Sore legs and scary cockroaches - Dec 31, 2005

Woke up this AM & was unable to move! Don't think I have ever been so sore in my life! Shocked to find that even Elson's legs were somewhat affected.
After breakfast, we set out in the van for a long drive to the jungle. Stop for lunch in a small town some where along the was in a Malay coffee shop. Was kinda fun eating were the locals eat. Had nasi lemak with Sabah vegetable and some other stuff.
Then we went to Gomongtong cave. After hearing Nick's description, I was quite apprehensive about entering. But I decided it was time to face my fears. Gomontong cave is were the swallows make their nest and it is where humans go to harvest the swallows nest for birds nest soup. YOu can hear the din the birds make as you approach the entrance and you can get a whiff of the musty scent that will soon overwhelm you once you are in. NicK specifically said not to run, as the path is slippery and you could fall. It was hard to resist the urge to run out. The walls and floor of the cave was covered in cockroaches of all sizes, from small to medium to humongous! I did not dare to look around too much. Better not to know. Wish I was brave enough to look out for the scorpions but I couldn't. Unfortunately, as much as I tried not to look, I couldn't avoid the roaches. Had to keep feet moving to discourage roach from crawling up leg. I don't think I could have resisted the instinct to run if that had happened and surely then I would have fallen into the pit of roaches and scorpions! The wooden path was quite slippery and once I slipped, screamed and reached out to grab the hand rail. Stopped short of the hand rail by 1 inch when I caught sight of the swarm of cockroahces all over the handrail. Thank god I managed to stop on time. Gomontong cave is cavernous- the most 'cavernous' cave I've ever been in. You can barely make out some creatures fluttering about near the ceiling. Whether they were bats or swallows that I saw I'm not sure. The workers go up to the ceiling of the cave on these wooden ladders on a pulley system. And they wear rubber boots up to their knees in order to wade in the roach pit. You can barely see the ladders way up by the ceiling. Apparently on average, 1 worker falls to his death each year. No wonder birds nest soup is so expensive. ( jackie please tell the story of the swallows in 'comments'- you tell it so well.) Anyway, I was too scared to touch anything- & couldn't bring myself to touch the hand of the owrker who offered it to me to help me up the slippery path- even though it looked pretty clean.
Got to the Kinabatangan River lodge around 4pm. We got out of the van and limp around up and down the stairs. Thank goodness the lodge grounds were not that big. Walking was quite a feat. And who would have guessed walking continue to be a feat the next 5 days.
Went on sightseeing tour of the jungle by boat on the Kinabatangan. Got out of boat to trek down a herd of pygmy elephants. They were a vocal bunch. Saw many proboscis monkeys, a hornbill and a crocodile.
It was New Years Eve. We had to put on sarongs for dinner. Had dinner at the lodge. Nothing special but the grilled fish was quite good. Went to bed early and slept surprisingly well despite no AC. Took extra cold shower before bed so that helped. For those who are reading this blog and planning a trip here. I would recommend the lodge owned by Wildlife Expeditions. We saw it on our boat trip and it looked gorgeous. And their cabions had AC!

The peak! the peak!- Dec 30, 2005

As the final accomplishment of this terrible year called 2005, we set in mind to conquer Mount Kinabalu at 13,435 feet.
The evening before at Laban Rata, I felt the beginnings of altitude sickness set in- the headache, the tingling in my hands and feet. Yes, it brought back memories of uncontrollable vomitting and disorientation on Mount Kilimanjaro. Now 5 year older, with more aches and pains than ever, I wondered if I will again, be cursing my way down.

We awakened at 3am to have a quick breakfast and then start our ascent - the next 2.5km. Mike, is now ill, and determines that he's being poisoned by the water. Personally I think it is the dumplings from the dinner in KK, as he ate the majority of the dumplings.
We start our ascent in the dark with our head lights. The skies are clear and the stars are out. And we can see the lights from the town beneath us. More giant steps. The vegetation surrepticiously disappears and soon we are facing a landscape of bare granite. As there is no trail, we follow the ropes, using them to guide our way. In the dark, we don't see what is around us and we hang to the rope to pull ourselves up the smooth granite, clammering at times on all fours. I was on the plateau before the final peak, when the sun started to rise at about 530am- still about 1 km to go.
The air was quite thin as I started clammering over the huge rocks and up to the peak. Was looking for Jackie and finally found her at the peak. My camera had just enough juice left for the final pic at the peak. At 630am, we had views of all the neighboring lower peaks on Mount Kinabalu. But by 7am the winds picked up and the fog came in and obliterated the neighboring peaks. It was time to descend as it was getting too cold. Eleanor and her siblings had just arrived and we took some final pictures on Elson camera before starting our long endless descent.

The rain came shortly after the was started our descent, while we were walking on the moonscape of the plateau. The granite became as slippery as ice. And on the descent, we had to hang on to the ropes and descend slowly backwards in order to not slip off the mountain. On one stretch we had to descend walking on the edge of a cliff- the ledge no more than 8 inches wide. We must have been on that cliff for at least 45minutes, slowly inching our way down. At the very last part, I had to hold on to the rope and rappel down about 7 feet as it was just too steep and too slippery to do it any other way. Mike would have hated it. Then the wooden steps started. I must have slipped and fallen on the steps at least 3 times and the bruises to show for it. By the time I got to Laban Rata at 1030am, I could no longer walk and really had no idea how I was going to make it down 6 km of steps. My knees were in so much pain I was crying by the time I got to our room.

The rain was unrelenting the rest of the way down. We started at 12pm and I didn't arrive till 630pm, soaked through and through. Didn't think I would make it down but I did, despite the unbearable pain in my knees and my big toe that is now black. Was too fatigued to even think about cursing this time. Don't think I could do it again. So I'm glad I made it up to the peak - because there is no way I would be able say that I'll do it next time. Again, I was abandonned by my lame-o boyfriend whose excuse this time was that he had to hurry down just in case he had to make an emergency stop at the toilet. So thanks Jackie for waiting for me or I think I would have given up and decide to spend the night on the trail.

Nick took us to Poring Hot Springs that night but it was too late to go to the Hot springs. We stayed in a chalet full of cockroaches and broken AC. Mike trapped one ( cockroach) under a bowl in the middle of our bedroom. Thanks Eleanor for walking to get our dinner. No way I could have walked anywhere for food even though I was starving.

Mount Kinnabalu- the ascent begins. Dec 29, 2005

Woke up early to be driven to the beginning of the trail up Mt Kinnabalu. We were all full of enthusiam and high hopes of reaching the peak. 6 km the first day to Laban Rata. Was very pretty, relatively cooler than I expected and mosquito free! And it is always so cool to see the vegetation change from rainforest to the shrubbery found in higher altitudes. Nevertheless it was a very steep trail with giant steps. Ascent was no problem but I was questioning how I was ever to get down? Thanks Eleanor for waiting for me. It's much more fun conquering the mountain with someone by your side. Lousy Mike abandonnned me on the trail because he said he was cold rather than changing onto warmer dry clothes! Thank god I had the Bak Gua pork with me. I was starving! Arrived in Laban Rata at 3pm and Eleanor and I headed straight for the cafeteria.

The view of the peak cleared up while we were at Laban Rata and we had a chance to view and anticipate what we had ahead of us.

Did I mention that my lame-o boyfriend abandonned me on the trail?

Travel day- Dec 28

Took a hired van from Oola's place to JB airport. We all managed to squeeze into the van: me, Jackie, Tebe, Mike, Elson, Elaine, Elvin. Then flew Air Asia to KK. Arrive at night and was met by Herman himself and our driver Nick. Went to eat at the outdoor food market- had assam grill sting ray, seafood hor fun, sabah vegetables, satay, dumplings. I'm getting very hungry writing about food- and I just had dinner not long ago too.
Mike and I satyed at the KK Hyatt- which I have to say is quite nice. I think it is nicer than the Singapore Hyatt.

Best popiah ever- Dec 27, 2006

Was today the day we attempted to go on the treetop canopy walk but failed because we go there too late? Don't remember. Only remember that that we had the BEST POPIAH EVER at Jackie's place! Don't think I can ever eat commercially made popiah again. Sorry Marcel, you missed out- you left too early. I had 4 popiahs. My mouth is just watering thinking about it. And after the popiahs, we had durians, thanks to Stacie who went out to get 2 ( or was it more?) sac-loads all the way from Geyalang. And then we got to play multiple rounds of pictionary! Sorry Stacie, you and I just don't connect!
Aaah, what a perfect evening. I think the best meal I had in Singapore was the popiahs at Jackie's. I wish I took a photo of my popiah. Then I can stare it and imagine it's taste - the way Eleanor took a picture of the prime rib at the HOPR and stared at it all the way home to Perth!

Oola's birthday- Dec 26,2005

The prata man came to Oola's house to make prata for her birthday party. But Eleanor and I started eating the otah even before the party started. Unlike the last bday party where Eleanor and I ate all the otah before the guest arrived, this time we gorged ourselves and barely made a dent in the endless bags of otah. Tebe ate 20 otahs and got boric acid poisoning. I think I only ate 10. Had to leave room for the satay and the prata and curries.
That evening we went to the Night Safari- not as I remembered it. Last time I went was years ago with Adrian. Back then it was quiet , fun and romantic and the tapirs would walk right along side the bus. Now touirst are herded like cattle onto buses- it's crazy crowded and full of screaming kids. The tapirs are probably scared off by all the noise.
We went for a late dinner at Lavender food court-Ordered everything- wonton mee, popiah, hokkien mee, carrot cake... the No Sign Board duck rice was great.

The food feast starts here- Christmas Day 2005

Got to eat my Laksa as my first meal in Singapore after all. After arriving in the morning, Oola and Mark took us to Holland V to have katong laksa. Mike and went back to rest after lunch while Tebe, Marcel and her siblings went to the Science Center.
The we went for dinner at Jumbo in Clarke Quay to have chilli crab, pepper crab,fried baby squid, sambal kangkong...
This is a pic us Mike and I outisde Jumbo.