How well do we know our beloved Malaysia?
I've encountered many travel articles about Malaysia with contents comparing Kundasang to New Zealand, some of our beaches to Maldives, or even our own unique rainforest to other various countries. Let's be honest here; we don't understand and appreciate our country well enough that we feel the need to compare it just so people would realise what we have, even in our own backyard.
It's been 5 years since I first started stand up paddle. Paddling requires a lot of time spent outdoor, at times it often leads me to a failed paddling session because I spent too much time on the road exploring the surroundings and local culture that I never had the time to reach the destination in time. Sometimes, that's the whole point. These explorations of our destination sometimes requires us to contend with what nature has created and culture has provided for us in our surroundings.
There are plenty of adjectives that I can use to describe the feeling I get whenever I prepare myself for my weekly activities and no matter what those fancy words can be, they usually conclude to the same definition -- AMAZING!
CITY PADDLING
There are times I wish I could share these experiences with more people since most of the time I'm usually on my own. I wanted to share awareness about how there's so much more for people to look not just from outer states but into the local urban community and just find a place for that small adventure. When people talk about watersports, they may think about a holiday by the beach in the islands where you need to take some days off to travel and most of time, pay for an hour or two for a session in the water through holiday rentals. You might be surprised that sometimes you don't need to cross other states or book accommodations for that small adventure that you need on weekends.
Most city folks will never give a second thought when they pass by local waterways but whenever I do, I thought to myself whether it would be an ideal place to paddle. Once you become an avid watersports enthusiast, you will never look at water body the same way again. I have always hoped that I could change the local people's views about water. Sure, on a daily basis we hoped for a clean water supplied to our homes but do we actually look after our waterways and resources? If we look at our waterways as drainage, it will always remain as one. Paddling in the urban environment exists in our backyard without having to fork out the costs for a holiday trip.
Living in the urban environment all my life, I often receive comments from friends who assumed I take too much holidays from work. This is not true. Of course, social media make people assume many things based on their own judgment and most people assume the places I go to are far away from the hustle and bustle of the city when in reality I only take about 2-3 hours session. This also depends how fast and how efficient you can organise your own time.
ADVENTURES ON THE ROAD
Personally, I don't always have the time and money to spend on those dreamy vacations. One thing I try my best to do in dealing with the here and now situation is to cross other states on a monthly basis during weekends to explore other places to paddle in Malaysia which usually involves waking up at 5am on Saturday and Sundays to travel in my Perodua Alza as my weekend rolling home around Malaysia . Although sometimes I would end up at the same location, I still learn many new things on the trip and that even includes new spots to launch.
The country and coastal side has so much to offer, like hidden beach spots away from the main beaches which is nice to feel isolated from the weekend goers crowd. One of the best things with this lifestyle is the freedom of options you can choose from -- walk, run, jog, surf, yoga with nature or paddle.
I hope to share one of the greatest joys and passions in my life with others hoping to raise awareness of this sports and lifestyle hoping it would strike as a fancy to others. I want people to take advantage of all the natural beauty we have in this country and not take them for granted. Sports isn't just a fitness lifestyle to me, it's also part of the reason why I travel and explore the quiet, beautiful places that are often shy away from the main attraction. You would also be surprised by some of the places you thought you would never find in the city. All you have to do is start exploring.
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