John Sujono

09th July, 2009: Landed on Kinabalu airport at 10:35pm, we were fetched by Alan, our tour guide who gave us news that it had been raining for few days, which was bad news for us. The terrain will be wet and made it more difficult for us to climb, water level will be high that make us not possible to do our rafting trip after the hike. We were brought to a foodcourt to had our dinner before sending us to our hostel. Next sunrise came without us having a nice sleep, and at 7am our journey began... Two hour drive and we reached the registration office to get our tags. The weather was cool and fresh, and we pray that it will remain like that through out the climb. From there, we met our mountain guide, Arnold and Primus which direct us to Timpohon Gate to start our hike at 9:15am. The first kilometer(2039m) was a piece of cake, which we reached in 30mins. The second kilometer(2252m) needed 45mins to reach. The third(2455m), 54mins... From there it was getting tougher and tougher, the air was getting thinner, which made us difficult to breath and needed more frequent rest for every few meters we climbed. The path was getting steeper and steeper, and it took us 94mins to reach the next kilometer(2745m). Everyone was tired, feeling breathless, and our legs muscles started to cramp. Rain started to pour, making the temperature drop few more degrees, the wind was blowing fiercely at some point that makes us shivering... We forced ourself to keep on going, resting, going, resting, and in each rest we put muscle-rub medication to our legs and thigh, drink our water, and eat some energy food. Finally reached the Laban Rata Resthouse at around 4pm. Rain still pouring at that time, so we had our dinner buffet while waiting the rain to subdue. Around 6pm then we move on to Panar Laban for our sleep. It was not actually sleep because everyone doesn't seem to sleep, but only rest. From 8 people in our team, left only 3 persons that continue the hike to the summit at 2am. I was one of the three... :) We start our next hike at 2.30am with our headlights as the lightsource. It was freezing cold, and I was shivering. The terrain was treacherous, with steep rocks to climb all along the way. We needed to hold and pull ourselves up using the rope at some point. We finally reached the summit at 6.25am. The sunrise view we were expecting wasn't there. The sky was covered by fogs. Can't stand with the coldness for long (2degrees C), we continue our decending from the summit. Although we can't see much view at the summit, but the feeling that we made it to the summit was already satisfying... I might be back on another day... on a clear nice weather!

 

 

This time our June School Holiday was spent in Bali, Jakarta, Bandung, and Cilegon(Anyer).

And 2 weeks have passed without we knowing that the holiday is oveeeerrr....

Back to Singapore, the kids are put under home quarantine for a week as a precaution towards the H1N1 virus.

At first they feel glad, thinking that they got another week of holiday extension,

but after two days they start complaining feeling bored. I think they missed their friends and school.

 

 

The worst traffic jam i ever had in my life !!!

I started my trip early to Johor Bahru via Woodland checkpoint, however after seeing so much traffic, decided to make a turn and then proceed to Tuas checkpoint expecting lesser traffic there. What did i got??? 3-HOURS-LONG-QUEUE !!!! Just by remembering those experience already make me sick again...

It was a public holiday that fell on Friday, everyone used this chance to travel out of boring place they live in. So the congestion was expected, but not as bad as this! 3 HOURS !!! Imagine that, sitting in a car that moves a few centimetres every few minutes under hot striking bright sun that burns through the roof top of your car. Add some nasty driver that will cut into your lane whenever you are too late for few miliseconds to step on your gas to move forward... I was prepared to yelled my heart out to customs officer, for doing their job so darn slow ! But when i saw it was a nice lady there... my heart soften and my mood get back to the Holiday Mood... ;)

Driving to Fraser's Hill was quite challenging, as there was no clear and good roadsigns pointing to the destination, plus it was raining very heavily... Night's approaching... Fog's coming down... There was no other car travel along our way that we thought we might have been lost... All are quiet, just listening to the sound of the rain falling hard on the car rooftop and eyes were helping to see beyond the long and winding road infront. Finally, we managed to get to the Gap around 7.15pm. Cruising for another 8km of winding, climbing, one-way road, we reach the small town of Fraser's Hill.

The next day, we tried to track some jungle trail, but when we were about 10m into the trail, leeches were all around the ground... some even manage to climb and hung onto our shoes and socks... trying to suck our nice fresh and sweet precious blood... yuccckksss.. My kids screamed and ran his way out of the jungle trail... vowed never to enter it again.. hahahaa...

Nothing much to do there, so we decided to pack our bags and leave Fraser's hill, continue our journey to Genting Highland. I can see they love Genting more than Fraser's Hill.. Guess they are not the adventurous type of kids... For me, i had some games of bowling there and scored few strikes.. hihihi...

       

 

 

 

 

From that moment,

Never had I again felt those feelings

When you hold on to my hands, enjoying the sunset

On the white sandy beach.

 

Those moments have passed

But it will stay forever in our hearts as memories

 

There..., you hold me tight

There..., our love blooms and will never fades

The scent of yours will stay forever

Eventhough we are far apart

 

Our moments... In Kuta, Bali....

 

 

Wowww.... Year have passed in a flash....

I think i lost the count.. One year supposed to be 365days.. but how come my counting just reached hundred and then now already 2009?

Time really wait for nobody... We should cherish all the moment that we have while we can! Cherish the Love...

My friend reminded me that its been a long long time since i last update, post blogs and photos to this space. So here i am at this hour (1.42am) with two match sticks supporting my eyelids.. trying to type as fast as i can and upload some pictures so i can take my rest soon... hihihi

One of the reason i was absent for so long is that i was attracted to another site, called FB. So please dont blame me... FB should be taken responsible for whatever happened., kakaka...

My trip last week to Japan is quite dissapointing, only because it didnt snow. (which my kids would love and eager to feel). Weather is very cold, and with strong winds sometimes, especially on the day we are in Disneyland. For me, the best part of the trip is the day when we stayed at the hotel with a hot-spring spa. Imagine resting, relaxing, dipping yourself fully naked in an outdoor hot-spring pool in a darn cold weather watching shining stars above and feeling the breeze wind of the cold dark night... huehue..

Mount Fuji... is so special.. It has a special aura that when we look at it, we will feel the magnificient of our creature. They said that Mount Fuji represent Women, and now i understand why, after going near it's peak: They are beautiful... but only from faraway.... XD

Tiring trip... Sleep late at night and morning call at 6am almost every day...

Well, what is there to expect when you joined a tour? These are their routine regimes: Early morning call, Limited time for shopping and look around, Boring shops that you MUST visits which they give UNLIMITED time for all to shops till they drop (and their commision $$$ rolling in fast). Nothing to complain though, coz whichever company you joined, whichever tour you bought, it still be the same.

When i was a kid, parents always sing ALISHAN DE GU NIANG song, which means mount Alishan's lovely lady... I was so eager to see Alishan's lady and was half dreaming about their beauty while climbing the steep path to the mountain... Reached there, to my dissapointment what i saw left is only Alishan's Old Aunty... :( Should have visit them 20 years ago... Now is too late... hihihi..

Luckily there are some good things to brighten me up: we have nice and cozy rooms for our stays, sumptious dinner, romantic hot spring bath, beautiful scenery, and lots and lots of local delicacies to try... This trip has make me plump and heavier by 3kilos... my oh my...

 

         

 

Short dive trip to Bali, with only two dives near Menjangan Island which I almost cancelled due to my injury. I was injured days before the trip. I prayed that my feet will get well before the dive, which it did not. Since i already paid for the ticket and fees, i continue with plan and dive. Thanks God that all went well... :p   However, until today it still hurts when i walks... Poor me... Only 7days left for me to recover my left feet before the marathon start. I joined to run the 10Km Race. Not enough sleep... Too much partying in Jakarta and Bali... Too much of oily food... How am i supposed to run the 10Km race? Oh my oh my... I will sure need wind beneath my wings...