Killed my own knee

 Back when I was still in digi, I busted my knee while playing basketball. How did it happened? It was the regular 3on3 half court at digi indoor court, I was saving an out-of-bound ball at 45' beyond the 3-point line. When my hand reached the and my right feet landed, my knee kind of felt loose (sometimes it happens when walking, where suddenly your knee loses function and has no feeling for a split second. If you don't know this feeling, try to imagine standing on 1 leg, and someone surprise push your knee and you lose balance, it was that type of uncontrollable feel on my knee), and the next thing I knew, the heard a consecutive popping sound in my right knee moving in a circular motion (basically look from the top view of your knee, imagine drawing a clock there, the popping sound started at 12, then 1, 2, 3, all the way back to 11 within a second or so), then I immediately passed out, guess my body just shut down to protect me maybe?

I was out cold for a few second, how I know? Because by the time I came to, the guys were running towards me. They genuinely thought I was hurt from ramming into the roll-out bench which I didn't realize until they told me....

Needless to say that was it, the final nail to my already bad knee. I tough it out, slowly inched my way to my car after everyone left, drove myself to the nearby hospital to get it checked up. Got an X-Ray fortunately no bone damaged, however the swelling was bad, so the night shift ER schedule me for an MRI and consult the next morning. And I was diagnosed with a "Partial Torn ACL", which I was given 2 options, surgery or rehab, being none the wiser, of course I chose rehab, which I deeply regret now. If only I did it back then when I was in my early 20s, recovery would be much easier.

I continue sporting after 1 year or so, and then close to 10 years later, I finally needed that surgery, as my knee keeps popping out of alignment few time in a game, it hurts if I don't pop-it back in, but when I do, it actually feels good, better then cracking my knuckle 😓. (just typing this made me crack my knuckle again, 20 times, 2 on each fingers)

Long story short, my girlfriend (now wife) advised me into surgery and we chose to be admitted into Sunway Medical Centre and chose Professor Ng Wuey Min to operate on me after researching and identified him as the best in this and a highly respected doctor in this field. 

Back with a twist?

This space has been at the back of my mind for a very long time, but lazy-ness got the best of me and I kind of put it off for as long as I can remember. Got an email from Nuffnang today which triggered me to reminiscence about this blog that accompanied me through my 20's while I'm still actively hiking/sprinting to the top of the hill. I still love the thought of hiking even today despite being a guy in the mid 30 with TWO ACL surgery (Mar 2019 & Jun 2020).

I guess I'll just leave this for now and probably update the post with how I twisted my knee about 10 years ago that led to the 2 surgery recently. 

Saga Hill (Bukit Saga) - Hilltop, A route #HikeMY

For those who wishes to hike or introduce hiking to friends in Saga Hill (Bukit Saga) for the first time, this may come in handy for you. 

This is the simplest route in Saga Hill and beginners should try it once before taking other routes. I still train on this route by going up and down (Hilltop) within 45minutes. Its not a great record, but thats good enough for me. 

**You can pack some hot drinks (flask), snacks, choc, nasi lemak etc to eat at hilltop. 

So this is the entrance you should look for (Waze it and park it at the open space car park). 

Upon passing the entrance, there will be a notice board area and you could buy some refreshment here before leaving. Walk to the base of Saga Hill and you will find a mini 'waterfall', you can clean urself before leaving. 

So now you are at the base, start stretching if you haven't, and then lets start hiking. Pass the base and this is what greets you. 

You will come across this small Datuk Gong (sorry if misspelled). There is a route behind it, but I'll leave it for the next post. You should follow trail A, come back down if you are at this area. 

You should be following this. 

It should take you about 10-15 min max to reach here. Its ok to go slower, make sure you still have at least 70% stamina with you, else pace down. 

This is an important view, at the clearing infront, its the checkpoint!!

You have earned a rest. 

**You should be here in 20 minutes or lesser

Not far from the checkpoint, you will find a split, left route is for the more adventorous (its easy actually), and the right route is for the lazy. 

If you take the left, remember to climb it this way. (Rope in between your leg)

Regardless of the route you took, its minimal difference. But you should have some fun here. 

The last few stretch. Which can kill most people ;)

When you see this, it should be good news. You have almost reached hilltop. 

Congrats and enjoy your day here. We usually spend 1-2 hours here relaxing, 'gym', chit chat. You should spend 30-60 min to get here. If you took loads of time up, try to really rest up before going down. Hike up is easy for me, its down that kills me. 

Saga Hill, aka Bukit Saga

Back to back hike to Saga, feeling great this time with less issue on my knee (I have ACL), and as part of my simple ACL treatment, I've opt to hike regularly as this will push lots of different movement and train the muscles around my knee, that and I sweat more which should equates into fat burn.

Back to the topic, I've forgotten to time the hike, but from the mid stop to the top, it takes about 15 minutes hike, I believe once I'm back in shape, it should take me about 5 minutes or so.

One of the reason why I like to hike at Bukit Saga Hill is that we can have a R&R session at the top and you can linger around way pass noon thanks to the thick forest and great shades.

I can't really recall the hills around Malaysia that I've hiked, but I just feel that Bukit Saga Hill is best for its shades and steps. As you can see in the pictures, the paths are pretty much well laid out for you and all you need is some balance and a little extra stamina. This is currently my favorite place to treat my ACL injury. Do you have better recommendations?

Aside from the pleasant hike you could get around here, there is also a part where you can have just a little bit more adventure. If you opt for a safer and slightly longer route, you can always skip this. Though I was at the back of these people before this part, I swiftly moved pass them using the longer route.

Climbing to new heights!

I've been missing out a lot of activity for the past few years, and I can finally say I'm ready to climb back to new heights! This time its a casual one to train back my lower body and stamina, we went hiking at Saga Hill or known as Bukit Saga which is located not far from 'Little Genting' and just a little further from Pandan Indah. 

We were suppose to hike Broga Hill for its scenery but it's located in Semenyih and was kinda far and taken into account it isn't suitable to linger after the sun rises, so we decided to head for Saga Hill. Though there are no scenery, but the hike was fairly safe with lots of good stair-like-steps unlike Broga, and I high recommend Saga Hill for beginners and girls. 

As you know girls and sun don't really mix unless its by the beach with a bikini on, in Saga Hill you can expect plenty of shades and its harder to bath in the sunlight then to find for cover. This place is also great for hikes in the afternoon, so that should give you a good idea of the shades around here. 

I didn't snap any pictures during this hike, but I will likely return and will snap more pics to share so you can have a clearer picture!

Long abandon blog

Its time to brush up on my creative writing again, and what better place to do it then on an online podium where you don't have an idea who I am nor me you.

Well, looking at the current World Cup Fever 2014, it is with heavy heart to tell you that I dislike soccer/football or whatever you call it. But, without a doubt it is a very successful Marketing campaign! There are always sports, championships etc, but to be able to make it an international event, and at the same time capitalize on this huge event, all marketers' mind are practically on overdrive.

How to catch on this heat, we must do something about it, we need to have this out by xx xx xx, all the deadlines, all the pressure! And worst of all, all the ideas seems stale, dull, dead, repetitive, or worst, your competitor's idea. My question is pretty simple, why follow the heat? As a marketer, you should always catch the wave before it even builds up, where you have everything prepared before hand, but sometimes, the best way to catch on this World Cup Fever, might be to kill it? Where everyone is hyping about winning, why not prepare the way out for the losers? You are satisfying 2 markets at once!! Literally hitting 2 birds with one stone.

You will be seen as the compassionate and caring entity by the losing team/supporters, and pride of the winner. To make it more bluntly and less marketing like, I will host an event, at the pub, gather 2 teams, and at the end of it, treat the losing team to a free-flow buffet while the winning team will have only FOC 1 pint.

Now the scenario is open, and how do you fly with this and make it successful? Make it your case study and associate it to your industry or simply throw it back to me, let's dissect it and see how we could make it interesting! Its all about making an impact, making your presence felt!

(ref, ref, ref, ref, ref)

On the hunt: Klang 02

Now we finally come to the food, I won't really touch much on Bak Kut Teh, because most of them are quite nice. But my family and colleagues particularly like one shop near SJK (C) Taman Rashna, its a corner lot and if memory serves me right, its a Teluk Pulai branch or something. Me on the other hand, love the BKT in Equine Park, IMHO they still serve the best dry version of bakuteh.

Another thing that I would like to try is the seafood in Telok Gong, during my younger days, dad will bring us here for dinner every now and then. But I can't recall the last time I went there, gotta pay a visit here again sometime. I love crab!!!