Itchy Feet Adventure: January 2007

Early last year, I was excited to know that OCMI’s Execom had considered in the calendar of activities climb to Southeast Asia’s highest mountain, Mt. Kinabalu. Though there were plans in the past years to climb Mt. Kinabalu but it didn’t push through. (photo credit source:http://www.climbmtkinabalu.com/images/spire1.jpg)

An announcement came calling for those interested to join Kota Kinabalu (KK) to attend the meeting at the Penthouse of Makati Stock Exchange. I’ve met with Oros, Abet, Nowell, Clarence and Dory. Abet had meticulously prepared in advance the itinerary and budget for the trip. Clarence had expressed that he’s not joining because of conflict in schedule, he needs to accompany his sister to the airport who is leaving for US. At first, I was hesitant to join because this is the first time that I’ll be spending the Holidays in an unusual way away from my family. But I said YES, anyhow. Looking at the itinerary, it’s exciting I felt the adrenaline rushing through my spine that I couldn’t refuse. The date was set on Dec.25-31, 2006.

Oros had reserved initially four tickets in Air Asia online (for Oros, Abet, Nowell and myself) as Dory’s and Ningning’s (Nowell’s beloved) renewal passports have yet to be released a week after. It turned out the two tickets reserved for Dory and Ningning after a week were 2K cheaper than ours (if only we have waited, ngek!). Lucky girls!

Another meeting was set to finalize the date and confirmed participants. The final participants were : Oros, Abet, Dory, Nowell, Ningning and Juvy AND Clarence (yes, he changed his mind in an expensive way!). Dec. 25, we’re all flying to Kota Kinabalu! (except for Clarence, he was booked on Dec 26).

The preparation
I searched the Wikipedia for information about Mt. Kinabalu. Elevation:4,095 m (13,435 ft), location: Sabah, Borneo, range: Crocker Range, prominence: 4095m Ranked 20th; coordinates 06’05’N 116’33’E, first ascent: 1858 by H. Low and S. St. John. The mountain and its surroundings feature a huge variety of flora, and is one of the world’s most important biological sites. The main peak of the mountain (Low's Peak) can be relatively easily climbed by a person with a good physical condition, and requires no mountaineering equipment. Other peaks along the massif, however, require rock climbing skills.

I just can’t remember the last time I went on hiking before climbing Mt. Kinabalu (early sign of alzheimer) I referred to my improvised 2006 calendar to find out if I have joined any of the climb last year. I was pleased to see two schedules: Nov2006- Mt.Cristobal and Sep2006, all girls climb at Mt. Makulot but a bold note at the bottom indicated that these climbs were all postponed due to storm Milenyo! I flipped again the other pages until the last page, Jan 2005. Oh my, I didn’t join any of the climb, I’ve hibernated for two years!!! Yes, call me an unworthy Ocmizen.

I’m worried about my physical condition for two reasons. First, before the climb, I had been complaining and suffering the past few weeks of lower back pain, may be because of my dextroscoliosis (in short, I’m getting OLDER!). I did see our company physician for check up and told him that I’m leaving for Kota Kinabalu. So he gave me prescription to assuage the pain. Second, obviously, I haven’t climbed a single mountain or even a hill the past two years! Though I make it point to jog at the ULTRA two days in a week after office hours.

Things in my bag/backpack
Since it’s a climber-friendly mountain, as mentioned in the Wikipedia, I brought with me the following stuffs: Backpack with cover, rain coat,(all borrowed from Vidal), Columbia jacket (borrowed from Mellany) another jacket, 2 sweatshirts, 2 pairs dry pants (convertible to shorts), jogging pants, leggings, gloves, several shirts, slippers, flashlight, trail food, bottled water, toiletries and medicines. December-month usually rains in Kota Kinabalu.

Departure – Christmas Day!
The group met at St. Francis Square in Mega Mall. We left at 11:38am for Diosdado Macapagal airport in Subic. The travel was swift, it took us only an hour and a half going to Subic. We’ve checked in and waited more than 2 hours for Air Asia flight AK503. While waiting for our flight we had light snack in the cafeteria. Since we’re traveling in a low budget fare, the seat is on a first-come-first-serve basis so no guarantee that you’ll get your choice of seat. In our case, we were seated far back near the lavatory.

We left Manila past 4pm and we arrived in Kota Kinabalu at 6:40pm. Abet had earlier made arrangement with Trekkers Lodge where we will be staying for the whole trip. We met with Abdul at the airport whom took us to Trekkers Lodge. It was past 8pm when we reached Trekkers Lodge. The first thing we asked from the receptionist, Vivian, was “money changer”. The malls usually closed early so we end up asking Vivian to lend us 100 Ringgit for dinner. Vivian was kind enough to lend us money. I guessed everyone was tired to explore the nearby authentic restaurants so we settled for “Kentucky”. Ang daming MANOK (chicken) na inorder!

Dec26 - Manukan Island
Trekkers Lodge offers free breakfast composed of 2pcs toasted bread, strawberry jam, tropical fruit and overflowing coffee. We met Joel, Trekker Lodge manager. He’s a Filipino married to a Chinese. He had settled in Kota Kinabalu for more than a decade. He can speak the local dialect but his hospitality is sheer proof of his being a Filipino. He’s very friendly and accommodating. As soon as the mall opens (9:30am) Joel accompanied us to have our money exchanged in Ringgit.

The destination of our first day trip was Manukan Island. From Trekkers Lodge we walked about 100 meters to Jesselton Point where we tried local food for lunch. Travel time from Jesselton Point to Manukan Island was almost an hour via a motorboat, which was quite faster than commercial boats for island hopping in Palawan. Manukan Island has it’s own beauty. Though it’s commercialized they managed to keep the area clean. They had villas, souveneir shops and dining area in front of the beach. We didn’t dine as we still have left over chicken from last night’s dinner.

At least we saved penny for lunch. After dipping in the water, we trekked 1500m to sunset point (the far end of the island) where we first took a glimpse of the beauty of Mt. Kinabalu. While at Manukan sunset point, we ate the rest of the left over Kentucky fried chicken.

We arrived at Trekkers lodge past 7pm and waited for Clarence’s arrival. As malls in KK closes early, Clarence was faced with similar situation as ours. He had no Ringit to pay for his taxi fare so Oros lend him the money. Afterward, Joel accompanied us in a nearby seafood restaurant similar to “dampa” resto in Pinas.

Dec27 – Padas White Water Rafting The second exciting package of the trip was white water rafting. I previously informed the group that I wouldn’t join the “rafting” part as I’m not a good swimmer. This activity involves not just paddling flowing water but RAPIDS in the river. Joel had convinced me to join as the trip wouldn’t be complete without experiencing the rafting.

After breakfast, we all headed to the bus that took us to Beaufort, Pangi station which was an 1 ½ hour drive from Trekkers Lodge. We waited half an hour for the train to arrive. At this side of town, the fastest and reliable means of transportation is the train (because it’s only accessible by train). The train was actually old and looked dilapidated (used since the late 19th century in Borneo) but perfectly working. I was praying that it won’t get derailed along the way. Passengers started to unload and in just a blink, the seats were already occupied. Merchandise for market were loaded at the rear end of the train, that’s our part of the train where there were no seats.

From Pangi station, it took 2 hours to reach Padas river, white water rafting area. We were standing the whole travel. It was a long, bumpy but enjoyable ride along the Padas River that gives glimpses of the thrills and excitement to come. A man carrying a laptop approached and showed us video clips of water rafting, encouraging us to have our experience be captured on video as well as photo souveneir. Of course, we agreed!

At the Padas area, participants were welcomed and treated with tropical fruits and bottled water. Very refreshing! In a few minutes, we donned the head gear and life jacket and each one was given a paddle. Randy, our rafting guide, gave safety instructions and the DO’s and DON’Ts in water rafting. All the participants walked a few kilometers going to the river. Our group embarked in the rubber boat composed of 10 people. Oros and Abet seated in front, in between of them was Nowell. Seated on the second row were Joel,Ning-ning (in the middle) and Clarence. Dory and myself were seated on the 3rd row. Behind us were two rafting guides. Randy said, “easy forward” and we paddled smoothly.

The river was not as beguiling as it looked. The surge tour covered a distance of 9-10km of relatively muddy 200 km river that holds 7 exhilarating and tough rapids! These rapids carry amusing names such as Merry-Go-Round, Break Point, Scooby Doo, Cobra, Curve, Lambada and Head Hunter Rapid. As the names implied, that’s how each rapid will give you the feel of the motion. The ultimate challenge will speak for itself as one shoots through and experiences the nerve tingling excitement which crescendos rapid after rapid. After rafting, a sumptuous barbecue lunch was served by the river.

Dec28 – City Tour
The whole day was spent strolling the city. We visited State Mosque, the central place of worship for KK's Muslim population; Chinese Temple, Signal Hill Observatory, which offers a bird’s view of the city; Tanjung Aru beach and malls as well. We also dined along the bay walk.

Inside the State Mosque donned with robe for worship. From left, Oros, Abet, Nowell, Clarence,Francis, wearing pink t-shirt,Dory, Joel and yours truly! Hey guys loosen up! serious sila...i guess the robe may have a transformed them, hehehehe!!!