2017 - The year in perspective...

Oh, what a year!

Only two days left before we cross into 2018 and I must say that the last 12 months have been really interesting...
Nearly every quarter, we stayed in the game in terms of our archery pursuit and the range time that I had with my bow and arrow bore the fruits of my labour.

Archery, archery, archery...

I'd say that throughout the year, I have been spending much time in the range with my trad bows. 
In the earlier quarter, I competed in the Kelantan Indoor Open with my Hoyt Tiburon. It's a trad bow and I love how it performed. Later in March, I acquired the Hoyt Satori and the game was about to change. For three months solid, I trained with the new Hoyt Traditional bow and I must say that the results were amazing. I improved my scores at the Thailand Princess Cup barebow competition. Managed to compete in the 1/16 elimination rounds. After coming back from Thailand, I transited to shooting with a barebow riser. 

Sharing a light moment with a fellow Thai archer at the Princess Cup

With Tatrawee Harikul, the main man behind the Princess Cup tournament

The Spigarelli, an awesome riser at the right price

Sending an arrow downrange with the Spiga

There was enough time to train and break-in the bow for the UPM indoor open back in October. The Spiga needs plenty of work to get it competition ready and once its teething problems are taken care of, it performs. 
The UPM event is another notch on our local tournament rankings as Michelle and I did pretty okay. We made to the 1/8 elimination rounds and also improved our scores.

At the indoor archery world cup in Bangkok

The icing on the cake is, of course, December's Indoor Archery World Cup. It was held in Bangkok and we had a swell time shooting with some of the best archers from Asia. Once again, we met our counterparts from Thailand and stood at the shooting line with them. Other highlights including organizing our club's Invitational event and two smaller shoots for our club members.

The Malaysia Day tournament

The 2017 Invitational

 We lost our boy...

Sir Naughty 2004 - 2017

Our dog of 13 years passed away on Dec 22. It was a great loss to us because he was such an awesome companion. Sir Naughty kept our home safe and our hearts warm. Its always been great coming home to a furkid wagging his tail and he did that all through the years and right until the end.

Demobilizing

After 10 years in the Star Media Group, it's time to move on...

My workplace announced that they had to cull 500 people to save 800 jobs. I knew it was time to hit the road and I was happy to do so after being offered a redundancy package. To me, after weighing the pros and cons, it was the right thing to do. My time was over and there's nothing wrong in stepping aside to allow others to progress. From reporter to producer, I have come a long way after nearly three decades on the job. I don't feel at a loss or remorseful stepping out. The real challenge is out there and 2018 has a couple of gigs to offer. 

2014: The year in perspective - Part 2

Touring on a 24" folding bike, a unique experience...

We had our Tern Eclipse S18 set-up and tuned for a cycling tour up North.
The intended destination was Pulau Langkawi.
Michelle had made the necessary arrangements for accommodation while I planned the logistics.
With time passing through so swift, we took off to Kuala Kedah and before we knew it, we were cycling in Langkawi.
The 24" folding bike really takes the cake in terms of reliability and comfort..

At Pantai Tengah

Padang Matsirat

Taiping Foldie's Ride

I kept my word to return to the historical town of Taiping where the locals there had hosted a ride for nearly 50 cyclists.
Only four people went up from Kuala Lumpur and the rest were backed by the Ipoh Foldies.
It was a moment of solidarity as we shared our interest of exploring small towns, having good food and great company.

With Taiping's de facto leader Jamell and Johnny Ng of My Bicycle Shop

Return of the Rogue Rider

I have always wanted to challenge myself and this time, I embarked on a 200-km ride from USJ 26 to Port Dickson and Malacca.
It was a solo ride and I took the Tern Eclipse S18 as far as Port Dickson before getting a ride into Malacca on a chartered car.
On the return journey, I was supposed to board a bus in Melaka Sentral, but my ride was already packed to the brim in it's cargo hold and I had no choice but to ride back to Port Dickson before getting a ride from a local chartered car back to USJ 26.
Done it solo, which was a test of mental strength, physical conditioning and sheer determination. 

Fortune favours the bold

The way home... 

Cycle to work and 2014 World Car Free Day

On the second-quarter of the year, I cycled quite a bit from my home to the workplace.
The company where I am employed is very supportive of the Green initiative and I am pretty proud to be a part of it.
I also did a piece on World Car Free Day, where some of us would cycle to work as a tradition.
But sadly, for 2014, I had only one Rookie reporter following me on the Federal Highway motorcyle Lane.

The article I wrote

Page two 

Page three

A chaperone for the rookie

Advocacy work and Aljazeera Arabic feature on cycling to work...

I was contacted by a broadcast journalist from Al Jazeera who wanted to feature Malaysians who cycles to work.
So, I obliged to a fellow journalist and allowed the person to capture videos of the 23km journey from Subang Jaya to Section 16 in Petaling Jaya.
It ended up with an interview and the segment was shown in the middle-east.

A screen-capture of the interview

Off to work and my dog became famous too!

Bikes aside, making up for the doggies!

We haven't been taking our kidz to events and September gave us the chance to participate in the UPM Dogathon and the following month was a rather interesting event called "I want to touch a dog" which was later deemed as "haram" by the Selangor Religious council. The guy who put it together was reprimanded. Politics aside, it was great to see so many Muslim folks coming out to allay their fears on dogs.. The touch thing is a once in a lifetime experience as it became permanently banned.

At the Dogathon event in UPM, Selangor

Our kidz and friends..

 Carmeggedon

The damaged Samo-mobile mk II

What are the chances of getting hit by a motorcycle twice in two years?
Well, that happened to me.
Case one was a Myanmar national who crashed onto my car's front left bumper.
As a result, the guy broke his leg.
A year later, I received a call from my car insurance company. The claims investigator said the Myanmar man is claiming compensation for bodily harm. He could not be trace.
A week later, my car was hit by an illegal racer on a motorcycle. 
The impact crushed my rear panel and took off the bumper.
I sent it to Nissan's accident and repair department and was slapped with an estimated bill of RM10k.
It was then that I've decided to seek the service of an independent workshop and had the job done at 10% of the cost. I also cancelled my claim because the Nissan people had tried to rip me off.
Later, the insurance people too tried to scam me by asking for RM1.08k for a claim that I did not submit for the accident. The case is pending.

The Malaysian Foldie e-magazine

The Malaysian Foldie turns one..

September was a milestone for The Malaysian Foldie e-magazine.
I was inspired by Kris Gomeze, an expatriate living in Thailand who came up with a bi-lingual cycling magazine.
So, I started a simple magazine specialising in folding bikes which is running into it's second year. I am very proud of this and hope to improve it's design and content if time permits.

Giving back: Ipoh Foldie's Open Day

I collaborated with the de facto leader of the Ipoh Foldies to come up with a ride and a skills workshop backed by my cycling buddies Mohd Radzi Md Nor and Johnny Ng.
Four of us took a train up to Ipoh and joined 50 other cyclists on a ride around the greater Ipoh and this was followed by the skills workshop that took place at the Ministry of Youth and Sports complex.

Johnny Ng handling the bike tuning and maintenance session

The gang in Ipoh

December: Laying off cycling and rekindling with an old hobby

I had nearly two weeks off in December to clear my leave and off-day. 
This was the perfect opportunity for me to give the bikes a rest and work on upgrading my ageing Dahon Jetstream EX.
I managed to source for a new set of hydraulic brakes from Shimano as well as a new rear suspension.
At the same time, I recovered some of my old Tamiya model kits and worked on building three armored fighting vehicles of World War II.

The M4 Sherman tanks I built

After two decades, I finally built this Tiger 1 heavy tank

The 2010 Dahon Jetstream EX experienced a re-fit with new parts 

Good, bad and ugly..

If you can't handle it, the workplace can be a prison

I'd safely say that 2014 has been a decent year without much fuss for me.
Though there were moments where some co-workers of mine had tried to pull some fast ones to prove that I am a ninkapoop who is worthless, my Key Performance Index rating had met it's expectations.
Despite my detractors' efforts in trying to dump shit on my ricebowl, I held on tight and braced for the hard fall. 
This is what I believe: no matter what your detractors say, what is not true cannot harm you. I have worked in three English newspapers for half my life. Began my career behind the camera and now, I am managing people and their workflow.
With the knowledge and experience, I will use what I have learned to help others and make it as smooth as possible when it comes to dealing with crisis.
Even that said, there some ripples along the way and I believe that in 2015, I will be sidelined to pave way for my detractors' political ambitions. So, there are some uncertainties, but I guess I'll just have to mow throw and sit out the shit storm.
There are plenty of shortcomings, but hey, you can't stop a man from being happy.. 
I have plenty of adventures to look forward to in 2015 and with a streamlined plan with less baggage to lug around, it will be fun to see everything come together as planned.

2014: The year in perspective - Part 1

A "splashing" start.. 

I was tasked to rig up my section's teambuilding session. And I've engaged a reliable trainer to handle a 3D 2N event in Gopeng. 
By standards, it was the most exciting outing ever.
My co-workers experienced white-water rafting and the young reporters, especially, are really stoked about it.
Well, with the budget for teambuilding slashed to nothing in 2015, the Gopeng experience remains as one of the best ever sessions. 

Getting wet and wild in Gopeng

OCBC Cycle Malaysia: One last fling

I've committed to the OCBC Cycle Malaysia 2014 ride by pre-registering as an early bird the previous year. 
Told the then head honcho, some short ass at KLCC about it at the 2013 edition and his reaction was "uh.. okay". We've done three rides so far; paid for every single event, picked up the medals and well, that was it. No more. 

The Pirate-Ninja at the OCBC Cycle Malaysia 2014 (didn't change the info on my photo's watermark)

China Stockyard and Rail 

I was assigned to cover a media visit to Zuzhou, China.
There, I witnessed first-hand, the commissioning of Prasarana Berhad's six-coach Light Rail Vehicle.
This was in tandem with RapidKL's line extension from Ampang to Putra Heights which is expected to be completed in late 2015.
The factory visit also enabled me to check out Guangzhou where we had a night stop before heading back to Malaysia..

In the new LRT coach bound for the Kelana Jaya Line

The new LRT coaches for RapidKL's 2015 line extension programme

Canton tower in Guangzhou, China

Taipei International Bike Show

I booked my passage to Taipei, Taiwan, as early as December 2013 to attend the 2014 Taipei Intl Bike Show.
It was an important milestone for me as publisher of "The Malaysian Foldie" e-magazine, where I sampled the bicycle industry's finest bike and component manufacturers who showcased their ware for the entire year.
The highlight was cycling in Taipei at the Tern Social Ride. There, I met Joshua Hon, the man behind Tern Bicycles and Erich Mah, my go-between who handles special projects for consumer marketing.
The Tern people are the friendliest lot I have ever met.
Taiwan was an interesting experience and I do recommend participating in the Tern Social Ride if you ever hit the Taipei show. Unfortunately, due to no cheap air tickets to Taipei in March 18 next year, I would have to sit this one out..

The Taipei show is one of the most important trade exhibition in the Asian region

Friendly faces at the Tern Bicycles pavilion

With Josh and Eric after the Tern Social Ride in Taipei

Tour of Southern Thailand III, one last hurrah!

Patthalung - Thale Noi - Hat Yai was my last Tour of Southern Thailand.

Having explored the area for the third time, we conducted a successful ride charting more than 270km in total along the loop.

There, we experienced the Thai Songkran Festival and was greeted with warm hospitality of the residents in Thale Noi lake.

The tour also ended our partnership with a few fellow cyclists as we are headed out on our own in 2015.

The crew in Ban Sathing Phra

Bowing out from the touring group 

Project "Road Warrior"

In phase two of our 24" folding bike acquisition programme, I've singled out the Tern Eclipse S18 as our choice bike for future touring adventures.

This bike has it all and all you need is to slap on the panniers and we are in business.

So, we purchased two Eclipse S18 to complement our existing Eclipse P9 and X20. The only thing that became a major disappointment was the fact that the product guy from the Malaysian Tern distributor was not sincere. The dude was so greedy, he actually ordered a few bikes for his handler's interest. But that doesn't bother me at all because good stuff like the Eclipse S18 or the "Road Warrior" is meant to be mounted and ridden by all who can afford it.. 

One of the best touring bikes in its class

Michelle taking a spin on the Road Warrior

Team Road Warrior

Tour of Indonesia: Sumatera

I've been planning to cycle in Indonesia for a while and the most viable plan: was to explore Sumatera.

To realize this plan, I engaged my cycling buddy Mohd Radzi Md Nor who took time off to travel across to Sumatera with a ferry via the Malacca Straits.

We spent seven days in Indonesia and clocked about 270km covering Dumai - Duri - Minas - Pekanbaru.

Sumatera was an eye-opener and a prelude to more adventures in the Indonesian Archipelago.

At a jetty in Pulau Rupat, Indonesia

A warrior's monument in Pekanbaru, Indonesia

Quarter one and two round-up

I would safely say that the first six months in 2014 was awesome. Did some traveling, acquired two new bikes, and a lot of cycling adventures.

There were no shortage of highs and lows when it comes to work, but I guess being employed to fullfil an 8-hour/day task, I do what I feel is right to get on with the day's programme..