Last week, my family and I joined Uncle Ong Hock Siew and his family to climb Mount. Kinabalu in Sabah! We woke up very early on Monday and headed to the airport to catch our 7.30a.m. flight. We then landed in Kota Kinabalu at around 10.30a.m., and joined Uncle Ong and his family for lunch.
After lunch, we took a bus to Kundasang and shopped for some souvenirs at the stalls located near the roadside. As soon as we finished shopping, we got up the bus, headed to Pines Hotel and had a rest while enjoying the sunset view. We had steamboat for dinner, and the food there was delicious! Bedtime was quite early for us, as we had to prepare ourselves for the climb the next day.
The next morning after breakfast, we headed to the starting point of the climb and registered ourselves. We started climbing as soon as everything was sorted out. The first few hours up to Laban Rata was quite easy, but it became tough after we reached the 'Mempening Rest Stop' because that was where the AMS (Altitude Mountain Sickness) hit us. As the weather got colder, we wore our sweaters and climbed up slowly to Laban Rata.
We reached Laban Rata at approximately 4.30p.m., and we were on time for dinner. Due to our mild headaches from the AMS and our tiredness, we went straight to bed after dinner.
On the third morning, we were about to experience the toughest climb ever -- to the peak of Mount. Kinabalu! We had to put on some extra layer of clothes because it would get colder and colder as we climbed up. The climb to the peak was indeed really tough, at some point we had to use ropes to pull ourselves up the steep slopes, and our headaches kept getting worse.
All of us finally reached the peak at around 12.30pm, and it felt great to enjoy the breathtaking view at the top. After taking some pictures, we headed down to Laban Rata to have our dinner and stayed for one more night.
The next morning was an easy climb down the mountain, but because our muscles were all sore from the climb for the past two days, it made it harder for us to climb down. We were all so relieved when we reached the starting point of the climb, and quickly went to Balsam Buffet Restaurant to have our lunch. After lunch, we hopped into our bus and headed the Palace Hotel to wash up and prepared for dinner. Dinner was at Supertanker, and the food over there was pretty good I must say.
After dinner, came our 'award ceremony', where Uncle Ong presented our certificates as a recognition of our successful climb to the peak of Mount. Kinabalu. Each of us shared a little of our experience during the climb after the presentation and we laughed and had a great time together.
On the fifth day, we followed Uncle Ong to try the "Ngao Chap" (beef noodle) somewhere near our hotel. I must admit, the beef balls and noodles were so delicious! Because we had nothing to do after lunch, Uncle Ong suggested to bring my family and I to do some shopping at a newly-opened mall called Imago.
In my Mount Kinabalu trip, I found a quote on Instagram that related well with the climb. It says 'I am and always will be the optimist, the hoper of far flung hopes, and the dreamer of improbable dreams'. This quote was posted by a user named @andreahowey with a text saying,
"Give yourself permission to get your hopes up. To dream big, improbable dreams. To believe that God is up to something good for your life. It may feel completely laughable and ridiculous to get your hopes up for things that have no indication they could ever come to pass. Hope anyway. Your faith is the substance of things hoped for, of things not yet seen. Begin declaring things that are not as though they were. Get your hopes up about the plans and purpose God has for your life. Dream again. Expect God to make a way where there seems to be no way. His thoughts toward you are good, not bad. He has a good plan for your life. You may be doubting that at the moment, going through a tough time. It's okay. I've been there, and so have many others. But I invite you to give yourself permission to hope again. To believe that the best is yet to come. Your story isn't over. There are good days ahead."
This text was a great motivation to my climb, and a big lesson in my life. I would like to thank Uncle Ong and his family for giving us the opportunity to climb Mount. Kinabalu with them, and to have so much fun with!
That's all for now, if you want to see how tough my climb was, check out my video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZF4L_u64aY (I suggest you change the video quality into HD because it gives you a clearer and more vivid video!)
