SWAT Paintball, Janda Baik

In the month of September 2014, I had my first experience with Paintball. Normally when I am invited to join in these activities, I will normally hear PAIN-ball (without the ‘T’), hence my reservation to participate.

Getting there

Locating this place was not easy because it was not marked on Google Maps, Waze, or Garmin maps (at the time we went).

1. Nearest landmark you can search for in Garmin Maps, Waze or Google Maps is ‘Masjid Sultan Abdul Bakar, Bentong Pahang’.
2. Upon reaching the mosque (masjid) there is a turning towards the river, Sungai Benus.
3. Cross the bridge and you will see D’Ark Training & Resort Janda Baik on your right-hand side.
4. Proceed down the road till you see SWAT Paintball on your right-hand side (picture). 

There are the GPS coordinates;

• Degrees, minutes, and seconds (DMS): 3°20'03.5"N 101°51'41.0"E
• Decimal degrees (DD): 3.334300, 101.861404 (Location: Google Maps)

Price

For a group of 11 people, it cost us RM715 and we were provided 100 pellets each. It will be best to contact SWAT Paintball directly for pricing. Their contact details can be found below;

SWAT Paintball, Janda Baik's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/SWAT-Paintball-Janda-Baik/171199306285263

Safety Briefing

Before we were allowed into the battle field, the game warden gave a brief history of Paintball, it started in the west where loggers will mark trees to be cut down by painting on the trunk. Progressively they found a faster way to do that with an air gun that shoots out paint pellets. It was further customized and evolved to the game we know today. The game warden concluded, ‘It’s not a called ‘gun’ it is called a ‘marker’ ”.

The warden then proceeded to explain about our equipment;

• The air powered marker – always the safety on and barrel-sock on when not in play.
• The full face mask – never take it off during a game
• The body vest – reversible to indicate which team you belong to; basic black or jungle camouflage pattern.
• Paint pellets – made of gelatine which burst on impact. It contains a solution comprising of colouring and soup (to make it easy to wash off). Apparently it is ‘halal’– just in case you get hit in the mask and some of it get spread over the mouth, according to the warden.

The Rules

There were some rules that we needed to abide by before we started the battle;

1. There is a designated safe distance for shooting an enemy. Do not shoot is the target is less than 3 – 5 meters from you, it can result in serious injury. If you manage to sneak up on someone, point the gun but do not shoot, ask ‘Do you surrender?’, if the person surrenders, he/she put the marker safety ‘ON’, needs to raise both hands up, and walk out of the area. If there is a standoff (nobody surrenders), call for the game marshals (whom are in the area) to mediate.
2.  A shot is only a ‘confirmed kill’ when the pellet burst and there is splatter on the body. There are times the pellet may fail to burst on contact, graze the body (felt a pain) or ricochet & hit. When you felt a hit, touch the area of impact to confirm that is a splatter; if there is a paint splatter – you’re dead, if there is none – play on.
3. Headshot kill. There are times when the game is made more challenging when a kill is only confirm then the shot it at the head (with paint splatter). If you get hit on any other part of the body – play on. This can be an extremely painful affair as the enemy might torment you but hitting everywhere else EXCEPT the head. DO NOT SHOT THE BACK OF THE HEAD.
4. Once a KILL is confirmed (or a surrender occurs), the ‘dead’ needs put his/her gun safety ‘ON’, raise both hands up and exit the battle area. Wait till the next round.
5. DO NOT shoot the Game Marshal(s) – they will identify themselves and normally wearing bright identifiable colours.

There may be other rules based on the provider, game warden and/or game marshals so LISTEN CAREFULLY for a fun-fill experience and to avoid undesirable outcomes.

The Surrounding

Extracted from their Facebook profile;

This 3 acre centre has 2 fields – one field is suitable for beginners and smaller groups that can be customised and divided into 2 or 4 smaller fields; and another of natural, jungle terrain catered for the ‘hardcore elite’- with natural stones and forest trees possibly hundreds of years old as obstacles. Our objective is to create that natural forest, ‘jungle warfare’ feel to your games, which is why at SWAT Paintball, we use minimal artificial props as possible.

We were shown the field of battle,

where we will play two types of battle;

• Capture the Flag – the objective is to assault the enemy camp and capture the flag
• Last Man Standing – the objective is to wipe out the enemy, leave no many ‘standing’.

Few final Thoughts

At the end of the event, we played about 2 rounds of ‘Capture the Flag’ and 3 rounds of ‘Last Man Standing’ … by then we had players who declared they were too tired to carry on and are ‘permanently dead’. We still had some paint pellets left and the Game Warden suggested that those who wish to continue can either play

• ‘Target Practice’ – shooting water bottles there are suspended on a pole
• ‘Show down’ – where two players have the same amount of pellets, stand a safe distance, face each other, and take turns shooting each other. The person getting shot can evade by moving the body only (it is supposed to give you a chance to be like in the ‘Matrix’ – bullet time & evade).

All in all I had two noticeable bruising to show for; one on my head and another on my belly. I had an enjoyable time and if I were asked to play again, I will give it another go.

More photos of the surroundings;
Photos of teams playing at SWAT Paintball, Janda Baik's Facebook albums

Bayers Dual Stage Slow Juicer (JAT Demo)

A month ago we shared about a purchase, Bayers Dual Stage Slow Juicer.
Write-up: http://www.justathoughtah.com/2014/09/bayers-dual-stage-slow-juicer.html

To provide a bit more information on the product, we prepared this simple 2 minute clip to demonstrate its usage.

Restoran Capitol Satay (Celup) - the One and Only

She said;

Melaka, a food heaven known for its “Chicken Rice Ball”, “Chendol Durian”, “Pineapple Tarts”, “Satay Celup” and many more. During my many previous trips to Melaka, Satay Celup ('Celup' is the Malay word that means dip or dunk) is the only indulgence that I never got to taste. Previous attempts when I arrived at the shop - it was either closed, or a very long queue has formed. The many ‘incredible comments’ online saying that Satay Celup is so tasty that you should not miss, made me crave for Satay Celup even more.

Finally I started craving for it again after hearing from a friend that recently visited Melaka. So my hubby and I dropped by Melaka just for Satay Celup.

We arrived Capitol Satay Celup before 5pm, the first thing we saw was the long queue outside the shop, and people in the restaurant savoring the Satay Celup; looking at the notice board and we realized the restaurant actually opens at 4pm daily; no wonder the long queue.

It was quite interesting that there were many notice boards where the restaurant owner declared that there are no other sisters, brothers and branches of Capitol Satay Celup, and the shop we went to is ‘The ONE and ONLY’.

NOTICE: "Please be informed that Capitol Satay DO NOT have any sisters, brothers or branches in Malacca or anywhere else. DON'T BE MISLED!". There are actually 2 MORE of these notices at the 2 front pillars of the shop (not in the picture)

After waiting for an hour plus, we were finally seated.

As we sat down, the shop assistant start preparing the satay sauce for dipping, smelled good!

There were quite a variety of satay sticks available; fish balls, tofu, prawns, kangkung etc, all were common food that we have in steamboat restaurant. I especially enjoyed the tiger prawns, scallops and abalone.

Now, if you were to ask me if I will revisit satay celup again since I craved so much for it?
I think my answer is ‘No’. I will not specifically go for it but I will not mind going with a group of friends if anyone were to suggest to go for Satay Celup.

If you ask me, "Why ‘No’?"
Hmm… now that I have tasted it, the ‘curiosity cat’ in me is satisfied.

If you ask me, Why the ‘curiosity cat’ did not have the urge to go back again?
I think the answer will be… Satay Celup is just any food that you can dip in satay sauce, and I do think to a certain extent that the satay sauce overwhelmed the natural taste of the food.

However, if anyone that has not tasted Satay Celup, I will encourage to you to try it at least one time, maybe you will like it. Whether or not you will like Satay Celup, it is personal preference, I do know some of my friends are devoted fan of Satay Celup.

He said;

I am not the type of person who will wait in line but I am willing to satisfy my partner. So that Saturday weekend (20 September 2014) we stop over at Melaka for the famous Capitol Satay Celup. Prior to going I had to do my 'research';

• Where is the shop?
  41, Lorong Bukit Cina, 75100 Melaka.
  GPS Coordinates: N2 11.710 E102 15.137


• What time does it open?
  4:00pm

While I am a person that does not like waiting (too long / in a queue) for food, I am willing to go early (before the shop opens). We arrived 4:45pm and noticed that there were customers already enjoying their satay celup and a long line has formed - The food blogs I 'researched' said the shop opens at 5.00pm - outdated! It now opens at 4.00pm.

Never mind, I was still in a good mood so we waited ... waited ... and waited till 5:49PM.

This single shop only had 10 tables of various sizes, and depending on your group size the shop assistant will sit you accordingly. Since it was only my partner and I, the shop assistant asked if we were willing to share the table with other patrons. IMPORTANT TO NOTE: if you are willing to share your table, you risked the chance of other double-dipping into the Satay Celup broth (e.g. dip to cook, take a bite, "oh ... not enough sauce", dip the stick back into broth again) .

Anyway, we shared the table with 3 other patrons. I took a few sticks from the fridge and each stick cost RM1.00. Some of the more premium ingredients like tiger prawn, abalone, scallop, and cutter fish were provided later by the shop assistants.

The first bite, I taste a 'burned taste' - this was due to the heavy satay gravy ingredients that is settling down at the base of the pot - getting burned. Subsequently (and periodically) the shop assistants came by to control the gas flames, add more satay gravy, and stir the whole pot vigorously. It was fine after that.

This is not the first time eating satay celup as I've been to another restaurant providing the same. Based on memory, that experience was better. Anyway, I had my taste of Capitol Satay Celup, on to the next indulgence.

Other Comments;
I posted some photos of the experience on Facebook and some of my friends (from Melaka) had this to say;

• Try the Satay Celup at Ong Kim Wee. We locals prefer there
• It's (Capitol Satay Celup) overated!
• Suggest you go to Ban Lee Xiang at Jalan Ong Kim Wee. Not so crowded and easy to find parking. And the boss is more customer friendly compared to Capitol. And it is open around 4pm or 4.30pm...