Damansara Hash House Harriers, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA

25th Anniversary Run, Bukit Lagong

January 22, 2010

I am a member of Damansara Hash House Harriers (DHHH), a group of crazy people who get a kick out of terrain running. Today was a big day for DHHH, being its 25th Anniversary run. HHH members from other chapters, as far as Indonesia, Sabah and Sarawak, were amongst 748 runners registered for the run.

The stage set for the big bash

Registration Counter

The stage was all set for the big run. The run site was at an abandoned parking lot, enough room for busloads of people coming from out of states and cars. RELA members were there to lend a helping hand. Most DHHH members were there early, before 2pm to help out with registration, drink huts, food huts or just being busy bodies.

Shoe stall doing brisk business

The hares having bath , hashers' style after laying paper trails for the run

Hares, co-Hares and sweepers

Just before the run at 4.30pm, there was a Bhangra performance by a group of Sikh artistes. It was supposed to be the warming up for the run. The show was lively but cut short due to time constraints.

Bhangra Group

Warming up to the Bhangra beat

So the run began

The long (normal) run started at 4.30pm and the short run followed 15 minutes later. Traffic came to a stop as we crossed the road and so the run began. From the run site, we followed the paved road by the stream that looked like a picnic spot. I had run this site a few times before and love every inch of it. From the road we veered left following a small path. Then, it took us deeper and deeper into the jungle. Just like in most hash runs, the punishment was severe. We climbed steep hills and descended even steeper slope. We crawled through gap under fallen tree trunks. That was one heck of a kick for runners aged mostly 50 and above.

On On. Hasher's familiar call

A Korean hasher emerging from a gap underneath a fallen tree trunk

Me, half way through the run inside Bukit Lagong jungle

I reached back at the run site after 3 hours of gruelling run. Most of the runners were readying for the big anniversary bash. After a quick bath and getting rid of leeches on my legs, I had my drink and meals. I did not wait for the party to start. I headed for home and off to bed.

There will be another run, another party another day.

Chiang Mai, THAILAND

Chiang Mai Highlands Golf Club
January 15, 2010

I played at this course during my second trip to Chiang Mai with Zack and Datuk Anuar. It was relatively a new addition to many golf courses dotting Chiang Mai landscape.

Waiting for the bus in front of the hotel

Today was the final round with stroke play format. It was also my 4 rounds of golf daily since we arrived. I was really looking forward to resting my aching body but surely I would not miss the chance of playing at another beautiful course in Chiang Mai.

The 2 guys from Hong Kong and BC Lim left for home. There were 18 of us left. The purse shrunk to Bht18,000. I joined Felicia, Chairman Hiu and Steven in a foursome flight. Three of us "Saddam Hussein" Steven, meaning 3 against 1. Steven was a single handicapper. We thought we stood a good chance of beating Steven. We were wrong. Only Felicia rose to the occassion. Both Chairman Hiu and I were struggling all the way. I played one of my most embarassing games. I walked over a few holes because I just could not hit the ball. Felicia was the one fighting Steven all by herself. Final result, 110 on my score card (including walkovers that came with a double par) and lost Bht500 to Steven.

Our big group on the final day (My camera ran out of batteries. This was the only shot I got at Chiang Mai Highlands)

After the game, we retreated to an authentic Thai restaurant called Suan Paak. Just like any upmarket restaurant, it was beautifullydecorated. It also happened to be Daniel Tan's birthday bash. More "yam seng". Even Lek joined us and brought along some Thai tid bits for desserts. By the time it was over, it was too late to go to the night market. We had to wake up early to catch a flight back the next day.

For this trip, all I could see were hotel, golf courses and restaurants. There was not much time left for shopping or sight seeing. I believe Chiang Mai has some beautiful places worth a visit. May be next time.

Chiang Mai, THAILAND

Alpine Golf Club (formerly called Chiang Mai Lamphun)

January 14, 2010

We had booked tee off time at 12.30pm but the group was in high spirit to play 27 holes. So we left the hotel early hoping to get tee time for additional 9 holes. On arrival, we found out that as in most courses in Chiang Mai, we had to follow the alloted tee time. With nothing much we could do, we hanged around the club house. Waiting. To quote Felicia, a lady golfer in the group, "we got balls but no brains".

Clock on the tee box. To make sure that every golfer follows the tee off time

I had played at this course during my first golf trip overseas in 2000. Then, I was just a beginner in golf. I could hardly remember the course.

The format of the day was boogey play. I was paired with Daniel Ng, BC Lim, Chairman Hiu and Bobby. The purse was another BHT21,000 coming from 21 golfers.

Alpine was a far better course than Royal Chiang Mai or Gassan Lake City. We teed off from the white tee box as it was club's regulation that only golfers with handicap of 9 or below could play from the blue tee.

I played almost flawless golf for my handicap registering only 1 double boogey in the front nine. I thought I already saw the "Clarinet Jug", the prize money. Disaster struck on the first par 5 hole of the back nine. My flawless drive from the tee box was out of bound. My approach shots went about 100 meters up and 10 meters to the front, twice. I ended with a big 9. I still managed to play well on several holes but screwed another 2 holes. Despite 7 pars and 1 birdie, I did not get the Clarinet Jug.

It was at Alpine that we met Lek (trinidacnx@yahoo.co.th or HP+66817161566), a lady who introduced herself as a golf consultant, a new term at least to me, for a travel agent doing golf tour. She was pretty, jovial and friendly. Lek could see that she was with a group of upmarket golfers (with yours truly as the exception) and stayed with us for the next 2 days. Good marketing person.

We had dinner at the Good View Restaurant (053241866). At least someone made a reservation this time. We had Japanese sushi as appetizers and Thai food as the main course. The restaurant was a perfect place for dinner. The setting was beautiful and sitting by the riverside gave the ambience of a romantic place.

After dinner Zack and I went to a spa near the hotel for a massage. It was there that I accidently walked into a pool of water fronting the entrance. For aesthetic reasons or good fengshui, some spas in Thailand have a pool of water right in front of the entrance. I did not see it until it was too late. For that embarassing glitch, the spa gave us a BHT100 discount for the massage. I ended with a wet pant and red face. Luckily I brought 2 pants for the trip.

Chiang Mai, THAILAND

Royal Chiang Mai Golf Club

January 13, 2010

We checked out of Imperial Mae Ping and checked into Shangri La, where our group was supposed to stay. There were 21 of us, 18 from Malaysia and 3 from Hong Kong. All were businessmen/women mostly in the chemical industry.

Having checked in, I was at the hotel front having a cigarrette break waiting for the group to arrive. Suddenly the hotel staffs were running around, some talking on walkie-talkies, some came out waiting for someone to arrive. Even a car parked in front was asked to clear away. I thought it must be some big shot arriving. It turned out to be the reception for our group arriving from the airport! It was quite a reception from a 5-star hotel.

Shangri La Hotel

We proceeded to Royal Chiang Mai GC, the first course in the group's itinerary. As we were being registered, I realised that my golf shoes were not in the bag. I must have left it in Boon Sung's car. One call and he confirmed that they were inside his car. So I rented a pair from the club for BHT100. It was a bit oversized for a small guy but it had to do.

The format of play was stableford and prize money BHT21,000. I was paired with Francis, Bobby and Zach.

The Flight

Royal Chiang Mai is just an average course but very popular as seen by the crowd of golfers. It was apparent that Chiang Mai is a golf destination. Golfers were on the fairways of every hole. They came by the busloads. It was truly international with westerners, Japanese, Koreans, Malaysians and local Thais all over the place. You really need to book tee time to play.

The Fairways

My game was bad, as usual. Bobby and Francis made good golf buddies and it was fun to play with them. We had a good time despite the bad scores. May be I could place the blame on the shoes!

The Club House

Dinner was supposed to be at Good View Restaurant located by the river side. When we arrived, the place was crowded and full. They definitely could not accommodate 21 of us without any prior reservation. So the group opted for another restaurant serving Teochew food. Except for Zack and I, the rest of the group were Chinese. Since we skipped lunch for golf, everybody was really hungry.

After dinner, I waited for Boon Sung to come to the hotel to send my golf shoes. I was really touched by his sincerity. I would recommend him any time. He may be contacted on his mobile at +66818818239.

Chiang Mai, THAILAND

January 12 - 16, 2010

Both Zack and I had to take flight a day earlier because Air Asia tickets for travel on the 13th. were sold out. In our quest for cheaper fare, we missed the flight with the rest of our group and ended paying more.

The flight was full, made up mostly of holidaymakers and golfers. On arrival, we took a cab to Imperial Mae Ping, our hotel. The cab driver was an old man, overly cautious and slow. He offered to take us to Mae Jo Golf Club for BHT1400. It was time for us to shop around. At the rate he was driving us it would be dark by the time we reach the golf club.

After checking in, we found a guy offering to take us to a golf course for BHT800. He recommended Gassan Lake City Golf Club. He said it was better than Mae Jo. We got ourselves a bargain. Boon Sung, our driver, was one happy and friendly guy. He understandably took us to Sophia Restaurant near the mosque for halal meals. We had our lunch there during our last trip and it was good. Somehow, it was disappointing during this trip.

Gassan Lake City is part of Gassan group of golf courses in Chiang Mai. We played at Gassan Khuntan the last time and thought it would be of the same standard. We were wrong. The course was poorly maintained. Even grasses grew in bunkers. Zack wanted to walk the course. It was mid day. Despite the temperature in the 20s, we could feel the heat. The caddies were old. After a few holes, Zack's caddy, Pim, booked by Boon Sung, gave up under the pretext of pain in the eye. I tought she just got tired of walking especially after caddying for 18 holes earlier. After the front nine, Zack also got tired of walking. We hired a buggy, finished our game around 4pm. I had quite a good round for my standard with 6 pars and a score of 92 on the card.

Boon Sung took us to a place called Chang Klan for a Thai massage. For BHT500, we had a good rubdown.

We had dinner at the night market. We did not actually spend time shopping or browsing the stalls at the market as we were tired. It was an early start from KL and sleep was definitely what we needed the most.

(There are no photos for this blog because they did not turn out ok. I suspected that the exposure was wrong)