Chap Goh Meh

Finally, it's the last day of the lunar new year celebration.

This year, we made the daring decision to celebrate with the in-laws in Penang, anticipating traffic in grid-lock on the NSE. To our pleasant surprise, we think we have crack the code to avoid the perennial traffic jam.

Travel up 2 days before CNY & return on the 2nd day. traffic was generally smooth & Rest Stops weren't packed like sardines.

We were also pleasantly surprised the food stalls started operating on the 2nd day itself but that came with a premium of RM1 over the regular price (RM5).

Looks like everyone's out to make a quick buck at every possible opportunity. Talk about veg, fish (esp white pomfret) and prawns before CNY.

But I say, live & let live lah - hard times are coming & everyone's going to be affected.

Symmetry

There's no doubt New Zealand is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and the South Island is where many tourists will spend most of their vacation.

My friends and colleagues are just puzzled why, having been to NZ 5 times, I still have not been to the South. And I keep repeating there's so many sights to behold in the North. Last year, my daughter and I trekked the Mt Taranaki trail at Egmont National Park in the North. It is one of the most symmetrical mountains in the world & because it resembles Mt Fuji, it was used as location shooting for the movie The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise.

And no, I am not ready for the South just yet.

Never been overseas

Thailand, 1984

Other than Singapore, I have never travelled overseas until med school is over. Four of us took on this ambitious 2week self-planned tour of Thailand, as a reward for passing out as medics.

We got a ride from Penang into Haadyai with a friend & stayed with him as he showed us around town as well as a day out to Songkla.

But the real trip began when we ventured ourselves into Bangkok by bus, asking for help & directions from what little Thai we learned from guide books. No mobile phones, internet, Google maps or Agoda...it doesn't get any more basic than that.

So, we made our way to Grand Palace & Floating Market & watched a Thai boxing-cum-cultural show, all this on a shoestring 50baht-a-nite guesthouses.

Took the overnite bus to Chiangmai, & went on a boat ride on the Mekong river by Burma's border to Chiangrai, the northernmost Thai town, just for the fun of it. Watched natives smoke opium, kids beg for money & girls dance on bartops. That was the closest to anything naughty we ever did...scouts' honour. Nope, not for us the tiger shows, no siree!

That was the 1st & last time we travelled together. 2 months later, we were posted to different parts of the country to begin our new lives as working adults.

Mt Kinabalu

This is the Big Event of my year so far. Last August, my walking buddy told me of a vacancy in his group going up to Mt K in April this year. Having been mulling about doing the climb for some years, I jumped at the opportunity to realise this dream.

We started training by climbing the local hill (vertical ascent 140m) & despite carrying backpacks of 7kgs, it was far short of the 8km trail & 3200m vertical ascent of the real thing. But it was better than not hike training.

There were 6 of us in this group. They had originally planned for 2015 but the earthquake put paid to that. So, after a 2-hour bus ride from Kota Kinabalu, we finally arrived at the park HQ in Ranau, which is already 1800m above sea level. We will spend a nite here & the adventure starts the next day.....