Boon's Kota Kinabalu Trip (28th Jun - 2nd Jul 08)

Woohoo!!!!

2008-07-04T23:20:00.001-07:00

This had been a long antipicated trip.

The idea of this trip was conceived back in 2005, however, due to logistical problem, we only managed to do it this year (2008). Well, thanks to Jonathan's persistency, I could strike off an item from my to-do list. =)

It was quite amazing that 8 busy friends were able to come together for this trip. This might be our last trip together (hopefully not), but the odds of having another great trip like this is quite unlikely.

Anyway, I am glad that it happened.

It was a great trip - good scenery, great experience, excellent company!!

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Mt Kinabalu - located in Sabah, Borneo (East Malaysia), is the fourth highest peak in South-East Asia with height of 4095m (13,435 ft)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kinabalu

On the flight to KK...

Everybody was very excited.

@ the base of KK

2008-07-04T23:14:00.000-07:00

Our dear tour guide (XiaoYang) was plucking sabah vege for our dinner.

It was a nice experience for city dwellers like us to see the local farm.

BTW, if anybody wants to go Sabah, I would highly recommend XiaoYang, who was really unique. He would share with us some of the local politics and local information that most guides won't tell you. Like the rooms in Hyatt were reeking with children's urine smell, and his analogy of Anwar's Sodomy Case is - someone who is sick of eating shark fins and would like to try KangKong (local vege) once a while... haha ...

His contact: +60 198 000 966

Doing some "Bo-Liao" (nonsensical) stuff and playing "Polar Bear".

It was good to be silly and take life easy. It would be hard to see us looking so silly at work, as corporate life just stifles everything.

It was a good time to slow down and enjoy the plants and flowers.

White Flowers...

Pink Flowers...

Droplets of Water...

Morning Glory...

Freedom...

I like my new Nikon D40 camera. The Macro-photos were taken much better than my point-and-shoot camera.

The Start of Trekking

2008-07-04T23:01:00.000-07:00

The summit of Mt Kinabalu

To a certain extent, the whole trekking experience is like life.

We may have seemingly insurmountable goal, yet, it is quite simple to reach our goal by taking small incremental steps forward. Once a while, the road gets rougher and steeper, it may starts to rain, our legs may start to ache and fatigue might slowly set in. It was part and parcel of the journey. Take a short break and continue.

Even though the view at the summit is beautiful, but sometimes, we might ask ourselves if it is worth the effort.

May be while we are very focused on the goal to reach the summit, we only look at the road ahead and forgot to appreciate the beautiful sceneries around us, we may forgot to stop and look at the subtle beauty of life around us.

More importantly, we must learn to enjoy the sceneries and the experiences along the way while we strive to reach our goal. The time spent at the summit is short, and the view might not be as good as we expected. This time, I am learning to slow down to appreciate the little beauty around me while we were on the way to the summit.

(My travelmates might notice that I have been exclaiming that it was so beautiful along the way - in fact, I enjoyed the journey more than the time at the summit.)

The journey to the summit is a long one.

In fact, some of the views along the way are better than the summit one.

Fortunately, we reached the summit this time.

Even if we do not reach the summit, I think this trip is still successful because of the great sceneries and experience of trekking.

It might not be complete, but it is okay.

May be the question should not be

"Did you enjoy the view at the summit?"

the question should be

"Did you enjoy the journey and experience?"

I did for both. =)

All ready for the trekking!!!

RF, TC, XR, Val, PY, Jon, Chandra & Boon

Waterfall...

Ground Squirrel...

Green Fern...

Isn't it beautiful?

(taking time to appreciate the little beauty of nature)

A Porter carrying trays and trays of eggs.

Unfortunately, there is no road/cable-car to the summit, hence, everything (Cooking Gas, Food, Mattress etc..) has to be carried by porter. In fact, all of us, except Jon & RF, hired a porter to carry our bags. So we are not very gang-ho.

Looking at the happy faces, it is easy to guess that this was the beginning of the trekking. haha...

The higher you go.. the thinner the air... and this will happen to you.

(Inspired by Kung-Fu Panda.)

Still looking positive and good...

After a few hours and a cold downpour...

when tiredness set in.

the smiling was abit stiff now. haha

Scenery 1

Scenery 2

Scenery 3

(I like this pic very much. It has a sense of solitude, serenity and immortality.)

Yeah!!! We finally reached Laban Rata where we slept for one night before setting off at 2am next day to reach the summit to catch the sunrise.

Sunset @ Laban Rata (3400m Elevation)

2008-07-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

This is what happen when you have no tv/laptop to entertain yourself.

BTW, the view was fantastic!!!

Much better than watching TV or surfing net.

Experiencing sunset above the low clouds...

I had not seen such a beautiful sunset for sometime. =)

It was a great feeling, and the view is definitely better than the summit one.

Colourful Sky...

A beautiful sunset...

Priceless!!!

Ascending to Summit (4095m - 13400 feets)

2008-07-04T22:40:00.000-07:00

Breakfast at 1.50am before setting off...

The previous night, I tried to sleep at 8pm, it was quite cold (below 6 degrees outside) and I had breathing difficulty as my nose was blocked and the air was thin. I managed to sleep at around 10pm and woke up at 1.25am.

@ the Summit on 5.40am, after 4 hours of trekking and climbing.

On the way to summit, it was pitch dark. I remember the moment when we switched off our headlamps, and take a few minutes appreciate the sky that was full of stars.

Very enjoyable

We were enjoying the journey

I thought of the comparable night skies that I saw when I was in Australia, Langmusi, Yosemite, Tibet, Rajasthan etc..

Sunrise at the Summit

Another view of sunrise at the Summit

. Babe and Beautiful Landscape...

Introducing the beautiful world...

Beautiful!!!

Beginning of the descend

Ironically, we enjoyed the ascend more than the descend. May be we are too objective/goal-oriented. May be once the goal was accomplished, there might be void to be filled?!?!?

Descending the rocky terrain...

Happy Birthday to Princess Yunyun!!!

Celebrating her birthday at an elevation of 4000m. The cake looked pathetic, but it would definitely be one of the more memorable birthdays.

What's the similarity in these 4 pics?

Answer: Val had been "leading" the pack.

Look at the line of people behind her... haha

Sorry Val, it's too funny not to be shared. :P

End of the trekking!!!

Diving @ KK

2008-07-04T22:34:00.001-07:00

I love the wind, the sun and the sea!!!

Getting ready for the plunge
.

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It was pretty scary for most of us, as...

it was

TC's 2nd dive trip since his first dive in 2003 (5 years ago)

RF's 2nd dive trip since his first dive in 2005 (3 years ago)

My 4th dive trip and my last dive was in 2006 (2 years ago)

PY's 2nd dive trip since her first dive in 2007 (1 year ago)

but it was Val's 3rd dive trips of this year.

So she was refreshing us of the protocol of diving.
.
.

It was a OKAY dive.

The water was OKAY

The quality of the sea creatures was OKAY

(Small Stingray, Turtles, Cuttlefish etc..)

In fact, I enjoyed swimming among the light-purple jellyfishes.

The most enjoyable moment during the dive was when I stopped breathing. There was no noise of air bubbles gushing out of my regulator. It was quiet. I was floating in the water. I looked around me, and it was a magical moment.

That was the power of NOW.

Post-Diving & Climbing

2008-07-04T22:26:00.000-07:00

Dinner at a restaurant recommended by XiaoYang

Total Satisfaction!!! =D

Btw, RF was trying to micmic my retarded expression. haha..

Playing games in hotel room
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.
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How do you know that you are really really tired?

When you shouted "Heart Attack" when you had a 4 cards of the same suite (instead of 4 cards with the same number or alphabet).

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

Sorry Val. :P

CCK Kopitiam...
where it all started...

CCK gang Boleh!!!

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After Trip Thoughts

2008-07-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

My Arbor Terrace Housemates...

The last time we slept under one roof was back in june 2004 in Silicon Valley.

Even though this trip was quite short, it was very fun and memorable, mainly because of the people. I could not remember the last time when I laughed so intensely for so many days.

On the evening when I was back, I felt quite sad - suffering from post-trip withdrawal symptoms. I felt I was alive, but I was going back to the rat-race.

I felt sad because I knew that such a good trip might not happen again in the future.

RF is going to the Bay Area, and everybody is going to be very busy with career, marriage and children eventually.

On a deeper level, I spent 1 year with these friends back in Silicon Valley.

They reminded me of those days in the bay area.

I kinda missed those days (challenging yet rewarding), especially experiencing life with this group of special friends

Then, i remember one of my good friends' slogan

"Don't Cry When It Is Over

Smile That It Happened"

Thank You for walking with me for this part of my life.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Found this bug on my filthy trousers when i soaked it in water.

This bug was living in my trousers in my backpack for the past 2-3 days. It survived the coldness in on the plane's baggage compartment. It survived when I soaked my trousers in water.

I respect its will to survive.

In the end, I released it back to nature.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I am going to sound really really stupid.

But I am saying bye to my first backpack - it has been with me since 2000. It was with me during my young adulthood, and had seen quite abit of the world.

In fact, I felt abit sad. It was not a good backpack, but I'll miss it just be'cos it was part of my life.

This is life.

There is always time to bid farewell

as life is impermanent.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

One of the moments that I enjoyed was the trekking in the rain during the descend.

Raining made the descend tougher and slower. It was supposedly an obstacle, yet, I found it beautiful. Yes, it was more slippery, but the rain brought out the beauty of tropical rainforest.

When I brought down my poncho hook and looked at the misty canopy, it was a refreshing view.

I was so thankful that I was alive. =)

There is always another perspective to view adversity

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Boon, Chandra, Val, Jon, PY, XR, TC & RF @ the top of Mt Kinabalu

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Something that would stick to me for a long time was my respect for the three ladies - Val, XR & PY. I saw their strength, determination and stubborness.

I respect them not because they were extremely fit.

I respect them because they were able to overcome physical challenges.

There were moments when I could see that they were totally exhausted and when every step was a pain. They did not whine or complain (Or Rather, I would say that they did not whine or complain much). They just moved forward and took a step at a time.

Example: PY's 2 toe nails were coming-off, yet, she took a step at a time. Val slightly twisted her ankle (that explains why she was "leading" the pack). XR was totally gone while she was ascending to the summit, but she still pushed herself.

RESPECT!!!

I saw qualities of my friends which made them successful in their own respective fields.

Let's remember this lesson and do not give up so easily.

This is an attitude and a way of life.

Lastly, thank you for the trip! =)