Abang was very kind to send us both up to kundasang with his car. He was basically our tour guide for the day. Along the way, he even told us the story of Gunung Kinabalu. How it got it’s name ( although part of it sia lupa sudah,LOL) and other history of sabah. Syiok juga la dengar cerita. Even nama kayu pun abang sia bagi tau kami…LOL!

We arrive at national park around 8 plus in the morning.  We first have to register ourself at the registration counter. Got our name register and then proceed with taking a guide up to the mountain who also turn out to be our porter for the day. Yep, we did not carry our bag..we asked him to carry it for us.. don’t think we can survive carrying 7kg bag all the way up.  After paying  Rm136 ( rm80 for guide and Rm56 for the bag, oh 1kg equal to rm8) Abang then sent us to the Timpohon gate. Oh yea, if your family member did not send you to timpohon gate there is a shuttle bus services to  send you over but you will need to pay rm16 per way per person! Super expensive yo! We only paid Rm36 because Abang send us over the first trip.

At Timpohon gate, abang bid us goodbye and promise to come and get us the next day.  I felt  like i was a lil girl whose dad left them at kindergarten that time. I don’t know whether i want to cry, be happy and excited or scare. I seriously don’t know what’s ahead of us. There was so many things playing in my head as soon as i cross that timpohon gate. One of it was..my knee problem. I was asking myself… can i actually survive this climb? What is my knee decided to really go very bad on me?? Can i still walk?

The 1st Km was a breeze for me.. but by the 2km..my knee started to lock up. I can feel the pinch on it but i continue till the 3rd km. We stop for while. Taking shelter from the rain and of cos the pain on my knee. At this point of our journey, i saw the biggest LEECH ever in my whole life and it’s in red color! OMG!  Here’s the wiki on this leech Apparently this leech doesn’t suck on human blood but only the giant earth worm in mount kinabalu!! Yes, i also saw the giant earth worm,hahahahha and yup…i squeal whenever i see this earth worm..geli la… here’s another site where you can check this creature out.

After about 20 min rest..we continued our journey up but decided not to stop at KM4. We only rest for 5 min at km5. The more we rest the more i feel it’s hard to keep the momentum of my Heart rate at steady pace everytime after i stop for rest. So in order to feel less pain for the knee and keep the pace of my heart rate steady, we decided to just walk again after 5 min rest at the km5. KM5 was the toughest route i feel of all the route from timpohon gate. The rocky road, the altitude, the wet weather, the knee pain… makes it a lil tough for me. It does really challenge you emotionally,mentally and physically.  The last KM before laban rata was the toughest.

But aside from it being tough, i also experienced and offered the most beautiful and gorgeous view that one could ever ask for! I really don’t feel like im in Sabah my very own hometown… the scenery, omg!! Breathtaking! The greenery that was offered to you there… wow!!! I can’t explain… you really need to go up and experience it yourself. I really feel like im almost near heaven! I’m not joking!

If you realize, i never mentioned our  guide in this post that’s because we’ve lost our guide! hahahah yes, we literally did lost our guide. He could not be seen anywhere near us..

We reach laban rata at around 2 plus in the evening. It took us 4:19 min to reach laban rata. Apparently, this is super fast for first timer…even our dear tour guide said so. He said our pace a lil toooo fast for first timer…but seriously, we were walking at super slow rate! We were basically dragging our feet on the grown!

Our dear tour guide only turn up after good 40 min upon us arriving at laban rata,LOL! We were freezing to the bone by then…the weather was at 10 degree at the time and all our fresh gear is with our tour guide! To keep ourself warm,( because we were all soaking wet) we have to buy hot drinks and hot maggi mee (instant noodle) and spent like hmm let me see…Hot milo Rm12, Hot Tea ( rm9/10) not the sabah tea because sabah tea is more expensive  and maggi mee at rm10/rm12! GILAAAAAA!!! And the food gets cold really really fast too! hahahahahaha… i have to eat super fast in order to get the heat in my body!

The sight of our tour guide was a relief for us. We quickly changed to a fresh gear and get ourself organize at our dorm.  If you think we took a shower.. you must be crazy! There was no hot shower for you to get clean at laban rata and if you dare enough to shower at freezing temperature… you can take an ice cold shower that freezes you like in 5 second!

This was the first time in my entire life that i did not take any clean shower after being sweaty and wet from all the trekking! I basically just wipe my body clean and rest in the bed after that and only to get up for our early dinner which was served at 4:30pm till 7pm.

After taking our dinner, we decided to take an early rest because we were required to be up at 2am in the morning the next day. I managed to pop 1 panadol and a pain killer just to relief the next day pain or known as Delay onset muscle soreness.. so i could continue my journey the next day. Trust me, the pain killer really help specially if you have knee pain

We did not sleep well that night not because of anything, but the dorm was so stuffy and small. There were 6 bunks in a room… and there was no window or fan for the air to circulate…  i have to asked Daniel to let the door open a lil for the air to come in.

By the way, the dorm is no longer equipped with heater, so if you need to dry your shoe up for the next day climb, you will need to pay rm20 for each pair of shoe to your guide so he can send it to a heated room to dry it up for you. Cut throat but you have no choice if you wanna be comfortable for the next day hike. It apply to all things that you want to dry up…even your nurse uniform

Hmm that was our first day in laban rata. Will be updating again on the second day hike after this. So stay tune for more.

Meantime, here’s our first day hike pictures for you to enjoy.

The night before, packing all our belongings…

The view inside my abang’s car at likas bay! Mount K is calling us

The registration center at kinabalu park.

Before the climb face. Still at kinabalu Park registration center.

Almost starting

KM1

The beginning of the tough terrain kM5 .

The scenery all the way up from KM5 to Laban Rata.

All smiley despite feeling drained out,wet and cold!

The time we did coming from Timpohon all the way to Laban rata.

Yup. That’s it for today peeps. Will continue again soon!

We came, we saw and we conquered! I now am officially a SABAHAN!

Floating village..

I really enjoy this boat ride. despite me being wet with the unpredictable weather in Krabi

See… exactly what i said.. sekejap sana tu awan jadi hitam.. and bikin takut ar, sebab the wind was soo strong macam ada ribut pula sia rasa kadang kadang.

Me, riding bike on my own. I manage juga.. tapi inda la pi jalan raya.. only at the  hotel parking area. Best pula kan ride motor ni…LOL!LOL!

This was taken on the day we’re leaving Krabi…hahah kesian ba kami .. kepunan matahari Krabi.

Just like the signage i was holding said.. this restaurant serve clean and good food!! Yummy.. tapi jangan harap makanan sini murah sangat….1 beef, vege , tom yam soup (small), 2 steam rice and 2 drinks.. can cost you up to Rm 34-36  but you won’t regret it la.

Ba sia mau surf  and look for tv stands dulu, i think it’s time for me to do so.. get a new tv stand at home

Ba, till then. Nite peeps.

Our transportation to airport to hotel and vise versa.. included in our package. Taking Taxi will cost your 600 baht per way

This is the scenery you get to see in Krabi.. i like the bukit bukit or gunung gunung di sana..cantik!

Our hotel name..i recommend this place if you ever visit Krabi..:)

Our room

The balcony of our room..

The mat rempit of the year!!

Boat ride to the famous landmark/symbol of Krabi

The famous symbol..unfortunately..i can’t remember the name.

The cave.. my first cave visit. Interesting yet scary for me…LOL!

The dancing mangrove.

Stay tune.. more pictures will be uploaded..for now me wanna sleep..nite people.

As you all may already know, we spent our weekend at Krabi this time around as our post engagement holiday. It was really fun! I really enjoyed the short weekend trip.

We arrived on Friday afternoon only to be greeted by rainy, cloudy and windy weather. The hotel coordinator told us that the weather has been like that for the past few days and may last till weekend. My heart sank when i heard the news.As soon as we reach the hotel, we waste no time and went out to check Krabi Pranang beach area. Before we stroll down the beach, Dan suggested that we should rent a motorbike to go around town and head we go hunt for motorbike rental place. Five minute walk later.. we found the place. For 200 baht per day (rm20) and we have our own “superbike” to travel in Krabi.

I was kinda nervous at first when Dan start the motorbike, it was my first time riding bike with him and that was his first too after his accident 10 years ago, LOL!! But after a while, we both had fun, laughing and Dan’s making funny sound and comments while riding the bike…ah.. that was quite an experience for me..oh did i mentioned? I also pandai pandai start motorbike and rode for about 200 meter back and forth..heheh that was fun..but i dont think i will do that here in Malaysia. Sini scary la.

Anyway, on the second day weather was still  gloomy and our island trip has to be cancelled due to choppy sea and unpredictable weather. We decided to extend the bike rental and took a trip down to Krabi town about 30 km away from where we stayed. At town, we took a boat to I can’t remember the river name now but it was suppose to bring us to this famous Krabi landmark. Along the way, we stop at one spot where we were allowed to go into a cave..that was scary yet exciting for me.. i never been to a cave before in my whole life..so that was the first (again) for me.

After the cave trip, the boat man took us to canal of mangrove.. i see lots and lots of kayu bakau “menari”. The way the tree intertwined with each other…really look like they were dancing. But the first thing pops in my mind when i saw the mangrove  was the dogs that was thrown at pulau ketam i wonder what happen to those dogs… sigh.. i hope every single of them was rescued now.

After the boat ride, which cost us 300 baht each (rm30 per person for an hour) we were suppose to go and climb this tiger cave with 1200 steps! Yes, you read that right 1200 steps.. but hahahah..someone said..er.. lets cancel that one and just go to gastrpod fossil beach.. and hop we go to that beach..sampai sana…hmm it was kinda dull for us.. so we didnt want to waste another Rm20 per person just to see batu or siput kerang yg sudah bertahun lama di dalam laut and jadi fossils… so we just did bit of shopping and went back home straight to hotel.

All in all.. the trip was really relaxing,fun and enjoyable  despite being disappointed for not being able to go to Phi Phi island and enjoy the white sandy beach as how Leonardo Dicaprio get to enjoy it in his movie called THE BEACH.

Dan and i promise we will come back to Krabi again soon to enjoy the island next round.

For now, i need to check this fat burner out ;P

By the time you read this post i am already at airport on the way to Krabi for our 3 days 2 nights holiday ( if you are reading this tmrw morning, that is). I am excited yet at the same time worried. Excited cos it’s holiday means i dont have to work, worried because i have work bertimbun waiting for me here in Kl to settle I just hope i can enjoy this holiday. I have a loads to study before proceeding with the training that i am suppose to conduct for all the trainers here..pressure is on!

Anyway, these past few days has been a crazy day for me. I really had a busy week that i could not really attend to my blog and update it as often as before.. i have lost so much of my assignment due to my work schedule. Sampai rumah saja terus sia malas sudah..all i wanna do is rest and relax. sayang oh all my assigments tu…tsk tsk tsk.

Early morning on tuesday i had mild food poisoning..i think i have food poisoning. Early in the morning, i started vomitting but all that came out was yellow color fluid..and its so bitter! And then i start purging at around 9 am…sigh.. but i had to go to work.. because i have an important meeting to do.. i managed to hold everything back ( didn’t puke and purge) but towards the evening.. my head pula throbbing like hell! At one point, it was so painful that i really feel like puking again.. sigh..i have no idea why la. I think that was my migrain attacking.

Wednesday took an mc..went to clinic..Doc said, my tummy is full of gas but i have no idea what’s with my head…because that morning my head still throbbing … hmmm.. is it because of my period? I always have this weird sicknesses whenever i have my monthly visit..kenapa tu ar? Do you ladies experience the same thing?

Sigh.. any how.. i will continue with this on next round.. as its already 1am and i really need to sleep.. i seriously wanna know.. am i the only one experiencing  all this weird symptom?? Or is it normal??

Hmmm sidetrack sekejap… don’t you wish Malaysia too have a cool rv parks like those places in the west?? Heheheh.. i always wonder how it feels like to have a moving home must be fun ka? Boleh pigi picnic anywhere and everywhere without worrying much about building tents and all.

And oh… this trip … Dan and i will be travelling using the famous surgical mask! That will be our first…LOL!! Dan even said..we should address each other as Doctor Dan and Emelda and use the surgical gloves too!!  Wahahahah..i wonder what will the airport people say…Hmmmm…;P

Friday, exactly 7 more days from today i will be done and over with Jakarta life and i will start my new journey in KL. Im am so happy and excited about this but at the same time worried and nervous about it. Im not so sure if my training here did gave me enough confident and knowledge to bring it down to the trainers back in KL. I do hope i have though.

It was hard for me here in Jakarta. That’s the truth..i did enjoyed the time here (people are warm and friendly) but at the same time i had fair amount of “sufferings” as well .

First it was the food..i had hard time adjusting to the food here. Food that was familiar to me back at home was really costly here in Jakarta, cheap food means i have to take the local dish which honestly doesn’t really go well with my taste bud. Then came the language.. this was the toughest part for me. Because of the language barrier, i had hard time trying to understand the training module, speaking to the local and getting around town. You may think they understand us Malaysian but that’s not true..our language is different from them! So if you are coming down to Jakarta..i  suggest that you get a good language book in hand in case you don’t know any local here! Our pronounciation and the way we say it is totally different from them! We may have some word similar but mostly..nope!

Jakarta city offer you alot of shopping malls  and most of them are as big as Pavillion back in KL and barang barang sini pun inda la murah sangat. I can say, it’s similar to what kl can offer you and since price doesnt differ much from kl, i  didnt shop for the first time in my oversees trip.

Jakarta is a metropolis city. Offices was build on sky high building, huge, tall and beautiful! (rental pun sia dengar cantik juga ) But malangnya, the houses here are so scattered that it looks so messy and almost.. menyakitkan mata (i think they need the Outer Banks homes agency to help them )  and the road condition in this housing area really reminds me off jalan Ranau to Sandakan… betul betul rosak cuma beza dia ..you get this di dalam perumahan jakarta di tengah tengah bandar and bukan di kampung.

Im sure by now, you guys know that Jakarta is not the cleanness city you can ever get. Orang sini buang sampah merata rata tempat!  Once i was in a cab on the way to one of the club, the cab driver senang saja buka window trus buang sampah dari dalam kereta like its not a big deal ( memang pun its not a big deal for them but i was so shocked) and another time, i was walking with one of my colleague here..tengah syiok syiok bercerita.. he just spat right there and then in front of me!  I was speechless when that happen..sia kegelian trus, LOL! Mau tell him off..but hmmm.again i don’t think its unusual thing for them.

Yup, thats how i see Jakarta… You may see it differently from me..but hey, we are not the same people right?

But one thing i love about Jakarta is the people… they are so nice warm and lovely! I guess that will be the one thing that i will miss the most about this beautiful yet crazy place the warmed and friendly smile of Jakartan’s!

Anyhow,  some of you have asked me is it worth to come and visit Jakarta..of cos i would say yes! Come and see the place yourself..experienced it! You need to do that to know the place yourself…don’t take my words 100% ..again like i said..we may see it differently tapi i won’t recommend it if you wanna come here alone for a longggggggggg holiday! LOL!!

Night view from level 4 of my apartment.

The not so beautiful sight from my apartment

Another side of my apartment view

]]> http://kadazanbonita.com/the-transparency-of-jakarta/feed/ 3 http://kadazanbonita.com/pearl-of-the-orient-penang-visit/ http://kadazanbonita.com/pearl-of-the-orient-penang-visit/#comments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:49:33 +0000 Mel http://kadazanbonita.com/?p=1916 [ad]

Pearl of the Orient@ Pulau Pinang

Yes, i just got back from the island today, loads of things has changed there since my last visit back in year 2003…i can’t remember most of the place now but i enjoyed the short trip. It was only a day trip this time around but im sure the next one will definitely be a longer trip.

We arrived at the airport around 9am and my new colleague was kind enough to bring Jeff and me to makan place in the morning before heading to the gym.

A nice view from the Gym...yup while running onthe treadmill..this is the view you'll see

Gurney area didn’t change much..the stall that we used to go and makan was still there..the beach area was still the same except the mall apparently got a new extension to it. Back in FF years, whenever we go to Penang it only meant one thing…PIGGING OUT TIME! Yea, we were so crazy that we wallop anything and everything..that time i could afford to makan like that la..but now, heh..i have to control my food intake..yea la, i don’ t workout as much as before anymore..metabolism pun kurang dy..susah juga kan kalau tiba tiba ada orang yg mau kena pakai AED to revive ourself back kan??LOL!! Palis-palis!

Jeff S.

Today also marked the last day im gonna be seeing this dude(Jeff)… and that’s mean when i’m back from Jakarta and my holiday…i will be on my own already, i am definitely nervous because one week of learning and trying to understand the culture of the clubs is not enough..but i hope with the training provided in Jakarta…im good to go.

Hmm… nervous, nervous! But, whatever it is…life have to go on kan? And with that said, i thanked Jeff for everything..for teaching me and showing me around the club for the past one week. Hope to see you again! Im sure i will call you bila me balik from Jakarta..im sure i have forgetten where and what i need to do first thing in the morning when i arrive the club again in August! LOL!

Other note… i’m leaving soon..sob sob..im worried definitely, i have never been outside of Malaysia for so long all by myself although im sure my colleagues in Jakarta a nice people  but i am worried about sleeping at new place all alone on the first day..tau la kan…strange place and all..i hope i can sleep..aiya. I hope teda la bunyi yang bukan bukan di tengah malam..kalau inda, siapa la sia akan call?? Aaaaarg! “Guntalou juga sia ni, jangan kama”

I must remind myself to bring one of Dan’s baju….just to “tipu” my otak at least for the first few days, LOL!

Thinking about leaving them behind make me miss them so much already…aiseh! Sob Sob!

Yep, for the past few days..all i wanted was the rain to drop at our area… it is freaking hot here and having a house without curtains on the main sliding door doesn’t help too, it felt like im in a sauna everyday!!

Yea,Yea…i know… its been a year now since we moved in, but i guess with having a corner unit house where there is no neighbor in front  or even next to us allow us to have the main sliding door “NAKED” for pretty long time but yea, that will changed soon…LOL!! I will rajinkan diri and “paksa” Dan to pasang the curtain rod ASAP!! Oh , i have to thank Mimi for the extra curtain rods that she gave me. She doesn’t  need it anymore, so she thought instead of throwing it away, might as well give it to us…:) Thanks moi.

Anyway, the weather here in SA particularly in jalan 22 has been hot like crazy if not hell for the past few days and what drive me nuts is that the sky seems to be playing trick on me! Celaka!

A  week ago.. i can see dark skies coming over from bukit jelutong to stadium shah alam..thinking that it might rain  here in Jalan 22, i quickly went  to my balcony and took all my  precious clothes inside the house and waited for the dear rain to drop at my area… wait,waited and waited… keep looking outside and keep telling myself..be patience it will be here soon..30 min has gone by… i still don’t see a single drop of rain dropped at my area…arggggg…it never rained..and the weather remain hot as sauna…sigh.

Dear sky..do you know how hot it is at my area now?? please rain..at least when you drop your magical cooling drop here..im sure i do not need to water the plants anymore

Monday afternoon,out of the blue..i hear loud thunder,looked outside and saw dark skies coming ..i was so happy ( although i usually  hate thunder sound, it scare the hell out of me, but Monday was different..i was glad and happy to hear thunder)

Rushed to my balcony.. took all my laundry in…opened one of the window in the house, hoping to catch the cooling breeze soon…but hah! Once again i was fooled! “tahi ayam betul” It never rained here in Jalan 22…arg! Where did the rain go??? Im pretty sure some where in subang in rained heavily   Again, i have to water my plant on my own …hmmm..

Dear Sky, can’t you see?? My plant need your magical touch too….so pleaseeeee rainnnnnn!!

I wonder…Jalan 22, jinx? No rain allowed???

Tuesday morning, it seems like the sky have heard me..but not loud and clear enough i guess… cos it did rain early in the morning..but hahahahah…. air dari my water pot lagi kuat dari tu hujan..it didn’t even managed to wet any of the soils at my balcony! Sigh….Again, i have to water the plants on my own… isk.

“Mau jimat duit dari bayar air pun susah…tsk tsk tsk”

So rain…please please please rain here in jalan 22 for once… it has been so long since the last day you visited us here…we need you!!

Neway, here’s some pictures i took since friday evening.  shot taken from our balcony…showing you how crazy the pollution is now, to me morning and afternoon…it’s all the same!  It looks like we are living in some cold place and in higher land cos its so “misty” and “foggy” whole day!! Thanks to the haze..i smell “fresh” burned air everyday now! I hope i wont be falling sick anytime soon la…although im feeling like it now..sigh!

This was taken on sunday evening around 7pm…. sunset “kononnla” …so polluted kan?

This was taken on friday evening…. can you see how “cooling and misty” SA is?

And this was taken on Monday morning…. do you see any different from the above pic and this pic??

Ba ok la… i gtg…we’ll talk soon again Im off to hunt for office furniture now. Need it for the study room which desperately need a new make over…hehehe. Hmm..talking about office furniture..i wonder how’s my new office will be??