Monday, December 14, 2009

Monday Hash Runs.....Every Mondays

Monday evenings are my sacred days. yes.. for whether it rains or shine, a group of like minded people will meet up at a pre arranged place for our "hash run" at 1800 hrs. We are members of the Kerteh Hash House Harriers, a group of wild men and ladies who are in this running club with a drinking problem. The run sites are normally in the jungles and plantations within half an hour's drive from Chukai. Hashing origionally started in Kuala Lumpur many years ago and has spread to all corners of the world. Each week a different "hare" sets the run. When I began hashing in the late 1970s while I was based in Kuching we had a "Life hare" system where the hare sets a paper trail only 2 hours before the run. If the other hashers catch up with him the dinners will be on him. So we have devised a system of false trails, checks (where the trail ends and hashers will have to search for the trail continuation) and back trails to "slow" down the fast runners and allow the rest to catch up. Nowadays, it is much easier..the trail is normally set two days before hand.
Normally by 1730 hrs the crowd starts to build up. An average of 60 members turn up for the run. The "On sec" normally calls the chatting crowd to order for announcements 5 min before the run. The next week's runsite is also announced.
Sometimes I bring guest to the run ..like in this week's run I brought my daughter Alicia and nephew Jian Siang along



The trail is normally laid with square or shredded white paper. Sometimes, flour could be used. Normally the first km starts on good grounds to facilate the runners to warm up. Then it is uphills, down hills, through jungles and estates. Sometimes if the hare is a bad guy the trail could be set on a wild boar route and that includes crawling through a wild boar tunnel!












If it is the rainy season always be prepared to get wet. There was once in Kuching many years ago when the run site was in a flood prone estate and there was a heavy down pour. I remembered swimming out as it was too far to turn around.










Downhills can be tricky. We have had many humty dumpties.....


















Hill climbs are always on the run menu.

















To keep the runners know where you are you are expected to shout "ON ON" as you run.















Normally the the first runner comes in by 1900 hrs and the last runner 20 mins later. The hare is responsible for helping the strayed runners back.
We have a system of signing OUT before the run and SIGNING IN when we return so we know who is missing.

After the run it is going to the ON DOWN where a good dinner and beers are organised. Sinners who had taken short cuts, stolens fruits along the way are punished here. The punishment is drinking beer while standing on a chair!

So you see, this is good life again and it only cost us RM4.00 per run. We get pewters for completing 50 runs. I had done about 350 runs with this group. It is always an enjoyable event even though I do not drink nor do I attend the ON DOWNS ( ai yah will get fat lah).

Monday, December 7, 2009

My perfect host in Melbourne (Nov 2009)

About 2 weeks before our departure to Melbourne, Cheong told us that one of his long lost classmate from Malacca by the name of Max Tan would like to host us while we are in Melbourne. I was a bit skeptical at first because we are strangers but Cheong asssured us that it is ok. Max Tan like myself had been a scout in his school days and had done a lot of back packing in Europe in his younger days. So I started to correspond with Max Tan by emails to get to know him better. I used google earth to locate his house which is located in Bundoora and is on the Bundoora Park itself. Perfect location! After several emails we were talking like old friends and we seem to be on the same wavelength.










Armed with my Garmin Nuvi GPS we managed to locate his house at 16 Prospect Hill, Bundoora. Max and his wife Jeannie had even prepared some good food for us. It was really wonderful.













Max and Jeannie has a son Jonalton. He is 13 years old (the kid under the bed) and he seems to get along with all our kids.


Max managed to locate a few of Cheong's school and class mates residing in Melbourne to his house and we had a pot luck BBQ. Most of them have not met each other since they left school 30 odd years ago. They are all very successful and some of them have became Australian citizens












Max, the host was also the chief cook for the occasion. I believe he enjoys cooking for a crowd! But of course there are the ladies helping out too .

















The kids too had a gala time with all the good food.


















This is the crowd that was hosted by Max. We are very thankful to him and his wife for hosting us during our stay in Melbourne. Max, you have been a perfect host. More on our trips around Melbourne in my later blogs.

Flying to Melbourne, Australia by Air Asia (Nov 2009)

"Hey Wong, Would you like to go down to Melbourne for a holiday at the end of the year. Air Asia is having some fantastic offers".....Sunny Cheong my brother in law called me one fine day somewhere in June. Yes please but first I will have to get my leave approved. By the time my leave had been approved a few days later, the fare was not so cheap anymore. I had to pay RM 7900.00 for a family of 4 for all inclusive return fares. So, on 22 Nov 2009 three families (all our wives are sisters) flew to Melbourne for a vacation.
This is the first time I travel by Air Asia and of course the first trip to the Low Cost carrier terminal in KLIA. I would say I am quite impressed with the LCCT. The food here is much cheaper as compared to the main terminal. There seem to be a lot of bargain hunters around this "low cost" terminal. I tried to ask the taximan who brought us to the air port for a "low cost" taxifare but I was unsuccessful!




I was rather suprised that there was no delay for this flight as I have heard about their frequent delays. To be on the safe side I had actually purchased a travel insurance so that I can get some money back if there are delays. but of course when you have bought insurance everything will run smoothly so that no claims can be made!











The flight from KLIA to Tullamarine airport took about 7 hrs 30 mins on the Airbus 330. One thing for sure is that the seats on the Airbus 330 is most uncomfortable. It cannot be reclined and for the flight outbound I was "trapped" in the middle. However Air Asia has made plans to improve the seating on the 330s by next year.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

When I was a bush pilot in 1985

A bush pilot is a pilot who flies a minimal aircraft (helicopter or light fixed wing) normally doing charters to satisfy the unlimited desires of the charterer with his limited resources and aircraft performance. The terrain that bush pilots flies through are normally most inhospitable. On top of that we are expected to make money for the company. See, it takes someone with the ability of almost of a superman ( a man wearing red underwear on the OUTSIDE) to fit to this category of piloting. At the end of my Air Force service in early 1985 I was a bush pilot flying for a Singapore based company named HELISERVICES. This company in turn operates in Malaysia under the banner of Pan Malaysian Air Transport. The life of a bush pilot is an exciting one. One day we could be landing on top of Gunong Gagau (like in the photo above) and another day we could be flying VIPs. There is never a dull moment.The helicopter that I flew was a Bell 206 B, a single engine 400 shaft horsepower 5 seater helicopter. Our missions consist of aerial filming/photography, checking the rainfall and climatic conditions in the interiors of the country, timber surveys, medivac and bodevacs. In those days even the ministers and VIPs had to use our machines as there were not many charter companies around.Due to the maneuverability of the helicopter, very often we are required to land in landing pads deep in the jungle. This photo shows one of our typical landing pads. In those days, there were no GPS invented yet so navigation is by a 1:250 000 maps and sometimes when the weather is marginal it can be a challenge trying locate our destination.

This is how a landing pad may be like. The location here has just been prepared and in the 1980s we were called in to assist in the location and construction of the ATUR (Automatic telephony using radio) stations. That was way before we had Maxis and Celcom.This photo s not taken in deep Africa but in the interiors of our country. The Negrito tribes normally lives in bamboo huts in the Main Range of the country. And most families tend to have a lot of kids!The Drainage and Irrigation Dept keeps a record of the rainfall in the country. Every month we have a flight to the many stations deep in the jungle to collect the datas and also to change the batteries required to operate the instruments. This is one of the station in the Main Range.Sometimes we are hired to do construction work. Here we were fixing an antenna to one of the high rise in Kuala Lumpur. This particular job was flown by my chief pilot at that time, Capt Eddy Yong. Of course we were also hired to send personnel and mail to passing ships on the Straits of Malacca. We had a contract to send in marine pilots to guide super tankers passing the Straits of Malacca.On long trips away from base I normally carry along an engineer to help service the helicopter. The man in blue coverall was the engineer when I was in the company. He is Pheh San Choon, a very good engineer and I always call him Babi Hutan (Wild Boar). If he tells me the helicopter is good enough for flight I will have no doubts about that.Most of my customers are good guys but the gentlemen inthis photo Mr KM Partells is one guy that I will never forget. I was tasked to fly to Tasek kenyir to transport several tons of timber to a forward base to be used for building an office. Upon my arrival to meet up with Mr Partells of Testeel (India) Ltd Co I found that he had already tied all the timber into several piles each about half a timber ton. I said I cannot lift the lot as it is too heavy. Every word that came out from him was "But you boss said youcan lift half a ton..". True AMOST half a ton over a short distance and not half a timber ton (Timber ton is based on volume and is MUCH heavier than 500 kg!) . Only with a lot of persuasion that he agreed to retie the bundles again and the job requires many more trips that he had anticipated.

See, I told you all that I have had a very good life. I had enjoyed my tour as a bush pilot very much..maybe I may go back to bush flying later but for now it is flying modern twin engine machines over the South China Sea for the oil and gas industry.




Sunday, October 25, 2009

European Tour With a Dahon Folding Bike (Oct 2009)

OK, Before I proceed, please note that it is a European Tour WITH a folding bike and not BY a folding bike. The original plan was to tour the Alps and cycle down to Southern France but due to the HINI scare the trip was delayed and by the time of my journey the area is getting too cold. Nevertheless, I brought along my Dahon Mu 8 bike so that I can tour the cities that I will be visiting. Reasons why I wantd a bike are that I can save quite a bit on transport, the ability to mix and mingle with the local people and it is great fun. With a bicycle one can blend in to the locals and if you travel with a nice looking bike like the Dahon you always get stares and admiration from people around! The sight, sound and smells are much better when one is on a bicycle.

This is what my baggage looks like. The bike is folded and checked in as luggage and I use a haversack instead of a suitcase for my personal luggage. The Dahon weighs about 12 kilos and the haversack another few kilos so I still have a lot of weight to spare. One must learn to travel light.

My first destination is Rome in Italy. It is always a good idea to deflate the tyres about 30 % when air transporting bicycles due to expansion and contraction as we go up and down. Most of the airliners have their cabin and cargo areas pressurised to 8000 ft. Upon arrival at Rome, I have to unfold and inflate the bicycle.This picture will make a good sales promotion for Dahon bikes!Navigation around the foreign cities is primarily by tourist maps (free) and I had brought along my Garmn Nuvi 200 GPS. The wonderful thing about having a GPS is I can wander around where I like enjoying the sights and the ride without having to worry about the way home. At the end of the ride, just turn on the GPS and follow the way home. This is cyber age exploring.

On Sundays in Rome the roads are closed to all private motorised vehicles to the major tourist destinations. The only vehicles on the roads are tour buses and horse carts and of course bicycles! Make sure if you only have one day in Rome it is a Sunday. Because of it's Mediterranean climate influence, Rome is relatively warm compared to the French and English counterparts.
With a bicycle it is easy to know that Rome is built on a hill. Going away from the city centre (Termini Roma Area) is so easy..no need to pedal. Coming home is another story but with my 8 speeds on the Dahon it makes life a little easier.
From Rome I took a night sleeper train to to Aixen Provence in Southern France so in goes the bike to its bag again. Before I forget, I fold up my bicycle after every ride and keep it in my hotel room. A peace of mind and another advantage of a folding bike.See, my bicycle gets to sleep with me. How convenient! And the bike goes along for free too.I met a lady postman (or is it post woman) on this interesting bicycle just outside my hotel at Citardine, Aixen Provence. That place is quite hilly and I wonder where she got the strength to do her rounds. I convinced her to "loan" me the bicycle in exchange for delivering some letters nearby for her. To my suprise, the bicycle can easily be pedalled. It has a small "electric motor assist" which boost the pedal power when speed or uphill power is required. The cost of the bike is about 2000 Euros (RM10,000/). It handles very well even with a load. just like driving a super motor bike!I spent a few days in this part of France. It is beautiful and I like the rural setting. Most days I ride to the Ville Centre and explore the surroundings. I push my bike into shops to do shopping and ride along with the locals. It is so easy to make friends on a bicycle. By the third day I had became a familiar sight to some of the shop keepers ( I always buy fresh fruits to provide fuel for riding bicycles). The temperature is about 12 C most ofthe days and sometimes the "Mistral" blows. Mistrals are strong wind with speed up to about 110 km/hr. Under these conditions it is very difficult to ride.Going to the open air markets (Pasar malam) was no hassle with a bike. No worries about parking. Just push the bike along.I spent the last three nights of my tour in London. London is quite bicycle friendly too. One can bring a folder along in the underground trains FOC provided it can be folded. In London it cost 32 pounds to rent a bike and my Dahon cost almost twice of what I paid in Malaysia (580 pounds). Hmmm ...must start a Dahon bicycle export business to London.!




I am sure all these "tourist" attractions looks very familiar to most of you.



Even in all the parks in London a bicycle is welcomed. If one were to walk it may take hours to explore Hyde Park but with a bike it is just "a walk through the park"!


The real horse staring at my iron horse at Horse park in London. I think my iron horse has got more "horse power" and is more manageable!
See, I told you..my bicycle is light.

This policeman came along after the previous picture was taken. He wanted to know if I was doing a commercial for the bicycle by lifting it up for a photo. Anyway, I politely invited him to be in the picture for a commercial too and that is how this photo was taken with the policeman


After 14 days of good life, it is time to go home again. More adventures coming along...life is an adventure on a journey!