Climbing Mt Kota Kinabalu

Here is a very short and quick update on my latest activities in Asia Pacific.

Work is going well, I like what I am doing, life is moving fast (that’s what happens when you are having fun) and I have already been in Singapore for more than 5 months.
During this time, I have done several trips to Malaysia and am preparing for an upcoming trip to Thailand, this time to Bangkok.
Also I have a trip to Mexico coming up for Xmas, let’s see how that goes, not exactly Asia but nevertheless very very exciting.
This Monday I came back from climbing the highest peak in South East Asia called Mt Kota Kinabalu. It was physically, the most challenging experience of my life.
Day 1:

07:00am-Going from hostel in Kota Kinabalu towards Kinabalu Park, 2 hours from KK, home of the 1st UNESCO protected site in Malaysia. There was a land slide on the way, we were quite late waiting for over an hour for the police to open the road.

11:30am-Started the trekking of 8.5 Km from the base of the Mount Kinabalu towards the Base Camp, the point at Km 6 where people sleep.

16:40pm-Arriving to the Camp after almost 5 hours of climbing. Breathless. 99% of the path is VERY steep. Temperature 12 degrees C.

17:40 pm-Getting something to eat, quick hot shower (thank goodness there was hot water) and off to bed, needed to wake up at 2 am and fight my way to the top of the mountain – another 3 km to go.

19:20 pm – Sound asleep in the hostel room with my 4 roommates.

DAY 2

02:00am - Wake up!!!!!! Quick breakfast. Get the layers and layers of clothes on you, torchlight on your head and mentally prepare for the ride of your life. Temperature 7.8 degrees C at base came.

02:42am - Start the second climbing towards the LOW’s PEAK (4,095.2 m) to see sunrise.

05:45 am - A thin line of sunlight in the horizon appears as we climb up the tip of the LOW PEAK. Temperature: 2C.

06:00 am - The sun is up, warming our face and hands. We reach the peak after lots of sweat, doubts and energy spent. The boots are heavier than ever but you feel sense of achievement and power. Taking lots of pictures.

07:00 am - Descending back to base camp starts.

08:30 am – More food and packing for the way down

09:00 am – Start of the descend down Mt. K. – additional 6 Km back. All downwards – painful on the legs

2:00 pm Reaching Final Destination where a van awaits us to take us back to Kota Kinabalu – the city at the bottom of the mountain.

An incredible experience!!! After this you feel you can do anything.

B-day in Singapore

I have been officially 24 (years young) for the past 3 days. Yes, my b-day has passed and, even though I was sceptical, it was a complete success. I entered my b-day in a night club, drinking champagne and eating chocolate cake with lots of friends while a latino band sang happy b-day to me in the background.
The evening of the same day I spent in a spa, soaking in milk and wine Jacuzzi after which I experienced the most astonishing body scrub and massage with strawberry and wine extracts. Yummy. A gift from my significant other. :)

24 doesn’t feel different, the same amount the work, the same house chores and the same old habits. The only difference is that this year I didn’t celebrate my birthday with my parents and my friends in Bosnia and I have to admit, the home-sickness kicked in a little bit. But only a little bit.
I especially felt this when I got a gift box from my family with all sorts of little things like a plane model and jewellery, PJs and business shirts… it was a day full of suprises.

Life in Singapore is still fun. I got used to the Asian way of working by now and weekends fly by faster than even before. Time is moving quicker than I would want it to but I have accepted it to be the one thing I cannot change. I can only adjust and try using my time the best way possible.
Next week is the National Day of Singapore, its 42nd b-day and a holiday, so I am looking forward to the plane parade organised by the government for the event. They have been testing fireworks for the last 2 months for this day so I am expecting something

Finding peace

Tranquile
Originally uploaded by *Merili*

Update from Singapore/Malaysia

And so my tropical life continues in the land of palm trees, skyscrapers and exotic food.
I am very happy with my job, working for the CEO of DHL Express in Asia Pacific and learning new, interesting things every day. I have to admit it is very different from anything I have ever done before and very exciting since I get to meet brilliant people and work with some of the main brains of the business.
Life wise, I am very happy. Finally found my peace I suppose. I feel complete and fulfilled even thought every time I think about the fact that I am so far away from the rest of my family I get this sickening, scary feeling in my stomach.

At home, the wedding season is blooming, one of my best friends got married last weekend, my uncle is getting married in 2 weeks, another great friend in Turkey at the end of August and a university friend in September… and guess what! I won’t be at any of the weddings. Sad.

Right now I am preoccupied with my job, my personal life and having a time to focus on myself and what I want in life. Several new ideas have been crossing my mind but I still need to decide on them before writing them down or doing something about it.

Life in Singapore is fun. Work, go to drinks with friend, gala romantic dinners and huge shopping sprees over the weekends. Theatres, cinemas… Still in the tourist-mood, sipping margaritas by the river coast or spending a lovely weekend in Malaysia.

Dipping my feet in the turquoise sea, feeling white-power-like-soft sand between my toes and covered by the shadows of huge palm trees sipping fresh coconut water. Hearing nothing but the sound of wind and waves. Feeling only the heat of the sun reflecting from the waters under my feet.

Life is treating me good and I am very happy.

It has been ages

I know I have been away for about a month and this wouldn't usually happen unless i had a good reason and I have one..
For some reason all my posts in the last month have not been shown and it is frustrating that i have so much to write and cannot post it, so i hope at least this does.
I'll try without pictures first let's see if it want to behave today...

Mini-update: I am working, happy with my job, happy with my life. I have been to one new country this month: Malaysia, to a wonderful tiny island called Rawa to chill out with 15+ friends and it was wonderful. Singapore is easy to get used to, so life is faily easy.. it is always easier to get used to a more comfortable life style and it is just so convenient here (everything, eating, going out, travelling, talking to people...) that there is no adjustment period or cultural shock for that matter...

I ahve to admit it is strange being somewhere where there is no chaos (the biggest chaos being the rush hour :P)

More stories are on the way...

Crazy weather forecasts

One thing that amazes me about Singapore is the climate itself. I thought I would have a much harder time getting used to but I suppose once you set your mind and accept the fact it is something you cannot change it starts being tolerable.

The funny thing about tropical weather is that you never know what to carry, an umbrella or sunglasses, so you carry around both!
And also the fact that you can never depend on the weather forecast (like I could in Europe) is crazy. I just stopped counting on the weather reports and started watching the sky, trying to guess when it will rain.

It usually happens during lunch time, the classical Murphy’s Law, everyone goes out and it pours.

Speaking of weather forecasts, it’s very funny because they have different weather forecasts for each part of the city/country and you can cross the whole country on foot in half day. Can you believe it?!

“Today, Singapore will experience rain in the North part of the country, later on the rain will go to the South and eventually to the East part”…

…hmmm that ‘later on’ means in 6 minutes :P

Hahaha the country is the size of my city and forecast means that: IT WILL RAIN, full stop!

Hilarious,

Anyways, just a thought…

I am alive, having a blast and as you can imagine have about a zillion things to write about but lack of time…

For some photos check my flickr link

It is Saturday morning and I am sitting drinking Bosnian coffee in Singapore. It still tastes the same.

It is raining (even though this is not supposed to be the rainy season).

The rain is not like the rain you would see in Europe…
When it rains it seems that someone just pours water on you from a bucket. You have to close all the windows otherwise the floors would get totally wet.
It is doesn’t actually rain, there are not droplets, it just pours…

At this particular moment I am thinking about what shoes to wear when the water is ankle high but then again I will just have to wait until it passes and hopefully that will be soon.

I have made it an every day routine to take an umbrella and sunglasses to work. You never know. One minute it is raining the next it is sunny. The temperature, nevertheless, never varies… it is always hot and humid.

Let me give you a short update from Singapore:
- Rain
- Great Singapore Sale (ouch!) – will take an opportunity to buy some business clothes
- Weekend alone in Singapore since Luis is running a marathon in Thailand
- Work transition has been going well; I have been absorbing massive amounts of information from my predecessor, trying to learn as much as possible in this 2-3 week period, I officially take over soon, iacks!
- Have I mentioned Rain?

Welcome to Singapore

I am washing the dishes in my new apartment, overlooking the great skyline of Singapore.
The water is cold but not half as cold as it should be. The weather is incredibly humid and hot, the sun is burning the outside pavement and the only thing saving me from utter despair is the air conditioning blowing in the back room.

I wash the plates, the forks, spoons and the pans and I dry the glasses, placing them gently side by side on the right hand side of the sink together with the other dishes.

As my grandma taught me I wash the sink as well as clean the entire kitchen after cooking and in order to dry the sink I grab one of the rugs hanging by the window above the sink.

I see a (not so small) creature with 4 feet hiding behind the rug and suddenly disappearing out through the window crawling against the walls.

I scream..

A second later, my boyfriend comes into the kitchen laughing asking if I saw my first lizard in Singapore. I look at him stunned, half terrified, half puzzled.

Then he says the famous quote: welcome to Singapore my dear!

Congratulations...

The countdown to Singapore is slowly coming to a single digit number... time is passing fast...my family is slowly getting used to the fact that I am leaving and that they won't be seeing me for the next year.

I got my ticket today, said goodbye to one set of grandparents in Bosnia and Herzegovina and now I am off to the Croatian coast to say goodbye to the others.

There is one person I probably won't be seeing and saying goodbye to, that is my uncle. He is 15 years older than me and has been living in the UK for as long as I remember. Since I don't have any family (other than my grandparents, my mum has no siblings and my dad has only 1 bro in the UK), I stopped hoping I would ever have cousins...

...until one day... my uncle announces his engagement and tells the rest of he family he is getting married in the next few months.

This post is for Almir and Mela, who are my last chance for cousins :P

Just kidding...

I wish them all the best, may they be happy and in love forever.

After trying and trying...

... I finally got a traineeship in DHL Regional office in Singapore!!!!

(...yes the yellow company for me too...)

I am the happiest personal alive for a great number of reasons at this point in my life. :)

I am sure this will be an amazing experience and a year I will never forget.
From June onwards I will be working as a Management Assistant to CEO in DHL Express.

After trying so many times...

...this is proof that Persistance does pay off!!!