Born Free, As Free As The Wind Blows

Courtesy of Michael Liew

This is wat makes me trek Mt Kinabalu every year. The early morning sun that shines on the summit transformed it into a Golden Peak. Two GONG GONG trekkers slowly making their way up to the summit. He told his trekking buddy "We are almost there, just another couple of metres up the steep rocky path and you will reach the highest peak in South East Asia"

Mount Kinabalu (23 -26 April 2009)

Note: Pictures courtesy from Frank Chong

Its my 7th climb and reaching the Summit for the 6th time. Every each of these climbs give me different challenges and feelings, and more importantly provide me with an opportunity to learn new things and get to make new friends. I am not sure if I want to blog in detail about this climb but definitely I will do it. Probably in a different angle.

Come back soon.........

Mt Kinabalu (6-9 Oct 07) ~ Random photos

One for all, and all for one. The team were all hype-up before the climb























Taking a picture is always a must at Laban Rata


















Anyone interested to eat a mountain durian?


















A victorious picture during sunset at Laban Rata



















At the summit with South Peak as the backdrop























































































On the way up to Laban Rata at the 1KM mark as well as along the Golden Trail with my favorite tree

Top of the World

I was blessed with the most beautiful weather amongst all my climbs. Perfect condition for reaching the summit. The only thing is that its extremely windy and therefore bringing the temperature even lower and staying up at the peak was much colder.




















Story coming later........


Besides a successful climb, one of the guides also taught me this very famous Kadazandusun song (while descending from summit to Laban Rata) which is about a woman crossing the Tamparuli bridge and losing her high-heeled shoes and going off to buy a new pair at the Wednesday market.

The first four lines go like this: Pak pak kangku doh/ summsui do jambatan/ jambatan do Tamparuli/ bakasut tinggi oku. The song is set to the catchy beat of the sumazau, a dance unique to the Kadazandusun.

Jambatan Tamparuli available at YouTube and the historical value behind it.

Me and my favorite tree

Its a new ball game again. Next week I will be having another photoshot with my favorite tree. YES, u guess right. I am off for my 6th climb to Mt Kinabalu next week from 6-9 Oct 2007. This time taking another group of rookies as well as season trekkers up the trail and hopefully reaching the summit again. With some seasoners around, I hope my job as the sweeper will be much easier.

Hopefully the weather will be kind to us and god blessed ~ Namo O Mi Tho Fwo, because bad weather will be the deciding factor of success and failure in reaching the summit. Strong winds and coldness can also be the other factor ~ so every climb for me is a challenge because its not always the same. The trail maybe the same but definitely not the weather!!!!

Some candid photos taken during my last trip.















Cinya "Sui" wild Orkid















Born free, as free as the wind blows



















Hello, izit me you looking for?















The Full Monty, is there one this year?

Reaching the Summit

Of late I have many frens that were making their trips to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in search of reaching the Mt Kinabalu summit. Some successfully made it and some was caught in unpredictable weather conditions that took a toll on them. And the not so successful ones fell victim to the climatic condition as well as suffered from high altitude sickness and prevented them from continuing their journey to the summit from Laban Rata.

As Tey ET said "I climbed N times...every time Mt Kinabalu give me a different story, feeling, happy and sometimes was disappointing because of weather...etc". So respect Mt Kinabalu even though you can see it so near from afar!!!

And here I would like to post a cinya kamtung and touching report from one of the PM members who was inspired to make this journey in search of reaching Mt Kinabalu. His report can be view here.