Mount KK expedition

Merdeka 2009... Never will i forget that day.. Gawd! Thinking back i really did it!! Lol.. After thinking about it so long, i even trained for it.. I made all the way to the summit!! Yay to me!! :)

I wud say to all u guys who loves challenging urself, pushing urself to the limit, here's a good way to start.. I knew it was gonna be tough, but honestly, I really thought of stopping at times.. But not for long cos the urge to continue on to climb to the summit was stronger.. Jalan jugak no matter how tired or in desperation of air.. Lol.. exaggerate habis2!!

So we started off from the Mersilau Gate late at abt 9.30 when we were supposed to take off at 8! True M'sian spirit huh? Anyway we took off with 22 of us all jalan-ing together, but the next thing u kno it, be4 reaching 1km all broken up into groups d.. There was like another 4 guys in front of me, n i was behind with another fren of mine n we went on to walk all the way to Laban Rata together..

We took an estimated 6 hours and 20 minutes to reach to Laban Rata after walking/climbing for 8.2km.. For those who have climbed before, sure u guys wondering kenapa la 8.2km.. Cos the other route up is from Timpohon Gate which is like 2km shorter.. yes u heard me.. 2KM!! So we walked like 2km more!! Lol.. But no regret la.. Cos the road kat Mersilau gate had much nicer view.. and then it was up and down road la.. so balance it up la.. Kalau kat Timpohon gate, besides the Carson Fall rite at the beginning, nothing else all the way up.. So worth it oso la in a way from Timpohon Gate..

One thing i din like about the route up from Mersilau Gate was tat at points there were stairs up.. wait lemme finish first.. the stairs were made of like planks.. wood la.. but it was vy kecik punya wood, and look vy unstable.. i forgot to take pic pula.. but don like tat steps la.. cos like kalau kat timpohon gate kan, all memang stairs up, but it was solidly filled wan.. so one whole feet can step on the steps.. tapi untuk mersilau can't.. u get d idea? even I'm confusing myself..

Then at 5.5km, tat's where the 2 routes up join lo, then climb all the way up to Laban Rata, our rest stop.. tapi half way up tat road, i was like almost half dead d.. keep stopping.. not fit la!! lol.. then after tat, thank god i did not like sit and take a rest on the way up until i read 3/4 of a journey.. cos if i had done tat since the beginning, i'd be dead by the time i reach up.. So to all future climbers, please listen to ur guides advice and continuously climb, don stop too long or sit too long, u'd get super lazy and will take even longer, get even more tired to continue ur journey up the mountain..

When i finally caught a glimpse of a building, a concrete building and not a hut (cos there were rest huts all the way up), i was so happy!! tired tired oso go go go!! when reach straight plop on the chair, drink lots and lots of water.. half way up d.. not bad.. I was starving at tis point, hurled down all d food tat was meant for lunch.. satisfaction!! lol.. then can eat dinner somemore at 5pm.. tat was how hungry i was! Lol.. lunch at 4pm, dinner at 5pm.. okie la, it was 5.30pm.. then chit chatted as we waited the others to come up then head on up to our dorm to zzz...

Slept at abt 9pm, and had to wake up at 1am for supper to continue on our climb up mount kk.. we started at about 2.30am.. i had coco crunch after so long.. for those who dunno i was like crazy for coco crunch last sem.. everyday coco crunch for breakie.. gila rite?? Lol.. the way up was tricky i wud say.. cos the route was narrow, and some ppl just tak pakai otak punya, tunggu kat rite in the middle of the road!! hello?? tunggu la kat tepi!! Lol.. d starting journey was vy similar to the route up from the previous day but then after tat was rope up all the way.. at place it was so tricky up!! u had to trust ur shoes so much!!! Cos it was slanting 45 degree then u jln up la in an up rite position.. teruk2.. but we din really noticed tat, cos all we had in mind was, climb climb!! wanna reach the peak!!

We kept like a positive attitude all the way up.. every1 kept saying, in another 5 min we'll reach.. 5 more min.. 5 minute turned out to be an hour!! thank god i had my guide, Abang Lajuni who was showing us all the selok-belok up the mountain.. made our life a whole lot simpler.. lol.. seriously.. when we finally reach the peak.. we were literally jumping up and down.. so happy!! we made it!! wat else to do?? camwhore la..

Then we watched the beautiful sunrise, before heading back down.. i was so scared, seriously scared to go down.. it was as if i was gonna tumble down anytime.. cos i told u kan.. 45 degree walking up rite le!! Reminded me so much of d incidence of jatuh tergolek masuk longkang ketika beli kuih kat pd.. malu saje.. can tumble turn somemore u kno!! falling with grace le.. lol.. Thank goodness i had d others who i could hold on to go down.. like gentlemen escorting a lady pula.. cheh wah.. tak tau malu!! Lol..

Then we had our breakie n continued on jalan till timpohon gate to balik Kinabalu park then to UMS.. all the way down, i was actually thinking thank god we took the other road, cos tis road was tough.. climbing up steps of various sizes all the way up.. not fun le!! although 2km shorter.. d more i jln down, the more my legs ached.. cos it was so hurtful on the knees!! when we finally saw the 500m mark, we literally sprinted to the gate!! we made it!! weee~

All in it was seriously a gr8 adventure, even more special doin it with a bunch of close frens.. so let's c the to-do list in Sabah:
1. Go snorkeling. Done
2. Go Tip of Borneo. Done
3. Go Labuan buy lots and lotd of choc. Done and put on a few pounds :(
4. Conquer mount KK. (proudly) done!!
So wat's left?
1. Visit other islands in Sabah esp Sipadan
2. Learn diving
3. Go water rafting. (Going tis wednesday.... weeee~)

Well the list goes on.. Like i said, going water rafting tis wednesday.. wish me luck!! For tis mount kk trip i hv aldy uploaded photo kat facebook.. just have a look there and leave comment yea!! :) till the next post~

-karleen-

Taiwan Part III

Okie.. I've finally reached the final part of my Taiwan. Like Lord of the Rings Trilogy. More like Trip to Taiwan Trilogy. Well basically this was supposed to be like the climax of the whole trip. Where it is supposed to be blogged about for paragraphs and paragraphs. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, I was left to sulk and sink in the 5 star hotel room overlooking the wonderful scanery of Hualien. Okie, I'll talk more on it as I continue. Before that, to get to Taipei, we took a 6 hours train journey, all the way from Kaohshiung to Taipei..

Scenery from the train

We opted for the Tzu Chiang Railway which was longer compared to the other faster train as it was more economically feasible for us. Save about RM50-80 on train one way u kno! The train that we took weren't so bad either. Definitely more comfy than the KTM in Malaysia. Lol. Tak habis2 kutuk train system in M'sia kan? But one thing's for sure, the railway system in Taiwan is definitely a few classes higher compared to M'sia. Just to get from Taipei to Kaohshiung, there's like a few train options to be choose from. In M'sia, there's only KTM, KTM and KTM. Haih.. So after 6 hours of sitting and sleeping and eating and getting butt-ache, we finally reach...

Taipei Main Station

However, when we reach there, we got to know that actually we should have gotten off from the previous station as it was nearer to our hotel. Apa nak buat, we took the Taipei MRT and reach..

Yuan Shan Station

The view from below of the station

With Wai Leong upon arrival

We were all so very excited and can't wait to get to the hotel to kick start our conference. Lil' did we know it started raining in Taipei!! After suffering for hours under the hot hot sun, it started raining! Apala?? Lol. But that definitely din dampen our spirits although it did wet our bags. We took the shuttle bus from the station all the way to the hotel for registration. Later that night, after the awkward ice breaking with my group, we set off, all 400+ participants to the opening ceremony of the event..

The venue of the opening ceremony

I can't recall the name of the place, but it's something like a wedding house with a total of 4 floors (I think) consisting of all banquet halls for lavish weddings. It was really a very very beautiful place for the wedding of ur dreams.

Taken with my group, Group 7

We had like a 10 course dinner. Somewhat like what you can get in a chinese wedding dinner. Of cos la here oso venue for chinese wedding. We were also entertained by lotsa performance, and this was one that I enjoyed most out of all the performances

Who said medic students can't rock??

So after rocking and dancing the nite away (yes i did dance in front of a crowd), I finally arrive back in the hotel to get my much needed rest.. What I wore for the nite??

I've always wanted to do tis

What you think?? All courtesy of my friends kat M'sia. Semua bukan baju saya. Lol. I think for the rest of the post, I'll just let the picture do the talking la..

2nd day, opening ceremony

The planned seating. Can c how many countries there are

To prevent us from falling into deep deep sleep throughout all the talks, we opted to do some camwhoring!! Lol.

Take 1 (actually tis was take 7 aldy)


Take 2



Take 3



Take 4

There were altogether 10 pics, but then if i post up all it wud have been to 'zi lian' or in english, loving myself too much. Lol. After all the talks, performance, opening ceremony, we had exhibition..

At one of the booths.. (comelkan?)



The M'sian booth to promote EASMC

After all that, we set off to visit Taipei. Here are a few places that I went and pics I took throughout the trip visiting Taipei City..

Taipei 101

Shilin Night Market (Largest night market in Taiwan)

Deserts anyone?? nyum nyum

During my walk to Taipei 101, I actually met a star from Taiwan!! Aaaahhhhh!! Jerry Yan of F4!! Okie okie. So I'm not much of a big fan of his. But then he's just so gorgeous. Just like on TV. Who would have tot my luck. Weee~

3rd day, paper presentation. Take pic then wont fall asleep

Team M'sia in action

After all the presentation, we also set out on 2nd trip arounf Taipei city..

Taiwan cinema. Tickets are super pricey!!

5th day, Poster presentation, also day I got quarantined!!

After the 5th day, I was no longer in a mood to take more pics. Who would if you were to be quarantined and all?? Imagine papparazzi chasing you around asking questions!! Like superstar no?? Hahaha.. So let's skip all that to the final day, cos I missed out like the fun part of the whole conference, including cultural nite, Taroko Park visit, visit to Tzu Chi University, and closing ceremony. Oh well.. Just my luck..

Here's with my roomie, Laura *hugz*

With Jason all the way from UK

That nite after the supposed closing ceremony, we were all so down on not being able to attend it that we set off to spend the nite at the beach. It was awesome i tell u!! I saw shooting stars for the first time!! weee~ yea me!! Lol. So how beautiful it was u ask??

The morning scenery

Sunrise

Me with my specs on

There was no regret going to the beach as the view was just awesome with even more awesome company. Good was to cap the whole Taiwan trip I would say. Although i did end up with backaching after sleeping the whole nite not on sand, but stones!! Lol.. Then it was back to the hotel for breakie and back to M'sia

Nacoco and I.. miss u dearly

We spent another nite in Kaohshiung befor eheading back to M'sia. The trip was still awesome through it all.. Okie lecturer here d.. Till the next post!! XOXO

-karleen-

Mosquito Bites

Well I for one was always a favourite for mosquitoes to come and attack.. Since young it has always been like tat without fail.. then later comes the small red very very itchy bums that i will start scratching which at times will end up to bleed.. the worse time is when the silly silly mosquito nak jugak bite on ur toes, on ur sole.. itchy ohr!! oh yea.. on the palm oso.. haih.. but jz today i found one very interesting fact..

"If you're one of those people whom mosquitoes tend to favor, maybe it's because you aren't sufficiently stressed-out."

Now i kno i'm happy-go-lucky and all.. now tis definitely proves it no?? mayb i shud start to get all stressed out and prevent tis from happening..

Caught in the act

Jie jie was laughing saying i busuk.. haih.. So to stay stressed out onot?? it's all up to u.. kena mosquito bites saje.. hv a good day every1.. Till the next post.. :)

-karleen-

Taiwan Part II

So I've finally got myself to write this 2nd post. Holidays oso malas. How la? Anyway, here's the part II that I promised. This post is dedicated mainly to our day out in Kaohshiung. We also finally met up with the other group who came a day later compared to us. It was such a drama I tell u! We lost contact with one another and can't seem to contact one another in another country! So scary wey! So I ended up waiting in the train station for up to 6 hours, the station that we were supposed to meet in. Well I have my friend to thank for that. She go n give wrong train station and did not even feel bad about it. My gawd! Think back oso marah. Somemore wanna marah the other group of frens. I was so panicked that I even called jie to ask her help to contact another fren of mine. Teruk, teruk! Sorry jie made u panic for sure.

Okie, all that aside. We finally found them that night itself. Thank goodness. But relationship was definitely strained. Anyhow, I was just glad we did not lose one another in a foreign country. Phew~ For the rest of the post, let the pic do the talking la..

Look how glad I was to have found them

So we brought them back to our hotel where we were to sleep another nite. Then it was off to visit everywhere around Kaohshiung!! Weee~

Walking around Kaohshiung Town

A view of Kaohshiung Town

Spot McD and Fridays?? D Mall beside looks so nice kan??

At Central Park with my batch mates

To all of you who dunno Taiwan that well (I oso did research lepas nak pegi Taiwan saje), Kaohshiung is the 2nd largest city in Taiwan. So kalau nak banding ngan Malaysia, it's like Penang macam tu la. But then, Kaohshiung I would say is more advanced la. Maybe slightly like KL cos the MRT system is so good! I absolutely like Kaohshiung. It was like living in a city, but somehow everything is still slightly laidback. Plus ppl in Kaohshiung is very friendly, ask them questions, they'll be glad to help. However, to those not so good in mandarin, do brush up on ur mandarin as the ppl here speak like mainly mandarin and nothing else. The only place we could find english speaking ppl was in Subway. Lol. Ok, continue story..

In front of the MRT station in Central Park

View from MRT station

Purchasing group ticket, cheaper.. Lol

The pics says it all!

Up in their MRT. It was bigger and more comfy than LRT in M'sia

So where are we heading to?? Before that, in central park kan, there was the time i saw clay court for the first time in my live! Come all the way to Taiwan to see tennis court pula. Lol. Tapi look at people play you oso wanna play. Oh yea, ppl in Kaohshiung oso very healthy. Pegi d Central park there was like dance classes la, ppl jogging around and walking their dogs. Very healthy. Terpesong jauh pula. So we headed for Ecological district in Kaohshiung..

View of Ecological District

Bus in Taiwan. So can know i kat South Taiwan. Wing Hoh wanted to bring the umbrella to me cos it was too hot!!

While jalan2 around, we saw the train too! (macam org kampung haven't seen train pula!)

The system there was so user friendly. Got specific lane for cyclist!

Speaking of cyclist, the people there do not use motorcycle like in Malaysia. As in the Yamaha, Suzuki that type la. But the people here use scooter a lot. Then they wear very cute masks while riding on the scooter. If you cant imagine just pegi tengok Jay Chou's MV of "Wo Bu Pei", macam tu la the culture in Taiwan. So after jln2 even more we finally made it to..

Lian Chi Tan a.k.a Lotus Pond

The one and only photo of all 10 of us

This was the only time when all ten of us were together out playing. Cos come conference we were all broken up into groups. In a way, thinking back, this trip round Kaohshiung kinda soften the tension created earlier. Bodoh betul la thinking back. Quarrel for nothing. Now i know why people kat amazing race gaduh so much. So apa yang ada kat Lotus Pond?

Lotus

And pond! Lol

The World Games were also ongoing then

The promo pic we took for free in conjunction with World Games

We managed to catch the live action of the water skiing competition that was held at the lotus pond itself. Mind you, the pond is not covered with lotus. It's just like a super huge pond la with lots of flowers and all around it. Oh yea and temples too if you noticed from the photo above. Actually that's more like chinese cultural heritage than temple la. Well another upclose photo of it..

Camwhoring!!

More camwhoring!!

so as you can see from the pics, macam the pagoda kat Penang kan? what's it called again? Kek Lok Si ahr? There was a dragon mouth and tiger mouth in front of that 2 majestic pagoda (I dunno wat's it called exactly). There was a lot of camwhoring going on. When it comes to us with camera, it's scary. Lol. But then we din spent long oso, cos nampak souvenir shop terus bergegar there, wanna buy souvenirs cos there's like the cheapest we could find!

Beli so banyak until take pic with lady boss!

Lepas shoppind gila2, pegi la jalan2 around. Told you got a lot of temples kan?? Here's one

Told you we pegi shopping kan? Dah ada plastic bag dah

With the others in front of the temple

The next thing we know, it suddenly, out of nowhere hujan lebat! We din even bothered carrying umbrellas cos it was scorching hot in the morning. But then there was still sun shining brightly. So the next thing we know we saw..

Rainbow!

There was actually 2 rainbows. Tapi could only capture one. You look closely on that pic, mungkin boleh nampak kot. We all went like 'wow', 'awww' etc. Somemore so coincidentally around the 2 pagodas. Now from this pic you can see the dragon and tiger. So we went on roaming around and more..

Camwhoring!!

But letak 1 saje la. Cukup la. That nite we went on roaming around the nite markets in Kaohshiung as well as 'Ai He' or 'Love River' (Direct translation). Don't have photos on that cos terlupa tangkap gambar pula. Other pics are in my frens cam who's in Sandakan now. The nite market in Kaohshiung is like the pasar malam in Malaysia la. I think it's something like Petaling Street where there's like a lot of food vendors and overpriced souvenirs. The food ain't too pricey, but then we were on a tight budget. Lol. Good oso la in a way. Restrain myself from eating too much. But I tell u, the 'Ai Yi Bing' there is so nice!! So is the Pearl Milk Tea. There's even Pearl Green Tea which was absolutely fabulous! Lol. Okie, talk about food i oso lapar sudah. Oh yea to all Muslims, Happy Fasting!! Till Taiwan Part III

Taiwan Part I

So I've told u guys so much about being in Taiwan. My first time overseas alone (in other words with no parents or sis around me la). Weee~ It was indeed an unforgettable experience la. We (my friends n i) basically went with just the clothes on us as well as in our suitcases with no plans where to stay what-so-ever and to reach Taipei by the 25th of Aug for the registration for AMSC. Oh yea! For those who are still unsure kenapa si Karleen ni pegi Taiwan tetiba pula, it's all business ok. But then slit in some pleasure on the way la.. Hehehe :)

We took off on the 22nd of Aug in KKIA terminal 1 all the way to Kaohshiung. Kenapa pegi Kaohshiung? 2 reasons. 1 flight ticket cheaper. 2 Nak explore Taiwan from south up. Hehe :) Jadi kita pun terbang la at 1520 tat day.

Wing Hoh, K Mint n I onboard MH 86, BKI-KHH

Tengok aircraft can guess apa aircraft tu? We sat on Boeing 737. Kecik la, tapi okie la. Not like tat fat oso kan? lol. So after 2 hours and 40 mins, we finally could get a glimpse of

Kaohshiung!!

Taken when we were about to land

Imagine our excitement la. All 5 of us were all so excited. Me without camera oso ambik gambar ngan handphone oso. All photos kat blog will be pics taken from my fon. Other pics from my frens cam i may jz upload later in FB, or as u hv noticed my friends i met through AMSC has uploaded pics throughout d conference d. My camera, i mean my sis cam sudah rosak dibuat saya (sorry!!), so tis is the consequence la. Pegi overseas tak bawak camera. Anyway, first place i visited, the toilet. Cos i don like using aircraft toilet. Lol

This was pasted on the door of the toilet. Lol.

Can understand d line above? if you don't, I'll translate it later for ya. Ask me la. hehehehe.. So as bukti/evidence I betul2 gi Taiwan

Saw the many2 posters of Taiwan?

So we arrived about 1815 in Taiwan, on schedule and head on straight to information counter to decide where we wanna go next. Discuss, discuss and more discussion, we made an impulsive decision to go all the way south to Kenting, Taiwan. Check Taiwan map kalau tak tau. :P This place is a reknown tourist spot in Taiwan, a coastal area la. So imagine white sandy beaches. The view there is just fantastic la! Kalah PD although i love PD with all my heart.

Here's one of the beaches i visited

I so wanna jump into the water, but we were on a tight schedule so tak dapat la. Next visit la if i ever visit Taiwan again. It was very windy, very nice.

Me at the beach. Windy kan?

So we went off for breakie in a small shop just across the road from the beach. Food here is quite pricey compared to Malaysia. Something like Sabah, but if u take into account the portion and all, here more pricey la. After having breakie, our 1st stop..

Can read??

Took another pic here. Kenting National Park.

Admission fees was a mere NT20, which is almost equivalent to Malaysia RM2 la. Cheap rite? We applied for the international youth travel in Taiwan so we got it cheaper. So for those who are heading to Taiwan, remember to apply ohr! FOC and you save a bundle. Y go to a park u ask? Just take a look at the pics i took at the park

At the entrance


View from one of the viewing towers

The kissing rocks


At another viewing tower, overseeing Kenting

Kenting's own lighthouse. Macam kat PD kan??

Our last stop from our walk around the park.

The whole trip we were all so mesmerized by the beauty of the nature surrounding Taiwan. Makes u wanna visit urself too kan? Well just looking back at the pics, i wanna visit the place again myself! Our time was so limited, but just the short stop was enough for us. Then we went on to explore Kenting. Most pics are in my fren's cam, but here is the last pic i took

Breathtaking ain't it?

Really had a lot of fun, goofing around, cam whoring to the max in Kenting. Tapi tak jadi show kat sini la. When i get hold of the pics later baru i show u guys la. Hehehe.. no prob. So tat's all of my Taiwan part 1 la. Till the next post!!

Delayed Post: Health Promotion

This marks my 101 post.. weee~ sikitnya after so long buat blog ni! haih.. tapi takper.. 101 is also a milestone n worth to be celebrated.. weee~

So basically i've mentioned health promotion health promotion like freaking many times d.. basically wat we (my group) had to do was choose a kampung in kinabatangan, find out wat is endemic there, wat medical facilities there are, promote health to all the villagers, live their lifestyle etc. sounds ez enuf no? well if we were to do tat only i think we wud hv had a much funner time.. but the paperwork was killing us! final folio came up to about 120++ page after much editting.. hv to prepare graphs for all questionaires passed out, do statistical analysis, come out with hypothesis, methodology, results, discussion.. pening kepala jz thinkin abt it..

Okie la.. i think if i elaborate on nanti panjang panjang, sure u guys read until tertidur kang susah.. so let's roll the pics..

When we met up with reporters from Sabah before taking off to Kg Tongod

On our trip there, bus got stuck in the hole filled with water

Wat else to do but pull.. eh no i mean push the bus?

Tak budge oso.. comes the tractor to the rescue!!

All relieved, happy to continue on our journey to Kg Tongod

Basically our main transport around Kg is our vy own bus 11 (legs la tu!)

Pegi jauh2 sure la must lecture a lil..

Then we went house to house visit kat Kg Kiliwatong (part of Kg Tongod)

Journey to houses bukan senang.. Cross bridges cam ni only can sampai rumah

Or walk kat jalan macam ni baru sampai

Among the villagers i managed to interview.. i look so pale!!

Then interview with the Head of village a.k.a Ketua Kampung

Then we had activites with the villagers where i taught hand washing to the kids

Then saw tis cute lil baby.. must la tangkap gambar!

After a whole day of activity with villagers all so happy can rest.. finally

Walaupun however tired must jln the bukit-bukau jln back oso

We managed to do gotong-royong with asrama school kids oso.. spot me?

Lepas tu, had activity kat school.. sempat buat disco move pula.. opening ceremony

Lepas tu ajar them how to brush teeth without toothbrush.. lol.. Tak cukup toothbrush although i bought like 108..

It was bitter sweet to part with them.. cos all were super hyper active who come n grab u when u're giving away sweets.. (imagine feeding fish kat aquarium)

We also got quite close with people from the Klinik Tongod.. had medical checkup there oso

Lepas tu, when free free tu, gotong-royong the whole klinik la..After 2 whole week of hardship, celebrate lo!!Somemore sempat set up fire to BBQ.. Marshmallows were fantastic!!

Tapi tak tau kenapa, on the way back, tayar boleh pancit pula.. lol

Tat pics summarize my 2 weeks of health promotion at Kg Tongod.. Nampak ok je kan with all those modern brick building.. sure la cos i tapis gambar d.. i managed to survive 2 weeks without mirror, drinking white white colour water, bathing white white colour water, experiencing black out everyday, living with all kinds of insects and so on. But we were considered fortunate as we still had electricity supply, proper bed to sleep and even pipe water.. other groups slept on grounds, drank rain water, lived without electricity n fon line.. tu baru drastic kan??

Tat's all for my health promotion la.. banyak gambar lagi.. c la ada masa only upload kat fb la.. nowadays banyak gila with RC la.. restaurant city.. call me childish i don care.. it is fun!! boleh level up all.. lol.. okie la.. dah lambat.. got class tmr at 8 n now sudah hampir mau pukul 2.. nitey nite!! till the next post!! :)