Dog's Head Trip

In the mid of July 2007, I went to Sabah with a couple of my old school buddies (Nick & SieakMeeng) and some new friends. This would be my 3rd time going to the Land Below the Wind. When I was a young I've always wondered what it meant..."Below the Wind? Under the wind?? Kentut issit..." Hahaha. Well, it actually means that the land is strategically located below the typhoon belt which makes Sabah somewhat climatic-disturbance-free. Aptly named, but honestly, who would have figured it out unless they looked it up? Hence the post title Dog's Head Trip for more visually obvious reasons. The trip lasted for 5 days but we really made the most of it. As with my previous trips to Sabah, this one was just as enjoyable.

Sleepy Nick dreaming of Tuaran mee.

On the first day, we left in a very early morning flight to Kota Kinabalu which lasted a couple hours. Quite a pleasant sleepy flight. Soon after arriving, our hired Toyota Innova van driver, Mr. Au (no, he's not screaming in any kind of pain), picked us up to drive us to our backpacker's lodge, Velvet, in KK town for a very quick check-in. He then brought us to the town of Tuaran to taste the famous Tuaran noodles which was very tasty. Food photos posted at the end. After filling our hungry bellies, we proceeded to our journey to Mount Kinabalu on this long, narrow & winding road, which was filled with lots of tricky turns and unbelievably slow drivers in front of us which constantly prompts for dangerous overtaking. Our skillful & patient Mr. Au was kind enough on our ears not to say any "chow wa" to the sluggish road hoggers. Haha. En route, we stopped by a scenic photo-taking spot, probably to make sure we have photographic evidence that we're not being kidnapped.

The cool bunch (left-right) : Sandra, me, Ee Ling, Edward, Yee Weng, Yew Kong, Nick. *1

The scenic view these hill-house residents have each day.

Handsome Sabah dog on guard duty!

Mesilau Nature Resort was our destination as the place where we would spend the night before embarking on the mountain climb the next day. The Mesilau resthouse, situated at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu was a pretty decent & comfy place with many bunk beds. Since there weren't many climbers around, we had virtually all the 8 dorm bathrooms to ourselves. Haha. As seen in the photo below, we were quite happy to have finally reached Mesilau and being able to stretch our cramped legs.

Look fellow citizens! Petrol price increasing again! Yew Kong looking angry about it. *2

On the second day, in the early morning around 8.30am, we started our journey towards Laban Rata, situated a long 6km away. We took the longer but scenic Mesilau trail instead of the shorter but dreary-looking Timpohon trail. No regrets about that.

At the start of our journey. *3

It would take close to 8 hours of climbing to reach there. Along the way there were various life-saving pitstop pondoks, each of which has a water pipe to refill your bottle with fresh although untreated mountain water.

Part of the climb feels like the secret stairs that lead to Mordor. *4

With a Gandalf-ish stick and a tiny waterfall behind me. *4

The climb to Laban Rata was steep and sluggish. It was a monotonous and stamina-sapping journey. However, there were really scenic views if one stopped and took a look around.

I love these mountain photos. =)

We had to drag ourselves up the final 1-2km as the air was getting thiner and the rocks were getting steeper, but we finally reached Laban Rata around 4.30pm. The relief of seeing the white building walls of the Laban Rata resthouse was a truly welcoming sight.

Our Laban Rata resthouse...with heater! Yay! *4

Ahhh! Who stole my blanket!!? *4

Frozen smiles was the on-going theme here. *4

The SMKSU gang.

The sunset at Laban Rata was wicked awesome! As Laban Rata is strategically situated in between the layers of clouds, thus with the sunset's rays reflecting from the top of the lower fluffy layer together with higher blanket of clouds, the atmosphere was simply amazing! The photo below really doesn't do justice because it simply doesn't reflect the full wonderful absorbing experience of actually being there in the midst of it all. We snapped a lot of photos but also had to be quick because the sunset would be gone in a matter of minutes!

God made this.

On the third day, early in the morning around 2.30am, we started our final climb towards the peak. The night sky from the Kinabalu mountain was simply remarkable, a huge encompassing blanket of countless shining stars of various sizes & luminosity, magnificently spread out before my eyes. It just makes you stand in awe of God. Unfortunately my camera wasn't able to take a decent photo. This time the climb was extremely tough for me & much steeper than the previous day, in addition to being very dark. There were parts where I had to pull myself up using ropes on a very vertical rocky climb up and there were also parts whereby the steps were just a few inches wide! Having a fear of height is not a good thing to have. Haha. The steep climb was extremely exhaustive. Eventually my calves finally gave way and cramped badly as I limped my way towards the 7km mark nearing dusk. Seeing the condition I was in, the mountain guide prevented me from carrying on. He didn't want to have to carry me down! It wasn't easy for me but that was it, my Kinabalu mountain climb stopped there. Morning broke soon after that.

Morning from the Kinabalu mountain side.

As the morning light filled the night sky, I slowly started my way back down to Laban Rata. My cramping calves made even the descent down the mountain agonising.

Some bright green funny-looking moss.

However, the rest of the group made it to the top just in time for the sunrise. Perfect timing.

Happy Nick at Low's Peak. *4

After meeting back at Laban Rata, we continued our descent down the mountain using the shorter but quite boring Timpohon trail. It was still a real knee-busting experience for everyone.

Misty forest during our descent.

We reached the Kinabalu Park gates after a 4-5 hour descent. We were all exhausted and glad to see Mr. Au waiting for us. Most of us slept all the way back to the Velvet lodge, where we had our shower and cleanup. By then we were very ready for dinner! Our aching legs made us walked like penguins as we searched for a place to have seafood. We found this place nearby where several seafood restaurants are circled around a big stage in the centre. While some traditional folk dances ensued on stage, we gobbled down our dinner heartily. Surprisingly, Klang seafood tasted better.

Our fourth day of the trip was spent at the nice sandy beaches of some of the famous islands nearby. We took a boat ride from the KK jetty to Pulau Mamutik, one of the main islands, where we had a fun time snorkeling and picnic-ing on the beach. It was well-needed nice & relaxing time spent at the beach and just soaking in the warm sun & breezy sea.

Upon arrival at Pulau Mamutik. *3

Our comfy picnic spot.

Beautiful beach at Pulau Mamutik.

Posing & looking cool. Yes, that's a sand chicken on the bottom right. *3

Three ma lat lous snorkeling. *3

On our last day in KK, we didn't do much except that a few of us went for a leg massage which was pretty painful due to our aching legs from all the climbing we did. We cringed and made faces each time they massaged our sore leg muscles but nevertheless it was an oddly relaxing sensation. Haha.

Our bunker beds at Velvet, comfortable and with air-cond.

The wonderfully torturous leg massage. *3

Aerial view of KK City on the flight home.

That's it for the Sabah trip 2007. Even though short but it contained good memorable times. Presenting the Sabah food photos below.

Mango slice chicken. Funny name but tastes very "hoi wai".

The famous Tuaran mee, this one with char siew.

Thick curry chicken at Mesilau Nature Resort.

Paku-pakis @ ferns. Popular vege dish in Sabah.

O'chien in KK town. Not bad but can't beat Penang yet.

Yummy beef noodles with assorted beef parts.

Tuaran mee with some "stuff". I can't figure out what some of them are, but it tastes good.

Beaufort noodles always have loads of vegetables on them.

*1 Photos courtesy of Edward Ling
*2 Photos courtesy of Sandra
*3 Photos courtesy of Ee Ling
*4 Photos courtesy of Nicholas Hoh