IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN

J to J to J "wish that's my present"

which one is mine?

Well it’s that time again. The year-end is almost here and it is also the time where people are frantically making plans for holidays with the kids. There are also parents who are either busy choosing holiday classes or tuition for the kids to while away during school holidays, while those without kids or kids who have grown and flew from the nests are busy getting their schedules rearrange for visits to their married children or to prepare for visits from their grandchildren. Those who are not so fortunate, like me, who have long exhausted their leave will be contented to just sit and make do with whatever they have and be in their office filling out for those who go on long leave.

Every year at a time like this, we in the office have the tradition where we will have that exchange of gifts session. Everyone would be asked to pick a name from pieces of papers that will be passed around with names written on it and whoever you picked will be your 'advent child' and you have to buy him or her gift. Last year the minimum price for a gift was fixed at RM15.00. This year however, due to the recession blah...blah, it has been fixed to a minimum of RM10.00. However, one may be allowed to go as high as possible depending on the individual’s generosity. You are not supposed to reveal to anyone who your advent child is, so it is safe for you to buy your gift and not be embarrassed when your gift is not liked!

The nicely wrapped gift will be put under the Christmas tree with the recipient’s name. The ladies especially, will take every opportunity to check whether there are any gift under the tree and any addition will be welcomed with 'ohhhs' and 'aahhhs' while trying to guess the giver and also what’s inside, studying the handwriting and all. It is not so much what the gift is, rather it is the suspense of trying to guess what is inside and who their respective ‘Santa’ is. A week or two before Christmas, the distribution of the gifts followed by a simple lunch will normally be held in the office conference room. Gifts distributed will then be opened. Some would shriek with excitement, some overly excited trying to hide their disappointment with the gifts, while at the same time thanking the mystery ‘Santa’ profusely. Some are quite innovative with their gifts which would please the 'advent child' very much.

I feel that gift chosen should be done with sincerity even though one may not like the recipient but the message in gifts exchanged is also a sort of making amends for whatever wrongs or to show love for one another. Of course, the meaning of giving may differ but ultimately, the message is the same i.e. sharing.


Choices of gifts can tell us many things about the person but at the same time can be misinterpreted too. It is also considered bad manners to give used stuff, free gifts or gifts that may cause discomfort to the recipient. Some will prefer to give or to receive a practical gift, but at time like now when money is tight, some I think will prefer not to go overboard. Whatever it is, I think it is important to communicate our thoughts about gifts. So before purchasing the gift, it is worth considering thinking twice about the message you want to send to that person, because at the end of the day, as the saying goes, it is the thought that counts. As for me, the real joy I derive from giving is choosing and shopping for that gift for the person which equals the joy of receiving.

Have a Happy Gift Shopping Day!

Honey...dinner is served..

I remember my sis’ saying ‘I may not be the greatest cook but you will never starve”. And sis, that applies to me too. There’s not much time to do a lot of cooking during weekdays. So normally, after coming home from work in the evening, I would just dig up something from the fridge and toss some onto the wok..and viola!!..stir-fried vegetables. Or in the morning I’ll just put in the beef, carrots, potatoes, big onions and freshly pounded black pepper together with black pepper sauce, some seasonings, dump everything inside the slow cooker or I call it the magic pot if you will, and by evening, everything would have been nicely cooked, meat tender and that, my dear, is the beef stew, Angie’s version, ok not the most original but what the heck. Sometimes it will be just simple dish like the steamed fish which doesn’t take too long to cook or even deep fried prawn with ‘sambal’. Of course the fish or prawn would have already been prepared or marinated much earlier.

my simple home-cooked food..

from top left: stir-fried veg, beef stew (Angie's version  :p ), white rice with raw cucumber 

and egg and add the sambal prawn (ala nasi lemak)

fried rice, deep fried prawn cooked with sambal and steamed fish fillet..

Come weekend when there’s more time, I prefer to spend a bit more time in the kitchen that is if I ‘rajin’....hehehe, otherwise it will be eat out......but there’s nothing like home-cooked food.

The Nunuk Ragang Affair

I've heard and have been curious about Nunuk Ragang for a long time but have yet to visit the place. So when the Unduk Ngadau Committee received an invitation to escort 7 UNK2010 winners to witness the 26th Anniversary of the installation of the Huguan Siou (Paramount Leader of the KadazanDusun people) on the 10th July, I jumped at the idea. Together with the Unduk Ngadau Chairperson, Puan Jornah and one of my best buds, Teri, we became baby sitters to these lovely girls. We were supposed to begin the 3-hr journey at 6am but the make-up sessions for the girls stretched up to 7.30am! We didn't want to be late for the 10am rituals and certainly didn't want to arrive after the Huguan Siou! Talk about a stressful journey, the long and winding road up to Ranau was a challenged for our driver as he was torn between the safety of his 12 passengers or to speed up to reach the destination on time. Coupled with the long and never ending winding road, we also seemed to be forever trailing behind slow moving cars and trucks laden with gas tanks. I won’t even mention the uneven roads ruined by the landslides!

the background - Nunuk Ragang monument. It is inside this building that the rituals are held.

About a 6km from Nunung Ragang, a convoy of luxurious cars zoomed past our van. Hey.. wasn't that the Huguan Siou's procession!? Then we began to really panic.  Our driver drove so fast now and everyone held on tightly to their seats! From afar, I saw the Nunuk Ragang monument which resembled a fort, with holey windows built on a hill. What a strange and surreal looking building..

Huguan Siou,

The Hon. Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan

and Puan Sri 

The Bobohizans 'blessing' the Huguan Siou.

When we arrived, the Huguan Siou and wife were just about to board a special vehicle just 500 metres from the Nunuk Ragang entrance. We cautiously drove past the crowd 'cos we didn't want to draw their attention. So we managed to arrive first and the girls hurriedly arranged their sashes and everyone stood ready to welcome the Huguan Siou and processions.

 The man in armour, a bodyguard of the Huguan Siou supposedly looked like this in the olden days.

This Nunuk Ragang event not only commemorates the Huguan Siou's installation but also serves to commemorate the original settlement of the Kadazandusun community before spreading to other parts of Sabah. This two-day event made up of a series of interesting events lined up such as the Nunuk Ragang Adventure Challenge, cultural performances and open market or tamu.

Nunuk Ragang is derived from two KadazanDusun words – Nunuk and Aragang. Nunuk is the local name for a banyan tree, and Aragang means red. It was said that there was a giant red banyan tree in the original village which provided shelter and food for the inhabitants. According to the legend, the Nunuk Ragang is the name of the village where the Kadazandusun people originated. It is located at the intersection of the left (Liwagu Kogibangan) and right (Liwagu Kawananan) branches of the Liwagu River to the east of Ranau and Tambunan.. The also legend tells us that the first encounter the KadazanDusun had with outsiders was with Chinese adventurers who had settled in the Kinabatangan and Labuk areas. This first encounter was followed by the first marriage of the daughter of a KadazanDusun chief to one of the Chinese heroes, who was rich enough to afford the dowry of 7 huge jars plus copper and silver wares.

The monument built by the KadazanDusun Cultural Association (KDCA) in 2004 is believed to be erected in that original settlement and now KDCA conducts annual pilgrimages to this site, timed to coincide with the installation anniversary of the paramount leader, Huguan Siou, The Hon. Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, held usually in the month of July.