I woke up to a rainy Singapore and couldn't get up cause of the aches in my legs. After I pointed out to my mother that my whole right thigh is painfully sore, she took gleeful delight in pounding it with her fists, setting the rhythm for my yelps of pain! Aren't mothers supposed to dote on their sons? -.-
For the second day in a row, I took to limping around the office in sandals. My old friend the Hydra is back with a vengeance. In another task, my user vanishes from his seat like a ghost and his irritated colleagues either failed to pass on the message to get him to call me or drop the line on me faster than I can say, "Can you please tell him to...” This last act set my rocket off and I went outside to cool off.
My stupid boss had fabricated a story of how I fell and sold the story to the whole team. So I returned to office in the center of very much limelight. I failed to explain how difficult it was to scale that last 300m. I also failed to convey how difficult it was to escape Kota Kinabalu on a sprained leg. Think I should just forget it...
JL had set up an appointment with me after work. I wanted to meet him at Eunos but he insisted on picking me up. He got lost and I became a watering point for my most hated insects. Final score is 3:9. Grrr... I'll get you yet. We had our chat at SingPost till almost 9pm.
Since I was there, I chose to disturb the resident bee. She puts in 16hrs/day and you can find her there 7 days a week. She bubbly invited me into her hive where I teased her about looking fizzled out. After exchanging gossips, I just sat there watching her work and she claimed that I was stressing her by my presence, due to our relative competence. It got late and I threatened to club her unconscious and drag her home but she squirted honey all over me and I had to beat a hasty retreat.
As I was crossing the overhead bridge on my way home, I caught sight of my direct bus and I tried to run for it. Light pain immediately forced me to slow. I made good speed down the stairs.
Good sign.
-4H4U
Friday, June 23, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Kota Kinabalu: D+2 Rest and recreation
[20 Jun 2006]
We woke up for breakfast at a Chinese coffeshop. A break from the bread provided by Trekkers' Lodge. The plan today was for white water rafting. I was apprehensive due to my injury but I only needed a few nudges to go along. The price tag was at a whopping RM$160.
We took a long bus ride to Kiulu town where our river guides refused to let us sleep by entertaining us with stories. He told us about the ethnic groups, head-hunters and bamboo, with Kiulu being a slimmer version of the 2 bamboo types found in Sabah.
We reached the energetic Kiulu River at about 10am. The instructor taught us the basics of river safety. I was grouped with an Italian couple, Wenyao, Zhouxun and Chinyi. I had trouble moving across the rocks so when I boarded, we were the last second team to set off. And off we go!
We splashed each other (boats) and we rode the rapids. It was pretty good fun. The river had a serene feel with bamboo and water buffaloes by the bank. Sadly, the trip had to end by 12pm.
We bathed and had a delicious buffet lunch. They sent us back to Kinabalu town and we decided to split up for massage due to capacity problems. After my massage, I did some shopping on my own.
Night fell and we met up for dinner. It was an hour an hour walk to the jetty. We chose the seafood restaurant as recommended by the Chinese driver who drove us on day one. The food was great and we paid about RM$40 each.
We split again. I went with the group visiting the night market till more and more people deserted us. We ended up meeting again in Le Meridian Hotel. We had earlier stopped by there for a toilet break and found their live band relatively good. The performing ladies were so pleased with our patronage that they dedicated a song to us in Chinese. I was impressed with them that night. Clearly, they were a cut above the aspiring stars wannabe in reality contest shows. Before they called it a night, the ladies pulled a stunt on us by pulling us all out for a dance. I was the photographer but sadly, the pictures did not come out well.
It was a great day.
Return:
Kota Kinabalu: Index Page
-?H?U
We woke up for breakfast at a Chinese coffeshop. A break from the bread provided by Trekkers' Lodge. The plan today was for white water rafting. I was apprehensive due to my injury but I only needed a few nudges to go along. The price tag was at a whopping RM$160.
We took a long bus ride to Kiulu town where our river guides refused to let us sleep by entertaining us with stories. He told us about the ethnic groups, head-hunters and bamboo, with Kiulu being a slimmer version of the 2 bamboo types found in Sabah.
We reached the energetic Kiulu River at about 10am. The instructor taught us the basics of river safety. I was grouped with an Italian couple, Wenyao, Zhouxun and Chinyi. I had trouble moving across the rocks so when I boarded, we were the last second team to set off. And off we go!
We splashed each other (boats) and we rode the rapids. It was pretty good fun. The river had a serene feel with bamboo and water buffaloes by the bank. Sadly, the trip had to end by 12pm.
We bathed and had a delicious buffet lunch. They sent us back to Kinabalu town and we decided to split up for massage due to capacity problems. After my massage, I did some shopping on my own.
Night fell and we met up for dinner. It was an hour an hour walk to the jetty. We chose the seafood restaurant as recommended by the Chinese driver who drove us on day one. The food was great and we paid about RM$40 each.
We split again. I went with the group visiting the night market till more and more people deserted us. We ended up meeting again in Le Meridian Hotel. We had earlier stopped by there for a toilet break and found their live band relatively good. The performing ladies were so pleased with our patronage that they dedicated a song to us in Chinese. I was impressed with them that night. Clearly, they were a cut above the aspiring stars wannabe in reality contest shows. Before they called it a night, the ladies pulled a stunt on us by pulling us all out for a dance. I was the photographer but sadly, the pictures did not come out well.
It was a great day.
Return:
Kota Kinabalu: Index Page
-?H?U
Monday, June 19, 2006
Kota Kinabalu: D+1 The struggle, part 2
[19 Jun 2006]
Long story short. I fell on a slippery patch of granite and sprained my ankle, just after passing South Peak. That's only about 500 metres from the summit. I had to walk on this ankle for a length of 8km (I swear it's longer!) so I can't say I enjoyed this part. Thus I am skipping over this portion.
However, I have to thank the following people for their assistance:
Wenyao - for carrying my bag
Daniel - for checking in on me frequently
Jenson and Jenson - for being my crutches for the worst 3km of my life
My tongkat - many many thanks. I'm sorry I had to discard you...
I got out alive and in time.
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D+2 Rest and recreation
-?H?U
Kota Kinabalu: D+1 The struggle, part 1
[19 Jun 2006]
Did we sleep? I think we did for a half hour each. We gathered downstairs at 2am, waiting for our guides. They were late and we pilfered some food from our group members who bought the buffet breakfast.
Finally, we moved off but so did everyone else. We took what appeared to be an endless series of wooden stairs and we were proceeding slowly in a single file. Looking up, I saw a line of lights snaking up the mountain, as far as my eyes could see. We climbed and we climbed and in the next hour, we overtook 2-3 groups.
Finally we reached the ropes. What's that to our right? Oh nothing, just a very long fall to your death. The floor beneath us was replaced with granite and the climb was ever at an incline. I don't feel particularly brave so I try to lean towards my left on the rock face. Every touch wets my glove and it wasn't a nice feeling.
We broke into a flat expanse, inclined before us at about 30 degrees. To our left appeared to be a very long roll to our deaths. Darn. Is this over yet? Nevertheless, I made good speed and fatigue began to draw out our line. We hit the last checkpoint in pretty good spirits. Minghan bowed out of the final bid due to giddiness. We rested a bit and pushed on.
I set Rachael in front of me. The landscape remained the same but the incline angled up to 40 degrees. We saw the sharp peaks in front of us and the skies showed shades of grey. Gravity stepped in as my strength starts to leave me. Ahead of me is the outline of a girl. "Go Rachael, go!" We pushed on about a 100m and then I called her to take a break. It turned out to be Huijun. For the next hour, we made our way up, 100m at a time. The slower we proceed, the longer we last. Thus we painstaking walked our way up, one step at a time. All this time, my heart was pounding furiously.
By the time Daniel caught up with me, Huijun was ahead of me by 200m. He tried to motivate me but I was simply drained. He left to catch up with her. For the next 40 minutes, I made my way slowly. Morning has arrived and I start to overtake people. I gathered enough energy to push myself for the last 10 minutes and joined them at the submit.
And what a nice feeling it was. The light was good and the view great. We took several photos at the peak and awaited the rest. During this time, the cold starts to set it. It was a horrible 30 minutes wait before the Wenyao and Zhouxun arrived and another 10 minutes before the rest caught up. We took more pictures and ate our breakfast. I tried to send a SMS back but there was no reception. Oh well.
We descend the mountain.
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D+1 The struggle, part 2
-?H?U
Did we sleep? I think we did for a half hour each. We gathered downstairs at 2am, waiting for our guides. They were late and we pilfered some food from our group members who bought the buffet breakfast.
Finally, we moved off but so did everyone else. We took what appeared to be an endless series of wooden stairs and we were proceeding slowly in a single file. Looking up, I saw a line of lights snaking up the mountain, as far as my eyes could see. We climbed and we climbed and in the next hour, we overtook 2-3 groups.
Finally we reached the ropes. What's that to our right? Oh nothing, just a very long fall to your death. The floor beneath us was replaced with granite and the climb was ever at an incline. I don't feel particularly brave so I try to lean towards my left on the rock face. Every touch wets my glove and it wasn't a nice feeling.
We broke into a flat expanse, inclined before us at about 30 degrees. To our left appeared to be a very long roll to our deaths. Darn. Is this over yet? Nevertheless, I made good speed and fatigue began to draw out our line. We hit the last checkpoint in pretty good spirits. Minghan bowed out of the final bid due to giddiness. We rested a bit and pushed on.
I set Rachael in front of me. The landscape remained the same but the incline angled up to 40 degrees. We saw the sharp peaks in front of us and the skies showed shades of grey. Gravity stepped in as my strength starts to leave me. Ahead of me is the outline of a girl. "Go Rachael, go!" We pushed on about a 100m and then I called her to take a break. It turned out to be Huijun. For the next hour, we made our way up, 100m at a time. The slower we proceed, the longer we last. Thus we painstaking walked our way up, one step at a time. All this time, my heart was pounding furiously.
By the time Daniel caught up with me, Huijun was ahead of me by 200m. He tried to motivate me but I was simply drained. He left to catch up with her. For the next 40 minutes, I made my way slowly. Morning has arrived and I start to overtake people. I gathered enough energy to push myself for the last 10 minutes and joined them at the submit.
And what a nice feeling it was. The light was good and the view great. We took several photos at the peak and awaited the rest. During this time, the cold starts to set it. It was a horrible 30 minutes wait before the Wenyao and Zhouxun arrived and another 10 minutes before the rest caught up. We took more pictures and ate our breakfast. I tried to send a SMS back but there was no reception. Oh well.
We descend the mountain.
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D+1 The struggle, part 2
-?H?U
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Kota Kinabalu: D-Day
[18 Jun 2006]
Breakfast was delicious and there was even something for the girls, who are vegetarian by choice. The auntie of Rose Cabin was nice and friendly and even asked us if we wanted to pack food, which we declined. Before we left, they offered us the use of their storeroom for our extra luggage, which was much appreciated. I, of course, left nothing behind.
We were drove up to the administration office where we were introduced to our guides Jenson and Jenson. Jenson was the short stocky type while Jenson was the small sinewy type. The twelve of us then squeezed into the minibus for a short trip to the gate. We bought a tongkat (walking stick) for RM$3 each. Mine had a peculiar knob at the head which fitted in my hand quite well.
And off we go! I tend to love being at the front of any walk so I was in the 3rd to 4th spot. We pushed Rachael in front and Zhisiang nominated himself to be her buddy. Our energy level was high and we cleared 2 checkpoints easily, each about 40 minutes apart. But before we reached the 3rd checkpoint, it rained.
For those who have worn a poncho out in the fields, you'll know that it is a very miserable experience. Not only does it fail to keep out the rain effectively, it hinders your movement and makes you hot and sticky inside. For that purpose, I did not come to this trip with a poncho. I chose instead put on my jacket, which appeared to keep out the water. It wasn't before long that my decision proved to be right one. The others soon complained of restricted movement and feeling hot. The fact that the rain stopped quickly might have contributed to their judgement. Meanwhile, I was pretty satisfied with the jacket I had put on.
By the fourth checkpoint, the fatigue level on Zhisiang and Chinyi was visibly straining on them. I chose to walk at the back of the line and found Daniel there. Somehow, I got to the front again. Strange, isn't it? :p
By 2pm, we reached the rest house, situated at an altitude of 3,000m. I had lost sight of those in front of me and I picked the path to the right when presented with a fork. I came to a point where I was above the path to the left and presented with a broad view of a granite wall, decorated with long and thin waterfalls. "Chante!", I said, to no one in particular. I carried on walking and met with the group who was behind me (they took the left branch).
We entered the rest house. The digital thermometer claimed that it was 15 degrees Celsius. We collapsed onto the chairs inside, spent. After the paperwork was done, we checked into the rooms.
I was slow and by the time I joined them, the rooms were filled with the required number. I checked with the last room and surprise, surprise. The Tattooed four are together again!
There was a mad rush for the bathroom at 3pm while I was just relaxing in the room. Somewhere during this period, I heard a dragged scream come from the bathrooms, the kind of screams you hear when guys play tricks with the water heater. I couldn't care less. It was later that I knew the story. Wenwei was the second person into the bathroom. He started with warm water, which turned rapidly icy cold. The scream was his. He was fully clothed while retelling his story and claimed that he was shivering inside. I taunted him about being weak and took my turn at the cubicle of death. While forewarned, I felt the water was no worse than other cold showers I had taken during my army time. I emerged unscathed, having better sense than to shock my senses into the next level of awareness.
Dinner was available in buffet form for RM$35. It tasted good but perhaps due to the cold, I wasn't satisfied. I gorged myself silly with 3 servings before a signal sounded in my brain, "Storage full". And guess what? I think my body still demanded more sugar.
Night fell and we tried to aim for sleep at 7pm as we were to meet our guides at 2am. A seemingly impossible task for me as I normally sleep after 1am... We had to get up at 8pm to turn on the heater. Frankly, no one slept. We were all lying in bed, listening to each other tossing in the beds. The room was cold, the ambient noise was loud and the atmosphere was simply non-conducive to sleep. The room was almost pitch dark. I could see the outline of the beds but I couldn't tell if there's anyone in it. Whenever someone goes for a pee, the door scratched and screeched so loud that there was no doubt that it had woken up everyone in the room. To top it off, I had a headache and thought that I could hear my own pulse, beating at an angry pace. I was sure it was no hallucinations and wondered if I was having my blood pressure pushed up dangerously. Daniel, who was across me sneezed every now and then. Obviously, he wasn't getting any sleep as well.
It was the worst sleep we ever had.
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D+1 The struggle, part 1
-?H?U
Breakfast was delicious and there was even something for the girls, who are vegetarian by choice. The auntie of Rose Cabin was nice and friendly and even asked us if we wanted to pack food, which we declined. Before we left, they offered us the use of their storeroom for our extra luggage, which was much appreciated. I, of course, left nothing behind.
We were drove up to the administration office where we were introduced to our guides Jenson and Jenson. Jenson was the short stocky type while Jenson was the small sinewy type. The twelve of us then squeezed into the minibus for a short trip to the gate. We bought a tongkat (walking stick) for RM$3 each. Mine had a peculiar knob at the head which fitted in my hand quite well.
And off we go! I tend to love being at the front of any walk so I was in the 3rd to 4th spot. We pushed Rachael in front and Zhisiang nominated himself to be her buddy. Our energy level was high and we cleared 2 checkpoints easily, each about 40 minutes apart. But before we reached the 3rd checkpoint, it rained.
For those who have worn a poncho out in the fields, you'll know that it is a very miserable experience. Not only does it fail to keep out the rain effectively, it hinders your movement and makes you hot and sticky inside. For that purpose, I did not come to this trip with a poncho. I chose instead put on my jacket, which appeared to keep out the water. It wasn't before long that my decision proved to be right one. The others soon complained of restricted movement and feeling hot. The fact that the rain stopped quickly might have contributed to their judgement. Meanwhile, I was pretty satisfied with the jacket I had put on.
By the fourth checkpoint, the fatigue level on Zhisiang and Chinyi was visibly straining on them. I chose to walk at the back of the line and found Daniel there. Somehow, I got to the front again. Strange, isn't it? :p
By 2pm, we reached the rest house, situated at an altitude of 3,000m. I had lost sight of those in front of me and I picked the path to the right when presented with a fork. I came to a point where I was above the path to the left and presented with a broad view of a granite wall, decorated with long and thin waterfalls. "Chante!", I said, to no one in particular. I carried on walking and met with the group who was behind me (they took the left branch).
We entered the rest house. The digital thermometer claimed that it was 15 degrees Celsius. We collapsed onto the chairs inside, spent. After the paperwork was done, we checked into the rooms.
I was slow and by the time I joined them, the rooms were filled with the required number. I checked with the last room and surprise, surprise. The Tattooed four are together again!
There was a mad rush for the bathroom at 3pm while I was just relaxing in the room. Somewhere during this period, I heard a dragged scream come from the bathrooms, the kind of screams you hear when guys play tricks with the water heater. I couldn't care less. It was later that I knew the story. Wenwei was the second person into the bathroom. He started with warm water, which turned rapidly icy cold. The scream was his. He was fully clothed while retelling his story and claimed that he was shivering inside. I taunted him about being weak and took my turn at the cubicle of death. While forewarned, I felt the water was no worse than other cold showers I had taken during my army time. I emerged unscathed, having better sense than to shock my senses into the next level of awareness.
Dinner was available in buffet form for RM$35. It tasted good but perhaps due to the cold, I wasn't satisfied. I gorged myself silly with 3 servings before a signal sounded in my brain, "Storage full". And guess what? I think my body still demanded more sugar.
Night fell and we tried to aim for sleep at 7pm as we were to meet our guides at 2am. A seemingly impossible task for me as I normally sleep after 1am... We had to get up at 8pm to turn on the heater. Frankly, no one slept. We were all lying in bed, listening to each other tossing in the beds. The room was cold, the ambient noise was loud and the atmosphere was simply non-conducive to sleep. The room was almost pitch dark. I could see the outline of the beds but I couldn't tell if there's anyone in it. Whenever someone goes for a pee, the door scratched and screeched so loud that there was no doubt that it had woken up everyone in the room. To top it off, I had a headache and thought that I could hear my own pulse, beating at an angry pace. I was sure it was no hallucinations and wondered if I was having my blood pressure pushed up dangerously. Daniel, who was across me sneezed every now and then. Obviously, he wasn't getting any sleep as well.
It was the worst sleep we ever had.
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D+1 The struggle, part 1
-?H?U
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Kota Kinabalu: D-1 Manukan island
[17 Jun 2006]
It was a cold, cold night.
To introduce a few more names, the guys in our room were Zhisiang, Daniel, Wenyao and Zhouxu. We had a little fight for the toilets with the people next door and we were ready!
Breakfast was 2 pieces of toasts and a slice of papaya. The tour organiser, Mike, was pretty helpful even though we weren't booking any dives through him. We started heading for the jetty on foot. "You looked like a silent lamb (Chen mo de gao yang), being so focused in your destination", Huijun remarked and that was how the ice was broken between us.
We got ourselves a boat at RM$18/pax. Our destination wasManukan
I couldn't get used to the mouthpiece so I drank some water. Once we set off, we came upon the corals and the fishes. It was my first coral reef so I was pretty impressed despite the dull colours. I could be hovering there watching a bright coloured fish for a long time.
Visibility was low so I lost sight of the others. I realised I had ventured into the sea further than I have ever dared. I chose to push my courage a little. I swam along the corals, tracking schools of fishes. On and off, I felt a little pain in my arms and legs and I dismissed them as bites by fishes. Strangely, there was no blood.
I surfaced, spotting some of the others. So I plotted a course for the next buoy. I went off course and saw a small piece of transparent stuff in the water. My mind made the connection before my eyes identified it - Jellies!
All of us must know something about Jelly fishes. Though the deadly species were not known to be found in our region, nevertheless, I had no wish to experience their stings. These were smaller than the last segment of my thumb and I avoided them as best as I could. My courage failed when I saw a greater concentration of them in front of me. A check with the coastline showed that I was too far out. I made best speed back to shore, twisting away or using water to push away the lone jelly. At last, the corals were no longer under me and I grew more relaxed. At times, I found myself surrounded by fishes and felt again a small sharp prick so I made effort to avoid them too.
Upon entering shallow waters, I found Zhisiang who was sitting out because his snorkel was defective. I gave him mine and passed time watching the beach and waters. About half an hour later, Zhisiang, Rachael, Huijun and Wenwei came out of the waters. Rachael is Wenwei's friend and we are connected to Huijun through Rachael. They wanted to ride the Banana boat. I wasn't too keen on it, remembering my past experience with it. It didn't take much to nudge me though and we bargained the price to RM$28/head.
The agreement was 2 rides and they wanted the boatmen to capsize the banana (which I wasn't interested in!). We were split into 2 groups of 5 and my group is Wenyao, Chinyi, Zhouxu and Minghan. The first group was capsized easily when our craft took a left and cut engines, flipping them to the right. We learnt from this and were ready for it but didn't lean enough. On our second ride, our group learnt to counter their turns well and the boatmen couldn't capsize us. They did high speed turns that made us worry for the occupants of the speed craft. Finally, they did a sudden reversal and we were thrown rather heavily into the water. Ow! Out of goodwill, they gave us a third ride. This time, we compensated too far ahead of time and were flipped only on the 2nd turn. I held on and was dragged underwater for a short distance before letting go.
We departed the island at 12pm and returned to the mainland. Lunch party was split between the KFC group and the non fast-food group. I chose the latter for a desire to try the local cuisine. The prata was bad and the curry horrible. The tea andmilo had over generous helpings of condensed milk. Still, it was a nice chat with Daniel, Rachael and Huijun.
At 3pm, our drivers arrived and at 3.30pm, they got impatient and chased us down. 5 of us had quickly boarded the first mini bus. So the rest of us walked to the other mini bus 2 blocks away. By coincidence or because we all happened to be slow people, I was grouped with Daniel, Rachael, Huijun and Zhouxu. Zhouxu took the seat in front, the girls the back row and me and Daniel were seated in front of them. We got bored and played a number guessing game. What I learnt: Rachael can't draw to save her life; Rachael cheats... When we arrived at Rose Cabin, 4 of us had our arms covered with drawings with mine being the most decorated cause a little girl cheats... We were taken by the view and took many photographs with the mountain in the background. We arranged for dinner to be at 6.30pm.
We were told that our room could hold 20 persons but true to our prediction, it could only hold 10. But the accommodations were nice. The floor was laid with wood and the room had a warm and cosy feeling. Bunks are close together such that all of us could talk. There's an empty area with a table and some chairs. There's even an attached bathroom. We fought for our beds quickly and unpacked.
The dinner was good and we retired to our room. I had a short game of "Bridge", "President and Idiots" and "Polar Bear". Zhisiang was so noisy that no one shed a tear for him when he was the first villager to be killed off. There was some personal rivalries and grudges around: Zhisiang and Wenyao; Me and Minghan; Me and Zhouxu. It was, a very noisy game.
That night gave the best sleep we ever had.
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D-Day
-?H?U
It was a cold, cold night.
To introduce a few more names, the guys in our room were Zhisiang, Daniel, Wenyao and Zhouxu. We had a little fight for the toilets with the people next door and we were ready!
Breakfast was 2 pieces of toasts and a slice of papaya. The tour organiser, Mike, was pretty helpful even though we weren't booking any dives through him. We started heading for the jetty on foot. "You looked like a silent lamb (Chen mo de gao yang), being so focused in your destination", Huijun remarked and that was how the ice was broken between us.
We got ourselves a boat at RM$18/pax. Our destination was
I couldn't get used to the mouthpiece so I drank some water. Once we set off, we came upon the corals and the fishes. It was my first coral reef so I was pretty impressed despite the dull colours. I could be hovering there watching a bright coloured fish for a long time.
Visibility was low so I lost sight of the others. I realised I had ventured into the sea further than I have ever dared. I chose to push my courage a little. I swam along the corals, tracking schools of fishes. On and off, I felt a little pain in my arms and legs and I dismissed them as bites by fishes. Strangely, there was no blood.
I surfaced, spotting some of the others. So I plotted a course for the next buoy. I went off course and saw a small piece of transparent stuff in the water. My mind made the connection before my eyes identified it - Jellies!
All of us must know something about Jelly fishes. Though the deadly species were not known to be found in our region, nevertheless, I had no wish to experience their stings. These were smaller than the last segment of my thumb and I avoided them as best as I could. My courage failed when I saw a greater concentration of them in front of me. A check with the coastline showed that I was too far out. I made best speed back to shore, twisting away or using water to push away the lone jelly. At last, the corals were no longer under me and I grew more relaxed. At times, I found myself surrounded by fishes and felt again a small sharp prick so I made effort to avoid them too.
Upon entering shallow waters, I found Zhisiang who was sitting out because his snorkel was defective. I gave him mine and passed time watching the beach and waters. About half an hour later, Zhisiang, Rachael, Huijun and Wenwei came out of the waters. Rachael is Wenwei's friend and we are connected to Huijun through Rachael. They wanted to ride the Banana boat. I wasn't too keen on it, remembering my past experience with it. It didn't take much to nudge me though and we bargained the price to RM$28/head.
The agreement was 2 rides and they wanted the boatmen to capsize the banana (which I wasn't interested in!). We were split into 2 groups of 5 and my group is Wenyao, Chinyi, Zhouxu and Minghan. The first group was capsized easily when our craft took a left and cut engines, flipping them to the right. We learnt from this and were ready for it but didn't lean enough. On our second ride, our group learnt to counter their turns well and the boatmen couldn't capsize us. They did high speed turns that made us worry for the occupants of the speed craft. Finally, they did a sudden reversal and we were thrown rather heavily into the water. Ow! Out of goodwill, they gave us a third ride. This time, we compensated too far ahead of time and were flipped only on the 2nd turn. I held on and was dragged underwater for a short distance before letting go.
We departed the island at 12pm and returned to the mainland. Lunch party was split between the KFC group and the non fast-food group. I chose the latter for a desire to try the local cuisine. The prata was bad and the curry horrible. The tea and
At 3pm, our drivers arrived and at 3.30pm, they got impatient and chased us down. 5 of us had quickly boarded the first mini bus. So the rest of us walked to the other mini bus 2 blocks away. By coincidence or because we all happened to be slow people, I was grouped with Daniel, Rachael, Huijun and Zhouxu. Zhouxu took the seat in front, the girls the back row and me and Daniel were seated in front of them. We got bored and played a number guessing game. What I learnt: Rachael can't draw to save her life; Rachael cheats... When we arrived at Rose Cabin, 4 of us had our arms covered with drawings with mine being the most decorated cause a little girl cheats... We were taken by the view and took many photographs with the mountain in the background. We arranged for dinner to be at 6.30pm.
We were told that our room could hold 20 persons but true to our prediction, it could only hold 10. But the accommodations were nice. The floor was laid with wood and the room had a warm and cosy feeling. Bunks are close together such that all of us could talk. There's an empty area with a table and some chairs. There's even an attached bathroom. We fought for our beds quickly and unpacked.
The dinner was good and we retired to our room. I had a short game of "Bridge", "President and Idiots" and "Polar Bear". Zhisiang was so noisy that no one shed a tear for him when he was the first villager to be killed off. There was some personal rivalries and grudges around: Zhisiang and Wenyao; Me and Minghan; Me and Zhouxu. It was, a very noisy game.
That night gave the best sleep we ever had.
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D-Day
-?H?U
Friday, June 16, 2006
Kota Kinabalu: D-2 Flight plans
[16 Jun 2006]
I had my lunch at home and met the rest at Bugis Junction. I had packed all I needed in one bag and was surprised to discover that the others had packed 4 times as much stuff as I did. Somehow I missed the part that we could leave stuffs at the rest house but that's no matter; I have all that I need.
We were introduced to new guy Daniel and new girl Huijun and we set off for the bus depot. I didn't quite remember how we passed the time but we reached Woodlands pretty fast. There was an interesting attempt at demonstrating of how blasting your horns could alleviate a traffic jam...
We cleared the customs in good time but all of them got their bags checked. We had some confusion getting back to our bus but an attendant from another company was kind enough to point us in the right direction.
I slept for most part of the trip toSenai Airport
After claiming our luggage, we found our drivers almost immediately. Our driver was a pretty friendly guy and he recommended us some diving and eating sites. We checked into Travellers' Lodge and got some crappy rooms. That's ok I guess but where's my blanket??!!
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D-1 Manukan island
-?H?U
I had my lunch at home and met the rest at Bugis Junction. I had packed all I needed in one bag and was surprised to discover that the others had packed 4 times as much stuff as I did. Somehow I missed the part that we could leave stuffs at the rest house but that's no matter; I have all that I need.
We were introduced to new guy Daniel and new girl Huijun and we set off for the bus depot. I didn't quite remember how we passed the time but we reached Woodlands pretty fast. There was an interesting attempt at demonstrating of how blasting your horns could alleviate a traffic jam...
We cleared the customs in good time but all of them got their bags checked. We had some confusion getting back to our bus but an attendant from another company was kind enough to point us in the right direction.
I slept for most part of the trip to
After claiming our luggage, we found our drivers almost immediately. Our driver was a pretty friendly guy and he recommended us some diving and eating sites. We checked into Travellers' Lodge and got some crappy rooms. That's ok I guess but where's my blanket??!!
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D-1 Manukan island
-?H?U
Climbing again??
I won't be updating for the next 6 days. Here is my itenary.
16 Jun : Flight at Senai Airport at 1820 hrs.
Reach KK airport 2 hours 20 mins later, get to KK city and overnight in Trekkers Lodge.
17 Jun : Morning Free & Easy. (snorkelling for a couple of hours?)
Transfer to KK at 1400 hours. Free and Easy. Overnight in Kinabalu Rose Cabin.
18 Jun: Transfer to Kinabalu Park. 6 hours climb to Laban Rata Resthouse. Overnight at rest house.
19 Jun: Wake up at 3 am. 4 hour climb to summit at 7 am.
Descend mountain. Transfer to KK City. Overnight at Trekker's Lodge.
20 Jun: Free & Easy. (White water rafting?)
21 Jun: Morning Flight at 1015 hrs. Reach Senai Airport at 1230 hrs. Home Sweet Home.
This is the 100th post, btw.
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D-2 Flight plans
-2H0U
16 Jun : Flight at Senai Airport at 1820 hrs.
Reach KK airport 2 hours 20 mins later, get to KK city and overnight in Trekkers Lodge.
17 Jun : Morning Free & Easy. (snorkelling for a couple of hours?)
Transfer to KK at 1400 hours. Free and Easy. Overnight in Kinabalu Rose Cabin.
18 Jun: Transfer to Kinabalu Park. 6 hours climb to Laban Rata Resthouse. Overnight at rest house.
19 Jun: Wake up at 3 am. 4 hour climb to summit at 7 am.
Descend mountain. Transfer to KK City. Overnight at Trekker's Lodge.
20 Jun: Free & Easy. (White water rafting?)
21 Jun: Morning Flight at 1015 hrs. Reach Senai Airport at 1230 hrs. Home Sweet Home.
This is the 100th post, btw.
Goto:
Kota Kinabalu: D-2 Flight plans
-2H0U
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Gathering heat and decision
It started innocently enough. The guy from another company has sat across me for a few days. He was having a discussion with one of my big lady boss. While packing up, he switched off the power to our muti-plug switch, to which the PCs of my buddy and mine are connected to.
I gave a loud fatalistic gasp as my work went to digital heaven. He said sorry behind my monitor while my big lady boss looked over to see if I'm still alive. I declared that I can go home and walked out to refill my tea. He joked that it's good that he can give me an excuse to go home early.
While I was looking into the damage, I noted my messenger was down and started looking into it. Buddy returned and learnt about the outage. He pointed out that my program was due to file corruption and I have to recreate my Windows profile. Meanwhile, the guy joked to my big lady boss that he can off the power, "It's fun". Big lady boss warned him not to, else I'll come out with a knife. They then left.
As ALWAYS, my temper was slow to flare up and I got more and more angry. "Fun?.." I started making noise and banging cabinets as I searched for tapes while bosses looked on. After I applied the tapes over the switch, I regained my control somewhat and returned to my damage assessment.
Maybe I'm a coward...
Anyway, I was having second thoughts about looking out but today(14 Jun) was a rather crappy day. So ya, I'll still look out.
-4H5U
I gave a loud fatalistic gasp as my work went to digital heaven. He said sorry behind my monitor while my big lady boss looked over to see if I'm still alive. I declared that I can go home and walked out to refill my tea. He joked that it's good that he can give me an excuse to go home early.
While I was looking into the damage, I noted my messenger was down and started looking into it. Buddy returned and learnt about the outage. He pointed out that my program was due to file corruption and I have to recreate my Windows profile. Meanwhile, the guy joked to my big lady boss that he can off the power, "It's fun". Big lady boss warned him not to, else I'll come out with a knife. They then left.
As ALWAYS, my temper was slow to flare up and I got more and more angry. "Fun?.." I started making noise and banging cabinets as I searched for tapes while bosses looked on. After I applied the tapes over the switch, I regained my control somewhat and returned to my damage assessment.
Maybe I'm a coward...
Anyway, I was having second thoughts about looking out but today(14 Jun) was a rather crappy day. So ya, I'll still look out.
-4H5U
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Peter and the rabbit
I arranged with Pika but as usual, the lady came late. Together, we took a cab to Mandai Orchird Gardens and had a little panic as we thought the event had started. Luckily not and I called Miffy "Miss Tan" for the last time :p
Everything went smoothly despite the jitters the 2 stars were obviously having. Miffy was laughing during her vows.
To end it off, Pika's love for taking flowers and Miffy's love for taking photos (of herself) were both satisfied with a series of photo shoots.
Best wishes.
-3H1U
Everything went smoothly despite the jitters the 2 stars were obviously having. Miffy was laughing during her vows.
To end it off, Pika's love for taking flowers and Miffy's love for taking photos (of herself) were both satisfied with a series of photo shoots.
Best wishes.
-3H1U
Friday, June 09, 2006
Happy happy
Heard that a friend's wife is pregnant. So happy =)
Today is a relatively boring day. Transiting between 2 rooms and checking emails and transport status all day long. Silly way to do things.
-2H0U
Today is a relatively boring day. Transiting between 2 rooms and checking emails and transport status all day long. Silly way to do things.
-2H0U
Saturday, June 03, 2006
DotA game and yesterday
I've installed WarCraft 3 - The Frozen Throne.
Roadster, AhFant, up to a game?
I set a record of taking 4 taxi rides yesterday.
Boy, this is expensive...
-2H0U
Roadster, AhFant, up to a game?
I set a record of taking 4 taxi rides yesterday.
Boy, this is expensive...
-2H0U
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