure your safety. now, a climber is known as *drum roll* a climber (duh hahaha) and your partner who is in charge of your safety is called the belayer (always good to say 'i've got your back bro' haha) :). when starting the climb, the climber has to say 'climber on' and will be responded by the belayer, 'belayer on'. the challenging aspect of top roping is the colored rocks where climbers rely on the same colored rocks to get to the top.

as seen in the picture above, both men are wearing harnesses (though the belayer didn't have to put on his chalk bag :p). so before starting, they need to put it on properly and secure the ropes as per the images below:

*okay, i meant: rope secured on climber's harness :p

for the climber's rope, there's a technique in tying the knot whereas the rope insertion into the belay device varies according to the types (i think) hahaha. in case you're wondering where the chalk bag fit in all this preparation, it is hung on the harness supporting your backside.

in solo climb, no one will be there to be your back up security. the climber moves ahead alone using a rope and protection devices including a self belay system. in other words, if you don't have what it takes (i.e. skills, experience, stamina), don't even dream of doing this! :D. it's very similar to trad (traditional) climbing except that the route has been determined ..and just as a reminder, this is not recommended to beginners or amateurs. (as at 27th march 2011, this info seem to be inaccurate. my apologies :p. for more details do Google it up for a more accurate description)

(source: meetup.com)

what i can say about this activity is that, it's darn strenuous (or it's just me who has been out of shape over the years haha) and you need to be fit in most aspect, such as in terms of endurance, strength, agility and stamina.

for those interested to pursue this activity either as a hobby or passion, you may want to read up on few facts first. check out these websites:

a) livestrong.com
b) workout-x
c) E-How
d) ABC of rock climbing

ok, as a disclaimer, i just wanna say that what was written here is only based on my beginner's observation and experience, some (if not all haha) may not be accurate. so don't take my word for it, try it out yourself because there are a lot more things to be learnt. in my case, climbing has always appealed to me....so i might probably stick with it until i get bored or give up due to lack of talent or for being such a wimp haha :p.

i was gonna leave you with a video i took of people scaling the walls, but unfortunately the quality sucked big time so i decided otherwise. instead, i'll leave you with my pathetic look after doing just one route :p.

if you're in F.T Putrajaya, Malaysia, you can try out this activity at Putrajaya Challenge Park. all the paraphernalia including shoes are available for rent. the breakdown? hmmm, RM6 for the entry fee, RM7 for the shoes and RM5 for the harness...no socks though hahaha.

Cheers :D!

Teaser: My Day at Wall Climbing

okay, today's a freaking saturday, the first satuday of the month and i'm in the office doing squat. well, not exactly nothing because i actually took a nap to pass the time. how long? hmmm, i punched in at 9am, went for a two hour breakfast after that and i just woke up a couple of minutes ago and fyi, it's 2.06pm :D.

i tried to do a video entry earlier, but after 3 attempts of trying to sound fun, exciting and 'young' (hahahaha), i found myself watching an old guy trying to escape the harsh reality of being an average joe in the playback...except that the average joe would've found ways to make the camera love him hahaha.

it was mentioned in my earliest entry that my next posting will be about fun and excitement, and it will be. just consider this as a teaser to what's coming because the next entry will be about 'my day at wall climbing' happening later on. Just so you know, this will be my fourth time participating in this activity and if i'm in the mood, i might get any of my friends to do a lame and unprofessional video recording of yours truly scaling up the wall :p. but you know, you won't be seeing my face, instead you'll get a a lot of front seat view of my backside (yeah, i know you like that..perverts hahaha).

will keep you peeps posted, share all details sparing nothing of this supposed fun activity :). but now, i need about 20minutes to complete and send my report to headquarters and pretend that my job has been stressful hahaha

peace y'all haha :D

hi...i'm jerry :D

As you can see, this is my second visible blog in the list and my sad and pathetic attempt to show how exciting my life is! yeah, i know what you peeps are thinking...maybe i am compensating my action-less and dull life with a make believe world of what could've or should've been.

you know what, you may have a point there. i mean, for those who knows me might find that i'm dull as a dishwater but that doesn't mean i don't know how to have fun... i do, but only in my own unconventional ways and with weird people...hahaha *forced laugh** ehem ehem...

so, why exactly do i need to open up a new blog? (notice i used the word 'need' :p). for starters, i'd like to record my thoughts, the sights and also the sounds of the places that i'll be visiting and interesting things that i'll be doing (if that's ever gonna happen haha). i mean, i have every intention of going places and doing stuff..and i'm also thinking about going into doing vblogs (talk about vanity haha).

anyhow, a bit tired now and i'm just gonna leave it as it is. the next time you enter this blog, hopefully i have something fun or good to talk about because this is what this blog will be...positive, fun and entertaining hahaha.

Ciao :D