Believe me, I ENTERED HEAVEN'S GATE

Ahhh, but this Gate was not the pearly gates 

with St. Peter checking his book, or laptop as he seems to have embraced technology. For this "Tian Men" I just needed a USD35 or 26 GPB ticket and a strong pair of legs. "Tian Men" means Heaven Gate's Mountain.

It did look like we had reached the doorway to heaven with the morning rays shinning through. Got the goosebumps, it was hard not to imagine the Almighty awaiting us.

Reaching "Heaven" needed sacrifices. We endured the 99 twists and turns uphill in a bus. In Mandarin, the number "9" sounds like "jiu" which means everlasting.  

After this exhilarating ride by which I was ready to vomit, we faced the 999 steps to Heaven's Gate. The 999 steps gave me the heebie jeebies. "Shall I take the escalators or will I join the others climbing to the top?" 

"Sassy JAM, you can do it," Above pix shows the 12 warriors all pumped up to start the 999 steps.

So began our slow ascent as we hyper-ventilated, rested, hung on to the rails 

and climbed. 

At mid-way, the down view showed how far we had progressed.

I was the last one 💪to enter Heaven's Gates. Everyone gave me my deserving applause 👏! 
It was  cold and 

misty in "heaven." Our walk along the glass corridors was surreal.

By the time the sun shone through,

 it was time to go downnnn.... the 99 bends. 

Like an anaconda, the route down was endless, the corners were  treacherously sharp, some even at right angles. But the skilled Chinese bus drivers swung and turned the bus for extra thrills, and probably to give us our money's worth for this roller coaster ride. They chuckled  and winked as we screamed, slid in our seats (no safety belts). 

We entered Heaven's Gate Mountain and returned. 

Now, we will have to try harder to get to "Real Heaven."

Malaysia's Independence Day, August 31 1957

MERDEKA.