Borneo Challenge: Sea Kayaking

The Borneo Challenge - organized by Gulf for Good, a charity organization in Dubai - had four challenging events:  sea kayaking, mountain biking, mountain trekking, and bamboo rafting.  In January 2007, six months before we headed for Malaysia, I began to train.  I didn't have the time to train fully for all of these events, so I had to make strategic choices:

• I was already biking regularly, so it's my strongest event.  It was mostly on the road, and mostly on the flats, but I could easily do mountains.  I planned to do some off-road biking, but dispensed with it, in the service of time.
• There was a scheduled, group training session to up-and-down the stairs at the Dusit Hotel.  That, plus stairs workouts in my apartment building, covered my training for mountain trekking.  
• I participated in another training session for sea kayaking, but that was it.  
• Instead of getting into the details of sea kayaking and bamboo rafting, I worked out on the rowing machine in the gym regularly.  It was convenient and time-efficient.
• I was already strong, but I needed to build stamina.  So I first shifted my weight training in gym to moderate weights and higher repetitions (10 - 12).  In the weeks leading up to the Challenge, I went even lighter weights and even higher repetitions (15 - 20).

First up was sea kayaking in the South China Sea.  It was a grueling start to the Challenge.  Emmanuelle and I partnered, and on three legs we arrived at designated islands last or next to last.  I had strength and stamina, but in the absence of proper technique, I got winded and wasted.  My arms and shoulders tired, and I had to break rhythm often to rest them, even for only a few seconds.  

Emmanuelle and I were not exactly good partners, but we managed to keep it together and work it out.  As we progressed from one leg to another, I worked hard to improve my technique and we saw how we could best work with each other: specifically, her at the front, me at the back.

The fourth and final leg, the longest at about nine meters, was the roughest.  All the others raced ahead of us, and just like that we were alone.  It got overcast quickly, and it rained, heavily at times.  The winds were whipping the South China Sea, so the waters were choppy.  Plus, the rains, mist and fog made the visibility poor.  The thought - oh, shit, we're going to die - must've crossed my mind.  But I must've kept focused and steely, because I hardly remember, six years later, feeling panicked.  

Emmanuelle and I kept calm and steady.  We heard others saying they were going to hug the shoreline toward the final island, but we decided against that.  Later we found out that those who tried that strategy got caught up in the currents and had to kayak upstream.  Others ended up on the wrong island.  We kept surveying the seascape, and again for awhile we could see nothing beyond a few meters out.  We had no compass, mind you, but instinctively we knew to keep kayaking forward.

After what seemed like hours of exhausting kayaking, we arrived at the island.  We hardly saw anyone around, so we wondered whether (a) the others had gone ahead or (b) we were on the wrong island.  Several minutes passed, before we realized we were among the first finishers.  Right now my memory tells me we came in second or third, but we may have been first.  

No matter, the exhaustion of that day and the testiness between Emmanuelle and me dissipated quickly.  

We were calm and relaxed, ahead of sea kayaking in the South China Sea

Borneo Challenge: Print Media Rock-and-Rolls

Emirates Today (p 24)

Emirates Today (p 25)

7 Days

Khaleej Times 

Emirates Woman

Still a few months ahead of the Borneo Challenge, Gulf for Good had the UAE print media rolling on our behalf.  I was fortunate to be one of the few participants interviewed for an article in Emirates Today.

Borneo Challenge: Arrival in Kota Kinabalu

We arrived in Kota Kinabalu on July 6th 2007, for the Gulf for Good - Borneo Challenge.  This charity organization, based in Dubai, raises money to help selected charities in different parts of the world.  The concept, though, is unique:  It's geared around outdoors challenges, so participants like me must be really fit and athletic.  There is a fair registration fee, but all other expenses are covered by Gulf for Good, in exchange for each of us raising a certain amount of money.  

The Borneo Challenge activities were sea kayaking, mountain biking, mountain trekking, and bamboo rafting.  It was moderate in rating, but the director, Brian Wilke, agreed it was a lot tougher.  It was difficult to train for this Challenge, because of four different activities.  I'll write more in subsequent articles.  

For now, suffice it to say, that we had a very pleasant first evening in Kota Kinabalu.  We had a hefty buffet dinner, and relaxed to a colorful Malaysian dance show.  There were 19 of us, and some enjoyed playing along with the performers.

Bayanihan Dance at the Dubai Global Village

Global Village in the outskirts of Dubai was a festival of cultures and merchandise.  It was February 2007, and I sought to see the Bayanihan - The Philippine National Folk Dance Company - perform.  A Filipina friend had encouraged me to do so.  

You see, I left the Philippines as a young boy, and the schooling I had had wasn't enough to teach me about its history, culture and language.  So my friend thought the Bayanihan would be another lesson of sorts for me.  

There was a mix-up on which stage the troupe was to perform.  I walked around back-and-forth, and no one could give a clear answer.  Another Filipina friend said "There" in Tagalog.  I asked "Where?"  She repeated "There."  Pointing with her chin, which is something typical and endearing of Filipinos.  "Where, there?" I asked again.  "There."  

She was right, the new stage was in the direction she was pointing.  But I had to snake around other stages to get there, and I wasn't sure at first when I reached there, because it said "Pakistan."  It was the right stage.

    

Regaining my Philippine Citizenship

Me, pledging to Consulate General, Noel Servigon, at the Philippine Embassy, in Abu Dhabi (February 2008)

Ahead of my trip to the Philippines in March 2008, I officially regained my Philippine citizenship.

Throughout most of my life in the US, I hardly thought about it.  My family and I arrived in Chicago in 1968, and became US citizens at the earliest possible opportunity in 1973.  I remember, albeit vaguely, studying (acing) the constitution and gaining our citizenship.  

I had my old Philippine passport as a boy, but had no notion whatsoever that it had expired. So when I regained it, I was thrilled.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Dubai

The Philippine Business Council in Dubai afforded members privileges that we appreciated and enjoyed:  for example, invitations to a private luncheon in January 2008 for then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.  In the evening, GMA, as Filipinos affectionately nicknamed her as, spoke to the broader community.  

Then-President George Bush also made a trip to the UAE earlier that month, but there was no way any of us regular citizens could've reached close to him.  He was not at all a popular leader, so not many wanted to get close to him.  

GMA had not only endeared herself better to her country people, but she also spent time among all of us.  So I managed to shake her hand, for example, and on another trip altogether, she patiently let us and several others Filipino organizations take group photos with her.  

In her speech to the community, she said that UAE officials often gave her the same feedback:  Filipinos were mabait (nice and friendly), masipag (hard-working and reliable), and malines (clean).  

Singapore is a Fine City

As I flew into Singapore for my first visit, I remembered what a friend told me:  Singapore is a fine city.  The city was so strict that even spitting gum out resulted in a fine.  Apparently even the most minor of laws were strictly enforced. 

So as I walked around, I was carefully not to do anything wrong.  I don't chew gum anyway, and I don't have a habit of throwing wrappers on the ground.  But in Chicago, sometimes in Dubai, I'd cross the street wherever.  

I made sure not to jaywalk, then, in Singapore.  

Thankfully, I managed to enjoy the handful of hours I had, and to harken back to my days as an aspiring photographer on the streets.  Even with just my Samsung mobile camera (pre-smartphone) on hand.