Saturday, March 22, 2008

Dim Sum at Hyatt

Huaa...
Thanks to mum for bringing me and bro for lunch at the Chinese Restaurant at Hyatt. The first dish i asked for was the roast duck. ada lemak-lemak lagi. Then, the rice congee, with salted eggs and some kind of moss. also sadap. Mum chose a few types of dim sum dishes and had the kind waiter bring it to our table. Apa lagi aa... Mi hun guring wasn't too bad, the clear soup was nice. Wish i took photos though. Ni la... blum biasa ambil-ambil gambar. Felt so full already by 1 pm. only had a few ruang for some slices of cakes and fruity punch.. If sis was around, i'm sure she'd enjoy the food too.

Sg. Garama and the Monyet Belanda

Last Wednesday, a few friends and I went to Sg. Garama to visit one of our distant primate cousins, the proboscis monkeys. It was raining during the 2 hour drive and it was still raining a bit when we arrived there. We got onto the boat and off we went. We were making up names for the sungai since the color was a light brownish color. Not exactly teh o, not really nescafe, heheh... then c aman said, nescafe o cair. heheh..
There were some interesting trees to be seen. Mona mentioned the pompong fruit. fruit ka tu? Looks edible tapi was actually poisonous. They're found mostly near the river because the mode of dispersion is usually through water movement. Some trees with the akar banir. Tia tau what akar banir is in English. nanti la cari. after about half an hour of boat ride, we saw this family of monkeys perched solemnly on the branches. Kasian.. it was still raining by this time, and some were huddled close together for warmth. But mana la buli huddle sama-sama ramai-ramai since there were no branches big enough for more than 3 monkeys. Took a few blurred photos of them.
We were planning to wait up to see fireflies there also but we were told that ever since the flood the fireflies were nowhere to be found. Hmm...pindah habitat skejap maybe. Oh well..

Friday, March 21, 2008

Camping week

What a week it has been!
On Monday, my face was burnt from an all day exposure to the sun. Dari 8 till almost 2 pm. A few friends and I were in charge of water activity (kayak) and water confidence for the kiddies. Hahah.. must say that it was fun. I reckon all of them enjoyed frolicking in the water, feeling safe wearing the B.A (buoyancy aid). The kayaks were a bit difficult for the kids the handle. Being their first time and all. The kayaks used were the doubles and it can be a bit tricky handling direction if both paddlers aren't sure which way to paddle to manoever to which direction.
There were two groups of kids that day. After habis the budak-budak main air, we sloshed the kayaks with the teh-tarik river water to clean them off the lumpur, haul them up onto the river bank. rehat-rehat kejap sambil tunggu Tuan H with the transport. Punya la lapar kami!
Heh. I should have taken a pic of my face yesterday. I'm not complaining, mind you. The next day after the water activity, my face was all red. It was a good thing i was wearing long-sleeved shirt. Tangan not burnt. I was wearing tights, 2 inches above knee length. (If you can see my kaki now, ada sempadan between the normal color and the burnt color). My face was feeling itchy already. Why didn't i put on any sunblock, you ask? My mistake. I forgot to bring my trusty coppertone/banana boat. I should always be prepared whenever i go into camp. Yesterday, i looked so dark! This morning, my face started peeling. Wuah.. what a diff.. felt like michael jackson with the skin disease for a while.
Anyway, after finish camp at Kiulu, went to Klias to see the proboscis monkeys at their natural habitat. Will make a post later.

Friday, March 14, 2008

caffox of caffox

Went swimming this morning at the Penampang Swimming Pool. RM3 per entry. I think it's my first swim for this year. Good weather, sun not so hot. Had a good swim. Swam a few laps. Tried holding my breath and swam underwater and managed to swim all the 25m length of the pool. Not bad... for someone who puffs the occasional cig. and haven't been swimming for a while.

Later at around 1pm, the sky opened up and poured and poured its heart out. Aiya... went to school for a while to see whether the letter that Ju said would be faxed to me was already in. It was.

Is it the time of the month where I'm all physically vulnerable? Some tempias hujan got to me, on my head. Just a bit pun... Now here I am, typing away, burping and burping. Ate a tablet of Caffox just now. My migraine killer. Around 6 just now, felt this pinch between my brows. Uh oh... i knew what was coming. Banci o! Either it was because kena ujan or because my period just ended. Begone migraine... begone!!

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Jaws

Why Jaws? As I was looking through the election result in the Daily Express this morning, I had this music score running in my head. This feeling of something is about to happen, something that might not be good news. hahahaha... the music? Those of you who have seen the factually incorrect movie 'Jaws' would surely remember the music score. Macam bikin takut.

So, BN rules in Sabah. Peninsular? Chaos. Will it be for the better?

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Undi time

Did what I had to do this afternoon. Many have asked me what logo or symbol I would be making a 'pangkah' on. For me, the choices that i made would be the smallest ways of saying 'thank you' to those who helped make my childhood village free of possible threats. Being vague, am i? heheh..

Mind you, this is just the Penampang/ moyog constituent. It's relatively peaceful here. I'm shocked, alarmed and worried about how things are moving in Trengganu and Kelantan. Stone-throwing, people bashing, cheek-slapping ...and most are doing it behind shrouded faces. Dare to assault, but takut kedapatan identity at the same time. Then there's the defamation, the simbah-simbah cat, the sabotaging of party signages..Sigh.. what is this nation coming to? It's so incredibly unbelievable what people are capable of doing in the name of intent. It's almost hysterical...hilarious...

Times are changing. Every second, every day. We strive to be a more intelectual nation, but the more we know, the more confused we become.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Tagged!

  1. This is a tag from Doc Rogue.

    Here are the rules:

    * First copy and paste it.
    * Do not remove any content.
    * Just add One word related to your blog.
    * If you don't like the concept Pls! say no?
    * Our main goal is we are going to circulate our number of friends.
    * The more people join the "pass it to the front" the more links we generate.
    * Lastly write only one word "short" for your blogs...
    * Keep it simple and short, I know some of you have more than one blogs.
    * The color is only black, gray, or white plssss avoid using any color okies.Let me show you:

    1.-Filipina, 2.-Darling allen, 3.-Abroad, 4.-Halfway, 5.-life,
    6.-culture, 7.-interracial, 8.-pinaystories , 9.-pinaysinglelooking, 10.-health,
    11.-Miscellaneous, 12. Children 13. postcards 14. photography 15. parenting.
    16 Travel Sabah17. environment 18. Metamorphosis
    19.outdoor

    I am tagging annilynnete.

Only in Sabah




There's this roundabout just before the Penampang Proper bridge. It's completed already la but before it was done, this signboard was on display for a few weeks. The contractor deemed that the direction signage was correct even though the word was upside down.

Patikang Ulu

Went to Keningau yesterday. An uncle of mine was getting engaged to a lass from kg. Patikang Ulu.

After having breakfast at Senario II (mi guring + mihun guring + kuewtiau, a mata lembu egg and a fried chicken drumstick), off we went. Bodeng was the driver. Ana had taken her travel sickness tablets beforehand. I had put my trust in chewing gums only. Bodeng's wife, my auntie (though i've never called her auntie) Annie Soon, was ok nopo.

Long trips sure don't feel long if there's good conversation going on inside the vehicle. 2 hours can be more than bearable especially going through the Penampang-Tambunan meandering route. Upon passing by Tambunan, I couldn't help but remember my trip to Trusmadi. Fuh...the is still fresh in my mind. Anyway, Tambunan-Keningau road is a bit more palatable. heheh... i don't mean that the route is edible, just that it's easier on the stomach, no possibibility of paning-paning due to car sickness as it has the longest stretch of straight road i know.

2 hours of driving later, we reached Keningau around 11 a.m. After having a small lunch (how does sitting in the car without doing anything makes one hungry?), we headed to the house intended.

The discussion wasn't tedious and long since the necessary talks and urusan had already been smoothened out. What was left was just the reconfirmation and signing of agreement, presentation of the novitan, and exchanging of rings. No fuss, no frills, straight to the point. After that, makan (lagi). One of the family members said grace before letting the bethrothed couple start the digging in. Sedap juga o the food. Let's see, kari ayam, chicken in mushroom scattered sauce, hinava ikan(mcm ada tuhau or bunga kantan in it, my fave), fried fish in tomato sauce (mind u, the ikan was so big but tender). And later sup ekor lembu, which was tender since it had been simmering since last night.

I shall not forget to mention the couple of cans of beers I drank, which I thought would be the only happy drink I would partake. We were about to take our leave around 2.30pm when my uncle said with a chuckle, see if you all can get pass the veranda. What was happening in the veranda you might ask? Oh, a harmless looking topukon of tapai (what's a tajau in english ah?) was perched on a stool waiting for either eager or innocent drinkers. 1 glass worth of sisiopon to each, said the major domo. sigh, i knew how potent such sisiopon could be.. but sipped the bamboo straw I did. Ana was quietly wailing that she wasn't about to sip from a straw sipped by all but hahah... how was she to refuse. So, after all us 4 had sipped our share, we were graciously allowed to leave with promises of more jolly drinks in the next merriment- the wedding (set to be sometime before the year ends).

So, congratulations to you dear uncle. Wish you all the happiness and contentment you deserve.