Run/Jog/Walk @ Bukit Kiara

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Here we are again at Kiara Hill … since we’ve been frequenting this place every week for the past year and a half, I figured it’s time I pay some form of homage to it by blogging about it here. I like the pictures I managed to get here … unfortunately, there’s one thing I missed out on: monkeys. For some reason, they were all in hiding yesterday so all of you who’ve never been to Kiara Hill (but plan to go one day) gotta take my word for it. There are lots of monkeys swinging from lamp post to lamp post, scampering across the road with tiny little babies clinging onto their underbelly, throwing old cans of Coke at you (just kidding). Okay okay, my point is here got a lot of monkeys. Let’s move on.

The thing with Kiara Hill is, there are always lots of people – these are the ones with clothes and no hairy backs (well, at least most of us) – and therefore, there are always lots of cars. We park way down the road and we walk 700 over steps on a slightly ascending slope to reach the entrance. Yup. That’s over half a km just to get to the entrance. And wait. That’s not the best part. There’s no proper path for you so you’re kinda squeezing your way through with all the cars coming up and down. It’s important that you try not to get killed on the way up okay?

You’re now at the hill’s entrance and you’ll see this sign. I had to snap of pic just because it cracked me up the first time I saw it. Translated to English, it reads:

YE WHO PARKETH ON THE YELLOW BOX ARE:
1. DISOBEYING TRAFFIC RULES,
2. INCONSIDERATE, AND
3. A SELF-CENTERED BUFFOON.

Hahahahaaa!!! That’s really funny. Usually, a parking sign is just a big P with a red line across it. I’ve never seen one written with so much … um, emotion. We were moved and promised never to park on the yellow box.

Once past the entrance, it’s uphill all the way. Not so bad la considering you’re sufficiently warmed up by now. And now, look at this – ‘heart’ Ali Buntut ‘heart’. I don’t get it and don’t understand why we can’t leave things alone. There’s just no civic-consciousness here in Malaysia.

Apart from the road graffiti, the rest of the road is pretty uneventful. I was disappointed to see that the Jalur Gemilangs which had been hanging on every lamp post last week had been taken down. Drat. I wanted to snap pics of them and you know, make fun of it. But it was not meant to be.

The first part of the route is about 1,200 steps, which equals 1km – I counted with my pedometer last year, so sue me. The road is spacious and there are lots of people, so it’s very safe. Unlike Gasing though, nobody wishes anybody ‘good morning’ here. I wonder why.

On the plus side, because it’s all uphill, it’s a great workout for your buns. And if you’ve got the stamina and can run all the way up, whoa, better still. Most of the folks take leisurely strolls though – in fact, I’ve actually seen some who are insane enough to go up wearing high heels, jeans and/or full-face makeup. Um, ladies, I think the mall (and/or massage parlour) is over there.

There are, however, always a few power strutters, and one or two real runners who look like they’re training for some sort of triathlon. These are the ones who zoom past you TWICE even before you’re able to finish one round. They have muscles where you don’t and wear really big watches that count mileage/calories/heart rate/number of slow coaches they’ve passed/etc. I’m always in awe of these people and hope to be just like them one day.

Once you complete the first part of the route, you’ll come to what we call the ’roundabout’ where the road splits three ways. Take 12 o’clock and you’ll end up coming out at 9 o’clock after a 2km undulating loop. Take 3 o’clock and you’ll end up at a dead end and have to run all the way back out. We usually take the 12 o’clock.
Oh yes, there’s also a friendly little message on the road which says, “THIS WAY TO BETTER HEALTH” … aww, gee thanks, road painters. I’m more motivated already. Now doesn’t this beat Ali Buntut anytime?

This second part of the route is a mix – there are stretches where it’s uphill and parts where it’s level. The best way to get the most out of this stretch is to run when you come to the uphills and walk when you’re on level ground. Of course, it goes without saying that the best BEST way would be to run all the way la, but I don’t feel like killing myself just yet. There’ve been several occasions when I’ve seen people sitting on the ground with their heads between their legs, panting away. Once, a man collapsed mid-way and his wife (or mistress or whatever) had to drive all the way into the hill to get him out.

The stretch can feel a bit long, especially if you’re doing it the first few times. And that’s why I always bring my ipod with me … it’s my saviour! Oh yes, another thing I have to mention is that there are no restrooms here, so if you’re unfortunate enough to have to … you know, go … your best bet is to dive into the jungle (see left of pic) and do it there. So try not to go okay? And if you’re like me and need to drink water throughout, run real fast so that you sweat it out. That way, you don’t need to … you know, go.

Here we are, at the end of the 2km loop, fooling around. You have to understand that I’m one of those people who laugh at people who take pictures at places like this. But for the sake of my blog, I became one of “those people”. Sigh. The things I do. I’m halfway to being certified a bona fide camwhore … I can’t tell you how proud this makes me.

This is my friend who wants to remain unidentifiable. That shirt is a dead giveaway la, Syl! Oops. I mean, Person Whose Name I Don’t Know. Anyways, from here, we make our way down the 1km route back to the entrance.

And here we are at the entrance … again, I’m disappointed, just like I was with the fact that there weren’t any monkeys today. See that little guardhouse on the right? Every week when I’m there, I sneak a peek into the filthy little hole and what do I see? ‘Guards’ snoozing away. I know because I can see three or four pairs of legs sticking out from under the desk. Yeah, I know. It’s gross. Sometimes there are half-eaten packets of nasi lemak left on the desk, a few flies hovering around them. Well. I feel really safe knowing that we’re all under the watchful eyes of these ‘guards’.

It is our custom to head over to Sri Devi’s for breakfast after our walk/jog/run/crawl. In all honesty, this weekly walk/jog/run is thinly veiled disguise to pig out at the mamak. Helloooo, we’ve already burned like 85 calories, it’s time to refuel!!! Wouldn’t want to lose too much weight, you know.

To end this post, I shall now insert a picture of our usual order. Every week it’s the same: three dosai garing, two teh ais and one limau ais (yes, I’m the aberration). I love the dosai here … one thing to note though, is that the dosai is always much better when you go earlier in the morning, say before 9am. After 9am, it’s not so great. I guess this is as good a reason as any to start getting up earlier to do our walk/jog/run huh?

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Tags: bukit, exercise, fitness, health, hill, jogging, kiara, running, TTDI, walking