Strolling up Air Itam Dam - last hiking

Well well...haven't been updating for awhile now. For the past 3 weeks, I had been spending time with Harry Potter. Hah...finally finished the Goblet of Fire and the Order of the Phoenix! I know I'm kinda very outdated, the final book 7 also out so long ledi now only I completed book 5... :P

Ok, today finally can free myself from the book and start updating blog.

For the past few days, after a few back and forth email during working hours, Leang, ZhiYong, Tenny and I came up with a conclusion to hike up to Air Itam Dam, the one near to Kek Lok Si temple. I went there before, not by walking but driving. This time however, I will try hiking.

This morning, the super punctual ZhiYong reached my house at 7.15am instead of the agreed upon 7.25am. By the time I get myself ready and meet him downstairs at 7.30am, he was squatting beside the drain...LOL, poor thing. I was the driver of the day, went to fetch Tenny, then fetch Leang and we're on the way. A high school friend of ZhiYong also joined us and we met with him at the foothill, then we started walking. Hrm...what's his name oledi? I think it's WeiLin or sth. I'm sorry, I couldn't recall.

We walk and we talk, it was a slow walk. Initially, the plan was to hike, but it turns out to be a walk. By the end of the activity, we made a conclusion that it's more like a stroll than a walk...haha! The weather is very stuffy and moist today, maybe because of the slight rain in the morning.

A summary of the activity? Frankly, I don't really enjoy the hike. The road to Air Itam Dam isn't a suitable hiking place. The road is only wide enough for 2 cars, at some part, there's no place for hikers to walk except to share the narrow road with the cars. In addition to that, there's quite a number of vehicles going up and down the road making it unsafe for hikers, not to mention the carbon monoxide emission. Nevertheless, the talking is fun. I always appreciate get together with old friends.

This hiking will also mark my last hike for weeks, months, or even years! to come.

I've been having pain on my left knee since Oct last year. At first, the pain last for only 1 or 2 days then gone for a few weeks. That was when I was in US, so I didn't go to any doctor. The pain get more serious lately, sometimes pain lasting a week. It pains with every step I take, when I put weight on that leg. Also, I couldn't fully straighten the left knee, comparing left with right knee, the left one seems to have grown a little. The pain is not unbearable, but it causes discomfort. If left untreated, it might become worse in the future.

Due to my knee pain, doctor advise me not to do strenuous exercises that will further worsen the knee. Some examples he mention includes jogging, hiking, badminton and ping pong. Hey, these are the only exercise I do most of the time and now he told me not to? Then what am I suppose to do to workout?

Well, he suggested cycling and swimming :(

I am really sad to hear this. Hiking is what I enjoyed doing the most, but now no more hiking. So in this week alone, I played ping pong on Tue, I played badminton on Thu and I went hiking on Sat. Since I don't get to play all this in the near future, I do it all in a weeks time. Starting today, I'll be resting, take medicine and see if the knee gets better. I really hope it will get better...soon! And at the same time, not putting on weight...