Ulu Renning

GPS Location: N3 28.893 E101 41.141
date: 30th Aug
Time: 9.30am till 1.30pm
total distance travel: 30km

Bart -on the left!

me crossing the river

figuring out how to cross

Ghost Festival

The Ghost Festival (simplified Chinese: 中元节; traditional Chinese: 中元節; pinyin: zhōngyuánjié, alternatively simplified Chinese: 鬼节; traditional Chinese: 鬼節; pinyin: guǐjié) is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday, which is celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh lunar month - actual day is on 2nd Sept.

In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. During the Qingming Festival the living descendants pay homage to their ancestors and on Ghost Day, the deceased visit the living.

On the fifteenth day the three realms of Heaven, Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mache form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the former only includes older generations. Other festivities may include, buying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities. - wikipedia!

Beetroot Juice Boosts Endurance

A GLASS of beetroot juice boosts endurance by reducing the amount of oxygen needed during physical exercise, a study says.

Subjects who drank the juice easily outperformed a control group in tests and were able to exercise at the same intensity for up to 16 per cent longer.

The findings, published in the US-based Journal of Applied Physiology, will be of keen interest to endurance athletes but may also prove helpful to people with cardiovascular, respiratory or metabolic diseases as well as the elderly, the researchers said.

There are essentially two ways to enhance physical performance in relation to oxygen intake.
One is to raise the "VO2-max" level, which is an individual's highest possible rate of oxygen consumption during all-out exercise.

The V02-max ceiling varies from person to person. It is partly genetic but it can be increased through training or the use of EPO, the oxygen-boosting drug that has plagued the Tour de France cycling competition as well as other professional sports.

"But there is an alternative," explained Andy Jones, a professor at the University of Exeter in Britain and lead author of the study.

"If you can reduce the energy cost" - the amount of oxygen used - "that can be beneficial too," he said.

That's where beetroots come in.

In experiments, Prof Jones and colleagues asked two groups of people to exercise at a fixed, high-intensity work rate for as long as they possibly could.

The group that drank a red-coloured placebo held out on average for nine or ten minutes. Those who drank beetroot, however, went 11 or 12 minutes.

"They were exercising at exactly the same work rate. The improvement in performance was not because the V02-max had changed but simply because the efficiency had been enhanced," Prof Jones said.

"We were amazed by the effects on oxygen uptake because these effects cannot be achieved by any other known means."

Whether the juice will also work over several hours of less intense exercise - equivalent to long-distance running or cycling - remains to be shown but seems likely, Prof Jones added.

The researchers are not sure exactly how the ruby-red elixir works but they do have an educated guess.

Like lettuce and spinach, beetroot is rich in nitrate, which the body converts into nitrite. This, in turn, is a chemical trigger for another compound, nitric oxide.

Nitric oxide can dilate blood vessels and thus provide more oxygen to muscles. "But we think the key is that it seems to do a lot of weird and wonderful things within the muscle cells' mitochondria, where oxidated energy is produced," Prof Jones said.

Earlier laboratory studies confirm the link between nitric oxide and increased energy output but further experiments are needed to see whether this truly is the magic ingredient.

Another study, published last year in the US journal Hypertension, found that beetroot juice reduces blood pressure too.

You can also read more here posted by bikeradar 26/10/2009

Well this coming sunday is PCC -NEXUS PRESIDENTIAL RIDE 2009 65km - gonna try this and see if its really works!!!

nonsense peoples

Recently I posted a 18-55mm nikon lens for sales and my asking price is RM300. Some idiot sms (which i stated clearly on my post at no sms) and he offer me RM200.

eg 1: my posting at Photomalaysia.com

some idiot make his offer! everything about his convenient.

eg 2 : Im asking RM50 nett and yet some idiot still do not understand the meaning of "NETT"

eg 3 : My posting selling off a brand new Mavic X717

and again some idiot offer some ridiculous price.

Insomnia

i have not been getting good nite sleep since last Friday 31st July. Beginning cannot sleep at all and pass few days woke up at 2am and today 4am. Sunday the worse till first thing morning go and see a doctor and desperately need a sleeping pills and the doctor gave me 3 pills. Took 1 at 8am and took off on Monday. Sleep till 3pm and took my lunch and straight back to my bed - hang over feeling. Tried not to fall asleep worry cant sleep in the evening! My mind is not tired and keep generate my daily routine work task - by itself!

I tired massage, burning essence oil, listening to musical instrument, drink herbal alcohol (yomeishu) and tonite will try listen to waikhong's meditation cd.

the progress:-
Fri - 4am
Saturday-6am
Sunday - was awake by my alarm - time for cycling!!! :)
Monday - 5.45am light sleep, keep waking up.

I really suffering now! please help :(

Thanks to my wife who have been sending me to work for two days where she has to wake up at 6am in the morning! @}--,-----

Found some interesting website about how to get good sleep here and also bought a Lavender home fragrance oil and Berocca - suppose to release stress and sleep better.

Saturday suppose to see acupuncture (suggested by eddie wong) but i think they are close till Monday. So today after work will be going again!

Berocca - can relief stress.

and Laendar oil

yesterday 10th August finally managed to go to the acupuncture shop. The doctor said take those madicine first for 3 days and no need acupuncture. Wah why so big bag!!!

Others

huh! how come suddenly im reading road bike magz?!?!

last Saturday bought a new rotor and after removing the old rotor realize that my front brake pad is almost worn out.

6pm at the bike shop realized my rear brake pad also worn out and not advisable to do Kiara on Sunday and its too late to go KSH PJ to get this part.

Cameron Highland 25th Aug

grapes at MARDI

souvenir from cameron - not cheap now! the one right at the center cost RM95!

Bala chalet

view from Brinchang 4pm - raining

one of the cottage - 1st floor

entrance to the cottage room

rear section of Bala

stair case to the rooms at the main block

capture this is Boh Plantation

not difficult to snap this - not using macro - only need to bend my body for 1 mins

more photos coming!

Ulu Langat - alone on Sunday 2th Aug

view from the Look Out Point about 8am

Look out point

7.38am

Sunday morning im cycling along, started at 6.30am, photo was taken about 7.16am.

total distance from my house to Look out point, all the way down to the hill and climb up again and back home!


Reach home about 9am, wash two cars and cant sleep. Yesterday morning see doctor and told the doctor I did not sleep for 3 days. Monday KO! Insomnia!