Christmas

December 24th, 2007

Christmas this year was a little somber.

We visited Uncle Raju in the Serdang Hospital. It was my very first time visiting him in the hospital, although he was there for more than a month. It was sad, seeing him there, because that meant that we couldn't gather at his place to open our presents, as was the tradition.

From there, we went to the farm to visit Aunty Hannah, his wife, who was busy cooking for the rest of the family. We ate a little and rushed back to my parents' place for their Christmas party.

We arrived at 9.45pm and by that time, the crowd of 300 dropped to 150. Many people stayed and did the Christmas countdown.

December 25th, 2007

Morning - Christmas service in church

Afternoon - Lunch

Evening - Visited Uncle Raju at the Serdang Hospital

Night - Went to Dr. Bob Samuel residence for his Christmas party

December 26th, 2007

After work, we went to Aunty Grace's place for her Christmas family get-together

A Christmas Musical - From Heaven's Throne

We had our Christmas Musical three nights in a row and many people turned up each night.

On the first night, the lights flickered even while Thomson was songleading. There were 2 blackouts (well, not a total blackout) and something was definitely wrong. We discovered later that it was because of the lights where the canopies were. We switched those off and everything went smoothly after that. Thank God!

The stage, which was 9.5 ft in height, was built to accomodate 50 people on the highest tier, also known as the 3rd tier. This was a challenge for Bro Pang as we had a tight budget this year. Thank God for wisdom and available sources. Scaffolding was placed under the stage for a firm and strong support.

The entire choir (a.k.a the angels) was placed on the 3rd tier, where Heaven was. Little dancers danced whenever there was a heavenly scene.

About 60 people were involved in the drama. The key actors and actresses had to sing their lines.

Key Actors/actresses

Joseph - Derrick Yeoh
Mary - Jennifer Woon
Jesus (crucified) - Edwin Bala
Jesus (before birth) - Bernard Mariadass
Angel Gabriel - Philip Leong Wai Kok
Angel Michael - Michael Ong & Thomson Fam
King Herod - Chong Voon Fui
High Priest & elder - Dr Lim & Jeremy Kwan
Inn Keepers - David Gan and Godwin Tan
Three Kings - Chow Kwai Hin, Alexi Pang & Ray Gomez
Speaking Narrator - Mok Chooi Yee
Singing Narrator - Jocelyn Chen

All good things must come to an end. After our last performance, we gathered as many people to help with the first part of "undressing" the stage.

Preparation for Christmas Musical - From Heaven's Throne

... to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul - Deuteronomy 11:13b

This year's musical was a challenge for me. I have been involved in musicals for more than 20 years. From being in the choir to working backstage, I've never had much of a problem with anything I was asked to do.

It was very different this time. There were many challenges and stressed-related headaches. At first, I thought it would be a breeze. I could even picture the whole stage and the different scenes during my first discussion with a few key people.

The time came when I had to do a mock-up of the stage. It was a simple design but I remember taking five whole days just making the stage model.

End October came and Bro Pang had to start working on the construction of the stage. There were many calls flying back and forth. I had to revise my drawing plans 3 times because of the budget. Finally, after my 4th floor plan, the construction began.

Mid November came around and I had to start dressing the stage. I remember telling Eunice that I wished it were December 1st because that was when the stage would be completed. I absolutely had no idea if what I had in mind was going to work or not. I depended a lot on the play of lights but that didn't come in until one week before the Musical.

I gathered many volunteers to help me. And I prayed A LOT. I really couldn't do it with my own strength and creativity. I needed God to help me.

Well, two weeks went by so quickly. I was stressed and I'm sure I "barked" and offended many people. Things got done. We had to repaint most of the stage because I wasn't satisfied with it. There were lots of murmurs.

We spent 160 hours on the "heavenly" background. Once again, there were lots of murmurs. Seven people helped sew sequins onto several huge cloths. I would say that it was worth it.

I guess I would say that November was my most stressful month of the year. On the positive side, I felt God's hand upon me and I know for sure that it was a way of God wanting to extend my creativity and expanding my boundaries.

Gunung Datuk - October 29th, 2007

This was my 2nd time climbing Gunung Datuk. Gareth was the main reason why this climb took place.

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We had breakfast at Ah Seng's before we left for Gunung Datuk. And when we arrived at our destination, it started to drizzle. This, however, did not deter us from climbing. We prayed for the rain to stop and it did.

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The heavy downpour from the night before caused the leeches to come out from their hiding place. They were everywhere. I was not bothered about it at first but Eunice screamed the moment she saw one. Somehow, despite careful monitoring every now and then, one leech actually managed to get under my sock and was feasting on my blood for a while.

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We took about 3 - 3 1/2 hours to reach the 1st summit. We didn't go right to the top. I was far too scared. Maybe it was because I'd been up all the way to the 2nd summit before. We had our brunch there and then went just slightly beyond the 1st summit. We didn't stay long at the top because it looked as though it was going to rain again.

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The walk down was quite easy. About midway, it started to drizzle again. I was worried that it might pour, so I moved at a faster pace. I was already picturing fallen trees and landslides, like what happened at Gunung Angsi and the heavier the rain was, the faster I went.

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Thank God we made it to the foothill in one piece.

Mt Kinabalu - September 17th - 20th, 2007

The Challenge

The Endless Journey

The Exhaustion

The Risks

The Cold

Was it worth it?

Yes!

Mt. Kinabalu was never in my “things-to-do” list but on 29th of July, 2007, when Eunice asked if I wanted to join the team going to Mt. Kinabalu in September, I was immediately gamed. We confirmed with Peter Lim that night itself.

I knew that training was a must to ensure that we enjoy this climb. And while the other team members had a 5-month head start of training, I, on the other hand, had none at all.

My very first training was climbing Gunung Angsi on August 11th, 2007. It was a good climb, which resulted in aches on every part of my body. Other trainings followed. We went to Gunung Datuk on August 25th, 2007 and climbed the Kepayang Hill many times.

The day before we left for Sabah, I got mum to cook dinner for the climbers. It was a good get-together with great food and warm fellowship.

D-day came. We were finally going to Kota Kinabalu. With very little sleep but a gung-ho spirit, we boarded the plane, of course, after a sumptuous breakfast at MacDonald’s in the LCCT. Eunice and I were the only ones from the team on this flight. The rest came in on a later flight. The flight was pleasant. I managed to have 40 winks to recover my loss of sleep from the previous night.

We met up with Pearl, Joy and Bee Hwa at the KK LCCT airport at 9.40am and from there, Chin Yih brought us to a restaurant where we practically stuffed ourselves. After that, we had to look for an additional 3 headlamps around the town area because KG misplaced some of them.

With time on our hands, we went to UMS, the newest university in Sabah. It was huge and we even got lost in there. An SMS from KG reminded us that we were not there to play tourist. We met up with the rest of the group at a restaurant in the city area.

We left the city area in two vans. It was a two-hour journey to the foothill of Mt. Kinabalu a.k.a. Kinabalu Park. The ride seemed long because it was so hot and stuffy in the van. At one point, we had to wind down the window to get some fresh air…. only to breathe in polluted air coming from the exhaust of the van in front of us.

We stopped by Nabalu for a short tea break. Some people bought wild durians and tarab, a Sabahan fruit which looked like nangka.

We finally arrived at our destination at 4.15pm. After registering ourselves at the Sutera Sanctuary Lodges, we went to Grace Hostel to check out the pretty basic rooms. Dinner was at a nearby restaurant about 500 meters away. Everyone was in good spirits.

That night, we had a short briefing followed by a praise session. At about 9pm, we went to bed. It was difficult as I was used to sleeping late, plus the fact that I was pretty excited about the climb the next day. Sleep came and went. It was warm at first and I had to change into my shorts under the blanket because Peter Lai was sleeping nearby. It got so cold later that I wished I had my long track suit on. Thank God a thick blanket was provided.

Because I couldn’t sleep, I sat cross-legged many times …. sometimes to will myself to sleep, sometimes to pray. At about 5.15am, I prayed for many things … and one of it was for good weather. The moment I uttered “Amen”, it started to pour heavily. I began to wonder about the effectiveness of my prayer, then thanked God that I wasn’t up at the summit of Mt. Kinabalu at that time.

By the time we woke up and got ready to walk down the 500m stretch for a big breakfast, the rain stopped. We were still kiasu enough to have our ponchos on because we didn’t want to get wet in the absence of an umbrella.

We went to Park HQ to get our bags weighed for the porters to carry. Yau Ming decided to carry his own bag (11kg) all the way to Laban Rata. ME? I only carried a 5kg backpack and got the porter to carry another 5kg. ... maybe more.

We only started our climb at 10.30am.

At the Timpohon gate, Pearl realized that she left her handphone under the pillow, so both KG and she went back to Grace Hostel, which was about a 4-5km drive, to retrieve it. Well, not surprisingly, they couldn’t find it. They managed to catch up with my group just before the 3km mark. We had a short break there to “celebrate” the midway climb to Laban Rata.

The climb was enjoyable because of the cool air until we began to feel drops of rain beating down our heads and the sky began to get darker. By then, we had just gone past the 4km mark. It was a good thing we brought our ponchos along. That helped but the rain got heavier and strong gusts of wind slowed us down in our attempt to avoid being blown away.

By 5km, only KG, Eunice and I were together. The rest were no where to be seen. Most would’ve already reached Laban Rata. KG, wearing only shorts and t-shirt under the bright yellow poncho, was shivering with cold. Me? I was cold too; my hands were almost numb and my sandaled feet were getting cold with every step.

Laban Rata came into view and boy, was I relieved. Just before entering the resthouse, I noted that the temperature was 7.4ºC. Helen Lai came to me, took my stick, backpack and poncho off me. And then, a hot drink was placed in front of me. It was certainly a welcome sight.

We had a quick shower and came down to the restaurant for dinner. That was at 7.25pm. By that time, the buffet spread was almost empty and we had to order a la carte. Fried rice, which cost us RM14 a plate, seemed to be the best choice but it was too dry and all of us didn’t even finish half of it. We also ordered two big bowls of mushroom soup which we jokingly called the “Sharksfin soup”.

By 8.20pm, everyone was in their rooms, getting ready for bed. We had a short meeting in the guy’s room, though. Both Peter and KG gave instructions on the summit push.

9pm saw us in bed, trying hard to get a good night’s rest. Most of us tossed and turned before dozing off. I woke up many times.

1.30am came. Time to wake up. I could hear the wind howling and wondered if it was raining. My spirits dampened a little at the thought of not being able to climb that morning, yet at the same time, I wanted to crawl into bed and sleep till the sun rises.

I woke up anyway.

We were all sleepy-eyed but thinking of the summit push made us wide awake. Grudgingly, we dragged our feet to the bathroom to brush our teeth. Then we went downstairs for a hot drink. We were told that the gate might not be opened because of the rain…. but we weren’t sure. We didn’t want to go out into the cold, walk a couple hundred feet, only to be told that the gate was not opened. So, kiasu people like us decided to linger around the restaurant.

One of the last groups, we only started our climb at 3.30am. The temperature outside was at 6.2C. Brrr…. Cold! I had on 4 layers of clothings but by the time I reached the gate, I was almost pouring with sweat. So was May Hui. We stopped at the hut to shed some clothing. I had my poncho on because it was drizzling slightly.

It was stairs and more stairs.

Knowing I couldn’t climb fast, I asked John and May Hui to go ahead. Peter Lim, with his group still sleeping in the rest house due to various reasons, accompanied me. At first, I wasn’t aware of the guide, Primus, being with us. Later, I realized that one of the guides must always be with the last person….. and I was “that” person.

I started to perspire more and decided to remove my jacket, leaving me with only 2 layers of clothing. In doing so, I dropped my towel, right into a puddle of water. Peter Lim said that it was of no use and placed it aside, telling me that we could pick it up when we get back. Unknown to us, Primus decided to hide the towel so that no one would take it.

It was 10 steps up and a break for me. You can just imagine how long I took to climb. At one point, I could sense Peter’s patience wearing out. Primus kept saying that I had “semangat”.

At the rope section just before the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint, I was a little afraid because the terrain was steep and it was dark, except for the light from my headlamp. Primus advised me on where to place my feet.

After the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint, knowing that the air was going to get thinner, I told Primus that I would only take two steps at a time. He encouraged me to take at least 10. Peter asked me to “enjoy the stroll”. Indeed it was enjoyable. It was not steep and the terrain was great. By then, Primus and I were on joking terms. I would tell him that I want to go only 10 steps and he would “bargain” upwards, encouraging me to go 15 steps. And when I went 18 steps, he would praise me. That was really encouraging! Talking also helped take my mind off the actual climb itself.

We caught up with KG and Eunice at the 8KM mark. Eunice was surprised that I was able to catch up with them. I had Primus to thank for because sometimes he held my hand so that I could be steady and walked faster.

The wind got stronger as we climbed higher. By then, my hands were almost numb with cold; and my feet, even with two pairs of socks on, were getting so cold. Primus kept advising me to move my fingers so that I don’t get frostbite. I had to put on my jacket again so that I could keep my hands in the pockets.

Whenever I stopped to catch my breath, Primus would shelter me from the wind, and sometimes he would even put one arm around me, which was really comforting. Other times, he would rub my gloved-hands ... though I think that didn’t help at all as I could not feel a thing.

Well, we reached the summit at 8.15am, far too late to watch the sun rise. But nevertheless, we were there!!!!! We made it!!! Yeh!!!

Primus, who seemed strong enough not to have gloves on, offered his leather gloves and without hesitation, I wore them. Much to my dismay, I couldn’t fit my hands in them at first because they were too numb to move about. My feet were cold, too, but not freezing, and my cheeks, lips and chin seemed frozen. I can’t even speak properly. But my body was okay. Not cold there.

After a cup of Milo (yes!! right there at the peak), thanks to KG’s thinking ahead, I felt much better.

Going down was a little scary. Thank God for Primus. I held on to his hand (tight!) while he led the way. There was once when I went in the direction of the rope but he wanted to go another way. I was torn between holding on to the rope and holding his hand. He asked me to trust him. And I did. It was so much easier to just follow him.

We saw Yau Ming on our way down and Primus had to leave me for a while to accompany him to the summit. The mist was becoming thicker by then. KG, Eunice and I held hands as we walked, partly because of the strong wind and partly because we were feeling cold. We walked through the mist and both KG and my glasses were so wet, we could hardly see ahead of us. We had to rely on Eunice to guide us.

Peter Lim was at the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint when we got there. He was waiting for Yau Ming to come down. We stopped at the checkpoint a long time because KG had some problems with his stomach and had to answer nature’s call urgently. Thank God there was a facility nearby.

We walked about 200 meters from the checkpoint when Primus and Yau Ming caught up with us. I once again had the privilege of a personal guide. It was a good thing, too, because we were at the rope section and this time, as the sky was bright, I could see how steep the slope was. But I was not afraid because Primus was there. Just knowing that he was around gave me a sense of assurance and peace.

After the rope section, we stopped once more for a second round of Milo.

I decided to go down first as I know that the rest would catch up with me pretty quickly. I was wrong. Holding on tight to Primus’ hand, it was easier to go down and I went quite fast without slipping. We had a good chat and we got to know each other better. By the time we reached the gate just before Laban Rata, I knew that he had been a porter before becoming a guide, and that he worked there for 11 years already. He summitted more than 1000 times. Can you believe that!!?!?!!??! He is 35 years old, married with a 4 year old child. Well, I can’t remember the rest ….

I knew that he liked my backpack - he helped carry it most of the time – and I decided that this would be a perfect thank you gift for him. He was happy when I gave it to him the next day.

That night, we had a singing session. Peter Lai and Peter Lim took turns to play the guitar and we sang some Christian songs. Three of our guides were there, too. There were some people who were curious and came near us.

By 8.30pm, we were upstairs, ready for bed. But we just couldn’t sleep. We talked a lot, even to the point of someone knocking on our door and asking us to be quiet.

The thought of a second summit did cross my mind many times. KG was willing to go for a second summit if anyone wanted to go. I decided not to because I was afraid I might not be able to wake up. Well, I DID wake up at 1.15am, not because I couldn’t sleep, but because it was sooooo hot. The heater made the whole room hot. It was getting so stuffy. I was sleeping on the upper bunk and as you know, hot air rises. And yes, I was hot alright.

So I woke up and went downstairs to cool off. I think the temperature outside was 7.2C or something. Once cooled, I tried to sleep again. I got hot fast and had to go out of the room again to cool off. At about 3am, I smelt something burning but it was not coming from our room. And a few minutes later, the heater was turned off. The room began to cool off and I could sleep like a baby.

The next morning, we woke up, fresh from the good sleep, brought our cereals, “power” bars, Milo, Nescafe and whatnots to the restaurant to have our breakfast.

Some of us started walking down at 8.30am but a few of us wanted to take photos at the rest house and we were delayed by an hour.

John, Edwin Ton and I trudged down, leaving the last group, KG, Eunice and Cassandra to more picture-taking session. I thought they would catch up with us quickly but to my surprise, we didn’t even see them throughout the 6km journey.

Later, when I asked Eunice if she talked to Primus, who was with them, she said, “no”. I think if I had gone with them, I would’ve talked more with Primus. And yes, in my eyes, he was such a nice person with a great personality.

Anyway, John and I talked a lot on the way down. Edwin talked some too. Time just passed by very quickly. We estimated that we would get to the Timpohon gate by 1pm but we only got there at 2pm. I think it was because of me. I needed to stop several times and I wanted to take my own sweet time coming down.

KG, Eunice and Cassandra were behind us by 50 minutes because Cass felt sick and Eunice’s knee problem was acting up. We were all worried. Time was also an issue. We needed to leave Kinabalu Park by 4pm, with KG and gang or without. Thank God they arrived at about 3.30pm.

We went straight to a seafood restaurant where we met up with Chin Yih, Adele and Alisa. Dinner was okay for me … I’m not exactly a fan of seafood. Peter Lai gave a short speech…. Well, actually, not exactly a speech…. He said that it has always been his dream to climb Mt. Kinabalu and more than 30 years later, his dream came true.

About 7 of the team members flew back to West Malaysia that night. Another 9 flew back the next night and four of us flew back on Saturday night.

Both Eunice and I had diarrhea on Friday and Saturday… not sure what we ate.

We met up with Chin Yih, Adele and Alisa and apart from being a good host, they brought us to a resort which is almost completed, on one of the hills in Sabah. It was really nice!

Overall, my trip to Sabah was really an adventurous one. I got to know people from Lumut and JB. Also got to know who Iceberg is ….. after all the many forwarding messages he sent for the past 2 months!!!

It was really a great climb, well-organised and I thank Peter Lim and KG for making the effort to coordinate this trip.

Gunung Datuk - August 25th, 2007

With fresh images of the Gunung Angsi climb two weeks back, I prayed extra hard for no rain at all. But when we met in church at 7.15am, the rain started to fall and I was a little disappointed. Only a handful of us (11, to be exact) were there and we decided to have our breakfast first.

By 8am, the rain stopped and we made our way to Rembau. To our surprise, the ground there was dry. It didn't rain that morning.

Before I continue with my story, let me tell you that Gunung Datuk is not a place where all the Datuks or VIPs (or grandfathers) have their luxurious scenic log houses built. It's a mountain, 870m high, where hikers and avid climbers come to have a good workout or training.

Unlike Gunung Angsi, we hit some very steep terrain even at the begining of the hike. And as you know, your truly has a case of breathlessness whenever strenuous any climb is required. And so, I was panting all the way up.

We stopped many times to catch our breath. The humidity level was great, which made me perspire a lot.

We saw many interesting things that day. Monkeys seemed to be actively verbal but we didn't catch sight of them.


At last, arrived at a small clearing, where I thought was the summit ... until I saw more boulders up ahead. We stopped for a light meal and hot drink. And went further to venture into the impossible.

From the pictures up here, it doesn't look dangerous for one to climb up. What you can't see is the angle and position of the rocks and the very narrow pathways between the boulders. This is even more tough than pilates. You gotta bend a certain angle so that your head doesn't hit something solid , and at the same time, balance in such a way that your feet doesn't slip off the ground.



The majestic view from the summit. This is certainly worth all the risks. The wind was strong and with the help of the sun, we dried off quite quickly.

Okay ... climbing up is one thing BUT going down is definitely very scary.

Which leg goes down first? What do I hold on to? What if I fall down? What if I slip? Yes! I manage to get one of my legs onto the first rung of the ladder below but ... ouch! my head! The rock is in my way. Do I angle this or that way? Somebody, help me! Is there a better way down? Let's radio in a helicopter. Oh man! My foot is stuck in this cleft.

Well, needless to say, we all got to the clearing intact. No broken bones whatsoever. Thank God for that. After that, it was down hill all the way.

We reached the bottom on the mountain at 2pm and after a good dark (because there wasn't any lights) shower, we proceeded to have our lunch in Rembau.

Church Camp 2007

What happened at Church Camp 2007?

When : August 21st - 24th, 2007
Where : Taiping Golf Resort, Perak
Who : Rev. Lawrence Seow
Theme : Rejuvenate & Refire

Well, many things happened at church camp. People were touched and blessed.

We went to Taiping Golf Resort, somewhere really "down-to-earth" instead of the highlands. It was a long drive up north and some of us drove up a day before camp started.

About 180 of us went to the camp and Pastor Lawrence Seow, a very humourous evangelist, was our camp speaker. Time seemed to pass by so quickly because we got caught up with his "true stories". Yet, despite those light moments, many were touched by the seriousness of God's Word.

In one of his sermons, he spoke of how we must instill the seven T's into our lives:-

Humility

Integrity

Credibility

Reliability

Accountability

Charity

Sincerity

The worship was fantastic. God's Spirit moved amongst us. Many were filled with the Holy Spirit and were lost in God's presence.

Apart from our three main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), we had "Night Fellowship". Beverages and biscuits were served. No "hong tau sui" this time because of certain restrictions set by the resort management.Look at them dancing. They certainly looked young and vibrant. Sharon Gan taught the group some very basic line dancing and they did a short performance during the night service. Some were very good, some looked blur ... but overall, they were indeed a sporting group of people who certainly didn't look or act their age. The children had a whale of a time. They learned about Jonah and the big fish. In one of the lessons, each child had the opportunity to go into the fish's belly.Colouring time!!! Some really did a great job with their pictures.

Look, mum! No hands!! Just imagine you're in a community where hands do not exist.

Instant Muscles! All you need are lots of balloons and a huge t-shirt.

Looks easy but each person had to finish one type of junk food. I bet you Kin Sang would never ever drink Coke in the next 2 years. Perhaps that's why we were taught to share at a young age.

Going back to our childhood days where having fun was making airplanes and flying them around the house. Most of us lost touch and our planes did a nose dip before it could even take off.

Moral of this game? Build a very large and solid base to achieve high results.

The youth and young adults went hiking and came back complaining of leeches. They had a great time, though.

We decided to take some of the children to the Taiping Zoo one afternoon. Being adults, we chose to ride in the tram instead of walking to get close to the animals. The children wanted otherwise.

CONCLUSION

Church Camp is not only about taking leave to go somewhere, it's about connecting both with God and with our fellow brothers and sisters. It's taking a break from the busy routine and everything that bogs us down and spending time with God and His people. It's taking time off to be rejuvenated and refired.

Gunung Angsi - August 11th, 2007

Gunung Angsi was chosen as the 4th training for the September 2007 Mt. Kinabalu climb. For me, it was my very first mountain climbing adventure.

We met in church at 7.15am but only left half an hour later. By the time we arrived at Gunung Angsi, it was close to 8.15am.

We stretched a little, drank as well as dispensed some liquid, registered our names and paid RM5.00 each. According to Peter and KG, this was the first time they had to fork out money to climb this 825m mountain. There was no group discount either.

It was 8.37am when all 16 of us started the climb. The trail, which runs parallel to a stream with mini waterfalls and huge rocks, was easy at the beginning. I thought to myself, “If the trail continues like this all the way to the top, I’d make it without any problems.

Alas, after 45 minutes of stretching those leg muscles and gasping for more intake of oxygen, I stopped to rest and replenished the water content in my body. Some of the team members also stopped to take a break.

John and Francis took turns carrying my backpack even though I kept telling them that it wasn’t my backpack that was slowing me down.

Believe me, it was still a relatively easy climb at that time but we were walking briskly (well, for me anyway) and 45 minutes was a little taxing on my never-really-strained-for-a-long-time leg muscles.

An hour passed and we were going up the hill a lot (of course! What do I expect? After all, we were climbing a mountain!!!). By then, I exhaust easily. Ban Meng, who was infront of me, said that it would get more tough once we got to the foot of the hill. I went like, “WHAT????”

“Focus!” I told myself, and tried to keep up with the rest, who by then had gone way past infront of me.

We had to cross 2 streams (with huge rocks) before reaching the foot of the hill. It wasn’t much of a problem as the water level was low enough for us not to get wet as we move from rock to rock.

By then, only Peter and Ban Meng were left with me. They were helping me along. Peter carried my backpack even though the bag kept me stable and Ban Meng provided the music.

We came to a steep slope where we needed ropes (which thankfully were tied to trees by some good Samaritans) to make this climb.

We walked some more and all this while, I kept asking myself, “Why am I doing this?” Mt. Kinabalu came into mind and I asked myself another question, “Is it worth it?” Of course at that moment, all I wanted to do was to give up, turn back, “slide” down and go home. The temptation was great but I had Peter and Ban Meng to give me moral support. Thank God for them.

Once again I told myself to focus and things came into perspective.

Did I stop to admire God’s handiwork of nature? Nah! All I could think of was, “God, why did you make this mountain so difficult to climb?”

Another thing I really thank God for was the weather. I prayed for no rain as well as no sun… well, clouds covering the sun. The weather was perfect when we were climbing up. True, we sweated like dogs (do dogs sweat?) but at times, a gentle breeze would cool us down.

I walked on, thanking God for the weather.

And then I stopped. Time to catch my breath.

The bee buzzed around me, causing me to take shorter breaks and climb up slightly faster than my really slow pace.

We came to another slope so steep, I think it must’ve been about 70º-80º. I was terrified. They want ME to climb up there?? Once again there were ropes. This time, we really had to pull ourselves up and God help anyone if they are too heavy to hang on to the rope for long.

Peter actually asked KG to come help us (ME!!) up this steep slope but I managed to do it on my own. (Yeh!)

We climbed higher and I tried to catch up with Ban Meng, who was about 15 steps ahead of Peter and me. But alas, I needed to rest after every 5 steps or so – to catch my breath. By that time, my head was pounding, not a headache, though. More like the blood rushing up to my brains.

I made the mistake of eating a sweet, thinking that it would quench my thirst but I felt more dehydrated after that.

Twenty minutes before we summitted, KG appeared and carried my backpack. I continued my 5-steps-up-and-20-seconds-break climb all the way to the top.

Phew! I made it.

Peter and I arrived at the summit at 12.07pm, exactly 3.5 hours of climbing. That was good timing, according to Peter. He estimated that we would arrive at the summit just before 1pm.

We rested for ½ hour and had our lunch. I was REALLY hungry. Even an apple which Ban Meng looked good, and I normally don’t eat apples.

My lunch was just 3 slices of squashed bread and some spread. I had to drink constantly. In fact, I really felt like drinking a gallon of water. My mouth was really dry. I felt dehydrated.

We took a group picture just before we went down. By then, the weather took a turn for the worse and it started to drizzle.

At first it didn’t bother me much because the trees acted as umbrellas, shielding us from being wet. Then the rain started to get heavy. I had to put on a PINK poncho, which belonged to Eunice. Yucks! Can you just imagine how horrible I looked in Pink? There wasn’t any time to think about how ghastly I looked. KG was already walking down and I needed to follow his footsteps.

The heavy rain cause streams of water sliding down the trail, making it slippery. And what was worse was the fact that the rain water kept getting into my eyes and my spectacles were blurry, causing me to be wary of my steps. At times I couldn’t even gauge where the ground was.

Thank God for KG. He’s really a great leader and helped me when the paths got too slippery. He was wearing a pair of heavy duty hiking shoes with very good soles and they proved to help avoid a tragedy waiting to happen.

We were fine until we reached the very, very steep slope. I remember thinking, “Will I ever make it out of this mountain?”

By then, there were quite a number of people trying to see which was the best way to get down without slipping.

The rain stopped by then and I had to chuck the poncho into the backpack.

KG went down first and told me to follow him. I was petrified. He kept asking me to hang on to the knotted rope. I finally did.

So there I was, hanging on to the rope, trying to find a good place for a firm footing (none there, actually) when suddenly, my right toes cramped. I panicked for a while and knew that if I didn’t try to loosen the muscle cramp, I would not make it. So I lost all footings. I was practically flat on the slope with only my hands hanging on to the rope for dear life.

Thank God for KG. He was just below and immediately helped me. I somehow was able to loosen my toes muscles and managed to stand on a slightly more firm ground.

THAT was really scary.

We started on with our journey…. But KG looked back to see how the rest (of whom we don’t know) are faring with that (killer) slope. There was a young boy and an adult trying to go down another way using a rope which was far too short to last the whole slope. The boy looked nervous so KG turned back and piggy-backed him down. I was impressed! That was really nice of KG to risk his life for that boy.

We walked about 6 steps when we came upon a group of mute. One of them was being carried by two of his friends. We stopped and found out through his hand movements that both his feet were cramped. KG sat him down and started massaging his legs and feet.

We continued with our journey down, stopping every now and then.

Then came the two streams. The rain caused the water level of the first one to be about 1 foot deep and we had to walk through it. No problems.

The second one was worse. The currents were a little stronger plus the water level was about 2 feet. Plus the fact that there was a possibility of leeches wanting to suck our blood. Yucky!

The rest area at the foot of the hill came into sight. We stopped to rest and also to get rid of the water and sand from our shoes and socks. By then, my feet were so wrinkled. I also checked for leeches. None in sight! Yeh!

We waited for Peter, John and Samuel to turn up. We had to wait in the shelter nearby because the rain was beginning to pour.

After 20 minutes, even though it was still raining (by then it wasn’t too heavy), we started walking.

I had this thought that the worst was over but boy, was I wrong. There were many challenges ahead of us. A tree trunk fell during the heavy shower and PTL, we managed to get to the other side.

The rain also caused a slight land slide and to tell you frankly, I was really scared. I just couldn’t see how we could possibly go anymore without slipping. KG to the rescue again. He positioned himself carefully and helped us across just by using his hands to act as a grip to our steps.

In another part of the trail, we had to climb up a slippery slope. It was fine before the rain but it really looked impossible to get up there. But we did it and yes, you guessed it. KG again. But this time, I was so afraid that KG might lose his footing and the both of us would fall down. And mind you, far below was the stream with strong currents. I shudder just to think about it.

Whenever I feel I can’t do it, KG would always give me his hand and ask me to look at him, so that my focus will not be on how tough the situation was but on him helping me through it. Kind of reminded me of Jesus’ words to Peter when his focus was not on Jesus and was drowning.

I kept asking God, “Why did you send the rain?” The answer? I needed to have enough faith in God and my friends. All this while, I always relied on my own strength to finish any task. I guess this has taught me a valuable lesson. Another reason? To create a little excitement in my life, I guess. I’ve been complacent, living in my comfort zone and enjoying life.

Well, after that, the trail was quite easy and we reached the start (or rather, end) of the trail at 5.15pm, about 1.5 hours later than expected.

And let me tell you, I was really relieved to see civilization again.

Thank God for friends who work as a team, helping me when I desperately needed help, giving me moral support and also carrying my backpack, which at the end of it was wet and dirty. Both my phones didn’t work properly because water got into them. It was a good thing I didn’t bring any camera along.

And why am I doing this again?