Bukit Batu Tabur: World’s Longest Quartz Ridge

If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I’m a big chicken. That’s right. I’m chicken and I have qualms letting people know it either. For instance, I am scared of zombies, road bullies, expired milk, abdominal fat and varicose veins. I’m also scared of heights. Actually, I’m not scared of heights per se; I’m just scared of falling … from a really high place.

Despite my phobia though, I want to post an armchair perspective entry on Bukit Batu Tabur (also known as Klang Gates). I read about it here, saw the gorgeous pics and was fascinated. BBT is the longest quartz-rich ridge in the world measuring some 16km. People go there to climb or jog. I was sold!!

Then I find out that some friends of mine have already climbed BBT last year. Is it hard, I ask them. The response: “If you have a fear of heights, this is the perfect place to conquer it!” … omg. Then I see his pics of BBT. Then I read on someone’s blog about this girl going to BBT and falling and hurting herself and having to be carried out on a stretcher. Then I read that BBT isn’t for the chicken-hearted. Amah!

But don’t let me discourage you. If you want to visit BBT, by all means, go, take lots of pics and … send them to me so I can post them on my blog macam I went there myself. I may go one day to check out the jogging trail (if it really exists) but for now, I’m happy just having pics of people at the bukit.

So this, folks, is my tribute to BBT and here’s to being a big chicken [clink water bottles].

Located some 20km from the city centre (on the fringes of Ulu Kelang-Gombak), BBT is also known as the Dragon’s Backbone – a nickname given because its succession of ragged peaks, when seen from afar, resemble the curved, crackly spine of a mythical beast.

I don’t know about you but the prospect of clambering up that steep, imposing limestone wall doesn’t exactly fill me with a warm fuzzy feeling. Or maybe it isn’t really that scary. Maybe it’s just the camera angle. Everything looks extra scary when viewed from ground up, doesn’t it?

Check out the semi-opaque, almost white limestone you’ll be climbing on. This bit is only a small part of the ridge’s nine bulges and rugged cliffs which, according to the NST, “… offer a real challenge, even for regular mountain climbers. Definitely not for the unfit, non-adventurers or weak-hearted.”

I’m told there are about three or four rope climbs but there are plenty of sections of rope-less freestyle climbing too. In fact, there are parts where the incline is 90 degrees, so caution should be taken. All in all, it takes about two hours for you to finish the climb, end to end. A very short workout that’ll whip your buns into shape in no time!

Opinions on how scary the climb is varies from person to person … some claim it’s extremely tough, others say that while it can be pretty scary, it’s still manageable as long as you’re careful. But there’s one opinion that doesn’t vary much and that’s the view – you can see the water catchments area of the Klang Gates Dam and the city skyline and it’s great. Hmm. Maybe it’s time I tried to conquer my fear of falling from high places after all.

[All pics by Adrian Tee]

Doing The Rounds At Kiara Park

We’ve been going to Kiara Hill twice every weekend for over a year now and every once in a while, we pop over to the neighbouring Kiara Park. I personally like the Hill better cos it’s a tougher workout. The Park’s very pretty and all, but I don’t really fancy running around in circles … though, as you’ll see from the pics, it’s a pretty dang big circle.

Anyways, today, after finishing our Hill loop, we decide to venture into the biker’s trail that connects the Hill to the Park. The pic above is the entrance to the trail, from the Park’s end.

A young guy from the tau foo far van gave us a little tip: bring a whistle to signal to oncoming bikers that you’re in there so they can avoid crashing into you. Few minutes into the trail, I understand what he meant – the path is so narrow only one person can pass through, so it can be dangerous if an army of helmet-wearing, Spandex-clad bikers come charging through.

The biker’s trail is clear and very easy. I’d say no more than 1km in distance. My only beef is the giant mozzies. They’re the gross stubborn ones that won’t bugger off even when you jump around like a crazy person.

While we don’t encounter any bike nuts that day, there are quite a few runners. Apparently, there’s a Pacesetters event going on today (which explains the crazy parking situation earlier this morning).

Like I said, it’s a short trail. A few minutes in there and pop, you’re out at the other end.

And here we are back at the Hill again. This is the entrance into the trail from the Hill’s end. For some reason, there’s a sign that prohibits you from going in unless you’ve obtained permission for your … vehicle. What vehicle?

We then pop back into the trail and wade through the mozzie-infested air so that I could pay a proper pictorial tribute to the Park. In other words, so I could camwhore my way through the place. So here goes.

One of the things I like about Kiara Park is the stretching station. It’s not too shabbily maintained and it’s way better than at the Hill where you either stretch at the ’roundabout’ halfway up, or back at the bottom near the guardhouse with the monkeys looking at you all queer.

The entire park is built around a man-made lake. Beautifully manicured lawns, plenty of trees, water fountains …

… even a waterfall and a stream … Sigh. I wish I lived here … like in a house across the street la, not here as in the park itself. If I lived across the street, I’d come here every day! Ya ya, I know. You think yeah right, if you really lived here, you won’t la. Just like those people who buy condos with gyms and swimming pools. “I tell you, I’ll swim/work out every morning before work,” they say. And they never do. Well, maybe they do. One time. And they never do it again.

There’s even a section mid-loop where there are quite a few palm trees swaying in the hot, humid Malaysian air. Perfect setting for a Bollywood song and dance sequence. Hey, maybe SRK might want to come here instead.

But since SRK isn’t here (yet), Siew Fun feels compelled to do this: her personal rendition of Ribena Berry meets Kuch Kuch.

We’ve now gone past the halfway point on the lower loop and are now approaching the loo. I will always remember this spot because it’s where, once, I encountered a psycho dog that practically lunged out of the bushes as I was running past. I freaked out but I didn’t show it (dogs smell fear, you know). Instead, I picked up my pace and ran like a maniac. I had no idea I could be that fast. Fear is very motivating. I noticed several people running really fast alongside me too. I guess we were all scared of the doggie.

And this is the toilet (drumroll please!) …. For the longest time, this toilet has been closed. Every time we come, it’s locked … until today. It’s officially open for business!!! Pun totally intended. FYI, there are toilets near the stretching station too but I didn’t want to snap pics of that because they are gross. My advice: bring tissue paper and be prepared to hold your breath.

Okay, enough with the digression. Kiara Park is essentially made up of two loops: one circling the lake (which are all the pics you’ve seen so far) and a slightly tougher, more uphill one at the upper level. The easy loop is about 1km or so; the upper one about 1.5km. (Ya ya, I had a pedometer and I went a little nuts with it, so sue me).

There are several entrances into the upper tougher loop, one of which is the staircase pictured here. At any given time, there are people hanging around the stairs watching other people exercise.

If you do the lower loop before you attempt the tougher one, you’ll feel as if the latter never ends. The other difference is that your view – instead of a lake – will mostly be of monkeys. Don’t worry. They don’t bother you. Just don’t throw things at them. Or look them in the eyes. Or make fun of them.

I wish I had more time to take more pictures of the upper loop but it was quickly getting very hot and I felt like I’ve had enough of feeling like a cheese pita baking in the oven. Maybe I’ll do it the next time I come here but I’m warning you: it’ll be pictures of cement paths and monkeys and cement paths and more monkeys.

But all in all, I really do like Kiara Park. Whenever we’re here, we try to average 5 to 6 rounds (a mixture of lower and/or upper loops). I wish I could say that excludes warm-up but it doesn’t!!! On the plus side, we’ve done a mighty fine job of not succumbing to the temptations posed right outside the park entrance. There’s a guy selling ice-cream out there, you know. Ha. And they wonder why more and more people are becoming fat and obese and diabetic.

Bukit Gasing (Thru a Better Lens)

I always admire people who take better pictures than I do and I’m reminded once again how sad I am after I saw pics taken by a friend of mine of Bukit Gasing and I’m wondering how come my pics don’t look like that one?? Then I made two decisions: first, learn how to use my camera properly and two, post his pics on my blog.

The start of the trek. You climb up steps for quite a few minutes – a great workout for those glutes and gets you sufficiently warmed up.

The trail is quite narrow so when there’s oncoming traffic, you have to step aside to make way. I can understand why some people might find the place a little claustrophobic.

Ah, one of my favourite bits where the ground is crawling with sturdy tree roots that form a staircase of sorts.

There are bits where tree trunks have fallen so you have to go over or under.

And again, my least favourite bit: rickety old suspension bridge. See what I mean? Compare his shot with mine from a previous post in September. Mine doesn’t look half as scary!

And this is precisely why I hate the bridge: it’s narrow (which means you have to wait until the person coming in the opposite direction is finished before you can get on) and you can see right through the ropes (!!!). It’s not that high la but still!!!

I took one pic of this same spot but mine doesn’t display the drama of the place the way this pic above does. Looks grand huh?

Sigh. Makes me wanna strap on my shoes and go climbing again.

[All pictures by Adrian Tee]

Run/Jog/Walk @ Bukit Kiara

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?

Bukit Gasing Memories

I’m reminiscing here and directing this specifically to a few of you out there (you know who you are!!) … remember how we used to get up really early every weekend to go trekking at Gasing Hill? How we’d drive through the itty bitty narrow lane right into the housing area and park our car dangerously near the longkang so that passing cars won’t crash into us? How we’d have to avoid a few dogs and slap a few mozzies on the way into the hill? How we’d say a cheery ‘good morning’ to everyone we met? And how there was this one guy who was really hot? And how he would … okay, okay, I digress.

My point is, we used to go to Gasing a lot and after a while, we abandoned it for more concrete pastures. I miss Gasing. Therefore, I want to pay tribute to it in pictures. These shots don’t give you a complete picture of the trail we usually take, just random snapshots.

Along a chain link fence, there’s a path made up of concrete slabs which will bring you deeper into the bukit.

After a rather long stretch of jungle trek, you’ll come to a suspension bridge. This is personally my least favourite part of the trail. I don’t like sway-able suspension bridges mainly cos I don’t have lots of confidence in our standards of maintenance, if you know what I mean. Skali the thing give way then how!!

Another part of the trail is a rather deep ravine – I hear this is called the Abu Bakar Slope. I remember the first time I trekked at Gasing and the first time I saw the ravine. I thought, holy crap, this doesn’t look fun!! But it gets easier after a while, so it really isn’t as scary as it looks. The good thing is, there is a rope at the steeper parts and there are steps (kinda sorta) along the way.

And we’re back up and out of the ravine. Once out, you can breathe a sigh of relief because from then on, it’s back to a stretch of jungle trek – a rather long one though. It feels like you’re trekking and trekking and trekking and there’s no end in sight. Luckily, the trail is level so it isn’t so hard and you get to meet cute little doggies along the way (even though the sign at the entrance forbids pets … and fruits and a whole bunch of other things).
And we’re nearly out. I’m not entirely sure which trail we usually take. Apparently, there are quite a few trails available: Tower Loop la, River Trek la, Chain Link Fencing la, Long March la, Abu Bakar la, etc etc etc. I have a feeling we’ve probably been doing most (if not all) of them! Not sure though; all I know is we spend about an hour in the bukit and at a comfortably quick pace too.

And to think they wanted to tear down the KL side of Bukit Gasing to make way for development!!! It’s one of the last few (and I mean FEW) remaining green lungs in Klang Valley! Guess they won’t be content until every living tree and every tiny patch of greenery is razed to the ground. Hmm. Maybe I should get back to the bukit and do a complete trail pictorial before that happens.

Death By Hiking @ Bukit Chenuang

Here we are at the entrance to Bukit Chenuang aka Nightmarish Death Mountain aka Place I Swore I Would Never Hike Up Again. The entrance is pleasant and innocent-looking enough … thus I am blissfully lulled into a false sense of peace and security… the trees are nice and tall … the path up to the restrooms is nicely laid out and despite the toilets’ numerous flaws (flush doesn’t work, giant bugs scampering in sink), we are happy that we came …

… I stroll down the nicely tarred road, big grin on my face. “This is easy!” I think to myself. “Ah, like a walk in the park…” Little did I know what lay in store for all of us …

… Our guide Encik Roslan (whom shall henceforth be known as Heartless, Parang-Wielding Man or HPWM), leads the unsuspecting bunch of us – nine in all – into The Jungle …

… The Jungle is dense and wet and slippery and rocky and crawling with slimy blood-sucking leeches …

We take a short break after having hiked up a treacherous stream so that HPWM can take a smoke and leeches can have more opportunities to latch onto our butts for fresh blood …

… We smile for the camera. This is before HPWM tells us that we’ve only hiked for 45 minutes so far and there’s a LONG way more to go to the top of the hill and that there’s no shortcut and it’s about to get a lot tougher. We stop smiling …

After the stream is when it starts to get really steep and slippery (thanks to the mud and rain). Worse still, there’s nothing to grab onto, so climbing up is unnerving. We ask HPWM if we can go home now. He calls us ‘anak manja’ and tells us to move our butts … … Icy cold water slushing around in my shoes, my hands full of scratches, my knobby knees bruised, my backpack rubbing roughly against my back, I begin to wonder if I’m as tough as I think I am …

… I have a sudden urge to call my mother and tell her I’m sorry for not washing the coffee mug last week. I may never see her (or anyone else for that matter) again … Right at that moment, HPWM tells us there are harimaus, beruangs and babi hutans in this jungle. I wonder to myself, “WHAT THE F$#%@^#F%@#!FFF@!!! AM I DOING HERE THEN???!!!!”

… HPWM hacks his way through the wild mass of bamboo while we crawl our way through. Someone threatens to kick the butt of our trip organiser for tricking us into this …

Holy crap!! #%@$#%@#!!! Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? … And then, hallelujah!!! We reach the peak!!!!!!!!!! And it only took us 3 bloody freaking hours. It is noon and we’re all still alive. Nobody gets eaten by harimau, beruang or attacked by babi hutan.

No matter that the view sucks la. We quickly take this picture and wonder how the hell we’re going to get back down. We’re at an elevation of 2,720ft- one of the guys’ phones told us so.

This is the last time I smile. We make our descent soon after and I take no more pictures for the next 3 hours as we struggle to get out of the jungle. I fall down tons of times and I swear my butt’s paralysed … it is – in a word – HORRIBLE.

It’s 3pm and we’re finally out!!!!!! The feeling is indescribable – sort of like we’ve died and gone to heaven. I fight the urge to kiss the tar road and call my boyfriend, ex-boyfriends, mother, grandmother, auntie, uncle, cousin’s auntie’s friend’s sister … there are mud stains caked on my butt and my leech-proof socks and hiking shoes are soaked and filthy but who cares?? We’re out!!!

I had no leech bites on my legs or feet (thanks to my trusty RM12 leech-proof socks and a bucketload of cap kapak, tiger balm and vicks) but five little buggers managed to get into my shirt and onto my back! It looked pretty cool actually. What wasn’t cool was how eight of my ten toenails swelled up, turned purple and fell off. It’s been 10 months and I still can’t do a pedi. And THAT, my friends, is true torture.