Ah Keong's new business venture

All good things goes to he who waits.. 

I met Ah Keong at an outdoor gear product expo some years back.
He struck me as a minimalist person who knows the jungle at the back of his palm.
As the years progressed, I learned more about this guy and his capabilities and began to appreciate his skillset as a nature expert and jungle trekker.
Sometime back, he told me about his dreams of setting up an outfitter's store.
A few guys including myself who were supportive of him had encouraged him to do so.
I also told him: "Dude, how long are you going to be employed and be unhappy?".
Guess that every man has his breaking point and when you deal with a boss that would even pimp his mother to get some attention, your days are counting.

The man: Keong with his ware...

A big move

Speaking from personal experience, most outfitters in the Klang Valley are 'hit and run' business. 
You pay through your nose, get ripped off and are left to bleed dry.
And also, sadly, people don't know what the sell and often look down on buyers who are not well-dressed. That is the situation that we are facing. Most retailers are retards.
But, having said that, there are those who made a difference.
Keong's new set-up may be a game-changer.
I love his honesty and down-to-earth approach when it comes to dealing with people.
This man has a lot of patience.
Outdoor Gear Malaysia or OGM is not new.
Keong started his business in a small-scale and progressed to a brick-and-mortar outlet.
He plans to do a grand opening in early January and I am counting the days.

Some photos of the new shop..

I believe that what Keong has to offer would bring our Malaysian standards at par with the stores in Singapore and Bangkok.
As a matter of fact, they have some 'firsts' in the trade.
Best of all, Keong is an experienced person who can lend his expertise on the tools of the trade. You can bet on it!
On the retail side, it takes all sorts.
You meet good people and also some idiots who knows everything. Patience is a virtue and I guess with Keong's good attitude, things are gonna be smooth..
On that note, I wish him the best in his future endeavours..

Sungkai Bikepacking Adventure - Part 2

Rise and shine!
I've had no trouble catching some sleep.
On a hard concrete floor, the Thermarest scout sleeping mat that I brought along had served me well.
The campsite, it seems, was on a valley and the entire night was quite windy. Lucky for us, it didn't rain.
As for me, the first order of the day, was to clean up and get organised. We needed to pack our panniers.
Well, we brought some food supply and fuel that was not used at all, so, there is no reduction in weight.
From the campsite, there is a series of hills and long climbs to go through before we hit Slim River.
I said goodbye to the Malaysia Knife Forums people and thanked them for their hospitality before riding off to a stall near Sungai Klah village for breakfast.

Morning at the campsite

 Murphy's Law Part 2
I tumbled onto the riverbank near the campsite the night before.
Part of the embankment collapsed when I stood too near to the side.
As a result, I sprained my left ankle.
Never had any luck with the left-side! 
The real challenge here - is to cycle another 70km to Tanjung Malim.
This is the only place where we could jump onto a train and head back to Kuala Lumpur.
So, there I was, in pain and limping. 
We rode off towards Sungkai without much hassle and the place that we had our sights set was Slim River. 
Roger had to go back to the train station to claim his tent..

Parting shot: Leaving the campsite for Sungkai

No pain, no gain..
We rode out to Sungkai without much issues.
Roger had a couple of chain-slips while I struggle to keep the injured ankle working.
There's much to cover from Sungkai to Slim River and towards Tanjung Malim.
If we were to follow the train schedule, we will never make it back to Kuala Lumpur before dark.
The plan is to catch either a KTM ETS or the hourly Komuter service to KL Sentral.
Slim River is roughly over an hour from our location, so, we kept our average speed at 15km/h.
With load, that's the best we could do.
Lucky for me, Roger is a good cycling buddy. He's never in a rush to do anything. Just went with the flow.

At a political party's branch in Trolak

Relic: A petrol pump outside a sundry shop

A town lost in time..
Trolak. I've heard about this place, but have never been there.
Basically, its just a dot on the map.
This time round, we made a detour to Trolak and found out that its a dead town.
The North-South highway literally 'killed' this small place which is home to a couple of hundred of people
We took some photos to remind us of our visit and carried on..
Before noon, we reached the Slim River train station.
Roger was happy that his tent was returned back to him by the station master.
There, we met an elderly gentleman with a young boy.
He was just hanging out at the platform as Roger struck a conversation with him.
"Where are you guys from?," asked the curious stranger.
Since Roger is a friendly dude, he did most of the talking.
We learned from the man that Tanjung Malim is 20miles (33km) away from Slim River and many cyclists prefer to use the 'old road'.
I promised Roger a 'coffee break' and kind of pushed things a bit too far.
We rode past Slim Village, a small settler's area and did our water refill.
Just further down the road was the Slim Village town: a row of pre-war shops across a bridge.
That's where we decided to stop and have an ice-cold glass of coffee before pushing off to Tanjung Malim.
A couple of elderly men were having their late morning tea there.
One of them struck a conversation and told us about the natural attractions in the area.
After the refreshment, we cycled towards Ulu Behrang, which is about 10km away.

Chilling out at a coffee shop in Slim Village, Perak

 The Sun was out in its full glory.
We pushed as far as we could and the heat had really punished us.
After Slim Village, there was Ulu Behrang.
This is very near to the Proton City in Tanjung Malim and we were literally on a home-run.
The last eight kilometre was a real drag.
Tanjung Malim, as it seems, is just paved with an undulating terrain.
We were crunching our gears to reach the train station and before that, lunch was on my mind.
There are a few good makan places around Tanjung Malim, but the one place that I wanted to check out was a restaurant offering river fish and a couple of house dishes.

Our link to home: Tanjung Malim

A simple lunch

At the restaurant, we spent about 45-minutes eating while keeping watch on our bikes which was parked at the entrance of this makan place.
And as usual, some patrons would struck a conversation, asking about where we came from and where we were going.
Roger was nice enough to do the Public Relations while I took some rest and my much-needed lunch break.
We boarded the KTM Komuter to KL Sentral (I paid RM8 to get all the way to Subang Jaya) at 3:45pm and it would take another two hours to get there.
Roger and I switched train in Rawang and proceeded towards Kuala Lumpur..

The train station in Kuala Lumpur

We re-capped about the journey and was glad that no untowardly incident took place.
It was all smooth as we parted ways. 
Roger got off at KL Sentral while I switched to the Port Klang line at the old KL Railway station.
The ride was okay for me as the train was not packed like a can of sardines.
The moment I got off at Subang Jaya, I noticed that my airhorn had came off and it was stuck between the rear wheel.
Took me a while to figure it out on how to solve the problem before I got on my way back to USJ26.
I for one, am glad to be able to complete the ride and clocked-in a total distance of 129km.
This is by far, my most memorable outing with the Malaysia Knife Forums. And well, hopefully, I would be able to do the same the following year.

Sungkai Bikepacking Adventure - Part 1

A last-minute outing..
I had a weekend to burn.
And nearly half the day was used to send my wife's luggage to the airport.
She came back from India and had a flight to catch to Brunei.
Co-incidentally, there was two rides over the weekend and a camping trip in Sungkai, Perak, organized by the Malaysia Knife Forums.
I've attended their camp-outs and really loved the idea of cycling into the campsite.
As a matter of fact, at their first outing in 2010, I actually drove there with my bike.

At the Federal Highway motorcycle lane

The plan
I put up a post on the Malaysian Foldies forum as well as their Facebook page.
No takers.
The only reliable bikepacking buddy I had was Roger Teoh. 
This man can rough it out and is in no hurry to get anywhere, which makes him the perfect bikepacking partner.
My plan was to meet him at KL Sentral, board an intercity train or ETS to Sungkai in Perak and continue another 15km to the campsite. 
Sungai Klah, as it seems, is paved with hills from 2 - 9% in gradient. 
And when you are fully loaded, the challenge is to ride all the way without any breakdown.

Waiting to board the ETS at KL Sentral

Murphy's Law
Some things don't necessarily work out the way you plan it.
In this case, I rode out all the way to the Asia Jaya LRT station. Time spent on the road was nearly an hour.
Riding with another 20kgs of load in the rear means more drag and a 'back heavy' feeling. The ride took about an hour and as mentioned earlier, I made the rendezvous with Roger at the McDonalds at 12:45pm.
On a Saturday, the KL Sentral looks like a Zoo.
There were no more train tickets to Sungkai. What was left was a ride to Slim River, one stop away from our intended destination. 
Ticket for this ride costs RM26 one-way.
On the ETS, I don't have to worry about luggage space (always get the seat right in front, which is also the nearest to the door).
We took the 2pm train which is scheduled to arrive in Slim River at 4pm. 
From there, we have two more hours to cover the distance from the train station to Sungkai and make a turn towards Sungai Klah.

Arrival at Slim River

My ride, with the Ortlieb Backroller and Trunkbag

 A station too far..
There is no reason for me to go to Slim River.
Except when we had to get out of the train and begin our ride from this town.
In a nutshell, this is a dying town. 
There's not much activity here except for people getting in and out of the train and making a trip down to the Klang Valley using the town's bus service.
From Slim River, the next town is Trolak.
Sungkai is roughly about 25km away via the KL-Ipoh trunk road.
With a gloomy sky that loomed ahead, we tried to move as fast as we can.
Roger and I had a meal at a hawker stall before proceeding towards Trolak.
From there, there is a series of undulating terrain (between 3 - 7% grade) to cover before the Sungai Klah junction.
We slowly rode out towards our destination and took about one and a-half hours to reach the turning towards the Felda Sg Klah resort.

Slim River train station

The KL-Ipoh trunk road

Sungai Klah junction

Not for beginners..
The KL-Ipoh trunk road is a normal route for touring bicyclists to access Cameron Highlands and other cities up North.
You either suck it all up and ride, or whine all the way.
My choice is door number one, endure and take it as it is.
I know that some cyclists would complain about the dangers of cycling on a busy road. But hey, you always have a choice: cycle or stay at home and whine.
As for me, the route was really smooth. We had no issues cycling all the way from Slim River to Sungkai.
As a matter of fact, I get to see many things I won't when I am driving.
While maintaining a average speed of 15km/h, we observed the traffic which is constantly busy.
Even on a trunk road, people drive fast.
The road was wide enough for bicycles to move without taking too much space on the motorists' path.

The ride towards campsite

From the junction, there's another 15km to cover.
We took the undulating terrain with ease and slowly covered the distance.
For on the horizon was the Sungai Klah homestay.
This hilly village is the last checkpoint before reaching campsite.
We continued towards the Felda Sg Klah residence which is about 1km away from campsite.

Arrival at campsite

MKF hospitality: One of the old hands offering me a cold can of beer

Calling it a day..
We reached campsite before dark.
With the bikes parked, I introduced Roger to the Malaysia Knife Forums members and their organizing committee.
Dinner was served, we had a few beers, exchanged in conversation and called it a night before the long ride to Tanjung Malim to catch our train.

Perting Falls Hike

Planned hikes
The Malaysia Knife Forums is entering its sixth year in existence.
This is by far, one of the longest surviving interest group.
The group is also on Facebook where its even more active than the forums. I know this for a fact because I set it up.
So, fast-forward to our outing last month in Templer's Park: I suggested a follow-up hike and Lye Choon Keong, the Forum's secretary had singled out the Perting Falls in Pahang as the venue..

Serene: A scene from the falls

 I've never heard of this place and as soon as the mention was made, I posted a thread on the forums to round up the usual guys who are interested for the hike. Similarly, there was a campout at Batu Dam by another group. So, the numbers were pretty even.
The final tally was five people, which was a solid head-count.

Familiar route
I suggested to meet up at Bukit Tinggi, later, Keong re-adjusted the rendezvous point at Genting Sempah R&R and also offered a 4WD transfer to the trail head.
This was a welcoming move as part of the road leading to the entrance of the falls were really banged-up.
I later found out that the Perting Falls was located off the Gombak - Bentong road.
Michelle and I had cycled around this area and are familiar with the routing.
Keong led the drive with Kenny Ho and Walther trailing in another 4WD vehicle.
So far, Keong, Walther, Kenny and I are the only fellas who followed-up on the hike from the Templer's Park trip.
We had a new guy Ray who tagged along..

Lead tracker: Keong on the trail

Serenity: Scenes like these makes me pine for a hike in the jungle..

 Medium-difficulty course
Templer's park was peanuts in terms of difficulty.
Perting, on the other hand, is a little bit challenging.
Basically, its a 3.5km hike towards a drop which is pretty steep.
It took us about 45-minutes to get to the falls.
While we were hiking, Keong made mention of a Hash runner who got lost in Templer's Park.
Lost? What was the guy thinking? 
Kenny made a theory that the guy was injured. Which is quite possible and it turned out that he did got hurt and was found a couple of days later when rescuers combed Templer's Park for the missing dude.
The first leg of the hike in my humble opinion, was really interesting as we had to plough through a fern bush as tall as our heads.
Along the way, I noticed that the path which was cut in the secondary jungle was a former timber trail.
Remnants of heavy vehicle passing through this track was evident with steel pipes used as drainage.
When we arrived at a campsite near the falls, we noticed a large group of campers, about 20 people including men and women chilling out at the spot.
Some were washing their hair with shampoo on the water while the rest were just hanging out.
I spent most of my time capturing some slow-shutter shots of the falls.
Keong took out his stove and made some hot drinks for the rest of the gang.
After spending about an hour there, we began to hike out.
In total, we walked for 7km and I must say that it was an educational experience..

Educational trip: Keong explaining about the forest plants to the hikers

River crossing

The steep drop

 After hiking out to the trail head, me made a detour to the Perting Valley teambuilding camp. Keong knew the caretaker and told us that the place is a regular venue for companies to train their staff.
Later, we made our way to Bentong for ais kacang and Bukit Tinggi for a late lunch..

 

Templer's Park revisited

Two and a-half decades later...
The guys from Malaysia Knife Forums had organised a day hike to Templer's Park in Hulu Kanching, Selangor.
I snapped this opportunity to visit one of my favourite haunts back in the days.
Two and a-half decades ago, my Scout troop used to organize competition and training camps in the Park.
We actually hiked about 2km into the trail to set up camp and stayed there for nearly a week.

HW Wong hiking along the trail..

The MKF gang, mid-way through the hike

The middle ages..
Now, fast-forward to the present - the only contact I had was the Scouts training camp at the outskirts of Templer's Park.
Today, there is a paved trail to the park's gate.
The path has been widened with plenty of public amenities built for the convenience of the park's visitors.
Back in the day, there is a caretaker that charges RM1 per entry.
They are not there anymore as the park is managed by the state.
Trip leader Ah Keong and a few other guys from the Malaysia Knife Forum including its President Mr HW Wong was punctual.
Only one guy who signed up didn't check-in because he ended up in Banting.. (Don't ask me why..).
We began to hike up the trail and moved slowly towards the waterfall area.
Along the way, I found plenty of thrash that was left behind by some irresponsible people..

Wild mushrooms

At an old spot: the waterfall

With the MKF gang

Hi, ho, hi, ho, hi, ho...
We reached a rest area near the waterfall.
Now this is the place where I had plenty of fond memories.
Its still good for photography.
Some of the guys stayed behind while Ah Keong, Walther, Wong and I went out to check the second-tier of the falls.
We hiked up for about 20 minutes and reached a pool area.
The path was blocked by fallen branches.
Wong decided not to push on because he didn't want to get his shoes wet.
We were the only guys who had our full gear strapped to our back.
For me, it was an opportunity to hike in the jungle and use my trusty Kifaru Scout pack.
Later, we headed down to the campsite and while the guys ate their packed lunch, I decided to work on my slow-shutter shots on my G1X compact digital camera.


Good memories!
Templer's Park still has what it takes for a day hike and macro outing.
But for camping, I think its in dire need of a clean-up.
Re-visiting the campgrounds gave me plenty of good memories about the park.
We hung around the area till noon and hiked out.
Ah Keong, Walther and Marcus, the guy who ended up in Banting had followed me to a makan place near Rawang where we had some real good food.
Way I see it, the MKF guys had done a great job in organizing the outing.
Ah Keong, a part-time wilderness guide, kayakist and outfitter has plenty of potential in leading the forum members in activities as such. I hope he will keep up the good work!

MKF M&G Aug 13

The MKF gang: Stanley, Eric, Me and Mr Yen

My braddah Eric Wong is back from China on a break.
Its also an opportunity for him to catch you with old friends and members of the Malaysia Knife Forums.
Eric and I founded the MKF on May 31, 2006 and with a handful of people, we managed the domain to promote responsible knife ownership.
Today, we can be proud as the community is thriving.
It also spanned three batches of knife users and collectors throughout Malaysia.
We have affiliates in Singapore and Thailand.
As for Eric, he is a really stand-up guy whom I am very proud to call a 'Braddah'.
Though thick and thin, we weathered it out and persevered.
There are many people out there whom I call a friend. That's all. 
If shit hits the fan, these so-called friends are the first people to bug out and stay out of sight.
They even scoff at the mere mention of your name.
With a braddah, such is never the case. We look out of each other.

The family is getting bigger!

A family portrait at Gump & Co last week

Wow! Its simply amazing to think that an interest group forum would survive for five years.
We started in mid-2006 with only three members and the Malaysia Knife Forums is home to at least 50 active knife collectors and users.
Last week's Meet and Greet to host Daron Tan's visit was the largest gathering of knifenuts in Kuala Lumpur.
Tan, who hails from Kuching, Sarawak, was on a break here.
We traded discussions about knives and gear while the rest caught and made up for lost times.
The next big thing is our MKF Camp & Cut which is scheduled for late September.

MKF C&C 2010

The gang

Bonding over a bonfire

Skills session: sharpening knives

The organisers of Malaysia Knife Forum's Camp & Cut 2010 had done a great
job.This exceeded my expectations as the event was flawless. Seems that everyone have had a good time at Kem Nurnikman in Sungkai,
Perak.I took a two-hour drive from my house in Subang Jaya and was asked to
address the forum members including a small workshop session on knife care
and maintenance.There were plenty of activities and it was also a chance for me to get
re-acquainted with some old friends.A few new faces were seen at camp and the cammaraderie spirit can be seen
on everyone who pitched in to make the event a successful venture.I hope that the 2010 - 2012 committee members would continue to keep up
the good work and raise the bar in terms of organizing better and bigger
activities for the benefit of the forum's ordinary members.