Borneo International Marathon 2013 (BIM) | My First Solo Experience

by Daniel Chiam 

Yesterday was my first time ever to experience the Borneo International Marathon event and no, not as a runner but as a videographer and also a photographer for ione2run.com to cover the event. Perhaps I'll join as a runner next time. Let's just hold that thought there.

Anyway, yesterday was my first time going solo on the field and also my first ever project ever since I came back to stay in Sabah.  Usually I will attend a running event with Kay who handles ione2run.com and he will usually do all the hard work while I'm just there to snap photos and update my own Instagram, haha.

Working solo was really challenging especially when I had to do both video and photos. Well, maybe things can be a lot easier if I actually plan out everything before hands but once a cowboy, always a cowboy. Just go there and do your thang partner...

I've learnt a few things yesterday and one, I'm not really good at multitasking. I soon found out that I have less footage to be use for the video highlights and most of the outcome of my photos was not really that impressive. I will try to work on my skills to switch between video and capturing photos, do the settings and all (perhaps I should just stick with auto mode when capturing photo, then it will be faster) and try to master the camera's focus for video.

Second, I need to be really discipline. I missed the full marathon flag off yesterday cause I snooze a bit then when I'm all ready to go, I had to use the toilet for some big break. Thus, when I reached the stadium, I can see all the runners ran passed my car.

Third, I need to learn to take care of my tools and equipment more carefully. No damage was done but I did lost a small mount that connect my tripod/monopod to the ball head stand that I have. I'm not sure they sell it separately but I do hate to spend more in my current situation.

Alright, without much more talking, do checkout the first video that I have ever edit and made on my own. Leave a comment, give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends and I will appreciate it much. Thank you all!

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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Malaysia is The Axiata Cup 2013 Champion!

by Daniel Chiam

Yesterday was my first time attended a live badminton finals match and it was for the Axiata Cup 2013 between Thailand and our very own team Malaysia! It was indeed an awesome experience. The atmosphere of being there personally to witness and to cheer along with the Malaysian supporters is really priceless.

The dude standing on the left was super excited for every performances in between matches.

The first match between Thai's Ratchanok Inthanon and Malaysia's Sonia Cheah was a blow to the home supporters because Ratchanok clearly dominated the match and with so many mistakes by Sonia, the first point of the night goes to Thailand. Ratchanok really played very well that night.

The second match was between the mix doubles Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee T against Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon. I have to say it was the most interestingly intense match to watch on that night. It was definitely the match that pleases the crowd the most. The long rally, exchanging smashes and fast pace of the game really got the crowd cheering and standing on their feet to cheer on our national heroes.

The last time I met Dato' Lee Chong Wei was last year when I got the opportunity to send him off at the airport to London for the Olympic 2012. Axiata Cup 2013 finals was my first time seeing the man himself playing live before my eyes. The match was clearly dominated by the world's number one and Thai's Tanongsak clearly had an experience disadvantage when facing Dato' LCW. 

Nonetheless, Dato' LCW's decision to play for the Malaysia's team in the finals was overwhelmed by the supporters and the whole night the crowd was cheering and chanting his name. At some point of the time, they event cheered for his newborn son's name - Kingston!

The passionate Malaysia's supporters that sit in front of me.

The last match of the night was the men's double between Boonsak Ponsana and Songphon A against Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong. It was clearly a win for Malaysia when half way through the game you realize our men's double are more experience than the Thais. 

To me that night was just simply amazing. It was the supporters that fascinates me the most. They kept on cheering and cheering and cheering the whole night. I was thinking when are they going to stopped, and they never did till the very last minute when Malaysia finally won the final. I am really glad and happy to be apart of that loud and noisy supporter that night.

Thank you again Axiata for the tickets and of course to Nuffnang for an experience that's going to be hard to forget.

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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#RipCurlProTerengganu | Tell Laura I Love Her

Phtographed by Daniel Chiam

Like I mentioned in my previous post, A LOT of things was going on in the Rip Curl Pro Terengganu aside from the main 6-Star Asian Surfing Championship. Also one of the main highlights during the event is to be able to witness Laura Mannheim the surfboard artist sharing her artworks with everyone who came.

Laura drawing on a surfboard

Laura is an artist and graphic designer who is based in Germany and Brazil. I didn't get to talk with her much and mostly what I know about her is from Sam and Ariff who managed to actually had a conversation with Laura, and that she do surf, her husband is a Brazilian and that she is really a nice person to hangout with. I wish I'd used that time of sheltering from the rain during the finals to hangout with Laura and getting to know her personally. 

Some of Laura's artworks

I also wish that I have a surfboard that I could request her to draw on. I wish I can surf to begin with! Anyway, I really like her artworks. Its kawaii (cute), its quirky, it looks simple and I love how she play with different vibrant colors in some of her artworks. If she had an online comic strip, I'll be her loyal reader, haha.

Laura was greatly occupied in that 3 days with one surfboard after another and more people just came to her with basically anything that they think is able for Laura to draw on. Phone, camera cap, caps and all other stuffs, but mostly are surfers with their surfboard.

So I tried to find out more about her from her website and that maybe I could get more of her artworks from there, but apparently the website is not up yet and the next option will be her Facebook page. It's still new but you can already see a lot of her artworks there and I am just falling deeper in love with her talent. 

Do checkout her Facebook page and remember to 'like' it.

from www.hello-iam-laura.com

So, currently I'm following up on her updates via her facebook page and hopefully the next time she came down to Malaysia again, I'll be able to meet her, be friend and get something for her to draw too, haha. I can't help it, I really love her artworks.

I tried to get Laura to draw on my Rip Curl's cap during the last day of the event, but the things waiting in line for her to draw was just too much and I had to rush back to the hotel so that I won't miss the bus going home. 

Lo and behold when I was chilling in the hotel lobby with the other bloggers, Laura came walk in and actually greeted us (ain't she just friendly!). All of us get to talk a bit with her and then Jess started to mentioned about Ariff's cap which Laura had draw something on it earlier on. So out came Jess' cap and Laura took out her marker pen and started drawing.

My once in a lifetime chance to get Laura to draw something for me is finally here! I rush off to my bag and get the biggest thing that I could find for Laura to draw, haha. All of I could think of back then was my external hardisk. Out it came from my bag and quickly I waited in line for my turn, haha.

It was Laura's first time coming to Malaysia and she was going to visit Kuala Lumpur the next day after the event has ended. She's really a friendly person, and very kind enough just to spare some time drawing for us in the hotel lobby. I really appreciate it and I'm officially a fan of hers!

Laura if you are reading this, thank you again! Do drop by to Malaysia again soon!

Here's what Laura had draw for me! Hopefully I can get a more colorful drawing from her next time, but at the meantime, I'll just have to continue to ROCK ON!

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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#RipCurlProTerengganu | Thank You Very Nice!

by Daniel Chiam

The Rip Curl Pro 6-Star Asian Surfing Championship at Batu Burok beach, Terengganu has finally come to an end on Sunday (2 December 2012). It was indeed a prestigious event that has sparked the interest of many in the sport of surfing within Malaysia itself, and also opened the eyes of the world to the beautiful waves that Terengganu has to offer.

The weather was in great condition for the past 3 days except during the final showdown when it started raining, but at the same time created a much perfect condition with more waves for the surfers to catch and performed their skills.

The crowd turned out was great, especially for the the first 2 days where a lot of the local surfing fans came to support and witness the best of Asian surfers in actions. The crowd was lesser on Sunday morning because it was a working day for the state of Terengganu and somehow it effected the amount of people that turned out at the beginning of the day. In the late afternoon, tho it was raining during the finals, there are a lot of people show up who are taking  shelters along the booths area to witness the surfers giving their best to rise up as champion.

Other than the competition itself, there is still a lot more things that's going on during the 3 days event. There were a few booths to play games and to win some merchandise from Rip Curl and also from one of the sponsor, Fanta drink. Free Nestle Drumstick ice cream were available the whole 3 days! I have eaten countless ice cream *heaven*, haha oh so nice! There were also a surfboard artist there; Laura who did a splendid job drawing cute characters to decorate the surfers' surfboard, surf clinic where you get to learn how to surf, and many more things going on in that 3 days!

Laura the surfboard artist

The fun part for me and some of us bloggers is the process of taking photos of the surfers in actions, where all of us have the smallest zoom lens if compared to the photographers who showed up for the event with their gigantic and super long zoom lens. We had to go further into the water just to take a few good shots and the surfers needed to wait for the right wave in order to get a better ride, they waited and so are we. It was really an experience that I will forever cherish.

Samuel from seraphsam.com

It's really not easy to take photos of the surfers in actions okay! Most of the time we just had to give up because the scorching hot sun and the tide was too strong. We have tried our best and I know I have have did the best I know how. Hopefully I can do better for the next surfing event (if I ever get to be invited to one again). I'll try to upload as soon as possible all the photos that are with me. At the moment, here's some teaser from Rip Curl Pro Terengganu 2012:

Anyway, here's the Rip Curl Pro Terengganu 2012 Competition Results:

ASC Men’s Open Division

1. Made Darmayasa (IDN)

2. Garut Widiarta (IDN)

3. Andre Julian (IDN)

4. Sandi Selamat (IDN)

ASC Longboard Division

1. Arip Nurhidayat (IDN)

2. Tipi Jabrik (IDN)

3. Decha Sithidej (THA)

4. Khairil Doje (MLY)

ASC Women’s Division

1. Jesse Hong (TWN)

2. Yasnyiar Gea (IDN)

3. Diah Rahayu (IDN)

4. Salini Rengganis (IDN)

ASC Master’s Division

1. Tipi Jabrik (IDN)

2. James Hendy (ENG)

3. Decha Sithidej (THA)

4. Yasuo Hirana (JPN)

Bodyboard Division

1. Ibrahim Shiman (MDV)

2. Syed El Hussain Syed Atikullah (MLY)

3. Ali Javeed (MDV)

4. Hatta Affendi (MLY)

*MDV: Maldives, JPN: Japan, ENG: England, THA: Thailand, TWN: Taiwan, IDN: Indonesia, MLY: Malaysia

The contest was clearly dominated by the surfers from Indonesia, and it was Bali's Made Darmayasa's first ever wins in ASC Men’s Open competition at the Rip Curl Pro Terengganu. I have to admit that the Indonesian surfers are more aggressive and very good at catching the right waves. Congrats to all the winners!

Made Darmayasa (in yellow). Photo courtesy of ASC Media

Only three Malaysian surfers that made it into the finals which is Syed El Hussain Syed Atikullah, Hatta Affendi both for the Bodyboard Division and Khairil Doje for the ASC Longboard Division. 

I was rooting for our female Malaysian surfer; Brenda Lee who only manage to qualified until the semi finals. She has fought a good fight but was unable to catch the right waves most of the time and had to settled in the fourth place during her final heat.

Brenda Lee after her final heat in the semi finals.

Rip Curl Pro Terengganu 2012 is a great significant for all the Malaysian surfers as it is the highlight needed to expose and share with the whole of Malaysia especially about the beauty of surfing the waves. It might not be a popular sport yet in Malaysia but with the on going support and publicity by media, state tourism and also the Malaysia tourism, I believe that one day we can have as much great surfers as other countries have and that we Malaysia too can be a place for great surfers from all around the world to gather and have a good time at the beach and on the Malaysia's waves.

Thank you again Rip Curl Malaysia for inviting me for such a prestigious event and also the great hospitality during the event. See you again in Rip Curl Pro next year perhaps?

PS: "Thank you very nice" was the catch phrase used by the commentator throughout the event and it just stuck in everyone's head, haha.

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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Rip Curl: Sun, Sand, Beach and Shades

by Daniel Chiam

Olla people, updating live from Terengganu! If you've been snooping around here long enough then you'll know that I will be at Batu Burok, Terrenganu for the weekend to cover for the Rip Curl Pro's Malaysia first ever 6-Star Asian Surfing Championship! It's happening from 30th November till 2nd December. So if you are nearby, do drop by for this happening event!

Just for this this event, I have raided the Rip Curl's fitting room just to find something nice from them to wear on the beach, enjoying the sun, listening to the ocean's wave and checking out girls in bikinis :D

It's blardy red mate!

I really like the fabric of Rip Curl's t-shirt. It's soft, thin and very comfortable as a beach wear. Especially with the sun trying to burn you up, a normal cotton t-shirt just makes it even warmer and you'll easily sweat but that's not the case with Rip Curl's t-shirt.

Checkout the awkward smile mate

You can even feel it when the breezing wind is blowing at you because of the thin fabric. It is just an awesome and soothing feeling; a full body experience with nature. I'm also checking out their shorts and was hoping that I can buy one for my future island or beach trip, haha. They have a lot of good looking pants but I like this particular one. 

Hmm should I buy the pants or not....

Just to let you know, Rip Curl is an Australian brand and their sizes are one or two size bigger for Asian. I was trying out size XS and S for all the shirts here, that's why you can see my tummy and how I tried my best to suck it in to make it less obvious, haha.

Freakin' awesome pants

Anyway, I am very much looking forward for the event later in the morning. I'll try my best to update it at night and letting you in on what's going on in Malaysia first ever 6-Star Asian Surfing Championship. All the best especially to our Malaysian surfers - Brenda, Semmy and Bryan Ng.

All the hair, beard and mustache for #Movember

Shades are crucial to protect the eyes from the sun, to look cool and to steal a few glimpses of the people around you, hahaha. I am so ready for the beach and also to surf the wave (if I got the chance)!

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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My First Live Ring Side Muay Thai Experience

by Daniel Chiam 

All the Nuffnangers were all hyped up and excited about the Thailand vs Asia's Muay Thai matches after we attended the Muay Thai Saved My Life Workshop last month. The anticipation was fairly high for me because it was going to be my first time attending a Muay Thai fights and to know that Fay Hokulani is going to be there too, I got extra excited even.

Thanks to Cik Lily Putih for taking care of the tickets for all the bloggers. Oh yes, all of us attended the event with media pass and thus gave us the privilege to stand on the ring side, take pictures and enjoy the fights from up close.

There were 6 matches in total and whereby 3 of the matches is the highlights of the night, the fights between Thailand and Malaysia. The 3 Malaysian representative are Kudin, Ali Yaakub and Faizal Ramli, while the rest of the challengers are Liu Xiang Ming (China), Leo Monteiro (Brazil) and Mosafa Abdollahi (Iran).

The sport has long been dominated by the Thai and to defend their honor on that night were 6 prominent and  skillful Muay Thai fighters namely Yaya, Changpuek, Jom Kitti, Petchumpol, Madsua and Armin. The pressure were high because every fighters were desired to prove themselves to be the best in the sport.

Watching the match live from the ring side definitely gave a different experience. The punches and kicks that were throw by these trained athletes were as hard and as powerful as their desire to win. The sounds of the body clashing brings shiver down the spine. One can only imagine how painful it is to be hit by any of them.

Ali Yaakub (right) was dominating his opponent that night.

Each round lasted for 3 minutes and each fight will only last for 5 round (unless if there were a knockout in early round). The Thais prove themselves to be worthy of the throne when they won 5 out of the 6 matches that night. Being the only challenger to win that night, Ali Yaakub has made Malaysia very proud.

Fay Hokulani and Diana Danielle, the emcees of the night.

It was really an unforgettable experience to be able to see a glimpse of what this fighters had to go through in the ring. One can only imagine the amount of training and beat up they had to suffer before they were able to be prominent in the ring and proven to be a worthy opponent to their challenger.

Muay Thai is definitely one of the most full on body contact sport that I have seen so far and it is also one of the sport which hold highly of it cultural background. I really wish to see more Muay Thai event being highlighted in Malaysia. Not just announcing that there is a Muay Thai event per se, but hopefully more activities or workshop is being done to promote and expose to the rest of the Malaysian.

Ali Yaakub and me :D

All photos courtesy of Cindy Tong.

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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Dato Lee Chong Wei | 謝謝你, Thank You, Terima Kasih!

by Daniel Chiam 

Dato' Lee Chong Wei, Malaysia are very proud of you.

It was heart wrenching to see tears in Dato Lee Chong Wei's eyes. I felt so helpless when you are out there in the battlefield doing all you can trying to win the gold for Malaysia, and all I can do is just to shout and cheer all my heart out to you. 

You have put up a really great fight. You even showed us the true patriotism that a man can offer for his country. In fact, you have united Malaysians as a true 1Malaysia today. You have achieve greater things beyond just-only-a-silver-medal. You have made us truly a proud nation for having someone like you representing all of us.

Despite the result, I am still very proud of you and thank you sincerely for giving all your best out there today. Thank you for your heart of gold. Thank you for being a true champion with your love and passion for your country. All the best for your future.

Again, thank you for such a wonderful birthday gift. You are indeed my hero, the Malaysian's hero. 

Photo by Khairul Ghazali.

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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Dato' Lee Chong Wei | Golden Road to London

by Daniel Chiam 

It's an honor to have the opportunity to send off Dato' Lee Chong Wei and the entire Malaysia badminton team to London at the KLIA recently. A special thanks to Samsung Malaysia and Nuffnang for making this possible for me.

Dato' Lee Chong Wei, once again carrying the hopes and dreams of all Malaysian to bring back the first gold medal from the Olympic 2012 in London, and to claim back his number one spot in the BWF rankings from Lin Dan (China) .

The recent disappointment in the Thomas Cup due to injury has made the desire for gold is even greater this time, and I believe all our prayers and encouragement is with the entire Malaysian badminton team, especially to Dato' Lee Chong Wei to become the great inspiration for the whole team. Go for gold!

All the badminton's category will be starting on the 29th of July. Do catch our team in actions, cheer and support them. Give them all your best, as they are out there giving all their heart out to bring pride to Malaysia. Malaysia Boleh!

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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My First Ever Moto GP

Yesterday (10/10/10) was my first time ever at the F1 Sepang Circuit for the 2010 Moto GP. I am super excited about it! Thanks to Desmond, Yee Seng and Antonia who made it possible for me. Thank you so much guys.

It was a sea of people at Sepang yesterday. Bikers with their big bike everywhere. Hot babes. Rossi's fans. Photographers. Hot babes. Foreigners. Mat rempit. Hot babes. GP fans. I can't even get a seat for myself at the beginning.