Many people might say that I'm crazy because never be home for CNY, instead going to KK for a mount climbing expedition. Well, I do not wish that I belong to one of the Petronas CNY ad's star(if you ever watch the touching ad fr Petronas).
Anyway, this KK trip was just for an experience! It was nothing bout relaxing or enjoying trip compared to the others, but this trip was for experience. Mount Kinabalu (Gunung Kinabalu) is a prominent mountain in Southeast Asia. It is located in Kinabalu National park in the east Malaysian state of Sabah, which is on the island of Borneo in the tropics.
10 February 2008, 7:20am.
We were now in Air Asia (Everyone can fly plane) taking off to Sabah! Yuhooo...
Some of our friends were already back at Sabah (their hometown) celebrating CNY with their beloved family members. And here we are, the few of us that cabut on the 4th day of CNY to attend a very important mission, that is to climb Mount KK. Wahaha...
Leaving the Kuala Lumpur atmosphere..
My deuter pouch given by Justin tat served me good and made my trip easier!
Justin with his GPS.. he was too bored cause everyone was snoring.. :P
Guess who is she? I caught her most beautiful moment?? Ehe.. It is good to stay awake all the time yea.. haha.
Entering the refreshing air of Sabah...
Finally, after 2 hours plus of flight, we reached safely at Kota Kinabalu International Airport. And our first visit for the day was to Pastor William Vun's church "Glory Christian Centre".
This was the worship moment and take note on the projector! This was the old typical China's instruments.. haha. Great!
There was a special performance from this little girl for the CNY festive season. She can really groove well.. =P
Church service ended bout 1pm and all of us were already hungry. We then moved on to have our lunch at one of the stalls.
These were Sabah's most famous steam dumplings..
These were the same dumplings, just tat they were fried.
And this was the Sarawak's famous Koa Lo Mee... to taste a real good koa lo mee, go to Sarawak!
Due to CNY, Joanna's family decided to hold a buffet dinner for us! Thanks for all the wonderful tasty food!! :)
These were all the dishes cooked by Joanna's aunt! Thumbs up!!!
And, our dear Jenny will turn 27 this year.. huhu. Sorry to say that we were bored with chocolate creamy cakes, thus, a coconut candle will be interesting and special!! Wahaha..
A pic with great effect huh?!
OMG, this little girl is seriously a princess charming! If you ever hear her laughter and see her smile, you will definitely fall in love with her! She's just a very beautiful little princess!!!
After dinner, we had a walk along the beach. Btw, Joanna's house is near this beach.. soo syook.
Our day finally ended with packing! Look at the amount of things that we brought for the climbing. It was real crazy to use 3 normal backpacks to go up the hill as I do not have any camping backpacks. And that was the time where all my bags were stuffed to the max. Haha..
Monday, February 25, 2008
Kota Kinabalu Day 1 | 10 February 2008
Kota Kinabalu Day 2 | 11 February 2008
It was day 2 in Kota Kinabalu!
This was the place where we stayed in day 1 before we headed to the Mount Kinabalu. Huhu, first time staying in Backpackers and it was a real awkward kind of feeling as u have to stay with strangers!! And we called the stranger Justin's "bedmate" cause their beds were just near to each other. Hahaha...
We had our breakfast here before we left to the mountain. Look at my sort of pathetic food. Bihun with tauhu.. haha.
Me and Nicole choosing our favorite food... I miss her so much when I'm no longer "together" with her... Anyway, we will always be friends forever!
While waiting for the van that will bring us to the kaki gunung....
Justin posing at the coffee shop..
Me waiting boredly outside of the coffee shop..
These guys were enjoyed playing their favorite chinese chess...
And all of us taking a group photo!! These were the numbers that will be part of the expedition!
I was promoting my Kampung Adidas climbing shoes with Nicole..haha. Well, this shoe is really reliable and good! If you wanna climb Mount KK, don't spend your money buying any other sportshoes that worth RM100-200 (u will definitely throw it away when the day ends), in fact, this RM6.50 Kampung Adidas shoes will serve you better!
The Bread Story in KK...
Me, Canny and Jenny....
Finally, we were all on the way to the mountain.. yahooO!!!
Along the journey... Oh no, it's raining season in KK!
We reached Kinabalu Park after 1 hour + of journey. The atmosphere here was bone-chilling and everyone took out their thicky jackets.. haha.
Pretty excited when I saw this certificate! Anyway, check it out whether I managed to climb to the peak!! :P
Waiting at Sutera Sanctuary Lodges to get our registration done for the climb on the next day!
The Trail Map of Mount Kinabalu! Great.. isn't it? It looks easy to conquer the mountain, but.. try it and you will know how challenging it is! It does not only require a good stamina, but, it does require an ultimate determination and motivation! Else, you will die halfway.. sounds scary tho. Ehe..
In this group pic, everyone looks fresh, excited, enjoy, active....
But, after the expedition.... will show you the pic later. Hehe...
Thanks to the rain that we had to dress up like green robin hood... lol. Please agree with me that everyone here looked like big fat penguins.. haha.
And this was the place we gonna stay for one night before we begin our expedition tmr!
The girl's room.... it was real cold and this hostel can save on fan/aircond.
Huhu.. guess most of our meals in Mount KK should rely on Maggis.. The food there was freaking expensive. RM15 for one normal fried rice with mix vege and yet it was tasteless? That was crazy @%$.
After lunch around 3pm, we rested at the lobby...
And.. dinner time!
At least, meals at Kinabalu Park is still acceptable. This ginger chicken rice worth RM7. At least it does not exceed RM10...
Day 2 ended with some briefing from Calvin and Kevin Yong, preparing us for the climbing expedition the next day!!
Kota Kinabalu Day 3 | 12 February 2008
Day 3.. Lalalala, we were all pretty excited!!!
Our breakfast prepared by our cook, Marie and Jedidiah! Thanks to both of you....
We gathered at Kinabalu Park again to "check-in" our bags for the porters. It was not FOC, but RM8 for 1kg. They will help us to carry up and down, to and fro from Laban Rata. Some of our friends with strong solid muscles decided to carry their own bags.. check out their body after tat. Ehe..
We looked like ah ma and ah pek with tongkats. Haha.. Anyway, we will begin our climbing soon!
This rainy weather was so inconvenience for us to climb! Lolz, stop raining ler.. I don't wish to look like penguin during the whole trip.
We were all wet due to the rain and midst! And, we looked like half dead fish..
The beauty of the jungle....
Hungry Hungry.. biscuits to regain energy! Bottles of Livita and Red Bull for stamina! Thanks to the people who created this. Breathing and any further movement becomes increasingly difficult. This was torturing and yet we have to move on!
Ready to continue the journey??? Btw, the guy standing in the middle is our Chairman of this trip! He is Calvin Chong!
Finally, we reached Laban Rata bout 3pm, 6 hours of climbing under the rain. Laban Rata is approximately 3300m (10,800 ft). I had not got any beautiful pics along the journey due to the rain. :( I missed the surroundings that features a huge variety of flora, and is one of the world’s most important biological sites.
We had our lunch + early dinner at Laban Rata hut. It was approximately 12 degrees and real freaking cold. Not much appetite to eat as the tiredness is more than the hunger.
Look at the killing price at Laban Rata... I can easily get this Tiger biscuits for only RM1 at Jusco or Carefour! *faint*
The reason of killing prices is because since there are no roads, the supplies for the Laban Rata hut are carried by porters, who bring up to 30 kilograms of supplies on their backs.
Tired but still can smile.. haha.
Yea, he was one of the strong solid muscular guy that carried his own bag that weigh near 10kg up the mountain!
Yeah, this was the fried rice that worth RM15!!!!!!! Tasteless and .....
Mushroom soup that cost RM15 as well....
Finally our day 3 ended at this restaurant.
I was totally restless to take any more pics!
