2 Oct 2006
Finally the long awaited trip! After so many hiccups along the way, I’m finally going to climb a real mountain in my life (i.e. besides Bkt Timah Hill)! YEAH!!! After grabbing a mere 5 mins rest, I gotta rushed off to office to grab a file which I thought I left there but is still MIA now.. sob.. anyway another 100 m dash to uncle cabby who kindly brought me to Bugis to meet S & D without booking charges. 3 of us then embarked on our journey to Senai Airport & finally KK!
As usual, I fell asleep on the plane. Flight was not too comfortable, strangely the seats cant be adjusted (which we later found out that it’s cos we are sitting next to the emergency exit, what a wrong move! DIAO!) Was greeted by a nice rainbow at KK domestic airport & later by smiley J who had been there for a few days already due to the climbathon. Walked around KK, led by J, the obvious guide who can find his way around so easily while I just followed blindly… It’s strange how some pple just have such a good sense of directions… hmm…
Proceeded to Rose Cabin, our lodging at the foot of Mt Kinabalu for the night. It’s a nice place with a balcony where we can see Mt Kinabalu! Wow! But it’s too hazy & visibility was poor. While everyone was settling down, I went to play with the rabbits, happily "teasing" them with my keys when I got scratched *ouch* Retribution! Finally, J was done with his report so all 4 of us went on to explore the vegetable fields behind, got a feel of walking on uneven grounds & saw the beautiful sunset which i failed to capture on my camera =( Had a go at the swing near the eating area, it was really fun! After having tough chicken meat & crunchy leafies for dinner, we decided to have a game of cards in our room. Played bridge & bluff which i failed terribly. My biggest mistake in card games & mahjong: 我总是只顾自己的牌，不管别人怎么出牌，就好像活在自己的世界里。其实，知己知彼、百战百胜的道理，我是知道的，不过没有实践罢了。 So obviously I was made to shuffle the cards like dunno how many times… And J was like very amused, obviously gloating over my "misfortune"! =( Bathing was very "exciting" as temperature dropped drastically at night. Hairdryer was on to bring us a little bit more warmth. S & I decided to fill the bucket with warm water instead of going directly under the shower after hearing poor D’s shivering bath story. haha… =D
1st day at KK with no major mishap…
3 Oct 2006
Our mt climbing experience was abt to start! All 4 of us had no prior exp in mt climbing & here we are challenging 1 of the highest mts in SEA, wow! Had buffet breakfast & went on to settle the administrative stuff like getting mt guide, paying for mt permit etc… I decided to get our guide Hali to carry my bag for me after all though the other 3 went ahead with their loads. Haiz… abit useless but I guessed I shldnt CQ if I really wanna survive till the end!
Halfway thru, I realised I had underestimated the mt… It’s not just steps! Paths were rocky & some parts were quite steep, manageable on the whole but there are areas where i really dreaded taking a step forward & needed helping hands. *Oh dear, am I going down these paths? Cant imagine! Courage! Courage! I need more courage! Jiayou! I need to overcome my phobia! * 爬山很需要勇气，来面对一切风雨，陡峭山路我要征服你，我想一定可以…不要畏惧！
Saw squirrels at our resting pts, ahhh…. so cute!!! Hali was showing us orchids, giant ferns/fronds & pitcher plants along the way. He even helped me took a close up shot of pitcher plants up a steep slope!!!
As we got higher, the winds grew stronger & the air became thinner, D & I were panting hard for breath. D nearly wanna gave up but decided to press on. Finally we saw Laban Rata Resthouse where we were supposed to stay for the night! It was super windy up there & there were times when I felt as if I wld get blown away any moment! I just clinged on to the pole for my dear life, cos any step I take just seemed too dangerous, it was scary!
Grabbed my lunch/dinner there, a plate of tasteless kampung fried rice & mushroom soup. Costly! But considering that the porters act carried them up the mt made the prices justifiable. It was so cold & the heater is only on from 8pm to 8am. What bad news! The tap water was interesting, 1 side with icy cold water while the other runs boiling hot water, faint, cant they mix the water? Only S decided to shower while the 3 of us battled the cold. D was in KO mode, hugging my warm water bottle. It was another game of bridge & card shuffling for 3 of us besides KO D. Halfway thru, altitude sickness creeped in which I brushed aside as symptoms due to the cold. All of us retired to bed ard 7pm but I was tossing & turning in bed. It was cold & the headache wun go away… sob… =( Rubbed some medicated oil but not much use. Halfway thru the night, D was up looking for panadol. 我们同是天涯沦落人！I quickly supplied 1 tablet & my medicated oil. 10+pm: Still shivering, I decided to get up & wear my thermal wear which I initially stubbornly wanna wait till tom. Much better with my scarf & thermal socks on. 开始胡思乱想… Can I really get to the summit? It was raining heavily… am in a not-so-good state. Took out hp & read 管理员sms: "halo dear, how r u there? dun give up ya.. come on, juz a few more steps, u can make it! jiayou!" sobsob… started praying hard that headache will go away tom, rain will stop, everything will be fine but what if… I dun wanna 七孔流血 up the mt. Also dun wanna press on but cant make it halfway & be a burden.. what shld I do? 思绪复杂… With all these thoughts, I slowly dozed off…
4 Oct 2006
2am: It was still raining heavily! Headache was still there but a little better… S & J were discussing if we shld continue the climb despite the weather. Debate revolves around "safety 1st, try at later time, stay for another day & see what happens". We decided to approach Hali for advice who told us that it is best to abort the plans. J was quite determined to climb at a later time if weather permits, S stood by the "Safety 1st" policy while I preferred to stay for another day & see what happens. Our discussion led nowhere because later, rangers issued a warning that nobody is to go up the summit due to bad weather conditions. So disappointing… no beautiful sunrise! We were forced to descend.
7am: Feeling much better, luckily! After breakfast & some photo-taking, we began our route down the mt. Sweat! Strong winds again… I started clinging on to my beloved pole! 上山容易，下山难，我充分体会到这点！Courage, I need more courage! Grounds were wet & we descended slowly. D was surprisingly fast. Apparently, the thought that more oxygen is waiting for him down the mt motivated him to descend faster! haha… During 1 of the breaks, Hali suddenly came up to me & said it might start raining in 1 hr time. That stressed me abit. I thought he was hinting that I was too slow. After the break, I hurried behind D. Not long after, I was forced to give up. D was too fast, J & S were not behind me, for a moment I thought I was lost & panicked! :’( Luckily they were not far behind & we were reunited =) Hali was right, it really started raining & we proceeded with extra caution & less speed. Bumped into a poisonous frog & 2 snakes on our way down. J was screaming "a snake is swimming down" & I was screaming "AHHHH"as I ran down the mt with maximum speed!! Last 1 km, I was completely exhausted & had to rely on singing aloud to perk myself up! Every step is so tiring… HELP! Suddenly I saw a flight of stairs in front of me & nearly fainted! But that’s act the last flight of stairs b4 we completed our journey! YEAH!! We have reached the foot of the mt, completely drenched & exhausted! What an accomplishment!
On our way back to KK, we were told by the driver Lawrence that there had been a landslide yest due to the rain. Were stucked in a traffic jam for sometime before we finally arrived at Step-In Lodge where we decided to stay for the coming 2 nights. Had dinner nearby & went to centrepoint to change currency, finally I had money!! Gotta borrow $ from S for the past 2 days! Shopped around centrept with aching feet, siaming stairs as far as poss… S went to bed quite early that day. Short of 1 bridge kaki, we can only play poker & building pyramids. After trying for more than half an hr, I finally succeeded in building a 3 storeys high pyramid! Err… I know I’m a failure but at least I did not give up ya? =P
5 Oct 2006
Day @ Sapi Island to be continued…
