Ipoh Starwalk 2010

Earlier this month, I made the journey to Ipoh for the Starwalk 2010 event.  Since a failed attempt to join the Malay Mail Big Walk many years ago, I've always wanted to get a chance to redeem myself at another walking event.  Since accomodation in Ipoh was not an issue with my sister living there, and the registration fee was very affordable, it was not a difficult decision to sign up.  Also joining in the fray was my sister, my niece and Ultraman.  So, I was in good company.  Besides, the various articles in the Star on the many generous sponsors already had me salivating at the thought of my goodie bag.  There was a moment of hesitation on whether to go for the competitive category which cost RM12 to sign up, or the non-competitive category which cost RM8 to sign up.  In the end, since we were not even that confident we could complete the 10km in the qualifying time of 1 hour 40 mins, we thought we may as well save the RM4 for a good meal in Ipoh instead.

The problem with joining walks and runs is the ungodly hour which you have to drag yourself out of bed.  After a late night of watching Ip Man 2 on telly, it was no fun to be up at 5.30am to get ready.  Somehow, we managed to go through the motions of brushing our teeth and soon found ourselves at Stadium Indra Putra.  After being herded like cows by some fellas in uniform into the stadium itself, we got our blue starting bands on our wrists and waited for the show to start. 

Making our way into the stadium

There were kids, kids and more kids.  Apparently, the kids get points from school for extra-curriculum activities for participating in the walk. It would have been embarassing if all the adults had signed up for the competitive category and we were the only ones with the kids, but luckily I spotted an old man limbering up on the field. 

To pass the time, we took some pics and practised our World Cup moves at the goalpost...

World Cup worthy saves

We managed to witness the flag-off for the competitive category from the bleachers of the stadium.  The competitive group was much much smaller in number since this comprised of the serious walkers.  At this point, I was glad we stuck to the non-competitive category else I would have been eating dust! The guys at the frontline looked like they were running instead of just walking!  Soon after, the non-competitive race was to begin and crowd in the stadium starting filing out of the sole exit to head towards the Start line.  By the time we inched our way out, we realized our race had already started.  My kiasu spirit kicked in and I shot forth as fast as my legs could carry me, hoping to make it within the qualifying time for my cert....

Alas, the crowd of giggling girls and babbling boys was huge!  I was practically boxed in on all sides with kids who were definitely not in it to win it....My impatience grew and I practically turned into an F1 driver of sorts.  There were sudden swerves, spurts of acceleration, and even back tracking and slow downs with changes of directions. My eagle eyes spotted for openings in the body mass where I could make my overtaking moves.  If someone had been watching me from a helicopter, they would have probably seen something like this....

I lost my sister and niece in the crowd but Ultraman kept pace behind me, making his own set of evasive moves.  After making spectacular manoeuvres for an exhausting 45-60 minutes, the crowd thinned out to a more manageable level and I started to enjoy myself more.  It was tough maintaining the speed at a walking pace - apparently, you could get disqualified for running.  Though I doubt this was really enforced looking at all the kids who kept running around to look for their friends and family.  Finally, the stadium re-appeared and I picked up my cert on the way across the finish line.  I had managed to finish the 10km around 1 hour 30 minutes.  Yay!

Despite the queues, I managed to partake in some free 100 Plus and mineral water but lost out to the crowd at the Milo van.  After meeting back up with my group, we decided not to stick around for the lucky draw which would only take place an hour later.  We were all having hunger pangs and itching for a good shower by the time we were picked up by my brother-in-law in his Kancil. 

Overall, we had a fun time.  The freebies were a little disappointing - with only 100 Plus, Spritzers and Milo as the main draw.   And the goodie bag was not as goodie as I had hoped.  My sister says they had a better goodie bag last year.  Perhaps if we had stuck around for the lucky draw, the prizes would have been more attractive.  But then again, what were the chances of your number being picked when there was an estimated 12,000 participants??  The main lesson learnt though is that next time, I will fork out the additional RM4 to sign up for the competitive category.  Just so that I can have more free space to move about.  It was a real test of my miniscule store of patience what with being kiasu and yet being hemmed in by bodies all around me.  Till the next Starwalk everyone!

Haji's Book of Malayan Nursery Rhymes

Trust my sister to find this gem which was first published way back in 1939.  She got this1956 edition in mint condition from a second hand book store in Ipoh (which she refused to bring me to so that she can retain exclusive pick on the selections there). 

The book contains a selection of nursery ryhmes along with classic Malay translations which can be laugh out loud funny....

Old King Cole

Old King Cole

Was a merry old soul,

And a merry old soul was he;

He called for his pipe,

And he called for his bowl,

And he called for his fiddlers three.

Raja Tua Koli

Raja tua Koli

Satu orang banyak joli,

Dia sa-orang suka sangat suka ria;

Dia minta ambil rokok,

Dan dia suroh bawa mangkok,

Dan dia-panggil tiga tukang biola-nya.

The Queen of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts

She made some tarts,

All on a summer's day;

The Knave of Hearts

He stole the tarts,

And with them ran away.

The King of Hearts

Called for the tarts,

And beat the Knave full sore;

The Knave of Hearts

Brought back the tarts,

And vowed he'd steal no more.

Rani Hati

Rani Hati

Buat sate;

Pada suatu hari.

Menteri Hati

Churi sate,

Sudah bawa lari.

Raja Hati

Minta sate,

Menteri kena sebat;

Menteri Hati

Pulang sate,

Churi lagi tobat.

See what I mean? Classic!

Bread Galore....

I am now a proud holder of an International Certificate of Bread Making, issued by Taylor's College.  It is amazing how much more prestigious something sounds when you put the words International and Certificate together.  And all I had to do was attend a 2-day workshop held over the weekend.  Of course, dishing out RM700 for the course contributes a long way towards getting your name printed on the cert.  A week before the course, a friend who had taken the same workshop last year, gave me some discouraging feedback.  Apparently most of the dough was prepared in advance, the facilities had roaches and the instructor was average (Chinese and married - somehow, this became critical information to share with me also).  Ultraman, (staunch supporter of Google), also did not help matters with his fervent belief that I would not learn anything from the course which I could not learn from Google.

So, it was with some trepidation that I made my way to Taylor's Lakeside campus on that fine Saturday morning.  The campus was pretty huge and I had to be picked up like a lost puppy by Anne, Taylor's marketing executive who was in charge of the registration for the course.  We collected two more lost souls, and made our way to the kitchen.  There was only eight of us in the class, much less than the initial minimum of 15 that Taylor's wanted to run the course.  Guess 8 is still better than 0 huh?  It was a pretty mixed crowd - Libyan, Nigerian, Malaysian... hmmm, maybe that's why it is an International certificate?  But the best part came when a young, single Frenchie by the name of Francois introduced himself as our instructor.  I suppose my friend must have really expressed her disappointment to Anne last time.  I had to rub it in and sent her a text message on the spot... Ka Ka Ka.

Over the next two days, Chef Francois took us through the joys of baking bread.  We made quite a variety of bread, ranging from soft rolls, wholemeal loafs, multi-grain, baguettes, brioche, fougasse, etc.  It is amazing how different breads can be churned out by just tweaking the proportion of practically the same ingredients.   I learned different shaping techniques like how to round the dough into small balls...

Rounding, rounding, rounding - Pic courtesy of new friend Nava

Finished product - Yummy soft buns with red bean filling

...how to shape loafs that look like stalks of wheat which has the Frenchie name of Epi de Ble.

Hard at work on my Epi de Ble - Pic courtesy of new friend Nava

Finished product - Stalks of Wheat

...how to handle really wet dough like ciabatta....

Cutting ciabatta dough

 
...how to shape and cut a fougasse...
 

Finished product - Onion Fougasse

Of course, you can always be creative...

My Happy Face Onion Fougasse

I was looking forward to the making of the brioche since I nearly "killed" my dough on my first attempt baking it at home. It did sooth the ego when Francois made a batch of failed brioche dough and had to re-do it. Guess I was not doing that badly after all.  The brioche turned out great in the end - really tasty and soft.

Beautiful Brioche in Traditional Shape

Taste test for the brioche - Excellent!

 
I also learnt a traditional kneading method where you basically slam the dough onto the counter, fold it, lift it with your fingertips and slam it again.  It was tough work.  The idea was to minimize handling of the dough with your hands to keep the temperature cool.  And I learnt how to tell whether the gluten in the dough has properly developed by doing a window test.  Basically, you stretch a small piece of dough out between your fingers to see how elastic and clear the "window" is, and whether it breaks easily. 
 
Overall, I had a fun time in class.  I was fortunate I had a small class of 8 where the nice, helpful Chef Francois and his assistants could spend time answering all our inane questions.  I doubt he would have been able to do that with a class of 18, which was the max number of participants for the class.  The participants were also a fun and varied lot ranging from engineering managers to lecturers.  It is always nice to mingle with people enjoying the same interests. 

Model students

 
While there was definitely room for improvement in terms of organizing the sessions such that the students can execute the whole process beginning with measurements all the way to baking and cooling, and getting rid of the roaches (yes, they were running around - luckily just saw the small ones and no roach bread got made.  To their credit, Chef Francois did say they tried many times with various methods to get rid of the pests but they keep coming back), I was glad my fears were generally unfounded.  So was the experience worth the RM700?  New knowledge, new friends, an International certificate and access to a young French chef who gave away his email address? ...I certainly wouldn't complain if they could lower the price but it was good enough for me.  Who knows, my quest could certainly end in a bakery! Till my next Patiserrie adventure then....

My Treetop Adventure

Had a treetop adventure recently. A bunch of ex-colleagues got together for an outing at Skytrex in Taman Botani, Shah Alam. Skytrex basically operates this outdoor, rope-based obstacles thingy. People in temporary bouts of madness, (like me) actually pay to suspend themselves 3 storeys above the ground while trying to scuttle from one tree to another over all sorts of rope bridges, lines and swings. There were basically three courses you could sign up for. Little Adventure is targeted towards kids and adults who value their lives enough to only suspend themselves 3 meters off the ground. Big Thrill is for the wannabe’s – people who don’t want to be associated with Little Adventure and yet are too scared to take up the Extreme Challenge, which as you may have guessed, are for the daredevils and the super athletes.

Since all of us were wannabes, naturally, we signed up for Big Thrill. We were supposed to start our activity at 10.30am but due to some confusion on which bus we were supposed to take to get to the SkyTrex site, and the long lead time waiting for the bus, we only managed to get going around noon. This Taman Botani could use a lot better signages and provide more detailed visitor information. Once I got my safety harness, my fingerless gloves (don’t know what’s the right term but you get the idea) and my bandana on, I was feeling pretty much like a super athlete and wondering what the heck was I doing with a bunch of wusses attempting Big Thrill. Just kidding. I was wondering how I was even going to have enough energy to make it up the20 meter ladder to get to the first obstacle. To cut the long story short, my knees wobbled throughout, I yelled really loud once, nearly broke my back and barely avoided slamming into a couple of trees. By George, it is good to be alive. Anyway, since I didn't bring my camera with me, I did up a few illustrations to share with you the highlights of the course.

What you need before starting :

A. No, that is not red underwear but the safety harness and carabiner. Very important item to have to not get killed if you fell.

B. Fingerless gloves. The instructors may tell you that you don’t need it but believe me, it will help prevent rope and cable burns on your hands when you are hanging on for dear life whilst scuttling across that tightrope.

C. Sports shoes. “N” is for New Balance.

D. Attitude. Smile, laugh loudly, crack jokes. No one will know that you are worrying about whether you can go through the whole course (estimated at 2 hours on average) without having to go to the loo. There are no toilets up in the trees.

This was the first obstacle on the course which provided some challenge for my big feet.

Second obstacle – again, my big feet was my Achilles heel.

This was where I yelled out loud when I started swinging back and forth. It was an ordeal trying to make it from one swinging pipe to another – I was holding on so tightly, the veins were bulging out from my arms !

This was where I nearly broke my back. I had to swing on the rope from one plank to another. After landing my feet on the next plank, I was bent backwards, staring up at the sky, wondering how I was going to haul myself upright. After several attempts at this, I took the easier way out and scuttled across by placing my feet on the two ropes holding up the planks. Tarzan can do all the swinging.

The flying fox. This may appear to be the easiest obstacle – and it is quite a ride when you are whizzing by, supported comfortably in your safety harness. Just don’t slam into the tree when you land.

By the last obstacle, which was a flying fox, I was whooping out loud and beating my chest with my fists. Actually, with the safety harness on, I shouldn’t have even worried when I nearly lost my balance on the swinging pipes and the tarzan rope obstacles. If I had slipped, the harness would have caught me and I would have been basically been back in a flying fox position. Guess, it was a psychological block there.

All in all, it was fun. Yelling and screaming in a group always is. Extreme Challenge, anyone?
http://www.skytrex-adventure.com/index.php

Pics courtesy of my friend.