Flying RC Helicopters

For quite sometimes I have been noticing a group of adult enjoying themselves flying the Remote Controlled Helicopters in front of the Guthrie Pavillion on the big open field. Initially I only saw them playing either on Saturday or Sunday morning but lately I noticed that sometimes they also will be playing during the weekdays evening before the sunset.



Recently my curiosity was so overwhelming that I took Gondai Jr to get closer to this group to have a first hand look of thier RC Helicopters. I was not so particularly surprised with the Nitro-engine Helis as I have seen them before more than ten years ago. What surprised me the most is how the RC electric Helis has evolved now. The price for a Nitro engine Heli is still very pricey even today starting from RM4K upwards. However, the story is different for the electric RC Helis. The technology of the electric heli has advanced so much and the cost of manufacturing them has also dropped tremendously. Partly I think this is because most manufacturers are now located in China and the cost of production over there is still the cheapest in the world. Before I purchased my first electric Heli some four weeks ago much to the joy of Gondai Jr and bemusement of my other half, I did some research on what RC Heli that I could buy to start with and here is some key findings.

First, I asked myself how many channel do I need to start up with? Well, at present, there are 3 main channel categories in the market:

2-Channel: Basically it is a toy for children, only moving up-down and turning left-right. It's good for Gondai Jr and in fact I bought one for him at RM60.00 Surprisngly, this 'toy' is damn good ! It can actually hover and can stand terrible crashes along the way. In fact until today, this heli is still in good working condition albeit it has crashed so many times.


4-Channel: A good starting point for RC hobbysts, it poses good challenges in flying and is emotionally satisfying for people who is serious in the hobby. It moves up-down, front-back, turn left-right, and tilt left-right, realistically emulate a real helicopter's movement, except it does not do acrobatic stunts, such as flying upside down. I bought the E-Sky Robbins 22 for RM350 and I can only say that it's not that easy flying this heli as advertised. Only after few broken rotor blades that I can actually feel how this thing flies.



In fact only after I practiced with the simulator, I finally got the 'hang of it' (Somehow Gondai Jr likes to say this also) and now alhamdullilah, I can pilot this heli reasonably OK. One thing I do agree with the advertisement is that one can get so much joy and personal satisfaction upon seeing the heli hovering under one's full control. So much so I bought another 4-channel Heli called ESKy Lama for RM250 and this heli is even easier to control.



Both models (Robbins and Lama) are working on same co-axial double main rotors principle, it give us much more control in keeping the helicopter hovering, I needed only minimum efforts in mastering the flying acts. Flying of these two models will make ones to misconveive that flying RC helicopter is an easy task indeed. Also, RC Helis are often considered as toys. Some will call them big boy toys. Well, to some extend maybe but the fact is that it requires a lot of patience and good reflect action before one can actually master to fly it. And of course for total beginners, extra spare blades are something of a must have during the learning process.The 4 channel models mainly is for those who just want to enjoy flying in the shortest possible time, and do not want to spend much time in doing fine-tuning, however, it does not prepare one with the skills necessary to handle the professional grade RC Heli models, like the 6 or 7-channel.

6 or 7-Channel: Capable of doing what 4-channel can and has the ability to perform aecrobatical moves, BUT those additional acts are of no use to beginners and intermediate players, the aecrobatical moves need ultra-high level of skills. Unless one is a highly-skilled expert, 6/7-channel model in a way is a burden for him to enjoy the hobby - it complicates the tuning and control. Nonetheless, after managed to convince my other half on the joy of flying an RC Heli, I secured one 6-channel Heli called E-Sky Honey Bee King II last week for slightly below RM500 for a ready to Fly unit. Well actually, the cost is a bit higher after I upgraded it to a Head Lock Gyro and and a Futaba Radio. However, I am yet to actually fly this heli because I am still on the simulator mode for the 6-Channel control. Insha'allah, I may do my maiden flight on the 6 channel this coming weekend.


There are in fact several RC Stores in KL. However AMCorp Mall in PJ has three stores which sell RC Equipment including Helicopters and also the spare-parts. I came to know about this only by googling 'RC Helicopter Malaysia' and it actually led me to www.rcsmart.com.my which is a reasonable place to shop for RC Electric Helis.

Certainly the joy of flying an RC Heli is not similar to my other passions such as photography or golf, but it is actually a good past time activity since it can involve the children very much...and other good point is, they are not as pricey as cameras or lenses !!!

Development at Jalan Serambi U8/21

Several months ago I wrote about the impending development just few meters from my home. According to the large notice board placed at the junction to Jalan Serambi, the shop-houses are due for completion sometimes in August 2008. If everything is as per schedule, that is about a year from now.




Well, as the development has been progressing so well lately, I decided to take a peek on whats going on behind the blue zinc fence covering the construction site. Oddly enough, this blue 'curtain' has become yet another prominent landmark in BJ. Hopefully this is just temporary until the completion date one year from today.



I really have almost nothing to complaint about the on-going construction. In my opinion, the developer has done quite a good job in maintaining the surrounding area near the construction site and successful concealing the heavy-work being carry out inside. Even the noise level increase is almost negligible. If anything to complaint, my other half did tell me that the dust accumulation at our home has increase somewhat lately, maybe due to the construction work. I am not too sure whether this is pure coincidental, but last week I have to fork RM340 for the cost of servicing and repairing our bedroom air-conditioning unit. Well...maybe not

My-Team 2 at Bukit Jelutong

I went to the My-Team 2 Football Carnival with Gondai Jr on Sunday morning. The event was held at the Bukit Jelutong football field about 200 meters away from my home. I was not really aware about this event initially until I heard the advertisement on the TV only on that morning. Early Sunday morning, the football field was already packed by many football enthusiasts and also hopeful applicants for the coveted spot in the My Team 2 coached by the now a celebrity, Cheby Singh.




Roads surrounding the footballs field were filled-up by many cars and almost created a traffic congestion like one will always see in KL during rush hour. There was a huge red makeshift tents and many smaller tents near the field. I was made to know that the event was to select potential candidates for the My Team2 (under 21 yrs) and also for My Kids (under 12 yrs). From the posted ads, the promoter for the My Kids team will take 6 lucky children to Manchester !



The single-line queue for registration ran almost 200 meters both for the 21 and 12 years old selection. The weather was amicable albeit it was a bit hot and sweaty. Everywhere near the field, the logo of Hotlink and Scomi can bee seen prominently. I guess there were the main sponsors for this event. There were also several clowns walking around entertaining the kids and adults alike. All of those who managed to register, were given a free T-Shirt which more or less printed with the word " I survive the My Team Test" or something like that.




After spending less than one hour on the field with searing heat, I decided to leave but not after I took several photos of a 'fire-lady', who spits fire from her mouth. I really did not know what was was the deal with her spitting fire while most people are busy testing out themselves for a spot in the team. Nonetheless, she did get a lot of attention and lucky for me as I managed to snap few good pics of her in action !

5th MBJ Annual Golf Classic...

Yesterday I participated in the MBJ 5th Annual Golf Classic held at the Bunga Raya Course Saujana Golf and Country Club. This is an annual affair organised by the so-called Masjid 'back-benchers' group (BBC) and fully endorsed and supported by the Mosque AJK. As of this year and last year, proceed from this charity golf tournament will be handed over to the Mosque Development fund with the intention to expand the current capacity level of the mosque which is getting smaller now as the population of Bukit Jelutong increases.


Although the golf tournamnet was held in Saujana, the prize giving ceremony and handing over of the donation money collected for the mosque was held at Masjid Bukit Jelutong after Isya prayer.



Golfers who played well in the morning were rewarded with prizes donated by many sponsors of the golf event. Even Mamak Karim Chendol also donated free vouchers for thier rojak and chendol much to the excitement of everyone present. Lucky draw prizes were also given away to almost everyone participated in the golf tournament. Even the imams and bilal of MBJ received some tokens of appreciation from the organising committee. The highlight of the prize giving ceremony is on the amount collected for the mosque this year which amounted to RM50K, doubling last year's figure of RM25K. I am not so sure whether the collected fund from this tournament will make it enough for the masjid expansion plan but it will sure help a lot. One thing for sure, the MBJ backbenchers group has contributed tremendously and I would say, cleverly, in getting corporate sponsorship for the mosque vis-a-vis, getting the qariah to get together in a nice game of golf. Kudos to them for making the event(s) so successful !




Back to the golf tournament, there were 124 golfers participated this time. In fact, the registration for the tournament closed two week ago and there were several people in the waiting list just in case someone cancel. I was informed that Glenmarie GCC tried to persuade the BBC group to organise the tournament at thier venue but was turned down.



Course wise, Saujana is one hell of a golf course. It's not particularly a long course but the greens are small and treacherous. Most people played badly including me and not many people played up to their handicap level. Well, that's normal especially when you are playing a course for the very first time like I did. I did not want to elaborate more on how frustrated I was with my score but, on personal level, I cherished the moment of having to meet many new people of the BJ community whom I did not know before this. I also took few photos of the golf event and hopefully this will linger in my memory for a very long time....

Development...at the price of Serenity?

Recently a new shopping cum business center was open in Bukit Jelutong. This business center is called De'Pangkin and located nearby the Birai area of BJ, about 1KM away from my home. Having stayed in BJ for about three years now, I found that this new business area a welcome development. You see, BJ is IMHO, is very quite and secluded from mainstream activities like shopping, even for simple grocery items. Yes, we do have a small convenient store near the Guthrie Community hall but its very small and a bit overpriced, to say the least. Most of our grocery shopping is done either at a Fresh Market store at TTDI Jaya or at Giant Hypermarket, and both of them are within 5KM from home, not quite as close as we want it to be especially when you have emergency visit from far-away relatives and your fridge is empty!



At the moment, there are only a few shop lots already being occupied. I saw at least 2 hardware stores already open, two 24-hour clinic, one student tuition center, one mini-market called Speedmart99 and soon to be open Indian Restaurant. So far, we have been to this mini-market several times to get some essential items and my observation is that the merchandise items are reasonably priced and worth the trips. In fact my other half told me that this mini-market is actually a franchise store as it other nearby branch is in the Taipan USJ.



I was also told that there is a plan to develop a bigger business center called 1st Jelutong sometimes in the future. Kinda remind me of One Utama. The location for this development was said to be near the BJ golf Driving range and will have Jaya Jusco as the anchor tenant. I think the pitch&putt golf course will be sacrifised to allow for this development, and frankly speaking I am not very happy as BJ will be deprived of so many hecters of luscious greens and serenity that have make BJ so peaceful and superb as a residential area.

On other development, part of the vacant plot adjacent to the large BJ soccer field is already under early construction stage for developing 'who knows what'. Again I was informed that Guthrie is planning to build a 'community' service area where fast food restaurant like McDonalds or others will be operating soon. This again is not a very encouraging news to me as this new so-called community store is only 50m from my house and is only blocked by a row of houses in front of our home. Nonetheless, this is the price of development and the only compensation for us from all of these, is hopefully that the value of our property will rise!

The following pics show the vacant field as it used to be and the construction workers site-office trailers already occupying it..




I am not so sure whether the serenity and peaceful atmosphere of BJ will still exist in the next 3-4 years with all this on-going development. I am very hopeful however that Guthrie in its quest to develop BJ as a prestiguous reseidential area to also be concerned on the most influential factor of why people like to live here...PEACE..and if this is no longer in existence..BJ will be another PJ sooner than we thought...

2007 Bukit Jelutong Carnival

On Saturday Mac 24th, I took my other half and my son to the BJ 2007 Carnival. Unlike previous years, the carnival for this year was being held in front of the Guthrie Pavilion along the Persiaran Tebar Layar and facing the undeveloped area in front of this BJ landmark . From the published schedule, the carnival was to start at eleven in the morning but we were already there half an hour early as we were actually on our way to KL.


Since we were quite early, we did not have problem locating a parking space nearby the Guthrie Pavilion. The first thing that we could notice from afar upon approaching the carnival area was the presence of the Guthrie Hot Air Balloon. We could see there were already many people lining up to taketheir turn to 'fly' on the balloon although the line was not that long. I was told that it cost RM10 per person for this ride and also some health declaration form that needed to be filled up for any interested visitors before hopping up on the balloon basket.I initially thought this might be a good idea because if I am up there on the balloon basket, I could get a nice view of the carnival for my photos. However, I didn't fancy the idea of waiting in line and thus decided to abandon this idea.


There were several luxury car promotions under the makeshift tents and we could see cars like Audi TT, Brabus, Jaguar and many more on display. There were also many tents selling food and also many merchandise items on promotion. Many companies like ASTRO , Insurance, and others were also seen to have booths in this event. Carnival atmosphere was omnipresent as there were several clowns entertaining the little ones and giants temporary 'play-pents' could also be seen nearby the golf driving range.


We spent nearly an hour exploring the carnival venue and I think the organiser of this event has done a very good job. Although I did not buy anything or play anything as we are running out of time and in a bit rushing to KL, I can sense that the carnival was a success. Hopefully, Guthrie can continue make this event and annual affair for the joy and benefit ofBJ folks.

Fishing in Bukit Jelutong ?

If you are coming to Bukit Jelutong via the BJ Toll exit you will pass the Guthrie Pavilion on your right and a man-made ponds on your left. At the moment, some construction is going around this pond and I notice that a steel railing fence along the pond is being built maybe for the purpose of public safety. Also for the pass several months even well before the steel fencing has been erected, I always notice many people, some even with families, fishing by this pond side. To satisfy my curiosity, I made a visit to this area late Sunday afternoon to find out myself whether the fishing activity there is worth the effort as this pond is actually part of BJ's drainage system.

I talked to a man by the name of Tajudin from TTDI who was observing his friend fishing. Judging from his accent, I think he is from the North and he told me that he is very fond of fishing in this area because there is actually a lot of fish in the pond! I was very surprised to hear this and now I understand why people keep coming to fish in this pond which was before this I considered 'dirty'.

In fact, Tajudin even told me that the pond is not polluted judging on the color of Tilapia he caught before. He added that sometimes he and his friends went fishing here at 2.00 AM in the morning to avoid the crowd much to the attention of the BJ Homesecurity personnel.

When fully developed in a few months time, I think this spot will be another attraction for fishing activity as long as the authority allows such activity to take place. In terms of its surrounding landscape, this area could be another 'Taman Tasik Shah Alam' if proper maintenance and care is applied by MBSA. A spacious parking lot has already being built close to this pond and this will encourage many people to be around this area as a jogging track circling the pond is also currently under construction.

Who knows in the future I might rush to the nearest anglers' shop to get fishing paraphernalia. After all, my late father is an avid angler and my two brothers are also into this 'sport' already.

"Seronok Tinggal di Bukit Jelutong"