3 more months

Its the end of the month, end of October.. mid term for my current fellowship. Subhanallah, how time flies and in three months time I will be going home. I can't believe it myself that my tenureship will be over soon. I must say that if I was not offered the fellowship, I would have gone back end of August. However, I was in denial at that time and I may not have the closure as how i wanted it to be.
Now, in a way i am ready to go back. I have done all that i could; perhaps maximize my opportunities here from last September to perhaps this coming January.

I am thankful to Allah for the opportunity given as Alhamdulillah, despite me being away from the family; they are in good hands and somehow everything is going on well. I do miss my little ones and perhaps missed this 1.5 year bit of their lives. I know i should be by them at this critical period, guiding them to their own path. Perhaps god is fair, as without his grace, would not have given me this opportunity to reflect on myself, my career and my future endevours. The timing was just right and I am as you can see ( how i keep repeating it!) thankful.. bersyukur.
In terms of my career, I have certainly varied my professional development. It has not just been about cardiac anaesthesia and the set up, but anaesthesia all over again. The system of how a hospital work and the opportunity to train the Medical Emergency Team of the hospital. I've certainly improved my public speaking and perhaps incorporated a bit of Aussie feel of my English.. haha I am currently training with one of the mainstream regional anaesthetist hailed from the states.. what more can i ask?
In terms of my personal development, I am in the best Cardiovascular fitness of my lifetime. Lost and maintained my weight at its optimum; with my new hobbies on two wheels! Did my PB in my runs as well as an active advocator of bushwalking amongst Malaysians here.
I leave Perth with a heavy heart as my experience here has taught me a lot about life. 18 months is just nice for me to get over it and i guess its just rezeki. Rezeki datang dari Allah and I am sure what i will be facing back home will be a challenge and more adventures to come :)

Its my birthday again

Alhamdulillah.. Looking at the calendar, and it is the date i cherish most in my life. The day I was born. Wow.. My gratitude to the almighty for giving me the air to breathe; and for his grace to allow me to share his creations which is simply wonderful and fantastic.
There has been up and down, low and high in my life; which when i was younger i would never have thought I would be doing what i am doing now. I am thankful for the family and offsprings that he has given me. My syukur as we can only be thankful for everything that has been given to us.
Sometimes we tend to take things for granted; feeling what we have maybe inadequate and not realizing how lucky we are as compared to others.
I pray that Allah will keep me feeling thankful for his grace. cherishing every moment with no regrets. Its easy to stray away as those who is not satisfied with what one has. May I be protected to have such feeling as all i want is to feel happy with myself :)

Kalamunda MTB circuit.. virgin ride:)

It was a hot Sunday.. and we had decided earlier on an MTB trail as my bike has arrived. Syafiq bought his 2 weeks ago and was itchy to get it into a proper trail. Initially we planned for a simple trail for beginners but early this morning, he texted me and asked if we could go for a better track.. I googled and found the Kalamunda trail which is highly recommended for a full MTB experience.

 MTB has never really been my forte as it required more effort to do it. Not just the preparation, the ongoing and when yo return. It can be really messy and tedious to clean the bike after the ride. I bought a proton 4 years ago but never really had the time to use it as how it should be used.
Syafiq really influenced me to get one of this when he bought his; and after a year of doing road bike i thought it'll be good for a change.I've always wanted to venture with a bike into the woods and WA is the place to do it. Its good that Syafiq has contacts with vehicles as again, for a proper mountain biking you need to travel afar for a proper trail.

 The Kalamunda circuit is situated in Perth Hill, and around the circuit; a whole lot of MTB trails are available for use. They have keen MTB clubs here that would preserve their trails, ensuring that it is safe and at the same time protecting the environment. Initially i thought of doing the John Forrest trail which was relatively flat & easy; but a sudden change of plan brought us here. I must say it was worth it.. all the way!

 Again being my first ride, it was not really wise in retrospective to have my cleats on. Perhaps if the track was less technical i could have breezed easily but with the technical part of this track, i had my fair share of terbabasness.. hahaha Bruises and bangs tak payah cakap la.. It was not easy to handle MTB in such terrains in balancing between speed and avoidance of injury. I had fun trying to negotiate the single track bands and rocks, as well as the proper jumps as required! hahahaIt was memorable and i really enjoyed the character of this track!They had signature names for specific parts of the trail and i reckon I'd do a proper review the next time I am on this circuit again..

 Of course, something had to happen. Zamir, Syafiq's friend made a meal out of a shortcut that we gave to him.. We ended up doing an SnR ( Search and Rescue) to get him back! hahaha.. memang jauh gile where he went and we were damn exhausted & pancit.. hahaha

It was a good day out and now i do really understand how MTB can satisfy one's needs:) It was not eaqsy as the requirement for handling is totally different from a road bike.. the amount of concentration and playing with the gears is essential for a safe and controlled ride. Now i understand why i have quite a few of my patients coming to me after an MTB crash :)

Dah nombor 3 la pulak..

Introducing Mizz Tesch.. my latest collection of push bikes. MTB la pulak.. haha As usual, it was through eBay and it was sent to my Department. Gile besar consignment! Luckily Azad was around so he helped me to get it on the Yellow CAT bus straight to my apartment.

                                             Cool bos though.. certainly reusable :)

Haha.. Well, can't wait for this weekend's trip for my first MTB experience in Perth!

Azad's visit to Perth.. Eco-tourism style!

Azad came about for a week; only him alone as he was finishing his leave.It was nice to be reunited again, and both of us doing activities that we enjoy. I certainly made him work out this week! hahaha Well, i was sharing with him the Perth that i know and i dear most; perhaps the Perth that i will miss when i leave.

                                               Perth City

                                             Cycling in Kings Park

                                           Jacob's ladder last few steps.. hehe itu je la pun..

                                              Ride to City Beach

                                                         Belasah AUS8 eat all u can

                                                      Along Swan River ride..

                                          Rottness Island ride till West End

                                          West End memang cantik

                                          Panoramic

                                         A dip alang-alang dah sampai Island

                                             Bushwalk in Thomson's Lake

                                                      Wet day though.. 9km trail

                                           Basah tak basah

                                            Radio Melayu interview

Glad that you enjoyed your week! It was certainly really physical but thats how i get you endorphin high :)

Fremantle 21K run

 October has been a really busy month for me, work goes on as usual but the amount of other things that i do peaked every weekend. I wanted to join this run earlier but initially it overlapped with the Duathlon. Obviously Duathlon was my choice and somehow last week as I was going through the website, eehh.. they have changed the date! I booked my entry along with Azad as well who happened to be visiting me last week.

 We were off from my place as early as 630am. The starting point was South Beach Fremantle. It was a club affiar but the participation was healthy.. it may not be as glamorous as HBF run or City to Surf, but the normal enthusiast were up and early in the morning. There were 2 categories, the 5km and 21km. The wind was really strong that morning, there was a bit of drizzle but according to the weather report I was not too worried. But the wind was certainly blowing hard.. and cold!

 Azad was the first to go at 730am and the 21k category was let off at 740am. The pace was certainly fast as I tried very hard not to fall into the trap of trying too hard too fast. We were on for two loops , the track brought us up to Coogie Beach and a way back ; looping at the starting line.

 I had a comfortable start; pacing myself to my time. The wind was definitely a hazard as there were few times i did drift sideways haha but the scenery was magnifique; running along the sea. The crowd was very sporting and supportive as well, all looked really serious but at the same time having lots of fun themselves. The water station was enough.. I had no complaints as the volunteer continue to cheer us up. The track was relatively flat as there were not really any elevations.

 I thought i ran well until i reached the half way point; looking at the official timewatch saying 63 minutes.. hhmm.. there goes my sub-2 aim. Well, it did not deter me though as i continued my pace as perhaps maybe more comfortable than ever. The music with my phones are excellent; as how it helped me during my previous 42k event.

 I knew i was doing well in the last few kms as I was passing a number of runners. It felt good and i just thought lets just do it. According to my watch, i may just perhaps pip in the time that i want. Anytime that i do that day would definitely be my PB ever, lets see how fast i can go.
To my surprise as i was reaching the final stretch, the official time showed I am well under 2 minutes! Subhanallah! Apa laga.. i raced to the finishing line and Alhamdulillah.. my PB best ever 21k! timed sub-2.. at 1:51:46 .. waaaa.. that felt euphoric! My training for the past 1 year had produced me 2 PBS in my 2 events. On top of it.. I feel super fit at the moment!

 Thanx Azad for the wonderful photos and it was an enjoyable run with my PB as the reward! Dunno whether there are events for me to join in this coming weeks especially before February when I'm going back home for good :)

P/S Orang lain sume nak buat PB kan, my aim in this running events is one day to be running as a mascot or some sort of costume.. haha

Eagle View Walk Trail, John Forrest National Park

 After the initial slump of homesickness earlier in September, I had the urge to go outdoors. It was a last minute plan but somehow I had 8 people in the group to do this trek which is one of the recommended toptrails of WA.I even got Kathrin, an elective medical student in our Department to join us! The initial plan ofusing the public transport plan became a car pool trip for the 8 of us.I;ve been on the railway heritage trail before which is on the opposite site of this trek and i thought why not complete my list for the toptrail WA and become their ambassador later in the future.. haha
22 Spetember 2012, This day trip was in fact the reunion trek for the Stirling Range quads! Anissa, Farida, Syafiq and me!

 This trail is 15km long and the estimated time was about 4-5 hours to complete the loop. I am not sure how the group will do but they've been with me in other bushwalks i organized so they sort of know how i will push them when needed too :) The trek began with a short trail to the National Park Waterfalls. Aaah.. it was indeed a beautiful spring day and i guess everybody was amazed by the landscape that was offered.

 The cool thing about this trek was the amount of flora which is abundant. Wild flowers were certainly blooming all around and it made the walk not too tiring as we were mystiqued by the beauty of god's creation. I then understood why this walk is a toptrail recommended because memang puas hati! Everywhere you look somehow there will be a variety of colourful wildflowers that really made it nice and beautiful.

                                                Cantik tak cantik

                                                  lunch break 2/3 of the way

 We ended the trail at the Hovea Falls and Masya Allah, it was just so nice to be there at this time of the year! It was still the wet season so the falls were at its maximum water splurge. Of course me & Syafiq did our ceremonial dip eventhough it was damn cold water hahaha memang kena buat la.."Why Not?"

In the end we did enjoy the trek, the trail was an established one so we did not really require any GPS navigation. Going through the different ranges of the bush was amazing and perhaps it would have been more enjoyable if i had one of the experienced Ozzie bushwalkers to tell us which flowers and vegetations that we passed during this walk.

HIDUP BUSHWALKER MELAYU! hahaha