Trip to Sabah (Day 4)

Morning came and the room was already bustling with activities at 7 in the morning. By tonight, we would be staying at Mesilau Nature Resort. The owner of the lodge offered the storeroom to us to put all our things that we don’t want to take up Mount Kinabalu. When we joined each other at the lobby, it turned out that my luggage is the largest! Well, it isn’t my fault that others wear the same clothes for several days… yuck :P

Anyway, since the lodge owner promised to bring us to eat afterwards, we did not have any breakfast. We were also joined by a couple from Guangdong, China. The couple was just going to pay a visit to the canopy walk at Poring and was not planning to climb Mount Kinabalu (The couple called it Mountain of Gods... directly translated from Cantonese). Since we did pester the owner to bring us to Poring Hot Spring which was not in the initial plans, he told us to follow the couple before we settle down at Mesilau… free of charge!

A quick snapshot of the "Mountain of Gods" from afar

After about an hour in the van, we reached the place where we would have our breakfast. It’s a tiny and old kopitiam shop called “Wun Chiap” (Gathering Clouds). I must say that the fried noodles, which it is famous for, are better than expected. The rest of the team were “oooh”ing and “aaahhh”ing that other patrons were staring at us wondering if we did not have food for days. You can actually taste the “wok chi” (a Chinese term for something that is cooked using a wok) in the mee. The pork slices were really tantalizing and surprisingly sweet. The chilies that they served were also nicely mixed too. It’s not a normal chili paste… instead, they added lime into it and it was very appetizing even though the chili was extremely hot. It was really a thumbs-up noodle, but if the chef were to use wantan noodles, it would even better!

Restaurant of Gathering Clouds

Mouth-watering fried noodles


Cloud-capped mountain shot...

We were also introduced to the new driver who will be driving us to the Poring Hot Spring. Soon, we were on our way to Poring. We made some stops in between to take some pictures, but it was very sunny outside and I took a few pictures only before scrambling back inside the van. It was noon when we reached our destination. Actually, our main objective was to soak our feet in hot spring water, but since the Chinese nationals were going to take the canopy walk there, we decided to join them… just as a warm-up exercise before our major climb.

We had to pay for the entrance fee ourselves, but foreign tourists have to pay extra (don’t remember how much already.). We forked out the money and then we were told that we have to pay extra if we want to take pictures inside. So, we decided to use my (super-duper, powerful, perfect) camera and paid an extra RM5.

At first, the path was no different from the one that I used for my pre-hike training. There were stone steps that lead us higher and higher. The jungle was quite dense, which is really strange, because a canopy forest should have stunted plants near the ground. A real canopy is where the top of the tall trees would be so close together that it forms a floor of leaves and branches at the top. Thus, there would be very small amount of sunlight that reaches the ground, resulting in stunted plants.

The trailing group...

The demons of a thousand year old tree :P

Anyway, after about 15 minutes or so, we finally reached the top and we started to cross over the top of the trees on a hanging bridge. The bridges looked quite sturdy but it swung and creaked like mad when we walk over it. We took lots of pictures of ourselves crossing the bridge. If I remembered correctly, there were almost ten bridges that we had to cross before reaching the end. One of our team members secretly flipped out his camera and started to take pictures. In just a minute, one of the attendants came over to us and told us to pay another extra RM5 for using an extra camera. That man has eyes of an eagle! As for the scenery, well, as you know, I’m no nature enthusiast but it feels great walking on top of the trees… it would have been much better if the trees form an actual canopy… then it would be walking on another layer of forest floor.

Posing in the bridge... is that wood cracking sound?

End of trail...

Pretty soon, we were on our way down and we finished the track in around one hour. We were told that we had to start our journey to Mesilau by 2pm. It was around 1pm at that time and so we quickly find a secluded pool and opened the tap to fill it up with hot spring water. I had always thought that hot spring water we filled up in a rock pool where people sit inside to enjoy the water and a lion head pouring out the hot spring water (watched too much Japanese TV serials). However, the hot spring in Poring looked very artificial. It looked more like a water tank than a pool :P. Besides, it was scorching that day and thus it was not really a good time to enjoy hot spring water. However, this is the first time I ever been to a hot spring, so I have nothing to compare… but it would be great if I were to immerse myself in the hot spring water in a cold, windy day. Due to the time constraint (and really slow water), we managed to fill the tub up to our ankles before we had to go.

This is nothing like the ones in Japanese series at all :(

This is how a hot spring should look like...

The main reason we had to leave the hot spring early was because the driver told us that somewhere, a rafflesia was found. We were told that a rafflesia would be in full bloom for seven days before it dies and that day was the fifth day! We went to the place and were told that the entrance fee was RM20 per person!!! Well, since it is rare to see a rafflesia in full bloom (isn’t there any rafflesia park anyway?); we decided to choose three people to go… including myself.

The rafflesia was not located in a park. It was actually located in the wilds in some jungle. I guess whoever found it can claim it to be theirs and start to take entrance fees kua. Up close, the rafflesia was not really that majestic… but then again, as I have said, I have never been a nature enthusiast. No matter how I smell, I did not smell any of the famed pungent smell of a rafflesia. The tips of its petals were already beginning to shrivel and had a black tinge in it. We took a lot of pictures from every possible angle. The Chinese nationals who also came with us said that they would flash the camera flashlight at the rafflesia until it died due to exposure :P.

Rafflesia... king of flowers

A dead rafflesia...

It was already 2pm when we decided to finally leave the poor parasite alone. Then, it started to drizzle too! We ran all the way back to the van which was waiting for us outside. Then, one of my friends noticed that the guide who took us to see rafflesia was wearing a pair of “Kampung Adidas” that she had been looking for all over KK. It was said that the shoes were very good for climbing Mt. Kinabalu. So, they went with the guide to a shop that sells those shoes. I think it was RM6~RM7 per pair Sadly, I could not find the right size for my feet… but then again, I have always trusted my super expensive Nike shoes.

I think the driver was already bristling with impatience when we finally were ready to go. It was already 2:30pm at that time… and was raining heavily. Just then, I realized that we did not have lunch yet. Of course, none of us dared to ask the driver to take us to some place to have lunch. Instead, we took out our tit-bits and started munching all the way to Mesilau.

Unfortunately, it was not that smooth. After a 30 minute drive, the traffic became congested! We were wondering if there is an accident in front since there should not be that many cars going uphill. Soon, we found out that all the cars were jammed at petrol stations along the way! We had not read newspapers in days and so we began to speculate whether the government decided that a 40% hike a week ago was not enough… but then again, the government always announces petrol hike news in the evening.

So, we started to sms our friends back in the peninsula. You have no idea how ignorant people are for those who were working in the office :P. I had to message my third friend before managing to get a clear, precise story. According to my friend, there was news that the petrol stations are all going on strike for a week! Wow, that is really a crisis that I have never encountered. The whole economy would come to a standstill if this happens. But then again, it has nothing to do with me :P. I have already filled up my petrol tank before coming to Sabah and by the time I reached Peninsula, the strike would have ended.

However, what concerned me the most is that we might not make it to the Mesilau Resort in time. We were told that the reception closes at certain time, unlike KL hotels which opens 24 hours. After we finally got past the jam, another problem cropped up. We were stop by the tourism police! Never realized that there are such polices. We were flagged down and the person in charge asked the driver if we were friends or tourists. Apparently, if a company is driving tourists around in Sabah, need to use a company van… with logos and all. The van that we were sitting in was just a plain, normal van, while the tourism officer said that the van should have the company logo and also with the words “Van Perlancongan” (Tourism Van) or something like that… I forgot the exact term already because I did not pay much attention :P. Anyway, they talked for a very long time before the driver was let go with a warning. I think he got a ticket too… not sure… didn’t dare to ask.

Anyway, we did reach the place in time and it was beautiful! I have always wished Malaysia to have weather like Genting Highlands and this is like that, except that it was much, much colder and there were less people.

The girls were already shivering when the got down from the car. For me, the temperature is just right. The surroundings were foggy and there were flowers and trees at every nook and corner of the resort. This is what paradise would look like… of course, a little bit more entertainment outlets won’t hurt :P.

Pose by not models... :P

Pose by a model :P

Immediately, we checked ourselves in and register at another counter for tomorrow’s climb. We say our goodbyes to the China couple and the driver and dragged our bags uphill to the far end of the resort. The place that we were staying in was a large dorm. There were four rooms and each room has six to eight double-decker beds. Luckily, we did not have to share the dorm rooms with other people and so we sort of use two beds… one to put our stuff and one to sleep in :P.

We were told that the dinner buffet would start at 7pm and it was only around 5:30pm. Since the girls were already shivering and I actually heard one’s teeth chattering, they immediately unpack their stuff and rushed off to the bathrooms. Apparently, the bathroom used an old type of water heater in which they need to boil the water first before hot water is available. Thus, we had to turn on the switches for water heater for the bathrooms and waited a while before hot water was available.

Luckily, the water was already half-boiled and thus we did not need to wait for long for the water to be completely heated up. If my theory is correct, the hot water will not come out as long as it wasn’t ready. You can’t just boil the water half way and use it… all that will come out is cold water. The resulting hot water was scalding hot. If you did not turn on the cold water first and jump headfirst into the hot water, you would be having third degree burns. Soon, the girls were humming happily in their showers. After 10 minutes or so, we heard a loud piercing scream from the bathrooms and we ran over there thinking that maybe a snake had slithered in (which is possible because the dorm is near the forest) and only then, we found out that the hot water ran out and so, the girls were bathing in ice-cold water! So, next time, please time yourself when bathing there.

Our room...

Our kitchen...

Our living room...

Our bathrooms...

After that, we played cards to wait for our dinner time and when our watches showed 6:45pm, we started to walk to the main building that housed the restaurant. When we reached there, the waitress actually told us that there will be no buffet! Instead, the cook will be serving several dishes to us. We were feeling really moody at that time… cold shower and no buffet!

Since we are all civilized bunch, we just nodded and took our places. One of us did demand that if we were not full after the dinner we would be ordering extra things to eat free of charge. The waitress gave a shrug and left us.

We were expecting the worst when the waitress started to serve the dishes. Surprisingly, there were two dishes for every type! When the waitress came returned with the fourth type of dish, we were already starting to forgive them for not serving buffet. We were shocked when she came back again and again. Finally, when she stopped coming back, there were 6 types of food totaling 12 dishes!

From the beginning, we were each given a bowl of soup. It was a bean curd, salted vegetable soup. It was not too salty and it made us even hungrier than before! Then, the main dishes came. First, came the vegetables. I don’t really know how to identify vegetables, but it was crunchy and sweet. Then, came the spicy sotong. The sotong (squid) were quite fresh, it was also mildly spicy, perking up our appetite. The third dish was beef. I did not try it, but it was said to be very good and the meat was nicely done. Afterwards, came the mixed vegetables. It contains lots of other vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, etc. Then, the waitress served the chicken. It was cooked with dark beans and it was quite tasty as well. The chicken was juicy and tender and the black beans brought an aromatic flavour to the chicken. The final dish that came was another type of vegetables. I really had no idea what it was… look at the picture and identify it yourself. It was not spicy despite the chilis, but it felt like eating grass... the others however enjoyed it. Well, I did mention that my group is filled with strange people, didn't I? :P

After we have finished the main dishes, the waitress came with fruits. Well, it was not anything grand like fruit salad, but the fruits they used were of really high quality. They were sweet (natural sweet, not sweetened by sugar) and juicy. Even the pineapple was sweet enough for me to put in my mouth… I usually avoid pineapples because whenever I eat it, my tongue would start to feel rough due to the salty nature of the pineapples. No one could eat another mouthful when we were done with our dinner.

Waiting for dinner to be served...

Starters...

Plain rice...

Supposed to be very nice beef...

Spicy squids...

Nice, green vege...

Chicken cooked with black beans...

Mixed vege...

No idea what it is...

Poses by gluttons... :P

Really sweet and juicy fruits...

We chatted until around 9pm and started to walk back to our dorm. It was starting to get windy but we were all warmed by the food and thus none complained of getting cold. The girls were very worried because if they find the cold unbearable here, then surely they would be frozen still at a place that is 2km higher than Mesilau! Anyway, back in the dorm, we continued our chats on our bed and soon, lesser and lesser people took part in the conversation and the last thing I remembered was a snoring sound from one of the OTHER beds…