Race Report : King of Bukit Larut 2014 (KOBL)

"The Hills are alive...... with the sound of music....."

Que in Julie Andrews to sing this when you start the race of King of Bukit Larut.

Well, it was more like "The Hills are alive...with the sound of us screaming". 

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the exciting and challenging "King of Bukit Larut 2014" race report. Or affectionately known as KOBL. I like to pronounce it as "Kor-Bleu". Makes it so French sounding with an international flair.

The boutique race is organized by the PACat Adventure Team and attracted more than 200 runners; both locally and internationally. The race is held at Bukit Larut, Taiping; also known by many as Maxwell Hill. The route is pretty straightforward. One road up; same road down. BUT the surprise is the unforgiving steep elevation that would make even the most seasoned runner cry. 

At first I didn't have any intention to join any race in April since I was going to do both my "Grade A" race on both Xterra Malaysia and Sundown Singapore in May. But then I thought perhaps this was a good tapering long run just before Xterra and I could use a bit of "altitude" training along the way. 

Saturday.

Goofing around at REPC

I arrived Taiping late afternoon after being delayed by house chores. The Taiping rain (heavy one too) greeted me with open arms as I made my way to the race pack collection at the foothills of Bukit Larut. Arman was making sure all the things were in order; seeing him running around in the rain. Suzie, Marlina and Zaini were helping out with the race pack distribution. There was a skeleton crew working around but efficiently enough to get by. 

Semua muka lapar!

Hung around for awhile before heading back to meet Man and Lina for early dinner. We soon head out to the famous Taiping Bomba Yong Tau Foo as per suggested by Razman. It was exellent! Mind you, I didn't even know this place existed. Called Marlina and Zaini as well since they were staying close by. 

We then head back to our hotel at Villa Sentosa (I call it paradise!) for an early rest. Soon our running buddy, Hui and his colleague joined us for the night after driving down from Penang. 

Sunday.

Photo courtesy of Vivien Tay

All of us woke up very early as we wanted to be at the race site around 6am. The scene was not as happening as in many major races but was uniquely intimate as we met regular and new friends before race started. We all started our warm up with our mouths! Talk about regulating our oxygen intake. Time flies as we were having fun and soon we had a quick race briefing at 7:15am. We even had to sing our national anthem before we started the race which I thought was a nice touch. 

View of waterstation 1 & 6

The race started at 7:30am sharp as promised. My strategy was simple. Power walk up (maybe throw in a few runs at lower elevations) and run all the way down non-stop. I came fully prepared; perhaps way over. Some asked why I was geared as if I was heading for an Ultra. I came fully loaded with my Nathan Vaporcloud Hydration bag, filled up the 2L water bladder, filled up snacks and gels AND unnecessarily added on my new pairs of Black Diamond Distance FL Z-Poles, an all-weather jacket and extra food. Actually I was also testing/simulating out the weight in preparation for TMBT as well. One thing for sure, I was VERY happy that I had my trekking poles with me when scaling Maxwell.

The "dashyat" altitude of Bukit Larut. 

Suzie at Waterstation 3&4

An early group of runners sped off quite early. I stayed on with my race strategy and soon enough I pretty much caught up with most of them later. The Power Walk strategy worked well as I concentrated on my breathing. My HR was regulating between Zone 3 & 4; which was great given at such conditions. Upon reaching at U-turn point, it took a good 01:51 to do so.  The elevation tracked at this point was 1,078.9m above sea level. 

Alas, almost to the top.

At this point, I quickly packed both my poles into my hydration bag, took the check point ribbon and sped downhill. 

The U-turn point. A moment of happiness for many.

Kena tangkap gambar by Azmi when zooming down the hill. 

Running downhill was a breeze but did it cautiously as the road was very slippery. This is where my trail running techniques came into play as I had to zig zag uncoming runners and maneuver around sharp corners. It was exhilarating! I only stopped briefly at the last water station just to pour water over my head (engine sudah panas) and continued to speed down all the way to the finishing line. It took exactly 62 minutes to come all the way down. One of runners whom I met at much later after the race said he tried catching me but apparently he said I looked like I've just turned on my "turbo boost" and left him in the dust! Goodness, was I that fast? Paiseh, paiseh....

Arman (Sweeper) spotted at Marker 13. He is going to kick butt on anyone he manages to overtake.

As we crossed the finishing line, we were given a goodie bag with a finisher medal. But the big kick is the Nasi Lemak and the famous Ansari Cendol! That was a huge reward that is worth having after such a race. Needless to say, I was satisfied and happy.

The finishing shot zooming down the finishing line.
Photo courtesy of Mohd Azfar.

Verdict:

All in all, it was an excellent boutique race. Albeit a small crowd, it was good enough to make it special and memorable for everyone. Great race and hope to see an even better one next year!

All hail to Kings (and Queens) of Bukit Larut!

PS: No one insaf, right?

Jolly gembira. Made me break into a dance. Cha Cham borrrr....!
Photo courtesy of Mohd Azfar.

Pros:

- Excellent organization and made it very memorable for everyone. Well done!

- An excellent event for those who hasn't had much experience conquering hills. A good intro of what Skyrunning is all about.

- Sufficient water stations and placed at crucial, strategic spots. 

- Nice event T-shirt (though this was a last minute bonus to runners) and finisher medal.

The KOBL finisher medal.

- Road markers marked well (though would had preferred larger and visible)

- An excellent team of friendly volunteers that never fails to put a smile on our face. Especially we look like we are about to pengsan climbing that hill.

- Arman as sweeper. Who else to motivate and smack you in the butt if you are slow. ;)

- Glorious Taiping food at the finishing. Ansari Cendol, Nasi Lemak, Fruits, water & 100 Plus. Loads and loads of it.

Cons:

- Really takde. But really there is one, perhaps in the future could actually do the entire route all the way to the actual peak (additional 6km from U-turn point).

- Someone mentioned Nasi Vanggey at the finishing. I think perhaps a little OTT but why not! ;)

My personal set of photos taken can be viewed at this link. 

Yes, Viking agrees!
Photo courtesy of Mohd. Azfar.

Quick Cooking : Homemade Basil Pesto (ala my own version)

The finished product. Spinach Fettuccine tossed in basil pesto with poached egg and chicken. 

Wow. I can't remember the last time I blog about my cooking.

Well, I've been having "mental cooking blocks" for the last few months. Just couldn't get inspired.

So just the other day I was at Ben's Supermarket and I saw a pack of Thai Sweet Basil Leaves that I decided to make homemade basil pesto for my pasta dressing. And just like that, I grabbed a few key ingredients, went home and started whacking the pesto out; even though it was very late at night.

Basil pesto is usually used as a sauce/dressing for pastas and a great vegetarian dish for vegans and for the health conscious. I've made this pesto before but I've changed a few ingredients to make it my own. One of the ingredients is Tahini but it's incredibly pricey here; so I used a bit of sesame oil instead and added walnuts for more chunky, creamy texture.


So basically, here are ingredients I used for my own version of Basil Pesto.

Do take note, that I don't exactly measure my ingredients as I go by feel most of the time.

1. 100mg Fresh Thai Sweet Basil Leaves (Any variant of basil will do. Thai has a bit more of an aroma kick)
2. Few cloves of garlic (About a good 5-7)
3. A handful of toasted pine nuts
4. A handful of walnuts (or more if you prefer a more creamy texture)
5. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (accordingly)
6. Sesame Oil (alternative to tahini. About 1-2 table spoons)
7. Dash of grated cheese (optional)
8. Salt & Pepper to taste




Making this dish is practically easy and you just need a food processor. I use a manual hand-wind food processor as I have a bit more control over the texture consistency of the pesto.

Make sure your basil leaves are washed, cleaned and spin-dried with minimal water residue.

Next up, blend up the garlic, walnuts and toasted pine nuts first until you get .......

to a somewhat chunky mix like so.

Then add on the basil leaves into the mix with the sesame oil and olive oil and blend. Gradually add the leaves and olive oil periodically after every spin.

The result would be something like this. You can go "creamier" by adding in the cheese, more walnuts and oilve oil to get a semi smooth texture of the pesto which I did. I always prefer to have a bit more bite to my pasta dressing.

The result would be something more golden in colour compared to the very green pesto you see in the supermarkets. Once done, keep the pesto refrigerated and it would last no more than a week. 

As you can see, I used my pesto to go with my favourite Spinach Fettuccine and topped it over with a poached egg and chicken. An excellent healthy choice for those "lazy" to cook like me or just couldn't find time to whip out something too grandeur. 

And now, this blogger is now attempting to venture into some baking. That is if he still has the "balls" to take out the oven that is still sitting inside the box!

Quick Cooking : Spinach Fettuccine in Vegemite Sauce

Brooks HM is just around the corner. Have you done your proper carbo load yet?

More often than not, I'm often hit with what I'm gonna carbo load with. Most of the time, I'll just make pasta to eat. Lately I've been trying this recipe from Nigella Lawson about the use of Marmite. Nigella once got a fan mail asking her to whip out something using marmite as the main ingredient. She just quickly made a rich marmite sauce with butter and chopped garlics and poured it over a beautiful bowl of pasta. It looks delicious just viewing it on TV.

So I've decided to make a spin on Nigella's recipe with a few additional tweaks. 

First of all, I used Vegemite as opposed to Marmite. I also used olive oil instead of butter (health reasons of course). As for the pasta, I used a wholewheat spinach fettuccine; which I love!

The main ingredients.

 I made this version vegetarian, so I mainly used chopped onions and roughly chopped garlic only. Tossed them onto the pan with olive oil. I've used some dry basil herbs, pepper, salt and a dash of cinnamon thrown into it. Fry them to almost brown.

Onions, garlic and herb mix.

 Next tossed in the cooked pasta. Mixed it up with some vegemite and some water and slowly cook the sauce down till it almost thickens.

Slowly simmer till sauce thickens.

 Once done, serve it immediately while still hot. For additional flavour and texture profiling, top with grated cheese to serve or use a raw egg and mix up the pasta to give it a more thicker consistency.

Ready to serve and eat.

That was good for my carb load last night and Bon Appetite! :)

Quick Microwave Fix : Salmon Bone with Brown Rice

My life as a bachelor, I've learn a lot from being independent. When I was studying in college, all I had was a rice cooker. There wasn't a stove or fridge at the student house I was staying, so I had to improvise with what I have. My rice cooker was my only tool to boiling pastas, rice, porridge, maggi mee and etc. It was really my "One-Pot-Wonder". Mind you, it was my mom's old National brand rice cooker; as old as me. So you could imagine how durable it was. 

Nowadays with the advancement of technology, we have access to tools that can cook with just using the microwave. Gone are the days when microwave are just used to heat up food.

Cooking for one person can be quite a hassle to fire up the pan and waste cooking gas. So sometimes I would resort to the alternative. I've always been experimenting with what sort "real meals" I could conjure up with microwave cooking; besides the usual instant noodles. So this is one of them.

Salmon bones. Pre cut from the supermarket.

The other day I was experimenting with one of my own dishes of Salmon bones cooked with brown rice. A simple dish that is easy to make and probably good for carbo loading (as long as keeping the high fat condiments in check)

Salmon is one of my favourite fish to cook. But usually a block of salmon is quite pricey. Recently I've discovered from Ben's Supermarket that they sell the Salmon bones; basically remanence cut off from the fish. Usually used for deep frying or making fish stock, I was wondering what else I could make out of it. I've picked a pack that has a good balance of fish meat, bone and fat content.  I will throw them in the freezer until I find the time I need them.

Brown Rice soaked overnight.

The preparation is fairly simple. One cup of brown rice is needed; enough to make 2 bowls. I love brown rice since it has a lower GI content. Soaking it overnight is preferable. Skipping this step is fine but takes a little longer to cook and may not have that fluffiness outcome at the end. For this, I soaked them in the morning before I go to work. When I return home to cook, I will wash out the soaked rice and prep it.

Here in a nutshell the ingredients:
1. One cup of Brown Rice (soaked overnight) - equivalent to 2 bowls of rice after.
2. 2-3 cups of water
3. Salmon bones (with a good balance of meat, bones & fat) ; roughly cut about 1-2 inches block size.
4. Salt & Pepper
5. 1 teaspoon of olive oil. (not too much as you will get some good fat content from the fish)
6. Dry herbs (Parsley used)

All the ingredients in microwaveable bowl. 

 Basically that's it. Throw all the ingredients into a microwaveable bowl and cover. Heat at Medium/High for first 15 minutes. Then remove it, give it a stir and check the consistency. I prefer mine to be a bit wet and sticky, so I add in a bit more water. Back into the microwave for another 15 minutes.

The results.

 Immediately serve while still hot. I carefully separated out the fish and added a bit of Japanese soy sauce (basically Kikoman). To finish off, topped the rice with some sesame seeds and a side of spicy fermented beancurd.

The finished product. Ready to serve. 

There you have it. A bachelor meal for one on a cold, rainy night. Enough to fill a hungry tummy.

The Love of Cooking & Homemade Beef Patty Summer Wrap

Friends who has known me long enough knows that I LOVE eating and I LOVE cooking. Most of the time, most would comment that moi would be constantly have his mouth chewing on something or asking when is eating time. It's true. I constantly have an appetite for food. 

Sometimes when I feel stressed after work, I will hide myself in a supermarket!

Friends also have been complaining that I'm always cooking for myself and posting pictures of my culinary "masterpieces"online but not a single invitation for "food tasting".

To be honest, I'm SHY.

Me and so many others, are more or less self-taught "chefs". I've learned mostly from my grandma and mom during my young age. First experience, tumbuk chili paste with a mortar and pestle. I grew up watching Wok with Yan & Kuali too and I was seriously hooked.

I see my cooking style as a little bit of everything; but mostly rustic. I DO have an unorthodox method of food preparation and I do sometime put in certain ingredients that doesn't belong. That is why sometimes I'm afraid to share in fear that I would be "criticized" by foodies.

But after much pestering, I think I shall post out something a little "safe". Taking inspiration from Tri Stupe's recipe of Homemade Burger; but with a few tweaks of my own. 

First of all, the main thing to get is minced beef. 

Fresh Australian minced beef. The main ingredient. 

 Fresh Australian minced beef is not cheap. The pack I got was about 450 grams and it cost at about RM17++. That's the thing about shopping at Ben's where everything is quite pricey.

Vegemite & Blackstrap Molasses.

The next main ingredients are Vegemite and Blackstrap molasses.The molasses idea came from Tri Stupe and I've been experimenting with this ingredient for a few dishes. A brilliant alternative/substitute for sugar or honey.  Love the taste of it. It has a slight after taste of sweetness on a beef patty through it's cooked juices. The Vegemite is an additional ingredient of mine since I love the taste of it. Brings a little earthiness taste to the meat.

All the ingredients put in a bowl. 

 In a nutshell, here are the ingredients thrown into the mix.

1. Australian Minced beef (450g). A bit of oily fat from the meat is preferable. Good enough to make 12-13 patties.
2. One tablespoon of Blackstrap Molasses. (previous experiment used 3 tablespoons; too much and "burned" out colour)
3. One tablespoon of Vegemite. (personal preference - just love the earthy taste)
4. Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
5. Half of a large yellow onion. Bronoise (meaning chopped) into dice. Too add a bit of bite and crunch to the patty.
6. Homegrown Dry Basil. (Yes, I specially ordered Homegrown dry basil from mother's friend who grows, dry and pound her own dry herbs.)
7. Salt and pepper to taste
8. Balsamic Vinegar ( A few dashes)
9. Sesame seeds.
10. An egg. As a binding agent to bind the ingredients together and give it a more thicker consistency. 2 egg whites can be used too if concern about yolk. You can use a bit a flour but I prefer eggs instead.

Adding in sesame seeds last into the mix.

The patty all mixed and ready to be rested.

All the ingredients are all mixed in a large bowl and let it sit for a few hours.  

Meat patty quenelle into a football shape with 2 spoons.

 Once ready to cook, set non-stick pan on low heat. In the meantime, prepare you patty "shapes". You can always do the traditional flat shape but I always preferred the small football shape; almost like a cutlet. Use 2 tablespoons to scoop the patty and quenelle the patty into a football size shape. This method is usually used for sorbets and ice cream but works well with anything with this sort of consistency.

Pan fry low with NO oil.

 Place each patty on the pan and NO oil is required. Just make sure the pan is a non-stick coating one. Oil from the fat and olive oil will secrete from the patty. Make sure both sides are cooked but not to overcooked it till dry.

Insides of cooked patty.

 The other reason why I cooked them in this shape is to have a slight crispy burned outer skin but also have the insides cooked with it's own juices. The outcome is a luscious burst of sweet, earthy flavours from within. Great accompanied with red wine or spicy relish.

Pan fried Onions (julienned) and sear some fresh tomatoes. 

 Once all the patties are done, the pan will leave some residue of burned up molasses and oil. Do not let it go to waste and continue to fry it with the remaining balance of the half chopped onion (julienned it) and sear some fresh tomatoes with it.

A nice sunny side up to be added to the plate.

And now, all is pretty much done. For serving, I've decided to do a summer wrap by using huge Iceberg lettuce leave that I've found. Just another alternative besides sandwiching it with bread.

Spread the green over a plate flat and douse with a sprinkle of olive oil & Malt vinegar (balsamic is alright too). Lay the cooked patty together with a sunny side up egg, the julienned onions, seared tomatoes and topped with a spicy cranberry relish and sesame seeds.

Spicy cranberry relish. Bought from a supermarket. A bit pricey but very delicious.

The final product!

Finally, time to eat! You can use the lettuce to warp everything up. I prefer to serve and eat it by means of "deconstruction". Meaning to eat and taste it as separate components but still able to make out the final outcome of taste. 

Meat dipped into the runny egg and relish. 

 I love runny eggs as well. The meat dipped into the egg with some relish is just delicious! Told you I was unorthodox.

So there you have it. My first recipe/ cooking experiment posted online. Crossing fingers the scrutiny wouldn't be terrible. I'm still learning. ;)

Bukit Damansara Fun Run 2012 - A fun run, celebrating our female champion & cracking Bootcamp commands

Bukit Damansara Fun Run 2012 (BDFR for short) was a fun run held last Saturday during the long Raya Haji weekend that is organized by Decanter. Yes, the restaurant / pub / hangout place. I'm sensing there is a trend coming up with establishments like this organizing such fun runs that ends with a pint or two and great amount of food. Looks like MMT is having a run of its money. 

The DR (Dutamas Runners) gang has been talking about this run for a few good months. Especially if there is a free flow of beer and food involved. I couldn't join the run as I predicted that during the Haji Holidays I would be working (as it has always been for the last few years).

Nonetheless, I said I will pop by and support if I can leave work as early as I can that evening. 

Spotted Kenny and Azam at the corner of the school about to make a dash to the finishing.

 When I arrived, I could see there was already a small stream of runners (mostly families) running on the route. I would had expected the guys would had finish by then but at the corner of my eye, I saw Azam and Kenny just passing the school and making a dash to the finishing.

OK, actually I saw them from afar chatting and running at the same time. It's when they spotted me that they made the dash; with me giving BOOTCAMP style orders! I love you guys but I have to break the "bromance" for a while. Hehehe....

Ran a good rough 200m with the guys until the finishing line and spotted Vivian and Ashek along the way. Ever the supporting husband-wife team with Vivian shooting runners at the finishing point.

Front door of Decanter. Packed!

It was a happening scene with loads of food, beers, music and fun going round.

Capt Khoo walloping his carbs. So hungry until the tham chiak face also out. 

Food aplenty!

Soon I found out that our girl, Yvonne has won the race as the first female to finish! A big congrats to Yvonne Teo. You made DR very proud!

Yvonne receiving her 1st place finishing from organizers but Capt had to photobomb the shot!

I think it was a special 1st finishing indeed as they only awarded one male and one female first finisher. No other after that. It's really an honour for Vons, ain't it? ;)

First finisher male and female. And Capt photobomb again!

The DR gang at attendance. From left, Azam, Kenny, Vons, Khoo and me.

The gang made a pact to wear our DR "Don't Think, Just Run" official shirts; sans me. I had them at the dryers unfortunately. Mine clearly just states "RUN" only.

To add more hilarity and joke on to Yvonne's expense, she got an entire box of Fa "Blue Romance" deodorant as part of her prize winnings! I kept calling her "Ms. Fa" that night and joked that she will indeed smell like "Blue Romance" for the entire year. Same issue went I won a one year supply of Sunsilk products earlier this year (which could easily be 2-3 years for my short hair). So I understand the hilarity behind it.

The "Bromance" continues under the rain, under the umbrella. 

The Bromance between the guys continues under the umbrella when it started to rain. Was it kiasu-ism, because they were close to the emcee for the night announcing the lucky draw picks. Need meh..... Indeed a  hilarious and cute sight to be behold. Anyways, none of them got their names called.

Vivian and Ashek.

The banner. 

Yes, we are always associated for a few good gwailo tea drinking. 

Kenny awarding himself with a beverage. 

Although I didn't manage to run at this event, I had a great time hanging out with the guys and met a few more at the event. All of you did great!

ps:/ I heard Capt is opting this route for our handicap run. Yikes!