33rd Canon Malaysian International Open

Tomorrow, Friday, 12th March 2010, will be the first day of qualifying for Malaysian Open. This is the first time since 2004 that I'll be on my own. Since I'm no longer in national set-up, I'll have to use my own money, well to be exact, my parents' money. The format is the same as last year and the year before which almost the same like usual European Bowling Tour format except during for Master Qualifying, instead of 6 games straight, it is consist of 2 sets of 3 games which in my opinion does not reward consistency and also the finalists are divided into 3 groups, Local, Overseas and the Mixed Pool. I don't want to explain it further. Just come and see and you'll understand. Okay, the main problem for me is oiling pattern, the pattern is about 45 feet long (I think so) and I have to play inside and tight, the longer I play, the deeper I have to move inside. You have to understand that I'm a stroker with high speed and low revolution. It means that whenever the pattern dictate that I have to play inside, I will have a lot of problems. Here is the link for the Malaysian Open's oiling pattern (If you can understand it). The second problem is time. I have to attend classes and some classes are only held once a week. It is quite pain in the arse every time when I 'decided' to skip the-once-in-a-week class. Also, some of my lecturers said they will be conducting a test during the Malaysian Open (another pain in the arse). I already asked Encik Fisol, the deputy director of UiTM's Sport Centre, to write a letter that I'll be representing UiTM in the Malaysian Open so whenever I decide to skip class to play, I'll have a valid reason to do so but it still don't solve the problem that the Malaysian Open final is in Friday. You know why? My CTU151 (Islamic Thought and Civilization) lecturer said last week that a test will be held on the same time. DAMN! The third problem is the cost. My money is slowly draining. I'll have to ask my parents for more. Okay, since I'll be participating in Open category, the registration's fee will be RM160, the singles/MQ's fee is RM80, Master's final's fee is RM350 and if I'm playing in the Desperado squad (I really really hope not), the fee will be RM150. Let's count the probable total cost. Assuming that I will play 7 MQs, 1 MQ is RM80, so the total cost excluding Desperado squad will be RM1070. That is a LOT of money to be spend for a student like me with no income. Remember that I'll need to play minimum of 3 singles/MQs. I'm not sure also if I'll win some prize money to cover back all the cost. Yep, I'm ranting!!!

Kayaking

For today's subject in our Outdoor Recreation is about kayaking. What is kayaking? According to the ever reliable Wikipedia, kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across the water. Well, what is a kayak then? A kayak is defined by the International Canoe Federation (the world sanctioning body) as a boat where the paddler faces forward, legs in front, using a double bladed paddle. My class was supposed to have a kayaking session at the Shah Alam Lake today, but due to 'technical' circumstances, which I really really don't want to elaborate, it was cancelled and most probably - I really really hope so - will be held next week. So, you will ask what did we do after the kayaking session was cancelled, we had a class in a class room of course! Our 'super-cool-and-calm-in-any-situation' lecturer, Encik Zainal taught us about kayak and kayaking in the class. I think he said something we hardly 'see' anything about what he taught us about kayak and kayaking unless we are out there in a kayak and of course, in the water.

Ok, ok. What did we learn today from our 'super-cool-and-calm-in-any-situation' lecturer, Encik Zainal? First we learn the history of kayak. The kayak was invented and first used by the native Ainu, Aleut, and Eskimo hunters in Sub-Arctic regions of north eastern Asia, North America and Greenland . The first kayak were constructed from stitched animal seal or other skins stretched over a wooden frame (made from driftwood, since many of their habitats were treeless).


John MacGregor a.k.a. the father of modern kayaking, is a British sailor of Scot descendants. Well, to make it easy, he is a Scottish. He invented the first modern kayak in 1865 and named it "Rob Roy". He then took Rob Roy to explore the Europe's rivers from 1865 to 1867. For information about John MacGregor, you can check out this page, http://www.paddleworld.com/mac-gregor.php.


The history of modern kayaking in Malaysia started in the 60-s by the British navy in Woodlands. The kayak activity was back in action in the 70-s especially around Penang and during the 80-s, the kayak activity was growing rapidly helped by the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Next subjects about kayak are about the size and how to choose a kayak, the stability of a kayak and types of kayak, which I'll write in my next blog.

P.S I'm still just a beginner about kayaking though! Better ask the experts for more information.

First Post of My Blog

It never occurs to me to simply write a blog. Well, I lied. I did think about it but in the end I shot down the idea myself because I'm afraid that I'll only vent my frustration in my own blog without any consideration about consequences. So, why am I suddenly writing a blog? It's because I have to. En. Zainal, my 'super-cool-and-calm-in-any-situation' lecturer for the Outdoor Recreation has pointed out that I must write a blog. This blog will be a cool 10 marks for the overall assessment of the subject. One big problem is, I only knew about this a week ago from the date this first ever blog I ever write. It is a big concern of mine, because I need to write a blog about anything that has something to do with the Outdoor Recreation once a week and I haven't 'blog' anything since the class started almost 2 months ago. DAMN!! Quite a lot to catch up. A LOT!!