Night Photography @ Raffles

Traffic in the night with the Fullerton Hotel background

Skyline when seen from Merlion

Skyline when seen from Esplanade

Hyderabad in Singapore

As every weekend, my roommates had discussion on what to do this weekend. After Surya's suggestion we finally decided upon going to trail at Mount Faber. For more than a week Singapore was too hot. So we started off early at 7AM from Tampines. We reached Vivo City had some breakfast and then headed for the trail. In the middle of the concrete jungle in Singapore, Mount Faber possessed the beauty of nature and gave a panoramic view of Singapore skyline.




When we saw the map of the whole trail, it was shown as if it was a long trail and an exhausting one. We walked for around 30 minutes and we see that we have completed the trail. All of us were disappointed with the trail. But then we headed towards the Henderson Waves bridge which was really nice. From we took a different trail which was a forest walk trail. We walked over a long canopy walk which was a nice experience.




At the end of the canopy walk, we reached Hyderabad Road. It was nice to see Hyderabad in Singapore. From there we took a bus and headed for Sentosa. We wanted to go to the adventure park which was opened recently. We took the mono rail then the bus then walk to the adventure park. Once again a disappointment because of the bad weather it was closed.



Even though we were not able to do the activities for which we went for but were happy to at least go out and spend sometime outside rather sitting at home and watching the boring movies.

Cruise to No Where

On Saturday we went for a cruise to nowhere. Yes it sounds strange and out of the ordinary and also interesting. It was a short trip on a cruise ship. This ship doesn't leave any port neither it takes you to any port. We were picked up by a ferry from the Tanah Merah ferry terminal at around 10AM. We were taken to Bintan and got transferred into another ferry which actually took us to the ship. We knew that this ship was a casino ship and not really sure what else would be there on it. However, it was like a viewing standpoint, from on board the ship and from quite a distance.

Once we entered the cruise ship, we were asked to deposit our passports as well as employment pass at the reception and we could collect them while leaving. Right from the entrance we could see all the casino halls. People were busy playing them. We were not allowed inside as we were carrying cameras with us. We were asked to deposit them and then enter the casino. We were hungry and first wanted to explore the ship, eat and then play some games at the casino.

As far as entertainment and amenities go, they were the same as what are offered on the longer cruises around the world. There was Foot reflexology, Massage and hair saloon. There was a movie room. There were two restaurants and two bars on the ship. There was a place for dancing. But we couldn't enjoy dancing as they were playing Malaysian and Chinese songs all the time.

We had lunch at the Patricia restaurant. There was lot of Sea Food and it was just like a feast to all the non vegetarians. We enjoyed the food a lot, then again explored the deck of the ship, took some pics and then went down to the bar to have couple of drinks before we went to casino.

We played 50 dollar worth games on the slot machines and got just 40 bucks and 10 dollars we lost. The whole trip was a nice experience. We were just charged 22 dollars for the travel, food and enjoy the amenities for the day. We left the ship at around 8.30 in the night back to Singapore. There were so many old Chinese and Malaysian people on the ship who just came there to play Casino.

Overall I would suggest that this is good for a one day entertainment trip for all those food lovers and casino lovers.

Pagsanjan Falls, Manila

Day 2 (26th June 2009)
I have done some jungle trails in India and also had some river ride experiences there. But I would rate the trip to Pagsanjan Falls as one of the best jungle and wild river ride experience. On day 2 of the trip we started off for Pagsanjan Falls early in the morning. It was a journey of around 2 hours from Tagaytay. The place can be compared as Philippines little amazon where the river flows through magnificent canyons sheltered by lush green vegetation.

We read about this ride online and had great expectations. When we were on the way to the place, we were chased by a guy on the bike. He stopped us and spoke to the driver in their Filipino language. Later driver told us that he chased us to ask if we are interested in taking a ride with their company. We said OK for it and we were taken to house which was connected to the river. We discussed about the cost of the ride and then after getting to an agreement we ordered some breakfast. We had nice breakfast and then waited for the canoes to arrive.

The canoes arrived and we were asked to sit 2 in each canoe. These canoes were manhandled by two boatmen. Once we all sat in the canoes, a motor boat came and tied these canoes to it. The wild river ride what we expected started off very slowly from the dock where we hired the canoes. Firstly, I couldn't understand why our canoes were stringed and towed by that motor boat for some distance. After going some distance in the water, then I realized that the boatmen were conserving their strength for the upcoming rapids we were about to battle with.

With in no time the calm river turned into cascading rapids. From here the boatmen showed their extreme agility and strength to skilfully manoeuvre the canoes upstream by hopping on and off the canoes against the rapids. We all couldn't help them but were just amazed and excited with such an incredible showmanship. This was an awesome entertainment for all us. We started shouting in excitement as we saw some small waterfalls and when we saw the rapids ahead.
As we entered further into the magnificent canyons, we were all overwhelmed with excitement and joy that’s hard to explain. It was very surreal. The mind-blowing sights and eerie sound of the jungle caused a great sense of awe … all we could say was …wow.

Once we reached the main waterfall we were all happy to see the final destination. We were taken inside the cave which goes just below the waterfall, I had tough time covering my camera to avoid any water to spill on it. We dived there for sometime and we returned back to the shore. We then were taken down the stream through the rapids which was again very special experience with in itself.

Like what most tourists do, we took a lot of photos of ourselves and of course…the scenery and waterfall.

After coming back to the company we took shower, changed clothes and started off for a good lunch. We searched all over but finally landed up having a vegetarian pizza with unlimited soft drink. From here we went ahead to Metro Manila where we wanted to visit Mall of Asia. This was the biggest mall I have ever seen in my life time. We had only 1 hour and hence we saw just one building in the whole mall. We entered a shop and bought some souvenirs.
At around 6 we reached the airport and flied back to Singapore.

Taal Volcano, Manila

While we were on the way to Kota Kinabalu during May - 2009, we have read about Taal Volcano in the Tiger Magazine. Immediately we decided to go there. We planned for a Manila trip for the coming long weekend during August. Thanks to Surya's friend who suggested not to waste long weekend for Taal Volcano as its just a day trip from Manila. I then did some more research and with some help from Surya's friend we finally decided up on an itinary just for a weekend trip. We booked the tickets to Manila for July 24th weekend. Below are the details about the trip.

Day 1 (25th June 2009)
While searching for the accommodation, I came across a blog in which I read about the Taal Lake Yacht Club. This was very near to the Volcano. It was in Tagaytay town. We had no clue what kind of accommodation we were going to get. After some emails and enquiries with Peter and Ronnie, we decided to stay there. 25th at 4.30 AM we landed in Manila airport. We came out of the airport and looked around for a placard of my name. We got into our taxi which we booked before hand. It was a 90 minute ride to Tagaytay town. We stopped over for breakfast at a very scenic restaurant. After breakfast we headed to Taal Lake Yacht Club.

When we reached the club we were not sure of what was in store for us at the club. We waited for a while to get the rooms and also for the arrangements for the trip to Taal. When we were asked to move into the room, we were all excited to see the lake right through the room. Accommodation there was terrific and at a very affordable price. We just paid 2300 Peso for 7 people, which is just 10 dollars per person per night stay for such a luxurious stay. After changing clothes and taking some pictures we headed for our boats in which we had to ride for around 20 minutes. These boats are called as "bangkas".

Taal Lake Yacht Club offers two different treks. One is the most common ‘tourist trail’ and the other they offer is called a ‘secret trail’. We opted for the second one which would actually let you go all the way into the crater and even swim in the lake. We were charged around 2500 Peso per boat which also included charges for the trek. Once we reached the foot of the volcano, we were asked to pay 90 Peso per person as landing tax and also 50 peso per boat for the parking. Once we reached there we were literally harassed by the people selling us the horse rides to the volcano. We firmly said no to everybody and started off the trail without wasting any time. As most of us (other than swetha and srini) have already done the Kota Kinabalu trek, this walk was very simple for us.

As we were walking all the horses were coming behind us in order to convince us for a ride on their horses. That day we were the only visitors to Taal Lake from that route. After going for 1 KM, Swetha couldn’t walk further as she was not accustomed to such a physical exertion. We then took a ride of horse for her. They charged 600 Peso for that. I gave my bag to Swetha to hold while I walked with equal pace with the horse. The trail was steep and was a bit tough for those who are not fit. It took about 45 minutes for us to reach the top. We stopped in between for some pictures too.

Here once we stopped at the top to see the Lake and the world's smallest volcano, before we could actually enjoy the experience we were in yet another tourist trap. The guy at the shop asked if we were looking for some drinks. When we said no then he asked "would you like to buy your driver some drinks?". At that point we cannot straight away say no and hence we had to buy a drink for the driver and then for all of us. The rates were hiked up there and they sold a tiny bottle of water for 50 Peso.

After the exhausting climb and harassment of the vendors and tourist traps everybody forgot what has happened once we got the sight of the gorgeous lake inside the crater. At that moment we felt very nice as we have seen that in a magazine and today we were actually standing there. It would be tough to describe how beautiful it was up there and how surreal this experience was for me. We then started our down trail towards the lake in the crater. As we went nearer and nearer to the lake we could smell the steam coming out of the gas vents here and there on the volcano. Once we reached near the lake we went near one such vent to see how water was boiling. We took some pics near that and went and touched the water in the lake at one end. It was very hot and we would definitely get burns if we stay longer there. After photo session, our guide took us to a place where we all could get into water and have a acidic water bath. It was fun.

After half an hour of just chilling in that warm water and staring at the magnificent view we finally decided to head back. The way back up was a bit tough but was worth the pain. From the middle point the way down is more relaxed and we can appreciate the scenery more as we see Taal Lake. After another 30-minute steep and dust-filled trail down, we reached our bangkas. We drank one coconut each and then boarded the boat and headed back to Taal Lake Yacht Club.

The whole trek lasted about 3 to 4 hours for us (including boat ride to and from the island). We wanted to take bath immediately after reaching the Club. But once we saw the food we changed the idea and started to eat. No one liked the food and hence we just had a minimal food and then thought of all the possible activities we could do there. We were offered sailing, wake boarding, kayaking and pool. As it was almost 3 by then we planned to play pool for sometime. I, Swetha, Nagaraj, Surya and Santosh played pool. We had some beer along with the French Fries. The French fries with Mayonnaise here were the best we ever had till date. At around 5 we went for 30 mins sleep. We got fresh and we left for the Casino in Tagaytay. As everyone was hungry we wanted to have something for dinner. Our driver suggested us to check out the pizza at "Yellow Cab". Frankly speaking that was the best pizza I had in last 2 years.

After having pizza we went ahead for casino. None of us were dressed properly, but then Surya used his MBA skills to convince them and we all entered the casino. We took 50 coins for 500 Peso. This time we all played at the slot machine. Everyone lost money other than Swetha and Nagaraj. They were able to recover the whole loss and we got back our 500 Peso. We stopped playing once we got back our money and left home and the next day we had to start very early for the Pagsanjan Falls.

Over all the day was great and going up to the Taal Volcano was an incredible experience.

Mt. Kinabalu Trek Travelogue

Well its been quite a while that I am back at work and has been busy these days with loads of work and hence couldn't do this earlier. The experience I had in KK I am still on a high. It was an unforgettable experience. As I have already given the details about my drive experience and the preparations for the trip, I shall directly go to my trek in this post.

Arrived Mesilau at around 8.50AM and then I started the trek. The guide for the climb was 40 year old man by name Dalios, a very friendly guy and could speak a little English. He was an informative guy and have already reached the summit more than 800 times. Yes you have seen it right, more than 800 times. We asked him as how much time it would take for us to reach Laban Rata. He said we can reach by 4PM if we are fast enough. Our group as everybody were youngsters we thought we may reach by that time or earlier. Dalios said that the slowest person would dictate the pace. He also said that he would remain with this group until we come back to head quarters.

The trail was just a single path all the way till the top with all the sign boards hear and there with no hope of getting lost. As we started off, I forged ahead at my own pace ahead of all my friends. Once we reached the 500m mark in just 20 minutes we were all delighted and took some pictures with the sign board. From here on for every 500 mts we could see the change in the expressions on the faces of the group.

Just before we reached 1KM mark we came across a very beautiful scenic place where we could see the donkeys ears peak through the clouds far away. We all thought it would be the KK summit and were afraid to see it so far and asked Dalios if that was the summit. To our surprise he said we cannot see the summit from there and its far away from there. Now we knew what was in store for the rest of the day for us. Hence from there on deliberately we were all holding back and taking it easy one step at a time and not getting tired by doing some heroics. At about 1KM Nagaraj and Mahesh gave their bags to Dalios to carry as they were not able to do it by carrying the bag. I took some luggage from Santosh to make it lighter for him.

The stretch from 3KM mark to 3.5KM mark was the toughest in the whole trail till Laban Rata. Everybody was so tired that we took more than 10 minutes break at this point of time. Similarly at every 500 mts from here we started taking small breaks. The whole trail was not just climbing a single mountain, but it was climbing up a mountain twice and descending down twice and the climb the third one. Hence because of this we were exhausted a lot through the journey.

We had about 4 km left to cover and we reached Layang Layang which was the intersection point for the Timpohan and Mesilau trails. From here on we all were feeling the effects of the altitude slightly and this was slowing up in my group. From here on it was like resting around every 100 metres or so. All the way I took charge and tried motivating the group to move faster and take less breaks. 2KM was left and I could push everybody till then and from here on Mahesh slowed down and was stopping for every 50 steps he was taking. I asked other to go ahead and tried motivating Mahesh all the way up to Laban Rata. The path was treacherous in some places so we had to be very careful with our footing.

During our way up we heard somebody running down. When looked up we were shocked to see one of the guys from the Park running down the mountain. Now you might think anybody can do it, but then this guy was carrying an empty gas cylinder strapped to his back. We just couldn’t believe our eyes. Here are struggling every 50 metres with a small back pack and there was a guy with a gas cylinder on his back and running full tilt down the same track. I tried showing those guys and some fit old people climbing with ease to Mahesh and tried motivating him. But it was of no use as Mahesh took his own sweet time to go up to Laban Rata. We reached Laban Rata at around 18.30 hrs, the rest of my group arrived at 18.15 hrs.

Mahesh was literally shivering because of the temperature on top and also because of the cold breeze. We took a wise decision to take extra jackets and hence rented 5 jackets. We had our dinner there. Nobody was in a mood to actually eat anything but then we need something to start oru early morning trek that night. Dalios to came to us and asked if we are going to come for the supper at 2AM. I and Surya were the fit guys then and hence we volunteered to come down again from the lodge which was 200 mts ahead from this place and get the food.

We tried for a warm room at the reception for Mahesh as he was not at all in a position to again come into the cold night. As there were no rooms available we had to move on and reach the lodge 200mts away. We were not sure how the rooms were. We just knew that they are not warm rooms and were scared of the temperature there. We reached the lodge and saw that it was just a small room with 4 bunker beds. We 5 people adjusted in that 4 bunker room itself. We slept after having pain relief tablets, headache tablets and some pain relief cream and spray.

Alarm woke me at around 01.15 hrs from a very deep sleep. If it was any normal day then I would have definitely turned the alarm off and went back to sleep. I bet quite a few people did just that. But I was determined and had got this far and in another 3 hours or so I would be at Low’s Peak. So I forced myself out of bed and woke up Surya and we both left for getting supper for other 3. We went down had some hot coffee before and after our supper which included bread and egg. We packed the same for Nagaraj, Mahesh and Santosh. We went back to room and woke them up to have their supper. There was a stage when Santosh said he will not be able to make it and he would sleep there. But we all motivated him and finally made them get ready and started off at around 2.30AM.

Everybody virtually started the climb together in the pitch darkness. It was a wonderful sight to see all the torches and head torches ahead and behind us snaking their way up the mountain. From here on I have seen something common with all the groups going up. Everybody have started off slow and were going very slowly with very less stops. Our group were able to make it to the first stop at a single stretch which was 500mts away. At this point we stopped and saw everybody climbing the rock marked out by a rope. I was excited to see that as we have to do some rope rappelling all the way for more than 1KM. We started off and as Surya, Santosh and Nagaraj climbed, Mahesh got a little scared and did not want to climb up catching that rope. I had to shout at him a lot and convince him. He then started off after me keeping a hand behind him all the way just to make sure that I am with him.

We climbed for certain distance and reached the check point where we were asked to show our registration card and the number. The guy sitting there noted and asked us to show once we descend down. All this morning trek I was feeling very energetic and did not got any issues with the altitude. Nagaraj was literally down with headache because of the altitude change. I had to take charge and had to literally push him along the way for some distance. Just after I was able to see the summit, my back started aching and I was hardly able to walk up.

As it started to get lighter as day broke I was beginning to see the mountain and surrounding areas in all their magnificent glory. On arriving at the edge of Lows Peak there was many people at the summit. I waited until Nagraj and Santosh also reached that point. Then we took some pics with the beautiful sunrise behind the mountains. From there it was around 200mts to reach the summit. This was yet another tough trail in the whole journey. Mahesh, Nagaraj and Santosh did not dare to come up while me and Surya wanted to reach the summit and hence started going up. We reached at the top and took some pics and video at the top.

Then it was the long decent back down to Laban Rata. Coming down in the daylight gave us a view of what we had climbed in the dark. It was quite scary. At this point Mahesh was yet again tired and Nagaraj was suffering from severe headache and I was suffering from severe back pain, we were slow in coming down the trek. On the way down we decided to take a short nap of 15 minutes and then leave for the descend. We reached the room and slept for a 20 minutes and then started off with all the luggage and checked out of the rooms.

We took some breakfast and also took some pics with the surroundings. As there was water available at all the rest houses we just took 2 small bottles along with us. Yet again I had to carry the heaviest bag after Dalios as he was carrying Nagaraj and Mahesh's bag.

On the way down we saw something different to what we saw during the ascend. We saw all the people on their way up and we offered some encouragement. There were questions being asked and answered. The only way I have been motivating people was by telling them just 30 mins more or 1 hour more and its easy just go on. Seeing the local men and women climbing this mountain with three or four rucksacks, seeing them climb with all the provisions for the Laban Rat was just amazing, the fitness levels of these guys is truly amazing. But what absolutely took my breath away was seeing these guys carrying up the full cylinders upto laban rata. I just couldn’t believe it.

On the way down Santosh cramped his leg very very badly but did not stop anywhere. We were astonished to see his determination to finish the trek and not to make the things slower. We made very poor time going up when compared to coming down according to our guide. We reached the bottom at around 18.30. Land Cruiser came to pick us up from the Timpohan Gate ot the head quarters. At the head quarter we picked up our certificates and gave our guide his very well earned tip.

Everybody was tired and we planned in such a way that we should drive directly for dinner and then go for a good massage so that we can reduce all the pains. Surya yet again drove the car all the way to KK town. We had dinner at Anjappar and then went for a nice Thai massage for 2 hours which proved to have a great effect on all of us.
All in all this was an experience of a life time and something that will remain in my memory for the rest of my life. What more can I say. It is not easy but the end product arriving at Lows Peak makes all the effort worthwhile. All in all, two memorable days.

Drive to Kinabalu Park

The drive to Kinabalu park has been adventurous and memorable. Adventurous because we did not know the route and were exploring by ourselves and memorable because we were going on a long drive in a car all driven by ourselves.

The night before we started to Kinabalu park, we took directions from Marc regarding the route. We bought a route map of the KK city but that map did not have the route to Kinabalu park. After clearly hearing to the directions from Marc, I decided to be the navigator while Surya will be the driver.

We started off early by 5.30 from the hostel. We were told that it is about 2 hour drive from KK. The day before we filled up 10 liters of gas in the vehicle. Frankly speaking we did not really check the condition before we rented the car. We were actually going on an alien road and not sure if there would be any bumps. We were lucky to see a good sealed road for most of the way through.

Wonderful Road

Surya was our driver all the way

We drive for 36KM from KK to Tamparuli Roundabout which was very clear as it was a straight road. From Tamparuli Roundabout we took a right turn and drove straight until we reached outskirts of Tamparulli. From there we had to drive another 52 km mountainous route to arrive to Kinabalu Park. This route has been an up-hill driving all the way until we reached Kinabalu National Park. It was a long stretch of winding and neat road with some little bumps here and there to National park. All we need to do is to just stick with the main road and we will soon reach our destination.

We reached the Kinabalu park headquarters by 7.30. Upon arrival, we registered ourself and got a briefing by mountain guide info about trails.

Head Quarters, We stopped for the registration

We paid for the
Mt. Climbing Permit,
Mt. Climbing Insurance
Mt. Guide
Certificate of Achievement
Main entrance fee to Kinabalu Park

Balsam Cafe where we had our breakfast

At the reception

We were given food coupons:
1 pack lunch (Balsam Cafe) Day 1
1 dinner (Laban Rata restaurant) Day 1
1 breakfast (Laban Rata restaurant) Day 2
1 lunch (Balsam Cafe) Day 2

Breakfast

We had our breakfast at the Balsam Cafe for 45 Ringitt each. We took our packed lunch and started off in the taxi to the mesilau trail after parking our car at the head quarters. On the way to Mesilau, we came across the Kundasang village which was very nice and also had a small market place. We were excited to see the view of the mountains on the way to Mesilau. Everybody felt good about the decision of parking our car at the head quarters as it would have never made it to the Mesilau trail. It was too steep and even Land Cruiser was having trouble going up in 2nd or 3rd gear.

View on the way to Mesilau trail

In the cab, on the way to Mesilau

At around 8.45 we reached Mesilau and started off by 8.50.

All Set to go

Starting point of the trek

Finally I would say that the drive to Kinabalu park was exciting and exhilarating with the wonderful views and the cool breeze.

Kota Kinabalu Cheat Sheet

This was done by Surya before we started for KK.

Team PaPPu:
Mahesh 82233522
Santosh 91891638
Sudheendra 82233505
Nagaraj 81382383
Suryam 97250998

In the event you get into trouble:
Indian Embassy
The High Commission of India
No. 2 Jalan Taman Duta, Off Jalan Duta,
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : (00-603) 2093 3510 (Five lines)
Fax: (00-603) 2093 3507, 2092 5826

Hostel in Kota kinabalu:
Borneo BeacHouse
House No.122, Lorong Ikan Lais,
Jalan Mat Salleh, 88100
Tanjung Aru, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Tel: +6088 218331

Weather Forecast


















Mount Kinabalu Facts:
Summit (known as Low’s Peak) at 4,095 metres.
Essentially a huge granite dome that was pushed up from the earth’s crust, it is still pushing up at the rate of 5 mm per annum. The climb starts at 1,563 m. Climb starts at the Timpohon gate at 1800 m, either by minibus or by walking, and then walk to the Laban Rata hut at 3300 m. Most people accomplish this part of the climb in 3 to 6 hours. The last 2 km (2600 ft), from the Laban Rata hut at 3300 m to Low's Peak (summit) at 4100 m, takes between 2 and 4 hours. The last part of the climb is on naked granite rock. A typical descent from the summit is quicker but it is often equally painful as the ascent as the climbers descend more than 3000 m in five hours. The total trail to the summit is 8.5 km.

Dos and Don’ts on the mountain
Do not pee (unless you are about to explode)
Do not call out names (spirits may haunt you)
Do not have unprotected sex

Must-have at all times
Passport
Condoms
Lighter
Clean underwear

Local language phrases
You are cute - anda comel
What is your name – apa nama kau
Will you have sex - bolehkah anda mengadakan seks
How much – Berapakah harganya
What time (is it) – Pukul berapa?
Thank you – terima kasih
Help me – tolong saya
Good bye – selamat tinggal

Sightseeing

The Gaya Street Fair is held every Sunday morning and is the place where locals come to buy their goods. You can find almost anything at the Fair. From local handicrafts, souvenirs and clothing to food, drinks, Chinese medicines, delicacies and even animals like chickens and pet dogs, can be purchased for very reasonable prices. It also is a good opportunity to try out your bargaining skills.

Tunku Abdul Rahman Islands Park - Only 10 to 20 minutes by boat from Kota Kinabalu city, you can enjoy the beautiful tropical islands and indulged in lots of R&R. The Park consists of 5 islands, namely Gaya, Mamutik, Manukan, Sapi and Sulug. The park offers ample space to try water sports and you can also enjoy and adventurous jungle trek.

Shopping
There are 5 major shopping complexes in KK: Centrepoint, Wisma Merdeka, Wawasan Plaza, Karamunsing Complex and KK Plaza. Major shopping malls are located along the main artery of Kota Kinabalu, and you find just about anything from branded goods to local handicraft.

Filipino market: Situated a bit further than the above places, Filipino Market is a huge souvenirs and local handicrafts centre in Kota Kinabalu. It has more than 100 sellers that is placed under one roof. The building is made of wood and situated very near to Kota Kinabalu wet and fish market

Signal Hill Observatory

Offering a bird’s view of the city; the Sabah Foundation Building - a unique 30-storey building (it is a circular structure supported by high tensile steel rods, an architectural and engineering marvel, and there are only four such buildings in the world; it is Sabah’s highest tower)

Pouring hot springs

The Poring Hot Springs ranger station is 40 kilometers from Kinabalu Park HQ. Within 1 1/4 hectre (3 acre) area there are 5 hot springs with temperature ranging from 49º to 60º C (120º to 140º F) Soaking in a hot water bath is an ideal way to recurperate from an ardous mountain climb. Other attractions across the river are a small butterfly enclosure, a forest trail system, a Canopy walkway and picnic area. The chalets and hostels can accommodate 90 persons per night.

Itinerary
Day 0 – get your ass on to Tiger airways TR 484 departing @ 2020hrs
Day 1 – Diving starting morning till afternoon. Chillout in the evening by the beach or go into the city
Day 2 – Gates close by … Reach Laban rata by 6pm
Day 3 – Start climbing at 2am and reach peak by sunrise. After sunrise, start climb down and reach base by 1pm. Depending on the condition of the climbers, chill out in hot-springs or hit the city.
Day 4 – Flight TR 483 leaves @ 1155hrs

Time Zone
Malaysia is in the same time zone as Singapore (GMT +8)

Getting around
Mostly by taxis – a lot of haggling is due. But short trips cost 10 RM and slightly longer ones are 20 RM.

Night life / Hangout

Waterfront - Opposite the Promenade Hotel is a short stretch of the KK waterfront that becomes a hub of activity from dusk onwards. It is a popular meeting place for youngsters to hang out with their friends and where office workers converge for a beer after work. For tourists, it is the place to relax while watching the sun going down and eyeing the pretty ladies that may stroll by.
Some of the joints that are noted – BED, beach club, Cock n Bull, sugar bun

The Office pub - Tucked away in the Api Api Centre on the Marina Court side of the promenade, Pub grub will line your stomach, including famous sandwich wedges, fries and other what-have-yous. Populated by locals, Aussies, Brits, Americans and the odd South African, The Office Pub is watering hole of note.

Cocoon - Around the corner from Upperstar and Shani's is Cocoon. A funky place with modern decor, good looking and efficient waiter staff, with a live band always at the ready, peppered by the DJ's mix.

Borneo Beachouse

In Kota Kinabalu we stayed at a wonderful backpackers place called the Borneo Beachouse. The location of this backpackers area is awesome as its just 5 minutes walk from the airport. There is this beach called the first beach which is 3 minutes walk from this place. This beach has a nice sunset and hence we can see lot of localites flocking there during the evening time.

First Beach

Entrance of First Beach

Borneo Beachouse

Mark and Dave who manage the place were very very friendly and helpful. They helped us with the gear and also helped us in giving the directions to the Kinabalu park.

Thats Marc with the Team Pappu, Dave was sleeping as he takes care at the night.

The whole house was filled with the souvenirs given by different tourists from different countries. The overall presentation was great. I would definitely stay when here again when ever I go back again. These were some of the boards which I saw in their beachouse.

This was at the reception of Borneo Beachouse. Very Innovative :-)

Mount Kinabalu Trek Preparation

I have been doing hiking many a times since childhood. This all started off with Lateef Saab and Kaapral hill in Nalgonda. During Engineering days we went for Lohaghad and Matheran hill hiking. I have also been to Kedarnath which I would call it as a trek as it was challenging. Finally I am going for a proper trek to Mount Kinabalu. We have been planning it since the start of this year. Because of my marriage we have postponed the whole trip to May. Today is the day when we fly to Kota Kinabalu from Singapore. I, Nagaraj, Surya, Mahesh and Santosh are in the group.

The whole bookings have been done by Santosh. We have booked tiger airways to Kota Kinabalu, booked a lodge in Laban Rata, booked hostel in Kota Kinabalu and also booked for the Scuba Dive. The whole idea behind this trip was given by Surya. We also tried ordering some customized T-Shirts. But as we cannot get just 5 different shirts we did it on our own. Below are the pictures we printed on our t-shirts.



















Thats for me - Lazy Crazy :-)

This pic is for Mahesh and the caption is "Stay Fit - Ramababu"

This pic is for Surya and the caption is "Psycho - Suri"

This pic is for Nagaraj and the caption is "Rasik - Builder"

This pic is for Santosh and the caption is "Citi Sucks - Banker"

The check list was prepared by Mahesh and its as below:
- Trekking Shoes
- Extra pair of socks
- Full pants
- Full sleeve shirts
- Sweater
- Raincoats
- Plastic Covers
- Tissues
- Extra batteries
- Digital Camera and Video Camera
- Lip Guard
- Head Lamp or torch
- Towels

Hope we will have a great trip and I shall soon share the pics once I am back from the trip.

Mount Kinabalu Trip

Camping at ECP

It was a sudden plan to go for camping at ECP. Me and Surya decided on that and finally let everybody know about the program. I, Surya, Nagraj, Srinivas, Mahesh, Santosh and Mandeep were the team for the Dusk to Dawn outing. Hemanth was supposed to join us, but as he was suffering from fever, he couldn't make it. On Friday night I, Surya & Nagraj bought all the necessary items for the camping.

We bought
6 people tent.
2 sleeping bags
1 mat
2 barbecue ready made pits
1 vodka bottle
and the necessary items for the barbecue.

Basically we were a bunch of boys who got tired of the work life and needed a much necessary break and hence organized this camping. Even though we called it my bachelor's party, it was just to get away from stress.

Saturday morning we prepared the necessary items for the night out. By 6.10 on the Saturday evening we reached ECP in order to get a place for our tent. When we reached there we already saw many tents that were already in place. We finally got a nice place to place our tent. The tents around us had many Malay, Chinese and Indian people. We placed the tent and then went to 7-11 to get some beer and soft drinks. After that went to rent skates and bicycle. It was $14 for 2 skates and the same amount for 2 bicycles. I & Surya did skating while Nagraj and Srini did the cycling.

We enjoyed having beer, vodka and juices along with chips while skating and cycling. We sat and just chit chatted till 8 and then decided to start off with the barbecue. When we tried lighting up the ready made barbeque pits we brought, they gave us lot of trouble. We also tried pouring some vodka on to it and lite it up. But result was the same. I & Surya went to 7-11 to get some accelerate to lite it up. Finally we bought fire starter for liting it up. After a 30 minute fight we finally were able to start our cooking.

Its then the whole fun started. We enjoyed our food a lot. We had chicken, veg patties, burgers, corn and chips along with beer, vodka, sprite and water. After 1 hour of eating session we started playing cards. By the time it was 12, one after the other slept and finally I, Surya & Mandeep were left. We then decided to take a walk in that beautiful night along the beach. It was a starry night and the breezy environment made the night much better. I & Mandeep sat down on the platform made along the beach and watched those waves coming and hitting the edge of the platform. The sound of those waves was very nice to hear.

After some time I, Surya & Mandeep went to McDonalds and had a coffee, corn and coke. Mean while Nagraj woke up and we decided to start off home at around 4.30 so that we can have some proper sleep at home. We woke Srini, Mahesh and Santosh and came back home by 5 in the morning.

Race Day

It is very late to post this. But as I was a bit busy with many other things, I couldn't do it. From now on I will try to make sure that I update things as soon as possible.

RACE DAY - 28th September 2008

Yes! Today is race day !

It was hot, stuffy, humid. The roads were dusty and there were people everywhere. And there was a strong buzz of excitement in the air. I

was not really excited today as I have seen it for past 2 days and did not find it much different. In fact I asked my friend Mahesh to go ahead for the race day. But back of mind I had that thought of not to miss this unique opportunity of being part of history.

I arrived at the circuit just before 5 pm to join in the festivities. The cars today are so much more powerful and the sports more glamorous. I was alone there and have seen all the seats getting filled up much before the start of the race. This was not the case in the last two days. All the spectators were actually getting ready with the cameras to get every moment of the race and the food to survive for the next 2 hours. There were giant projector TVs through out the circuit and most of them were watching the proceedings of the race in it.

At around 6 all the cars came out and the drivers were getting ready for the race. I was lucky to see all the cars getting ready right on the track with the crew out there. Many VIPs got a chance to actually take some pictures with all the drivers. Common people like me were excited to see our heroes directly from far distance.

At 7 PM, just after the national anthem, the crowd cheered as they saw the cars racing off from the starting grid. I along with other spectators jumped in joy when Felipe Massa raced past first. The atmosphere was sensational !!! It was hard to follow the race as the cars speed past us in an instant and the roar of the engines drowned out the available "live" commentary coming from the big screens. But still when ever cars came round the corner and left the other corner everybody stood up and saw the cars racing past, and other time we were

just watching the race in the Gaint screen.

After about 15 laps, Nelson Piquet in the Renault crashed. The next and the most embarrassing moment for Ferrari would be todays disastrous error in the pit lane. As a result of this error on the pit lane Felipe Massa lost ground. The Brazilian was pitting on lap 15 and drove off with the fuel hose still attached to his car, leaving one of the pit crew sprawling to the ground and subsequently stretchered off in a neck brace. All the Ferrari fans including me felt very bad with this incident.

It was a miserable night for his team mate too. Kimi Raikkonen rammed his car into the barriers with just four laps to go, ending his race. Over all it was a very bad day for Ferrari. Towards the end of the race, the drivers were under a lot of pressure to end the race quickly as there is a cut off timing of two hours. The race must be completed by 10 pm, by hook or by crook.

Finally Fernando Alonso, who started in grid position 15 did an amazing turn around by winning the race with a mere 2.95 seconds over Nico
Rosberg who seemed to win the race at one point. Prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong presented the trophy to the worthy winner.

Well done, Alonso !