Majestic....Mt.Kinabalu

In all of my lifetime of adventure and outdoor fun, memories of Mt.Kinabalu climb will always have the sweetest poignant place in my heart. Not only was I able to have SLing to climb the mountain with me in my early teaching years in Sabah, I've managed in 1995 to bring a team of young students and teachers from Catholic High School, Melaka for an experience of a lifetime. It was a 3-in-1 quest of climbing Mt.Kinabalu, soak in Poring Hot Spring and enjoy the beauty of Mamutik Island.
In the early years of my teaching career in Sabah, I had loads of fun and I did a lot of travelling. Thanks to hockey competitions and examiner of SPM oral exams [ Yeah! I got to travel to Ranau, Kota Marudu and some other interesting places ! ] I get to live a lot of dreams that most people would glow with envy... places like Sepilok sanctuary, Kundasang vegetables farms and.............. Kinabalu Park.

I remembered that I was much fitter and I've always [ still do ! ] enjoy nature and what better place to enjoy that Mt.Kinabalu. Yunno, from my teacher's quarters on the 4th floor, my every morning scenery or view was the majestic Mt.Kinabalu! It was just awesome and breathtaking. I remembered when I first arrived in Tenghilan [ half way small town to Kota Belud ], I told myself that I was going to successfully scale this 13,455 feet high mountain. By the grace of God, I did just that and subsequently, I managed to get SLing to climb it with me. That was memorable, actually. I still remember that on our trip was Kak Zan, a senior teacher who has always wanted to scale the mountain but didn't have the opportunity to do so. Mind you, this was a mother of four children! Before going on this trip, Kak Zan pulled me aside and told me , " Foo, kamu tolong saya ya? Kak Zan nak naik gunung tu sebelum balik." I told her that I would look after her and I kept my promise. I walked with her, encouraging her step-by-step , prodding and egging her on and sometimes, pushing her to the limit of walking. Yes, there are times she was almost close to tears as she was tired but I continued pushing her coz' it's very cold up there [ I was in my usual shorts, anyway! ], the air thins quickly, muscles ached while breathing technique was important. In all honesty, she was a real tough cookie and she took every strength she got to get to our destination every time and ultimately, the summit of Mt.Kinabalu. At the end of it, she thanked me for helping her up to the mountain top but most of all, she thanked me for sticking it out with her even when she was on the brink of giving up. Yes, I practically had to drag her up the jagged rockface towards the summit when she wanted to quit. By that time I was physically and mentally tired but I was determined that no one in my team is going home empty! That's why I walked with her every step of the way until the last few metres and I just collapsed with exhaustion while asking her to complete the walk up by herself. By this time, there was a big smile on her face and I just told her, " Kak Zan jalan-lah sendiri, Saya dah pernah tengok dari puncak atas tu! " From her facial expression, I knew she was really happy and that was a worthy expression for me. She made it to the top on her own and I was just glad for her and at the same time marvelled at the determination of this mother of four! After resting for about 15 minutes, I went down to catch up with SLing and the other team members consisting of teachers and students.

BTW, for the students from SMK Tenghilan, it was the first time they had made such a climb eventhough Mt.Kinabalu is at their own backyard. Sorry so to say that poverty and no teacher was crazy enough to take up the responsibilities of organising & getting things done were some of the factors that had hindered them over the years. Yunno, Sabah is such a beautiful state , richly blessed with wondrous natural landscape beauty and natural culture but it is so pitiful that the teachers don't take up the opportunity to introduce them to their own children & students. I am so thankful to God for giving me this boldness and the favour for organising field trips and enjoying the nature that He has created for us.

Coming back to the climb, SLing had great company in Slyvia, Radzi, Jerry, Suhaimi, Tee and Azmil. In fact, I had arranged for them to take care of her [ Slyvia was a real gem in taking care of her! ] while I took care of Kak Zan. I guess, SLing did not understand it at first of why we did not climb together but later, I explained to her that I really had made a promise to Kak Zan and I intend to keep that promise. Yeah! Like all good wife, she wanted to take a picture with me at the summit and enjoy the scenario but I was nowhere to be found and that kinda made her disappointed. Who wouldn't right?

OhYes! There was one scene during that trip that made me felt so humbled until this day. It was during my climb up with Kak Zan, we saw this local man [ porters, we call them! ] had thick bandanna bandages around his left leg and he was carrying two empty gas cylinders. When he passed me, I had asked him what had happened. He told me that he slipped, fell and broke his left leg. I was shocked and when I looked closely at the foot, I noted that he had made a splint and tighten the splint to his broken left leg. My God! And he was carrying two empty gas cylinder in a local long basket over his shoulders! The wages...... RM 20.00 only! That really humbled me. Then there were these local women carrying groceries and bee hoon up to the Laban Rata where the special lodge house is located. The wages....again, RM 20.00 - that's four hours up and four hours down~ every day! This is the same with the gas cylinders. Wow! Just made me speechless!

Anyway, as I flipped through the pictures in my special Mt.Kinabalu album , the pictures are really special to me and so are the memories! Steven couldn't understand the bright luminous short pants and wanted to give me a slap if I am ever caught wearing it! Well, it was comfortable and easy for me to make my climb up the mountain. That was the purpose ,actually!

Yo! For those who had not made a trip up Mt.Kinabalu, hey, get it done, man. Save, scrimped, eat less, indulge less or whatever you do, if ever there is a chance for a Mt.Kinabalu trip, don't miss it! I guarantee you, the view is simply awesome & beautiful while the experience is humbling. Take it from me ~ I know it's humbling!~

My dream before I konk off from this world - Mt.Everest, really~! Now, that would be something special, isn't it?