A day climbing Fraser's Hill

Well, it's been a long while. About four months or so? In between that time period, there was a million and one things that happened and the best part out of all of it is, I am now a Swinburne Graduate. Yup, you heard me right. I have recently just graduated from my degree program. It was a tough final semester plunging into the unknown working on some projects that was at times smooth sailing, then downhills and crashes and then smooth sailing again. It was a great experience to be in Swinburne though.

Now, back to the title. Yes, Fraser's Hill. A holiday resort well known to most Malaysians as well as tourists from other countries. This hill received it's name from a man who after discovering tin ore deposits on the hill, turned the spot into a mining spot and just as the tin ore deposits were about to disappear, he too vanished.

That was only a small part of Fraser's history, and how the hill got it's name, locally known as Bukit Fraser's (which means Fraser's Hill). Over the years, Fraser's Hill has turned into a holiday retreat, well known for it's cooling climate and rich nature surrounding the hill.

Back to me, from my last post, after receiving my Allez, which I came to nickname Speccy (pronounced Spes-sy), I have within this four months clocked in a total 1800km on the bike before my return to Kajang after graduation. A friend of mine who lives just a few cities away recently got his own bike. A Scott Speedster with Shimano Ultegra groupset.

We both discussed about the chances of cycling up to Genting Highlands just for the challenge but after asking around, it seemed it wouldn't be possible due to law enforcement. We changed our plans to tackle Fraser's Hill instead. I took a train from my town station that went straight to his town, Batu Caves. I guess it wasn't a normal sight for the people to see a cyclist carrying his bike on to a train, where as it seems normal overseas.

I was lucky I was on the last coach, therefore, plenty of space. Though, this didn't stop the stares from others as the coach began to fill up. The shot above was just during the time the coach was empty, after the shot was taken I moved the bike aside and leaned it against the coach walls. Upon arrival at Batu Caves, my friend rode his shiny new bike out to meet me.

Then we headed back to his place to unpack and rest. The next day, we tackled Fraser's Hill. We drove to a town at the foothills of Fraser's, Kuala Kubu Baru (KKB) and from there made our way up to Fraser's. We did some researched on the track leading up to Fraser's on the internet, and it was a relaxing 34km climb up to Fraser's and another 8km which is the steepest, and toughest climb for the whole route. There was a few beautiful views along the road but upon reaching the starting point of the incline, we were surrounded by trees and nature's splendor appeared before our eyes.

The KKB Water Dam

Blue skies and good weather

The heat was bearable as it was breezy

After a long climb, we finally arrived at the entrance. The entrance to the 8km of steep curving climb.

If you look to the bottom left, you'll spot a tiny little bike.

This arch welcomes you to the 8km of sufferfest. The estimated gradient on Strava, a cycling and running GPS app on my phone that I regularly use, recorded a 10% steepness. For those who are unprepared, be prepared to walk up with the bike.

The view at the top was calming and it was quiet due to it being a weekday.

I took a short rest and waited for my cycling partner to arrive, then we both had lunch at the top and made our way back down. The road down was very steep, with a lot of corners and loose stones and sand. It is best to take extreme care while going downhill and to have your hands at the ready on your brakes as me and my cycling partner learnt.

I was halfway down Fraser's when I received a call from him telling me that he crashed on the way downhill, into a drain. I was thankful he did not went off a cliff instead. He was also very very lucky to have a thick bush cushioning him beside the road. The best part of all was that, despite the crash, all he suffered was scratches to his face, right arm and legs, and the most serious injury was a cut on his inner lower lip that required stitching.

It was a long day for the both of us and we made it home safely.This goes out to everyone who tries this challenge, be extra careful when going downhill. Always check your brakes and corner in a safe manner. We are not racing, there is no need to risk your life for the extra few minutes.

Till next time

Vincent 

Way before we started the ride. Little did we know, what would happen.

I Am Specialized

It's been quite a long while since my last post, bidding adieu to my old friend. This post is long belated, regarding my new ride. Yes, a new bike.

It took some time saving up the money, sourcing the parts and getting them all together. In the end it was all worth it though. A full black anodized frame deck out with red and whites to bring in some color. I present to you, the Specialized Allez, or Speccy as I call it adoringly.

It's the 2015 Specialized Allez E5 Smartweld frameset, with Shimano 105 11 speed (5800) and American Classic 420 Aero 3 wheelset. The whole build came up to about 8kg. I've been on a few rides with it already so far, and I can say it's a very very nice ride.

It's light, it's responsive, and it's good looking. What else can I ask for?

Shifting is close to effortless, as smooth as you can get for the 105.

All in all, I can say that this is a very amazing machine. Can't wait to ride further and faster.

Adieu to an old friend

11th August 2015

That was the day I made the decision to let you go. Just two days before, I was reunited with you after being away for 21 days. You were  a part of the greatest adventure of my life and for that I am grateful. I bid you farewell, and hope that you will be treated well wherever you may go.

Adieu~

Thus, with that out of the way, I guess I should explain what it all means. 

I have recently just sold off my Raleigh. Yes, the road bike. It was barely two days of me returning to Kuching and being reunited with it that I made up my mind. That two days of maintenance and patching up the lovely bike to a presentable condition was tough, knowing that I'd be letting it go soon.

I guess, I'll always remember the journey we've had together. The places you've brought me and the speed you showed me. The thrill of the ride, so to speak off.

These here are the just the few of the many many adventures we've had. Adventures that I will always remember you by. The one bike that got me into road biking.

Thank you, Raleigh. (Thank you Raleigh Raleigh much) :'D Pun

Half.A.Year

It's already June. That was awfully fast. My last post was last December. That just shows how much I care about my blog. Guess this might be a long post, or maybe not.

So far, what's new? I started my third year in university, which literally means, final year. First semester. It was hectic. It was tough. Most of it was also mainly caused by my poor time management (no surprises there). I've also started going a little serious into cycling. Nothing intense yet though. Just a few long rides here and there, a race once in awhile, and just cycling. Got myself a new bike. A road bike to be exact. 

My road bike(left) compared to my hybrid(right)

I'm pretty happy with it. Been riding it for six months, I can say I'm getting very familiar with handling a road bike. A lot of people say that, an expensive bike is the best and fastest. I would say, yes, an expensive bike with great features is in fact better, but it all also comes down to the rider. Although a lot of people argue that a carbon fiber bike is lighter and thus faster, there's nothing that says an alloy/steel bike can't be just as fast. In my view, the bike is only about 25-30% of the overall factor that makes a cyclist. 55-65% is the cyclist him/herself. So while most of my peers are talking about their shiny new bikes, and carbon fiber frames, I'm content with what I have and how my performance is without a doubt, on par with them.

Every weekend (Sunday), we will have long rides. So far, I have been to Damai Beach, Kampung Serikin(near the Indonesian border), Samarahan, Bako, and Muara Tebas. It was great riding out far, proving the quote "Have bike will travel". In fact, the second photo above, was taken at Tasik Biru, which translates to Blue Lake, because of the blue waters. Taken while we were heading back from Kampung Serikin.

I've made a lot of great friends in the Cycling Club here in Swinburne Sarawak. We ride, we laugh together. They're the best company during the long rides.

See these people I ride with. These crazy bunch of people I ride with

Riding with them = Best weekend spent. I seem to have fallen in love with cycling a lot. So much that I can literally say that "Cycling is love, cycling is life". To some extent, that sometimes when people ask me if I would ever get a girlfriend, I can just nonchalantly say, "Nah, I have my bike. I'm happy enough." Weird huh?

Another thing that happened was that, since joining the cycling club this semester, I feel like I contributed in bringing more life to it. This was done via what I learnt in my studies. Design. Best part of it? I loved doing it. Wait, I LOVE doing what I do when I can do it for what I have passion for. The weekly ride poster promotions was nothing big. The thought of designing a club cycling jersey. That decision and the agreement from the club members was a great moment. After the many discussions and idea generation, we finally decided on one design. May I present to you,

 

My pride and joy. My creation, and design brainchild. Swinburne Sarawak Cycling Club jersey. There will be the sense of pride of putting this jersey on, knowing it was my design and also knowing that, we are a group, a team, and a club.

Cycling is also a means for me to relax and rightly so. The things you see while on a ride, breathtaking. 

Yup. Beautiful. Also, these views are different. You only get to see this and experience it once.

I also took part in a race with a distance of 120km. This was last May. The experience riding amongst professionals was great and also an eye opening one. Seeing them ride and the pace of speed they ride, showed me that there are better cyclists out there, and I want to be as good as them.

I guess, cycling has become a part of my life again right now, and it's going to stay.

Cheers,

Vincent

"Go fast or go last"

"Go fast or go home"

"Don't stop pedalling"

Almost There

Here we go with the routine dusting. Hey ho people.

December is here and what's been happening? Quite a bit. Recently just handed in all my assignments and thus, I'm free. *sniff* Ahhh, that lovely, fresh smell of FREEDOM, except, that it's not really freedom just yet. One more final paper to go, MPU Hubungan Etnik. Damn this subject. What makes it worse is that it's going to take a week before the paper. I could have booked an earlier flight and flew back to home sweet home if it wasn't for this paper. So as it is, got my ticket for the 19th. I miss home cooked food so much.

Enough about the MPU, I recently just went for my routine check up. 2nd one to note. I must say, I received some really good news. Here's how it went with the doctor.

Doc:"Based on the X-ray, your bones have fused together."

Me:"Serious?!"

Yeah. Just a short conversation. Then he did some checks and stuff. The things doctors do while checking up their patient and all. Funny thing was, it only took half the amount of time the doctor originally gave me for the recovery period. He said it takes about 3 months for the bones to fuse together, and another 3 months for the bones to be fully healed. The accident was on the 19th of October, so yeah, that's more or less 1 and a half months since then and my bones have fused. You know what? I think I might actually have Wolverine's healing factor. A diluted version of it but some really cool healing powers indeed......just kidding. I'm just glad it healed fast.

Officially allowed on the bicycle again. Time to bring my beloved bike out for some sunshine, wind and adventure. Just in time too, cause I've got some time to kill before the MPU final paper. Maybe I might just drop by the library as well, to look at people studying and stressing about their final paper. Perks of studying design, the non-existence of the term "Final Exam/Paper".

Anyway, that's all for this routine dust up.

Cheers,

Vincent

Something new

It's time for a routine dust off. Been a long time since my last post and a lot has happened. To whoever still drops by occasionally, sorry you guys are stuck with so little updates. Too many things going on, and I'll just try to summarise the happenings that came about this past few months.

As you guys may know, from my previous posts, I'm currently undergoing my studies at Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus. That's in Kuching, nice place really. Been here for a little over six weeks already, and I must say I've pretty much settled into the living style here. Being away from home doesn't really bother me, still miss home cooking occasionally, but everything is going well. The classes were a little mix of old and new, learning some new stuff while brushing up on skills I learnt whilst in diploma. It's a great experience here as I get the chance to mix with a lot of international students and learn more about their country and culture, as a matter of fact, because of the diverse student culture, Swinburne organizes a cultural night event every year where students perform their cultural specialties or just take the chance to perform. I was lucky my enrolment was timed just right as I got to experience this event.

 So far, I've already passed the middle mark of the semester and ended my mid term break(JUST today actually). The first half went well I would say and then it's onwards to another 6 weeks and I'll end my Semester 2 Year 2. Recently, actually just a week ago, I acquired a bicycle.

700c Nexus Hybrid Bike

I got a bike for a few reasons, transport being one of the few reasons, and recreation being another. Why a hybrid bike? Because mainly, I'll only be using it for road and minimal off road. This bike can handle gravel as well as "kampung" roads no issue. It's a great bike, even though I only managed to take it out for a spin no more than 5 times. Pretty sad, huh? Why? Cause foolhardy me went and attempted a ramp take-off. 

Like I said in the title, "Something new", and by that, I meant, loads of new experiences. This was, as painful as it was, something new to me, as well as exciting. Back 4 years, while I was still in high school, I used to do a lot of "little" stunts with my then MTB(Mountain Bike). It wasn't a really high end model but at RM450, it was a pretty damn good bike with full suspension and toughness to take a beating. Which in the end got stolen by some scumbag, whoever it was, hope it serves him well like it did for me(posted about this ages back). 

So, I went on a cycling session with the Swinburne Cycling Club and they brought us to a dirt trail to have some fun. A little too much fun for me I guess, when I decided to do the ramp take-off. I borrowed one of the cycling member's MTB cause my hybrid for sure wouldn't be able to pull off the stunt. Went for it but close to the ramp, I faltered and braked, causing me to lose momentum. Which ended with me plunging down the ramp rather than flying off it. The resulting fall cause me to fracture my left collarbone which required a surgery to realign it back as well as a metal plate and 7 screws.

Fractured collarbone, overlapping

Although it was a pretty serious thing, I just felt excited throughout the whole ordeal(okay maybe a little nervous cause...surgery). Everything was a new experience to me and I'm pretty glad I got this chance to experience things like this while I'm still young and capable and able to go the extreme. Don't get me wrong, a broken bone is no fun, but experience on the other hand is, priceless.

I was in really good spirits throughout the ordeal, dad even flew down to make sure I was alright(feeling guilty about this). But we got to spend some quality time together. I also thought I was gonna be lectured, but then, they just said, they warned me and I had to be responsible for my own decisions, which was my broken bones.

Before the surgery, submitting some assignments (with one hand)

After the surgery

Pretty much in good spirits

 I was discharged after three days in the hospital with no signs of complications. Overall, I'd say I had a really eventful mid term break. I have to wear a sling when I walk for the first two weeks after ther surgery but my arms can still function normally for typing and writing. A really good experience for me in my opinion. Now, I'm just making sure I take care of myself and get a speedy recovery and have my bones joined back together. 

Today, begins my 2nd half of the semester, and things are bound to get busier. I guess, you guys won't be hearing from me for a while(again). Video of the fall can be watched here. It's kinda funny watching myself. I can even laugh at myself, weird.

Here's to another one of the longest post I've done.

Cheers

Vincent Loke

P.S.: I'm so sorry bike, just wait for me for a while longer alright?

I'll take you out onto the road again. Soon I hope.

30 Days, onwards.

31st July 2014.

The day that marked the end of my job period with Linkz Event. We had a celebration for a colleagues birthday, as well as a farewell lunch for me. It wasn't a grand big thingy, but it's the thought that counts. It felt good knowing that I played my part well and that they thought of having a farewell lunch for me, even though I was only with them for 3 months.

The Linkz Event family =)

Thinking back, I couldn't really recall much about how hard it was when I first started working at Linkz. Trying to get used to the time schedule, office conduct, workflow and system. But after a week it didn't seem to matter anymore. I got used to the office, and slowly got comfortable. During my time with them, I learnt more than what I first expected when I took up the job. I learnt a thing or two about running and managing an event, how to secure sponsorships, and overseeing the running of the event on site. Even though I was a graphic designer, they gave me the opportunity to learn outside of just my profession.

I was given an experience into what the working world was like. The office never really felt like an office. My colleagues were always helpful and fun to talk to, even though work is work and play is play, and we balanced between those two, they always gave pointers when I had questions, never answers. "That's how you get to learn." They would say, to which I agree. We had company trips, as well as lunch outings. Those were fun times, as I got to experience what they meant by "After office hours bonding".

Now, I'll be preparing for my next hurdle. Further studies. Thank you for the great referral letter and thank you so much for everything. Short as 3 months may be, during my period with Linkz Event, I've overcome and learnt a lot.

Much love, such touching referral letter. =')

Next up, in 30 days, onwards to degree studies. I'm so pumped.

Cheers~

Vincent