::Speed Is Everything::

December 11, 2007 6:00 AM

Pre-Trip / First Day To Mt. Kinabalu

On the night of the pre-trip, I arranged to meet Kah Fong at 7.30pm at the Bukit Batok MRT to go to NTU together to stay over to catch the flight in JB the next morning. I thought I was a few minute late, so I called Kah Fong on the phone. Luckily, she told me that she was on the her way. Okay, I was not late after all. A few minute later, she smsed me that she forgot her ez link card and had to walk back home to get it. So I waited for another half an hour looking at passengers coming in and out of the station. People coming out of MRT were looking at me carrying big bag behind and a small bag in front, thinking that i'm going to blast the whole control station like a terrorist.

We arrived at the NTU Hall 15 for the trip briefing by the trip leaders, Jieyang and Zhiqiang. Another busy trip leader, Meishan came later on after the briefing.

Woke up at 4.00am the next morning for breakfast. Boarded on the mini-bus to Senai airport where we board our plane to Kota Kinabalu at 7.30am. We arrived the airport early enough and was told that the plane had to be delay for another 2 hours because one of pilot of the our plane had to take urgent leave due to some family matter. As a form of apologize, Air-Asia gave free breakfast (nasi-lemak) at the Mary Brown restaurant there.

Arrived Kota Kinabalu airport at about 11.30pm where we were divided into groups of 3-4 to board our taxi to our guesthouse (Summer Lodge). It was a comfortable place to stay over for the night. It has free Internet access (can check subject registration), air-conditioned rooms, common living room, free breakfast. After much settling down at the Summer Lodge, we went for lunch at the nearby restaurant down stair and then later to buy our mobile meals at nearby supermarket, "The Store" for the Mt.Kinabalu climb.

It was free and easy time after the buying the mobile meals. So Zhiqiang, Liping, Kahfong and I roamed around the eastern part of the town for photo taking. The shopping centers (Wisma Yakim, Wisma Merdeka, KK Plaza) seemed to be similar to our shopping centers in Chinatown. For every department stores, there's bound to be some security guards standing outside with their watchful eyes. A common sight to have bag deposition section if shoppers want to go into the store.

During evening, all of us gathered at the Summer Lodge first before heading for dinner at the Centre Point together. After dinner, went across the street to the night market. Thinking that the night market will have delicious local food like bbq chicken, satay, sweet corn, otah blar blar. I was totally wrong! The night market was literally nothing, every store is selling the same things like clothings, eyewears, herbs. Took us a brief 5-10 minute to walk through the market and then headed back to Summer Lodge to pack our trekking bags and had a good night rest for Mt.Kinabalu climb the next morning.