Fish Tank? Haiyo

I cant sleep tonight...don't know why. Maybe its because I had slept in front of the TV while watching CSI. Maybe also coz they haven't bank in my pay even though its pay day. How to honour the numerous standing instructions for all my bills? Thus a round of juggling act, defeating the purpose of subscribing to the convenience of standing instructions in the first place...to no fault of mine. If this goes on, maybe I need to....well, we'll see.

The topic this time is on environment. Everyone is talking about it, in the papers, on talk shows, on radios (Ean from Hits morning crew diving with sand tiger sharks in Aquaria) etc etc. I came across this poster last week when I was over at this particular shopping mall across the road from my office.

A Recce Trip

I dont know why, but after my 4WD outing, I felt so recharged, so energetic...like when I was young again...well, not to say that I am old now...maybe the correct word is younger..."like when I was YOUNGER". Hmmm that's more like it. I felt fantastic, terrific. Maybe I had found my fountain of youth perhaps? Is that true? Read on to find out the answer....

The night after my 4WD outing, I had drinks with my close JPAM buddies. Everyone had their own specialisation, me (water & medical), Awal (rope & SAR), Azzat (SAR), Tuan SK (hmmm..mengarah kot haha). We were discussing about our upcoming Rope Rescue Technician course, the training scenarios mostly. Then I suggested we make a one day recce trip the next day. So the next day, there were 6 of us in the JPAM vehicle, happily on our way to the training location.

I had everything with me, my camelbak, my Petzl helmet, my Petzl harness, my walkie talkie, my DSLR, my GPS, my cool shades...everything except...sweets or some energy replenishing stuff. I only realised this half way up, when things got a bit hazy...haha. At first I thought..hey why this jungle getting dimmer and dimmer?. Then I realised my body was giving me some warning signs. Azzat was saying "sikit lagi bang, balik selekoh tu je". When I got there, he said "Hmmm alamak salah selekoh la bang. Depan sikit lagi". Grrrrr I had the inclination to send this dude down a ravine somewhere...but then...I think he meant well...at least that's what I like to think.

Halfway up, the forward team (2 ppl) contacted by walkie talkie, " letupan satu". So Azzat lit a firecracker (a louder version of a normal firecracker) threw it and ... boom. I thought it was for the wild boars, only later back in KL, they told me "bau hamis tersangat kuat", which normally indicate the smell of a tiger. By the intensity of the smell, it was very, very near. Hmmm no wonder I felt like I was being watched since I was the last man but lucky for me, our 'esprit de corp' are strong, so the others compensated on my 'condition' and slowed down.

When we reached the waterfall, and after a short rest, the rope specialist guys started climbing and exploring the waterfall, which was to be one of the location for training scenarios. As for me...well I was the person in charge of safety, so I just stay at the bottom and catch anyone that falls...while having coffee & maggi...hehe. At 5pm it began to rain and we headed back down.

On the way back to civilisation, I received a phone call from CaTz. The slew of questions came almost non-stop. Reason? She couldn't get me on the line nor on the "Friend Finder". Aha...she knew where I was going but in her panic state, she overlooked the fact that there might be no coverage there. Duh! But I guess that shows how much she adores me, worrying her pretty head for no reason...hehe. I was tired, wet and hungry, and wasn't in the mood to argue. So I asked her "Have you had your dinner babe? Wanna have dinner with me?". That stopped her coz she didn't expected that one coming from me. Haha.

Today, I woke up a different person. As I had difficulty walking coz of my 'over-used' thigh muscles, I realised that the 'super' feeling were gone. After a few months of inactivity due to my medical condition, my muscles weren't as toned as they used to be. So I guess, that fountain of youth thing was just a myth.

Now where did I put that 'minyak tomoi' of mine......

4WD Testing

On Sunday, me and a few friends went off on a short 4WD trip. The main reason was to test our vehicles before the real trip next weekend. Well...not really a 'real' 4WD trip, but we are attending a Rope Rescue Technician course as part of the technical crew. The course is conducted in the jungle, with steep cliff or waterfall as our training ground. Of course, we also need to find a reason to thrash out our 4WD, and since there is no 4WD track to the training ground, we plan to open up a new one next week. Will keep you posted on that...

The journey

Anyway, on with the story....

Sham aka Botak called me up on Saturday midnight. "Bang jom esok test jalopi. Kerengga (another friend) dah ada sana". So Sunday morning, we met up at Petronas Batu Caves. There was another car, my friend Awal EMT & family. I had Aizat, my trainee co-pilot driving my jalopy. We were the only 2 'non family bearing' people in the group. Too bad I had sent my kids back earlier or else they would have enjoyed it.

The BBQ

The campsite was on 'private' property, so when we got there there were just the 3 jalopies. It was lucky that Botak & Awal brought their wives, which simply means.....MORE FOOD. There were Nasi Lemak, Bi Hoon Goreng, sandwiches, cold/hot water...and of course...BBQ with chicken, squid, prawns.

The next best thing was...mandi jeram. This was the highlight of the trip. Cool refreshing water...I found 'my' perfect spot. The water was so clear, I can open my eyes and the sensation was better than 'Eye Mo'. I can also feel fish nibbling at my feet...of course i looked underwater to make sure it IS fish and not something else...haha. In the evening, another 6 jalopies came.

The Ibu Mithali

I was amazed at my friend Botak & his wife. They have a baby with them on the trip. Lucky for us off roaders, our jalopy is like our second home. We have inverters in our vehicles, that can convert the batteries to amperes, thus allowing us to use any electrical device. As in Botak's case, his baby's electrical 'buaian' and stand fan. Aaahhh the comfort of home right in the jungle. Ibu Mithali award maybe?

The Jalopies

On the way back, 2 things happened to me.

One, I was so busy chatting with Awal that I went through the 'deep' end of the mud trail. My jalopy was stuck in about 3 feet of mud. Awal volunteered to go to the back and get my strap while waiting for Kerengga to position his jalopy to pull us out. He was using the side step to avoid going into the mud. Suddenly, no more Awal. The poor guy slipped and feel smack into the mud.

Two, after that I was also busy chatting. Coming down a mud slope, I didn't notice a fallen tree branch. My left tyre was stuck behind it and followed the curve of the branch. Coming down a steep slope sideways is not a good thing. My jalopy was already tilted so much that the back left tire was barely touching the ground. I thought to myself, "habis la lepas ni kena repair bumbung lak". In the end, everything was ok.

The Orang Asli Village

Throughout both incidents, the camera was with me, so unfortunately no pictures. The moral of the story is....

"Concentrate on your driving even though you have gone through that route a few times. Never underestimate the ever evolving jungle, coz the path you took this morning is different from the one you are taking in the evening."

The second moral of the story....

"Make sure you are not the only one with a camera LOL"

What this trip made me realised how much I love the outdoors and how much I had missed it. I came back refreshed...as if half of my worries went flowing down that river. One thing is for sure....like what Arnold said..."I'll be back".

What's that I smell in the air?

I used to drive to Kuantan during a job assignment every week for 1.5 months and I always drive at night. When I get to this particular stretch, I always get the eerie feeling because of limited visual, like in one of those horror movies where there's always white haze appearing prior to the ghost's grand entrance...haha.

At first I thought it was because of the haze. There was even a sign "Jalan Berkabus Di Hadapan". Then one day, my car air conditioner went kaput on me, so I had to drive with my window down. When I came to that stretch, ewwwww....the smell of smoke and smog. That got me curious, and since I am a trained Quality Lead Auditor, I began my investigation.

What I found out was, its actually smoke emitted by a factory hidden somewhere amongst the palm oil plantation. Some would say the smoke is a by product of palm oil processing. Even if that is true, there must be a rule written somewhere limiting the amount of smoke that you can release to the air.

Thus, as fate would have it, I had a 'Kementerian Teknologi dan Alam Sekitar' senior officer as a diving student. So on the drive to Pulau Redang, I presented my case. Its unhygienic, bad for the 'penduduk setempat' and with the haze limiting visual on the highway, it also affects road safety. As with the case of the sharks, this case is being investigated. Finally, some action.

Location: the new East Coast Highway (Lebuhraya Pantai Timur) KL-Kuantan
From KL, its on the right side of the highway

Senseless Killing

I cant believe it...I mean I knew about it quite sometime back. Back then, some of the divers who witnessed this butchery actually made some 'noise'. It came out in the papers, with them promising to do some investigative reporting and come out with the answers from the relevant authorities. But at the end of the day, it all died in silence...as dead as the sharks themselves.

What am I rambling on here, you may ask? At a 'M' island, neighboring to Sipadan island and a few other exotic places, dead sharks, killed or rather butchered by the dozens elsewhere, were processed. The following is an extract from an eyewitness email to me...

" I obviously don't know the name of this place..only that it is in M**** island and it is just at the opposite of Big John home stay. Apparently, they brought in these sharks a few times a week.. sometimes 20 - 40 at a time....

Anyway, they say it was from the international waters but have a look at their boats...secara logiknya, bot kecik macam tu mana la for deepsea fishing kan? "

How can this be? The M* island is one of the popular place for divers to stay, who come from all over the world to make a pilgrimage to Sipadan (no resort on Sipadan), a world heritage site. After years of battling for Sipadan at the international level, and finally winning the case, we just had to display these scenes to our international visitors?

I cant think of a reason for these senseless killings. No matter where they caught them, we must stop these killings if we were to preserve marine life for our sons & daughters. Some would argue that its the local indigenous people's way of getting an income. Maybe true...but the relevant agencies must educate them, or get them involved in a fish rearing project. They could even get them more involved in the local tourism industry, as done elsewhere in the world.

The other question that comes to my mind is the levy that every diver has to pay when diving off Sipadan. Why hasn't that translated into better things for the visitors? Nothing fancy...just repair the jetty and the toilets, or maybe some huts when divers rest while doing their surface intervals. I had once seen a Mat Salleh who's leg got caught when the jetty's plank flooring gave way. Lastly...I leave you with a photographic evidence why I think its nauseating.