Week 17: When girlfriends come over

To echo a comment mentioned previously, Weekend 17 of the year was spent with my girlfriends Silverwolf and Miss Prancy. They both flew in (one from Australia and one from Bangkok) for us to plan out our extensive two weeks getaway at the end of the year to Argentina.

Miss Silverwolf and I met by chance, or fate as you would like it. A mutual friend (god brother to one, ex-'bf' to another. Muahahahah) had linked us up. His explanation to me was simple in describing Miss Silverwolf "you guys are EXACTLY alike... you even have the same birthday!" yes, us Leo's tend to have pretty 'strong' personalities.

We met for the first time when we decided to climb Kinabalu together. This was at the end of 2006. We had agreed to meet at the airport, me in a red scarf, and she in a yellow one. (Perhaps the only time red and yellow were ever united). I guess we figured, if we didnt like each other, someone can always get shoved off the side. Muahahaha

It took us six hours to climb Kinabalu, and well well worth it. We started the day early from base camp (which you should take a cab from from the city center). I truly recommend NOT wearing Timberland boots. You may want to kill yourself after. Every one km or so, there is a rest stop for you to catch your breath. Which is needed when you stare at people coming by and realize the porters are carrying gas tanks or five bags piled on top of each other. You can indeed pay a porter to help you carry your items up, though the price varies year to year, so Im not sure what it is now, needless to say they charge by the km.

This is particularly useful for those who are not so fit. I once knew a Manager who's wife had sprained her ankle on the way down. They paid a porter to carry her on his back for ~RM500 back then I believe. And of course the porter still made it down faster than anyone else.

You will get to the Laban Rata base camp by ~3p.m. (if youre super slow like I am). Take a break and rest. Youre going to need it for the peak climb.

Unfortunately this is where my journey ended. I had chest pains and difficulty breathing once we hit Laban Rata. And even after I had rested the night away, I still couldnt find myself breathing easily. So the Wolf went on her own with out guide to the very peak.

To watch the sunrise, you should start climbing at ~3a.m. Maybe even slightly earlier. We were hampered by the rain. The view at the top, as most people will tell you, is breathtaking (though who am I to say)

When youre done with the many picture taking, make your way back down. Instead of stopping at Laban Rata for a day, youre about to descend the entire mountain in a day. Impossible? Nope. Its actually quite doable at a steady pace. Took us about six hourse total (from Wolf coming down the peak) all the way down to the bottom.

And then for the next week I could barely walk or sit down.

The trek is really quite friendly. Very well laid out with well defined steps to climb along the way. The only issue of course is sheer will power to get to the top.

I will most likely return to Kinabalu to try again. Nothing like being so close to the top but not actually getting to climb the peak to get your adrenaline running.

The end and moral of the story? Silverwolf and I cemented our friendship then and there. We also made a pact to meet up at least once a year for two weeks to travel together.

Year 0: Kinabalu, Malaysia

Year 1: All over Australia

Year 2: Madrid, Andalucia and Barcelona, Spain

Year 3: All over Egypt

And this year, we will be heading off to Argentina, this time together with Miss Prancy. So thanks to the girls for coming over, and I cant wait! for our Argentina trip

Week 16 : Bowling... bowling!

(Ampang Superbowl)

This Saturday my company had organized a trip with the children of the Good Samaritan Home in Klang. We brought them out for a fun time bowling at the Ampang Point Superbowl. I know its a little far for some, but it was the only place that would allow you to book lanes on a public holiday. For some of the orphans it was the first time they had gone bowling so it was nice that we could be part of this experience for them.

(Hot shoes)

(Awesome pose)

I do believe bowling has become quite a well known past time for Malaysians. Most malls tend to have it now so you can find it quite easily around the city. Places like Ampang Point, Berjaya Times Square, Sunway Pyramid have quite well known ones. Ive heard that if you would like a bit more privacy you can book bowling alleys at Flamingo hotel. Might be nice since its not connected to a mall and therefore would potentially have less human traffic.

(You can ask for the kiddy bumpers to be raised for children under 12, so that their bowling ball never enters the 'drain')

(Just one more!)

On a sidenote, as we were leaving, I saw a commercial plane flying really low across the city. It was quite scary to see this Boeing/ Airbus flying, and you can see the MAS logo on the plane. Apparently alerts were being raised at KLCC about potential terrorist attacks, and people were calling up MAS to see what was going on. It turns out though that it was MAS doing a charity event for some orpanages, bringing them out for a nice flight/ trip around KL.