Against the dusky sky...

... an image of you awaits.

-------

[postscript]

when ms. clumsy fumbles, mr. freeze digresses (as always)

It’s just that I fumble when he speaks and I say stupid things when I tell him my opinion. Indirectly, he was telling I should not listen to hearsays because according to him truth can be twisted and “when repeated for so long, it slowly becomes true.” Or at least, the other version of “truth”.

But he didn’t see my point. That is precisely the reason why I asked him directly. I wanted to hear it from him. I would believe what he said. But he’s in good in digressing. He never affirmed anything. I just hope he wasn’t lying when he said, “babalitaan kita pag nangyari na.”

Nang bumaba ako sa hagdanan

Madalas akong umuwi ng gabi mula sa opis. Maliban sa ilang okasyon, madalas akong naiiwan sa dibisyon namin. mas okay magtrabaho kapag walang istorbo.

Isang Biyernes, ginabi ako sa opis. Mas late kaysa sa dati. Kinailangan kong tapusin ang isang script para sa gagawin naming video-documentary. Medyo sensitive ang issue ng GMO at biotechnology kaya kailangang i-tone down ang script, ito ay matapos ang ilang oras na brainstorming. Sa madaling salita, gabi ko na natapos ang revision.

Habang bumababa ako sa hagdanan patungo sa lobby, nakita ako ng guard. Medyo nagulat siya. Sa isip niya, may tao pa pala.

“O mam ginagabi po kayo ah.”

Nagkibit balikat lang ako. Dati ay nakikipagbiruan pa ako sa guard. Ngunit masyado na ata akong napagod, di ko na nakuhang humirit.

“Ma’am huwag ninyo pong masaydong mahalin ang trabaho ninyo kase wala naman po kayong pamilya!”

Muntikan ko nang mabitawan ang bar code reader. Natawa ako sa sinabi ng guard. Pero naisip ko, may punto sha. Hindi man niya na-expressed nang mabuti, alam kong maganda ang intensiyon niya.

Mount Kinabalu 05: Catching the Sunrise

I set my alarm at 2 am. My friend Charl and I were sharing the room with Jasme, a Muslim man who asked us if he could use the space to pray. His hair-raising chant broke the cold silence. Charl barely slept through the night. The night in the mountain was freezing cold. I had three layers of clothes and my hands and feet could not feel a thing. I was already curling like a freezing madman under the low temperature. This is the reason why I can't live in a temperate country, I could not bear such cold.

Around 2:15 am we were having our breakfast at the Laban Rata Resthouse. I had one toast, some mouthful of noodles, and scrambled eggs. Charl woke up with a bad stomach so she barely ate anything.

The hike started at around 2:35 am traversing through the dark, narrow stair trails going through the summit. There was a long traffic of climbers that every now and then we had to stop to wait for those in the lead to move forward. After an hour or so, we reached the granite massif wherein we had to use a rope to climb a steep, rocky mountain. And because it was still dark, we had to rely on our headlights to lead us and pray to the high spirits not to fall on that deep-mile gulley just below us.

After more than an hour, we reached the alpine zone of Mouth Kinabalu. This part is occupied by various jagged, rocky peak formations. The trail all the way to the summit is elevated making it extra exhausting to climb. And because of the high altitude, breathing and recovering was difficult.

Reaching the 3929 m. marker, Charl was extremely exhausted. Due to the lack of enough sleep the night before and the bad stomach, which she has been enduring since early morning, she could not go on. AMS got her.

Half kilometer away from the Low’s Peak, we rested for awhile and watched as sunrise unfolded before our sullen eyes. Slowly, a bright orange light spread through the vast horizon illuminating the dark portions of the alpine zone. I’ve seen so many sunrise in my life. But this one is special. Everything seems special that Tuesday morning. ^_^

I am literally standing above the clouds and witnessing the streaks of that orange light seeps into the vast horizon.

It was still dusk but behind those granite peaks is the sun making its presence felt.

I patiently watch the color subsides as the sun streaks start to perforate.

Slowly, even the little grasses growing along the gaps and slopes of the rocky mountain become more visible to the naked eyes. Light is spreading faster than I had expected.

The ravine is damp because of the rain the night before. From here, you can see them like a fine white line enhancing the texture of the rocky mountain.

Clouds, mountains and more...

Next stop...the Low's Peak!

Conquering Mount Kinabalu

As of the moment, I am still worn-out and exhausted, but I am back from my Mount Kinabalu adventure. And I’ve reached the summit. Yehey! And even though I was hammered and beaten to death because of the exhaustion from those endless stair trails, it was all worth it. As they say, no guts no glory!

Climbing Mount Kinabalu, one of the highest mountains in SE Asia (4,095 meters or 13, 495 feet) and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a feat in itself. This trip is extra special for me as I celebrated my birthday there.

I’ll be writing a series of entries on this little adventure to Mount Kinabalu including the 3-day tour around Kota Kinabalu (formerly known as Jesselton), the capital city of Sabah, a state in Malaysia.

Personally, I would like to thank Ferdz for all the tips and for lending to me their itineraries during their trip to KK. It helped us plan our trips. Also for those out-of-the-blue inquiries which he never failed to correspond conscientiously. Salamat Ferdz!

I was faced with at least a hundred reasons not to go on with this trip (i.e., flight cancellation, Laban Rata bookings, people backing-out, money transfer problems, etc.) and had only one reason to go (which I will not say anymore, hehe) but I am just glad I went through all the troubles.