The Journey to Low's Peak - Part III

1:30 AM.. My alarm literally woke up everyone in the dorm. I didnt want to wake up to 8 different faces staring at me, but then what the heck they all have to climb at 2 anyways.. So off i go to the restroom and man.. the water was too cold.. so forget the shower.. just brushing the teeth and using lot of body spray is enough. After clearing the room, i headed to the restaurant to have some hot breakfast. I really need the energy boost and so had lots of french toast and scrambled egg.

At 2:30, the climb began. It was a beautiful night . not a cloud in the sky and the gibbous moon was just pretty. Its quite an experience to trek under moon light. Well the trek was uphill and a steep gradient all the way upto the 7 km mark. It took us 1.5 hours to reach there. And then i see this rock face in front of me and a white rope on it. Here comes the difficult part. We had to rappel and pull ourself up the rock face using the ropes.. It didnt look too bad because i could see everyone doing it. But one false step or u lose hold on the rope, there is a fall that is going to leave some broken bones at the least.. Before i even started climbing, i was worried about how the heck am i going to climb down this thing.. Well i decided to think about it later and concentrate now.. So deep breath.. the air was actually thin and the gasping for breath was not because of the tiredness but cos of the altitude.. Anyways, started the climb.. it wasnt that tough as it seemed..

there were certain steep stretches where the rope had to be used but otherwise, one could just walk ont the rock face.. The summit looked incredibly close but it was deceiving climb.. still have 1.7 kms to go.. At around 8 kms, i could see the horizon starting to brighten up.. But sadly there were clouds on the horizon screwing up the chances of seeing the sun rise. And then i started to get symptoms of altitude sickness. head feeling light and gasping for air.. Well i decided to take a 10 minute rest and then chugges the last half a mile.. the last 10 meters climb to the top of the summit was on piles of rocks and the summit was just crowded with these other climbers. 6:10 AM i reached the top.. yipppieee.. finally did it..

6:20.. decided to start climbing down..After about half an hour, i started realising that i am having a strange pain on my knees.. not a good sign at all.. So i decided to rappel down using the ropes and facing backwards so that the strain is not on the knee cap but on the thighs.. It worked fine until the ropes got over. and then it was a steep descent all the way to laban rata, the rest house. after resting for an hour and having another breakfast, we started climbing down. it was 9:30 AM.

The first 3 kilometers down was ok.. not bad.. I had this backpack that was 10 kgs and it started weighing heavily on my knees. 11:30 am, we were 3 kms to the park entrance.. Man, this was the worst part of the journey.. My knees were just not able to keep up with the trek and i almost fell a couple of times. I picked up a branch from the forest and started using it as a support. it helped a little. And then, the italian couple decided to help me with the rucksack. So they took mine and helped me lug it for a kilometer when the guide caught up with us. I coughed up 10 ringitt and asked him to carry it for me.. It took me a gruelling 2 hours to cover the last two kilometers and i just pulled myself to the resthouse at the park after getting my certificates.

After a nice warm shower followed by 3 shots of brandy and a good dinner at 5:00 PM, i went to sleep at around 6:00 in the evening. The next thing i remember was getting up at 6:00 AM the next day. I was lucky to find a share taxi that got me all the way to kota kinabalu.

A great journey this was, but i couldnt climb up or down stairs for the next 3 days.. a small price to pay for doing something different.

I was watching a program on the discovery channel a few nights back about the human brain and the emotional quotient. Apparently, the rational thoughts are controlled by the conscious part of the brain which is the external layers and the emotional and if i can say, irrational thoughts are controlled by the internal cortex which is the subconscious brain. What is interesting is not these two layers, but the communications between them. There are numerous circuits or roadways that go from the interal subconscious brain to the rational part but just four roads connect the rational part of the brain to the subconscious. This explains the problems most people face in not having the ability to control the irrational and emotional side of us even though we are aware of the actions and the reactions. Here is the reason why Rationality fails when one is confronted with an emotional situation..

Well good explanation, I will say. But it still doesnt help the fact that I for one am controlled more by the irrational part of the brain that the rational side. What do i do, build more circuits, become say Johnny Mnemonic by getting a special IC chip implanted. I swear, if i can find a way to control the irrational behaviours that i get into, maybe i would be better off when it comes to controlling or getting the subconscious to accept reality. Well, since i dont, i have to find a way, and although I am almost there, it would still take a few more days i guess and i have had to make some hard choices. Hopefully, they would help..

Oh btw, i still have to finish the part III of my trip.. will get on to it in a few days

One year older today. Nothing has changed however but time does keep moving. Had a great get together with friends at club Bar None on saturday night. The higlight of the day was the dance with this pakistani babe.... well it all started with my friends placing a request for the birthday boy with the clubs live band.. And man.. i guess the live band was looking for a scape goat and lo and behold i was on stage in no time answering a bunch of questions and getting my leg pulled in all different directions.. At the risk of being labelled gay, i was asked to chose a girl from the bar to dance with. The host then volunteered to get me a girl and he convinces this girl from pakistan to get on stage..and then it was a riot.. talk of India pak unification on my birthday.. lol.. well i shouldnt complain cos i did have a good dance with this girl who goes by the name sameena.. interesting way to start a new year!! definitely..


On the same lines, taking a look back at my 27th year, an interesting year definitely with its own share of highs and lows. Landed in a new country, started letting go of myself instead of being the uptight asshole that i was. not much travelling though. just visited three places. Learnt to swim and play golf. joined a new job and quit after 10 months. started a sole proprietership and have one pro bono client and others in the pipeline. Learnt to take more risks than i could handle. Met some very interesting people and although life doesnt always turn out the way you expect, you do end up somewhere..gave up drinking for 4 months and restarted although not at the same levels as used to be. lost 10 kilos which in my view is quite an achievement. went to tons of interviews and got dinged in all which is also an achievement :)

a new era begins today, lets see what this year brings to the table. Oh btw, i have resolved not to make resolutions..

The Journey to Low's Peak - Part II

I could hear something going beep beep in the distance. And then the phone rang. Well the wake up call does work in this hotel. It was 5:00 AM. "Do i have a shower? Or is it better to let the guy sitting next to me bear the stink till i land in Kota Kinabalu?" After weighing the options carefully, well i didnt have time to do a cost benefit analysis. All i know was that the heater was not working and i was in no mood to have a cold shower so early in the morning. So after a quick rinse and brushing my teeth, I used up a whole lot of the body spray that i had cos u see i am a good samaritan.. didnt want anyone to suffer in the flight, i walked to the bus stop. all the way, checking my back to see if anyone was following me with the intentions of mugging me. After a quick shuttle to the airport and checking in, nothing much happenned all the way to Kota kinabalu. The usual take off and landing. Of by the way, it was a clear morning and the view of North borneo/ Sabah from the flight while we were landing was awesome and i could see Mt. Kinabalu standing out in the crowd of 2000 mt high peaks in the distance.

After checking in to the hotel, I started looking at the packages offerred by the tour operators to climb mt kinabalu. Man, they were so expensive and i was in no mood to spend that much dough. So i took a trip the the park operators and got myself a real good deal. Kota kinabalu has nothing much to see and i heard there were a few coral islands close by that were cool. Off i go the jetty only to be informed that the weather is turning bad and i cant make a trip to these islands.. So i have all the day to spend with nothing to do. So what do i do.. well decided to get a massage for 2 hours, that still leaves 6 hours till i sleep. "we will take it one at a time" i tell myself and get a good massage. After the massage, went shopping, got myself some trekking boots, changed some cash and decided to chill out by the sea with a few drinks.

The next morning, It was a 2 hour trip to the park by bus. I noticed that each seat of the bus had a few polythene bags in the pouch. I was wondering as to the reason for this when i heard sounds all around me. And then the wierd smell struck me.. Man.. all around me people were throwing up.. the bus was stinking and it was air conditioned.. yuck.. Had to wait in there till i reached the park.

I knew i had made mistake when i landed at the park.. Not one but two mistakes... I did not have enough cash on me.. I had planned on using my credit cards and the park did not accept cards.. what the hell.. I had exactly 300 ringitt on me and i had to cover 3 days till i get back to Kota kinabalu.. Tough times bring out the creativity in me.. and this time, i really was stuck with cash flow issues. I had to plan it out perfectly else i am going to be stuck in this place.

The park took 104 bucks for admission and climbing passes. I had to get a guide to go up the mountain and that would cost another 95 bucks .. shucks!! I had to do something to reduce this load. Luckily, i met an italian couple who were willing to take me in with them as a group and whew i saved 60 bucks there. After a small snack and purchasing a load of energy bars and kit kats and a few water bottles, i realised my second mistake. I hadnt planned my back pack properly and i was left with 10 kilos on my back that i had to carry all the way to base camp. This was ridiculous. This mistake was going to cost me dearly in the next 36 hours. I should have bought a smaller bag and now i had no option but climb the hill with the 10 additional kilos. Luckily for me, i had lost 10 kilos in the last few months else, i would have been obese and as per the guide, obese are not allowed to climb the hill..

I had to buy a poncho cos i didnt want to get wet. I actually wanted to rent one. The guy at the stall was quoting 5 ringitt for buying the poncho.. i tried to convince him to rent it to me. he kinda hesitated for a while and then he quotes 3 ringitt for the rent.. hell!!.. this guy didnt do an mba to realise the pricing strategies to ensure that i would rather buy than rent.. And here i was, an MBA with no job.. shucks.. sometimes i wonder if it was worth it.. anyways, no point thinking of it now.. paid 5 and bought the poncho.. was a life saver when it started pouring later in the day.

We started our journey at 10:30 A.M. As we started off, the guide pointed us to a placard that had the fastest times to the summit recorded. One guy had made it up in 2 and half hours.. well i said to myself, if i can do it in twice that time, i would be happy. So off we go.. It was 6 kilometers and a climb of 2000 meters to the base camp which is at 3300 meters. Some people had warned me to go slow rather than be all energetic and lose all energy in the first hour. so for once i heeded the advice and walked at a leisurely pace. After a enjoyable descent into the valley, the climb began.. 30 minutes into the climb, i was doing pretty well, but the gasping for breath was quite heavy even though the climb did not do much to my legs. I was happy that way, the last thing i had wanted was a cramp on my legs.

It was a treacherous climb , with the slipper rocks and mud at certain places. some stretches were quite steep but it was an enjoyable experience. Took me 5 hours to reach the base camp. The sight of base camp at Laban Rata was a life giver. I had by this time finished 2 bottles of water and 5 chocolates.. and was drenched in my sweat. You know, if somebody opened a massage parlour at the base camp, they would make money..

I checked into my dorm and after a nice warm shower, went down to have some dinner and wanted a drink pretty badly. The restaurant to my ill luck did not take credit cards.. Thank God i told myself. But there was a clincher.. I had to spend atleast 50 ringitt.. Well to conserve cash, if i can spend 50 ringitt on credit card, i think its a worthy price to pay.. so i convinced them to take the bills for a drink, the dinner, the breakfast at 2:00 AM before the summit ascent and the breakfast at 7:30 AM when i am back from the summit, all now and this negotiation worked pretty cool. So i payed through my credit card and saved cash..I patted myself in my back and had a heavy dinner consisting of 3 plates of noodles, chicken, roast beef, orange juice and 3 cups of hot coffee.

After a quick stroll through the rocks and a clicking a dozen pictures of the sunset and the view of the clouds from the top, I decided to call it a day and hit the bed. 10 minutes into my sleep, i was woken by giggles and loud chattering. I woke up to find myself surrounded by 5 girls.. I pinched myself.. am i dreaming.. Ouch!!. no i wasnt.. I was sharing my dorm with these 5 korean girls.. They werent very impressive and i went back to bed trying hard to sleep. The two other malaysian guys in the room decided to make it worse by hitting on these girls for the next 2 hours.. Man, they were talking crap and these girls were all "oh wow" ing for the next 2 hours.. Well what could i do.. but resist my temptation to kick these buggers and try hard to sleep which came after a while. Have a long day ahead.. consisting of 2.7 kilometers to the summit and 8.7 kilometers to my next nights rest stop.

The Journey to Low's Peak - Part I

I did it. It was 6:10 AM on the 2nd of August and I had reached the Low's Peak of Mt. Kinabalu at a hieght of 4095m. Pretty ironic name for the peak , I thought as i took a deep breath and the clean cold and thin air filled my lungs at the summit. I stood in the queue to get my photograph taken at the summit as the crowd huddled together to keep warm. It was a clear morning at the summit without the usual mist and cloud cover. I looked up and thanked the gods for having made the trip worthwhile although the promised view of the sunrise was obscured by clouds on the horizon and the sun was playing peek a boo with the clouds and us.

"Press the shutter release half way to focus and then keep pressing until you feel the flash" I told the asian guy as i handed him the camera and took my place next to the board marking the summit to forever capture the moment on the celluloid. "This one?" he asked. I indicated to him how to go ahead with the camera. He fumbled with it for a few minutes and in the end the bugger just gave up. "Could you help me with this ?" I asked the american standing next to me. And so finally i get my photo taken on the summit.

After spending another 10 minutes at the summit staring down at the other peaks on the mountain, one of which has a funny name - Donkey's ears, I decided it was time to go down to the rest house where we spent the night.

The journey to conquer Mt. Kinabalu started on the 30th of July. I had long wanted to take a break from the stressful life at Singapore. Stress? for a jobless guy..people may wonder. Howevber, believe me, life is stressful when one has nothing to do but mail all kinds of people for meetings, follow up with the persons who have your CVs, spend the evenings alone at home with the cable not working..yes, the cable at my home konked off and since the cable is in the name of the other housemate who is spending his week at KL, i cant do anything until he gets back.. it does stress you out.. So decided to get out for a while.

This vacation..yeah right vacation if u call climbing a mountain as one..was different in a couple of ways. Its the first time i am travelling alone and the first time, i decided not to plan the holiday. I am one of those organisational freaks. For me, everything has to be planned and if things dont go per plan, i dont freak out, but find ways to correct them. However, the initial blue print is a must before i get on a holiday. This time, i said, lets give everything a break and so all i did was book the flights and confirmed the hotel for the first night at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The flight from Johor Bahru was at 7:20 am in the morning on the 31. I didnt want to get up at 4:00 AM and catch a cab to cross over to malaysia from singapore and get to the airport.. too expensive it would have been. So decided to get to Johor by bus on the evening of 30th. Man.. it was crazy.. friday evening and all the malaysians who work in singapore are returning to their place and the bus was packed and me was lugging a 12 kilo back pack..well After 2 hours of getting in and out of the bus to clear the sinagapore and malaysian immigrations, i reach the bus stand in Johor. I need a place to sleep now.. After inquiring a few places, found this hotel for 60 ringit a night. The room was anything but comfortable. Lousy accomodation.. I should have checked the rooms before i paid at the desk.. now its too late.. The lifts were another cause of worry.. My room was in the 9th floor. Once you get into the lift, you have no clue where you are.. All you here is some grumbling sounds and a feel the lift shaking.. The indicators dont work properly. as per the indicator, I went from the 1rst to the 5th floor and then to the 14th and then back to 7th and then finally it settled on the 19th floor.. When the lifts door opened, thats when i knew i had reached safely on the 9th floor. Shucks!!! That was one hell of a ride. Time to sleep.. sleep was elusive.. so headed out again in the lift which took me through another ride of all the possible floors before reaching the ground. Walked around Johor for a while before i called it a night. Had to get up at 5 in the morning. I wondered if the front desk would have wake up calls and if so whether their clock also worked the same way as the lift. Anyways, to make sure, i set up a double alarm in my mobile and got to bed..