The Mountains Are Where I Feel a-LIVE

Well like I said before, I am a chef, pariah photographer, explorer and poet. It does have its advantage when it comes to truly appreciating life as you always live in the moment but... not when it comes to choosing your gear for a trip. I mean, if I only enjoyed hiking and hiking alone then my hiking gear would be all that I need. A good pair of clothing and shoes, my old faithful walking sticks (which I never use before as they are for emergencies eg. injuring your legs in the middle of nowhere miles from civilisation), survival tools, basic first aid kit, a watch with built in compass and a phone which is GPS enabled. But no... I had to enjoy photography as well and there is a good reason why people who depend on photos for a living do not use their smartphone for it. Why? I guess the reason is very clear below.

So I packed up my DSLR and hesitated for a while in deciding which tripod to bring along. Finally I decided on the mini one which should be able to the job fine considering you will be going somewhere with no flat paths in sight (natural tripods = rocks, tree trunks, cliffs etc.) FYI : I'd rather carry a large tripod than be seen with a selfie stick :P

Then comes the fuel. Where most people would be content with just having a simple snack or fruit along the way, yours truly (remember I said I am a chef) would have nothing but the best even if it means packing an extra few kilos of stove, fuel, spaghetti, roasted chicken, sliced shiitake mushrooms, canned soup for the gravy not to mention marinated Cajun prawns, butter and water just for reheating and washing.

I am not complaining but sometimes I wish I could just stick to one passion instead of three which means lighter load. But if that happens, then I would just be another ordinary hiker in the mountains and this blog post would be as boring as the day I clock in to office for work (which was the following day).

I may LIVE in the big city but the mountains are where I feel a-LIVE - Snowballade

Location : Mount Irau, Titiwangsa Range, Malaysia
Altitude : 2110m