The Joys of Not Hiking Up Mount Kinabalu

It has been a slow start to this current week in a life of a petrolhead. The need to just stay at home comes to mind with lots of bread and hot tea to wash it all down in between long stretches of GT4 on the PS2 and an overdose of Top Gear reruns in stead of being at the office and doing lots of paperwork and endless office banter. Actually, I happen to be at an office where I can actually have bread and hot tea, but no PS2. So I am now deciding on whether to write about the joys of hiking aimlessly up Mount Kinabalu or driving a car through the windy roads around Genting Highlands.

But honestly, I don’t think I can write about anything pertaining to Mount Kinabalu due to the fact that I haven’t been there, much less climb it. The highest peak that I have manually climbed was the Maxwell Hill in Perak. This hilltop resort is Malaysia’s oldest and smallest hill resort. It is 1,035m above sea level and accessible only by government-owned four-wheel-drive vehicles, the road up twists and turns through tropical virgin jungle with the fresh green fragrance and cool air greeting you as you ascend. Now amazingly, I have hiked up this hill and all that I can remember is that it was not that tiring, as I was only 15 years of age. However, I’m now 34, overweight and had discovered the joys of motoring at 18. So, if anyone asked me to climb that hill again I’d take the Land Rover. If you haven’t experienced extremely tight turns and ridiculous inclines while being driven up, you’ve got to experience this. The drivers are bloody marvellous at negotiating the bends at speeds that’ll scare most average drivers.

I might enjoy walking through a forest trail in Cameron Highlands as much as I’d enjoy driving up to the Highlands in the first place; but if anyone asks me to hike up Mount Kinabalu right now I’d pass. They say that it’s a challenge, but I’d ask what are my benefits? Pain and suffering. A certificate showing me that I’ve done so? Since the certificate won’t get me a career raise, its worthless and you must remember, you’re not the first person on that peak, so what’s the point? Because its there? KLCC has stairs and I am not using it to get to the 88^th floor. It has lifts to get us there quickly. Because your friend can do it and you can’t? I can’t be bothered. Maybe I’ll walk the first 1km and then decide to hire a helicopter to take me to the peak. I’ll have tea and cupcakes up there before you even make it to the middle. Hiking on an incline for more than a day does not do wonders to happy fat men. Which brings me back to Maxwell Hill. It’s a much better climb because you can use Land Rovers to do so. Of course, Then again, you’d have fun going up Genting, Cameron Highlands, Fraser’s, etc in your finely tuned automobile. If you get my drift. This is what technology is there for. For God’s sake, if you want exercise, that’s what the neighbourhood gym, is there for my good man.