Limping on Sore Legs

Two days after the big climb our legs are still hurting. Going up and down the staircase or simply walking are no longer trivial things. We wondered what if we have not done our fitness programme before the climb, it could have even been worse.

We met quite a lot of people when climbing the mountain. One guy told us he just came back from spending a week in Pokhara in Nepal. That interested me a lot and we ended up having a long conversation on the subject. It is one of the ambition I want to fulfill to trek among the highest mountains in the world and experience the unique culture of Nepal. My kids always teased me that I must be going through a mid-life crisis. I told them all these new things are to stop life from becoming too predictable. Back to this guy, he said it was actually quiet affordable and some treks are relatively easy compare to climbing Mount Kinabalu. Accommodations along the treks are a plenty ranging from US$5 to US$100 a night. Pokhara is always described as one of the most beautiful place in the world! I am not sure if Everest could be seen from there although it is only about a hundred kilometres away. Kathmandu is actually closer to Everest and a short flight is required from Kathmandu to reach Pokhara.

Ok ... back down to Earth now, there was a lot of news on car recalls nowadays. One company in particular is in the spotlight - Toyota. It has announced a major recall programme on a number of its models. One of the big issues is the sudden acceleration of one or two of their new models. It culminated with the news in the US that a police patrol car has to assist in stopping a runaway Pruis. But the whole incident now turned out be doubtful but was enough to put a serious dent on Toyota's reputation. It seemed that in a society where suing and legal proceeding is a norm, people in the US are more likely to come up with all sort of means and excuses to sue. Ironically I had similar experience with a Toyota brand 10 years ago. The car had just came out from its first servicing when after a kilometre away from the dealer's garage, the car suddenly accelerated. Luckily it has a manual gear, I managed to put it into neutral and parked on the side road. The car continued to revved up until the engine gave way. In the end I managed to get a new car replacement (was told that was the first time that was ever done to a customer here!) and thought until recently that was an isolated incident. Things have moved on. We don't have a Toyota in our garage anymore.