by Kevin Tan
alltherage@thestar.com.my

R.AGE writer Kevin Tan all geared up in nines is thrilled with his second hiking experience and would recommend everyone to hiking.

What happens when you send a skinny jeans-wearing, flesh tunnel-sporting metal-core bassist for his first hiking trip in 15 years?

THE last time I went hiking was eight years ago during a school camp. Apart from playing tennis when I was in secondary school, I had mostly allowed my passion for music to take up most of my time.

R.AGE writers Kevin and Christine minding their steps along rocky trails with Kyle leading the way throughout trekking journey.

But last Monday, I was left with no excuse. Trail runner Kyle Tan, who regularly organises hiking trips for young people, offered to take the R.AGE team (myself included) for a hike early in the morning before we clocked in for work.
So at 7:30am, we headed to the Forest Research Institue Malaysia (FRIM), where many people go to jog, walk, cycle, and trail trek.

We hiked for about two hours through the forest, and I have to say it was a really refreshing workout to start off the week. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I had missed the great outdoors! It totally got rid of all my Monday blues.

Being surrounded by nature was very calming, and motivating too. The sense of adventure keeps you going, which is so unlike running on a treadmill. And I’ll take the sound of chirping birds and running waterfalls over music on an MP3 player any day.

But perhaps the most important thing I realised was that there are so many hiking trails easily accessible around me. Places like FRIM, Bukit Gasing Forest Park in Kuala Lumpur and Bukit Kiara Park in Petaling Jaya are all less than 30 minutes away from where I live.

Tan said he runs 30 minutes from his office to these places, spends another hour or so hiking there, and runs back to the office again. If he can do that, I guess I’ll never have any excuse to not exercise ever again.
So, who’s up for some hiking this weekend?