Anyway so we went to stay in Moberly the night before our flight (Saturday). We went to watch the lunar eclipse together! Quite cool huh, and we were there sitting down on the parapets like the scene in "You're the apple of my eye" hehehe. After briefing, packing, we went to sleep cause we gotta wake up by 4 to leave for Johor Senai aiport at 5! :)
Once we reached there we took a flight to Kinabalu which took about 2h20m. Kinabalu, my first impression was, it's like my hometown (kinda)! Quiet, empty, not so bustling but nice and modern at the same time. And then we went for lunch at this Malay restaurant. It was fried rice, so yummeh with a nice salty soup. We went to get some extra stuff and then we made our way to Strawberry Garden Hotel! :)
The boys' bunk
The trek itself was alright I guess. We have a total of 6 huts before our destination - Pendant Hut. We stopped in hut 4 for lunch, and occasionally for water break and stuff in every other pit stops. But I think we didn't stop at pit stop 6 cause it was so near our target, we just chionged up! But uhh sadly it rained from pit stop 6 onwards. So we had to trek for about 300m to Pendant Hut. Was an interestingly-cold experience.
Group 3 before our trek!
Go go go! :D
The journey from 3 - 4 was kinda tough, cause it was rather steep so yeah... But I love hut 5! Cause somehow during that part, the sky was clear and we could see the peak of Mt Kinabalu! Pretty awesome and interesting sight to see eh. In total, we trekked for about... 6 hours I think. I know we reached Pendan Hut at about 2.50 PM or so. Then moving on with via ferrata training, dinner, and a good night sleep before summit! :D
Us at around hut 5!
Presenting, Mount Kinabalu
We woke up dark and early at 1.30 AM to prepare for our trek at 2.30 AM. We were quite late, I think we set on at about 2.50 AM instead. So we gotta meet up with the human jam. Nevertheless, we made our way up the summit (which was 2.7km in distance of trek). The danger zone was... Quite scary and exciting! We need to hold on to this rope where we climb up (like abseiling) pass through a steep rock. So envy the guide who don't need all these ropes! :P
And then... After the danger zone was when things go interesting.
I got AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). I guess it's due to my not-so-good physical level, plus fatigue, plus altitude, plus low oxygen level. I was blabbering non-sensical stuff to my team (esp Kai, Chloe and Clement). They asked me to ease my load by helping me take some stuff and I got defensive towards them. And when they're about to take my bag off, I was telling them "Don't touch my bag! Don't touch my bag!" but eventually they succeeded to get it off me.
After that, I cried. One was because I felt so touched by their kindness and care, and two was because I felt so disappointed with myself, selfish with myself cause I won't be carying my bag unlike them. It's like as if I'm a burden for them. But then Kai told me that if they were not to help me, then I would drag the team more. Clement was also saying we should all summit together, as one team.
One thing for sure is - I'm just so touched by their help. And lesson learnt - don't get AMS (but how?)
The trek up! Almost there...
HELLOOOO~ from Low's Peak of Mount Kinabalu!
The feeling was REALLY GOOD. To stand on the peak, looking down to clouds like as if you're standing above them. Feeling like as if you're on top of the world. Feeling like as if you can do anything. Best thing was being surrounded by your friends too. The summit has taught me so many things. Of friends, of life, of everything. But being on Low's Peak was just something I can't explain through words. Just being there, is surreally unreal. At the same time.... Okay I seriously don't know how to explain in words.
But the sad thing is... Thanks to my AMS (and happiness and excitement), I didn't take much pictures on the summit. It strikes upon me when I'm back in Singapore, transferring my photos, then I realised I didn't take much pictures in the summit. Oh well, thankfully I have our summit photo with the team though! O yeah!
We made our way down for via ferrata. But since we were late, we (Chloe, Yisheng, Clement, Firman and me) decided to take the shorter via ferrata (walk the torque instead of Low's Peak circuit) instead. It was really fun and challenging man! Being on the steep side of the cliff, abseiling down, jumping here and there, walking across rocks and etc. One freaking awesome experience I'll never forget :)
Via Ferrata baby! (Photo credits to Clement's Camera)
And finally we via ferrata-ed back to Pendant Hut, and we were the first team to arrive! Mwahaha. Went for lunch and then the day just went by with each team arriving back. Poor them, some of them were caught in the rain while via ferrata-ing and they were really cold! The team quickly went to help them out by giving them hot water and taking off their bags and shoes. Thankfully they're alright after a good sleep :)
We made it down! :D
The next day, the 2nd summit team (Candy, Warda, Afiq and Helmi) went to the summit! They were really blessed with an even better weather than us there :D Kudos to the 4 of them. Even though they were not feeling well the day before, they decided not to give up and went up all the way to the summit! Especially Candy, who summited with a sprained ankle (wow, if I were her I think I would just tell myself next time). I feel really happy with the fact that all 27 of us made it up! Cheers to the awesome team :D
The second summit team arriving in Pendant Hut! :D
While waiting for the 2nd summit team to arrive, the rest of us were drying our stuff below Pendant Hut on this rocky spot. We were laying out jackets, shoes, soles, shirts etc as the sun was out. The weather was clear, and well (thankfully) my stuff were dry so I was just there to enjoy the sun and view with them. Then... It strike upon me that I will really miss this place. The view, the serenity and the weather was just amazing. Not everyday in our lives can we see them. And what's even better? Was to hear the team's chatter and laughter as I enjoy the view and the wind. It made me look back on the long journey we've went through thus far.
This is the view that I saw, as I was sitting down on the rocky spot
We made our way down to the Kinabalu park HQ. We were really late, and we were caught in the rain! So we trekked for about 1 hour plus under the rain. Pretty awesome experience heh. Weird enough, I was feeling... Rather "empty" on the way down. Not sure if it's the fact that the journey is coming to an end, or is it me just wanting to get down quickly, or... I don't know. All I know I was feeling neither happy nor sad, neither tired nor energetic on the way down. Pretty weird no?
And we boarded our bus back to Kota Kinabalu. Somehow, during the earlier part of the drive, where most people got knocked out from the trip, I couldn't fall asleep. I was just looking back, and couldn't believe myself that I've climbed mount Kinabalu. A mountain of 4095.2m in height, the highest peak in Southeast Asia. I've never climbed a mountain before. And here I am, writing this, as someone who just climbed a mountain. Sometimes is is thoughts like this, that made you feel, what's there in life, that we can't do?
Many times one would feel so insignificant, so weak, so incapable of doing this and that. But well this trip just taught me one thing: Life is just too short for us to tell ourselves "I can't do it". Initially when I saw the poster of this trip, I told myself "Nahh I shall go next year, don't think I can do it". But then I decided to go, just to tell myself, that hopefully, I get to prove myself wrong again.
So I did prove myself wrong.
And just like my Inner Mongolia OCIP trip, this trip has made me realise how wonderful and beautiful this world is. It's just such a waste for it to be left unexplored. Go out, and have an adventure. You have no idea what it can do to you, what it can teach you, and what changes it can bring to you. But of course do plan and prepare the trip before you go. Safety always comes first before fun (Thanks Mr Kwok! :D)
Well, the mountain teaches things that sometimes the school won't teach you. Life is a journey, is all about learning. There are things we get to learn through the event that happened to us, through the journeys and experiences that fell upon us. The mountain teaches me so many things about life, people, and myself. It's quite amazing isn't it. Well as the famous saying goes: The best teachers in life are your experiences.
The trip then progresses on with a night in Kota Kinabalu, which we spend eating seafood and walking around (yumz). Then the next day we had our certificate-giving ceremony, which everyone (including me) got emotional into. It's been such a great journey for everyone I guess. So great.
This trip is just another reason why my 2011 has been so awesome. I've certainly enjoyed myself from this trip (excluding getting AMS), and I've certainly LEARNT a lot from the journey as well. I've accomplished my LEAP Intermediate. And now I can't wait to finish my LEAP Advanced, before I graduate! Alright, one item from my life's to-do list stroke off, and another added!
Do you knoq how does it feel on top of world? I do :)
And you should try it one day too
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