Going Ga Ga Over Gunungs (Kinabalu)

Mt Kinabalu:4th Highest Peak in South East Asia

Gunung Kinabalu. The 4th highest peak in South East Asia. I miraculously conquered her in 2006 without any preparations. At that time, I was 30
years old, cocky and over confident and I expected Mt Kinabalu to be a walk in the park. I did no research. no training and have never climbed any mountain beforehand. My line would always be "How hard could it be?"
Three guys attempted to summit Mt Kinabalu. This was how unprepared we were. The night before the climb, all of us were living it up at the infamous Sheningan's in Kota Kinabalu.

5 hours before climbing Mt Kinabalu

We came back at 4am and our climb was scheduled at 10am. We didn't sleep immediately as we were still mucking around until 7am. I drove our rented car to Kinabalu Park and we left Timpohon Gate at 11am sharp with no proper breakfast.

This is us 1120am into the hike

This is me 1230pm,1 hour into the hike

Me again at 115pm

Ghaffor and Raj couldn’t wait for me any longer and went ahead. Bastardo friends. So, it was just me and the guide(Nelson).I was so tired that I would lie down flat after 35 steps. It continued like that until Laban Rata but my faithful guide would patiently wait for me. He occasionally looks at the leaves and tie his shoelaces while I'm lying down. He never gave me the dissapointing headshake nor did he chide me for my lack of preparation.

Guide Nelson, checking leaves for the 55th time

Desperate to reach Laban Rata, I kept asking Nelson," Berapa jauh lagi?" His answer would be the standard "Satu jam lagi".BALLS !!! More like 3 hours. Determined to finish, I mustered every ounce in my body to push forward.

On my hands and knees crawling towards Laban Rata

Another 2 hours to go, I was on the brink of starvation. I had no food on me and there was no concept of kedai runcit along the way. For the first time in my life, I begged for food. I asked the guide if he had any food in his bag. He cooly unzip his backpack's side pocket and produced a Tiger sekut which I wolfed down immediately. It was the best tasting biscuit on the planet

The best biscuit on the planet

With ant like energy, I was getting close to Laban Rata and the time : 530pm. I've been climbing for 7 hours. Oh how I suffered. The worst part is thinking that I've reached Laban Rata but only to find out I had to walk another 20 more minutes to my room. The 2 bums were already sleeping and they had apprently reach the room at 3pm.
At 2am. I was feeling much better now that I've ate a RM30 excellent buffet spread of fried rice and half boiled eggs(Sarcasm is the word of the devil).Hiking up to the summit was no less different than hiking up to Laban Rata. I employed the same method as I used going up to Laban Rata. Take 35 steps, lie down flat for 10 minutes, get up, take another 35 steps, lie down for 10 minutes, and it went on like that until the summit.

Exhaustion under the pale moonlight

Although exhausted, I was determined to reach the summit. I wouldn't be able to face myself if I had not finish. More than anything, I wouldn't be able to face Rocky if I had quit halfway. GO THE DISTANCE !!!!

No introduction needed

Finally, through guts and determination. I finally conquered the 4th Highest Peak in South East Asia and I was rewarded by some amazing sceneries.
.

The Summit

Low's Peak

Descending was another hurdle. Gosh, I hate descending even until now. Going down, I took it easy. Step by step. No lying down.I left Laban Rata at 1pm and arrived at the Timpohon gate at 6pm.
Here's my advice before climbing Mt Kinabalu : Don't ever go to Shenanigan's the night before.
Anyway, I was glad I didn't quit when my whole body told me to. This goes to show that a little bit of push and a never say die attitude will always be my greatest asset. Here's a little song that goes with this theme :

Jika kau fikirkan kau boleh
Kau hampir boleh melakukan
Jika kau fikirkan ragu-ragu
Usahamu tidak menentu

Jika kau fikirkan kekalahan
Kau hampiri kegagalan
Jika kau fikirkan kemenangan
Kau hampiri kejayaan

Engkaulah apa kau fikirkan
Terkandung dalam pemikiran
Kau fikir boleh melakukan
Fikirkan boleh

Percaya apa kau lakukan
Tabah apa kau usahakan
Bertindak atas kemampuan
Engkau boleh

Girls go crazy and throw their panties at me when I sing this song to them.
It's cheesy but you all know this song by heart.