RRI - Rubber Research Institute - LGM Lembaga Getah Malaysia

Now there are eagles in the area 1 of 3 last Sunday

I have not posted anything for a long time. Actually, I haven't cycled for sometime as I was tied up with a rather problematic repair work at my house. Anyway, I managed to resume the cycling routine about 3 weeks ago with Khalili. RRI was the natural choice as it was close and offered decent off road cycling opportunities. So far about 9 rides in 3 weeks which is not too bad.

However on the last ride, Khalili and me were stopped by Uniformed Security Patrol on a 4x4 on our way out. The guard spoke to Khalili who was in front and the conversation went on on something like this.

Guard : Bang, Abang naik basikal sini Bang? (very obvious)

Khalili : Ya, naik basikal.

Guard : Abang masuk ikut Gate mana? Gate depan ka?

Khalili : Tak, tak masuk ikut Gate depan.

Guard : Abang masuk ikut jalan Segi College tu ka?

Khalili : Ya masuk ikut Segi College.

Guard : Sini tak boleh naik basikal Bang.

Khalili : Dah banyak kali kami kayuh sini. Dah minta izin dengan RRI. Ada surat kebenaran.

Guard : Sekarang dah tak boleh naik Bang.

Khalili : Sejak bila? Tak ada bagi tahu pun. Baru naik minggu sudah

Guard : Err, Sejak bulan Julai ni.

Khalili : 1 hb Julai ke?

Guard : Ya, sebab tempat ni bahaya, jadi kami kena buat rondaan 24 jam.

Khalili : Ronda 24 jam?

Guard : Ya, sebab di sini ada banyak kes bunuh. Jadi, kami kena ronda 24 jam.

Khalili: Dah bertahun saya kayuh di sini. Tak pernah dengar pun.

Guard : Sekarang dah tak boleh Bang, bahaya. Sekarang dah jadi kawasan larangan.

Khalili : OK Baiklah, terima kasih.

End of conversation and we cycled out very upset.

I am posting photos of RRI just for memory sake as it was and hopefully still will be the major site of our rides.

Also, we discovered a marvelous downhill ride in the Tropicana Trail, it really catches you by surprise. Directions as follows:-

After entrance from the Segi College side you will come to the 3 forks, left, right and center. Take the left fork and cross the bridge. Take the trail up not the right hand lake side fork. When you reach the fork at the end of the trail, right going up, left going down, take the left fork ( actually the right side is easier) it is a loop. About 700 meters along this trail, there is a trail to your right which looks very unused. Take this trail. After about 50 meters you will come to a fork, take the left one and enjoy. It will lead you out to the other side of the loop with a valley crossing. At the end of the trail, left will take you back into Tropicana, right will take you out.

Escape the guards and enjoy it.

Before the new tower

Nangka Wangi

Butterfly on handle

Chempedak teramat wangi

Fariq first ride 4 years ago

Fariq and Fahmi

Fallen rubber tree

Eddy's first ride

Fariq's 2nd ride

View on top of tower

Bicycles for Charity - Conclusion

Finally, almost 2 years after the initial idea by Raja Saadi. I delivered 4 bicycles to an Orphanage. The Asrama Damai in Kuang.

The whole project went through many obstacles, the last and most difficult was repairing the bicycles we could gather. I finally solved this problem by finding lesser damaged bicycles from BBS.

This was actually a big problem as the cost of repairing a bicycle is more than if you purchase a new one. More so if it is a geared bicycle. We actually have a stock of at least 8 more bicycles to repair. After the initial effort. Ezad and me almost gave up.

Anyway, on the 1st of Muharram , 7th December 2010. I took 4 repaired bicycles in my car, together with Fahmi and Fahim to the orphanage. Adzimah, Fariq and Afiqah had helped repair them but could not be brought along.

It was an experience for the heart as the boys of the orphanage surrounded the car. " Tu aku punya. Yang biru tu aku punya, kau ambik yang merah tu. Yang hitam tu aku nak."

I could only imagine what they felt. In fact because of the rush, I forgot to take photographs of event.

We will be doing this again. Hopefully soon. Eddy has some bicycles as well.

The Ning site has moved to chengkau.mixxt.fm

Finally the official chengkau site has moved to chengkau.mixxt.fm which is a German site.

Tried spruz, webs, flux and grou.ps but did not work well.

Anyway, it seems this site is better but still learning to use it. It is already operational with a lot of content. So far the others are happy. Just sign in to be a member.

Ning Site has not moved yet!!!Major Malfunction

Ning will phase off free sites at the end of the month. The Chengkau website has not moved. Last minute.. Last minute.. Last minute.

Options already set at Webs, Spruz but not sure.

MAJOR MALFUNCTION of my head

The Ning site has to move

The Ning website has to move or it will be shut down and probably all content lost. It is a headache as I am not sure where to move it yet. There are a lot of choices but I'm not sure which is the right one.

Some sites are better but you are not sure if the move will be ok. Some sites offer what they say to be a hassle free move but not sure of the functionality.

Anyway, the choices are grou.ps grouply, webs, flux, me.com, crowdvine, collectivex and wetpaint.

Now all that remains is to decide to to actually make the move

Self Made Jersey - Cycling team style

I made a jersey, cycling team style, well not exactly cycling team style, but almost. Since I am a die hard Renault fan, having owned several models over the years. I made one using the Renault and associated logos.

Very proud of the result I am, looks expensive but actually not.

Costs - Jersey RM 23
Transfer Paper RM 55 - 10 pieces Canon Transfer paper ( Easyink - RM 36 but Canon better quality) I used only 4 pieces.

Ink - already in the printer but maybe say RM 20 at the most,

Logos - Free from Internet

Electricity - 1/2 hour of ironing

Total cost roughly RM 70

But better than the ciplak jersey you pay RM 75 for, not really liking the logos.

Directions- print the logos on the paper.
Cut nicely round the edges of the print. Use steam iron, without steam, normal iron is not hot enough. Warm iron up at max tempreture for 5 minutes and press on the transfer. Follow instructions on the transfer packages.. So far I found that Canon has best instructions.

Anyway happy trying.

Sweat Story

Long ago, when the American sitcoms were the "in thing" (it was not so much propaganda) I remember watching one, growing pains, I think. But I can't remember correctly. Anyway it was about 4 girls who were staying together with the teacher at a private school.

In one of the episodes, the high society girl, Brittany (I think) came back from an aerobic session all wet and sweaty. Blair ( the girl from Bronx) said" You'd better go take a bath and change, you're all sweaty." Brittany replied glassily " I don't sweat, I glisten". Blair replied " Well, you are glistening like a pig."

Well, we all sweat and have the smell that follows. As a cyclist, I must admit, I have never sweated so much in my life. The smell of my sweat has stuck on my cycling clothes. So much so my wife has given up in trying to find new deodorizers.

Anyway, the following story is not about a sweaty cyclist but of an incident that happened to me on the Monorail. I think this story is quite a common occurrence, given the number of people who take the train. But for me, the uncommon thing was the attitude of the girl in this story.

I took the monorail one day from my office at Sultan Ismail to Maharajalela, where Eddy's office is situated. He had given me a lift to work in the morning and was supposed to pick me up after work. I decided to save him the trouble of the jam and decided to take the monorail to his office.

When I boarded the train at Sultan Ismail, it was relatively empty, a girl stood immediately in front of me, with headphones on, seemingly oblivious to everything around her. Nothing strange about that. The train went on and soon began filling up. At Bukit Bintang, it was quite full, I suddenly noticed a very strong smell of an undeodorized person wafting in the air. Air condition coaches keep the smells in. Looking round, I saw this big Indian guy, all sweaty, who had just come in. He came and stood behind me, hanging to the rails, adding his powerful fragrance into the train.

I was smiling at the thought, when suddenly, the girl, (who apparently just noticed the smell) turned around and glared at me. I smiled back at her. She looked very angrily at me. In my mind, I was thinking, "Here I am standing next to you for almost 10 minutes, and you don't notice me at all, and when the smell comes in you think it is me?"

As if an answer to my thoughts, the Indian man spun round, walked down and hung his hand, on the rail beside the girl, his armpit in her face. She had to turn away. I had to control myself from laughing out loud.