And finally the day arrived for us, Cempakans, to once again climb the highest mountain in Southeast Asia.

We were at Cempaka Damansara campus at four thirty in the morning where we were issued our T-shirts and a group photograph taken. We departed for the airport by bus that lasted for about an hour. There, we had our breakfast before we checked in. There were two flights to Sabah, one at 9.30 am and another at 10.30 am. The flight took roughly two hours. After we landed, collected our luggage, we had lunch in a restaurant. After lunch, our tour guide Mr George introduced us to the bus driver, Mr Udin.

Mr George gave a short history of Sabah. Sabah was originally known as Jesselton, which was then changed to Api-api followed by Kinabalu. During the bus ride, Mr George showed us a mosque which was known to be the most expensive mosque in Sabah, which cost about RM 40 million to build. He also explained to us briefly about the first ruler of Sabah, who was known Mat Salleh, and how he managed to protect Pulau Gaya. The bus ride to Kinabalu Park was about two hours. On arrival, we checked into our hostel and were divided into groups. We were then given a briefing about the necessities to bring for the climb before we were dismissed to bed.

The next morning, all of us were excited and at the same time nervous to climb the highest mountain in Southeast Asia. After the morning warming-up exercise and briefing by Mr Dee, we began our journey up in groups. There were seven stops before we finally reached Laban Rata, the final stop of the day. The weather was harsh. It was extremely cold and many of us were seen shivering from head to toe. From Laban Rata, female and male students stayed at different hostels. We were told to have a good night rest before continuing our journey the next morning.

At 2 in the morning, all of us were ready, fully equipped with head torches and balaclavas. As we climbed up the mountain, some faced difficulty in breathing as the level of oxygen decreased when we went higher. As soon as we reached the Sayat-Sayat gate, we knew that we were close to reaching the peak. We continued patiently until…finally after 8.5 km, we reached Low’s Peak. The view at the top was incredible and indescribable. It was beautiful and amazing, and definitely a memorable experience! A total of 26 Cempakans made their way from the bottom to the top.

The journey back down to Timpohon Gate didn't take long but was exhausting and tiring. Relief and joy was seen on everybody’s faces when we arrived at the starting point of our journey.

We then took a bus to Balsam Cafe where we had a wonderful meal. From there, we were brought to Mersilau Nature where we spent a night, all feeling relieved and happy.

On the fourth day of the expedition, after breakfast, we departed for Sapi Island. The journey to Beach Bum took about 2 hours. There, we were given a briefing on water safety precautions. We then went to Sapi Island by boat where we had the opportunity to try some water sports activity.

Some of us went snorkelling, some banana boating and some even tried parasailing! And clearly, each and everyone had a blast. After a long, memorable and exciting day, we left for Kinabalu Park Hotel, situated in the city of Kota Kinabalu. We then went to the interesting BB cafe for dinner. Teacher Cikgu Azreen along with two sporting Cempakans namely Marlena Zara and Joanna performed by singing interesting choices of music. We had a splendid time.

We spent our last and final day shopping and buying goods at the Philippines market which is a famous tourist area. After the walking and bargaining almost the whole day, we left and headed for the airport. Our flight was at 7.30 pm.

Some of us were already home sick, so the moment we landed there were smiles on everyone's faces. The bus brought us back to Cempaka Damansara campus.

Finally, the Gold Expedition 2008 to Mount Kinabalu finally came to an end.

I must say I truly had fun during this expedition and I gained a lot of experience like climbing a mountain. Once again, Gold Expedition 2008 was a definite success and it was great that we were given the opportunity to participate in such challenging and memorable activities.