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Climbing Mt. Kinabalu again

This would be my fifth attempt.  I managed to reach the summit on three of the attempts.  Fortunately I was able to summit again.  So there goes my fourth.  This time round, I joined a group of colleagues.  The route we chose was the grueling Mesilau Trail.  The last 2 KM of the the trail was a test of mental endurance.  Not to mentioned another 2.5 KM from the main trail junction to Gunting Lagadan where we’ll be staying. Our packed breakfast were meager to say the least.  Not packed in personalized lunch bags for kids but plain non-environmental-friendly styrofoam packets. For some it wasn’t enough to provide energy for the 7.5 KM hike.  Fortunately I had my energy bars, gels and drinks.  One of my colleague friend recounted having hit the wall after KM5.5.

A different kind of marathon

Last weekend a couple of photography friends and I had the opportunity to join the Malaysian Canon Photomarathon held at Kuala Lumpur.  We had registered for it last September.  Since it was our first time joining this kind of marathon, we didn’t know what to expect.  We arrived into KL a day earlier and stayed at a hotel nearby the venue, a walking distance of about 5 minutes. On the day of the marathon itself, we picked up our marathon kit which consist of a red t-shirt with marathon details and of course Canon logo; two Dunkin donuts; a 500ml mineral water; an some Canon goodies.  Five participants were lucky to have won themselves Canon Selphy photo printers. Since they weren’t expecting to win, I noticed they had to carry them around.

More to come….

Fresh Coconut at 35,000 feet

Recently on a trip back from KL aboard AirAsia, I noticed on their menu booklet that the airline was serving fresh coconut.  The visible tag line was ‘The First and Only Airline in the world to offer  fresh coconut juice onboard!’.  I wanted to see if this was true, so I ordered one. A few moments later the steward brought one whole coconut and it was fresh.  Well the experience of having one yet alone fresh one was the and experience in itself.  I just wondered if they had organic shea butter too.  Anyways I was curious as to how many they brought on board.  My seatmate ordered one after seeing me with one.  Unfortunately I had the last one.  Perhaps it was the only one on board due to the weight and space.

Steve Jobs, 1955 – 2011

As I was driving to work today, the news on the radio announced that Apple’s visionary former CEO and co-founder, Steve Jobs has passed away due to cancer.  I can’t say I’m an Apple fan but I’ve been fascinated by its innovations and style of the products.  None of these could have impacted us if not for the vision and leadership that is attributed to Steve Jobs.    Only recently I have coaxed myself to buy an Apple Ipad because I find it truly defines what a tablet should be,  simplicity.  Steve was behind the NeXT workstations I used in college. I didn’t know that until recently.  Truly wonderful experience using those machines.  I was amazed at the animation works done in Disney’s Toy Story, I also didn’t know Steve owned Pixar, the company that did Toy Story and many other fun animated movies.  We shall miss Steve but the impact of his influence shall be felt for generations to come.   As a proponent of simple things, this entry is dedicated to a truly exemplary icon of technology and simplicity. Rest in peace, Steve Jobs.

Disaster Preparations

A friend of mine recently remarked that the celestial alignment that will occur on 26 September will start off the progressive annihilation of earth and all living things on it.  Well 26 September came and went without total annihilation.

However we did experience severe storms and windy conditions. A backlash from Typhoon Nesat which hit the Phillippines.  Locally there were widespread blackouts and uprooted trees and signboards.  Fortunately no one was reported hurt. Knowing that Typhoon Haitang was next, I decided to ensure we had ample supplies.  I bought extra flashlights, batteries and candles just in case we had to endure another prolonged blackout. Another thing we had to do was ensuring our telephone batteries were fully charged as we didn’t have spares. Luckily Haitang wasn’t felt much.  The latest update was Typhoon Nalgae was approaching..