Penang & KL at the End of The Year

Because there're some errands to do on December 22^nd, I chose December 14^th - 15^th from the polling held by Parkour Malaysia about the date of End Year Jam. Unfortunately the result wasn't as I expected, majority of the voters (65%) chose 20^th - 21^st December. At first I thought still could attend the whole event, but shortly after, the event date was changed to December 21^st - 22^nd. I still thought positively up to this point, coz probably I still could participate just on the first day.

But unfortunately, another bad news came around Day - 1 week: Parkour Malaysia committees had to cancel the first day (December 21^st) due to several reasons, so that all the End Year Jam events had to be squeezed into one day on December 22^nd. Even though I was honestly quite disappointed, but I had to respect the decision. I believed the committees had tried their best.

December 16^th, 2019

So, I finally decided to visit Penang first before going to Kuala Lumpur. This is my second trip to Malaysia this year after last March. After taking ±3 hours flight from Surabaya, for the first time in my life I set feet in Penang International Airport around 03.30 PM. The airport was quite crowded at that time, probably it's because of the beginning of holiday season in December. Shortly after I finished immigration process and buying SIM card, Venise and Jean picked me up at the airport. Meanwhile Steven (Venise's boyfriend) was still working at that time, so he could only join later at night.

It really felt good to see them again after almost 2 years. The last time I met them was at PKMY End Year Jam 2017 in Kuala Lumpur. After having a little chit-chat and pleasantries, the three of us decided to eat (late) lunch at Nasi Kandar Makbul diner. They serve mostly Indian and Malay cuisine.

After eating, Jean drove Venise to the gym where she worked due to her night-shift work starting at 06.00 PM. Then Jean and I went on to visit Kek Lok Si Temple, which is the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. This temple is more than 100 years old and looks glorious.

Finally I could meet Steven at Fisherman Wharf food court in the evening. There was also Nate, Venise's friend fellow personal trainer. The five of us had a casual chit chat up to midnight.

December 17^th, 2019

While waiting for the other friends finished their work or activities, I explored George Town alone. I took time to visit Colonial Penang Museum, which is a museum of antiques from the British colonial and also Chinese merchants who traded in Penang Island. Many interesting stories I got there while spending my spare time.

Around 04.00 PM in the afternoon, Jean and I went to an indoor rock climbing place at Project Rock. At least 1-2 times a week, Jean always trains there. By the way, I seldom do rock climbing because it's not even my basic sport, although its physical training is similar to parkour upper-body training. Nevertheless, in spite of my difficulties, I still enjoyed and had fun with this training session until the closing hours at 09.00 PM.

The five of us (Steven, Venise, Nate, Jean, and I) spent the rest of the night in New World Park Food City while having deep conversations until around midnight. It was really an unforgettable moment.

December 18^th, 2019

Before joining TOFU Parkour regular training at 08.00 PM, I spent all day with Steven and Venise wandering around Penang. But before they picked me up, I did sightseeing alone around Armenian Street which located not far from my hostel. This area is one of the iconic places in Penang Island, where many large murals are painted on the walls.

The three of us spent time throughout the afternoon wandering around some main streets in Penang, and also we took time to stop by at Chew Jetty (floating village) and Teluk Baham dam. Then when night fell, we immediately went to Gurney Plaza for parkour training session.

For the next ±2 hours, I trained parkour with the TOFU crews. There was an indescribable happiness feeling I felt that night. No matter what parkour skill level we had, we were having fun trained together, enjoying the moment despite the drizzling weather. 

Then I spent that night by resting at Steven & Venise's apartment, because in the following morning the four of us (with Nate) would travel to Genting Highlands, before continuing to Kuala Lumpur.

December 19^th, 2019

Around 09.00 AM; Steven, Venise, and I immediately went to fetch Nate at his house. Then the four of us headed towards Genting Highlands afterwards. Because this trip took several hours, we stopped by a few times at the rest area to eat or just resting. We just arrived at Genting Highlands around 03.30 PM.

The weather there was quite cloudy, windy, and lightly drizzling. Unfortunately, none of us brought any jackets, so we had to withstand cold during our visit. Nevertheless, apart from that, its atmosphere was still festive. There were quite a lot of tourists who came on that day. Over the next few hours, we were entertained by cable car rides, indoor amusement park, 'Genting Winterland' Christmas bazaar, and also interspersed with swinging by to some shoe/bag shops that were discounting their selling items.

We just left Genting Highlands around 10.30 PM directly to Kuala Lumpur. We rented an apartment for the next 2 days at Skypod Residence. Since it's been already past midnight at our arrival time, we immediately took a rest.

December 20^th, 2019

After almost one year, finally I could meet up again with Bernard on that day. Remembered on December 31^st last year, when he visited Surabaya to have an adventure with me and other local parkour friends. An experience that will never be forgotten for life.

Soon after returning from work; Bernard immediately approached me, Steven, Venise, Nate, and Jean at some Indian food stall. Moreover, not long ago Jean just joined us riding a bus directly from Penang.

Since that was our last night, the six of us stayed up all night in the apartment until dawn, watching movie and having fun together.

December 21^st, 2019

I had mix feelings between enthusiastic, happy, but also sad on that day. Like other parkour gathering events, there's always a pre-jamming on Day - 1, when most of the participants have arrived at the jamming spot for informal training. I could say that this was the climax of my Malaysian trip, something that I really, really craved since the beginning of this year. But unfortunately, as I told in the beginning, I had to leave Malaysia exactly that night due to my business on the next day.

My activities on that day started when Bernard and I said goodbye to Steven, Venise, Jean, and Nate. Shortly after our farewell, Bernard and I was picked up by Nicholas, whose house located very close with the apartment. There was Marcus who was also in Nic's car. Just info, I've met both of them at LCG 2017 in Singapore, and we stayed together in Freerunner Lodge gym with other Indonesian and Malaysian parkour friends.

The four of us immediately headed to the jamming spot at the park of Apartment Fasa 18R12, in Putrajaya area. Most of the attended participants had already trained there since the morning. There were also Parkour Singapore crews such as CP, Faiz, Sulaiman, Nachos, etc. It felt so, so happy to train parkour with them again. I wish that time could just stop at that moment.

Unfortunately... time flew, and this togetherness had to end soon. Reluctantly, I had to leave Putrajaya to Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2) at ±05.00 PM. My footsteps felt so heavy when leaving the arena while the others were still preoccupying with their jamming. And also, there were still many unaccomplished challenges due to my mental blocks. I promise to myself one day I'll be back to this spot with better progress.

About one hour later I arrived at KLIA 2. Actually, there was still a lot of free time coz my return flight to Surabaya was at 08.30 PM. But it's better to arrive early than too late.

Even though I couldn't attend the D - day, overall I'm so satisfied with this Malaysia trip, especially when I visited Penang. My deep desire since 2 years ago finally can be accomplished. I gained so many valuable experiences from this trip.

Now, time to go back to reality, doing my daily activities, working hard and saving more money for the next trip. Who knows, maybe in 2020 there will be another interesting surprise... hopefully.