Kinabalu Part 2

Day 2

It is 2am and we barely have 2 hours of sleep. First it was the cold, then Aunt L's constant complain and whine, kept us all awake. Got up real quick, grab some bite and put on our headlamp and started the journey to the peak at about 2.30am.

The weather was perfect, cloudless sky, stars everywhere and we were moon bathing as we were climbing. The first part was all stairs and I was lucky enough to be right behind Giant. He bloody farted all along the way. I must confess...everybody farted...maybe its the chocolate Snickers we all took. I dunno how many times i was sprayed with toxic fumes.

Me: WTF you farted again!
Giant: Im sorry! but i just cant help myself!
(another round of long, machine gun like fart)
Me: WTF, again!
Giant: Sorry sorry!

So it was like this all the way up the stairs. Then came the scary part...the rock climbing. It was dark all around and you can't see too far ahead. There was a never ending white rope and according to our guide, the rope is our life line. Basically we were mostly on the edge of a cliff most of the time. Luckily it was dark as you cant see what are the dangers!

Continued our journey at snail pace as the air was thinner and thinner. Then, Giant gave up at the last checkpoint! What a waste! but at least he did better than Aunt L.

So three of us continued our long journey and finally made it to the top at about 5.45am, just in time for the sunrise. Enjoy the pictures!




Woo hooo! sunrise! and its bloody cold up here!





Another viewpoint!



A lower peak...resembles a face dont ya think?




Dont call me lamleks this time! Me Very Lek already!




Notice the shadow of Mount KK at the background?




Victorious Aunt M




The sun finally showed up!



Another view


Then, it was the long and hard journey down the mountain. The worst part is we have to climb all the way down within the same day. I would say this is even more difficult than climbing up.



Aunt M contemplating whether to pee into the pool




Suh pah Gurl!




The tallest TM booth in Malaysia. Maybe for Yeti or bigfoot to call their cousins in himalayas





Met up with Giant at Sayat Sayat checkpoint. Putting up a brave face for the camera



The rock climb..... the way up is also the way down. And you can see the danger this time!




Dangerous leh






















Almost back to the rest house... notice the expression of Giant...cant see?



The look of tiredness




Meet up with Aunt L at the hut. Well rested, at least she is not whining now.

We couldn't take any pictures on the way down as it rained all the way. Imagine the misery we have to go through.




Someone needed help to climb the final steps to the gate.



Mum! Mum! i finally did it! boo hoo hoo!




Back at the hotel...guess whose tummy is that!

Kota Kinabalu Part 1

Day 1

Meet up with the gang and we took the afternoon flight to KK. Touch down at about 2pm and we went straight to town for some lunch. Its a typical chinese chicken rice shop but they have a special way of serving rice

















I have seen chicken rice balls, but check out the above pyramid, mount KK or madonna's titties rice. An imaginative friend of mine even decorated the peak with some chilies to imitate madonna's famous assets.


After the quick lunch, it was another two hours journey straight to our lodging at Kinabalu Park, which is located at the foothill of Mount KK. We stopped half way through for some toilet break and to much of my surprise, one of my friend's eye just balooned up




Look at the horrible bulge. Must have dreamt of peeping guys during her nap in the van. Control yourself girl! Luckily the inflamation was less once we reached the Kinabalu Park.




This is Kinabalu park where we stayed for the night. Beautiful place, nice fresh air....better than Salem cool planet. The only complaint here is the water heater. Not really working well and you would have some fun shivering time during shower.



Day 2

Woke up at about 6am, clean me self up and went for some breakfast with the gang. Our climb will start at 7.30am. Manage to took some picture of Mount KK before start the journey.



Low's peak, our target this time, the highest peak of Mount KK. 5 jokers from KL will attempt to fulfill their task of conquering it. The five are: Aunty L, Aunty M, Giant, Lamleks and of course me!



A view from Timpohan Gate, the starting point of our long precarious journey. Jealous yet?



The record of climbing up and down of Mount KK! 2 hours and 41min! Now everybody is hyped up and confident of making it all the way to the top.




So off we go on the journey, the start of many many stairs and steps.



Along the way, we met some incredible porters, carrying huges packages and even gas tanks up the mountain. In this picture, notice how Aunty M is so shocked to see the strength of the porter. And yes, even with the burden, the porter is faster than us.... paiseh






Another picturesque view!





From the left: Our guide (Jemin), Aunt M, unknown guide




A toilet pitstop along the way. At least you dont have to dig holes to do business. Thank goodness i didnt use Epsom Salt that week.




Found a hobbit along the way......



a group photo..beginining with Giant, Aunt L, Aunt M and notice Lamleks is right there at the back...cant see?!




zoomed in for your convenience...Lamleks doing his egyptian camel dance!





Aunt L posing with some pitcher plants found along the way...
AuntL: woi! im trying to do business her le... go away!





Another view...





The gang posing for group photo...notice something again?






My name is Leks! Lamleks!
Dont play play ah...notice my state of the art tumbler...is a secret weapons..can send you to clouds nines...
























Almost to the rest area...getting wet and misty but Aunt M still can pose and smile.
























Aunt L not wanting to lose out... trying hard to pose! (but actually very sick liao)




Our lodging for the night. Panar Laban zinc hut. No heater, no insulation. Only two blankets to withstand the cold.




















LOSER!

Our comrade knocked out... vomitted 4 times.... all the chicken burger, chocolates, biscuits, coffee was out.... so four of us left to continue the journey :(

Hair Cut!

Finally I got my hair cut done!

Went to the usual RM12 barber shop in One Utama to get my hair cut done. When I reach there, noticed that the usual lady is gone. There is another lady there waiting for customer. She is quite young but definitely not Malaysian, but more like a Thai. I went in, paid the 12 bucks and sat down.

I heard her speaking some weird language to her friend in the shop. Definitely not Thai language, so my guess is either she is from Vietnam, Myanmar or places like that. I was thinking to my self…should I speak in Malay or English and before I can say something, she spoke to me in fluent English. Hmmm…impressive. Here’s the conversation that follows:

Lady: So mister, how would you like me to cut your hair.
Me: Uh…short
Lady: how short?
Me: Uh…very short

(I don’t really care about my hair actually. Normally I just want to be short, neat if possible.)

Me: Let’s make it short and maybe I want to gel the hair a bit.
Lady: Ok, you want it short and gel like this? (moving her hands across my hair, showing me how it would me gel)
Me: Uh…ok (I was thinking…whatever la)
Lady: Oh ok. Like Armani is it?

I was thinking, like Armani?! What the heck?! How does Mr. Jojo Air Mani looks like anyway? I don’t even know. But it can’t be that bad right? Designer hairstyle wor. So…

Me: Err…yes! Like Armani.
Lady: ok.

And then she started cutting my hair here and there. As she was cutting, I notice my grey hair is increasing. This is no good. I need to do something about that.

10 minutes later it was done. Not bad, not bad. But I don’t think Armani have my kind of hairstyle. Maybe it’s my hair quality. But hey, I’m not complaining. At least my hair is short now. She then said that her hair gel was finished, so she cannot complete her masterpiece. No problem.

Maybe I can experiment it tomorrow… hmmm…where did I keep that hair gel?

Problems?!

It’s been almost a month since I updated the blog and many events had happen…some happy and some quite sad.

Maybe I should start with the happy events first…it’s better to be optimist right?

Congratulations to a fellow blogger, ETLS on his new found love, who is also one of my best friends. May you two have a beautiful and long lasting relationship! And remember my bro…I trust you will take good care of her…if you don’t, make sure you pray hard, I KNOW where you stay.

Two of you guys have been my pillar of strength for the past couple of months. Thank you for that. Never could imagine what would happen to me without you guys. My bro, remember to practice what you preach…”count your blessings” and cherish what you have now.

After two months of training…climbing Bukit Gasing, Bukit Tabor and the stairs of Batu Caves and Uptown 2, I finally manage to climb up to the top of Mount KK! Not in record time, but I’m a happy man. Will be writing more about the climb in the next blog, once the pictures are ready. But one thing that I would like to share now is the quiet moment I experienced when I was descending from the peak.

The peak was a desolated place, desert like with a few patches of moss and plants growing. As I was descending down from the peak, there was a part of the mountain where there was only silence. No a single sound can be heard. I was separated from the group, all alone, and the only sound I heard was from my own movement and breathing. I can even hear my own heart beat. At that moment, many thought came to my mind. Of course the very first thought was my own problems, but as I walked, I began to think why I should feel miserable and bad about it.

My problems are so insignificant compared to others. In the last two months, two new widows had to face the world alone, bringing up the children alone. What is my problem compared to theirs?! At least I’m still alive.

Another friend had to juggle between work and taking care of the family challenges. Taking care of aging person is no easy task. Yet she still can manage to take the pressure of it. Hats off to you madam! What is my problem compared to yours?! I just need to take care of myself.

Sometimes when you are down and out, you might feel that you are unluckiest, saddest, most miserable person in the world. It’s ok to feel bad but remember that there is always someone else in worst condition than you. Just suck it up and count your blessings. The world will still go on whether you are sad or happy. The choice is still yours and be glad that you still can choose.