The two odd illnesses...

I've tried my best to keep the best of health so far..and alhamdulillah.. Im not that all bad. I am overweight.. hahaha that I;m trying hard to reduce. However, suddenly:

1) right knee medial meniscus injury: this kniggly sensation initially came after the 30k run but I thought I could shrug it off.It was the first time ever in my life that I;ve had such an injury as I;ve always been careful. A slight mistake would threaten my career as a sportsman.. hahaha then after Korbu, and I knew I was carrying a lot of load behind me... and the day after that.. I could not bend my knee.. and then it popped... and popped... and popped... oh no!! I was debilitated! I was worried initially if it woud affect me long term. I am still rehabilitating so I will only know the extent of my injury later..

2)On the morning of my flight to Kota Bharu; I had a sudden feeling of spinning, sweating with nausea and vomiting. I was not sure what it was but it was not good. The thought of MI came into mind which would be the last diagnosis i want! Oh no.. it was Vertigo! I nearly missed my flight that afternoon and i thought after a good sleep it woud go off. The next two days in Kota Bharu was disastrous as it only settled down after the Stemetil. I'm taking Stugeron now and it is recovering slowly. Initially I had a scare of it being something really bad but the diagnosis has been established to be labiryntitis. However this spinning feeling I am getting every now and then will persist up to 6 weeks.. haiiyyaaaa... not good eih especially with exams is just right on the corner..

Intensive course in USM Kubang Kerian

Its Thursday today-tomorrow is public holiday in Kelantan but its not going to be so for us..despite being Maulidurrasul as well! It'll be our mock exams.. MCQ OSCE and the Clinicals. I've been in USM Health Campus in Kubang Kerian since last Saturday. It had been a very strainous week; a week full of filling up half the vacuoles in my head with the necessary knowledge for my final exams in May!! Hahahaha.. The days were filled with lectures and vivas in the late afternoons!
I must say i am impressed with the campus. It is condusive for young medical students as well post graduates like me. I am currently staying in rumah tetamu USM which is not bad at all for this 2 weeks stay!
There are about 60 of us here-candidates from UM UKM and USM ; trainee anaesthetist vying for the spots to be qualified as future specialists come May. We are all in the same boat;all worried about our ability to prove ourselves worthy of becoming anaesthetists. So far, I'm more worried than ever as I find the exams are far harder than I initially anticipate.. hahahaha sapa suruh tak study kuat2 dari awal tak?
Anyway..kudos to the commitment of USM staff as well to those who made the effort to be far away from our nests in KL. I wish I could compliment my own institution but the lukewarm response as felt by the organizers says it all. Pretty sad though that such cooperation amongst this small community of academics cannot be achieved. :( However, I don't reckon that this will continue as I vow to be the agent of change in the future, god willing insya allah.. :)
Now.. I have to sit down..concentrate and really go all out..as I have less than 2 months to practice my exam skills to pass..:)

Happy Birthday Qystiena Qaisya.. :)

We celebrated Qytiena's 1st and Qaisya's 3rd birthday in a larger manner last weekend. MY decision not to run the marathon was a wise choise not just because of the injury, but of the event that had to be handled till late that night. I guess after 9 years of marriage, this is the time we should invite our relatives to come to ur humble home. However, our relatives.. bukan sikit woo.. hahahaha thats why we decided to have a covered terrain outside the house in case it overflowed.
The menu was Nasi Arab and Alhamdulillah, the food was good! The lamb was excellent and most of those who came certainly liked it. The house was full and I was busy all over! Thank you to my dear family members who could made it that day.. Alhamdulillah..

Korbu Gayong expedition 30/1-1/2

What did I get from this expedition?
1) pure satisfaction
2) maximal adrenaline boost
3) pure over the limit push
4) career threatening knee injury..
Hahahaha..My kind of expedition! I never thought I would be going for another climb before May this year but I was wrong. The temptation was impossible to resist! I had to start my G7 towards G12 goal somewhere and thank god, the 3 day 3 nights trip was worth it.
Initially I had my doubts on whether we will be back by Tuesday; as I've looked into multiple logs which had the minimum of 4 days in each to conquer this 2 mountains. However as a loyal OGKL member i knew we would do it by hook or by crook!

29th January( Dup dap..dup dap..)
We were to assemble in front of KFC in KL Central. I brought my rucksack to work knowing that on a Friday evening, it is almost impossible to drive back home and forth to KL after office hours. Few eyebrows were raised as I walked into the OT with a big load on my back!! Hahaha My case overshoot and thanks to Usha who let me go or otherwise I would have to be in the OT till midnite!! I took a short bus trip and then the PUTRA LRT to KL Sentral.

When I arrived in KL Sentral I mistakenly took a group going the same direction as I am! Hahaha terperanjat budak tu.. rupa-rupanya gang KOMA going to Chamah-Ulu Sepat. I waited there for a while before the familiar faces arrive. THe group was big and half of them were alien to me. It was goodto know that Fuad will be the guide for this trip; I've always admired his physique and strength!! It was cool to get to know new people too..
We took the train to Ipoh and this was my first time! We arrived in Ipoh station at midnite and then with the bus off to the point where the 4WD was waiting for us nearby the dam. The journey with 4WD was as how it has always been..BUmpy with such an adventure feeling.. hahaha After about an hour, we arrived at our starting point and slept there for the night.

30th January Sg Senoi-Camp View( OK je jalan..mana yang mencabarnya?)

Starting point.. Sungai Senoi.. and the aim was to arrive in Camp View or further! After our morning exercise and get to know session... "Saya HAri... ITU HARI !! INi HARI?? " we were off to complete our mission. Here was when I decided to carry that extra load.. 4 men tent. Initially Haniza was suppose to follow this trip but we had some technical difficulties and thank god for that! I hope to bring her to trips such as this in the future therefore i need to gauge whether I am able to cope with her load on me. Little did I know that this decision was not exactly wise.

The trek was fair and considering it was our first day,it was comfortable. There was a story by Jay at one of the take 5 sessions that a friendly wild boar came across us! Apip was the hero shoing it away with jay's help in lighting up the firecracker! Somebody ran for their lives then in contrast with the shown personality.. truly loyal to the art of survival!!


The one thing which i thought was unique compared to my other trips is the fact that with the heavy load on your back, due to unforseen obstruction to the route; one has to literally on one's 2 hands.. or on all four limbs.. and even commando crawl across!! Mak aaii...
The group arrived in Camp View from 4pm to 6 and we camped there for the night.After a good dinner and night getting to know each other session, we were off to sleep. However cold it was, the agas attack at 3am woke everybody up when the tsunami of them decided to give us the roll call!! Huiiyoo..manyak gatal woo...

31st January Camp View-Korbu peak (Berkenalan dengan anak-anak korbu, anak tiri, anak harun, anak ikan, anak angkat,anak lain bapak..dll...)

Journey to the top of Korbu from Camp View was torturous. I was with Azad all the time, a certanly good companion for my climbs. I do miss his presence on my summit climbs without him hehehe Thank you for your nasihat Abang Haji!!
It was long.. and mencanak from the start. After the last water point, carrying an extra pure 3kg behind your back certainly slows you down. It was not pleasant but then..sapa suruh pergi kan? hahahaha We continued the climb and post Bongsai Tonggek ( which somebody mentioned 10 minutes which became 1.5 hours!! hahaha) we met Anak Korbu.. and yes.. we were introduced to the family clan of anak korbu again and again. Puncak tipu tak ingat!! Memory of Tambuyokon came as everytime we reached a peak.. oh no.. there was another peak to climb in front of us!!


Alhamdulillah..at about 5 pmish,We arrived on top of Mount Korbu.. the highest in Perak and 2nd in Peninsular Malaysia.. The feeling as unbelievable..takut kena tipu lagi!! Set our camp and my determination was to sleep in the camp i brought all the way up here! We had a good view o Gayong.. the next of our frontier.. The weather was excellent as we could see the Titiwangsa skyline; Masya Allah.. subhanallah..





30Jan-1st Feb(OGKL OT standard.. hehe)
We sumitted Gayong which was next door at midnite:) We started at 830pm after dinner and everybody was enthusiastic! Standard ah OGKL .. Guide and Porter unggul pun tak tahan.. hahahaha The weather was permitting and the moon was at its best. One can even switch off one's head lamp and the trek is clear. We could see Gayong clearly as we descend down and the other Titiwangsa peaks as well.
We were all delighted to reack the peak and Congrats to Uncle Appa and Amir for making into the "Elites" completing G12! Cayalah ..:)




1st February-the climb down to Ulu Kinta dam ( DEEENNNGGGG!!)

Coming back at 3am in the morning certainly wiped everybody off! I was tired all over and went totally to sleep when I had my head on my bag! Azad was snoring away with uncle Appa and despite being in the camp it was very cold! I dunno about those outside..mesti tak tahan babe!!
"HOOOOIIII!! GUIDE TAK GUNAAA!!" was the loud cry i heard when i opened my eyes.. Allah.. it was so bright and loking at my watch.. ee eeleehh.. 740 am! Deeno was furious as everybody went dead and nobody woke up early! We were supposed to move by 7am,waking up at 5 am.. hahaha tinggal kenangan la beb! We quickly got ourselves ready and after breakfast we were off.. destination.. Ulu Kinta dam by evening... hello??? mimpi apa? The worry was if we were to arrive late, then there was no way that we could get any ride back to KL after midnight!

The early descent was technical ! Gila wooo... 90o climb down and if one falls down, sorry ahh.. selamat tinggal dunia.. seriously! My bag was still heavy because of the camp.. load tak berkurang.. hahaha It was tricky using ropes and trying to grap the dge of stones down. Macam Tom Cruise Mission Impossible!!At times my heart went tachy arrythmic because it was so dangerous wooo.. And of course, it did not help when I had to answer nature's call in the middle of that! Must be the sambal I ate before descending from Korbu peak.. ahahah

It was a long punishing journey as the declination was steep. I guess ,this was the reason for my knees to suffer as the hump and bump down can be violent at times. I did not run but the load maynot be suitable for me especially being tired and all. The view was excellent though.. It was certainly refreshing to see the wonders of Allah!
We arrived at the ULu Kinta dam-Sungai Temin by 8pm and I was in the 2nd tier group. Fuad and the front runners were far away and of course, we got to know that the our transportation will only cater us 15 km ahead! hahaha Wakenabeb.. another 15k of walk to the finish line on tar:) Deeno and the sweepers were behind and from experience, somehow rescue will arrive but I told Azad, since we are here.. lets just walk as far as we can. ( thinking that it would be good training for my marathon attempt the next week..) We walked in the dark ( switching off our head lamps) and it was a fun walk.. tired? time ni takda dah penat2.. jalan je. hahaha We walked about 10km when we saw a bus coming in! escue was here... the bus passed us and we decided to stay put.. cook some maggie and coffee and change:) True enough the bus came back for us after picking everybody up:)
The good news was the bus continued its journey to KL Sentral.. huraaayyy!! Balik hari tu jugak! Mission accomplished :) the feat of completing Korbu Gayong in a such express manner.. COOL!!!

Overall, the trip was pure hardcore compressed.. but no regrets! I enjoyed it a lot not just about the trail but the company as well! Excellent job done by the organizers.. Thank you OGKL for a memorable time.. Alhamdulillah, for a safe and successful climb executed despite the earlier doubts.. and its part of the catch phrase.. Orang Gila Kuala Lumpur...TERBAIK!!!!!

Ini yang kita cari..

ALhamdulillah.. i survived the Korbu-GAyong expedition which was a tough one considering the compressed nature of it.. Walking in stress for long hours is certainly something you do not imagine to do given the comfort and luxury of home..
but the agony and pain rewarded with such satisfaction of achievement.. how do one explain this insanity?
Korbu-Gayong 30/1-1/2 2010.. Thank you OGKL..