So last week my loving partner and I went off to the wilds of North Borneo on a short holiday. Living in Indonesia most places are only an hour or two away from our home in Yogyakarta

We planned on heading to Kota Kinabalu Malaysia located at the top of Borneo (Kalimantan) to Celebrate my 56th birthday away from home

My victories started as soon as we got on the plane and continued for the entire time we were away

• The tray table on the plane now manages to go all the way down (still a little snug) instead of resting on my chest
• I no longer overflow the seat
• The queen size bed at the hotel actually managed to hold both of us comfortably without falling off the edge (king size would have been better of course)
• I went snorkeling at Sapi Island and didn't float to the surface as much (Its hard to sink a fat man in salt water)
• I went white Water rafting (only grade 3 rapids) and had a great time - an exhilarating experience and now it has me hooked on the sport
• I went to Kota Kinabalu National Park and climbed the mountain trail at Poring Hot Springs - a 550 meter (1000 foot) climb up the mountain at 50% slope then a 550 meter (1000 foot) walk 100 meters (300 foot) above the jungle floor on the suspension bridges (refer to Indiana Jones movies for this) and then down the other side - it took me an hour to do but the view from the top was worth the effort. I huffed and puffed a little but needed no assistance. The wonderful thing was that I could do the suspension bridge walk as I am now under 200 lbs - over that weight and you cant go on!!
• I did a jungle trek into the wilds to see the Rafflesia flower - the largest flower in the world with petal span up to 39 inches (1 meter) - (refer to the TV show presenter naturalist David Attenborough for this)
• I did a river trip spotting proboscis and long tailed monkeys in the wild
• I ran out of clean shirts (very hot there at 100 degrees fahrenheit (32 C) every day with high humidity so I sweat a lot) and went into a shop and bought OFF THE RACK. I asked for 2XL shirts to try on. The sales girl said but Mister - that will be too big for you - better you try L or XL size. She was right!!
• The food was fantastic and cheap - so I ate only seafood while I was there. No problems getting in my required amount of Protein with all the Jumbo prawns and the fresh fish grilled straight off the boat
• I lost 2 kgs in weight (5 lbs) on the trip in just one week

Weight loss is such a fantastic morale booster.

At 260 lbs 8 months ago I would never have contemplated such a trip. At that weight walking up 5 stairs blew me out - now I can climb mountains - and so can you if you want it that much

Your story is riviting....very nice read. Congratulations on your wonderful life!!!!

Mimi

Enjoyed your post. Sounds like a wonderful vacay and great bday.

Enjoyed reading this. glad you enjoyed your vacation. Being able to travel to wonderful places again is one of my motivating factors for having the surgery.

Wow, what an amazing adventure!!!

Congrats on all those wonderful victories along the way. I can't wait to go on my own safari once I get down to a better weight.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing, a great read!

Thanx everyone - Im off to Jakarta this weekend to meet with my Dietician and Surgeon

She wants to meet me and he does not want to fill me since Im winning on all levels (but he does want to hear about my trip since he and his wife want to do the same thing next month after Idul Fitri holidays)

I have booked the flight and checked in via web checkin - and this time I dont even care that I have a middle seat normally I insist on an aisle seat but now that I fit in Im not concerned

I'm happy for you that you got to experience so many wonderful things on your birthday trip!

Yeah! and congrats on all your NSV's. Have fun on your future trip. Karen

Wow, awesome achievements and so inspiring! I'm travelling for work in three months and hope to enjoy the tray table on the plane one. thanks for sharing.