Lafuma Boleh, Saya Pun Boleh!, by Barbara Foong

From left: Pooi Fan, Lee, Xin Tong, Wendy, Barbara, Jeanette, Ng and Joan

Come up, limber up those joints & muscles ala Xin Tong & H. S. Ng of YellowStone. Jolly good company, fresh & cool air, refreshing greenery plus a landslide to add excitement to the 2-hour hike was the lingiring memory of the recent Bukit Gasing Hike.

I have a trekking pole to help me but it got jammed. I know now that the proper way to care for trekking poles is:-

1) Dry-clean your poles after using ity and open the locking mechanism.
2) Always store your telescopic poles with non-fixed locking mechanism.
3) Never use lubricants on or in the shaft.

Wiser now, I did not follow above & I was blissfully ignorant. The end result now, I have a less-than-perfect trekking pole. However, thanks to the pole, I have protected my knee joints, muscles & tendons when trekking the steep & rough terrain at Bukit Gasing.

I like the lafuma outings such as the Bukit Gasing Hikes. One can meet interesting hikers like an ex-banker & Hash House Harrier guy (Mr Lim). He became our impromptu leader. Not only he set out a challenging pace - he was the 'rose' among six thorns!I would divide our group into two - The Frontiers and the Sweepers. Naturally 'Frontiers' like me and Jenny (all age from 53 to 61) were enjoying the jokes and stories told by Mr Lim. I must share one of his jokes. Here it goes..." Do you know what is the name of the man with one ball? Answer ( Ballwant Sing). How about the name of the guy with two balls? Answer (Balanc-ing). Now what do you call the mister with three balls? Answer ( He has to be Amaz-ing!)"

On overhearing the young ladies (below 30 age group) from the 'Sweepers' group talk about tackling altitude sickness, he shared the opinion that taking anti-depressant pills is not good. Jenny also shared that one will have little energy due to these pills. I guess panadol could help for the high altitude headache, plus proper & frequent hydration (drinking water & peeing as often as is possible).

Our group had a few Mount Kinabalu summiters or would-be summiters like Jenny who is training hard for the climb. I love the cool morning hike, crossing the monkey bridge and also the Lafuma products preview done at the tower platform. Like Jenny said, "Live life as full as you can. Everything starts with a first step." I agree and we both understand the word 'osteo-arthritis'. Move & enjoy the outdoors while the body still can function well. So folks make time to join Lafuma Malaysia Adventure Group (LMAG) hikes, you can get more information from the Lafuma Malaysia Blog. A picture say a thousand words, so enjoy the photo gallery. Cheerio. Lafuma boleh, Saya pun boleh!

by

Barbara Foong