Broga Hills

Ahh, going to sleep now. Will update this later.
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10pm:
K:"We're going to Broga Hill tomorrow."
T:"Ehh, I wanna go!"
K:" OK. Meet outside at 4am."

11pm: I wonder if I should go back and sleep for 3 hours or just stay awake.

12pm:I'm feeling really tired.

1am: I can't take it, going to sleep.

3:30am: I can't sleep... too excited.

3:45am: Met Sharon and Michelle and we walked to the SA to see if the other gang were playing DotA.

4:00am: Nobody was in the SA except Victor and Huang Lei. So we went back while Michelle stayed on in the SA.

4:05am: Gathered with everyone, e.g. Me, Sharon, Kelvin, Qi Sheng, Luvkit, Wee King, Louis, Pineapple, and Soon Thai.

4:15am: Officially departed to Broga Hills via Wee King's car.

4:30am (roughly): We finally started our climb.

It was dark, and kind of scary to be honest. We couldn't even see the ground in front of us unless we used our torch lights. It didn't help that Sharon said, "Terence, later if got someone who looks like me and says, "Terence!", don't follow know." And then she showed me "peace" and walked on ahead.

Luckily I brought both my light sources, as well as my mobile phone. Just enough for each of us to have a light as we walked.

I was lucky that the ground wasn't wet, because it was quite steep and my shoes aren't meant for this kind of terrain. We trudged on at a very fast pace and overtook a few groups who went much earlier than us (they were resting at some flat areas).

After about more than half an hour, most of us were panting and covered in sweat. The climb was much harder than I imagined (to think that I actually wanted to wear my jacket). We took a short break because Wee King needed some time to get used to the altitude. Even I, who actively takes part in sports, felt the thinness of the air up there. After a while and a light drink of water, we pressed on.

The climb became even steeper and we had to grab on to rocks for stable footing, because the sand didn't provide enough grip for us to carry on. Sometimes, we had to pull on the grass and ferns to pull ourselves up. We had to use team work so that each of us made it up before moving on, so that while one person is climbing up, another would shine the light on the path.

At almost 6, we almost reached the peak. By that time I had gotten used to the climb and I felt my strength return. But the hardest obstacle was yet to come.

The last obstacle towards the peak was a towering block of huge rocks, and the path leading to it was so steep we actually had to crawl up (almost). Up till this point, besides getting my clothes dirty, I was basically unscathed. But climbing the rocks without gloves and pulling myself up/ getting myself pulled up/ pulling my friends up drew my first blood. My knuckles were only a lightly bloodied, but some of my friends were worse. After making sure everyone was alright, we pressed onwards towards the peak.

The Peak of Broga Hills, 1.7km. What a sight to behold. It was... beautiful. Breathtaking. The time was almost 6.30am, and the first lights of the day were beginning to show. We sat down at the peak for almost an hour, chatting and laughing and sharing some snacks (courtesy of Sharon). The stars in the sky were twinkling so brightly. I never really did take the time to appreciate the beauty of nature at night.

If I thought going up was hard, going down was even more stressful. The morning dew made the ground wet and even more slippery. Even worse, I have a slight case of acrophobia, which is the fear of heights. And going downwards, there's nothing to see but how high up we actually were... and how dreadful a fall might be. We threaded carefully but at one point I nearly slipped and fell, but Pineapple managed to grab my back while I stabled myself.

Other than that, going down was pretty uneventful.

We reached Wee King's car and fit 7 people into a kancil. After that, we went back, and went for breakfast. After that, I daresay all of us SLEPT!