Dumbo up the Hills - #1: The Good Old Ayer Itam Dam

Some time in January (or was it early February?), a friend from Parit Buntar sent me an SMS asking me: "Want to climb Mt. Kinabalu with us?"

It's a crazy thing to do for a guy who is at least 30kg overweight, but I said, "Yes, why not?"

***

The climb was scheduled for early May, so that left me with about three month to train up this bloated tent I call my body, and the first thing to do was to look for a pair of decent shoes for hiking.

I went around looking for high-ankled hiking shoes, but those that I have found are either too expensive (way off my league, for example, from Timberland), or unknown to me (I saw this pair of Hi-Tec hiking shoes that sort of fit my bill, but I wasn't sure it was reliable; the last thing I want is for the sole to come off half way through the climb - as it turned out, we did meet a girl whose very nice pair of new Nike "opened" up during the pre-dawn climb; but more about that later), or seemed downright dubious (there was this pair of hiking shoes selling for a mere RM70+, and I was totally not convinced).

In the end, I bought a pair of Camel Active outdoor walking shoes (I think it's outdoor walking shoes):


And the second thing I needed was a coach. And a guide to the local hills. And the perfect person for the job was of course my second uncle on my mother's side (二舅). He used to be rather overweight when he was younger, and now that he has retired, and with a diabetic condition to contend with, he exercises regularly, particularly by hiking up the numerous hill paths found around the Ayer Itam area (a valley at roughly the center of the Penang Island) where he lives, with his wife and my grandma and two of my aunts who are still single. Before I started kindergarten back at my hometown in Ayer Tawar, Perak, I lived with my grandma (because my mum already had too much on her hands taking care of one of my elder sisters who was very ill), and it was this uncle and his wife (along with my grandma and the two single aunts) who took care of me, so I called them "Daddy" and "Mommy", which I still do till this day (they have three children who are one, three and six years my junior).

To start me off, he decided to take me on an "easy" hike: up the Ayer Itam Dam.

The road up Ayer Itam Dam is a local favorite for casual hikers (not those serious off-road hikers), young and old alike. The dam is not very high up, and most people can complete the hike in around 30 minutes. Less if you are fit. The road is tarred, wide enough for two-way traffic (yes, you could also drive up to the dam, and walk around its circumference for a dose of exercise, if ascending slopes is too much for you), and most parts of the road has a gradient of 10%.

Sounds easy.

But what was not easy was that it was not this "official" tar road that my uncle had in mind. It was what the locals call "the hill road". It is a narrow cemented path that people who live on the hill slopes use as access road, and at some point off this cement path is a small mud path that leads to the "back gate" of the Ayer Itam Dam. It is what the more-serious-than-casual hikers prefer over the tar road, because it is steeper (much steeper), and it is shorter. Sort of like double the work rate, which gives you a better workout.

Precisely what I needed on the first hike. =.=

After the first stretch of the many very steep stretches, my lung was practically bursting. As for my uncle, who is 61, he just "sailed" up that slope with an even pace that seemed effortless. He was not even panting. I felt very ashamed. :-p

I made it up to the dam in (I think) about 50 minutes. That just shows how "fit" I was. :-D

***

On that hike, I left my camera phone behind, thinking I would have no need of it. Big mistake. That's why I have no picture to share here for that "climb" (yes, "climb"; I was almost on all four at certain points). That's why on subsequent hikes, I made it a point to bring the phone along (I don't have a camera, so the phone is all the picture-snapping tool I have) and take lots of photos.

Dumbo the Occasional Poet - #1: "Passage of Poetry"

My first post in this blog was about a poem I wrote a long time ago, "Then and Now". Somehow, after that, I had stopped sharing my poems in this blog. In fact, I had stopped writing poems for quite a while. The last time I wrote something that I was bold enough to call a poem was when I was inspired by a couple of photos taken by a friend at his hometown. Perhaps I had forgotten the joy of stringing words together to make a poem, but I suddenly have this desire, now, to start doing that again...

Well, before I find the inspiration to write something new, let me first share with you another poem I had written, also from quite a while ago. It is called "Passage of Poetry".

***

"Passage of Poetry"

When I was a child,
Poetry was a dash of color, gone wild;
some painted it bold, some painted it mild;
altogether, they were puzzling to a child.

When I was a teen,
Poetry was a love song, eager and keen;
some sang in passion, some sang in esteem;
altogether, they were dazzling to a teen.

Then as I came of age,
Poetry sang, in ethereal message:
Of love, of life, of days gone in passage;
Of faith, of hope, of sagacious adage;
A cosmic scene in word-bound package,
a soaring bird not of earthly cage---

And now that I'm old,
Poetry is a winter fire, crackling coal;
Partly companion, partly to ward off cold;
above it all, it keeps sizzling in my soul.

***

Again, as I mentioned before in that first post, do not believe everything I wrote in my poems. First of all, I'm not old! I'm in my mid-thirties right now. Unless you consider that old.

Then, there's that part about poems being dazzling to a teen... well, I can't honestly say I was - when I was a teen - dazzled by anything other than whatever my hormones were steering me toward. :-D... I think I speak for most teens in that matter. ;-)

But I do hope that when I am old, I would still have passion for words and other mediums of art, as depicted in the last stanza. I have seen too many old people live without passion, without colors in their lives, their sole purpose in life having expired after their children had grown up and established their own families, and I do not want to walk down that same path myself.

My Birthday Present and My Wife's Anniversary Present

My wife gave me an easel for my birthday. It was something that I had been wanting for years, but could not convince myself to buy, because, after all, one could easily do watercolor on any flat surface. An easel is not a must.

But, I so wanted it...

And now I have it. :-)

***

I decided that the first picture I paint should be an anniversary present to my wife (our wedding anniversary is 8 days after my birthday).

It wasn't hard to decide what I wanted to paint. It was a picture that I had been having in my mind for a while before that. I wanted the picture to be a promise to my wife, that "this is us; this is how we will still love each other, 50 years from now".


***

I started with some bamboos on the upper right corner. I decided that this painting would follow the Chinese painting philosophy of leaving blanks for imagination, so the background would be sparse.


And then I painted a patch of cobbled (tiled?) floor on the lower part, slightly off to the left (to strike a balance against that heavy patch of green on the upper right), again, with the idea of being sparse with the background.


And, as long as I was working with earth colors, might as well work in the skin, too. Skin colors are always a challenge to an artist, and I was told that every artist has his/her own secret formulas. I can't say that I have my own secret formula, but I figured the mixture was close enough to my own skin color, so, up it went onto the paper.


The bamboo chairs. I've always wanted bamboo furniture (hint to my friends out there; if I ever move to a new house again in the future, you know what to do).

I wasn't very happy with how that cat turned out, but, I wasn't really good at painting furry animals, so, it would have to do. And it was gray because I needed gray for the hair on that old couple there anyway. You see, I am quite lazy - and stingy - when it comes to squeezing out more watercolor from those precious tubes (a 15ml tube can cost up to RM50 for the higher grades).


And, talking about color, the picture below shows the palette of colors I used for the painting. The six colors used were (from top): Chinese White, Lamp Black, Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Yellow Ochre, and Vermilion (Hue).


And since I wanted the painting kind of Chinese-styled, I added some sort of a poem to it, at the bottom. The title says, "Laughing while Watching the Ocean turn into Mulberry Field".

"Ocean turning into mulberry field" (沧海桑田) is a Chinese idiom meaning great changes that are brought about by the passing of time.


The poem roughly says:

Growing old with you
though there be wind and rain along the way
we shall weather them all with a laugh

Walking with the Lord
though there be changes in life great and many
we shall find peace in God's wondrous grace

Men-Pigeons

I noticed to my horror that a recent construction of low-cost apartments somewhere in BJ was achieved by "sticking together" pre-fabricated concrete slabs that look very thin and flimsy. And the overall structure reminded me of pigeonholes. Or worse, a "house of cards".


If I believe in evolution (which I don't), I would think that the next step in the evolution of human being would be pigeons. Look at where men are made to live in these days. I surely don't see much difference between men and pigeons. Flocks of them fly out in the morning, seek food all day long, and return to the pigeonholes (again, in flocks) in the evening, and get cooped up in front of the TV.

Welcome to modern living. =.=

Dumbo in the Kitchen - #12: "OR" Chicken Revisited

I have a bad habit in the kitchen of going with the feelings: I simply put in whatever ingredients I felt like putting in at the moment. So, I totally forgot the exact recipe of my first attempt at "OR" (oat-roasted) chicken.

A few days later, I went at it again. This time, I took more pictures to help me remember the recipe and process. :-)

***

Step 1:
Steam the chicken with the "secret herbs and spices". Well, not very "secret" actually. Just some garlic, chilies, celery, soy sauce, rice wine, black pepper, etc. ("Etc" as in, again, I don't remember exactly.)


Step 2:
Drain the gravy. Season some Quaker instant oat with salt and pepper and whatever other secret herbs and spices you fancy.


Step 3:
Place steamed chicken on roasting plate. Cover with honey.


Step 4:
Cover with instant oat from Step 2. Roast in oven to a golden crisp.


Step 5:
Serve. (What else?) Dig in.


Remember the gravy drain from Step 2? Don't discard it! It's the perfect salad dip. Yep, you heard me right: salad "dip". The trick is to use chopstick to eat salad. Pick up some lettuce and carrot and celery and what-not with your chopstick, dip them in the gravy, and dump them in your mouth.


Yummy.


***

The oat layer was not as crispy as the first time, but it was still delicious. The trick to a crispier oat layer is in a more generous amount of honey and a thinner layer of oat, I think.

My "OR" Chicken

Do you think it looks delicious? Well, I remember it to be quite delicious. It was my "OR" chicken. "OR" as in "oat-roasted", not KFC's "original recipe".

It was crunchy on the outside (well, maybe not as crunchy as fried chicken, but it did have a yummy crunch), and soft and succulent on the inside.

But I don't remember the exact recipe now. :-p

Dumbo in the Kitchen - #11: the Improvisatorial Spaghetti

I thought I couldn't possible go lower than "minimalist spaghetti", but I proved myself wrong there with this "improvisatorial spaghetti"...

***

It was 8pm, the "Wonder Auntie" had closed shop, we were too lazy to go to town (a 20-minute drive away) for dinner, and there was no fresh ingredient at all (not even a single stalk of bok choy) in the house. But nothing is a problem for a good improvisator.

From the "rainy-day rations" box, I fished out a can of sardine in tomato sauce, some spaghetti, and a pack of Campbell's mushroom soup powder, then I grabbed my two bottles of trusty McCormick's (one was the "Italian Herbs", the other "Basil"), and I was all set for making my "improvisatorial spaghetti".

Well, actually, it is so "improvisatorial", there is really nothing much to write about it. All you have to do is open the can of sardine, pour it into the pan, add half a can of water, add some herbs, then finally, pour in the mushroom soup powder to thicken the gravy. Oh, of course, you have to cook the spaghetti first. Then just pour the sardine thingy onto the cooked spaghetti, and it's chow down time. :-)

It tasted a bit "fishy". After all, it was canned sardine... but, it was not too bad for two lazy people who wouldn't take a 20-minute drive to the nearest restaurant. :-D