My bedtime reading lately has been Altitude Illness: Prevention and Treatment by Steven Bezruchka. It somehow comforts me.

Kluang Kaya Roti Rail Trail

Kluang is 3 hrs from Singapore by train which makes it the perfect 1 day destination for taking a joy ride out of the Tanjong Pagar KTM train station before it's gone for good. I was very touched when Lillian (who swore off all inclines after Kinabalu), Chin Chin and Bhas agreed to sacrifice their precious Saturday to explore the charms of Kluang with me.

The best time to get to the train station is before 7 am. You sit down at the M. Hasan station canteen for a cuppa teh tarik and do your train spotting as the morning sun peeks over the tracks which seem to go on for eternity.










There is something terribly romantic about this little piece of Malaysia which lives in the heart of the city. Can't really put my finger on it - whether it is the the surly train ticket guy who breaks out into a smile when he recognizes that you're taking a ride for nostalgia sake "taking a joy ride?", or the chugga chugga of the train setting off from the tracks which run right up to the tables.

Mainly though, it is the knowledge that we are all passing through as transients in this joy ride called life and the good things don't always last.

Programme

800 - Train departs from Tanjong Pagar
1045 - Kaya roti and rail coffee
1230 -Trek up Gunung Lambak

1630 - Rest and eat
1800 - Return to Singapore

How to get train tickets

This grand old lady plays hard to get. There is no online booking and you can't buy many days in advance. Ticket sales only open 24 hrs and you can only buy them by personally attending at the ticket counter.

Breakfast at Kluang's famous Rail Coffee

We had breakfast at Kluang's famous Rail Coffee joint with charcoal toasted roti kaya and frothy milk tea - one of the best in Malaysia. I have the soft boiled egg fetish so I snapped lots of photos.


















Everyone was still laughing and smiling at this time. Well, this was before we went to Gunung Lambak...

Gunung Lambak

Was simply beautiful.









It started to rain just as we faced a steep incline - but this is where it got really fun. Always, always there were thoughts of turning back but everyone soldiered on, holding on to large tree roots - God's natural facility for climbing up a rain forest and scrambling over large rocks. It was a 2 hour uphill struggle.

At the summit, we celebrated with a group of Kluang teenagers who did the climb same time as us. I was really impressed by their footwear: sandals and flip flops!










Journey home


While drying off from the rain in the Rail Coffee joint, everyone blamed me for misrepresenting on the level of difficulty of the trek and made loud noises of protest. Chin shed some blood.





Dead pan expression from Lillian says it all.

But since I get to claim the narrative for this post, I can say that it was a very happy time - I got my train ride, Gunung Lambak and the company of good friends...lured by the kaya roti and bonded in adventure.

Stairs

4 rounds in a row yesterday night - next week it will be 5 rounds in a row! Then we'll do 6 in a row... : ) Then maybe we can try for 8 rounds one morning, before the trip.

Getting cold feet

Over chocolate cake and warm tea, I met up with Soo and Wansie for the cold hard facts. In their 30's with no health issues, they left for Kili on Christmas and completed the trek via the Machame Route.

Soo, a 4 hr marathoner, had a throbbing headache most of the time. On day 4, she took Diamox and the headache disappeared for the summit push. Wansie, made it to the Barafu hut without any prior training - just avoiding the summit push because her heart was pounding at 120 bpms at rest.

As I made notes, my stomach churned as if I was experiencing AMS without being there.

So, wow. Start from the top, the flight?

W: At BK's airport counter, check that bags are through using your luggage tags.

Flight from BK to Nairobi – no inflight entertainment and food basic. Smelly. A lot of men who take off their shoes. Try to sleep and eat before the flight bound for Nairobi. Flight time is 10 hours with 2 meals. Plane is smallish and colours of the carpet are dark blue, very dirty looking. Bring your neck pillow, they supply one but it is small.

Nairobi airport has 2 cafes one near gate 14 and one at gate 4. It is a boring airport with alcohol and chocolate shops. Bring basic toiletries to clean and freshen in Nairobi airport. Very important that you bring Yellow Fever card. Confirm that Singaporeans don’t need visa. At Kilimanjaro airport, bag collection is fast and someone will be there to meet you.

Meals

W: Most groups get a packed lunch. Lunch is in a cardboard box, banana, fried chicken and a sad sad sandwich and maybe a muffin, sometimes nuts, cookies, juice. They had a similar packed lunch on safari again.

Dinner is a hot soup, stew and rice or stew and pasta. And some fruits, coffee. Tea, milo. Classic worst meal was a pasta with corn beef sauce.

Breakfast is bread, egg omelette and sausage. Quite oily but eat as much breakfast as you can. Bring bakwa, cup noodles, anything which agrees with you because sometimes you have no appetite.

The trek

S: Most difficult thing about the trek was that it was very long and extended. First day, it rained after lunch, shoes completely soaked. 6 hour hike took 7 hours. It was cold by the first evening. Very tired. Damp wet, all you see are many trees. Go toilet, very cold. Too cold to wear wet shoes.

Had throbbing headache by dinner. Crawled into sleeping bag and crashed. Had to go toilet many times at night.

Toilet is very smelly. Need the headlamp for the night. If you can stand the cold, the stars are nice but you can’t stand outside for long.

W: Everyday, I had 2 questions for the guide. 1) What is tomorrow's trek going to be like? 2) If i decide to quit, is there a short route down?

So, what d'you do in the evening? Don't you sing songs by the campfire?

There is no campfire and singing – nothing. Either you are in tent, meal tent or toilet.

Gosh, what were your feelings after the first day?

W: Felt regret the first night. Negative thoughts, I said to Soo: I want to get off the mountain.

S: I wanted to cry. Some tears came out.

General Tips

W: Bring small plastic bags to throw things away in tent (10). Wet wipes - can get big ones called TENA from the adult diaper section (40 pack). Big, thick and good for wiping down.Wear wool socks to sleep. Keep 1 dedicated set of dry sleeping thermals for sleeping. Wear tights under pants. Don’t need to wear short sleeve t shirts. Mostly use long sleeves because it is too cold.

By the 3rd day, you will need your gloves and beanie. There was frost on the tent by the 3rd morning.

How much did you drink?

S: Drank 3-4 litres a day. I used a camelback with 2 litres and had 1 litre water bottle. When I ran out of water, I drank Wansie's water.

W: I drank 2 litres. Had two 1 litre Nalgene bottles. I don't drink much. Water tastes awful, with sediments. We told the porters we had no purification tablets to ensure that they would boil the water.

Is a hydration bag useful?

S: Yes, think I drank more with a hydration tube. Recommend something to flavour the water - I used an electrolyte powder called Nuun.

What does a 7 hour trek feel like?

W: Process driven, planning each step. We kept quiet as we walked but some groups were talking. I don't know if that helps to make the trek more bearable.

S: From day 2, it was more than 1 second a step. There were no rest huts. When you rest, you rest on a rock. The mountain was crowded.

Can I go up in my Tevas?

S: No, too cold. I brought 2 pairs of shoes, a trail runner and walking shoes. Used walking shoes from day 3.

The Summit

S: I did a day summit, it was very good. Less tiring than a night one. The guide was not sociable, but very experienced in bringing people up the mountain. When he saw that we were not eating, he suggested to shorten the trek to 6 days and do a day summit. He was very patient. I was panting like mad but I had no headache. About 10 metres away from the summit, I wanted to stop but the guide held my hand and walked me up.

W: I paced at the base for 8 hours waiting for Soo. Some people thought I was mad. If I was well enough to pace around, then I should be making the push for the summit but it was enough for me and my heart was pounding.

Random thoughts

S: Not the same joy as Nepal or Kinabalu. It was very foggy. Saw a lot of mist. Experienced rain, hail and snow. Porters say that the Rongai route is the easiest one.

W: Bring lots of socks - so that you get a fresh pair everyday.

S: I will never do a mountain again!

Stairs 19 Nov

We had a full turnout for stairs on 19 Nov. All 5 of us. On a Friday night!

After a month of stairs, we have settled on a 3 set pattern. Going up the Pinnacle twice, taking a rest and after 3 sets, we've gone up 6 times. Takes about 2 hours to complete the whole routine.

Gets really boring climbing stairs so sometimes we break into conversation or into song but even that peters off when we run out of breath. It's like a looong upward march and after what feels like forever, we reach the 50th floor.

On the 50th floor, Cheryl, Su and I will sit on the floor looking like we need medical aid. Min does her stretches. Bhaskaran always manages to look quite fresh.

Then Min calls for the lift, so that we can start climbing all over again.

Row for your life

Gary offered me a sailing experience. My first one on board a boat.

I jumped at it. Took urgent leave. When the leave got approved, they asked me what it was for.

"Going sailing", the words fell off my tongue with absolute conviction that this was worth putting the rest of my life on hold.


The sea was calm and the sunset was breathtaking. I tried my hand at putting up the sails - steering and navigating. I was dizzy, this must be rapture? When I started to recognize it as sea sickness, I thought to myself that altitude sickness is going to be a bit like that. Maybe worse.

Figure that going to Kili is a bit like that. Taking many urgent days off to endure the hardship and cold. I can sense the fatigue and splitting headache a mile away and still out of sight.

Can't help but row for my life towards it.

You are young. So you know everything. You leap into the boat and begin rowing. But listen to me. Without fanfare, without embarrassment, without any doubt, I talk directly to your soul. Listen to me. Lift the oars from the water, let your arms rest, and your heart, and heart's little intelligence, and listen to me. There is life without love. It is not worth a bent penny, or a scuffed shoe. It is not worth the body of a dead dog nine days unburied. When you hear, a mile away and still out of sight, the churn of the water as it begins to swirl and roil, fretting around the sharp rocks-when you hear that unmistakable pounding-when you feel the mist on your mouth and sense ahead the embattlement, the long falls plunging and steaming-then row, row for your life toward it. - West Wind #2 by Mary Oliver

T word

The dream

Training is the substance which makes a dream come true - dreaming about an impossible to reach physical goal, doing what you have to do to reach there and at the end of the journey, to come out of it a changed person.

The journey to Kili doesn't start at the foot of the mountain. It takes place right here. The fat girl's training guide will take anyone from flab to fabulously fit so you will be in your best shape ever. Whatever the chances of reaching the summit, you will have conquered your own personal fitness Everest even before starting the climb.

The reality

You can fall off the wagon, with the training.

Post Kinabalu, in the exuberance, I ate too much and exercised too little. My heart sank as the arrow on the scale floated upwards. So it was time to get back on the wagon.

Training objective

Kili is a marathon and not a sprint - walking with a small pack for 6-8 hrs a day for a number of days. The training objective would be to walk for 6 hrs (3hrs fast walking) without feeling muscle stiffness the next day. Doing whatever so long as it gets the legs and heart in top condition and avoiding injury.

The secret

But the secret that we won't admit to anyone. The secret which will confirm that we really are gluttons for punishment and have very twisted minds is this.

We like it. Stairs.

Every Monday evening at Singapore's tallest HDB flat. 2 training sessions so far. There is nothing quite like a punishing stair session going 5 x up the Pinnacle to numb the Monday blues and uplift your week.

Views from the 50th.