Ascent

It happened.  I somehow threw myself in the one place I rarely find pleasures at: altitude.  So here's my mid-year travel gig (illustrated through pictures!):

Pre-agony

Pauline, her colleague, Shwu Shan and I spent most of our pre-hiking days walking around the Kota Kinabalu.  Food was in abundance, so obviously I regressed to my primal Malaysian state and engorged whatever was in sight.

Jesselton Point

Island-hopping with these two ladies

Seafood Laksa (although it's more like Curry Mee) - Scrumptious!

Agony, Round One

The big event!  

In way over my head

Arguably I under-packed for the initial stages of the hike, as it was 15 C at the base of the mountain.  So I quickly doubled-up with a thermal layer and we soon began our hike.  

Some 200 meters into our hike (looking promising!)

The initial trail was great!  Hiking definitely made the slightly cold weather more bearable.

I was surprised how many people were hiking this spot

  The last picture of Pauline struggling (for that day)

I actually (wrongly) rested at Laban Rata (6 km out of 8.5 km), when I should have been at the Pendant Hut.  Nearly missed the ferrata briefing deadline.

Agony, Part Two

The lamb-and-beef fest of a buffet dinner last night definitely made my sleep more peaceful.  The 2.30 am alarm, less so.

Thankfully at that point my aching legs have recovered (thanks to said meal and some protein bars).  Pauline and I had mild headaches since the day before, around the 4, 5 km mark.  Hers had receded after some medication, but mine continued to linger.  The altitude was unsurprisingly getting the better of me.

We had to delay our ascent to Low's Peak as there was an overnight storm and winds were going at 25 km/h.  It was already -1 C at this point, and we were behind schedule to reach the peak before sunrise.

The initial trek saw me on par with Pauline, but my throbbing head started wearing heavy, and I was forced to take more and more breaks, falling behind.

At one point, I was hiking alone, with a very dodgy torchlight (should not have skimped on that).  I had reached a small hill where the trail seemed to have went cold: warning tapes of a sheer drop to my right, and an observation deck to my left.  Dread slowly settled as I found myself lost in the cold 3 am morning.  The wind picked up as I hurriedly laid flat next to a rock to shield myself from the wind.  Thankfully, moments later a few descending hikers illuminated the path forward, and I pushed on.

As I reached Sayap-Sayap Checkpoint (7.5 km out of 8.5 km and the last checkpoint before the summit), the accompanying guide broke the news: we weren't going to make it in time.  I was gutted, but with my worsening condition, I had to concede.

Camping there with another hiker (I'm sorry I forgot your name!), it was both too cold to descend in the morning and fruitless to continue the hike.  So we decided to wait it out, in hopes to still do the ferrata climb (if things get any better before 8 am, when the segment was arranged).  Perhaps unsurprisingly, I took a nap while waiting for the time to pass.

Surprisingly, that "power nap" lasted an hour and a half.  My companion had obviously left after I woke.  With her nowhere in sight, and the weather not improving, I decided to descend back to the rest house, as it was nearing 6 am and I could see the fog starting to roll in to our path back down.

Icy winds were to follow next

The only way I could ever properly descend a near-45-degree slope: butt-sliding with the rope sandwiched under my armpit

The rest of the descend was uneventful, as I took my time going down guide-less.  I did however, take many pictures of the flora around, along with my customary self-imposed psychoanalysis (more on that in the next segment!...).

As I returned to Pendant Hut, I was greeted by one of the Sabahan staff there.  I immediately gave him a hug as I slowly yanked off my shoes in relief- the remaining 6 km descent will be hell on my knees.  

The remaining staff were about to start their prayers for the victims of the 2015 earthquake.  I joined them, reciting prayers in a foreign dialect as they paid respect to the 18 people who lost their lives that day. 

There was pain and sorrow in their eyes.  And I felt it as well, as I welled up in tears shortly after.  Empathy is extremely powerful, even after all the shit I went through hiking up here to start.

After our second breakfast, the gang had covered up to prepare for the prevailing winds.  Thankfully, we all hiked down without much fuss or incidence.  

Kenny #1 and Kenny #2 before leaving the comfort of Pendant Hut

Finally reaching Timpohon Gate, after a 5-hour downward marathon

Of the six of us, Pauline and Xin made it to the summit, and those two ladies were phenomenal.  A huge thanks must go to our guides, for pushing them to completion, even if they were about to hit the runner's wall.

My admiration for Pauline never seems to run out, as she once again shows how her perseverance can outshine the toughest tasks.  Shameless plug, but I kept forcing her to do the second half of our hike up, as she was starting to show reluctance in continuing the hike over dinner in part one of the hike.  

I supposed I owed her that much to make sure we did the best we could muster.  But hey, at least I get a crummy black and white consolation certificate, revealing that I was just another 300 meters from the peak's elevation (not to be confused with trail length).

Hey, at least I got to take some pretty pictures and chat about a whole lot of things to a great friend throughout our hike.  Below are the other pictures of the hike.

Purdy flower post-rain

Purdy bell-like flowers

Widdle purdy flower

Cutie pink flower

Cutie fungi

Props to Pauline for spotting these clusters at one of the rest stops (I think it was at the 4-km-mark)

All in all, it was an amazing experience, even if I'm not a fan of hiking or altitude.  A huge amount of appreciation has to go to Pauline for inviting me along for this journey.  Maybe after a few years, I might just return to conquer that sucker one day.  

Until then, I suppose this picture of me looking cool would have to do.

Yes, I made it extra large.  Suck it.

Good Girls - LANY

Bagels

Well I'm going through some existential problems so let's explore that for a bit.

I'm feeling lonely. Like... Really lonely. It doesn't help that I just listened to Harper Audio's "The Shadow Queen", "The Other Us" and "The Light We Lost" or that I've hosted a dating couple in recent days (who are lovely, by the way).

I think in my own reluctance, maybe I should move with the times and get a dating app. The people who I've interest in are not reciprocating so I should move on before I go down the rabbit hole of fantasizing things.

So here I am (there's loads of other content which I could have wrote but for some reason this phone app can't post through 4G, so I'm left backdating content).

Am I... Conceding defeat?

Me? The kind of bullish hard-head who stands by his own moral compass even when the world screams back?

I'm not sure. But if I'm considering it, it's as good as saying I've given up to conventional meets and greets.

Honestly. Me, using a dating app? Either my looks would detract you, or my dry quip. Seriously, me... Using a dating app?

posted from Bloggeroid

Couple

Elisabeth and Trevor had visited KL, so naturally I embraced my second chance to play host and brought them around town for a bit, taking an extra day off as well.

After a botched attempt for Nasi Lemak Bumbung (it closes on Fridays), we had Bak Kut Teh instead.  Naturally, I over-ordered and taught the two how mixed Malaysian language command can get (I conversed with the waitress/boss in a mixture of English, Mandarin and Cantonese).

The following day was the customary KL day trip.  So we hit Central Market (Pasar Seni), KLCC, did the Twin Towers Tour (more on that later), Masjid Jamek (which was already closed for visitation), Merdeka Square, and back home for a mamak dinner (Liverpool were playing that night).

Back to the tour, we had reached all the way up to the 86th floor, which was a first time for me (previously, tourists can only access the bridge at the 42nd floor).  Although covered in the gloomy aftermath of rain, KL does look pretty impressive from this elevation.

After the customary Batu Caves trip, we returned the following day to check out Aquaria, which I have been away from for so long that I forgot almost everything about the exhibit.  This segment of the rainforest biome was really aesthetically-pleasing.

Monday was more relaxed, with a night market foodscapade at SS2 before I headed back to work (they went to Cameron Highlands the following morning, followed by another week in Penang).  So we said our goodbyes, gave big hugs, and I returned to corporate reality.

That Friday, I came back to the sight of this in my room:

After a shitty end to the week at work, this made it slightly more bearable.

Here's to hoping that I can be the "hostee" whenever I do drop by Norway.

D.N.A. - Kendrick Lamar

Race

(I'm backdating this, so memory recall might not be great)

My company's Sports Club has been surprisingly active this year, churning out events every two months or so, which is nice as I get to know my colleagues better outside of work.

This time, we had set out to do a Treasure Hunt, similar to The Amazing Race, travelling across Klang to Putrajaya, KLIA 2, and ultimately Port Dickson.

So below is a snapshot of our team ("The Evil Treasure Hunters" - not my idea) at the start of the race.

From left: Me, Ryan, Ya Houy and CK

Before we starting disliking each other (jokes!)

We did rather well for a bunch of newcomers (CK excluded), as we breezed through the first half with little fuss.  The second half saw us make some errors as we were rushing to finish the race (there was a time limit with penalties for late-comers).

Ultimately, we finished third!  Plus we got to spend the weekend in PD roaming about so that was great.  

The Mewah Dairies' Teams

I had also stumbled into Bryan and Celine when we were at the PD Waterfront post-event so it was nice getting to see them after two years.  Bryan recognized me from afar from my signature(ish) beanie.  And Ya Houy was giving me stick for it earlier that day...

Islands In The Stream - 

Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers

Python

Assistant Manager: "Leaving work so soon?  Don't you still have things to do?"

Arguably, it was past official working hours, so I've little incentive to stay back on a Friday evening.

Me: "Yes, I still have work.  But I need to be in Subang in an hour's time.  So I'll see you next week!"

I made a mad dash through the locker room at work, forgetting to collect my pendant from the locker as I keyed in the GPS on my phone to Sunway University.

I was meeting up with Miss Malissa, my Sunway lecturer when I was there some four, five years ago.  

She gave me a brief tour of the new facilities, the newly relocated, refurbished and renamed Center for American Education (CAE, formerly known as American Degree Transfer Program, ADTP) as well as the impressive new library and expanded canteen before having dinner at a nearby cafe. 

Conversations ran long as we covered a vast range of topics over the three-odd hours I was there.  But a few notably stood out, of which I should:

1. Really, really try to find time to talk to transferring students about to go abroad and 
2. To strongly consider the taking up a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) position with the university.

The former is rather tricky, since the sessions are held on the weekdays (to cater to students).  But I did submit my CV to her for the latter.  If that gets me into grad school, that would be great.  I'll just need to wait and see.

Lastly, there's a NASA Hackathon happening in KLCC in some three week's time so I was invited to form a wonder-team of fresh-grad misfits.  Here's the lineup:

Chin (Machine Learning enthusiast)

Roger (Game designer)

Danny (Aeronautical engineer)

Me (wildcard, coffee-grabbing, people-managing, presenter?)

As such, I'm starting to learn Python 3x programming.  But I'm a technophobe at times so this will probably amount to nothing.  Here goes...

Send Them Off! - Bastille

Shut

He fucked up.  And it was clear to see.

A moment ago, he was cruising back home to family, football talk on the radio, hand on the wheel.  He was tired: work this week involved more running around the factory than normal.  All he sensed was the discussion on player form, and the warm lighting illuminating the highway.  He was calm, floating for a brief moment...  then it turns dark...  silence.

BANG!!  

A slamming thud sends his nerves pulsing, his eyes widen to readjust to see the roadside barrier too close to his left side.  Horror sets in, as he immediately realigns to his lane.  His heart sank into the pit of his stomach as he glanced at his now-bent side-view mirror.  Beyond that, a 20-metre drop onto a separate highway.

He can feel his face flushing now, heat spreading to the back of his ears and temple.  He fucked up, big time.

Shortly a petrol station comes up as the driver pulls over to assess his wrongdoing.  Black streaks run across the side chassis, as he pushes his mirror back in place.  No dents, but what the fuck?! he retorts.

He tries to calm down as he returns to the driver seat.  Screams drown out the radio announcement as he curses his idiocy.  He'll hold onto this secret for the time being, unsure if it'll ever see the light.

The sound of bent sheet metal would accompany his sleep for the coming weeks. 

Don't Like.1 - Kanye West, Chief Keef, Pusha T Big Sean, Jadakiss

Radioactive

Minor update from my visit to the endocrinologist, my thyroid hormone levels had not just regressed, but actually was at an all-time high (triple the normal value of a normal human).

Thus, I'm back on meds and will see the doctor a month from now to re-evaluate... aaaand explore/prepare for radioactive iodine treatment OR surgery to excise part of the thyroid gland.

I'm going through some spurts at the moment, but the procedure will be done in mid-year (I requested for it to be done post-KK hike).  Mentally I'm unaffected yet, since it's still a few months away.

I'm sure I'll feel very different then.

But if it helps me get better, I should do it.

Dessert - Dawin