[tagged]

1. Were you named after anyone? Errr... I think sooo... my parents did mentioned about similarity to this guy name chen ji si han(genghis khan) sounds like a powerful name...

2. Do you wish on stars? yeah i will love to. especially when they r billion of stars around and we could only explore or be the closest to one. huh!

3. Do you like your handwriting? yup i like it although sometimes its too hard on the paper.

4. What is your favorite meat? Don't have any favorites. Prefer veges!

5. What is the most embarrassing CD on your shelf? not a cd collector.

6. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? Of course i will!

7. Are you a daredevil? yup at times. depending on the task or the challenge :p

8. When did you cry last? hmmm... it was during the "i'm not stupid too" movie.

9. Did you ever tell a secret you weren’t supposed to? Errr... i think i did but it's for that someone good.

10. How do you release anger? Play a lot of sports: badminton, gym, running...

11. Where is your second home? Office coz i spend almost half a day there including the travel time :s

12. Do you trust others easily? hmmmm.. depends but prefer to be cautious!

13. What class in college do you think is totally useless? When the lecturer is as boring as the subject itself :p

14. Have you ever been in a mosh pit? nope. would love to give it a try...

15. What do you look for in a girl? SOX compliance! muahahaha...

16. Would you do a bungee jump? Would luv to... thinking of trying sky diving too...

17. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? vanilla with choco topping and with choco chips.... yummy!!!

18. What is your least favorite thing? annoying people!

19. How many people do you have a crush on right now? none.

20. What do you miss most right now? my friends who are now in sg and australia. a few in uk. my mum eventhough she just went off on a holiday, already starting to miss her.

21. What are you listening to right now? Trying to listen to all my SYZ collections once again before her concert next saturday!

22. What is the weather like right now? cloudy... darkness falling... still can feel the afternoon heat...

23. Last person you talked to on the phone? my friend whom his new car just being damaged badly by an accident... chill KY!

24. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? L00K!

25. Favorite drink non-alcoholic? 100+

26. Favorite alcoholic drink? XO :p

27. Hair color? black

28. Eye color? brown

29. Wear contacts? nope

30. Last movie you watched? the sentinel

31. Favorite day of the year? 1st JUNE I was founded on this day! :p

32. How many people have a crush on you right now? none.

33. Scary movies or happy endings? happy ending!

34. Summer or winter? winter. missed the winter at melbourne. darn!

35. What book/magazine are you reading at the moment? reading a few books at the moment: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang, Darwin The Origin of Species, SIMPLICITY by Edward De Bono, The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman and SDA Asia magazine.

36. What's on your mouse pad? don't have a mouse pad. using optical mouse since 3yrs back.

37. What did you watch on TV last night? Two cantonese drama on Astro Channel 30: Wah Lai Toi. Wong Fei Hung - Master of Kung Fu and The Last Breakthrough

37. Favorite Smell? CK One perfume.

38. Do you regret ever breaking up with someone? never. it makes me a stronger and better person overall.

39. Favorite actor/actress? Long lists leh... but just going to name a few here... Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, Charmaine Sheh, Gigi Lai, Charlie Yeung Choi Nei, Carina Lau,....

40. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yup... sometimes... depending whether that person "chuen" or not... sometimes just do it out of the blue :p

41. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? nope. prefer to have them on for convenient sake.

42. What do you miss the most right now? MYSELF! sleep, rest, sports....

43. What color underwear are you wearing? dark purple...

44. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? blue... my fav color!

45. How are you today? I'm great!

46. Siblings? 1 elder sister and two younger sisters

47. Favorite Month? JUNE time for one of my favorite food -> BA CHANG!

48. Have you ever been shy to ask someone out? used to but now getting better... what to lose rite? :p

49. Hugs or kisses? hugs n kisses! i wan both! :p

50. Do your friends to write back? hmmm... i don't think so caused the last time i tagged them, none of them replied. either lazy or dun bother to do so! huh... :p

51. Who is least likely to respond? (please refer 50)

52. Do you like the person who tagged you with this? yeah... he's a nice guy... some say he's my evil twin but i think i could be worst than him if i want to but i rather not... prefer to be on the good side... look wat happen to darth vader! :p

GEMINI (May 20 - June 20)

You're inquisitive(questioning, speculative, wondering) by nature. This means that you notice more than others, and are often the first to spot both exciting trends and potentially troublesome situations. Recently, you've told others about an especially worrying problem. However, as they've taken no notice, you may have no choice but to deal with it yourself.

system maintenance...

it's time again for some system maintenance...

my system went for 24 hour downtime due to some virus infection...

guess it's also right to have some downtime once in a while... even servers need downtime for maintenance and patches... same goes for my body...

yeah, my system was brought down by fever and sore-throat...

somehow rather i could tell it was coming caused the last couple of days, my body was reacting unwell with the sudden changes in the weather and also the hot temperature. after enduring the battle for a couple of days, finally my antibody decided to raise the white flag and hence the bacteria and the virus took over the battle. there goes my poor little body... *sob* *sob* *sob*

the infection took an immediate effect... yesterday morning when i woke up from my sleep, felt a heavy and dizzy headache and also a very dry and painful throat. i knew it's already there... orh gosh! thought after doing more exercises and going more often to the gym will make my body stronger but didn't know that apart from that, we need to keep a constant check on the food we consumed and also most importantly have sufficient amount of rest or sleep. usually, when i told my friends or parents that i got sore-throat or fall sick, they will blame it straight to the lack of water consumption. to tell you frankly, i think i drink one hell lots of water each day... not sure how many gallons or litres i consumed but definitely the 70% of water coverage on our earth surface are more than enough to keep me filled for the rest of my life. roughly think i have around 10L or less or more each day. crazy rite? that's just me...

went to see a doc and he gave me some paracetamol, a cough syrup and some antibiotic. didn't know that the medicine can caused drowsiness till i felt it after taking them. huh... what's to do next but to enjoy my sleep for the rest of the afternoon. sleeping is definitely another type of yoga to relax your mind and body and also to leave all your worries aside just for that few hours! no wonder millions and millions of people are adopting sleep as one of their hottest hobbies! :p

after getting another full day of rest, think it's time i get my system back on with 110% capacity and put the "forward" gear ON....

~passion~

hmmm...

what is passion? how do you feel passion? Is passion an emotion or action or nothing? Is passion similar to interest? Is it some theoretical or some empirical formula or it's just some practical stuff? i hope it's not some rocket science that i'm trying to crack here...

the more i think of it, the more complicated or complex "passion" sounds to me...

If it's a feeling, can it be develop? Can it be share? Can it be train? or Can it be cultivate? Or it's just something you have it or you don't. Does the creative or innovative people out there have some sort of passion that makes them someone? Do you need passion just to be a scientist ar?

I've been giving some thoughts about this and still couldn't find the right answer for it. Maybe, it's because it's not within me or i haven't really felt it or maybe not everyone could have it? It's that difficult to own some passion? Would you rather have more passion or more $$$? Would passion brings you more $$$ or more problem or more "LIFE"?!?!

This is what i got from Oxford website:
passion
• noun 1 very strong emotion. 2 intense sexual love. 3 an outburst of very strong emotion. 4 an intense enthusiasm for something. 4 (the Passion) the suffering and death of Jesus.
— DERIVATIVES passionless adjective.
— ORIGIN Latin, from pati ‘suffer’.

Is "Passion" troubling me? hmmm... maybe not... Is just been playing around in my mind for this couple of days and I thought it'll be good to do some study or R&D(sounds like doing some research paper nia :p) on it or rather try to understand it further. Not sure how much all these materials or readings going to help me but i doubt it.

Am I now clearer of the subject or i'm even more confused than beginning???

Orh gosh, i noticed that i'm like being a 3yrs old kid asking for an answer to a subject which i won't understand or even i do, will i be able to practice them?

PASSION... what really is you??? Can someone decrypt "PASSION" for me...

bye... bye... tee... tee...

today is definitely a sad day...

it's the day where one of my closest friend and buddy have to leave us...

the sky have mercy on me and cried on my behalf... yeah, goodbye is the hardest word to say...

wish my buddy all the best! here's my 2 cents...

known her from the black-belt training,
she's cute and funny,
having her as my buddy is my making,
she's always there when you need a company,

today the sky cries for her,
seeing her leaving is our lost,
but when the rain stop the sun bring cheer,
therefore we'll still wish her all the best.

hmmm... still trying hard to make it rhyme... will improve definitely :p

the Sunday of the Resurrection (or Easter Day)

It's been a while since i went MIA...

Now it's the time for me to resurrect... not from the dead but from the laziness...

ahem... ahem... ahem...

yeah, not that i don't have time to do "this" and "that", it's just being that lazy fellow... excuses leads to failure but determination leads to success!

had a good night sleep yes'day. went straight for ard 12hours sleep. woke up, had my regular dose of CSI Supreme Sunday and a good "siu bak peng"... so yummy! ehehehe....

did some organizing and planning for the week ahead and here i'm blogging away...

lots of "things" pending... need to take action fast before i'm being washed away by the "current of change"...

ok guys n gals, have a good sunday and definitely expecting a more expecting week ahead... adios!

happY gooD fridaY!

yeah today's happy good friday!

everything supposed to turn out good but it seems like it's just as good as it could get... hmmm... why leh? probably i didn't work hard enough to make it good... i guess...

nway, today's is sort of like a mixed of sad and happy day... sad coz it's a farewell lunch for my buddy and she's also our colleague. happy for her coz she found a better opportunity out there.

all of us from damansara went over to san francisco steakhouse at MV to do a little farewell celebration for her. I guess she'll be quite pleased with the food there and most importantly the company. almost everyone was there. we actually setup two long tables so that we could fit all of us. most of us went for the set lunches as it's quite a good offer looking at a 3 meal course. there were choices of lamb or fish. i had fish. on top of that, i got a special dessert treat from my buddy. yeah, i ate her apple pie. muahahaha... we talked and crap and eat... 3 tasks at one go... good productivity, rite guys?!?! :p

after lunch, went over to fujiflim to collect our mount kinabalu photos which we sent for development the day before. once again, i've been to MV more than 3x for this week itself. my record was last week. where i went to MV for a crazy 6x! siao rite? yeah i'm siao... memang pun!:p nway, the photos looks good and nice. especially the 2x10R which we developed for framing later on at our office. good to let everyone know that you too can achieve the same feat if you at least give it a try... look this quote from Lao Tzu: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." yep, he's damn right!

orh yeah, i got lost or rather over-shot my exit from the NKVE highway when i was heading back just now. it's was raining so heavily and i was so happen to be on the fast lane and by the time i realised that i've missed the turning, i'm like few hundred metres away and still stuck on the fast lane. ended up taking the kepong exit and pay another toll and make a u-turn after the toll back to the NKVE highway which is heading to klang. what a miss right? i'm just too silly or too excited moving on the fast lane till i've forgetten my own exit... lesson learned: never move on the fast lane during rainy days and stay fully awake and concentrating while driving and also be aware of the direction and landmark which leads to the exit.

okok... time for the weekend... hmmm... doubt i'll get much rest since i'm such a hyperactive person... alwiz on the lookout for something to keep me occupied and excited at the same time. hope everyone of u will have a superb weekend! adios!

p/s: yeah i realised that now is already saturday... take it a post-good-friday loh if u asked... :D

3 different sets of breakfast... what a way to refresh my morning!

what a good morning! had 3 different sets of breakfast this morning... one from my mum and two from my buddies, TT and JK... feel so satisfied and contented although eating 3 sets is not something an average guy do everyday.

from my mum, i had bread spread with peanut butter jam... and with lots of my mum love... ehehehe... taste and feels good!

from TT, had her nutella spread bread with banana fillings... hmmm... yummy! what a creative way in designing breakfast... suggested to her to mass produce it and i'll help her to distribute... ehehehehe... but i worry if mass produce, she might not have enough hands to complete them...

and from JK, i had my free roti canai (or roti prata) from our renown cafeteria downstairs, Ali Maju... yeah they'll only continue to maju even more with us as their regular patrons... eheheehehe.....

overall, i'm very pleased to have them all and i did enjoy myself savouring every single bites of it... luckliy no stomache or food poisoning after that... muahahaha... but usually food poisoning will only occur 3-4hrs after the meal. *fingers crossed*

p/s: even if i'm strike with diarrhoea, think it's still worth the food and preparation rite, JK and TT? :p

Mount Kinabalu Trip [23-26 Mar 2006] Day 3 & 4

[i'm running out of time... due to time constraint and the amount of pics to be uploaded, i'm going to write 1st then only upload...]

After conquering Mount Kinabalu, we thought to ourselves that anything is possible... which give us the thought to "keep going" and making full use of our days, hours, minutes and seconds. But the moment we reached the foothill of mount kinabalu (timpohon park), the 1st thing that came to our mind was to quickly get on to our van and ask our driver to drive us to our next destination which is Berjaya Palace Hotel at the KK town where we'll be spending a night there before leaving KK. It's like a day off for rest and chill or a day buffer for our climb in case weather conditions did not facilitate our climb as planned. Before we head off to our comfy little hotel room to catch-up on our sleep and rest, we stopped by Kinabalu Park HQ to retrieve back our additional luggage where we kept to avoid carrying overloaded and unnecessary stuff up the hill. But what i've in my backpack already considered too much of unnecessary especially the two bottles of 1.5L water which i managed to enjoy them during my stay at laban rata resthouse but when i think of it, i wouldn't want to add an additional 3kgs to my back the next time i do any climbing. it's ridiculous! But nevertheless the damage already done to my back, my thigh and knee muscles and overall my whole body. Can feel aches all over but the aches was overshadowed by the success of the climb. Therefore, i didn't feel much of it until i've came back here in KL.

Upon reaching our hotel, we quickly get ourselves check-in went straight to our respective rooms. There were 6 of us so we got ourselves 3 double-sharing rooms and divide among ourselves. Once i reached my room, the only thing i want or i can think of is the nice and comfy bed laying right in front of my eyes. Oh boy, i really do need my sleep and rest!!! thank god, that we've finally made it and now it's turn for my own self-therapy, physically and mentally. ehehehehe....

But after my shower and drinking my last can of nescafe 3-in-1(yeah me and another member of mine brought 3 cans each up to the mountain and down back so that we can still enjoy the aroma of nice coffee while we are away... crazy rite? not so, if you are a coffee lover! you'll just indulge yourself the moment you pop the twister...), i feel so much refreshed and awake! Decided to unpack some of my stuff for tomorrow usage and re-pack those dirty clothes and unnecessary stuff. But before anyone of us could get a proper rest or nap, here comes the phone call from the other room asking where we should go for dinner and what we should be doing after dinner. Guess what, before even we go for our dinner, we went downstairs to redeem our free vouchers for a free cup of teh tarik and some fresh fruits served. While sitting there relaxing our muscles and enjoying our nice hot cup of sabah teh tarik, we started to talk about the next day activities which is to visit at least two islands and after which to drop by the filipino market to do some shopping and catch our dinner before heading back to our hotel and head to the airport.

After our discussion, we went back to our room have some rest and get ready for the night. It's going to be a night at KK town that we won't forget. Hey! Don't think overboard lah... we're not going to do anything crazy or what but just going to spend our time effectively. The 1st thing we did after leaving our hotel was to go to "tian tian" restaurant to enjoy our evening with one table full of our favorites seafood. It was rather a great pleasure for all of us since we haven't been getting any good food since our descend from the mountain and also food at laban rata certainly doesn't meet any of our meal criteria. Once we filled our stomache with those delicious sea creatures, we went to look for hyatt regency hotel. It's supposed to be the next happening place in KK town. We went to this club called "Shenanigans" just next to the hyatt hotel and owns by hyatt as well. It's the most happening club in KK. The place was dark with lots of people and loud music. It's divided into a few sections. The pub is right in the middle of the club with the stage right next to it. Yeah, there's a live band feeding us with loud and crazy music to get the crowd excited! We had a couple of drinks there and had some chats. It's really an eye-opener for those who havent been to a club at KK. I would say the experience clubbing at KK is much better than KL and also the crowds are different. Not going to spoil it, will be better if you guys go there and experience it yourself! Of course, make sure you climbed the mount kinabalu 1st.... remember your trip to kota kinabalu won't be complete without conquering mount kinabalu :p

It was one hell of night especially when all of us are still recovering and recuperating from our climb. Luckily still can find that little zest within each of us. After clubbing, we went over to a mamak shop just a few blocks away from hyatt hotel. Again, we were surprised by the mamak food and the taste of teh tarik there. The curry "dal" certainly looks ugly and taste weird. If you asked me which mamak is the best, i would say mamak in klang valley are so much better. Maybe it's because i'm just so used to the taste here. People there certainly got a unique taste... muahahahaha....

The moment i reached my hotel room, i went straight to my bed. It's what i've been looking forward since i came down from mount K. can't believe that i sleep immediately the moment i lay down. haih... what a relief... esp for my aching body... some sleeping therapy would definitely help alot...

The next morning after we had our buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we caught a cab and went to the KK Ferry Terminal to catch a boat to the mamutik and manukan islands. While waiting to board the speed boat after we got our tickets, me and another 2 friends when shopping around and i bought myself a t-shirt. pretty cool t-shirt and it's the only t-shirt i bought in KK. Also, we applied ourselves with sunblock lotions with everyone offerring tubes which of different SPF+. I applied almost every single part of my body which are exposed. yeah... yeah... trying to protect my skin color and also to avoid skin cancer.

Once are names are called for depature from the terminal, we head to the jetty to board our speed boat. The boat looks old but it's definitely have a powerful engine as it speeds with full momemntum eventhough we had around 12 people sitting together in quite a small boat. Can feel the sea water hitting the boat each time the boat drive forward. The experience is something new for me caused i haven't sat in one before. The 1st island we stopped was Mamutik Island followed by Manukan Island. We spent around 2 hours for each of them.

We rented a life jacket and a pair of goggles each from the owner of the speed boat. We planned to do some snorkling around the beach area and to enjoy the beautiful corals around it. As for me, it again posed me with a challenge. Since i doesn't know how to swim at all, i forced myself into the water and played around. Defnitely can't see any corals at all at the place i hang out except plenty of rocks... so damn painful stepping on them each time i try to float myself. While, the rest went further and further enjoying themselves with the view of the beautiful corals and fishes. sighed... really envy that experience not doing it. okok, must learn how to swim liao. Is it my body too hard to relax or i'm just afraid of the water? Need to spend some time to find this out :p

After spending some time at the beach, we went over to one of the hut there for lunch. Yeah, you certainly don't want to eat your lunch at Manukan Island as food there are so damn expensive. Luckily we listen to one of the advice given by my friend's friend. Hmmm... couldn't really remember what i had for lunch that time... probably the shock of drowning while trying to learn how to swim is still haunting me till i couldn't recalled. huh... ehehehe... kidding nia... if i'm not mistaken, i had the same order as the other 4 of them. We had fried rice, correct me if i'm wrong. Orh yeah, while we were busy enjoying our lunch and forgetting that we need to leave the island by 1pm to head to the next, our speed boat arrive just when we were about to finish our food. We had no choice but to ask for 15mins delay. Feeling kind of bad caused if we delay our trip then we'll also delay others whom are also waiting for the same boat. Nevertheless, the owner was kind enough to wait for us.

Manukan Island was totally a different experience and surroundings as compared to Mamutik Island. It's very heavily been commercialised. There are alots of restaurant around and shops. Yeah, the island is much bigger and there's a receptionist and souvenir shop right after the jetty or the entrance of the island. At Mamutik, they just have a small counter and a guy taking care of it. Manukan have sales girls and guys dressing up in those beach and hawaiian style clothing. Most of the sales girls there, dressed up quite sexily. Yup, it's definitely an eye-washer for all the guys out there.

We didn't do much of snorkling except for soo a.k.a james bond for our team. He did walked coolly and bondly manner down the beach and into the water. Too bad i'm not allowed to pose any of those kind of pics on my blog else you'll get what i meant. ehehehehe... dun worry soo... ur pics are in safe hands :p Anway, we spend sometime walking along the beach trying to find a nice spot under the tree where we could all sit down and enjoy the sea breeze and the sounds of the sea. After walking for around 5-10mins, we finally found quite a ok spot although it's quite near to the trash bin but we got no other spot except that one. The rest all are being taken. So without wasting much of our time since we need to leave in 2hrs time, we settled for that spot. Set ourselves down and had a few chats while our james bond do his diving and snorkling. wow... u guys should see the way he walked up from the water... stylo man! Orh yeah, apart from the bonding thingy, we took some funny pics and trying to add some effects before the pic was taken. It was rather fun playing around with the camera and take "candid" shots. too bad my camera already ran out of battery else it'll be crazy man!

This time around, we keep a close eye on the time to avoid been the "procrastinator" but again self-disciplined only works for a person but not the whole group. Orh yeah, almost missed one of the moment at Manukan Island. After the beach, we went over to the jetty where we spend some time feeding with the groups of fishes around the water there. The water was so crystal clear that we could see all the fishes directly below us. Had another session of fun-filled-fish-feeding activity. Again, my fear came to struck me... this time round, not the water but the fish. Was kind of weird to get contact with the fish. Not used to it lah. Yeah, all of them teased me. ehehehehe...

Alas, we still missed our time once again. But fortunately enough, me and another fren took hold of the boat while we wait for the rest to arrive. The rest of the passenger have arrived except the four from our group who went to take their shower. Wanted to be clean wor. As for me, i rather stay dirty since we will be going to the filipino market and then dinner. I'm sure there'll be a few more rounds of sweat so why waste my shower cream and energy going for a rush shower. After waited for them for around 5-10mins, slowly one by one they surfaced. Among them all, the funniest will be the "bollywood" act by eric. that guy did a bollywood dance for us with his towel holding up and both of his hands stretched up with his towel and run along with the wind blowing against him. muahahaha.... all of us couldn't help but LOL!

After the islands visit, we stopped by the filipino market which is around 10-15mins walked from the KK Ferry Terminal. A few of us went in to take a look at what they got to offer. Me and another fren opt not too. The reason for so, it's because it's a very crowded place and very cramp and stuffy too. I thought the prices there will be cheap but when i take a look at some of the items there, it seems like some of them even more expensive that you see elsewhere. So both of us, took some time off enjoying a nice cold bowl of "ice kacang". The feeling was refreshing and cooling. While enjoying our bowl of ice kacang, we saw many people passing by and at the same time, many starting to setup the stalls around. I guess there'll be a mini pasar malam next to the filipino market at the night time.

Once done with ice kacang and the shopping, we started to hunt around for a place for our dinner. We walked around for 15-20mins and finally settled down at the restaurant next to the one where we had our seafood dinner the previous night. This time round we didn't go for seafood but instead went for a nice and simple dinner. Although it's just a simple one, but i feel very sumptuous after the dinner. Maybe it's because of our achievement and the company and of course the craps and jokes that we bring on to the table during dinner.

Then, we went back to our hotel. After shower, we grabs our luggages and waited for our tour guide to bring us back to the airport where we'll board our flight back at 9:45PM. While at the airport, due to some unforseen circumstances our flight was delayed by around 1hour and also we waited two hours at the cafe before we could checked in. Waited another hour at the waiting area. What a waste of time! But that's what you get if you go for cheaper airline. Every single cents count! Sighed... how i wish that there'll be more local airline to compete so that instead of them squeezing us out of our money and service, it'll be the consumer who benefits the most. Aiyah... after 4 days of hardwork and achievement, i'm just too tired to argue with them anymore... just want my rest and sleep nia... muahahaha....

Overall it is one of the memorable trip i ever went and this will remains as one of my greatest achievement while i'll continue to seek more glory and achievement... Life always progresses!

[okok... time for the pics... i'll categorise them accordingly...]

[KK Ferry Terminal]






[On the Speed Boat]








[Mamutik Island]
















[Manukan Island]








































[Filipino Market]














[Berjaya Palace Hotel]

Mount Kinabalu Trip [23-26 Mar 2006] Day 1 & 2

All 6 of us (Eric, JN, JK, Myself, VF and Soo) from KL went for a short trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The main objective of this trip is to conquer the 3rd Highest Peak in SEA and the Highest Peak in Malaysia. We depart from KLIA on Thursday afternoon and arrived on KK Terminal 2 Airport in the evening. We were lucky to get on the new AirAsia AirBus 310. The plane looks new but during our takeoff, we were pullback by an engine problem which caused the whole flight to be delayed by around 60mins(30mins at the waiting area and 30mins on board before they start to fly...HUH!). The one that caught my eye was the air-conditioner in the flight. It sprayed across the cabin like some dry ice flowing from the air-cond vent. Here are some of the pics we took:

[Air-Cond]


[AirAsia A310]


If I'm not mistaken we arrived at KK Terminal 2 at around 7pm. After touchdown, we queue to get our I/C scanned to their system to use as a proof of entry instead of using a passport. As usual after check-in, we waited for our luggages. Our tour agency came just after we got our bags. They drove all of us to the foothill of the mountain to sleep one night at Kinabalu Park, Grace Hall before our ascend to Laban Rata (around 3300 m or 10,800 ft) next morning. Upon reaching Park HQ, we went over to the dining hall to have our dinner instead of heading straight to Grace Hall which is around 5mins drive away. We were served with 6 dishes of nice and yummy meal. 3 veges, 1 sotong, 1 tauhu soup and 1 curry chicken. The veges tasted very good and fresh. Sotong was rather salty. Soup was great as the weather was quite cold outside and the soup is just what we need to heat ourselves up. The worst was the curry chicken which tasted like some canned food. huh... anway, not much of complained from us except quickly filled up our stomache since we only arrived there around 9pm+ and most of us already quite hungry except for me and Soo who stopped by McD to get our big Mac on the way to the Park HQ which took us around 2hrs eventhough the driver was driving at high speed.

[KK Terminal 2]


[Soup]


[Vege1]


[Vege2]


[Vege3]


[Sotong or Squid]


[Curry Chicken]


[Left Overs]


[The GanG]


Shortly after we had our dinner, we went over to the exhibition hall to view some of the pics of Mount Kinabalu and the flora and fauna surrounding it. After a while hanging around the exhibition hall and getting a rough idea of what we should expect for our next morning climb, we went over to Grace Hall where all six of us will spend the night together on three double-decker bed. Before we went to bed, we all packed ready our stuff to bring up the mountain and again i was the one whom got the heaviest load of all. Around 12kgs. Crazy man! Was worried that i might injured my back the next day since it's going to be a 6km climb with rough and steep path. That night, I could sleep caused had too much. Shouldn't have taken McD and then eat quite alot during the dinner. So was feeling very uncomfortable and moving around the bed. Instead of continue to disturb others, me and another fellow colleague went out to have a nice chat. Both of us went back to bed around 1am. Feel much better and tired after the chat. ehehehehe...

[The GanG... Still fresh from dinner except some and some even gettin ready for tomorrow's climb! That's the spirit man... although sitll a long way to go...]


[The Common Room at Grace Hall where I had my bedtime stories... see the two chairs there, it's still the same position after we left... muahahahaha!]


[Grace Hall]


Woke up at 7:30am the next morning. All of us supposed to get ready by 8am and head to the Park HQ for our breakfast. The breakfast served at the park was pretty good. We had english breakfast with one sausage, two eggs and some bread each. Had my daily dosage of coffee as well. Then we head back to Grace Hall to get our stuff and also to do a "deep cleansing" before the climb. After which, we are supposed to register ourselves at the Park HQ and get ourselves a tag and also find our guide. At the same time, for those who are intesrested to hire a porter can weighed their bag there and workout the price. If i'm not mistaken, the price for 1kg is RM6/7. Quite expensive I thought. Therefore, I decided to carry my own all 12kgs up. Again worry for my back and also my legs and also the climb to the peak the next morning.

[View outside Grace Hall]


[The GenG, outside the HQ Park Restaurant. The place where we had our dinner and breakfast]


[Me sabo-ing my "ah-mo" breakfast! Camera looks blur, not me :p]


After breakfast at Kinabalu Park, we get oursevles ready and head to Timpohon Park where we will start our climb. We took a bus there from Kinabalu Park. We shared the same bus with a group of college grads from Sweden. And one of them mistaken me for a japanese. First time, i'm being mistaken as a japanese. Hmmm... do I look like one ar? :p

[Timpohon Park Entry]


[Record Holders]


[Summit Trail]


Upon arrival at Timpohon Park, our guide(Jeff Giddy) help us to do our registration and to log our name into the climbers log. Here we go, let's get going... there's a huge mountain for us to conquer!

[Downslope, picture from both side!]


[One of the waterfall(Carson Fall) we passed by before our KM 1 stop. Some people pay for a small amount fees to come in just to see the waterfall]


[Eric n Soo @ KM 0.5, both still looking fresh and strong... muahaha!]


There are around 8-9 few stops along the way to the peak. Each stop will have a small hut, a big untreated water tank and a "mobile" toilet(where some doesn't have water to flush while some jammed and some stinks!!! imagine hundreds of ppl using it w/o flushing... orh yeah, guys and girls, for the 1st time, we get to share the same toilet... a stinky one! :p).

[the flight of stairs that we need to go through during one of our "tough" sections... got mood to say hello somemore... wait till he climb the stairs :p]


[Our first stop of the day... KM1! there are 8-9 more... each stop around 1KM except one of them which have quite a tough trail that have 2 stops in between 1KM.. I tink... might have lost count as well... hmmm... still recovering from the climb and enjoying the feat! ;)]


[the untreated water... basically you got no choice but to drink them unless you want to carry the 5L mineral water with you... yeah, i'm gettin ready to test it... the 1st victim of the whole team... it turns out to be quite ok... apart from being quite alike like mineral water, it's very cooling and refreshing... probably better than any of the mineral water out there in the market!]


[another flight of stairs... i think i'm starting to feel the effects liao... but still can tahan lah... wait till you go higher... ehehehehe!]


[KM 2, the 2nd stop of the day... as you can see, my hand already been tired out from holding the camera... therefore, there is this special "blurry" effect been added onto the picture :p]


[dangerous and treacherous path for those who are willing to take the challenge for a longer and tougher path... please bear in mind that the current one we are taking already considered quite challenging liao... how about up the ante and take on this challenge? i dare not... :s]


[subsequent KM 3 and KM 4 stops... as you can noticed, at KM 4 the surrounding is becoming misty and reduce in visibility... another challenge added on to our lists... hmmm, don't worry be happy! :D]



[so which way should i go? left or right? hmmm... i'm confused... noticed behind the signboard there are some contruction going on... hmmm... construction on a slop, would it cause landslides ar? i better get going fast... left or right doesn't matter, so long as i'm safe! :p]


[layang-layang hut... this hut is at KM 4... is the largest hut around... this is also the place where most people will take a break and have their lunch. I guess by the time we reached here, it's just nice for food! as for me, i've just reached while the others have been there for quite some time.. yeah, i was slow like a tortoise... blame it on my 12kgs tortoise shell :p. at the same time, i'm stretching both my legs from the hours of sustained muscle cramps... better not describe too detail, don't want to dampen the spirit or intention for those who are planning to go soon or anytime in the future... ehehehe... don't worry, i'll soldier on...]


After filling up our stomache, we're all ready to go and complete the next 2KM before we rest overnight at laban rata rest house. As we go higher and higher, we get to see some strange and wild flowers as the mist got thicker and the level of oxygen decreases. Apart from that, some may suffer from altitude sickness caused by lack of adaptation to high altitudes. Also the route we trudge got tougher with more slopes and rocks.

[some wild flowers...]


[thickening of the mist...]


[taking a break from the cliffy path... wat about a photo shot, say cheeze!]


After walking for around 30mins from KM4, we finally reached KM5. That means we are just 1KM away from our stop and it also means there'll be food and a nice comfy bed waiting for us at the top. But check this out... as we approached KM6, the paths we've gone through over the past 5KM is nothing compared to the last 1KM. Both my legs got tired, can feel that my backpack got heavier, the air got thinner which resulted in me getting tired very easily and stopping by for more oxygen... nothing seems as tough as the last 1KM... wow... it's really something to reach there with all the loads and myself... of course if compared to the locals there, all these are nothing. This is because most of them climb the mountain up and down three times a week carrying stuff for the people who stays at KM6, laban rata resthouse and also backpacks. Some of the locals even run up and down. I was amazed at the way they do it! bravo! Me nowhere close but at least... and finally managed to reach laban rata resthouse... the 1st thing i did was to cheer myself wt a nice cup of hot coffee with some food to go with... it's so satisfying after going through 4-5hrs of 6KM climb. it's indeed tougher than what i've anticipated. should have train harder should i have known. hmmmm...

[this is how the path looks like after KM5...]


[and i thought the path at KM5 with the red clay footpath was tough, then came the bigger surpise... the uneven rocks after KM5.5]


[a clear view of what to be expected after KM5.5...]


[after KM5.5, here's what is left before reaching KM6... the destination of the day! as you can see at the top, there's some sign of living and houses... wat a relief!]


[yea! we're almost there... a BIG relief smile! :D]


[and finally... the reward for the day... laban rata resthouse... where we'll be spending one night here before our last 2.7KM climb to the low's peak!]


[-> KM6!!!]


we are supposed to split into two different groups where the 1st group which consists of 2 members will be staying at Gunting Lagadan Hut while the rest of the other 4 members will be spending their night at Panar Laban Hut. The distance between the two huts is about 2mins away. So we are actually staying quite close to each other. Orh yeah, even going to our respective hut requires some climbing effort and it's around 5mins away from the main laban rata resthouse. All the huts there are built on a slope and rocky foundation. But they look pretty steady, so not much worries on the hut coming down but more worry should be given to the weather around us as it's quite cold. If i'm not mistaken, it's around 10 degree celcius and below.

[Gunting Lagadan Hut]


[Panar Laban Hut]


[this is what i meant by "climbing effort" to your hut... ehehehe...]


[nightfall at Panar Laban Hut...]


That night at the resthouse most of us couldn't get much of sleep although we went to bed straight after our dinner at laban rata resthouse. I think this is my first time sleeping so early. Guess all of us we pretty much in our bed covered with thick quilt at around 8pm. The reason we need to go to bed so early is because all of us need to wake up by 1:30am the next morning to cook our early morning breakfast before embarking on our last 2.7KM climb to low's peak. We bought 6 packets of maggie mee which cost rm2 per packet for our early morning breakfast. They do served breakfast at laban rata resthouse but their breakfast hour is from 7:30am-10:30am but we need to start climbing at 2:30am from KM6 so that we could reach the peak(KM8.7) before the sunrise. You wouldn't want to miss the sunrise right?!?! After all the climb and hardwork... of course, all of us deserved a peek at the sunrise at the 3rd highest peak for SEA... not many people could enjoy such a feast!

[this picture was taken right after we had our maggie mee breakfast at around 1:30am... look, we are all dressed up like "fei fu dui" ready to conquer the peak!]


We hardly get enough of sleep although we were in our bed by 8pm but the temperature was so cold in the hut and there's not a heater or anything to keep us warm. And during some part of the night, there were howling winds blowing straight to our hut and it's like earthquake caused the whole hut sort of like shaking. Although we managed to contain ourselves within the hut, due to some broken windows glass, there were gap that allow the cold wind to keep us shiver throughout the night... supposed to get around 5hrs of sleep but i think we only managed to get around 1-2hrs of sleep. lack of sleep, lack of concentration and stamina but need these are two most important elements for the next 2.7KM climb as it's going to be dark out there and the air is definitely much thinner and temperature going to be around the zero deg celcius range. try that for a morning exercise! :p

We didn't snapped any pictures along our climb from KM6 to KM8.7 as the route we are trugding is pretty messy with rocks and slope all the way. Some part of the climb requires some real rock climbing skills as we need to hook ourselves on the rope and slowly pull ourselves up. And if your are without a head torchlight, it'll be much difficult to get a clear view of your path and to hold on to the rope as you are holding on to your torchlight at the same time. It was total darkness everywhere except for a nice and beautiful sky right above us with a bright moon shinning at us which provide us with some sort of light and the twinkling of the stars. And for the 1st time in my life can i see millions and millions of stars. It's like a sky filled with stars everywhere... yeah, an ocean of stars!

Although, i still managed to snap a few of the important landmark pictures as a proof of the climb... muahahaha...

[sayat-sayat checkpoint, this is the only rest stop we have for the whole 2.7KM climb. And also this is where we check ourselves with the security guard there before proceeding with our next 1.7KM climb to the peak...]


[KM7... another 1.7KM before reaching KM8.7.... our final destination!]


[just another 0.7KM away and we're there... although the conditions for the climb is not that ideal with thinner air and difficulty in breathing coupled with cold winds, we need to move on... it's now or never!]


[after walking and climbing relentlessly for another 15-20mins, finally we reached the peak... the last 0.7KM was kind of tough as we were slowly running out of breath and our energy are slowly draining out from our body, can feel as though i'm airless... but when we saw that signboard indicating low's peak... we say to ourselves, what a relief, wat an achievement... just couldn't believe it... we did it, YEAH!!!]


[back of the signboard...]


[pics taken during total darkness... of course, with flash lah... notice any similarity?:p]


We reached the peak at around 5:20am. It took us around 2hrs 50mins to complete the last 2.7KM from KM6(laban rata resthouse). The temperature at the peak was close to zero degree celcius and it was covered with total darkness apart from our individual torchlight. There isn't much space around the peak. I think the most it can fit is around 10-20 people max. That's why if we were to reach the peak later, there'll be a limitation of the number of people allow to go up each time and i guess there'll also be a time constraint. Lucky for us since we were the 2nd team after the finnish team to reach there. At 5:20am, there is nothing much you could see apart from dark figures and the moon... which after sometime we start to see the sun rising....

[the sun starting to rise...]


[sun rising together with the cloud effects...]


[sun rising together with the sea of clouds... you don't get to see this everyday... so treasure it while you can... ehehehe...]


[another magnificent view... mountains and clouds... feel like jumping into the sea of clouds but then again i came to my senses and restraint myself from doing so... i think the altitude sickness it's making my mind haywire... ehehehee...]


[another peak, but definitely not low's peak caused i'm taking this picture from low's peak :p]


[we're almost there... just a little bit more... muahahahaha....]


while waiting for the sun to rise, these are some of the pictures i took. trying to be a good photographer by trying different kind of shots based on the angle and positioning of the mountains, clouds and the sun.

[i'm coming... but still not up yet...]


[wat a spectacular view...]


[here comes the almighty sun!]


[shinning right above the mountain...]


[mountainous view...]


[perspective view... i like this picture...]


After taking many pictures of the sun rising and the surrounding mountains, finally we get a chance for a gang pictures although one is missing(holding the camera). It's like so hard to get ourselves position right at one of the most important landmark of the whole trip and also a proof-of-purchse for the total cost of the trip caused there were certain individuals from certain country(don't want to mentioned names here... those who went for the trip will know who are they... sell-fish-people! :p) kept on holding to this post and taking pictures like no one else is waiting but the fact is there we groups of people awaiting and after they took their group photos, they proceeded with individuals take while ignoring other present. Me as usual, the aggressor, asked all my group members to be ready around that board and once we got the chance, we just hop-in w/out giving much care to them. come'on lah... everyone deserve a chance for at least a group photo... i don't blame their behaviour of being "sakai" since this is also our first trip up the hill but want to be "sakai" oso be in a nice way lah... don't they know that there were lines of people queuing up for a chance as well...huh! such a disappointing bunch...

[finally the long awaiting group photo... minus that right figure coz that guy is one of them from the sell-fish-group! i'm so geram betul but holding it back and forcing myself to smile instead...]


After a well-deserved time spent on the peak, with wonderful scenery, sunrise and mountains viewing, plus the cool and fresh air, and while the sun is still not at its hottest, we decided to descent and also at the same time allow others who are still on their way up a chance of what it feels like to be at the peak of the 3rd highest mountain in SEA and the highest in our home country. Orh yeah, and also we dun wan to be any fish-seller. huh... okok, enough of the selling fish business! Time for some serious descent down the steep and quite dangerous slope. We didn't realised it till it's day as you can only see your own path during the night time climb. But now you definitely can have a clearer picture of what actually you've gone through but this time round, you can see the level of difficutly and the challenges involed. Let's the breathtaking descent begins...

[just right after the peak... you don't walk but you crawl...or to put in a better way, you climb loh!]


[the endless peak... i just luv the view of the clouds up at the peak... it's so refreshing, so white and beautiful... like bundles of cottons!]


[here comes the tough part... not easy though... as you can, some of us need to grab on the rope as an auxiliary support... and the path does make things easier for us as it's uneven and rocky...]


[this chap just make it looks easy... you see i can just walk down without any support...]


[guess what, there's actually a wishing lake right after we descent from the peak... according to our tour guide, people usually throw coins into it and make their wishes... i've made mine and i hope it come true... come'on lah, i go all the way up just to make this wish wor... pls...pls...make it come true!:p]


[one last group photo at the peak... this special mountain seat is just next to the lake and the best part is our background view, overseeing another mountain's peak...]


[this is the bigger picture of what you can see from the peak... it's definitely amazing man!]


[one last peek at the peak... ehehehe...]


[the downslope got steeper and challenging as we continue our descent... as you could see, that rest house is where our last stop, the sayat-sayat checkpoint. again the only support you can get is the tiny piece of rope and a alot of ankle strength and stress...]


[a closer view of sayat-sayat checkpoint in the daylight... a little hut in the middle of nowhere... surrounded by mountains and a guard... i wonder how the guard can survive all by himself them...]


[I BELIEVE I CAN CLIMB, I BELIEVE I CAN TOUCH THE SKY...]