Good Morning Vietnam -Part One- Oversea, Overland

"Three shots, four shots, five shots. Oh shit I think I'm gone."
Girls On The Dancefloor - Far East Movement

Welcome to another DTS travelogue! Currently, I'm in Ho Chi Minh city (some prefer to call it Saigon) waiting for the connecting flight that is gonna take me to Hanoi. My phone is dead out of battery (Sorry if I have not been replying your messages!!) and I really need a place to crash for the night. Flying really drains me out.

While both my flight have the same flight index, the surprising thing is that they connect to separate planes and require check out and check in again! Heck, I'm in a totally different terminal than the one I landed in! A bus picked us up from the arrival terminal and dumped us at a domestic departure terminal with a huge and pretty Christmas tree.

The airport here is pretty nice and all. The only thing that is missing is the duty free shopping (cause' this is a DOMESTIC flight). They sell jewelry at the gate.

My connecting flight to Hanoi leaves in half an hour and boarding is about to start anytime soon. You know what, they just called, so I'm off.

Ok, there's a massive queue, so I'll write a little more.

Hanoi is nearly a thousand kilometres by road from Saigon, so it looks like it'll be another long flight. I'm really beginning to dislike immigration. The fact that my passport photo looks like a hooligan (and I look like an idiot) makes the fellas at the counter skeptical about me.

The queue still stands at the same length. It looks like I'll be here for a while. It's the fifth time they're announcing my flight. I'd rather stand in front of the computer kiosk than strap myself down to the right-angled economy class airplane seat. It's so friggin uncomfortable. I can't believe how people with families would like to board first. I can't imagine what it would be like for the poor claustrophobics, and don't get me started on the size of the lavatory.

Oh, it's Vietnam Airlines that I'm on. It is a pretty nice airline. Their service is not all that fantastic, but it's better than MAS. Nothing tops AirAsia though :). I love the budget airline. Comfy, cheap and convenient.

As for the food, I had beef noodles for lunch on the plane. What was it like? Straight-cut pan mee with fried been and boiled cucumber. The beer on the side was okay, but the coffee was really nice. It was so good that they had to ration it around the plane until my dad didn't get any.

Ok. The queue has shortened to half its original length. Wish me a safe flight! Bye!

Love,
D.A.niel

Warm, Wet and Wild

“Let the time pass cause’ we’re never getting old.”
I Like It (feat. Pitbull) – Enrique Iglesias

At first we set course for Bangkok for Songkrang. It would be a hell of a road trip. 4 probation drivers taking on the North-South expressway across the border and into a country where we the signs don’t make sense to us.

Then we decided it was a bit crazy, and our parents were a no-no for driving all the way up to Bangkok with a ‘P’ license.

That’s when we pulled the destination down by about a hundred miles to the duty free shopping heaven of Langkawi. Just off the shore of Terengganu, the island was a paradise of its own. Some of its waters are turquoise blue and ready for some leisurely swimming instead of having to sift through the water whenever a piece of trash gets tangled in my trunks.

But then, it’s still an overnight drive. Long haul night driving was still beyond our scope of experience, and our parents were not letting us do it without a proper driver with a full license sitting in the car.

That was when we pulled the destination way, way further down to the little seaside of Port Dickson.

Only a couple hours drive away, that is the current status and destination, so you know who you are.

Anyway, I’m not blogging this to put up an announcement for my friends. I’m blogging because if you know me well, I have something for summertime fun.

Sun, sea, sand. I can’t wait.

But for someone like ME

Yeah. Get a load of my skin tone.

I virtually come back a different person everytime I go for a trip to the beach. The sun is intense as hell, and my skin doesn’t take it very well. Most of the sun block I use lasts only a while and was built for sport, not for the seaside.

So I STILL come back fried. Now you know why they called be an “African Black Chicken” back when I was in Form 3. Yeah. Life was different back then. Being a mix of ethnic minorities may be fun to some extent, but I don’t get the best of both worlds all the time.

That’s why I need to get something new. Something that was built for the beach.

Little did i know that this stuff has been around since 1985. I can’t wait to get a load of it. Looks like I’ll have to wait until our road trip to test the stuff out. At least then I’ll come home as Daniel Anthony.

Believe it or not, it’s ANTI AGING!!!

Thank God I’m not bound for Bangkok. I don’t want to be stopped at immigration just because I don’t look like the kid in my passport.

Since I was a kid, applying sunblock has always been a pain in the ass. The folks who came up with the Ocean Potion also managed to come to a solution to that.

Spray on sunblock!! This can have me up and going in less than a minute :)

I’ve been putting on all sorts of free-trial cosmetics to help to lighten up and lose some years (Ok, fine, I’m only 18, but still I wanna be younger!). I can’t let an episode on the beach ruin the process!

So if you’re part of the glorious ethnic minority who doesn’t want to come home sunburnt or labelled as an African Black Chicken (or other terms of equivalent meaning), or just anyone who needs some protection while you’re on the beach, then this stuff is exactly what you need. They have all sorts of interesting products including cosmetics that are something out of the ordinary compared to the usual sunblock.

Now go knock yourself out.

Love,
D.A.niel

Don’t Ever Look Back, Cause’ It’s A long Way Down

“This is how we live every single night. Take that bottle to the head, and let me see you fly.”
Like A G6 (feat. The Cataracts & Dev) - Far East Movement

I’m not a fan of horror movies. They seem quite silly to me. I don’t really understand how watching people die can fascinate others. It seems really morbid, but that’s what I think. Gosh I never knew that there were so many sadists out there.

For me, unless it deals with my inner phobias, it won’t scare me, but sometimes we don’t realise our phobias until we are right in the middle of it.

Example? I can look right off a bridge, look down from a tall building and even play those video games that simulate a fall. I thought that I never had a fear of heights. That was until I wound up in Shanghai and looked down onto a glass floor that was almost 800 metres high. It scared the shit out of me. My muscles tensed up and my palms got sweaty. The worst part was that there was a panel that had cracked and it was repaired with, yes, cellophane tape.

I only thought that happens here. I never knew that I would see such a thing in Shanghai.

Back to the point. Does this scare you?

Okay, the iron awning really spoils the effect. But still, it is quite a drop (4 storeys)

Nonetheless, it has something to do with confirming my fear of heights.

Here’s an example of something that I cannot and probably will never do, even if it was to save my life.

That is none other than Hafzanizam “Zam” Bakhori, one of Malaysia’s top climbers. That wall is 20.3 metres high and it’s pretty damn tall. It’ll tower over you and probably make you shiver when you just look at it.

What’s more? It’s in the heart of Petaling Jaya and it’s set out for the world to see.

Where? It’s right on top of 1Utama. You can see it as you drive along the LDP.

Yeah. Now you finally know what’s in that tall glass cage that overlooks the line dividing Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. It’s funny isn’t it? How come there has been no one up there for the past what? 2 years?

There are multiple answers to that.

1. NOT EVERYONE CAN CLIMB THAT WALL

Seriously. No, I haven’t tried it, but think about it, this wall is BEYOND vertical. It has an average gradient of 40 degrees, so that’s one hell of an incline. Imagine having to support your body weight as well as your upward struggle as you heave yourself up the wall. It is seriously no joke. If you take a look at the last few pictures of Zam’s climb, he actually had no place to put his feet! Just picture yourself at least 15 metres off the ground, hanging for your dear life on a piece of plastic jutting out of the wall while trying to grab onto the next available carabineer to clip your rope onto.

But of course, that piece of “plastic” is built to be trusted thanks to Swiss technology. Although the wall was 100% designed and built in Malaysia, the strict and watchful eye of BLOCX, the Swiss wall manufacturing company ensured it’s safety.

It’s not just the “rocks” that are engineered. The ropes are strong and built for anything. Seriously. I had trust issues with them, but they prove me wrong.

Hmm. Maybe you can climb that wall after all.

2. IT IS ONE SCARY CLIMB

And you may not want to be seen pissing in your pants when the gravity starts to get to your nerves as you reach the 16.75 metre maximum overhang the wall has to offer. The 270 degree panorama of the KL-PJ border is pretty spectacular from the top, but bear in mind, if you can see someone, that someone can see you.

3. IT JUST OPENED

That means that anyone on that wall before the 2nd of December other than the builders would be breaking the law.

But there is another reason why no one was on it. This wall is no ordinary wall. It’s an ELITE wall and not a fresh-grad architect project. It was built to be a challenge to even the most skilled of climbers.

Take Zam for an example.

Camp5 was built on the principle that everyone can climb, and it was a helluva journey to build a climbing gym that was built to fulfil the dream. Now anyone, regardless or age and gender can enjoy rock climbing.

It was a journey of five years that took Camp5 to it’s current standing. The issue with taking five years (not that I’m saying they’re slow) to develop a place for beginners to climb, they left out another element for a totally new audience.

Don’t you think that in 5 years, some of the people who started early would have eventually graduated to a stage where the walls would be no stranger to them. Even though the “rocks” on the walls are interchangeable, the limit of the fixed gradient of the walls have driven the elite climbers to climb more realistic and challenging walls such as Batu Caves and other climbing gyms.

Eventually Camp5 needed another milestone. They needed something else for the seasoned audience.

Therefore they got down to business and on their fifth birthday, opened their very, very big birthday present to the rock climbing societies of Malaysia.

That wall was the next big thing for Malaysian climbers. Apparently they had the US Navy come in and test the place out when the ship docked at Port Klang. The response was good.

The man on the mike is Jeremy Peet, the director of Camp5. he revealed the new statistics of the 20000 members who are registered under Camp5 since 2005, and boy it is amazing.

70% of the climbers are Malaysian

45% of the climbers are Female

The oldest member is 72 years young

and their youngest member?

He is yet to turn one.

So you have absolutely NO excuse to peel yourself off the couch and give the rocks a try.It’s only RM48 for a taster course to go try out the rocks and get a feel of how rock climbing is actually like.

Jeremy again.

Now, if you’re a cream puff like me (sweet but soft), you will probably give up when you get about 1.5 metres off the ground. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a belayer who won’t let you down regardless of what you do.

Pray hard that you get this guy.

That’s Noel. He belayed for me (held the rope that brought me up and down the wall) and my, he is the most encouraging person when it comes to the rocks. He didn’t let me down (Literally!!).

If you’re more adventurous, then you might want to go straight in. To get your certificate to climb on your own, the Basic Wall Course is just RM100 (not including gear rental and the works). Once you finish that, you can let out on most of the walls there except for the one that Zam showed off on, not yet at least.

Advance booking is a must for the Basic Wall Course. Take a look at www.camp5.com for the details.

Back to the topic – the BIG wall that I can only dream of climbing.

It’s a big wall. So what? There are walls all over the place in there constructed in the same way. What sets this one apart?

Guess what? It’s called the “Pro Climber Wall”. Awesome name right?

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Ok. Fine. There is something that makes this wall extremely unique.

It broke a Malaysian record.

The man holding the certificate is none other than Dato Teo Chiang Kok, the director if 1Utama. Now you know who’s turf you’ve been hanging around on for the past 10 years of your life. The wall holds the Malaysian record for Tallest Indoor Climbing Wall.

With this new addition, Camp5 hopes to be able to coach a Malaysian World Cup Climber to victory (Zam ranks 17th in the World Cup). Who know? According to Zam and Jeremy, it would take about 4 years of experience to get to try that wall.

After the opening ceremony, I had the privilege to get some hands on with the wall. No, not the Pro Climber Wall! Just the beginner/taster wall and the Auto Belay wall.

It was SCARY as HELL on the first go. Without Noel on the other end, I would have given up really fast.

You need to complete it once before you can actually get the hang of it. This first time is horrible but believe me, but trust me: once you finish it, you’ll be going back for more.

So if you wanna see for yourself, get to 1Utama, go to the New Wing and make your way to the 5th floor. A whole new experience awaits you on top there. And I am NOT talking about the arcade or the karaoke. This is one wall that exists ONLY in 1Utama.

Big thanks to Camp5 for having us bloggers over to witness this truly momentous opening.

Love,
D.A.niel

Let The Beat Drop -WELCOME BACK!-

“Maybe a reason why all the doors are closed, so you could open one that leads you to the perfect road.”

Firework - Katy Perry

Welcome back to Drive The Sensation! It's been a hell of a 3 month blogging hiatus for us, and we're proud to be back.

In case you have not noticed, we are now DriveTheSensation.com and no longer LifeInCommonTime.com. Why? Well, we sadly announce that LifeInCommonTime.com has been snatched by an American registrar and therefore cannot be recovered unless you are a domain broker who would like to lend your services to poor lil' me for free...I'm not kidding. I could really use some justice right now.

Besides that, I feel that letting go of LifeInCommonTime.com is kinda like letting go of many past memories. I cannot forget many of them. The best years of my life are there.

But still, LifeInCommonTime.com has had its bad moments. They are burned to the back of my mind since the day they happened. From the “Witch” and “Mr. X” to the Mirror and the Mentor. And who could forget the Unicorn and the White Stallion? These are certain regrets that I have whether I like it or not. All but one have eventually found their way to ending well. The last one ended quite sour. I guess God had given me enough chances. That is why I'm moving on and starting again. This time, I'll be more careful with what I do and what I say for now I have seen that not all fights end well.

I do not want to spread hatred in the world. There's not enough love and too much hate in this world as it is already and we should start to turn things around if we haven't already started yet. It's not like I am totally proud of what I have done. Even the original intention of my posts are for self satisfaction and not for some super self-centred publicity stunt, unless I am reviewing something or doing a sponsored post.

Walking away from a problem is never going to solve it. Although it is better than running away, the very fact that your chosen path is to bypass the issue is what makes it harder to solve. Patience may be what we lack, but I try to tell myself that a lack of patience is no excuse. Trust me, its not easy being patient.

Though avoiding problems may be bad, what could end up worse is tolerating them.

I bet you're a little puzzled now aren't you? Well, are we not supposed to tolerate one another towards a better unity? The answer is sadly, no. Tolerance has it's limits. If you do not address what you are not comfortable with and continue to tolerate it, one day you are going to run out of patience. That is when all that you were not satisfied with is going to rush out of you. That is where the unity that was “almost there” will end.

Do you know why so many idiots out there say that 1Malaysia is bullshit and will never work? I do. It's because they think it is another government project to win political support and mileage. What is the solution? More racism, more tension, more hatred and eventually more tolerance.

Tolerance is like the amount of air a balloon can take. Some people are big and strong with a huge ego while some are small and weak with a timid heart. Imagine an Indian child who goes to school everyday and gets insulted by his Chinese friends because of his race while his Malay classmates just sit and watch the “show”. If the Indian bloke goes through this day after day, it will build up in him and one day, kaboom! He'll get his revenge in an explosive manner.

Now I am not saying that the Indian kid is at fault. He is partially at fault but I cannot blame him completely for his actions. His peers are real nutjobs who are judgemental and prejudice. They just cannot learn to open their mind and learn to appreciate diversity instead of turning it down when it is begging for your mercy at your door.

So where do we stand here? The answer is that we should stop tolerating each others' problems. It sounds really stupid, but there is some sense to it. If we voice out and try to avoid conflict instead of damming everything up inside of us, maybe one day we can see that true diversity is really within reach regardless of what the government says and does.

The key to diversity and unity lies not in tolerance. Tolerance is a dime a dozen. It is at half price all year long and it is only a substitute for the real thing.

So what is the cohesive agent that glues us all together? What is the real thing? What is the key to diversity?

The answer is

ACCEPTANCE.

Acceptance is a different breed compared to tolerance. It is more than just smiling and taking everything for what they are worth. It is the next level of social advancement and development. It is the beginning of a free world. It is what we are missing.

What keeps us from becoming one are the problems that we have with each other. It's like a roadblock set up by the police in the dead of the night. You get caught speeding when you least expect it. Heck, you probably aren't even aware that you pushed the gas over the figures. In the same way we get caught being racist. And then there are times when people dig out the prejudice in your statements when you are just expressing yourself.

It is true that all generalisations are false, including this one.

So let us embark on this road to unity together and cherish all that we have upon us, material spiritual. Stop tolerating and start accepting. We have to enjoy what we have right now and learn from it so that we can have a better future. That is the basis of where I start again, and that is the line that stands behind my blog title. Pursuing Un1ty, Celebrating D1versity.

Presenting to you, the new DTS header and URL!

Welcome back!

Love,

D.A.niel