14 March 2004 (Sun)

When morning came though, it was still very cold. Aah, it was torture trying to put on my jeans because it was ice cold!! Brrr. The only way to get warm when you're up in the highlands it to go outside and take a walk, and that's what my sis and I did. My parents woke up earlier than us to walk and were no where in sight. When we walked outside, guess what greeted us in the morning sun ;)

Yep, Mt. Kinabalu in all its glory. The picture does it no justice though, you have to be there to see it for yourself and feel tiny next to it. The morning sun was warm and I didn't want to move from my spot. My parents came back with the camera just in time, so I could take this photo here :) Well, all the photo taking worked up an appetite, so we all went in for some local breakfast of nasi goreng (fried rice) and hot Milo.

After breakfast, I took a photo or two of my sis with the mountain as the background. Then when I looked down into the valley, this is what I saw :) Coolness eh? I use this as my desktop now, so did my dad before he replaced it with one of his own photos ^_^ There was a flower garden that was managed by the hotel outside, and since we haven't been there, we decided to take a look and harass some flowers >:)

These air plants caught my eye first. They don't need soil or water, just air! How cool is that?!? :D We also saw Venus fly traps growing in a little white pot. To see how fast these little guys snap shut their mouths, I picked up a soft twig and gently poked them in the center. Gosh, they clamp down very fast, and my sis and I actually took a video of the process. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get my twig out in time. They're very strong, when I tried pulling my twig out, it wouldn't let go! XD The twig broke instead! There, you can see at the bottom right corner where one is still biting onto a piece of twig.

My mom bought two pots of flowers, hopefully they'll grow well and don't die on us! After that we returned to our rooms, packed up and drove back home. We're planning another trip in May, this time for almost a week, so we'll have plenty of time to hike, and do all sorts of stuff :)

For more pictures, come on over to my photo gallery ;) For more information about National Park, check out http://www.sabahtourism.com/ or http://www.suterasanctuarylodges.com/.

13 March 2004 (Sat)

My family and I went up to Kundasang, the highlands for the weekend to enjoy fresh mountain air and to get away from the sweltering hot city :) Since I left for university, I haven't had a chance to visit the highlands in months! We used to go nearly every holiday we get, since it's only about 2 hours drive from town.

Today we woke up around 8am, went out for breakfast, came back to pack and go straight up. I just threw in my bag a jacket, a spare t shirt, a pair of shorts, towel and toiletries in because I wanted to minimise weight. When my sister and mom saw that I had lots of space in my bag, they started putting in their stuff which they couldn't fit into their bags! >:O So much for minimising weight ^_^;;

Actually this time our trip was pretty toned down, compared to our previous trips when we actually did some hiking, had barbeques, and night walks :( And our accommodations? Same ol' budget hotel facing the mountain :) It's RM130 a night, with four beds, musty smelling blankets, the barest of necessities, a small TV, and a gas powered water heater. Yes, I'm not kidding, when you turn on the water, you'll smell cooking gas and see flames in your water heater O_o Still, we had fun sitting at our small balcony, sipping hot Milo and eating biscuits, and enjoying the view of the valley :D

We went to the National Park (It's RM3.00 per entry for adults and RM1.00 for children below 18 I think) and stayed around the visitor's lounge. We could see that they've beautified the place, since management has changed. The bathrooms are way nicer, furniture in the lounge and the restaurant was a lot better too.

Ooh, they actually installed canopies and put furniture at the two balconies, so people could sit outside and enjoy the scenery while sipping tea or coffee. That's what we did, since it was raining and we didn't have anything else to do but to play with the digital camera and drink tea. . . Not that I was complaining ;)

In this photo which I took, you can see the souvenir shop, part of the dining area and out here, one of the tables outside on the balcony. Food here is a bit pricey, because of higher transport costs. I bought my M&Ms here for RM3.00, but I didn't know until later that the normal price back in town was RM1.90 or so >_< Still, I had no regrets buying my M&Ms! No regrets at all! We had dinner here which was pretty good, and went back to our room at the hotel.

That night, I was practically freezing my ass off >_< I wore a long sleeve t shirt, shorts and thick socks to sleep and that wasn't warm enough. I had to put my jacket around me to feel warmer, but it didn't keep the cold away and I kept tossing and turning all night long. It must have been the only time when I wished day would come faster!

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