S*O*B*S finished! Whats next...?

Just finished all the official Rovers trips for this semester, with the last being Sabah. A wonderful, wonderful trip indeed. Cold, wet, hungry, tired and fun. Land, air and sea. Simply irresistable! (Yup maybe I'll go back there again some time...ahha. Plus scuba diving!)

First up was the trek up Mt Kinabalu on Day 2, after arrival at KK. More easily said then done. With an altitude of over 4,000m above sea level, it requires great skill to acclimatise to the different altitude we're all used to. Not to mention the need to constantly combat the harshness of cold winds blowing into us.

For some of us, we were just decked in singlets and shorts in shoes (which usually we do not even wear for our treks), and compared to the many people trekking up to Laban Rata, we were seriously considered to be under-dressed. Yet, it was more comfortable to most of us, as the heat generated from walking up the many flights of stairs sure helped combat the cold.

Of course, the usual stuff happened along the way, and the group just split up, but we managed to get up there in one piece nonetheless. Though sadly, I missed the part on taking great pictures amongst the clouds. Darned.

But anyway, getting good food into the system via the buffet style sure helps, and it makes one wonder how they managed to lift all the heavy cooking stuff (like gasoline and food) up all the way. Not to forget, the heavy I-beams of the Laban Rata guesthouse-cum-canteen. It sure is a great feat to build a resort 3,000m above sea level!

Day 3 was the final push up to the summit in the wee hours of the morning. Cold winds just battered our faces and bodies. But we withstood the force of the winds and managed to reach the summit just in time for the summit. Even Annabel and Ram, who had walked slowly due to strains, managed to reach in time. It was a pity that Sebestien and Kheng Hui could not make the trip up, both sidelined by slight illnesses.

The trip down the mountain was relatively easy, aside from KH being lamed not once but twice on his left ankle. Took us probably 1.5hrs lesser to get to the base. That was good because we managed to reach the resort below and meet up with our guide to bring us back to Trekkers' Lodge and have our brunch too! Dinner was settled at Centerpoint Shopping Mall, where we had our zi cha and some dishes in the food court, Malaysian styled.

Day 4 was relaxing because the white-water rafting was pushed to Day 5, and we went off to the nearby island of Manukan to snorkel, walk around, para-glide and jetski. More fun on the beach! Interesting points worthy of note are the mua-chee of people, my toe kenna stubbed by KH, being poked (by someone), as well as the cheaper rate for para-gliding and jet-skiing! The view up in the air was great! Too bad, memories shall stay, with no pictures to attest to the wonderful scenery.

Late lunch at Wisma Merdeka, and we had our long-awaited food. Good choice of food around the food court, and managed to get ourselves settled down. Walked along the bay to get some pictures of the wonderful scenery and sunset. Dinner was settled at a nearby Italian restaurant (where we felt slightly richer), where we had 12" pizzas and some even had RM14 ice-cream! But it was worth it. Food was nice, ambience was great (though we're under-dressed IMO), and the company was great.

Soccer fever just hit the area with the opening ceremony in Germany, as well as the host nation's opening game, which they won easily at 4-2. Geez.

Day 5 was white-water rafting, and we took a 4-hr trip to the start of the rafting experience, was was SHIOK! Simply too good to be true! First time having such interesting thing, and there was always the element of danger and dropping into the water amongst the rapids. Wow. Buffet lunch was served and we also got our tee-shirts and certificates of achievement.

Day 6, well, the end of it all, the time where we realised that the surreal experience in KK is about to end with a 3-hr wait for the flight-that-came-late, and hitting home to the high-rise flats and dense urban jungle. It's then that we get hit by the fact that the holidays is all but over now.

But still, I was in a hyperactive mode till the flight..where I managed (for the first time) to sleep so well on the quick 2 hr journey.

Great trip! Photos up soon!

Current Mood: Awake

Current Music: Cai Hong Tian Tang