PLANS FOR 2008

OK.. enough of 'feeling catchers' on 2007.. now lets start talking about 2008..

January 2008-
jom kayuh!!! aku target nak buat kayuhan century (century ride) 19 January!! Century ride means kita akan kayuh lebih dari 100km... aku nak cadangkan kita buat dari Putrajaya to Bagan Lalang..

we'll also be starting our batch lunch.. as for venue.. ananti aku consult Acun..

February 2008-
Jom kita sokong kawan-kawan yang akan take part in IRONMAN LANGKAWI- in short lets go to LANGKAWI.. last year, bean and ala did their Ironman.. this year, MAYBE, they'll be doing it AGAIN.. Ala, Budin and I have made plans to go there on the 22-24 Feb.. trust me, it'll be fun!!

March 2008-
Batch trip cum bike ride.. aku nak cadangkan kita pergi kayuh basikal ke MELAKA.. bertolak pagi sabtu, and malam sabtu, kita sewa chalet kat Umbai.. malam tu belasah seafood!! next day kayuh balik.. those yang tak minat nak kayuh, no problem.. kita RV aje kat umbai.. itu cuma cadangan...

SELAMAT TAHUN BARU

Praise be to God for another wonderful year with family and friends..

The kids are older by a year, work experiences too.. grey hair sprouting.. the waist, an inch or two bigger.. and even one less year of installment on the car..

Take some time to reflect.. what have you done to make yourselves better in 2007? Are you a better person? A better father? Son? Husband? Employee? Boss? Driver? Golfer? Cyclist?

We’re gonna be 34 next year. Are we where we’re suppose to be? Seperti biasa, ada yg terlebih (terlebih berat?) and ada yang terkurang (lack of good deeds)..

Whatever it is… selamat tahun baru.. semoga 2008 will bring more joy and happiness.. yang kurang sihat, semoga lebih sihat.. yang banyak duit, ingat-ingatlah untuk melabur sikit untuk masa depan…

Thank you for the great 2007!! See you in 2008…Bandit

Bt 18 to Teratak Tekala

Unlike last year we did Century ride to end 2006, this year to end year 2007 we did 33km easy ride from Batu 18 Hulu Langat to Teratak Tekala. There were 5 of us (Budin, Boot, Bandit, Ala & me) plus another 2 UPNM students and one of them is an OP.

near Semenyih dam... Bandit is showing off his new bike

Picture of RMC taken from spy satellite

One of the enemy target for producing biological defense system, the NFL.... Nation's Future Leaders.

Yes Sir I'm A Soldier Boy…..

"All men dream; but not equally, those who dream in the night, in the dusty recess of their mind only wake up to find it in vanity, but those men who dream in the day are dangerous men for they can carry out their dreams with open eyes."

When Lawrence of Arabia penned the above line in his magnum opus "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" little did he contemplate that years to come men fitting that description would pass out from this prestigious college in a faraway land.

Royal Military College, the mere mention of the name is enough to set off a rush of emotion for those who studied there and its nemesis. A cradle for future leaders nestled in the lush mountain top of Sungai Besi garrison town, Kuala Lumpur. RMC is an institution like no other, under the purview of the Ministry of Defense, it strive to produce student with an iron discipline of a military officer coupled with an aptitude of a scholar.

The present day successors of the much dreaded ancient Spartans, boys as young as fourteen are trained on every aspect of military, ranging from drill to firing the standard infantry assault rifle, apart from the regular education syllabus found in secondary school.

This is the only college in the country which has the prefix "Royal" to its name, own regimental colours, golf team, Olympic size swimming pool, and above all pays you pocket money on monthly basis

The list of who's who in the public service, private sectors and military is a testament to the college and its charter "preparing young Malaysians to take places as Officers in the Malaysian Armed Forces, in the higher divisions of the public service and as leaders in the professional, commercial and industrial life of the country".

Entrance into this college is strictly based on merit, only those with straight A's in UPSR or PMR will be eligible for applying. Thereafter you will be called for a selection process, in which annually 5000 potential candidate throughout the country will battle it out for one week of interview and selection process. These include IQ test, medical examination, physical test and final board. Students will be vetted in stages, some would fail in IQ while others would fail in physical. The selected few will proceed to the final board, where the Board of Governors would determine which candidate has the right aptitude for RMC. At the end of the day out of 5000 potential candidates only 95-100 will make it to the college. The selection process is vital to ensure only those with the right mental and physical stamina enters in order to endure the punishing daily regime in RMC.

Founded in 1952 by Field Marshall Sir Gerald Templer, he envisaged RMC after the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. It is divided into 8 companies from A-H (named after the military alphabets like Alpha, Bravo and so on) each with its own distinctive flag and colour. Earlier when RMC was known as Federation Military College the company was divided into 4 companies named after famous battle fought by the British like Dettingen, Waterloo and Inkerman. Competition among company is ferocious in sports, academic and military studies. The company which fares in all aspect usually will be given the honor of wearing the yellow lanyard to set it apart from the rest.

A typical day in RMC will start at 5.30am and it's a chain of well choreographed schedule until lights off at 2230 hrs. There is an important rest period at 2.15pm-3.00pm where duty officers or seniors will ensure no feet are on the ground except on bed.

Saturday's are for military training beginning with the OC (Officer Commanding) Parade at 0715-0830. Thereafter Physical Training (PT), Battle PT, Battle Tactics, General Military Knowledge, Signals, Armament and Map Reading. Boys are allowed one overnight in the month and two outings. However they must be back to the guardroom by 1830hrs or their name would appear in the roaster board for extra drill the next day.

Following the passing out parade for the class of 2004, the Secretary General of Ministry of Defense who graced the occasion, made an announcement to reinstate the Form 4 intake. A lot of opinions were given about the shortcomings of commissioning Form 4 into RMC.

While everyone has the right to express their view owing to the civilized nature of our society, in my humble opinion it is the college which makes the students stand apart and not vice versa. Whether a boy has stayed in RMC for 1 year or 5 years it makes no difference. A year is enough to mould a young men into the kind of character that RMC looks for, those who do not fit into this category will not survive more than a year. Their individual instinct and biological capability will tell them its enough and its time to quit.

Once you wore the red hackle, yellow muffler, white gloves and carried the spear as the honor guard for your passing out seniors you are one of the few and a full fledged putera. We have old putera who have studied in RMC for a year yet is as illustrious as those who have been there for 5 years. Student may come with different mentality from outside school, but once inside and the shock treatment mooted by the seniors and drill instructors is enough to forget from where you came, but to accomplish the task of cooperation and oneness in RMC.

In RMC there are no individuals, it's the college and the company, one wrong move by anyone will ensure the wrath for your entire company. No one individuals made the RMC great, its great because its unique, owing to the dedicated academic staffs, military officers, drill sergeant, the gardeners who keep it trimmed and above all the old guards of the college the Old Putera Association, which will ensure its glory for years to come.

A tradition which every ex boy hold dear till date is the wearing of college tie every Wednesday. The tie of dark green background with thin yellow/red stripes representing the regimental colours of RMC. If you see a gentleman wearing it, do not be deceived by his immaculate mannerism for he is soldier first and whatever second. Rest assured you are safe in his presence for he will live up to the sacred words of "serve to lead" the motto of RMC.

I am one of the few privileged to be part of this proud tradition and I'm sure many generations to come boys will look up to this institution with veneration. Yes Sir, I'm A Soldier Boy…..indeed.

388522 OP Jeyaganesh Gopalsamy
Charlie Company
8^th Royal Thoroughbreds (1987-1991) "The Rebellicans"
Royal Military College

Gambar kenang-kenangan Quiet Room Members :)

Upiq's comment : Haha.. Mick senyum keranggggggggg….

*Thanks to Budin aka Jammy Phang (nama Vietnam) for the nostalgic photo

Terry Fox

We are blessed with a good health and fit (for some) body condition. If Terry can do it, we should be doing better.

Let's get out form the couch and start running... at least for a good cause.

Jom guys...

Hoki tonite..! 2/11/2007

Guys,

I have made a booking at Bukit Jalil Main Hockey Stadium tonite. You are welcome to join us for a 2 hour hockey session with other OPA players. Booking is from 8-10pm and TTS will be held later at a nearby mamaks.

We have extra hockey sticks, extra balls and extra space for as many players as possible. Borois and peruts are regulars in our team. Come and enjoy the atmosphere plus networking opportunities....

Brings your wife, girlfriends, friends etc etc for a satisfaction guaranteed exercise workout.


See you there...!!!

TerryFox Run 2007

Dear all,

Those who wish to participate in a race but don't have times or guts to do it, come join us in Terry Fox Charity Run on 4th November 2007 (Sunday) flag-off at 9am, at Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur. The race has been held in Malaysia for more than 15 years. It is a non-competitve family event with great number of participants below 10 & above 50 including babies. Don't worry, you all for sure can outrun them all.

To make a donation simply buy a Terry Fox Run T-Shirt only cost RM25.00. Every year money raised from the Run is donated to cancer research organization in Malaysia. Where to buy the t-shirts pls go to this website www.terryfoxrunkl.org.

What... you never heard about Terry Fox?? Check out this link to find out about him.
http://www.terryfoxrun.org/english/about%20terry%20fox/default.asp?s=1

Joejo's raya gathering

Small gathering at Joejo's place in Keramat last thursday to welcome home Jawa back for raya break from Dublin. Attendees were Jawa, Bandit, Mat Gan, Mat Kong, Wan Jack, Faiz, Cicit, Boot & me. Semua datang solo, except for Jawa came with his wife & Mariam his 5th child. So, kira Mawar pegang record la paling ramai anak in our batch. Thanks to Joejo for the great food!

Mawar always cheerful

Batch Buka Puasa

Dear all,

We had the batch buka puasa yesterday (30 Sept 07) at Ison’s Shoru Restaurant in Kelana Jaya. The batch buka puasa was a successful event.

“The batch buka puasa was a successful event..” hmmmm how could you quantify the success or even justify such a statement…

By virtue of attendance? 29 attended!

6 x Alpha: Amril, Bandit, Mat Gan, Bear, Ison + wife, Ala Usat

2 x Bravo: Budin, Jason

4 x Charlie: Acun + Amir, Gegek, Yusmal + date, Nazril + wife

4 x Delta: Faiz, Kerbau, Bean, Jakpo + anak

2 x Eagle: Mandela, Ohm

4 x Foxtrot: Kam, Mat Yep + wife, Katun, Kappy

4 x Golf: Mat Kong, Joejo, Achot, Mat Ten

3 x Hotel: Boot, Upiq, Kebu

So, was 29 enough to cause havoc at Shoru.. unfortunately not.. being the fasting month, the guys were reserved.. that was until Budin arrived.. yup, Budin came wearing a jacket.. QUESTION: WHY? Pasal dia pakai uniform AirAsia kat dalam jacket tu.. nothing wrong with AirAsia’s uniform, the only thing wrong was Budin, being a senior engineer had more stripes on his appalet then an admiral! Malu nak tujuk rank atas bahu dia.. when Ison and Mat Kong saw this, that was the end of Budin.. habis satu malam kena kutuk.. and bila Mat Kong start mengutuk, maka hilanglah kedamaian/ketenangan senja Ramadhan..

Personally, I was happy to see Kebu… “Mr Loan Approver of Maybank Finance”.. been quite some time since I’ve seen him.. Nampak sihat/tegap lagi-lah.. masih tak boroi.. on the subject of boroi, basically, everone as grown a tummy.. yang masih maintain- Amril Azuan, Ala Usat, Nazril, Kerbau, Ohm, Joejo, Kappy, Kebu and me.. (yeah right.. but what the hell, I’m the one spending his lunch time writing this- so I can write whatever I want!!)

OK.. fictional BS aside, and talking about boroi, glad to see that the guys were still talking about running, cycling, futsal and badminton…(in short, a sign that we would still be having the same number attending in 30 years time).. Upiq just did his walk up Goh Thong Jaya- We're proud of you dude!! Gegek wants to start cycling (on-life lah, sejak tahun lepas kecoh nak start kayuh, sampai sekarang bontot keding dia tu tak pernah merasa duduk atas saddle!) And Mat Gan had a great time describing Budin’s jump smash during their weekly badminton session..

Glad to also see that the girls were busy chatting..

By virtue of collection? We collected almost Rm1,000..

We have ordered food for 23pax, and actual attendance was 33.. so, we paid the RM 575 to Ison and agreed that the remainder of the collection would go to our donation drive for under privileged children. But then again, some did not pay the RM 25 charged, they paid more.

Bottomline- RM 1695 was collected, RM575 was paid to Ison’s staff for the wonderful food prepared (also TQ Ison for partially sponsoring the grub).. RM1120 balance will be distributed accordingly to the children. There were also donations coming in earlier from batchmates who are out of KL.. to date, total collection is:

T’fered trust account 650

Collection semalam 1120

Collection Joejo 350

TOTAL 2120

Note: collection semalam banyak pasal ada diantara kita yang buat collection kat office masing-masing for this donation drive.. To those who have gone above and beyond, may the kindness shown and effort put into our cause be rewarded, if not to you, then, may it be on your family..

I know that Low wont be too happy with me mentioning this in public, but FYI, everytime we do this donation drive, LT Loong would always be the first to donate! Low, if you are reading this, the organizers of the drive would like to salute you, not only for your generosity, but also for your quick response… TQ Bro..

OK, back to the donation drive.. how will the money be spent? We have identified 5 houses(orphanages). 2 x Gombak, 1 x Setapak, 1 x Rawang and 1 x Puchong. A few of us will coordinate the drive for the Rawang and Puchong houses. And the rest of us will sort out the houses in Gombak and Setapak.

We will contact the Pengetua Rumah and seek their advice of what provision is needed. Provisions may range from sugar, milk, sardines, milo etc.. we will do our best, with the amount collected, to buy the goods requested to the houses. Note that there maybe some limitations: e.g. no storage space in the premises (overload from donations received) or some items may expire quickly.

Faced with these problems, we MAY, simply give cash donations or use the money collected to do a berbuka puasa for the kids. Based on our outing in Negeri Sembilan last year, these kids love KFC.. so, if we do have a berbuka puasa, it would be KFC again.. at the end of the day, we want to put smiles on those faces!

OK.. itu saja report untuk sekarang.. sesiapa yang berminat nak join the donation drive or berbuka puasa at the Gombak/Setapak houses, please let us know.. it’ll be good if you could join us.. spend some time with the children.. share experiences, offer advice, be a friend… or what we could learn from them..
(reported by Bandit)

Buka Puasa Batch

Menjemput semua rakan-rakan ke majlis buka puasa batch:

Tarikh: 30 September 2007 (Ahad)
Jam: Waktu buka puasa 7.10 ptg
Tempat: Restoran Ison aka Shoroo (Dekat dgn Kelana Business Center & MAS training center)

Sebarang pertanyaan, sila ajukan kepada saudara Bandit ataupun saudara Mat Gan.

Terima Kasih

Yg menurut perintah

Genting secret weapon

These are some of the 'Power 12' food which i had prior to the Genting climb.

Baked Salmon... high in Omega-3 and protein..

Roast lamb.... or anak unta? the Ribs were superb...

Yeahhh... that's my share... lamb leg protein rich lean meat...

Lamb and Genting... 21/9/2007.. make sense?

Kam and Ala encouraged me to record the accounts of the Genting Challenge. So, here goes..

Last Friday, I had my first breaking fast buffet of the month at the Islamic Arts Museum with a friend. The restaurant served Middle Eastern typical cuisines such as kofta (meatball), barklava, lamb in spinach sauce, Lebanese bread, roasted whole lamb, steamed salmon, sauteed prawns, pistachios in creamy dessert, etc etc. What puzzled me was they also served common Malaysian food like kueh tiaw goreng, satay, murtabak, ayam goreng, udang masak lemak, nasi putih etc (kueh tiaw goreng at an arab restaurant?? How good can it be? Purrghleasee….). Anyway, I didn’t touch any of the local dishes as a personal protest especially after paying a bomb for the much touted arabic theme spread.

I didn’t bother to adhere to normal buffet manners i.e skipped the starters/appertisers and went straight to the many main courses. I dug into the various lamb dishes culminating with a roasted lamb ribs and leg on my plate. We had heads turning in amazement to see myself and OP Shalzy massacred the roasted lamb leg. Haha…. Sedap siot… (Goat and lamb meat are some of the most difficult food to be digested and a very good source for protein, thus, for those wanting to burn more calories and build muscles at the same time, maybe you should try not to shun away from these meat no more. Belasah jer… janji exercise cukup).

Anyway, armed with heavy hi-protein meal coupled with a good dosage of carbo-loading, we then joined another group of friends who are doing something that I never thought I would be doing too – brisk walk or jog up to Genting Highlands at 10pm during the fasting month…!!! Call it crazy or madness, it was exactly what we were attempting on that particular nite.

We gathered at Genting Sempah at 10pm and I was pleasantly glad to see OP Kam was there too but he must be more surprised to see me as I was preparing for the workout.

Menu for the nite :
– To complete the Stage 1, a 12.4km uphill/downhill route and re-group at Goh Tong Jaya for a break and refuelling.
– To complete the Stage 2, a 9km steep uphill route from Goh Tong Jaya to the summit.

I was given the assurance by OP Shazly that I will be doing a 1 hour walk only and then decide thereafter whether the body still permits to take the sufferings. At any point of time if my body cannot take it anymore, then we will backtrack and go downhill to Genting Sempah. (yeah rite, thanks a lot for comforting me… ). There were three support cars just in case if there any emergency and one of them was OP Ala Usat (he came a lil’ bit later due to work commitments but joined the climb after Goh Tong Jaya)

The thought of walking up the snakey and hilly road to Genting had killed off half of my spirit already. I didn’t see any much sense in trying out this workout except for the sake of torturing and tormenting my body. I hardly felt relaxed whenever someone was coaxing and motivating me to stay calm and focus.

Those who were walking up (including me) started their journey at 1030pm. The rest will wait for the latecomers and jog up thereon. There were a few ladies among the crowd but surely I was the ‘biggest’ and ‘heaviest’ nuthead of the nite.

The first 10 minutes was quite steep and tough on my calf. I was breathing heavily and gasping for oxygen. I was in a group of three (OP Shazly and Fadil) and I was pacing myself not to be left behind. The regulars were saying that they don’t normally do this in any other month’s becoz all of the jungle guardians or forest dwellers were tied and locked up in the month of Ramadhan. In any case, I don’t want to be left behind in such area at that particular time of any day..!! Thus, I tried to keep up with the guys and slowed them down whenever possible.

OP Shazly and Fadil were chit chatting to keep the journey interesting while fast-and-furious wannabes kept blazing the sharp corners every now and then. I guess they were really eager to get their money burnt at the casinos whereas we were burning calories as we climbed. Same route for different purposes.

As slow as the journey can be, 30 minutes of walking had passed without me noticing it. In any cardio-type workout, this is where the calorie burning goes into overdrive if I keep my legs moving. Sure enough, I think my stomach was working extra hard to digest the lamb and fuelling my body with energy as slowly but surely my full stomach is no more full. At 3km mark, we had a short breather and sipped Gatorade to wash off the bitterness taste around my mouth and throat. I stretched my leg a bit to avoid blood pulling and discourage acid lactic build-up. We continued walking and we saw the support car giving us words of encouragement (Betcha, I bloody need it…!). By now, I was sweating like a pig but my legs seemed to be holding up quite well. The longest distance I have done in the past three months was 5-6km on undulating terrain and never a constant uphill climb, thus, every step that I made was a step towards my personal best.

At 6km mark, I was really struggling and my calf muscle started to twitch. I was told that this maybe due to muscle fatigue, blood pulling, water deficient or demineralization. I stretched again and gulped more Gatorade. By then, I had covered about 1:15hr on the road and 50mins of effective walking. Thus, it was time to make a decision whether to proceed to Goh Tong Jaya, take the support car or turn back downhill to Genting Sempah.

As I was contemplating to call it a day, suddenly, I was joined by the last group (Ariff and May Senn), they encouraged and challenged me to carry on at least until Goh Tong Jaya which was about 6.4km to go!! Darn, I had already bested my PB and these fellas are pushing me to go further. In disbelief as I might be, I persevered and continued walking. From this point onwards, there were more downhills than uphills. Every single step that I made thereon was a mental barrier cruncher and my self-belief skyrocketed. At this point, I could see Genting Highlands glittering on the horizon coming nearer and nearer. My body was tired and my legs were weary but this is a classic mind over matter, I started to jog in small steps and matching May Senn’s pace. We jogged all the way until the Goh Tong Jaya junction and walked uphill for the rest of the final kilometer towards the re-grouping checkpoint.

We reached the Stage 1 checkpoint at approximately 12:45am or after 2hrs 15mins covering 12.4km of walking/jogging. We had a break for a while and the rest of the crowd continued to march towards to summit which is another 9km of steep uphill climb. I decided to call it a day and savoured a quiet ecstatic feeling while downing my gut with an iced cool 100plus.

I felt a personal sense of achievement to be able to complete the Stage 1 route. A mix feeling of humble disbelief and relief that even at this age and body size, God has given me the strength to overcome an obstacle and completed something truly challenging. I dunno how much calorie I burnt but the whole lamb leg was completely burnt to the ground, that’s for sure.

Guess who did the "Genting Nite Run"???

Guys, you won't believe this.... not the triple B's Bandit, Budin & Boot, not even Joejo.... but this "Bugle Boy" who made us really proud of him is none other than..... UPIQ!!! Thanks to his favourite cousin OP Shazly for helping him with the training (Shazly is a certified personal trainer), Upiq walked all the way to Gohtong Jaya. Ala was nervous all the time, if the 11km route was too much for him. But with sheer determination & effort on his part; and encouragement from the group, he made it! When we regrouped at a mamak restaurant at Gohtong, everyone gave him a standing ovation! Upiq... we're proud of you, bro!!! Like they say "Pain is temporary, but pride is forever" (saw that on Ngai's t-shirt that nite)

The Genting Nite run/bike is an annual activity during Ramadan. Normally we'd gather in front of McD Genting Sempah around 10pm. Some would run while others would bike all the way up to Genting Highlands. We'd regroup at Gohtong Jaya (to refuel with roti canai & teh tarek) before continuing the 2nd half to the top.

Me & the superstar "Bugle Boy" with OP Shazly & Fadhil

Tgk steady jer Upiq, boleh senyum lagi

Upiq, Steve & Ala break sekejap kat Gohtong Jaya

Tgh refuel

Beaten by a 56 year old........AGAIN!

Dear all,

Today as of 3 weeks ago, me and kam was again beaten by the 56 year old tough OP named Fadhil. Though the distance is shorter this time, 10 km compared to the last. It was still considered as junior "lopong" kena beat by senior.(Almost double our ages). If I can correct Kam in saying, Mizuno run was held on Sunday the 9th and not the day before.

There were the usual faces of OP's and KOP's (kawan). For the first time, Kam and I was at the starting line early. We were early enough to enjoy the scene, meet up with familiar faces and just about talk about nothing in particular. The race was well organised by the Pacesetters running club attracting (i guess) more than 2000 runners. It was a sight to behold at the start line (padang Merbok) seeing all the runners lined up on the road, obstructing traffic as we please. There race was well marked route passing trough the hilly sections of Bukit Tunku, an adequate enough midpoint watering station, carnival atmosphered finishing area complete with music and ample food and drinks. The only minus point that I could offer was probably the race fee of RM 30 for a short 10km was a bit too much I would think. That was the reason for me not registering in the first place. However, I managed to get a race number from Ishal who pulled out because of flu. Bean, Puzi, my dad ran as "pirates". My mother and niece Nana did half way.

Runners who ran races without registering or paying are called pirates or Bandits in the US. Whatever reason you become a pirate for, ultimately you just have to enjoy the race. Sweating it out and not getting a medal is much better than sleeping till 10am on a sunday morning and becoming a lazy fat ass.

As Kam said, it was my 10th consecutive racing weekend. It was also Zabil's birthday that day. Me, bean and some of our KOP's were at his place the night before and after a night of drinking wine and making merry, Zabil didnt show up at the race afterall! As I didnt have much of the 'jus anggur' the night before, I was able to run the next day!

We met and ran along with the usual gang, Bean the pirate, Steve my jambu bear, karoline, Vicky who's daughter Analice I injected with Influenza Vaccine the night before, 65 year old Cikgu Adnan another tough old guy who can beat Bandit (and a lot of our batchmates!) in any race, Major Kalam who is attached to ATMA and by the way just ran 50km marathon as part of the merdeka celebrations the week earlier, and many more....Ramai sangat la.

Anyway, the race was fun filled with no major drama except for a 40 something chinese guy collapsing up the hill of Persiaran Sultan Salahudin (In front of wisma Pertanian). He's okay, just a bit of heatstroke. What surprised me pleasantly the most was seeing Joejo (OP Zulkhibri) at the finish line! Apparently he ran the Klang race the week before. Well done Jo! The last time I talked to him was when his child was sick, what a pleasant surprise.

Needless to say, he, the 56 year old, the airforce major, the 65 year old teacher and around 800 plus others beat me to the finish line.

You all have fun and move your butts!

Hadir: Me, Kam,bean, cikgu adnan, Major Kalam, Puzi,Laif, Karoline, steve, Jaja, Wendy, Dhamsal, Op Fadhil, OP Iwan, Mohamed, Mei Shen, my parents, Joejo!,Vicky.

Tuang: Op Stupes, Bandit, OP Shazly, Amir, Budin, gegek etc

Warm regards

Doc Ala Usat

* Note: Sorry about the post dated 8 Sept (Sat), actually I posted it today (Sunday). I couldn't change the date setting for this blog because I didn't get full permission. Bandit, pls correct the date to follow KL date. - Kam

Mizuno Wave Run 2007

One last race before puasa next week. A'la broke the record for participating in 10 races consecutively for the last 3 months. Some people think that's insane but I'm sure it is something to proud of. We met many familiar faces like Bean, OP Fadhil & Cikgu Adnan but today there was someone not so familiar from our batch took part. Wanna know who is he, just scroll down the page. Hope this was not gonna be his last. For the benefit of our batch, I'll announce every time there is a race, so that more of our friends can take part.

7.30 am at the starting line. Look at these people. Don't cha wish to be there too?

Our Mr. Macho Cikgu Adnan. He's 65 this year but look at those arms, they are bigger then mine.

With Chief Kutus OP Fadhil. Not bad at all for 56 years old guy. He looks no different compare to us in our 30's

We were surprised to see Joejo was there! He's still as fast as before. Wish there were more of our batchmates in the picture.

TTS August 2007

Last nite, TTS at Pelita Nasik Kandaq Jln Ampang. Attendees were Bandit, Mat Over, Boot, Gegek, Mat Gan, Mat Dondeng, Bean, Joejo (did I miss anyone?) and last not least yg diraikan Papalaats sempena keberangkatan beliau pergi merantau ke negara Bahrain. We gonna miss u bro! Flight this Friday, sape nak ucap selamat jalan boleh tunggu di KLIA jam 12 mlm.

Congratulations to Bandit!!

Congratulations to Bandit & Jas for their newborn son. Born in Gleneagles Specialist Jln Ampang last week. Gynaecologist was OP Dr Alex Matthews. The same doctor did cesarean section for my second child 4 years ago.

Nama boleh tahan canggih jugak... Akif Azkia b. Azly Ahmad Anwar... 5As. That's the Alpha Coy spirits, both sons nama start dgn huruf "A". Will get some pictures from Bandit to be put on this blog. Omedetou gozaimasu from all us!

PJ Half Marathon

Another activity this week. Me, Ala & Azmar took part in PJ Half. We registered for half marathon but I was so very late arrived at the starting line, we decided to join the 10k group. Sorry Ala, sorry Azmar.... it was my fault. :(

Dah lewat sangat ni, kita follow 10k punye route lah, belok kiri jom?!

Mana boleh geng, kita pakai nombor kategori "A", kena la ikut kanan

We're dashing thru the crowd, tapi nombor kena kasi tanggal la

Beaten by a 56 year old OP....

Hi everyone, last week i ran the Adidas King of the road half marathon race with Kam.

It all started at 0530hrs when I received an SMS from my mum that she and my dad werent racing that day as my dad had a sudden attack of upper respiratory track infection. Both my parents are keen runners/ walkers now and they have been joining me in various running events around Klang Valley this year, albeit that they only do the shorter version like 7 or 10km. Its quite refreshing that both of them are health fanatics and literally can beat some of my batch mates half their age! Mummy is 60 and atuk (dad) is 64. Anyway, there I was, on my way to Sunway Pyramid in the wee hours of the morning to where the starting line was. A few years ago I couldnt imagine myself sleeping at 10pm on a weekend and waking up early (in fact earlier than working weekdays!) in order for me to race. Somehow the memories of me stagerring home at 4am after a late night's out drinking just a few years ago seemed like centuries ago.

After the RV with Kam and as usual for him to use my car as his storage space (helmet etc ), we made our way to the start line. It was awesome. There must have been five thousand people there! The whole NPE was closed to traffic and people was wandering around the highway like it was a pasar malam. The 21km race was flagged off first at 0645 by Samy Vellu. Im sure he wasn't too pleased that toll collection was halted from 0500 till 1000hrs that day. Me and Kam started at the back (as usual). No use being in front and getting pushed around and worse still being later overtaken by a 60 year old auntie! I didnt know how i was going to run the race. I did the Seremban Half marathon 2 weeks earlier in good time (below 2 hours) and just last week raced in UM Duathlon. Should I take it easy this time and take it as a training event? After 2 km I realised that I was not in good form and repeating a sub 2 hour half marathon in 2 weeks was just wasnt on. In fact, my aching skinny thighs told me to shut up and just jog along. I pretended to Kam that I was taking it easy and was going to pace him. "You go ahead Ala, aku slow je today" he said. "Takpe, kita lari together today, we take it easy" was my reply trying hard to make it sound that running slow today was by choice and what a wonderful guy I was to keep him company.

As of any races, you see people of all make , sizes and shapes. You find the auntie who sprints along passing you and make you look like a pussy...cat. Then you find the serious runners with the ultra gay running vest with slogans like Impossible is Nothing, Running For life! and all the other fancy crap. Not to mention the ultra short running shorts! Just like Maradona in 1986. Then you can see the amateurs, girlfriend just dumped by the bum boyfriend trying to rebound, the cancer survivor who wants to prove they still have it, the triathlete with their body hugging suits, the skimpies with their sexy attire ( Im not complaining) and the fat ass struggling along ( think of Bandit...)

We ran (jog) along at a good pace of 10k /hr. Caught up by Azmar who started late but managed to catch up at 4k. I must say that Azmar has really improved a lot on his running. This especially when his first race was the Subang 10 km last year.

We cheered people along especially familiar faces, while some are just any strangers we meet on the road. There was this Mat salleh we met at 6km who was jovially enjoying himself, especially when he is 65 years old and managing to be in the middle of the pack. By the 8km mark the initial crowd of runners had been separated by their own different paces. Its only now you can tell who was actually running and who was struggling.

The half marathon route took us west along the NPE from Sunway pyramid towards KL. We would be running on the highway and would make a u turn at Kuchai lama interchange. En route we would be passing Kg Medan and Tungku on our right as the run ascends on to the elevated portions of the highway. Basically we were running on air...3 storeys above!. We would later pass jalan Gasing interchange on the left (and Bukit Gasing and parts of PJ). It would be straight on passing Kg Kerinchi and Angkasapuri on the left. At the Bangsar toll interchange, we would take the right fork towards Kuchai lama and Taman Desa. The U turn was somewhere along this point.(km 10.5). As me and Kam was approaching km 8, the front runners, 4 tall lanky africans were on their way back on the other side of the highway! Crap.By the time we reached half way, they would probably have finished!

Anyway, for the majority of people, running a race is not about racing. Its just between you and the road and accomplishing your task. Its about the satisfaction of crossing the finish line. It about the finisher's medal. Its the free T shirt and the goody bag. Its about impressing your work mates at work. Its about a way of life. I sound a bit gay dont I? Well racing makes you a bit mushy at times.

As we were making our way to the half way point, runners from the opposite side(returning) was cheering us slow coaches along. Specially to this one old chinese guy called Bruce running ahead of us whom everyone seems to know. Looks like you dont have to be fast to be a star I reckoned to Kam. Out of a sudden we heard "Come on doc! you can do it" from the other side of the road. Some of them were my friends but some people I dont even know. It seems like our faces have been a regular feature now at races that people tend to recognise you....despite not being the star athlete.

We crossed Azmar again. Followed by Ariff. Then abang kamal; the ironman passed along. Followed by another friend Jaja and then I got the shocker of my life..There was OP Fadhil of batch kutu...56 years old and roughly one km ahead of me and Kam. "Alamak bro...boleh kejar ke ni?" We arrogantly thought we could, but somehow it didnt happen. The U turn was a relief and after reloading ourselves with fluid and some food we were heading back, this time the mood was upbeat. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves cheering on the slower runners yet to reach the half way point and chatting up with other fellow slowbies.

The last few people making up the rear was really struggling, yet you could see the determination written in their faces. We even stopped to cheer on our friend Mei Shen who was just reaching the 9 km mark. She happens to be a good swimmer and strong cyclist, but running was just not embedded in her genetic make up. People say she runs like a duck...well you need to see for yourself. As usual, she was smiling all the way. The last guy....I mean really last, (you can tell as there was a police car being driven slowly behind him. With an ambulance, just in case!) was this slightly overweight and well-nourished young chinese kid. (Politically correct way of saying fat). He was struggling and I really hoped that he would make it. We cheered him on. No reply, nor any facial reaction. That's usually bad news. Never mind, we continue on. We managed to chat up with a lot of people along the way. We also talked about old times, mostly RMC stories and what our mates are up to now. We 'exercised' our eyes at the skimpies slowing along. We patted the uncles and aunties that were slowing down by this stage.

At km 19 or so we met with this young chinese kid with a bright red t shirt with the words "Powered by Jesus" boldly on his back. Probably some church group or something. "Perhaps I could use some of the power?" I asked the kid. We held hands for a bit (hoping for the power to transfer) and we cheered him on. I've seen him in other races before and he seems like a good kid. If only mat gan and Mat Kong was there, it would have been serene.

We crossed the finishing line at 2hr 9min. A good run.

• Azmar: 1hr57 PB! PB:personal best
• OP FAdhil 2hr 5min (prev best PB 2hr 40m at KL marathon 07)
• Others: jaja,ariff, Mei shen completed the race in good time.
• Vicky completed the 10 k race
• Kam:2hr 9min PB!(2hr 30 in seremban)Improvement!
• Me: 2hr 9min PW! (you translate yourself)

Recent races:

1. Penang marathon 24thJune
2. Siemens 10k run 8th July
3. Seremban half marathon 15th july
4. Port Dickson TRI 22nd july (Sad tragedy fellow OP)
5. UM Duathlon 29th July.

Upcoming :

1. PJ half 12th Aug
2. Desaru half Ironman 18th August
3. Subang Jaya 10 km 26th August.

Hope you guys, OP and KOP's (kawan) have fun and dont forget to get your buttocks moving!

Doc

UM Duathlon

First duathlon organized by Universiti Malaya. The turn up was quite good - a few national level athletes showed up for the event. The course was 5km run, 20km cycle and 5km run. Sounded "easy peasy" but really, it was quite tough with long uphill, wet & uneven roads, sharp turns and lots of bumper. There were several OPs took part in the race. But Bandit & Boot missed it this time around, takpe next year ada lagi.

Budin de Macho & OP Stupe Ironman-to-be

Ala sengih sbb bnyk aweks cun

Budin & Ala, running uphill

Doctor Hisyam in action.... well done bro, u saved another life today

With OP Chan, an ATMA Cadet. Err... Budin jgn rapat sgt nanti Stupe marah