{"id":2024,"date":"2023-03-13T07:40:14","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T07:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=2024"},"modified":"2023-04-10T13:57:50","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T13:57:50","slug":"sabbatical-week-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=2024","title":{"rendered":"Sabbatical Week 14"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Opening<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This week’s update was delayed due to in part I was in the jungle and I was extremely busy (I climbed the highest mountain in the entire South East Asia!) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, this was also the highlight of my entire trip so far! Sabah and Malaysia in general are underrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Said goodbye to the beloved Mulu National park, and headed towards Kota Kinabalu<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Boarding – (flight was $59.07)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Aerial view of the part office and the village<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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a massive bridge. (Jambatan Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Arriving<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Popular islands near KK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Checked into my hostel. I had an ocean view and private room for myself for the day. After the jungle, I deserved it \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From my room ($11.87 only!)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s Sunday and it meant it was also the Sunday market. Can’t help but got seafood treatment<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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lobsters (It’s about 200RM for one)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Steamed grouper! only 50RM for entire fish!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We also ordered a couch, for a total of 270RM! The fish was absolutely declious!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We went to the water front after dinner to enjoy the sunrise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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$6.32<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Of course, beer tower. 25RM each<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We also got some draft from an Irish pub. ($14.45 + $9.93). Was a fun night!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lazy day to planned activities for Sabah<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Quite a lot to do <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A very random conversation with a British girl led me to book the last minute climbing tour for Mt. Kinabalu! (1650RM, yes very expensive). Very lucky to get a last minute cancellation because almost all tours were completely booked out entire year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some Indonesian food for dinner 22RM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I needed quite a few gears mostly rain covers and warm cloths. Turns out it was quite hard to find those things in KK despite I went to two malls and went up and down like 3 times. Finally at night I was able to get a dry bag and a beanie from an Army outfit store (for kids who want to pretend to be soldiers) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some extra snacks before heading to bed to ensure I had enough nutrients for the climb! $6.06<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Climbing day. First was to transfer to the mountain base. It was raining hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(weather looked bleak!)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Debrief<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Route we were going to take<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rain magically stopped as soon as we started trekking! All Gods plan!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First peak of the mountain top. Cloud started dissipating. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Our hiking group!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Not sure what my hiking buddy was doing lolz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Last 1KM for the day1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sunshine has finally arrived<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Almost at the base camp!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arrived at the camp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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After about 5hours climbing, we reached to our base camp (2800M)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The cafe at the top felt like Switzerlands <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Heated and cozy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Buffet food was quite good! Consider all the food had to be carried up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I actually took 2 beers (23RM for one, consider it’s at the mountain top I think it’s okay)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sunset at the cafe deck.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tried to sleep a bit, but the adrenalin made it impossible to fall asleep especially given it’s quite cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 4<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We got up at 1am to get supper before our morning climb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our group with our guide!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I looked energetic than I actually was probably <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Our guide was an absolute legend. He planned our trip extremely well (early start to rest at a secret guard house before ascending in time for sunrise. Gave us hot water and donuts as well and even his flash light since mine stoped working half way)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just before 5:30am, we reached to the peak<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Saw the first light, I think I was crying at for a moment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Above! the clouds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The peak!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Solo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ice in Southeast Asia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our guide was so fascinated by all the ice crystals!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sun has risen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our lovely group<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Finished sunrise, and we started descending <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We got back to the base camp at around 7am, rested a bit and ate our proper breakfast at the cafe before we started our final descend!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We didn’t take many photos as this point, at around 1:30pm, we arrived at the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We invited our guide for beers, but he didn’t want to take it. I gave him $20 as tip instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lunch as part of the tour package<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We went to back to KK and rested a bit until 8pm to have our farewell with the group<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Irish stew.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I think we were all extremely tired and didn’t stay too late before called it a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 5<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another travel day. I think this was definitely one of the days I should’ve taken it slower. I was mentally tired at this point<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Flying to Sandaten <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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From the sky of Mt. Kinabalu we just climbed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I ordered some chicken rice on the plane, unfortunately for such a short plane ride (40min) it’s more of a hustle to rush the food before landing. I ordered the lunch in anticipation of living in the jungle for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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15RM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Arriving at Sepilok <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My dorm was in a very nice resort with heated swimming pool right in the jungle. I do appreciate the fact that almost all the resorts in jungle Malaysia offer dorm as an option. Though most guests are packaged tourists, they also don’t forget us independent travelers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My rainforest resort<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Without much of a break, I went to straight to the sanctuaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s actually a Sun bear sanctuary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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As I was approaching the monkey, it got really aggressive for some reasons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Did you know that bears can climb trees?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Close look!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I was extremely lucky to catch the feeding <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Doesn’t it look like a cute puppy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I learned each bear has a different personality. For example, some hate climbing, some hate breaking the coconut and prefer some other bears do it for them. It was pretty cool that all the conservative workers were so knowledge about bears and I learned so much about them. (Maybe I just knew so little about them)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is by far one of the coolest photos I took – bear drinking coconut as if its a milk bottle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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That one finally came down<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the bears, I went to see the orangutans!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another of my favorite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Are we the orangutans or they are? <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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After the orangutans, I went back to my hostel to chill for a bit since it started rainy. As I was arranging my transfer for the next day, I learned I could still do the night walk at the Rainforest Discovery center nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thumbs up for how helpful the staff was at my hostel. Not only they tried to call everyone they knew to help me signing up the tour, but also in the end drove me to the night walk to save time! Because I was a bit late. Thanks, Malaysians! (staff at my hostel was simply amazing!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I saw the flying squirrel jumped from that tree. Unfortunately, it was impossible to capture. It was a precious moment. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A snake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This was another my favorite photo!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Not sure why certain creatures just light themselves up under UV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cute birdy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Borneo spider!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Went back to my hostel just in time for last dinner call. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Probably the most gourmet “fried rice” I’ve had. 25RM + 15RM for the beer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was a great day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 6<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Had a nice complimentary breakfast buffet at the resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s a legit chill day. Drank probably too much beers \ud83d\ude42 One top of that, a random guy we met at another resort (he’s a tour guide) turned out to be a home brew guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ginger wine. Simply amazing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since he ran out of stock, he took an extra half an hour to his uncle’s house to grab one last bottom! This showed Malaysian hospitality again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 7<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After breakfast and chilled until mid day to get to my transfer to Sukau which is a wild life protected area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What a beautiful day for a little river cruise (60RM)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another of my highlight of my trip, wild elephants!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This was when the orangutan attending its own nest. Unfortunately, I didn’t capture the beginning because I was unfortunately on the second boat where the guide wasn’t the best.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We saw lots of monkeys, and another group saw a hornbill which I eventually saw the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After night we decided to go to the weekend (Saturday only) night market in the village. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Got myself a Bakso, 7RM.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Called an early day. It’s soothing to sleep in the rainforests whilst rain water flew down from the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expenses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Obviously this was an expensive week. Nevertheless it was one of the most “productive” week in which I really was glad I spent the money. Worth every penny! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 14<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Day<\/td>Food&Drink<\/td>Lodging<\/td>Transportation<\/td>Other (tickets\/tours etc)<\/td><\/tr>
1<\/td>$104.58<\/td>$11.87<\/td>$61.10<\/td>$0.23<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>$19.52<\/td>$11.04<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$29.57<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>$10.45<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$376.14<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>$32.78<\/td>$17.05<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>$10.23<\/td>$12.31<\/td>$39.50<\/td>$25.00<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>$32.51<\/td>$12.80<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>$6.36<\/td>$14.28<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$13.64<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>$216.43<\/td>$79.35<\/td>$100.60<\/td>$444.57<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Total<\/td><\/td>Grand Total:<\/td>$840.95<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opening This week’s update was delayed due to in part I was in the jungle and I was extremely busy (I climbed the highest mountain in the entire South East Asia!) In short, this was also the highlight of my entire trip so far! Sabah and Malaysia in general are underrated. Day 1 Said goodbye… Continue reading Sabbatical Week 14<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sabbatical","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2024"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2119,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions\/2119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}