Born To Ride

Sitting on my sofa on a boring Sunday morning, I ponder what to do later in the afternoon. Sunday has never been a good day for me. Unlike most of my friends, I prefer to fill my Sundays with some outdoor activities as I find staying indoors ‘unhealthy’.

I remember the time when I did a favour for a friend of mine by ‘baby-sitting’ his Vulcan 750cc while he had to go away for a study in U.K. As I possessed a B-Full license and have the passion for big bikes, he thought I was the right person to take the task. With open arms I took his ‘baby’ from his care and he had given out a long list of dos and don’ts to me. No riding on miry roads, no speeding, no riding in the rain, no bla.. bla… bla…, and last but not least - NO ACCIDENT! Phew, that was absolutely the longest list of dos and don’ts I had ever seen. I never thought playing with big boys’ toys would be this ‘restrictive’.

Since then, cruising on my friend’s beautiful machine around the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur city had been a routine for me every Sunday. I would wake up early in the morning, put on the riding gears and hit the road. Oh well, that was before. Now that he has taken back his bike, I was left with an empty slot on my Sunday morning.

And so here I will be, on the sofa looking into space… every Sunday morning. Oh, so unhealthy!

Standing Tall

At last, something that I am proud of. Not only because one of the tallest office buildings in the world is located in my homeland, but also because it is my first touch in photography.

Petronas Twin Towers located on the northern boundary of the Multimedia Super Corridor, is designed based on geometric patterns common in architecture of Islamic heritage. As described by architects, these geometric figures symbolise unity, harmony, stability and rationality - all important principles of Islam. The towers were once the World’s Tallest Building before being unseated by Taipei 101 on October 17th, 2003.

The towers feature a connecting sky bridge between the two towers on 41st and 42nd floor. It is 170 m high and 58 m long. Outside the building is a park with a fountain, jogging/walking tracks and a children’s playground. Suria KLCC situated at the lowest part of the towers is one of the biggest shopping malls in Malaysia. Malaysian Philharmonic Hall, situated also at the lower level of the building, has been the home for Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Here are some other intriguing facts about the twin towers:

·    Number of storeys : 88

·    Height: 452 meters above street level

·    Total built-up area: 341,760 sq.meters ( 3.7 million sq. feet)

·    Owners: Kuala Lumpur City Centre Holdings Sendirian Berhad

·    Design/Architecture: Cesar Pelli & Associates [U.S.] in association with KLCC architects

·    Engineers: Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers

·    Contractors: Mayjus and SKJ Joint Ventures

·    Vertical transportation: 29 double-deck high speed passenger lifts in each tower

·     Number of escalators: 10 in each tower

·     Stainless steel cladding: 65,000 sq. metres

·     Vision glass: 77,000 sq. metres

·  Concrete [various strengths up to grade 80]: 160,000 cubic metres in the    superstructures [see also foundation description below]

·     Steel: 36,910 tonnes of beams, trusses and reinforcement

·    Foundation: 4.5 metre [15 feet] thick raft containing 13,200 cubic meters of grade 60 reinforced concrete, weighing approximately 32,550 tonnes under each tower, supported by 104 barette piles varying from 60 to 115 metres in length

·     Topping Out: 1998 

·     Official Opening: August 28, 1999

Rejuvenating Mud Bath

To consider driving a 4-wheelers into a jungle as a rejuvenating mud bath, one might think I have gone completely nuts. But yes, I am totally crazy about trying my hands on the 4 wheelers, getting myself covered with sludge, the sensational feeling riding on bumpy tracks and the painful feeling when my head bumps hard on the roof of the jeep. Ambitious to become an avid wheeler, I had learned about the joys and pitfalls of wheeling as well as the proper techniques in handling the vehicle which cover everything from vehicle preparation to survival and to recognize offroad driving techniques and more. I have seen a lot of different terrains, encountered different kinds of obstacles, and have traversed some desolate landscapes.

Driving through mud is not easy. Some types of mud have a greasy top layer with a hard surface underneath, while other types can be a bottomless quagmire of gooey mush. Different types of mud require different driving techniques and equipment. Greasy mud with a hard bottom layer is best suited to narrow tires to allow them to cut through the top layer to bite the hard surface below. Wide tires are unsuitable because in this situation they tend to float on the greasy top layer without reaching the hard surface underneath. Thick gooey mud tends to favor wide tires as they give some flotation, similar to wide tires favoring sand driving. When used in muddy track, tires must have large open spaced lugs to keep the tire clean. However, the tyres handle worse on bitumen as there is less rubber in contact with the ground and in sand they tend to dig in. Also they can have an annoying drone at highway speeds.

I also learned that when crossing the water, I must take off the seat belt and wind down the window. In most situations I must use low range 2nd gear and try to drive at a steady speed to create bow wave. I learned to avoid using clutch and I must not over-rev the engine whenever I lose traction. One most important thing I learned is that when the engine stalls, I must place in neutral without using clutch to restart and takeoff in 1st low.

Well, those are some accumulated tips I obtained from several experiences on 4-wheel driving. Not only I learned about the tyres but also about the tyre chains, the winches and some other parts of the vehicles. But the first experience is always the most remembered one - it was the offroad exploration to Sungai Liang, Pahang on 29th March 2005. I called it the Bloody Muddy Exploration as the jungle was mostly covered with mud and not to mention, leeches. I remembered when one of the jeeps got stuck in a deep gap full of greasy mud and that the gap had swallowed the whole part of one of the rear tyres. When I saw some of them get out of their vehicles and walk towards the ‘trapped’ jeep, I tried to follow suit. When I reached the spot, I peered at the rear tyre, the one that was stuck in the deep hole, while the others were busy with  the preparation to hoist the jeep out. They called the little gadget, a ‘winch’. Attached at the front part of the vehicle, it is used to drag the vehicle out from holes. Merely feeding my curiousity, and without anybody realizing it, I went over to the back of the jeep to take a closer look. Unaware of what was going on at the front, I squatted down and scrutinized the condition of the tyre. My butt barely touched the ground and I tried very hard not to slip and stay clean. Out of a sudden, the jeep jerked forward and the tyres screeched hard. Mud splashed wildly on my face and body. And I cried out loud and tried to make haste  to get out of the way but it was too slippery. I finally could catch my breath when the jeep was at last sucessfully pulled out of the mudhole. I waited for somebody to finally discover me and when they did, they let out a big laugh! I laughed along pretending that the whole scene was humurous but in actual fact I silently scolded myself for being such a fool. Hating myself for being a laughingstock, I vowed not to stray away from the group if any problems arised.

Have I been keeping my promise? Yeahhhhhh rightttt!