You will see this view if you travel from Penampang to Tambunan..
If you have time stop a moment by the roadside...morning or evening during a sunny day!
I always think this looks fascinating..
Even if it is not covered in snow...can see the rice fields...and village houses underneath
The population you can see is Kg. Sunsuron...nice view indeed...wish I have a better camera to capture this
Recently I went to Papar. Another town along the west coastline of Sabah.
Papar has a lot of old buildings with its characteristic blue colour.
The above is a roundabout near Kg. Langkawit (if I'm not mistaken)...In Sabah there are many places where in the middle of the roundabout the district municipal council put an "identity icon" to represent the place..as in Papar they put the traditional white Hat..I don't know what they call it in Kadazan...anyone knows??
This is the market...The old wooden market has been replaced by this..after a great fire consumed it..
Ah...this is the old wooden shop building I'm talking about..It has been there since the colonial era..a great heritage for Papar indeed..
There used to be many old shop lots but..some have been caught by fire. The remaining ones must be preserved.
Selamat Hari Raya to all Muslims in Sabah, Malaysia and Planet Earth...:)
Well, this is a picture of the biscuits I managed to take..its sweet and tasty....YUM...
I explain what I know..in the middle is pineapple "tart", kuih makmur - (White balls) the whitish is icing sugar...Cornflakes biscuit...and the rest I don't know.. But I tell you, its good!
Last friday, I had a chance to go to MV Doulos Kota Kinabalu, for a short visit to the floating book fair..It was fun and a special experience for me. Lots of books particularly Christian books..
MV Doulos is in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from 29th August till 21 September 2009.
Here's a brief history of the ship:(wikipedia.com)
The MV Doulos is the world's oldest active ocean-faring passenger ship. She is now owned by the German charity Gute Bücher für Alle (English: Good Books for All), and is used as a floating bookshop. The ship has previously been known as the SS Medina, the SS Roma, and the MV Franca C.
The Medina was built in 1914 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for the Mallory Steamship Company of the United States. She was a freighter serving the Atlantic; during World War II she served with the United States Coast Guard.
The Panamanian company Naviera San Miguel SA acquired the Medina in 1948; they renamed the ship the Roma, and converted her into a passenger ship with cabins for 287 people, and dormitories for an additional 694 people.
In 1952 Naviera San Miguel resold the Roma to Linea Costa, an Italian company. At this time the SS Roma, a steamship, was converted into a motor vessel and renamed the MV Franca C. She carried passengers between Italy and Argentina. In 1959, the Franca C was adapted into a cruise liner, principally cruising the Mediterranean.
In 1977, Gute Bücher für Alle acquired the Franca C, and renamed her the Doulos (Greek for servant). In her current role, she is manned by a volunteer crew and visits sea ports world-wide.
The MV Doulos currently holds the biggest floating library in the world. Normally there is somewhere around 3000 to 5000 books on the shelf and half a million in the hold.
For details on their current port and a list of future ports, visit official website.
She is currently doing her last world tour and was planned to be de-commissioned in 2010 when the SOLAS regulations are due to be introduced.
By the way, do you know this?
Haha, this is Durian.
Known for it sweet-smelling odour (some called it sweet-sickly smell). It is undeniably the most popular fruit in Malaysia.
It has a white-yellowish tender flesh and taste tart to sweet depending on its species, enwrapped in its thorny thick "skin"
Majority of people love to eat durian. Some like it Fresh or even Pickled (tempoyak).
One sure thing is that, you can't bring it to hotel or inside the aeroplane...(sigh!)
But, frankly speaking..I'm not a real fan of durian..:) :)
I've pored upon my photos, and found that this might interest you
" Queen Elizabeth General Hospital, located along Jalan Penampang is the largest public hospital in Sabah. Built in 1957, it is the most important healthcare centre in the city and one of only three general hospital in Sabah." Stated in wikipedia.com
But as you can see the hospital now is being renovated (if not demolished) due to structural damage. It is indeed a Historical Hospital because it was built even before the Independence of Sabah and the formation of Malaysia.
I would like to take this opportunity to greet everyone a happy "Tadau Kaamatan"
May the spirit of goodwill be with you all this year.
(Photo taken from undukngadau.com)
BAMBOO HOUSE
the park also built a very decent bamboo house and with a big hall for the dance show.
The interior reminds me of a very traditional-style bamboo house. Which is prevalent in interior sabah tens of year ago. (not very long though).This must be preserved as this is one of the proud heritage of Sabahan.
Its very cool and spacious and comfortable.Even without TV, PC, Telephone,etc etc.
The stairs. Orientally sabahan style.
The outer verandah of the house (is it the right word). My English has gone from bad to worse lately.
The park also gave a traditional dance show. Sadly only 2 dancers turn out. Where are the rest?
ANIMALS ON DISPLAY
In this category I will put two types of animals. DEAD and ALIVE.
I start from the dead ones.
This is a preserved buffalo. (is it). I forgot its name.
Perhaps this is a buffalo also.
A horse.
A goat.
And this is the picture of some very beautiful chinese clay-works (I dont know whether to call it porcelain or jars, or whether is even the right word to write).
All these are underneath the big beautiful bamboo+wooden made Hall.
LIVING ANIMALS
The crocs a.k.a the boss. There are many crocs displayed in cages. Got smaller ones and big ones. I think I must have been pretty much disgusted that I only took 1 picture of a large croc relaxing under the tropical sun.
Small tortoises. The ones that pretty much must have defeated the Hare.
Ostriches.
Deer.
And I don't know the name of this one. I know that its under the "deer" family also.
LandScapes
This is among the landscapes that I managed to snap on that day.
A very tropical one.
Garden-style arrangement.
Greenish and smelly waters where the crocs thrives.
And this one too.
I really encourage all of you to visit this place.Its hot but its very good, plus, its still developing and I'm sure many more interesting stuffs will be around soon.
Forgot to tell, there's also a croc-leather handicraft sold at the main entrance of the park. The goods ranges from Croc's penis, gallbladder, egg, oil which cost a few hundred and some lady handbags made with croc's leather which costs a fortune. After all, a tiny handbag that I saw is sold at RM4K a piece. Isn't that a fortune?
Tuaran still has a lot of things to explore. The Beaches (Pantai Dalit), The Resorts (Rasa Ria Resort), and The Seafood restaurants scattered along. So make sure you'll visit Tuaran if u go to Sabah.
Ok, Till then bye.
At last, I managed to find some time to visit another place in Sabah
Which is the Tuaran Crocodile Park or "Taman Buaya". Went there with a group of friends.
As you can see the Admission for Malaysian is RM15.00, for Non-Malaysian its extra RM5.(roughly about USD4.00)
This is the entrance landscape. And this is the entrance greeting
This is a preserved croc.
This crocodile was killed by some villagers coz it attacked one of the villagers. Luckily it was preserved for others to know about its story.
And this one also. (I'd be dead if its alive). To my surprise the park also displays some exotic animals for visitors to see.
and a real phyton (of course in a cage)
two pools of fishes..this one is kinda disgusting..where u can buy the food for RM1 and feed them. They're Starving!
A kind of Bear..if I'm not mistaken.
And a Large preserved fish.
CROCODILE SHOW
At 11.00am and 3.00pm Daily, The park will organize a crocodile show.
This is a preparation before beginning the show. The "stuntmen" were splashing some water on the hot floor before beginning the show.The announcer said this is to make the crocodile "comfortable" of which I have a doubt about it.
Here, they are persuading the crocodile to "cooperate" with the show. They use a long bamboo stick to guide the croc.
This is the How-to-tie-a-Croc's-mouth demonstration done by a young lady.
And this is the stunt where the guy are persuading the crocs so that it wont bite him when he kiss it.
There you are - an essentially nonsense crocodile kiss. A friend bet me RM5 if the guy would put his head inside the mouth. Which of course was not performed.
Besides this there are also several shows such as "dancing with the croc" which lasted barely 3 seconds, and "brushing the croc's teeth" demo.
Quite a nonsense but still a Daring show. Mind you, I still can't imagine being inside the large cage with several hungry crocs!
To be continued...
