Waterfall @ Apek Hill

If one were to ask me what's KL best kept secret, I would probably tell them it's the waterfall @ Apek Hill aka Saga Hill. Want to know why? Read on...

Apek Hill (Old Man Hill) is one of the few rare gems available that is still well preserved in today's over developed Kuala Lumpur. It's like a sanctuary in the middle of a concrete jungle. If it weren't because my friends and I needed some training, I wouldn't have had the chance to discover such a beautiful place to share it here.

Located within the vicinity of Taman Cheras Awana, Taman Segar Perdana and Taman Bukit Hartamas, Apek Hill's entrance can be accessible via several entry point. One of the most popular one which I use is located at the end of Jalan Awana 23, Taman Cheras Awana. If you need to get the direction, try searching for "Jalan Awana 23, Cheras" via Google Maps

This hill is rated between Moderate to Advance level by most hikers who have been there. It's considerable tough even for some who frequent to the gym. So if you have not been working out or done any hiking previously, my advice is to try out easier hill like Bukit Kiara or Bukit Gasing. If you aren't sure how tough Apek Hill can be, let me share with you how I would personally rate it. From the scale of 1 to 10, Apek Hill would be rated 5, while Bukit Kiara and Bukit Gasing will be rated 1 and 3 respectively. If you are

Went up for the second time in a group of 5 including myself. Didn't take much picture through the journey as I forgotten to charged my battery, so I was conserving power for the best part. from the entry point, it took our group approximately an hour to reach the waterfall. From the entry point, there is 5 rest Station with the 5th Station located at the peak(386M above sea level).

Apek Hill is really well maintain in term of Cleanliness and it's actually quite safe because there is acutally a group of volunteers that operates a adhoc rescue team. Just in case you get lost in the hill, be sure to look up for small notes with numbers posted up on the trees. Never tried calling through, but I must say it's still pretty impressive.

Here's the waterfall area which my friends and I chilled at after a long and tiring hike;

Uncle Keith enjoying the water massage.

Don't be fool by the gentleness of the water that you see flowing. It's actually quite hard and painful when the water hit your body. Definitely not recommend for those who are in between the two universal gender(no offense intended).

This is actually my second time hiking up Apek Hill over the past 3 weeks and I must say the feeling just got better the second time, most like because we have got more confident after the first attempt. Hiking up Apek Hill is a real challenge for people like me, as I dont go to the gym and rarely do any exercise. At the same time I was thrill to see so much greenary smack right in the middle of Kuala Lumpur. The crisp cool fresh air that we breath there is simply refreshing. Some old folks(age between 50 to 65) who frequent venture around the hill claim that its the fresh air and challenge that keep them fit and healthy.

It is indeed a rare gem and if you have not visited the place just yet, maybe you should try to visit it one of these days before the government decides to make way for more development in the city.

Here's Uncle Jason Dancing (dancing to the rhythm of the falling water)

During our first visit 3 weeks earlier, we had another 4 friends with us. But they have since given up due to the intensity of the hill. LOL. Actually they were busy burning midnight oil to catch the World Cup 2010. Nevertheless the 5 of us had a great time enjoying nasi lemak panas by the waterfall and playing with water. Brings back good old memory when my late grandpa used to bring me to the waterfall in Taiping.

... and here's Nicole, Me and Adeline

Have been actively training and hiking for the past few weeks in prepare myself physically and mentally for my maiden trip to Mount Kinabalu @ Sabah end of this month. Many people whom I've talk to agreed that Apek Hill is a good training ground for those who plan to go Mt Kinabalu. So watch out for my post about my experience conquering Mt Kinabalu (hopefully I'm able to reach the peak without giving up half way).

Jazz @ No Black Tie, KL

After 2 session of intensive training yesterday and this morning, my friend invited me to chill out and was introduce to this place called No Black Tie aka NBT, which is located few streets away from Changkat Bukit Bintang. I've heard a lot about it but never been there until today. It's one of the few premier Jazz Club around town.

The Entrance

From outside, this place look really calm and somewhat deserted. If it weren't for my friend, I would never venture into this place. It has nice greenery landscape porch to welcome guess like me with a serene feeling as I walk towards the entrance. The main entrance is design in such a way that it look like a secret door. Honestly I never knew it was a door and was looking around trying to find the entrance until my friend push the wooden panel right below the No Black Tie sign.

The walkway leading to the stairs and stage.

As I walked in, I was greeted with a mini bar and the cashier counter. That's when a friendly waiter come and greet me before escorting me to the main sitting area just like what you see in the picture above and the next few picture below. I was amaze with what I saw upon stepping in, almost everything was made of wood from the chairs to tables. The wall and floor were covered with high quality treated wood. I suppose its design in such a way to absorb all the echos. I felt like walking into Petronas Philharmonic Orchestra, a smaller version of about 20 times. Nevertheless the feeling was just great.

The view from the stage.

Most of the photo's were courtesy of No Black Tie as I didn't have my camera with me and Blackberry just doesn't take good photo's with low lighting.

The upper deck view

Got a really nice place for 2 by the wall, and ordered a bottle of white wine while waiting for the first performance to start.

Reza Salleh performing on stage

Stage performance begun with Reza Salleh, a funny guy who plays good Jazz music. He composes his own song and sing pretty well. To add on, he is a pretty good story teller, he told stories from the beginning to the end and introduces every single song with a story. His story telling skill somewhat make his music even more interesting because I can start to relate the lyrics to his story as he sings.

There was another group Singaporean performer during the night, but they sing and look more like a rock star. Sadly I don't get what they were signing as the guys were like mumbling and yelling. Worse of all, I just couldn't feel them. Anyway shall not mention the band's name here.

Agenda for the month. Get updated event calender by clicking here

So if you are looking for a really nice place to bringing your dream girl out on a first date and impress her, a romantic dinner with your love ones or chilling out with friends. Didn't had chance to try out the food as I had dinner before coming over, but I heard my friend commenting that it's quite good.

Maybe I shall drop by again soon to try the food and write a short review, meanwhile go there to enjoy the wine's and music.

*Note: for some of the performances, you maybe required to pay a token sum as cover charged. Support local music industry abit lah, these guys/girls really work hard and deserve it. Once in a while they will have international musicians making appearance too.

MPSJ - NST Carnival & 10KM Run

With less than a month before my maiden trip to Mount Kinabalu, I started my training yesterday by spending 1/2 a day hiking @ Apek Hill(aka Bukit Saga, Cheras. It was a challenging one, especially for people like me who doesn't work out. Ended up with muscle ache on both my legs, anyway that's another story to be shared.

This morning I was suppose to participate in the MPSJ(Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya) - NST (New Straits Times) Carnival & 10KM run, but my aching body was rather reluctant to get out of bed. After having a short mental struggle with my body, I decided to get up and go for the run to avoid breaking the promise I've made. My friend took the effort to register and collected the race kit for me, thus it wouldn't be nice if I end up on bed.

So I got myself wash up and drove all the way to MPSJ HQ at Subang Jaya. Arrived at about 6.45am, parking was a breeze as it was still early. I thought I was late because the race was suppose to start however to my surprise, I was told that they are still waiting for the VVIP to flag off the race. How on earth can VVIP be fashionable late when there were a motorcade which consist of 4 super bike escorting the VVIP convoy?

The Starting Line....

The race was officially flagged off almost 8am. Since my body was still aching, didn't really manage to run fast, and my body seems to get dehydrated much faster probably because I'm over exhausted from yesterday's hiking. This is where I'm most disappointed with the organiser(MPSJ and NST), for not providing sufficient water supply at each of the check points, making it extremely tough for most runners, including those experience one.

The 7th check point, without any water supplies or volunteer workers around.

To the organiser, MPSJ and NST in particular, please look into this seriously because its health hazard and someone could have died due to dehydration.Prevention is better than cure. Glad I'm manage to finish the race despite running with an aching body couple with the lack of water supplies.

Skewer @ Subang Avenue

Decided to drop by a new place called Skewer right after work to support a friend's new restaurant. Located on the ground floor of Subang Avenue(A brand new shopping mall, located right beside Carrefour Subang Jaya which is schedule to be launch in Sept 2010).

Was there with 5 friends, Joanne, Allie, Nicole, Ruey and Sue Lynn to support my friend David Lai who is a fulltime Magician by profession. Quite successful I must say for a 24 year old chap. David never fail to amuse people around him, he actually drop by our table while we were dining to show off some of his magical skill that left most of my friends amazed and puzzled.

David Lai & myself

This place served mainly grilled and barbecued food, although the variety of food served are limited at the moment, the price is reasonable and this place serve cheap beers compared to most places in Klang Valley. Overall it's a nice place for friends to meet up. Shall not comment much about the food in this post until a proper food testing session is arrange.

If you are looking for a nice place to chill out and doesn't burn a hole in your pocket, this is a good place to consider.

Location: SG-01 Subang Avenue Shopping Complex (Right Next to Carrefour, refer to the location map below)
Tel: 603-5632-1368
Remark: Look for David Lai or Ken Lau, tell them you are a loyal follower of Charlie Chia, they should be able to give you some discount.

Charlie Chia 1.1 refreshed.

It's been almost 2 year since I last change the design of my blog, and I started getting a little bored with it. So I've decided that it's time to change, a brand new design, something more sleek, clean and classy.

The old design.

The previous design was actually a default blue checkers template by blogger with some minor tweak in its coding. One of the main reason why I decided to change the design was because the previous design has limited readable space, thus limiting the size of my photos.

With the new design below that I'm currently using, the width of the readable space is much more wider, thus allowing me to post bigger photos. I'm still retaining some empty spaces on both sides of my blog to give it a sleek look and feel.

Brand New Look

Basically the new design consist of wider readable space, a new heading with some navigation buttons, and a black & white theme. With the wider design, I'm looking forward to put on bigger photos in all my future posting, maybe I would also invest in a DSLR to play with and photos some high definition photos here if I've the spare time to do so.

That's all for now, do let me know what you think about the new design?