OH btw, we brought all our clothes and stuff and hiked up with them in our bag. I think that was why she packed so light............ We could've gotten a porter but we saved on that. (the people there actually hike the mountain every day. the food we had at our buffet? every damn day, people would hike up to deliver the ingredients. you should watch them, they're crazy good - sacks of rice. just imagine... i'll leave you to imagine..) 

So yes, if you need to train for this, I suggest you jolly well train for it. We climbed Bukit Timah Hill twice but of cos that hill is nothing compared to this hahaha. 

At this point, we were told that we may not be able to hike up to the summit because of the weather. It was raining and it could be dangerous since we had to climb up by tugging on ropes. We left it to the rain gods to decide. I prepared myself mentally that the hike to the summit may not happen.

Eventually we got up at 2am, had a good supper, and were delivered the good news. And we began our hike with the rest of the hikers who stayed at Laban Rata.

By this time, I had lost Suxin. We went our separate ways. She was with our guide while I went on alone. I felt bad of course leaving her but separate we had to. 

And I was a bit frightened that I'd lose my way if I continued without our guide. I almost reached out to someone who was ahead of me but didn't. 

Eventually, it was the kindness of strangers who once again, saved the day. Who saved my day. It was a big group of young Malaysians and one of them reached out to me and asked, 

"Hey, where's your friend?" 

"I don't know!"

"Do you want to join us?"

"That would be nice~~~"

BIG SMILES ALL OVER.

When day broke,

Remember, we climbed 6km the day before, so our legs were tired as. But we still had to continue on with this. And continue we did.

Again, I was singing "One Step at a Time" to myself over and over. What would I do without you Jordin Sparks. 

And eventually.....

E-VEN-CHU-AH-LEE

Admittedly, I was judging them the day before cos they were making such a ruckus. And perhaps well, you just naturally want to compare yourselves with people who are about the same age as you are.

But I was so wrong and they were my angelssss.

Particularly these two:

They were with me at every step of the way while hiking up to that summit and while we were climbing down as well. My brothers from a different mother :')

Xiangxi was particularly funny lah, he kept making sure that I had enough photos. I told him I didn't need any but he was insistent with his DSLR and here are some of what he got:

Soon, the fog started clearing while we were heading down at around 8am... 

And nature never seizes to amaze me. You are so big and beautiful my loveeee.

Yet, while we were heading up to the summit, I constantly wondered why humans would do this to themselves and to nature? Why interfere with these things when they should be left alone, as they should be....

Sigh, life's contradictions. 

Soon after....

We were going down slowly because the two dudes were waiting for some of their friends, while I was waiting for my friend as well. Eventually she caught up and also made it to the summit!!!!! Good job my friend, you were brave.

She was in a really bad shape when I found her though, freezing her ass off. Seriously I couldn't nag at her more than I already did. Her leggings....... and she was only wearing a t-shirt fffff!!!!! I forced her to put on layers despite her constant, "nvm lah!" NEVERMIND. Wah, I told her, "eh i rather not climb this than have you dead ok"

By 9:30am, we had our proper breakfast, checked out at 10am before making our way all the way back down the mountain.

Yeah everything felt super quick and fast. No time to properly savour the moment.

By this time, I was also really exhausted. Plus, I had only an hour's worth of sleep the night before. But go down we had to.

We were told, it'd take us 3 hours to get down from Laban Rata hut. Boy oh boy, going down sounds easy, but man, I hated going down. I can't decide whether going down or up was more painful. I think for me, whilst going down, I was mentally drained already and my body dreaded every step I took. Knees bang bang. Excruciating.

But unlucky Suxin... at the 2.5km mark, she fell and sprained her ankle. Man, it was painful to see her in pain. But we trudged on, and with her super positive spirit, it wasn't so bad. She decided not to be ported down, which means to be carried down by a guide, because 1km = RM350. That's like. Daylight robbery. I told her, I'll fork it if you're in too much pain. She pressed on inspite of the pain. She da real MVP yo. 

Estimated 3 hours, turned into a 6 hour hike down - the same amount of time it took for us to go up - and it was evening by the time we arrived at the foot of the mountain. What's amazing is once again, the kindness of strangers. There was a Singaporean man in his late 50s who helped her out. Ex-medic who worked in the army. What were the odds eh? Singaporean spirit at its best :')

When I first arrived in Sabah, I lamented that I wished Singaporeans were like the Sabahans... friendly and warm. But this took me by surprise and I think my own people have the capacity to help and be gracious in times of need as well. And it feels really good to have witnessed it.

---

Now before I end my post,

let me share with you a beautiful passage that I saw at the Laban Rata hut. It stared right at me on our first night there and I read it aloud with my CNA voice for Suxin hahah

In case the picture isn't very clear...

Again, I'm not religious, but I can be deeply spiritual in my own ways and beliefs in the world.

And it's poignant to describe life as an analogy, one that I truly believe in as well. And just imagine having climbed that mountain and reaching the hut to see this quote. It is a beautiful feeling.

At a time when 2016 hasn't been the best of years. Both for the society that we live in (Brexit and Trump's win) and my own personal life as I'm still figuring out how to navigate in a world that can be so noisy, and pessimistic and sometimes uninspiring... It's nice to read something like that and know that everything will be okay. It's a long road ahead, but take a moment to breathe. Otherwise the world would've passed right beneath my nose and life wouldn't be worth living.

For some strange reason, after returning from this climb and my trip to KL for the ASEAN forum (which I blogged about right before this post), I've become a lot less lethargic. The past months at work, I must say my concentration levels were very low. Perhaps because I was trying to get used to a new environment and my focus was off. But now, my energy levels are at an all-time high. I can focus and think better. And I'm getting better at work. Writing is sharper.

It's like the body woke up. And climbing this made me realise... Gees, I'm healthy and I've got legs and a perfectly good body. I'm still so young, I've my whole life ahead of me to do the things I really want to do. There are so much more adventures ahead and I want to embark on as many as I can till the end of my life.

And it is a life very much worth living. 

What made this trip better, even though expectations weren't met, was making friends along the way and learning from people. 

On my flight back, Suxin and I were seated apart and I sat beside this man who was in his late 50s. He started talking to me and when he knew I had just started working, he had a few lessons for me:

1) Don't keep banging your head at work (haha literal mandarin translation i'll explain later)

2) Learn as many languages as you can

3) Invest your money and let it grow on its own

4) Let go of grievances with people

He said in this day and age, academic smarts will not get you far. Doing well at what you do is not the only way (which explains the banging head), you need to strategise and talk to people. Make as many friends as possible because everyone has something to offer. See the good, not just the bad in people. He also believes that the more languages you know, the more marketable you are. Which I don't deny, especially in my line of work. Also, to weather bad times, you must learn to invest so that you've at least something to fall back on - well, I have zero biz sense so this won't be put to use any time soon hahah.

Finally, we must learn to forgive people for whatever they've done to you. There's no point in holding on to grudges, it'll only make our lives a lot more dull. 

Some lessons from my flight home. Always enlightening when you have conversations with strangers. And I like to take it that it must've been fate to have brought us together.

The climb was a good one, and I'm already looking forward to the next ;-)

p/s if you've any questions about the climb, and you're preparing for one, feel free to comment, leave a tag or email me! happy to help.

p/p/s i can't wait for 2016 to be over already!! christmas is coming! and then happy new yearrrr whoop.

When asked if I could head over to be part of the dialogue, I jumped on it without really doing much research (as the great journalist that i am). Have always had a vested interest in the ASEAN region (i mean c'mon i chose to travel sea for 2 whole months!! haha) and so accepting the invitation only came natural to me.

We first landed in KL on Sunday and checked in to Grand Seasons Hotel.

Malaysia Boleh... hahah i couldn't stop raving about Msia but seriously i mean other than the twin towers... the rainbowwww :')

Sunday was for settling in and then Monday was the day of the conference. 

By this time, I still wasn't sure who or which organisation was in-charge of it and what would happen after the conference.... Nobody said anything and I was told nothing. All I knew was that it was a conference that'd contribute to discussions on improving the lives of young ASEAN women and yada yada. 

Until...

The speaker for the Opening Address and GOH was... Ms Sharizat Abdul Jalil, Chairlady of UMNO's Women Wing and former Minister of Women, Family and Community Development. (Quite a mouthful and wow, msia's ahead of us in championing women's rights eh?)

So yes, it was organised by UMNO. The G of Malaysia. Gees. This is big, I thought to myself. And look at the media frenzy. It was quite crazy with everyone vying to take a selfie, yes specifically a selfie, with her. The selfie game is strong in Malaysia. I.... I just.... cannot.

Well, that's not to say that we had our own photo as well haha.

I mean in Singapore, if Ministers attend an event, it's pretty huge. Every day in the newsroom I'm writing or reading about this Minister doing this or that at whatever event. And it's considerably big and newsworthy... also for obvious reasons...

And this wasn't the only Minister who attended the conference...... continue reading to the end of this.

A lot of people we met, or rather, almost all of the Malaysians who attended the conference were linked to one political party or another. And of course for BN.

So what did we do at the Pink Dialogue?? (i know... pink......?)

We were told that we'd be split into groups to talk about the different spheres in the ASEAN society namely, Politics & Leadership, Social and the Economy, and to come to a resolution after thinking up initiatives to combat challenges faced by ASEAN women.

And then we were told that whatever resolution that's drafted will be sent to their PM, Najib Razak. Impressive. Slightly skeptical, but always keeping an open mind.

So the three of us were split and I got "Economy". I am not at all wise about econs but well, I still tried to give my two cents' worth any ways.

The session lasted for a whole 4 hours, just debating and presenting our ideas. By the end of it, I couldn't help but wish it were more robust. Granted, this was I believe, their very first conference. I think the framework and analytical tools guiding the discussions could have been better. Also, perhaps there weren't enough thought leaders in our midst - most of them were University students from the different SEA countries who hadn't got a grasp of the issues in our society. Perhaps, more work could've been done before to ensure preparation. Research at least. More planning before the conference could've been executed. Even our itinerary came in late.

Or it could also be the nature of conferences. Sometimes, I think conferences are mainly for people to meet... less of a platform for concrete action or change and more of a get-to-know/friendly session. I guess that's why in JC, we'd always talk about the effectiveness of ASEAN. Or even the UN, where things don't actually get done. It's a lot of talk and no action. Or there's no specific outcome of these talks.

Even at Oxford, where I attended the Southeast Asia Conference... I thought discussions could be facilitated better. And I also sensed an elitist bubble that bred amongst academics. I mean, yes, issues that were discussed at conferences were delved into and surely, there were a lot of sharing of ideas and information among academics. But. But... what happens after that? It just felt like the very people who are supposed to benefit from the research aren't getting anything out of these conferences. That's why I kinda understand why people sense pomposity from academics in general because to truly understand people, you must interact with people, and ideas must be translated into action. But that's stuck somewhere along the pipeline. Isn't it ironic? It's like a cloud of ignorance over a group of people who are supposed to be spreading awareness to the general masses.

Or perhaps that's basically the job of an academic? To do research and nothing more? Then there must be someone or something that provides that arm to move things along.

Nevertheless, I still think conferences are important to have. An avenue for different people with different ideas to come together and communicate. And perhaps, that's the basis of it all because differences themselves are already so difficult to deal with - in geography, culture, personalities... What more, issues? I suppose different regions have their way of doing things. I'm sure there are problems with the EU as well. ASEAN feels more of a relationship-centric body for foreign delegates to build trust first. A confidence-building platform.

Speaking of cultural, after the round of discussions, it was Cultural Night that evening.

All dressed up Was wearing a sarong kebaya my colleague gave to me.

On our way to the tourism cultural centre

:)

We were treated to a sumptuous feast and a show of cultural dances.
It was funnnnn. And of course once again, we were wondering if that actually was the focus of the whole conference haha.

But of course, we got to know so many others from around the region.

Annisa from Indonesia! She's so funny, reminds me of Atheena haha.

Here with Shakira as well who's actually Singaporean but studying in Malaysia majoring in Arabic Studies. I thought that was cool.

Then there were Thai, Cambodian, Myanmar and Bruneian delegates as well.
There was also another group of Singaporean delegates that represented National Youth Achievement Awards.

Met a Malaysian friend after the event. I only just knew him a week ago when I went on a climbing expedition to Mount Kinabalu (!!!! which i've yet blogged about, but i will, most definitely)


The next day was the closing ceremony of the event.

Blue skies greeted us, and my ever so lovely twin towers staring right back at me.

Singapore's just raining every day eh? So chilly...

Soon after breakfast, we had to head to the ballroom for their closing ceremony.

And the speech was made by -

Minister of Defence, Hishammuddin Hussein

He was the ultimate superstar at the event - touted to be the next PM of Malaysia. And if you remember, he fronted the cameras when MH370 went down. Press con after press con when he was the Minister of Transport. Not easy.

But again, ironic because so many of the women in the room were gushing over him. Strange to see all the ovaries exploding when it's a dialogue championing women's rights haha.

Ladies of ASEAN (who are hopefully gonna make this world a better place to live in)

After the ceremony, we had a flight to catch back home.

Said our goodbyes to our lovely Malaysian counterpart, Syazrin, who treated us so well

On our flight home... I couldn't stop staring out the window.

I felt a certain peace.. and calm.
And I felt really emotional for some reason I don't know why. Maybe that's why I love hiking up mountains cos I feel like I'm on top of the world, yet there's a sense of quiet stillness within. A very powerful feeling actually and I came back home feeling energised, inspired and ready to rumble.

Next up, gonna come back to blog about my Kinabalu experience. It was tiring as hell and we didn't have the best weather conditions but still, extremely memorable :-)

Till then, it's me the ASEAN lady over and out. Ready to do some real work in the real world.