Paragliding

Wow, I did it finally! I went for tandem para-gliding at Bukit Dangdut, Sendayan today, Sunday 22 April 2012. Thank you Isma Saring for putting this activity in facebook. Like everyone else, I have fear of height a little bit. Who doesn't when you don't know what to expect. But I have already decided some time back I wanted to do this. This kind of activity didn't exist when I was young, now it's open and I am not going to waste my time. Life is too short.

Tandem paragliding is going on paragliding with an experienced pilot. As a first timer, this is such a great experience. I felt so exhilarating floating on air, not high but good enough to see the Sendayan area below. It's beautiful but quite heart-breaking to see the greenery being cleared to make way for housing and leaving the land area like a bald-headed man.

Shafiq, a UniKL final year student in aircraft engineering piloted the paragliding and me as his tandem or passenger. I have a lot of confidence in him.  He is a qualified paragliding pilot and has been involved in this activity for some time. I promised him that I would want to do it again and I want him to be my instructor.
Because I trusted him, I had a smooth flight and able to take photos of the surrounding area. But I experienced a mild feeling of nausea but was OK after landing. Unfortunately, I wasn't really great at landing. Instead of landing on my feet, I landed on my bump! I want to perfect my landing- it's a skill that needs practice.

Shafiq helping me to get ready for tandem para-gliding on Sunday 22 April 2012.

Launching pad for para-gliders on Bukit Dangdut, Sendayan.

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It needs skill to land on the ground.

I am ready for tandem paragliding with Shafiq, an experienced pilot. Sunday 22 April 2012 at Bukut Dangdut, Sendayan.

Soaring birds on the air- the paragliders. 220412

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Solo Paragliding.

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Tandem paragliding - flying with a pilot.

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Bird's eye view of Sendayan.

I met a mother, Lena, whose 15 year old daughter is determined to take this sport and represent the country in SEA games. she is supportive and involved mother. I wish her Ila good luck and hope she will achieve what she aims for.

So far, according to Isma, I am the oldest participant in this activity in Malaysia. I believe other senior citizens could do it too if they are interested.

I hope my ex-students, friends, children and nephews and nieces would take up this sport and enjoy the beauty God has created for us. 

Love your eyes

I have not opened my computer for 2 days. It's a strategy to give my poor eyes a rest and I don't know whether it works. I google glaucoma and homeopathy and was overloaded with information that my brain got confused with so many terms. Finally I gave up and concentrated on the important information that I need.
One information that surprised me was that now researches look at glaucoma as a disease of the brain, a neurodegenerative disease - that alone frightens me as it shares a number of features with Alzheimer's disease, Parkingson's disease and Lou Gehrig's disease ( I don't know what that is exactly). Ganglion cells which collect all vision information from the other retinal cells is initially damaged by glaucoma (Google article by Assoc Prof Jeffrey L. Golberg). The neurologist at UH has cleared me of any brain disorder through CTscan and MRI. So now a new information that threatens the stability of my mind. I want to find more information about this before I put unnecessary stress on myself.

I have stopped exercising for quite a while - no good reason except laziness. The personal trainer has stopped coming because Ika, Maz and I could not commit to the schedule. I was not at PJ house most time and when I was not there Ika couldn't fulfill the exercise time because no one kept an eye on Rania. She could do it only when I was around. Maz has other exercise activities that she enjoyed. So when it was stressed that exercise is important to lower the eye pressure, I felt guilty but an article soothed my guilt by saying that walking exercise has little effect to lower intraocular eye pressure (IOP) especially in cases of close angle glaucoma which I am suffering from. Anyhow I still do my walking exercise regularly when I am back in my PD apartment.

Homeopathy recommends that caffeine intake should be avoided. I take nescafe once in the morning to help me to go to toilet but I stopped taking it now. I am quite worried over Izrin. He seems to be addicted to Nescafe and smoking and doesn't exercise. All these are risks of glaucoma particularly when his mom is suffering from it. His work demands that he is with computer all day which results in irregular sleep  pattern, another big risks. I hope now that he has a baby he would change his lifestyle.

Self-regulation techniques can also help to lower IOP. Before seeing the homeopathy doctor, I faithfully practiced self-hypnosis for my eyes but as the pressure became stable I became complacent and forgot to do it regularly. I have started again and hope for the best.

So love your eyes. When you lose your sight you would be in a different world. Strengthen your eye sight. Take antioxcidant supplements like bilberry, vitamins C, E, A as beta carotene, taking fresh vegetables are better. Spinach is good but I make it into juice. Regular check up is important with  an ophthalmologist, not with an optician, because glaucoma presents no symptoms. Be particularly mindful if you have family history of glaucoma. Steer clear of prolong stress as stress is one of the causes of Glaucoma. I think that was one of the reasons why I get glaucoma. I am not diabetic and no family member suffers from it.

My gorgeous grand daughter, Rania, has bewitching eyes and I hope she would take good care of it.







  

Homeopathy treatment

For the past few days, Port Dickson waters are calm and tranquil as usual. Threat of tsunami hitting PD on 12 April at 2.41 am has fizzled away in most people's memory. Last weekend, PD was quite quiet and the resort didn't experience congestion for parking.






Thank God, because that weekend we celebrated Rania's 2nd birthday at Thistle Hotel in PD on 14 April 2012. Her actual birthday is on 16 April 2012.










On 11 April I received a number of SMS and calls from friends and ex-students inquiring whether I was in PD. My children were frantic. At that time I was nicely tucked on Jerai Hill staying at Jerai Hill Regency. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there. Many thanks for those who were concerned over my safety. May God bless you.



Pantai Murni in Yan Besar during low tide. 120412.










I promised Maz that I wouldn't go anywhere near the sea when I come down from Jerai Hill. Imagine my surprise when I drove to Yan Besar, Kedah to keep an appointment and it's by the sea. Before this I didn't have the faintest idea where Yan Besar is. I am glad I made an effort to go there and thus learn more about my country. The drive down from Gunung Jerai was not as intimidating as when I drove up. Since I was early for 10.30 am appointment, I took a slow drive along the coast and found it fascinatingly calm and serene. I can't imagine the wrath of the sea swallowing the coast by tsunami. It seems Yan Besar was affected during tsunami in 2004.
I stopped to enjoy the morning breeze at Pantai Murni in Yan Besar. As usual I felt so much disgust over the attitude of most Malaysians who litter and dirty the pretty seaside. The government has provided comfortable place ad facilities but was not appreciated by most people. I wonder what comes into their mind when they littered the place and vandalized the facilities provided.

I met the Homeopathy doctor as promised and he prescribed a ton of medicine to be taken as scheduled. I have done a lot of reading on homeopathy and I know it is organic and effect is long term. It remedied the whole system in the body to treat the root cause. I know glaucoma is degenerative but I hope homeopathy can slow down the process. I was thrown into upheaval again when during my last eye check up my eye pressure rose up. Functioning on 15% vision, this news is not a good one for me. So I decided to go for rigorous homeopathy treatment but still using the 3 eye drops prescribed by my specialist. I really want to avoid surgery. I also hope my reflux problem is addressed too.

It took me 6 hours to reach PJ home with short stops in between for washroom. It's wonderful to see Rania again and seeing Gabe the next day. I missed my 2 grandchildren a lot.

Gunung Jerai, Gurun, Kedah, Malaysia

The hotel swimming pool with a stunning view.

Towards the reception area from the chalet.

Another choice - a chalet facing green hills.

Facing coastal view and the sea.

The attractive variety of antorium which grow in abundance here.

The dome of the surau for staff who stay below at the foot of the hill and visitors.

Lovely view of Pulau Bunting.

At the entrance of the hotel.

View taken below the hill.

Row of chalet facing the magnificent view of the sea and Pulau Bunting.

15 years ago I visited Gunung Jerai. It was a tiny place with an unassuming resort. Sometimes ago a magazine write-up attracted my attention and I planned a revisit but it failed to materialise due to other activities. Since I have an appointement in Yan Besar on 12 April 2012, I decided to go early and make my way to Gunung Jerai on 10 April 2012, Monday. Najidah couldn't make it due to work commitment. GPS took me on a long-winded way through Bukit Mertajam and Sg. Petani but finally reached my destination. Poor GPS, it went haywire reculculating everytime when I drove up the narrow winding road to the peak where Gunung Jerai Regency is. It was a relief when I arrived there safely. If you want to go there, please exit at Gurun, not at Juru as my GPS asked me to. That's an old road.

I was impressed at this place, so stunning and serene with overview of the sea and Kedah coastal area. At first I was told by one of the staff that the long island is Pulau Payar marine park which I have visited when I was in Langkawi. But this morning, another long-time staff explained that it is Pulau Bunting, not Pulau Payar. Took several photos as the day was good and clear. At first I planned to stay a night but deceided to use the 2 full days here.

There are a number of interesting places to visit which take energy in walking and climbing hills. I declined due to my not-so-fit physical condition for lacking in excersing. I have every intention to come again during week days. Today is a public holiday, celebrating the installation of the new Yang Di Pertuan Agong from Kedah. So there are quite a lot of visitors, including cyclists.

The road up the peak is narrow and eeriely winding but driving slowly and carefully ensured safety. Thank you to my faithful MyVi, it took me safely up here and hope safely down the hill too tomorrow. I definitely would like to come again some day.

The hotel is beautifully built with friendly and helpful staff but it needs maintenance. Though the rooms are presentable, they need urgent cleaning, sweeping and sprucing up. It would be a pity if they are left without much effort to keep it well-maintained. I was given a chalet facing the magnificent view of the sea with a faint shadow of Pulau Langkawi. It's not really cold at this time of the year but very pleasant. It's a really relaxing place and I recommend those who need to get away just to chill out, to come here for a few days.

Gunung Jerai is 1217 meters above sea level, made of an isolated body of rock. This suggests that Gunung Jerai was once an island called Pulau Serai. Gunung Jerai presents a number of interesting legendary stories about Sang Kelembai. In 1953, Gunung Jerai was gazetted as a protected area under Gunung Jerai Forest Reserve.