PERHENTIAN ISLAND CHALLENGE 2007

Call it race... holiday... 'balik kampung' ... thats how I feel everytime I am going to Perhentian. Almost know the islands inside out, watch it changing over the years, climate does change!! Fishes ae getting less anyway I feel good to represent UPNM and D'Lagoon at the same time. Check out the result at www.perhentianislandchallenge.com and see my partner NO 19 at the front page!

RAMBO IS BACK

I just got news from Perhentian Island: Kalam together with 'Sulong' (an old friend of ours, he's been working on the island for many years) won the 8th place in Perhentian Challenge (no 20 overall). Apparently quite a lot teams DNF, got lost trail running in the jungle...
Razani, Kohing, Joyo, navyteam all DNF
Adventure-racing can be quite a surprise, I wouldn't have tipped Sulong (a verified chain smoker) as one of the winners. Wining team also from the island, Dino and Eugene second.

Jungle is no problem to Kalam, in the old days his friends used to call him 'Rambo'. He won 'best kadet' during survival training. Knowing the island well probably helped as well.


RAMBO in the old days


Perhentian island, in the early days of our relationship. Guess I fell in love with this piratemaster/rambo-guy. The rest is history....

While searching for this pictures I came across many lovely memories, just want to share a few


Darimi's cheeks were A-ADORABLE ______Silly Mum, Silly kid

Our McGiver kids : _____Danial___ &__________ Dayan

Adventure kids:_______________________ Darimi: "What are u lookin at?"
Doing 'the spider', Danial (up) & Dayan (down)

Darimi feeding Janie //-----------//We all love swimming; Mum with 3D's
pool UPNM

Single lady

Yesterday Kalam left for Perhentian Island with all 4 kids in tow....
He will take part in the 'Perhentian Challenge' tomorrow. Mum couldn't get leave, so now she's alone at home (with Rahma).
So very very quiet.... Been using computer for quite a while and nobody bugged me. No 'Mum, when can I use the computer?', 'Mum were out of bread', 'Mum I can't find my school tie', Mum, Danial won't let me use the playstation', 'Mum, can I please stay home from tuiton?', 'Mum I want icewater', 'Mum I need extra money for school', 'Mum the new alarmclock just fell down by itself', 'Mum Dayan made a mess in our room and he's refusing to clean it up', 'Mum I'm not feeling well after drinking 5 glasses of cold milo', 'Mum my bicycle tires are punctured again', 'Mum, Darimi and Ati are soo noisy', 'Mum Dayan just pinched me', 'Mum I'm still hungry', 'Mum you have to fill out these forms, need to give to teacher tomorrow', 'Mum when can I get a handphone?etc etc etc etc etc etc

My bike has a flat tire (luckily not during Desaru but the day after). No time to repair yet. Raining often in the afternoon. So what's left;
Even with the little bit of running I've been doing I can allready feel shin-splints in my Rt-leg. So instead I've been doing 'stairs' training. (Those old 'OP's will know which stairs I'm talking about.) So I've been doing circles, up the stairs, run down the hill etc..
Figure I need to improve my cardio-vascular condition. I rarely challenge myself, i only do easy bike rides and slow swims....

Jealous a bit I can't join Perhentian. Danial was grumbling bcos his age is not allowed to join 'perhentian challenge'.
The island has a lot of special memories -it's where Kalam and myself met some 15 yrs ago

Still quiet, anyway I'll be happy to see the whole gang again on sunday, maybe it's too quiet....

Souvenirs from Desaru

Arundina also called 'bamboo orchid', a beautifull delicate flower, yet a very sturdy plant, thrives on poor soil in full sunlight

Spathoglottis
Nowadays extensively cultivated in many colours and planted in flower beds around town

Both are native orchids. Both can be found growing in abundance at the roadside along the bike route in Desaru...

HALF IRONMAN OLEDI!

As usual, hero goes to the battle without proper training as compared to all the 'mutants' triathletes. Pj Half 21K, 2 hrs 13 mins was 6 days before Desaru. Swim? Total of 1.5km play-play type during that week. Cycling? Hampeh... while waiting for Mr Naza Ria, I cycle to office so total distance was about 500m X 2 X 5 days. Missus were not that impress with this Ironman wannabe hahaha gonna waste money for not finishing! But deep inside my soldier's heart, a battle must be fought before we know whether we win or loose. Hahaha talk cock huh?
Ok la, the trip was great with Mr Naza 'Black Ma' Ria behaving nicely. Except the noise and complaint from the back! Never happy these kids. As expected, sea was like last year. Yoo hoo last year I was only cycling. Ok some mental calculations before going to the battle. Swim 2k - estimated at 1hr 15 min (based on accidently 2km swim at Bukit Merah hahaha padan muka). Cycling last year I did 3hrs 50 mins (heavy metal bike Apache) so this year target at 4hrs (after swim but considering lighter bike). Run, based on Pj Half, target at 2hrs 45mins (after swim and run, giler babun weh). Altogether 8hrs! Start at 10, finish at 6! Considered ok to me, still daylight and Lan will say I am damn slow or whatever but then You are Finisher! Hahaha thats what I want to hear.
So came morning 18 Aug 2007, the moment of truth! Swim was hell. against the waves! From 1st bouy to 2nd bouy felt faster. Then coming in to the beach was endless!!! Current under was pulling my body away, waves pushing to the beach. So mathematically, +5cm -5cm you got zero movement! So Mr Breaststoker-all-the-way have to push harder to get moving. Then this Pete Jacobs I guess, overtook me like a jet ski riding a wave! Mutants! He completed 2km oledi??? 2nd loop was worse! Arrive at 1st bouy, I felt dizzy and stop for a while. Saw missus slowly coming in, heehhee I left her when she arrived at 1st bouy (and dizzy gone). 2nd bouy oso dizzy again, stop for a chit chat with the lifeguard. Hahaha they thought I couldnt make it probably. And final push, yessss kacang (peanut) only! Stick it in my head. Finally arrived with missus 1 min behind. We were kind of together gether during the 2nd loop! Honeymoon lah!
Then run for the water, yuck, so much sea water in my belly! My tongue felt numb.
T1, put everything on and go! This one I can do lah hehehe! Not much problem, make sure I beat 4hrs so speed must be above 25km/h! Passed familiar mutants, Stupe, Shazly, Azmar, Saiful (mutants from Pluto, hybrid with human sub species whatever) Thats why these bugger so strong! Hahaha kutuk kutuk.... The rain and storm came, felt like Powerman 2006 minus the hills. I love the rain, maintain 25-26km/h average and cool. Cant remember much, but keep on passing elite like Awea, Ah Wong, Randy, etc dont know how many times they overtook me. Doc Hisyam was infront of me all the time, have to catch up with him! So after the cycling, I gave him a chase! Yeah feet feel good, non stop only at water station for 'mandi'!!! And bananas! Starving like hell. Finally a few km a way, I saw Doc Hisyam slowly run n stop n run n stop. With a bit more power, I chased him and finally we run together gether to the finish line! Lan announce our names hehehe and I realized that the time was not 8 hrs! Only 7hrs 5 mins yesss... !!! Giler gorilla nih, the next day I felt my leg a bit heavy hehehe pity them. Well... thats about it! Ironman Langkawi ...... target at 16hrs 50mins still Ironman maaa..... training????? Ooopssss good question................... I'll keep in touch with those who train ya? Give me some mental training....................... hahahahahahhaha I just want to spend times more with my family lah. Its more funner than anything else, believe me.....

SEASON FINALE

First the bad news; camera kaput so no pics from Desaru.

On friday afternoon the family packed up and we left for Desaru IN STYLE. Yeah, our new car a Naza Ria arrived two days earlier. No more complaints from the 'kids' about being cramped in the back, unfortunately they were still just as noisy. (Next car needs to have a divider between front and backseats like in limo's).

By the time we arrived in Desaru it was nearly 8pm, we stopped by Golden Beach Hotel but registration was closed till next morning. Had a chat with Samantha, she told me about her father's plans for kids triathlon, -I didn't pay attention to the little ears standing nearby-.

Next morning got up early (usual "what are we idiots doing, why not sleep in like civilised people on a day off" feeling).

Met with Fong (Neeza's friend) and in convo proceded to racesite. Things were allready buzzing, a kick to meet up with so many friends.

Danial and myself only needed our swimsuits. The 3 younger family members dissapeared, had to track them back from the beach, remind them to stay close! (having adventurous kids has serious disadvantages -haha my mother will laugh very hard reading this).

Kalam got bike and kit ready for the big day, previous year we relayed together.

At the beach the waves looked a not nearly as big as the surfer waves from the year before. I was hoping on a below 1 hour time (last year 1.03hr).

The flag-off caught many by surprise, all busy chitchatting like a market place full of women. No public tribute to Zubir but I dedicated this race to him.

The swim was a lot tougher than I expected, waves not too bad, lots of sealice (since Kapas-Marang I know I'm not allergic to them, so just ignore the stings). Swimming back in was hard, current was strong, kept pushing you back. Swam parallel with Bacin and Karoline in the first round, lost them on the beach as they ran ahead. Second round I saw a familiar figure taking a brief rest at the 1st buoy, swam just behind and caught up with my hubby at he 2nd buoy. Arrived at the beach together much to the delight of Mr. Chan "You two always together' he laughed.

Danial finished the swim ahead of us as expected, two swimmers from the other UPNM-relayteams were still in sea (not bad for an old lady can still beat this young guys). Bacin and Karoline suddenly showed up behind us, much to my surprise. At least the swim was a good challenge, quite a few swimmers complained having difficulty seeing the buoys, but it was no problem for me(experience does play an important role). My time was 14min slower than last year, yikes!!!

Salman was changing the tire from his bike for the 2nd time.
Kalam took off on the bike and the family collected at the back of the Naza to watch the race. Desaru is nice to watch as you see all the athletes going back and forth, lots of people to cheer for. After a heavy rainshower it kept drizzling for hours, making conditions easier for the athletes. Kalam did well on the bike and proceded to the run smoothly. (I have no idea how he does it with as little training as he does -just pure 'degil' I think). Kalam finished in 7.06 hrs, more determined than ever to do IM 2008.

Highlights of the day;

* lotta aspiring IM's finished the race (Stupe, Shazly, Bacin, Saiful. Nik etc etc)

* Karoline ran the 21km with her father as a celebration for their birthdays on that day. CONGRATS TO BOTH

* Joyo was struggling on the run but of course still finished strong

* Dr. Fiona DNF due to tire puncture, Doc Hisham finished together with Kalam

* li'le Chan finished in the fastest time for the UPNM-team in 5.45 hr (Khairul holds the IM-record for UPNM but maybe not for much longer)

* The other UPNM-athletes finished together in a 5man group in 7.01hrs, looked kinda cosy (guess Salman gave up to aim for a good time after the 2nd puncture)

* May Senn, May Ang and Vicky looked great at the finishline, BRAVO ladies!!!!

* Fong drove back to KL shortly after finishing the race, phew I was happy to get a sms from her later that night, knowing she arrived home safely. (she's a good tri-athlete, jealous aku)

* Zar's group from JB would have easily won first place for raudiest cheerleading at the roadside (no such price yet, keep on trying though)

* First prices of course by all the pro's, at least some of them stayed to cheer the other athletes on -that's the spirit!

* Several newbies in the UPNM relay-teams, don't know all their names yet. Total of 20 UPNM kadets took part (no ladies, whoi kenapa perempuan UPNM lembut, orang tua gemuk pun boleh buat)

* Stupe crossed the finish line with his babyson, Shazly with his daughter, Eugene with his mum
------------------

Afterwards took Kalam for carbo-afterloading.

That evening overheard Kalam on the phone to a friend; 'Belum habis, esok ada lagi, untuk kanak-kanak aje' (not yet finished, tomorrow got another event for kids only)
GRR///##$**[[A]R!}}!????GStt<<>

Anyway we ignored the pro's words and next morning Danial and me got ready for the sprint distance. Kalam in charge of the kids...

Razani pulled out last minute after testing the water, didn't like another dose of sea-lice bites.

Juli arrived with Dino, Dino cheerleading only, Juli taking part. Met up with 'Crab' (Tye Yin Pheow) another triathlon-mum.

Some people just can't get enuf, Team 'Neverending Energy' Steve and Karoline lined up at the starting line.

Zabil racing alongside Aiman (this girl has arms like matchsticks but she's a real toughie) and several other 'orang putih' raced with their kids.

Richard racing his first triathlon, upgraded from relay runner.

Swim -less waves but more jellyfish and sealice. Cycling was smooth, few hills but nothing too impressive. Unfortunately one of my legs stated cramping during the cycling. When starting the run I just couldn't get my rhythm, so walk-run-walk-run 3km. Quite a few people overtook me on this part. Finished in 1.17hrs, Danial ahead of me in 1.11hr. Anyway it was a fun event, I really enjoyed myself.

A big surprise during the lunch, we got mentioned as the 'triathlon-family' (if anyone would've told me two years ago this I wouldn't have believed it). Even got a hamper, wow like real stars.

End of the triathlon-season for this year;

plans for next year;

* aim to improve my times

* Kalam wants to become IronMan in february 08

* Danial likes taking part and looks forward to improve further

* Dayan arm is okay now and can start exercising again

* Darimi's little ears overheard Samantha talking about plans for a kids-triathlon and he's all fired up, can't wait to take part. Even went for a run with Salman today....

UNBELIEVABLE; gained nearly 2kg this weekend!!!

Mother's heart

It's been a busy week at work, home late every evening, didn't get any training done for several days.


Today managed to reach home just after 6pm, on the way to our house met Kalam on his way to the pool. Arriving home however I was besieged by two little people demanding to go to the pool 'Papa dah janji, suruh Mama bawah kami ke kolam (Papa already told us to tell mama to take us to the pool) GGGRRRR......


Knowing how persistent and stubborn Darimi is I knew I didn't stand much of a change... I muttered something about mama finally getting a change to train but no-one bothered to listen. Darimi fast as lightning changed into his new 'arena' swim shorts and while I was still changing into mine he just went ahead on his bike. Only just before the pool I caught up with him.... just imagine;


A six year old dressed only in his swim shorts, racing to the pool on his bike (he's still using training wheels), towel trailing from the little basket, a scene a la Denis the Menace


How could a mother's heart not melt.............


So we had a relaxed swim, Darimi cycled back with Papa, another triathlete is on the way (boy oh boy did this little fellow feel proud of himself)


In the end what does the half hour training matter, I'm not going to break any records in Desaru.


Darimi likes animals, this is not Shawie (Shawie is too agressive, doesn't like being handled)




Our new car arrived, the boys are delighted, no more complaints about being cramped in the back of the car... Tomorrow we take off to Desaru .....to be continued.

WHAT TO WRITE? HMMM...

Aiyoo so lazy to write, but many things to let you all know. PJ Half Marathon was fun, I got medal maaa! Number 182! Starting at 6.30am, the rest of the family were doing fun run. I just follow n follow until almost at the 'Penang Bridge', the Kenyans were on the other side plus Richard at 5th place. (I can still count at this stage hahaha). Steph pat me on the back, I saw no numbers. Illegal runner hehehe. Then I U turn and bumped into Edwin the Ironman, looks like he had a big party the nite before!! He try to 'racun' me to run slowly but lucky I managed to escape. Then took my 1st gel, arrived at the R3, the Kenyans are already there doing their last km. Almost terminal 3, say hi to jamil on the other side. Reached terminal 3, u turn n continue. Then I saw Abu n Saiful calling me! I took my last gel to make sure they wont get me hahahhaa! Yesss... powerbar has to sponsor me next year! Its a good race, manage to improve my half marathon time. Its revenge after DNS at adidas KOTR. Arrived safely, mama n the boys offer me 3 cans of malta! Then wait for lucky draw, no luck! Drive back and bought carbo loading breakfast (nasi lemak rendang) then sleep........

FINALLY

FINALLY; after waiting for several years these orchids bloom in our garden !!!


(top brassavola nodosa -a hibrid, lower two pics a native orchid, not sure of the name -the plant has been with us for 6 yrs, grown quite big before it finally flowered)


UM-duathlon

FINALLY; got the pictures from UM duathlon, Bkt Merah, Kenyir and some family pics. Photo's from Miri and Port Dickson still missing. Kalam is using a camera that belongs to UPNM, so pics get downloaded into his office computer and then it's difficult to find them back among thousands of other pictures.



FINALLY: a few of the female kadets from UPNM show some 'Umph' and take part in this duathlon (ahem, they all finished before me, but then I'm twice their age, good excuse isn't it....?)

Ladies talk; May Senn and myself

take-off time


Dino is back where he belongs; in front of the pack


Hairless chest for better airodynamics (alias Mej K.)


Our litlle boy has grown bigger than his parents allready.....

No comment


Go Danial go

Tak mungkin girlfren laju pada aku....


Li'le Chan (previously MTD, now joined UPNM)


Yours truly, macam betul betul

Danial finishing the bikeleg


Firdaus starting the second run

Ironman Adib and Mej K togedder at the finishline (either Adib is gettin old, or that knee-injury is really bothering him)


Not fair, perempuan slow aje tapi senang dimenangi duit!

'I'll bash ure head in if U dare to finish before me'


Toast for UPNM, sorry dunno names yet, except 'abang Salaman' in the middle (one of Darimi's favorite abangs)

Robika style full and fast in purple


Forgot her name but this 16yr old girl didn't give up and finished the race; CONGRATS

man down: Doc Hisham to the rescue...


Two people who can talk a lot.....


'Nko kejar siapa tadi?',
Khairul :'tak kejar siapa pun hari ni'


Highest bidder for a scrap of paper, and the winner is.....


DINO of course


And also Randy botak

and also ME ME ME

UPNM won big; one bookmarker each......


The original triathlon family...


Dividing the loot...

FINALLY; managed to finish this post, due to computer trouble took me nearly one week

FINALLY; managed to run 3km last sunday, I know it's not worldnews but it feels real good to me...

FINALLY; got my backdated pay and overtime claims, megasale in ON, bought ---what else --- sportswear and shoes....

What's left; hope I'll finally get rid of this cought and cold that's been bugging me for nearly 2 months, now on the second course of antibiotics....

De-regulated weekend

Our 5 little kittens are soooo cute...., even the ears are cute

Taking a moment to reflect before getting down from the dinner table.

We all had lots of plans for the weekend. Danial and me were to walk up the 'Iron hill' (Bukit Besi) on saturday afternoon.
We were supposed to take off at five but a visitor dropped by making us 20 min late. By that time the 3 younger ones had caught our intention and were determined to join in the fun. No matter how Danial and me warned them that the whole walk of more than 12km with a very steep hill was too much for them....it only made them more determined. They kept trudging behind us for several kilometers. In the end Danial and me gave in, we couldn't just leave them behind, forging ahead also not a good idea. So we all just had a good walk and turned around, bought an icecream and returned home, we walked 5-6 km not bad for those little legs....

On saturday mornings Mum is the only getting up early and going to work, all the others have their day off and sleep in. So this sunday Mum had a chance to sleep in...., all family members were warned that waking Mum up early was punishable by the most severe measures imaginable.
Mej K. and Danial had big plans to run in the 'adidas King of the Road'. Dad planning to run a half marathon 21 km (after all he's planning to do Ironman in a few months time) and Danial was to run 7 km. They got all their racekit ready the evening before, shoes/shorts/powergel/racenumbers etc.

Alas, fate intervened......
The alarmclock didn't go off and Mej K only woke at 7am, the run was to be flagged off at 7.30am. So everyone went back to sleep and silly mum promised to wake everyone up next time (gila tak? my rare chance to sleep in).

Ati had her birthday on the 31st of may, Darimi on the 11th of July and Dayan on the 18th of July. Lack of finances and time made us postpone their birthday celebration (we only treated them with a trip to the cinema earlier). So we went shopping for presents, bought a big cake with candles and had our little celebration. Shopping with Kalam is quite funny, he'll put on his best martyr face, stoically enduring the torture of shopping that his cruel wife puts him through. (Except of course when we visit the sport-section).
I think it's the first time Ati has ever celebrated her birthday, she whispered shyly to me "Bila saya kena tiup lilin?("When should I blow the candles?").
Still a far cry from life in Europe, birthday just don't carry the same importance here. I'm getting worse and worse, often forget my families birthdays.... forget Kalam's b'day as well. Gettin old and senile I guess...

Our 3 birthday kids and their cake and their near-senile Mum


After shopping we went for a walk up Ironhill. This time Kalam,Danial, Dayan and me drove to the foot of the hill. Well I can confirm everyone's reports .... it's one piece of a nasty steep hill.
All in all, ate too much, exercised too litle, probably gained a few pounds......

Work is very busy but rewarding, conducting a training program for newly qualified nurses joining ICU ward.
Good news my leave for Desaru has been approved, we'll leave on friday the 17th after lunch....
Last place in the sprint is booked....