Harvest Festival Day 2 (Pentecost Sunday)

Try to confront one of the ‘giants’ in my life during Canaanland Celebration today but still do not have total victory yet.

Went to 1 Borneo with Sharon Lai, Monica Leong, Janice and Justine Quek.

We had lunch at Michi Japanese Restaurant again. Elizabeth Chung, her mother and elder sister also joined us.

I ordered the Sashimi Set and lobster salad. The sashimi was very fresh as usual but the wasabi seemed to have gone up one notch in terms of spiciness. I got more 'kick' out of it.

Cray fish was being used this time instead of lobster and therefore the size had gone down by about two third. But the salad accompanying the lobster salad tasted delicious.

After lunch, we went to Tune Store. Sales are up to 70% off. I only bought a small handled milk pot so that when I pour out the Japanese Soy Sauce from the bottle, it would not spill out and become wastage before transferring the soy sauce into a small plate to mix with the wasabi.

We went to a few other shops before going to Daiso Japan and I bought a B4 size document holder.

I came home and rested for about 1.5 hours before getting ready for dinner. Sharon, Monica, Elizabeth and I were going to Sam Pok’s Grill at Foo Chow Association for Western food. It is situated to the left of the badminton court, an al fresco dining place. Besides Western food, there is another stall selling fried noodles and rice.

Sharon and I arrived first and we ordered our food to be shared between the two of us – one serving of Lamb Chops with Mushroom Sauce and one serving of Roast Lamb with black pepper sauce.

We finished the Complimentary Mushroom Soup but Monica and Eliz had not arrived yet. Right now there is a promotion going on: the soup is FOC. Otherwise have to pay RM4 per serving. The soup tasted yummy.

After the lamb chops arrived then they appeared.

Monica ordered Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce while Eliz ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Sharon and I preferred the Roast Lamb more than the Lamb Chop, which was on the saltier side. The Roast Lamb did not have any smell at all. It was very soft and the black pepper sauce blended really well with it.

Lamb Chops with Mushroom Sauce

Roast Lamb with Black Pepper Sauce

After dinner, we went to City Mall for window shopping.

Thank you Sharon for the pen from Hong Kong and the small sling bag which I will use to put the water bottle, IC, driver’s licence, mobile phone, digital camera, car and house keys when I go hiking up the hill at Bukit Padang.

Harvest Festival Day 1

I did not do much today. Woke up late since I did not go to dreamland until 2.30a.m.

Was on the internet before having brunch. Just as I finished washing up, Sophia Tsen called up to ask whether I wanted to go to Maple Café for lunch.

I read a bit after lunch but the hot weather made me fell asleep while reading. Had a good snooze before waking up to have two pieces of sandwiches.

Before I went out of the house to go to Bukit Padang, I checked the temperature in my room and it was 31 degrees Celcius.

This time I started hiking using the longer route alone around 4.10p.m. CTY had gone back to Teluk Intan two days ago for twelve days break.

These were the beginning of the stairs leading up to the mini hill which I used last Sunday

The Water World is very near the stairs leading up to the longer route

The stairs leading up to the longer route

The longer route leading up to the mini hill

I reached the top of the mini hill at 4.50p.m. I was still breathing hard but as least I did not feel as tired as using the stairs six days ago. I sweated a lot and my t-shirt was wet.

I rested for about ten minutes at the top of the mini hill before hiking up the top.

The longer route leading up to the top

These old men said hello to me as they were going downhill using the longer route

View at almost the top

I arrived at the top at 5.20p.m. and rested for about ten minutes before going downhill using the longer route I came up from, instead of using the stairs as I did last Sunday.

View at the top

View at the top

View at the top

Going downhill

I met Dr. Christine Lee’s dad as I was about to reach the top of the mini hill. He is such a fit gentleman, 69y.o. who goes hiking almost everyday and each time hiked around five times up the mini hill using the stairs and to the top as well. On April Fool’s Day this year, he conquered Mt. Kinabalu again. I forgot to ask him how many times he has been up there but I'm sure Chris can answer that.

Further on I met Ar. Steven Fung’s wife (forgot her name) and their son. We chatted a bit.

Sunset as I was about to reach downhill

As I proceeded to go down hill from the mini hill using the longer route I came up from, I met Robert Sheen. I chatted with him the longest.

Once again I thank God I do not feel tired and my body is not painful.

Happy Harvest Festival

Exactly a year ago Adam Barclay came to visit me and we went to so MANY places to EAT.

This year we Sabahans will have tomorrow off and Monday as a replacement holiday for Sunday.

I will be taking it easy and hope to be able to do the following the next three days.

1. Go hiking again (weather permitting)

2. Dining with friends

3. Bowling session with friends

4. Catch up on some reading

5. Catch up on some sleep

Happy holidays.

Mum in UK

Tips from an Old-Timer

Ir. Foo called me today re. work. But before we talked about work, we chatted about our meeting as we were going down the hill at Bukit Padang two days ago.

He said he was surprised to see me since he had never seen me there before. I told him that was my first time and he congratulated me for being able to make it up there. He said he knows a lot of people who could not make it.

He also gave me tips on the routes, timing, duration, exercise, etc. He is really an old-timer going up there and he is so fit.

Painless

CTY is SO SURPRISED I am painless after our hiking at Bukit Padang yesterday.

At first I bluffed and told him that I was in pain but when he found out that just like James, I do not feel any pain at all, he could not believe me.

(James went up the hill for the first time with CTY after CTY dropped Choo and I off at the airport on Wesak Day)

And some people are SO SURPRISED that I could actually make it up there. To them, I must be totally unfit to do such a feat.

Mum in UK

Hiking at Bukit Padang

I really did not feel like going hiking with CTY today as the weather was extremely hot. I was already sweating at home without even going outside. But he said that the trees are able to provide shades for me.

I wore my new Nike socks, shoes and T-shirt. The new pants will have to wait next time round since I wanted to carry a lot of stuff ie. mobile phone, digital camera, IC and driver’s licence with me and therefore wore shorts with pockets.

I let CTY walked ahead since he has been hiking lots of times up the hill. I passed some people and others also passed by me. From the start, I was breathing quite heavily.

CTY was waiting for me to go up the stairs at the mini hill. I saw some people using another route but I used the stairs. I made a really bad decision. I was panting and breathing extremely hard as I went up. I had to stop and rest for a few times as well.

When I reached the top of the stairs at the mini hill, CTY said my face was all red. That is expected as I always had red face when I exercised in the past. I rested while CTY went up to the top. At first I did not want to go up to the top but I did not want to give up so easily.

Top of mini hill

I decided to hike up slowly and used the longer route. I knew I would not make it up the top if I had used the stairs simply because the stairs are built too far apart for my short legs. I would become easily tired like what had happened to me when I was climbing up the mini hill.

CTY texted me to encourage me. Thanks buddy.

I stopped a few times to admire the sceneries as I was hiking up the top and also to take a breather. I did not want to overstrain my body and at any time I thought my body could not take it anymore, I would turn back.

The journey up to the top seemed to take me forever but nonetheless I made it up there. I really thank God for the strength and I have to say I honestly thought I would not be able to make it to the top.

The view at the top was worth all the sweat and energy wasted. It was really a sight to behold and esp. to see the sun shining down onto the South China Sea.

The funny thing was when I reached the top, CTY was nowhere to be found or seen. I texted him and he said he had gone down. He wanted to come back up but I told him to wait for me at the top of the mini hill.

These bikers are carrying up the bike with them. Kudos to them

When I turned around, I saw Dr. Kiew Chik Sang. And moments later Ir. & Mrs. Fung Yin Kyun also reached the top. The men gave this rookie some advice since they are old-timers. I let them continued to chat while I proceeded to go down hill.

I wanted to go down hill using the longer route but both men stopped me on my track and told me to use the stairs with some additional advice from the doctor.

While going down hill using the stairs, I also saw Ir. Foo Ming Chiu going down. He went down so fast whereas I had to use both legs touching on each stair.

After meeting CTY at the top of the mini hill, we went down using the longer route. Of course going down hill was such a breeze.

Taken from the carpark. That was the hill we hiked up

We went to Recipe House to buy a tube of wasabi for our sushi dinner before going home.

I am glad to say I do not feel tired but I may feel differently tomorrow morning.