The Weekend Runner: Fairy Cave & Mount Singai, Sarawak.

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Salam Eid Al Adha to everyone! Most Malaysians love travelling back to their ‘kampung’ (villages or hometown) to celebrate Eid with the extended family. So last Thursday, I packed my bags and flew back to my dad’s hometown in Bau, Sarawak to celebrate Eid with them. The district of Bau is situated about 22km from the capital city of Kuching on the Borneo Island. Bau used to be a thriving, bustling gold mining town until the 1970s. But these days it’s a small, simple ‘kampung’ rich in natural attractions, such as limestone formation, rivers, and jungles. First on the list is Fairy Cave.

 

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How to get there: the only way to get here from the city is by car. However, if you want to travel like the locals do, take the bus from Kuching city and walk a few kilometers from the Bau bus station.

 

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To get to the cave entrance you have to climb about 4 storeys of stairs. Alternatively, you can take a ‘faster’ route if you are feeling adventerous (Harness, helmets, and other safety equipment not included!)

 

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The cave entrance. Have Nashata top, will travel!

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The walk into the cave will be dark. But inside, the belly of the cave will be flooded with natural light.

 

IMG_0870According to the locals, this place is called Fairy Cave because there is a stone formation which resembles a divine deity.

 

Difficulty level: 1/10 – Very Easy. 

Duration: Less than 30 minutes.

Additional note: Bring your own torch light.

 

The next day, we decided to do something more adventurous; hiking up Mount Singai, located in Kampung Singai, Bau. Unlike Fairy Cave, this place is not very famous amongst tourists so we relied heavily on directions by the local villagers. Overall, the hike will take you about 4 hours in total (2 hours ascending and 2 hours descending) at a very leisurely pace. Take your time to appreciate the surroundings, and you will spot many plants species that are indigenous to Borneo only.

Screen Shot 2015-09-27 at 4.48.30 PM How to get there: the only way to get here from the city is by car. This is the nearest landmark to get to the parking entrance. You will need a good ol’ map to Kampung Singai and a friendly face to ask for directions, no such thing as Waze or Google around here!

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This mountain is also a holy site for the locals. So there are well-maintained stairways to get to the church. The church is also a halfway marker to the peak of Mount Singai.

IMG_0912After the church is where the real fun begins!

 

IMG_0916Chatting with the locals. The old man has been coming here for all his life.

IMG_8095IMG_0933More flora and fauna.

 

IMG_8098Sadly, the view at the top was blanketed by the haze. At least my Azeeza Zip Up is in a more cheerful shade of grey.

 

Difficulty level: 3/10 – Easy to Moderate (depending on your fitness level) 

Duration: 4 hours, approx. 1600 ft.

Additional note: Bring your own water and gloves. Sneakers/ any work out shoes

 

I did not realise that this sleepy kampung has so much to offer. With some proper planning and infrastructure development, Bau has high potential to become a eco-tourism spot in the future.

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Pristine, beautiful, and green – there is still so much more to explore and discover here.

 

Until next week,

The Weekend Runner.

Top Young Muslimah In Marathon

Nur Nahsuhah, a medical student, who flew in from Sibu, Sarawak for the Malaysia Women Full Marathon finished 7th for Emerald Category, and 48th position overall. A week prior to that, she finished top 2 at her virgin full marathon  X12 Dark Run at Nexus Karambunai Resort & SPA, Kota Kinabalu. Her personal best time was at MWM : 4 hour 49 minutes, and this included a few minutes of Subuh praying time. Her run at MWM was 5 minutes faster than her first full marathon!

Nur Nahsuhah at MWM 2015

Nur Nahsuhah at MWM 2015

We got to know Nur Nahsuhah up-close and personal during MWM. She was all excited to meet other runners, most of whom she got to know via social network.

Nahsuhah, now 22,  is the second child of seven siblings. She grew up in Taiping and later went to SMK Raja Permaisuri Bainun in Ipoh, Perak. Since school, she enjoyed running long distance and participated in the school cross country runs. A hardworking girl, Nahsuhah scored all As for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and was awarded scholarship to study medicine at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). While at university, Nahsuhah always find time to run. She runs with her lecturer and sometimes alone.

 

WHEN DID RUNNING START?

Nahsuhah has been participating the running events since she was in school such as school Sports Day and Cross Country event. She began to slow down her participation on running events after she left the school but still does her training everyday to build her stamina. This continues despite her commitment on studying her foundation in medical course. She rose up and started participating in running events when she was in the first year of degree in medical school because this was where she owns her free time.  Prior to her virgin full marathon she ran several half marathons and other runs mainly in Borneo. It’s amazing for a 22 year old lady to participate in running events. You’d typically see ladies mid-20s and above in running events. To Nahsuhah, running makes her happy.

 

3 THINGS THAT MOTIVATE HER TO RUN

  • She is motivated to run basically because she is in medical field of study. Here, she learns how disease can be spread, the pathophysiology of it, and majority depends on the eating diet and whether you are being active or not. Healthy lifestyle is something that should be compulsory in everyone’s life.
  • Besides, her passion on running has always driven her to run in whatever emotions. It could be when she’s sad, stress or even happy. The feeling when she sweats and achieved her running goal always excites her despite exhaustion.
  • The part on making her parents proud of what she is capable of; like scoring in academic and sports is what she aims for. She realised that her achievement on being a successful strong woman could be highlighted  for other muslims in motivating them to stay healthy while being modest. It shows that muslimah does not need to wear tight and short clothes exposing their aura to win the race. She also mentioned,”Running is sunnah, isn’t it? Lets be blessed in whatever things we do because our goal is to enter Jannah, insyaAllah.”

 

TOP 3 THINGS THAT MAKE HER RUN WELL

  • Always go for training everyday or at least 5 times a week. Each session she always spend 30 to 45 minutes for 5 to 8km and only training for my long run during weekends, twice a month others only short run. Training keep her fit and make her confident to sign up the event.
  • Always take healthy food to keep her body doing well especially for an athlete, the food is very important. She always have her oat+raisin+milk for my breakfast, rice+vege +protein for lunch, and for dinner she will have wholemeal bread or biscuits with milk. She will make sure she drinks 3L of water everyday to keep her hydrated. In between meal she will have fruits as snacks.
  • Proper attire is utmost important especially if she’s doing long run. She said, “That’s why I choose Nashata. I love the fabric so much. I will sweat like buckets but my attire still feels light and comfy. It helps to shade off the sweat unlike cotton clothes, you will end up feel heavy and not comfortable”. She also said she likes the Nashata hijab too. It is simple, nice and keeps her looking good even after 3 to 5 hours run. And Nashata provides a lot of colour variation that can always match up with running event theme. Since she is a student she is trying to save up for more Nashata collections.

HER ATTIRE

Nahsuhah is very particular about her attire when she runs. She runs in Nashata Ultra Top and Riada Pants as they are modest, lightweight and comfortable for long distance running. She does not wear additional attire or gears to support her run. She only carries a phone to entertain her while running. That is how simple running for performance is for Nahsuhah!

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Nahsuhah at her Runs

 

HER DIET

Since she spends a lot of time at the hospital, she eats what’s serve at the hospital. Most of the time, they are healthy food with little oil and a lot of soup. Even prior to that, while growing up Nahsuhah claims her mother discouraged snaking in between meals and did not allow having drinks with ice. With a father from navy background, Nahsuhah like her other siblings are trained to be disciplined and hardworking. They too are performing excellently in their studies. Her younger brother who sat SPM recently, also followed her footsteps scoring all As!

Soon to be doctor and a winning runner, Nahsuhah will soar high, InsyaAllah.