Travel Wishlist

Most people say that their dream is to earn lots of money, retire and travel the world. Me too! Only difference is: My aim is to travel at least once a year.

So far I've been to:

• Thailand - Bangkok
• Singapore
• Australia - Melbourne, Sydney
• Fiji
• Indonesia - Bali
• New Caledonia

Planned trips:

• Australia - Gold Coast
• USA - Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego
• Venezuela

Possible trips:

• France - Paris, Nice, Cannes
• Italy - Venice, Rome, Napoli
• Germany - Berlin, Munich
• Praha - Czech Republic
• Hungary - Budapest
• Greece - Athens, Santorini, Thessaloniki
• Spain - Valencia, Ibiza, Barcelona, Madrid
• Netherlands - Amsterdam
• New Zealand

Wish list:

• Mexico - Chichen Itza, Cancun
• USA - New York, Miami, Yellowstone National Park, Mount Rushmore
• Canada - Niagara Falls
• Eygpt
• India
• China - Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai
• Mongolia
• Thailand - Chiang Mai
• Vietnam - Ha Long Bay
• Laos - Ventiene, Vang Vieng
• Denmark - Copenhagen
• Morocco
• Turkey
• Chile - Easter Islands, Santiago
• Spain - Seville, Lisboa
• Kenya
• who am I kidding, this list will never end

Kota Kinabalu

In 2010, my mother and I joined my father at his company's Kinabalu trip. I've been to Kota Kinabalu before, thus the sole aim of the trip was to conquer the mountain. Most people choose to stay at the base of the mountain a day before the climb, and make their way to the park entrance early the next day.

Sunset, a day before the climb.

Bird nests at our motel

We woke up at 6am for breakfast, and headed to the entrance to collect our tags. You normally have to book your climb a few months ahead to secure a spot. The first few hours of the hike were relatively pain-free, apart from the occasional drizzle. 

After 3 hours or so, we reached this checkpoint for lunch.

Standard lunch packs are given out to climbers. The bread is stale, and the chicken looks dry. Not an easy meal to wolf down, so it would be better to bring your own stash of nuts and cereal bars.

At the 4.0 kilometers mark

As you go further up the mountain, the scenery starts to change. This is my favourite part of the climb, because the trees look like they belong in an enchanted forest or something.

Finally, we reached Laban Rata at 3.30pm for a hot beverage and some rest.

We had to get up at 3am the next day to prepare for the next leg of the climb. I was sleepy, having a slight fever, and freezing my ass off. My family and another older couple were suppose to have a guide, but unfortunately the older woman couldn't make it 1km past the lodge. The tour guide stayed with her, and we carried on.

Being in the dark messes up your judgement on the steepness of the path. In reality the ground was probably not more than a 30 degree incline, but to us it felt much more than that. My mother and I stupidly held on to the guide ropes for dear life as we crawled up. Being deathly afraid of heights, I prayed that I wouldn't fall to my death, which made the climb a hundred times scarier. I fully blame the woman for depriving us of our guide.

The view at the top makes the climb completely worth it.

With my mom

You get a colourful certificate in the end for your efforts.

USA Trip - Planning

So back in December last year, Enrique and I were discussing holiday plans for 2012. The original plan was to have his parents come to Australia for a month or two, then perhaps make a trip to Bali or Thailand. I LOVE THAILAND! But it is quite expensive for them to stay here for more than 2 months without working, so that plan was scrapped.

Plan #2 was to go to.....NEW YORK! I've always wanted to go there, seeing as it's the location for most tv series, movies etc. That plan fell through when we realized winter in NYC would be too cold for Enrique;s mom.

Plan #3  - Los Angeles
We are going to spend a month in LA, and make short trips to Las Vegas, San Francisco, and San Diego. The costs for flight tickets, accommodation, and activities so far is already $3,300. Help! Will probably spend 2k or so on food and shopping.

Here is a list of things I'm looking forward to:

• Beaches! -Malibu, Laguna, Venice; all the beaches with beautiful bodies of struggling actors mmmmm
• Theme parks - Disneyland, Six Flags Magic Mountain
• San Diego zoo - supposed to be one of the best zoos in the world
• Shopping at Las Vegas outlets, Melrose Ave
• Celebrity spotting - would really like to attend live filming if I can
• Grand Canyon @ Nevada
• All the landmarks/casinos at Las Vegas
• Alcatraz
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Castro ST @ San Francisco - gay neighbourhood whoohoo