Story from Malaysia

Not enough sleep and full of boredom are the risk that should be borne if one arrives at the destination airport around post-midnight (±01.00 AM), while the earliest bus from airport to city is at 05.15. That’s what I and Andreas felt that night in Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2). Imagine how saturated we were at that time, idling and doing nothing for hours, so boring. But…apart from that, we also felt so much enthusiasm for the upcoming event on the next 2 days: Parkour Malaysia Annual Year End Jam, that would be held on December 16^th 2017.

Once inside the bus, my mind suddenly reminisced to August 2016, when I and Andreas visited Malaysia for the first time. We just explored Kuala Lumpur for one day before continued to Pekanbaru. So, it was a big pleasure for us being here again for the second time, let alone with longer time duration.

After waiting for a while at the bus stop in front of Paradigm Mall, both of us were picked up by Hatta Yang. Just info, Hatta is one of the committees of this jamming event. I’ve met him before in Singapore at LCG 2016 and 2017. What I respect from him is his great time-management capability. In the midst of his busy work and committee tasks, he still spared his time to guide me and Andreas during in Malaysia. I really owe a favor to him. One day if he comes to Surabaya, I promise to guide him back.

Upon arriving at his house, Andreas and I decided to take a nap for a while to recover our energy. Then at midday, the three of us ate lunch first before going to Jumpstreet Trampoline Park. There was another Parkour Malaysia (PKMY) committee that had been waiting for us there, Douglas Liew. We obviously weren’t there for playing trampoline, but instead to move the portable obstacles from Jumpstreet’s warehouse to the rented truck that had been waiting at the parking lot.

Before heading to the jamming location at Tamarind Square, first, Hatta and Douglas brought Andreas and I to the rented house that being used as the basecamp of PKMY crews. For the next 5 days, this would be the staying place for me, Andreas, and the Singaporeans crews that would come on the next day. Besides putting our stuff there, we also moving the vaulting obstacle and air-mat from the house into the truck.

After ±40 minutes trip, finally we arrived at Tamarind Square, located in Cyberjaya, Selangor. Just info, Tamarind Square is a semi-outdoor shop-office complex that’s still ±70% completed (still under construction). That’s where all the obstacles would be placed for the next two days jamming. Besides the four of us, there were two more committees there: Lim Kuang Tar and Jonathan Cheah, who also helped us moved the obstacles and the mattresses from the truck. Then after that, Douglas drove me and Andreas back to the basecamp house. We spent the rest of the first day just at home.

2^nd day in Malaysia, since all of the committees was busy preparing the event, and the Singaporeans crews hadn’t come yet, so Andreas and I decided to spend that day exploring Batu Caves, located in Gombak, Selangor. Just info, Batu Caves is a limestone hill that has a series of caves and Hindu-cave-temples. There’s also a giant golden statue of Lord Murugan and a group of small monkeys wander around the temple. Andreas also took some videos from his drone in this place.

From Batu Caves, both of us continued to look for dinner around KL Sentral, then we returned to the basecamp house by ordering Grab Car afterwards. After the long-awaited, it turned out the Singaporeans crews hadn’t even come until midnight. So, assuming they would come directly to Tamarind Square on the following day, we just decided to sleep (since the first day we slept on the living room carpet).

Suddenly, around 04.30 AM, the front door and window were banged. At first I thought it was just a dream. But, it turned out the Singaporean crews were in front of the house! With still half-awake condition, I opened the door…and there were CP, Leonard, Faiz, Stanley, and Nina (Stanley’s boyfriend). After greeting each other and they had put their stuff, I tried to continue sleeping. But, less than one hour later, the door was banged again. Zack, Wellington, and Xirui had just arrived in front of the door. Since that moment I finally decided not to sleep again, because the house was already crowded and moreover the sun was starting to rise.

Not long after that, Eric Lau came to the house. He is one of the PKMY practitioners who stayed together with me in the last LCG 2017. After everyone got ready, we immediately looked for breakfast at a diner near the house, then ordering Grab Car to Tamarind Square.

So, finally, Parkour Malaysia Annual Year End Jam had just begun. On Saturday, December 16^th 2017, around 100-150 parkour practitioners from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and a few people from some western countries, gathered in the paved courtyard of Tamarind Square for jamming together. The core event itself consisted of beginner workshop, speed run challenge (speed contest), freerun challenge (freestyle), and parkour chase tag; while being interspersed by free jam session in between.

I didn’t join any competition because focusing on selling Avolution Clothing T-shirts and training-shorts with Andreas, while also doing parkour jam (of course) in my spare time. Even though I am a non-competition-parkour adherent, but I still respect people who choose to compete. Different parkour principle doesn’t mean we have to be enemy, but instead it has to be a way to make new friends/relations as many as possible.

By late afternoon, the event was finished after the winner announcement and photo session. I still spared a little time for jamming before packing up the selling T-shirts and shorts, while Andreas also took some time to fly his drone around the rooftop. A few moments before leaving Tamarind Square, I got a surprise visit from Solahudin Idris. He is a PKMY practitioner who guided me and Andreas last year during our first visit to Malaysia. But now he doesn’t training much due to his busyness. It was a grateful we could meet him again even though just for a short time.

From Tamarind Square; I, Andreas, Eric, and the Singaporean crews continued to eat dinner at Gold Chili restaurant in Subang Jaya area, which wasn’t really far from the basecamp house. Its delicious cuisine made me wanna come back here again when one day I revisit Malaysia. Then after finishing our dinner, we hanged out in a random outdoor cafe watching EPL match between Leicester City vs. Crystal Palace. We weren’t really 100% paying attention to the game because they weren’t favorite teams, and most of us weren’t football fans either. But apart from that thing, we really enjoyed this fellowship moment. We gathered here as one family without questioning our race, religion, and nationality.

Not long after the football match was finished; I, Andreas, Stanley, and Nina decided to go home first, while the others still wanted to hang out until late night. We ended the 3^rd day in Malaysia with a total rest due to our physical exhaustion.

Almost everyone woke up late on the next day, including me. My whole body felt so stiff because of the previous day training. On this 4^th day; Stanley, Nina, Wellington, and Xirui went back to Singapore by bus; while CP, Zack, Leonard, and Faiz still continued to train. Meanwhile I and Andreas had made an appointment to meet some of TOFU Parkour crews (Steven, Venesse, Bernard Lim, and Loh Soo Tian) before they returned to Penang. We hanged out together at the coffee shop in KL Sentral area. By the way, I and Andreas initially planned to visit Penang in this Malaysian trip, but unfortunately we had to postpone it due to the cost and time factor. So, I promised to myself that on my next visit to Malaysia, Penang would be my top priority.

From KL Sentral, both of us headed to Pasar Seni area by using LRT, then continued walking to Chinatown at Petaling Street. Andreas also took time to buy some souvenirs, while I just looked around. Later, we walked again to Petronas Twin Tower to take a break there.

In the evening, we met the Singaporean boys again at Murni Discovery Restaurant, Bandar Sunway. There were also some PKMY crews who joined the dinner with us. Then, after that, because Andreas and I didn’t have much money left, we just decided to go back home, while the others still wanted to have a late night Karaoke session. I thought this Malaysian trip was over, on the next day I just had to pack all my stuff and left to KLIA 2. But I was wrong! When the Singaporean boys were already home, they invited me and Andreas to climb Bukit Tabur (Tabur Hill) on the next early morning to catch the sunrise. Had hesitated at first, but after a consideration ‘when-else-if-not-now’…we accepted the invitation.

Later, after I woke up with a very hard effort, I promptly washed my face and got ready to leave. Then around 04.30 AM; I, Andreas, CP, Zack, Leonard, and Faiz went directly to Bukit Tabur by using Grab Car. Once arrived at the location (±05.15 - 05.30 AM), we immediately began to climb the dark foothill just with the flashlight from our mobile phones. The tiring journey through the steep and narrow footpath with bushes was paid off when we reached the top of the hill. The beautiful view of the lake, forest, and Kuala Lumpur city blended into one. Even the Petronas twin tower could also be seen from the distance.

Not long afterwards, the sunrise started to appear around 06:30. The sky slowly transformed from dark blue to purple-yellow mixture, then the cold morning breeze began to warm up little by little as the sunlight was increasing. That’s really one of the most impressive moment in my life, especially it was my first time watching sunrise directly from another country.

In the next 1 – 1.5 hours, we were enjoying the view from the top of the hill while also took some pictures and videos. And of course Andreas didn’t forget using his drone to take pictures/videos. Then, after we felt satisfied enough, around 08.00 AM the six of us immediately went down. Once we reached the bottom, we took a moment for resting inside the small hut near the entrance footpath, then afterwards we returned home by Grab Car.

It was still ±10:00 AM, and our flight back to Surabaya was still quite long (at 03.00 PM). But for anticipating the undesirable/unexpected things, Andreas and I decided to go to the airport right at that moment. The sooner we arrived, the better would be. After saying goodbye to CP, Zack, Faiz, and Leonard; both of us left the house to Paradigm Mall bus stop (the exact picking up location by Hatta Yang on our first day). From there, we took Aerobus which brought us directly to KLIA 2, and waited at the airport until departure time.

Overall, I’m so impressed with this Malaysian trip. Besides being able to train parkour together with new and old friends, I also get valuable experience in exploring public transportation, road directions, location of important places, and also about decision making. Essentially, traveling isn’t just solely about wasting money or taking pictures/videos, but also as a process of self-maturation. And last, hopefully there will be another chance to visit Malaysia again next year.