Swimathon Sunday!!!

On Thursday April 26, at 1:44pm, I received a text from Samantha, one of the organizers. 

"Bus from KL to Marang 27 April 2012. Meeting Point: Jalan Barat (near Jalan Imbi) opposite Imbi Palace Restaurant, in front of Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant. Meeting time: 10pm. Bus will depart at 10:30pm sharp. No delay please. Tq. See you."

Was carb-loading with Siim at Ben's in Bangsar Village and he had received the same message. 

A sudden reality struck: It's happening!!
We're leaving tomorrow night....no turning back!!

Siim and I met at KL Sentral on Friday night, April 27, around 9pm. We walked over to the monorail and headed to Imbi Station. No clue where we're going but Siim came prepared with a reliable GPS on his BlackBerry and a printed map. The map was ..vague. But we managed to find our way, without having to pay 50bux for a 10min ride, and found Dave and Yusri sitting across from a bunch of people looking ready to board the bus. Looking like we were sizing each party up... two buses finally arrived and we checked for our names and boarded. Dave and Yusri were in one bus, Siim and I were in another. I could barely sleep the whole journey :(

After about 5 stops or so in the span of 7+ hours, we stopped one last time for breakfast. The smart organizers couldn't decide where to eat so they gave us options - Chinese in Chinatown or Malay stalls. Haha. Dave, Yusri, Siim and I opted for Malay. I had a couple of half boiled eggs and barley 

(this is after munching on a loaf of 9 grain bread on the bus!). 

Soon after, we arrive at Marang Jetty (around 9am). We had to wait one hour before the registration booth was ready.

                

Met a guy selling fruits and started chatting. I was actually looking for lime but he didn't have any so I bought 4 apples for 5bux, but he gave me an extra apple... I don't know why. Maybe because he was from KL as well. Haha. I also bought a pretty nice colgate toothbrush for 3bux! What a steal! 

Finally, we got in line and registered. Soon after, we took the speed boat to Pulau Kapas. 

                      
After waiting for 2 hours, we finally got our room! Chalet #9. I K-O-ed as soon as I hit the bed.
It was hilarious when housekeeping came by to deliver towels and opened the door, only to fine two unconscious bodies on two beds. haha. I manage to raise one arm to gesture him in and murmured a "thanks" catching his smile and controlled laughter as he left the room. LOL!

Groggily, at 5:15pm, I walked over to the briefing with Dave and Yusri. Siim was already there. The place was packed!
That's me "sleep"-walking behind.
 
We had our dinner at 7:10pm. Chatted over dinner till around 8:30pm-ish. Ate some biscuits Dave brought. Packed and got ready for the race... was in bed by 10pm. That was pretty much how I wasted one Saturday in my life - Sleeping. Exhausting day!

Got up at 5:15am. Didn't bother with the given breakfast voucher, Dave and I had breakfast in the room.
I had a bottle of water with electrolytes, a banana and the Chocolate Peanut Butter Power Bar.
We then headed to get our limbs stamped. I was swimmer # 805 :)

Flag off was at 7:30am. April 29, 2012. I shall let the pictures speak for itself.


The three handicapped men swam ALL THE WAY.
Amazing. Inspiring.
    
   After a grueling 2:14:10 hours of front-crawling, I finally crossed the finish line.
 
I did it!!!
And made it top 5 :)
 

WE DID IT!!! All within 3 hours!!! :D


Then we started goofying around :P


Some of my new friendships made :)


Us in the bus... the goofiness continues.... :P
  

...Till we arrived back in KL :)

   

Overall, this Kapas-Marang International Swimathon 2012 was an awesome experience :)
Swimming in the South China Sea, meeting awesomely crazy fun energetic people and completing the race... I hope this won't be the only crazy weekend I have in this lifetime! :)

-End-