LimeTouch

Departing from Boon Keng MRT at 0400 hrs, we had reached Senai International Airport well ahead of schedule, our flight was at 0725 hrs. There was no regular fast food outlets like McDonald’s and KFC. We were famished but decided to pass the cafe and wait patiently for Marry Brown to open for business instead.

After much deliberation over the menu, I made my choice. I wanted a Fried Chicken combo, I pointed it on the menu. Just to be sure, I even asked how many pieces were given in the set. And I got a Double Chicken Delight combo instead. The manager blatantly insisted it was my fault when he got the order wrong, and he didn’t have the guts to admit his mistake.

Refusing to waste my time with such an irresponsible person, I just told him sharply and swiftly, “Whatever, forget it!”

So much for a service-oriented business. If you ever go to Senai Airport, you know what to avoid.

Upon touch down in Kota Kinabalu, we were quickly greeted by our caretaker, Timmy. We were put up at the lobby of City Park Lodge Hotel for the time being as we will only be heading to Kinabalu Park at 1430 hrs. The rest of the time till then was spent freely around the vicinity.

When lunchtime was beckoning, we were at a loss. Malay food was just not our preferred choice, we would have liked a Chinese one instead. We walked relentlessly in search of a good chicken rice meal. Frustrated, hungry and tired, we gave up and opted for Nasi Ayam, not too much difference though.

We were lost in translation, none of us could speak Malay fluently, so we ended up deciding on a plate of Nasi Ayam. We went “Nasi Ayam lima”. The portion was extremely tiny and barely filled my stomach. Still hungry, I ordered a packet of fried rice. It was only after a short conversation with one of the locals that we knew that a chinese chicken rice stall was located a few doors next to where we ate. What luck!

Feeling tired after all that walking, we decided to head back to the lobby of our hotel for a good rest.

I was feeling a little bored with some spare time on my hands and started snapping.

Off to a long drive to Kinabalu Park. On the way up, there was a beautiful scenic view of the surrounding mountains. But as luck would have it, I left my camera in the mini van. Good thing I was not the only one with a camera. I will add in the pictures once I receive them.

The weather was a fresh change from the humidity I am used to back in Singapore. After getting done with our registrations at the headquarters, we were shown to our room for the night at Grace hostel, but not without taking a group photo first.

Our room was somewhat similar to a dormitory. There were 3 double decker beds in it and a wide cupboard to store our belongings and that was all to it. Due to space constraint, we were given an additional mattress to accommodate the five of us.

You would be wondering why 5 man group could not be squeezed into a a room with 3 double decker beds. That was because we were sharing it with an Australian couple who had just finished their climb to the summit, while at least one of them. It was useful to have received some first hand experience on what to expect and what nots during the climb. And of course, he delves in Computer Science, a field I will soon be in.

What you are looking ahead is a multi purpose room where we could actually relax in a cosy environment. Not that there was much time for it anyway. We got to be be ready by 0700 hrs the next day as we would be ascending Mount Kinabalu by foot the next morning. We did not have too much time to get too comfy as in less than an hour, we were supposed to attend the climbers briefing.

We were completely lost as to where was the exact venue for the briefing and ended up being the last one to arrive. By then, it was already over and thankfully the guide was nice enough to repeat it just for us. After that, it was to the souvenir shop for some last minute necessities shopping. We retreated to our room.

Washing up was somewhat of a drag. Though they had a heater installed in the bathing cubicles at Grace Hostel, it had its temperamental moments, at times the water would be icy cold, at times it would be scalding hot. It was quite a challenge washing up.

The tap water was freezing to the extent that I had to wash my face in the bathing cubicles using the heater instead of at the basin. It was all too easy to catch a chill. I went to snooze shortly after to prepare for an exciting day ahead!