Wednesday, July 4, 2012

The Second Decade...and Counting...


On a chilly weekend morning in late 1989, I found myself at Timpohon Gate of the Kinabalu National Park together with a group of friends. We were about to embark on a hike up Mount Kinabalu. I have, of course, conquered Low's Peak several times before that. But this particular trip up the mountain trail was different from the rest; it was a life-changing experience for me!

Among those in the group that day was a seemingly anorexic skinny young woman with scrawny legs; decidedly a rare breed of the homo sapiens, and easily a convenient subject of ridicule. She wasn't a physically strong woman—certainly, there was nothing athletic about her at all. Seeing her huge backpack, I was fairly convinced that she'd end up breaking her back before even reaching the first shelter. But, as we all know, looks can be deceiving—she made it up to Laban Rata with that huge backpack; in fact, she reached the peak too the following day!

She was a determined person and had an amazing fighting spirit. Perhaps somewhat stubborn at times though. What can I say; the foolish heart that was captivated by a creature that operated along more or less the same wavelength as mine. So, on 4th July 1992, she said “I do” to me in St Simon Church, and that marked the beginning of a life-long honeymoon...

20 years had since elapsed. What a ride this has been. Today, on our 20th anniversary, I'm making a wish—that I will be here again to celebrate our 40th anniversary!

Elsewhere in the world, people go about their lives as usual. Lady Gaga is probably thinking very hard to invent another ridiculous outfit; 75% of Singaporean boys are probably still trying to figure out how to use condoms; many, many runners are probably disappointed because they're not eligible to join the Run For No Sex Before Marriage.

But today I am immune from all those; today I am a happy fellow. Maybe we will have a quiet little dinner; and who knows, perhaps attempt to re-enact the night of 4th July 1992 afterwards? Surprises are in the air; but hopefully, she won't attempt to surprise me by spending up to RM60,000 for this cosmetic surgery.

Keeping my fingers crossed...


2 comments:

Tekko said...

Congrats on your 20th Anniversary! Wishing you much much more than another 20 years together.
Btw, you coming to Singapore for TNF 100?

Cornelius said...

Thanks, Tekko.

I'm afraid TNF S'pore clashes with our Kinabalu Climbathon in October. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that although I'm a Sabahan, I've never done the Climbathon before! In fact, I'm still unsure if I will actually do it this October, but since I don't have to pay anything till September, I thought I might as well just register first to secure the place.

I don't have any race between now to mid September when I'll be racing the TMBT 100km. I have about 8 weeks of training, so actually I don't have a lot of time to prepare!

Sooner or later, however, I will eventually do TNF S'pore. Hmmm... too many events, and so little time! I don't know why I didn't do all this when I was younger and much stronger!... hehe