Sabah 2006

This is a ridiculously lengthy post documenting my one-week travel with 3 friends to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, in November 2006 for my non-medical elective. There are tonnes of photos in this post. Go on, scroll down...

Day One - Departure

Our adventure started with Keng Tat chauffeuring the two of us to LCCT-KLIA for our AirAsia flight to Kota Kinabalu. It was supposedly a four-man trip, but Felix decided last minute to get his arse sent by his parents to the terminal, and Daniel travelled from Bintulu. The journey to the airport terminal was uneventful and was basically filled with unremarkable empty chatters among us on how bored and lifeless Keng Tat and his friends would be while we were away scaling mountains and braving seas and river rapids. Elective in India?... bah! (insider's joke).

We reached the terminal early, and saw Felix there looking lost. Speak about schizoids being exposed to hundreds of strangers. I decided to have a beef croissant and a bowl of dry noodle and a hot Milo drink. It costed me only a mere RM21.90.

Felix, being a schizoid for years and not having seen a real airplane upclose, insisted that I take a photo with him in front of the Airbus A320 although it was a no-photo-taking area. He was elated all the time, and I had no idea why.

The flight took us 2 hours. The moment we touched down, we were greeted by Mr. Cesar from Suniland Travel. Mr. Cesar was the friendly and helpful guy who took care of our entire trip in Sabah and made our adventure fuss-free and the more enjoyable. We left our luggages with Mr. Cesar and we were left at the Centre Point Shopping Centre for lunch and to shop for necessities.

Then, we were sent to Kinabalu Park on a pre-arranged transport (a Toyota Unser) for dinner and lodging. The journey from KK city to Kinabalu park took about 2 hours. Bayu Homestay is just a few minutes walk from Kinabalu Park. We were served free dinner upon arrival at the Bayu Restaurant.

We had to put up with numerous foreign insects and weird smells and putrid-smelling pillows for the night. The temperature here in Bayu Homestay was about 23 degree.

The water heater here at Bayu Homestay decided to malfunction that night, and thus we had to put up with chilly bathing water. Not bad though as I managed to have a proper shower.

Day Two - Mission Laban Rata

We woke up as early as 6.30a.m. the next morning to chirping birds, annoying insects, cooling mountain breeze, and a cow shitting by the roadside. The sun was already high up in the sky trying to scorch our lazy arses. Here in Sabah, the sun starts rising as early as 5.30a.m.

We walked over to Bayu Restaurant and enjoyed our western breakfast and collected our packed lunch. We then started to loiter around the Kinabalu Park.

Our climbing permits, entrance fees and climbing guide were all taken care of. What we needed to do was to take nothing but photographs and leave nothing but footprints. We decided to purchase some walking sticks from our climbing guide.


Mount Kinabalu is at the background teasing us with its massive granite rocks and beautiful clouds.

"We're gonna conquer that short-dick mountain!"

We proceeded to the starting point, i.e. the Timpohon Gate (the starting point as well as end-point of climb) at about 11a.m. It was a 4km car ride from the Kinabalu Park. The climb from Timpohon Gate to Laban Rata, our next stopping point, was approximately 6km.

Everybody was very excited, especially Mania Min. He led the pack and stormed through the steps and rocks, and the rest followed suit... soon after it was evident that Felix was having stamina problem, and so does Daniel. Felix started to slow down, Daniel too, and I started to show my climbing prowess by taking over Mania Min and charged to the first resting hut, Pondok Kandis.

There are resting huts or "pondoks" every 1-odd km and here, there is a makeshift toilet and a small water tank with untreated mountain water which climbers could refill for drinking. We gathered at Pondok Kandis and continued our climb together.

Soon, I found myself the most powerful climber among the four of us and needed to slow myself down in order not to be too lonely climbing all alone. Plus, there would be no one to take photographs of me if I were alone.

I waited and saw Mania Min in the distance. Daniel and Felix were too far away to be seen. I adjusted my climbing speed so that Mania Min could follow, and be my photographer. But still, I still find it hard to let him get close as every turn or corner I took, I lost sight of him behind me.

I soon started to yell at him, calling him a pussycat and weakling. He complaint of quadricep spasm, and cried, begging me to stop and massage his legs.

With words of encouragement, Mania Min soon learnt to ignore the pain and spasms and started to increase his speed as well. But at some point, I still had to stop and chew on my chocolate bars to wait for him. Daniel and Felix, needless to say, were still far far down planet Earth.

I soon realised that in order to have my photos taken by someone, I needed to wait for Mania Min. Or else, there wouldn't be any photos to blog!

Mania Min needed to rest frequently and that pissed me off a great deal. He complained like a sissy and slowed me down too in the process. Being the rainy season, we needed to make it to Laban Rata at least before 3pm in order to avoid any rainfall.
The two angmohs share the same climbing guide as us, and they are now passing us even though we had a headstart. The climbing guide meanwhile, was with Felix, who was the last and slowest in our group. DAMMIT! He hogs the guide all to himself!

As we ascend the mountain, the air gets thinner and weather gets cooler. Having trained my quads and my cardio system for 2 months, all that weren't any problem at all.
Leaving Mania Min behind, I stopped to drink my mountain water before making the final dash to the end-point of the day - Laban Rata resthouse. My climb from Timpohon Gate to Laban Rata clocked at exactly 4 hours.

The white building at top right in the above picture is the Laban Rata resthouse, in which we were going the spend the night in. Mania Min reached a few minutes later, still complaining of pain here and there. So sissy! I dashed into the cafeteria and ordered food as I was famished. The meehoon goreng here cost RM13.00, and a can of 100Plus was priced at a steep RM5.00. If you had experienced the climb yourself and seen how the porters carry the food up to Laban Rata to feed your arse, you wouldn't mind paying RM18.00 for a plate of meehoon goreng and a can of 100Plus for lunch.

Daniel reached 30 minutes later, partially soaked due to bouts of drizzling rainwater he encountered earlier. Felix on the other hand, reached more than an hour later, fully soaked and very agitated. Up to this moment we weren't sure whether he was agitated because we left him behind or if it's due to extreme cold and hunger.

To our dismay, there was power interruption at the Laban Rata resthouse and thus, water was extremely cold and prolonged contact could condense your bone marrow. I and Mania Min braved the extreme water temperature and managed to wash up albeit very briefly.

We had a RM33/pax buffet dinner and enjoyed the sunset scenery before retiring to our beds at 7p.m.

Day Three - Mission Low's Peak (Summit)

We woke up at 2 a.m. the next morning with throbbing headaches, mild dizziness, and racing heartbeats. Altitude sickness they called it. I popped a Panadol Actifast, I think most of us did. And that took care of everything, except the racing heartbeats.

Most of us did not sleep well, firstly due to our body trying very hard to acclimatise to the high altitude, and secondly due to Daniel's horrendous snoring.

We adjourned downstairs for a light breakfast buffet priced at RM15/pax. They served bread and butter, eggs, frankfurters, and of course, coffee and tea. We couldn't stuff much food into our tummy at that ungodly hour. And at 2.30 a.m. sharp, we left Laban Rata for the summit. The steep terrain was immediate as soon as we step out into the darkness. Few hundred metres up, the terrain turned into a rocky one. Vegetations dwarf and became sparse, and air gets thinner. I led the pack with my bright LED headlight and torch. Felix again, was panting and slowing down.

When we passed the 700m (distance trekked), the strong white nylon rope started to appear to guide our ascend. Soon we found ourself by the steep rocky cliff, and nothing but rocks and granite massif. Everything was still pitch black and while they found it hard to breathe, I enjoyed the pure mountain air.

Low's Peak (4095.2 m)

We waited for Felix at the Sayat-Sayat Hut, and registered our name for our climbing cert there. Beyond Sayat-Sayat begins the Summit Plateau itself - a vast expanse of gray granitic rocks. By the time we approached Low's Peak, we could see a number of other lower peaks nearby, such as the South Peak, King George's Peak, Donkey's Ear Peak, etc.

I reached the summit of Mount Kinabalu, Low's Peak, at 5.50 a.m. Siu Min and Daniel followed suit a few minutes later. Soon, by 6a.m., we witnessed the most magnificent sunrise from the highest peak in South East Asia. How's that? Sounded grand ain't it?

Sunrise from Low's Peak

Sunrise from Low's Peak

The temperature was bearable but when a strong wind gush pass you, it's chilling right into the bone. We waited a while for Felix to turn up, we were worried that he might not be able to make it. He showed up 30 minutes later, slightly agitated, but soone overwhelmed by the view from the summit.

The four of us on the summit.

Dunno-what-peak

Above the clouds.

Me and Siu Min.

The three of us.

By the rocks; Daniel trying to air his armpits.

Descent.

It's all worth the aches and pains and the so-called altitude sickness when you're up there enjoying the view.

We did not stay long on the summit as the coldness was taking it's toll on us. Siu Min, despite still suffering from dizziness and palpitations, persisted for a while doing his routine cam-whoring. I on the other hand, started the descent, which was a journey no easier than the ascend.

By the time I approaching Laban Rata, Siu Min had slipped and fell a few times, all as a result of too much cam-whoring on the summit which caused his vestibulocochlear nerve to malfunction, and thus causing dizziness and instability.

We had a short nap in Laban Rata before embarking our journey down the mountain. I made it back to Timpohon Gate in 3 hours, a feat achieved with strong and non-withering leg muscles. Daniel and Siu Min on the other hand had to walk down the slopes like crabs, i.e. going sideways like they were suffering from premature osteoarthritis.

At Timpohon Gate - The End Point

As usual, we had to wait for Felix, and this time around, he made us wait for more than one hour! We were then transported to Poring Hot Spring to relax our sore muscles and spend a night at the Poring Lodge. The place was awful and insignificant, and no photos were taken.

Day Four - Manukan Island Escapade

We woke up the next morning at 5a.m. to be transported back to Kota Kinabalu for a trip to Manukan Island. The journey took 3 hours. After breakfast, we were sent to the Sutera Harbour to be ferried to Manukan Island by boat.

On the boat.

In front of Sutera Resort.

Jetty at Manukan Island.

The boat ride took about 15 minutes.

Bridge leading into Manukan Island.

We all went snorkelling and come lunch time, we had a sumptuous BBQ Buffet priced at RM45/pax. There were more photos on our snorkelling and BBQ lunch but Felix's XD card decided to not let my lap top read it. DAMMIT Olympus sucks!

It started to drizzle at 3.30pm. We rushed to the changing room to catch the 4pm boat ride back to the city. Tough luck, it rained torrentially. By the time we got onto the boat, we were half soaked. The boat ride was very adventurous, as we missed a striking thunder by inches, and the sea was damn freakin angry. We had to turn back to the island halfway as the sea condition was really dangerous. Visibility was hampered by bulleting raindrops striking our face.

Everyone was very very heavily soaked, and none was as genius as I. I had an extra singlet to wear.

Waiting for angry sea to calm down so we could eat some crabs.

And Mr. Cesar drove us to Akinabalu Youth Hostel to check in our luggages and sent us to Sedco Square for seafood.

A wide selection of fresh seafood.

LOBSTERS!

"Ha Por", some kind of prawn. What is it called in England?

Some other weird seafood. Not cheap though!

Belacan kangkung, tofu, dried chilli venison.

Black pepper and butter milk crabs!

Akinabalu Youth Hostel - RM23/pax/night

Akinabalu Youth Hostel - Lobby

Akinabalu Youth Hostel - our room.

Day Five - Padas White River Rafting

On Day 5, everyone woke up at 6.30 a.m. We had breakfast downstairs and were chauffered in yet another Toyota Unser at 7.30 a.m. sharp to Beaufort Train Station, which was 1.5hrs away from KK city.

In the car.

Beaufort Train Station.

The train would bring us to Padas River, our destination for white water rafting.

On the train track.

The train ride was awful. There were many orang asli on-board. It was not air-conditioned, the train speed was at most 16km/h, and compactly sardinised.

Thank God we were able to find ourselves a seat and thus, were able to do some stupid pose for photos. An hour and a half later, we reached our destination, Padas River.

Padas River.

More photos on rafting will be on the way, as Felix's XD card &@*$*@$_@$*&^#*&$^*@#$.

Me and Felix, post-rafting.

Four of us waiting for the train back.

Little Italy - our dinner place for the day in KK.

My take - beef fillet with potato wedges, eggplants, cauliflower + broccoli, breadsticks.

Daniel's order - chicken with pasta, veggie, and breadsticks.

Mania's plate - fish fillet with baked potato, breadsticks, and a mesh of yucky veggies.

Felix's bowl - some pasta in spicy soup with mussels + garlic bread.

We walked around the city after dinner and stopped by at this pub for beer. A set of Heineken (4 cans) was priced at RM20, which was not bad at all. There were a guy and girl singing in the centre stage. The waitresses here were young, hot, sexy, and steamy. Wooo...

Felix on his virginal attempt of getting drunk.

Day Six - Home Coming

Daniel left at 5.45 a.m. to catch his flight back to Bintulu. That left the three of us. Mania woke us up at 7a.m. coz his crotch was itchy. We walked over to the sea front for wantan mee breakfast.

And we then used up our spare time walking around the city. It's bloody tiring re-enacting all the shits we did enjoy so why dun u guys just look at the pics and imagine the fun we had?! Sien edy...

Pasar Ikan Masin (Salted Fish Market).

In the Philipino handicraft market.

In the Philipino handicraft market.

Figurines in the Philipino handicraft market.

Figurines in the Philipino handicraft market.

Figurines in the Philipino handicraft market.

Figurines in the Philipino handicraft market.

Next to the fishing harbour.

Fruit market.

Coconut drink at fruit market - RM2.50/coconut.

KK City.

Burger King lunch -an attempt to avoid costly airport food.

Packing for airport.

Checking out from Akinabalu Youth Hostel.

Flying away from KK shoreline.

Up, up, and away...

And a wet KLIA greeted our return...

- THE END -