Weekend trip to Sandakan, Sabah – Day One

To start this off, Sabah is situated in Malaysia. Borneo is a name of a huge island which comprises  Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysian states), Brunei and Kalimantan of Indonesia. I find that it weird that westerners keep on referring to ‘Sabah in Borneo’. Sabah is in Malaysia!

Went to Sandakan (a city in Sabah) on the weekend with the family. We stayed at the charming boutique hotel called Nak Hotel in the city. It’s an old hotel that still maintains its style and charm of that in the 1960s. The best part was that it has an awesome rooftop bar where it also serves daily breakfast over there.

Sandakan is also a getaway for ecotourism in Sabah, as there are Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, Kinabatangan River, Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary in Labuk Bay and islands such as Turtle Island, Berhala Island and Lankayan Island (a bit far, about 1 hr 30 mins boat journey).

First day we went to Labuk Bay, roughly about one hour journey from the city. There lies a proboscis monkey sanctuary, in a form of mangrove swamp forest. Only in a certain parts of Borneo that one can see this endangered species. Nowhere else in the world but here. So yeah, this place is a must visit. The proboscis monkeys are wild and not confined in the sanctuary. They only make their appearance twice daily for feeding. It’s just that this mangrove is their natural habitat, and along with the increasing development in the coastal area, these monkeys are threatened with extinction. Something has to be done in order to prevent this possibility, ergo this sanctuary.

Entry fee : RM15 for Malaysians

Feeding time a.k.a viewing time : Platform A – 9.30am & 2.30pm; Platform B – 11.30am & 4.30pm

Can you see a teeny tiny proboscis?

After lunch we headed for another 2 hours journey to Sukau district as to experience the wildlife of Kinabatangan River.The river spans across over 500kms in length, making it the second longest river in Malaysia. We got into a long sampan man by a local kid. The sampan can fit about 9 people for RM150. Only when we were in the middle of the river that the boatman told us that the river is infested with crocodiles.

ha-ha.

Anyway, the river journey took 2 hours (plus another one hour stalking the wild elephants. so yeah, 3 hours on the crocs infested river. nice.) We saw horn bills, monkeys, macaque, and of course, the wild elephants. This is quite a rare event as wild elephants moved in groups and are nomadic in nature. It was just so happen that a few elephants were there just beside the river bank that day. They were eating and upon sun down, were expected to be making their way into the river for a sip of water and a bath. But we were pressed for time so we didn’t wait until the sun down.

The wild elephants

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chivalry isn’t dead yo

Was searching for some info on cars. And then I stumbled upon this comment in a car forum:

 

Tony September 6, 2011 at 11:28 pm

“Also, offer to do this for your wife, girlfriend, sister, or that interesting woman you would like to meet.

I can see it now, you see the interesting woman and ask her if she has a moment to help you check your lights. What’s the worst thing she would say, no? If she says yes, thank her, offer to check her lights and maybe a drink, a smoothie or coffee for her trouble.

Again, nothing ventured, nothing gained. It’s just another arrow in the quiver of the gentleman. Sometimes that arrow hits the target, and sometimes it doesn’t. But the arrow never fired never hits the target.”

God bless you, a dear gentleman. Your wife/girlfriend is a very lucky woman.

4 Deserts – the ultimate endurance race. Any takers?

If I have gazillions of money, y’know what I’d do?

I’d be running 4 Deserts.

It’s a series of endurance race covering four different deserts, Atacama Crossing in Chile, Gobi March in China, Sahara Race in Egypt and The Last Desert in Antarctica. Each desert constitutes 250 km footrace in a span of seven days, hence being dubbed as the ‘ultimate test of human endurance’. These are the harshest place on earth, with low humidity, temperamental temperatures (Sahara is known to have the highest temp of 50’c while it can get to stone freezing -20’c in Antarctica), crazy footing across miles of sand, water and ice. Nothing gets crazier than this. Even 50 days 50 marathon challenge falls second to this. Interestingly, Antarctica race is opened only by invitation to the participants who have at least joined two of the other races.

On top of that the participants have to carry their own backpack, consisting of equipment  food and water. Yep, this is a self reliance race, nothing else can be any harder than this, no? Unless of course, they’d have to set up their own tents and whatnot, in which in this case, are prepared by the organiser.

As this is a self reliance, self funding endurance race, the costs ain’t gonna be cheap. More so if the participant attempts to complete all four races in one calendar year. Hats off to 4 Deserts Grand Slam champions, whom are the competitors who complete all the 4 Deserts events in one calendar year.

There is a minor chance of me participating though, Roving Race, which is a yearly endurance race held at various places, this year it’ll be in Iceland. This is a sister event to 4 Desert race, as it is organised by the same organiser. Read the quick facts here. Same distance, same requirement. So maybe, perhaps, possibly, if I have the guts (and money of course), I will try my luck to join the Roving Race, someday.

why oh why

you know the thing with stupid men is…they’re shit clueless to the fact that they’re stupid.

Perkara Berkenaan Anak Yang Menakutkan Aku

1. Potty training. ’nuff said.

2. Judgmental people.

Contoh :

“Eh Mashitah, kau tak bf (breastfeed) anak kau ke? Kau tak sayang dia ke? Kau tanak bagi segala nutrien yang terbaik kepada anak kau ke??” ujar Maimunah sambil menyuapkan french fries kepada anaknya yang berusia setahun. 

“Anak aku nanti aku nak hantar dia ke tadika Qudees. Ye lah, aku nak bagi yang terbaik kat my precious princess.” kata Hamidah yang tahap pendidikan diri sendiri meragukan dan hobi masa lapangnya mengomen dalam blog Beautiful Mara. 

“Aku beli baju raya anak aku ni kat Pumkin Pach, ye lah tengah ada sale ni. Baju dia kualiti elok. Anak kau pakai baju Carrefor lagi ke tahun ni?” soal Lela yang keupayaan mengejanya boleh dipertikaikan.

Ah macam-macam lagi lah. Pendek katanya selagi kau bernafas orang akan komen dan judge atas segala perlakuan kau. Umpama kau bernafas pakai gas hidrogen, tak seperti mereka yang lain hidu gas oksigen.

3. Tantrum

Aku tak gemar tengok budak-budak tantrum kat pasaraya minta barang mainan atau nak naik kuda robot dari mak bapak diorang. Lagi-lagi kalau budak tu tak comel (seperti makbapak dia). Takutnya aku kalau anak aku kalau tak comel (mustahil) dan meronta-ronta nak mainan di toys r us? Oh tuhan tidakkkk.

4. Mengajar ABC, 123, alif ba ta.

Aku tak tahu sama ada aku punya kesabaran untuk ini semua. Justeru aku makan kismis, kurma, almond, susu kambing sekerap mungkin dari sekarang agar anak aku lahir genius dan aku tak perlu mengajar beliau benda-benda remeh sebegini. Apa barang ABC, hafal chemistry formula terus.

5. Kena ejek kat sekolah.

Ye lah, nama anak aku nanti Putera Rayyan Marsupial Dewata Raya dan Puteri Homo Sapiens Batrisya Amanee. Confirm ada kawan-kawan sedarjah yang mempunyai nama pasca kampung seperti Ryan dan Danish yang akan mengejek mereka.

Banyak lagi sebenarnya. Nanti aku update lagi.

taking the risk

“When you’re talking about someone who takes risks to accomplish something – climb a mountain, start a company, run for office, become a Navy SEAL,- that’s driven by motivation, and motivation is driven by the dopamine system. This is what compels humans to move forward.”

– Larry Zweifel, Uni of Washington. Taken from National Geographic magazine.