THE MEET BEFORE MY LONG LEAVE OF ABSENCE..

The just revived *KDCA Women Council together with the newly set up KDCA Youth Council - paid courtesy visit to Huguan Siou YB Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan @ President of KDCA, 
Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah merangkap Menteri Pembangunan Infrastruktur Sabah to brief him on KDCA Women's and the Youth's Vision and Mission - 12 October 2015.


* KDCA - Kadazandusun Cultural Association

The KDCA Youths, headed by Mandela Malakun )left_

The women

The Protem Committee of the KDCA Women's Council

from Right: Deputy, Puan Sairah, Flavianm, Dr Azlina, Janeta, Josephine Luping, Yours Truly

and Dr Mary

WINGS ON MY HEELS..

." .all my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.."

Well not now actually.. but hopefully soon. Counting the days.

God willing, will fly in say another couple of weeks. When will I be back? Depends on where the wind brings me. Maybe next month, or the month after, or perhaps by Christmas, maybe even next year. Who knows what the future holds. Why am I itching to travel again?  

Well, as age catches up, better do it now when them knees are still not rickety yet and them eyes are still able to focus.  My camera will be my best friend.. and a couple of friends.

I remember when I was young and staying with my grandmother and during weekends, I was supposed to stay home and study or do my homework but whenever she look elsewhere, I would quietly go out to play with my cousins. And stay out the whole day and sometimes stay for meals at their house which was just a couple of houses away actually.  Then later at dusk, I would try to sneak back home and get an earful from grandma which I knew was inevitable. She would scold in her most meanest voice "where have you been, you have wings on your heels, why is it that you never stay put!" But my grandmother, bless her never beat me and I guess I was a little spoilt.  But how could I stay home alone all day doing nothing.  Those ancient days, tv or computers were non existence, at least in my part of the world.  

Google pic.

Books borrowed from friends or the school library were my best friends and I would read all day and night with a small kerosene lamp until the cock crows at dawn.  So when I run out of what to read, I would read my school text books and when I get bored, I would sneak out and play with my cousins in the fields, to the woods, climbing fruit trees and playing tarzan, fishing in river and even helped my cousins watch their buffaloes grazing in the fields. Yeah, we gotta watch them lest they wander off to the paddy fields and grazed on the young paddy plants.  That was an absolute no no. There was once, we were busy playing and did not notice that the buffaloes had wandered into the paddy fields and were happily grazing on the young paddy plants.  My aunt was so angry, we almost didn't get our dinner that night.

Paddy field

Water buffaloes. Google pic.

So back to my yearn for travel, yes my heels are winged.. but will be back home somehow when I get weary from all these.  Where am I going? Wish I am travelling to Europe but I am not. I simply cannot afford it especially now that the ringgit is tumbling down everyday.  Hopefully one day soon though, then I can die peacefully...LOL!

Cheers.

Hint of my destination...

below pics, my sis, behind her is a library and the other a train station. She used to study, work and live there. She holds a PR.

'TREASURES' FROM MY MOBILE PHONE..

My mobile phone hanged again. Must be because of the thousands of pictures stored that is taking away most of the memory space.  Not only those taken by me, but also those sent by friends through text messages, Watsapp and so on.  I think I must have about almost 30 group chats with an average of 10 people per group. Imagine if all these friends send in videos or pictures!!

What do you do with all these pictures that are stored in handphone or computer?  Well, delete them of course but I can hardly keep up. Seems like I am forever deleting pictures or videos LOL!  Those favourite ones get to stay and some saved in external drive or pendrive and then.... forgotten! 

I was deleting pictures from my mobile phone the other day, and came across several that took me by surprise haha...some sent by friends and some taken by me.  I have totally forgotten their existence. Not well taken but hey, who's complaining.  It's that moment captured that's more important, no?   

Cheers! :)

 At a wedding reception few weeks ago... oops the the feet hilang. haha..

 one of the tip of Petronas Twin Tower, KLCC taken by me at the 86th Floor. .. another oops.. tip missing (June 2015).

At the 'breaking of fast' dinner courtesy of Le Meridien Hotel with

my good friend Jo, Director of Sabah Museum and top 3 UNK 2015 winners.

 Shopaholic sistas from trip to Ho Chi Min, Vietnam.. at the airport homeward bound enroute to KLIA2 

bird's eye view from the Skybridge and 86th floor of  Petronas Twin Towers, KLCC - June 2015

Who doesn't love ice cream..... a quaint ice cream parlour just 5 minutes walk from my house. Yummmy.. a treat from a friend..

Primary School Classmates Reunion recently... 

Oldies But Goldies, A Walk Down Memory Lane - Together Again  after more than 40 - odd years. When we met again for the first time, the years just melted!

Spot me? 

Like Mother like Daughter..

With my Mary Kay buddies .. 

Gosh, looks like I have had too much burgers!

Ok, now I can delete the pics from my handphone.  :)

OLD FORGOTTEN SONG..

*the sun ain't gonna shine anymore*    (but of course it will, it always does  :))

 

I have totally forgotten that this song existed until a Facebook friend posted it on her wall and tagged me. I was like, wow, this is a really familiar song, a song that I used to hear being played on the record player by my older cousins way back then.

It sure brings some nostalgic feelings of those days when life was much simpler. I really missed those carefree days, then life was new and the future was bright.  The only need then was to do well in your exams,  have fun and be happy...  

Cheers

HAS BEEN AWHILE....HELLO SEPTEMBER..

I know, I know.. but am really looking forward to October. 

Hope September gives me a good reason, a nice path and open doors and accommodate me a great October, God willing.

But first, August has been an awesome month.. alright,  some days were not so good, but some days were really amazing. I would say.. surreal. But that is another story...

This blog was at one time in danger of being done...sleeping for good.   but hey...

Hello September, please be good to me..

ALL SHOOK UP....A TRAGEDY ON THE MOUNTAIN

no, it's got nothing to do with Elvis song. Rather about the earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 that shook the people around Sabah this morning.  It was felt around KK, Penampang, Keningau, Tambunan and as far as Kota Marudu but mostly in Kundasang and Ranau.

stranded climbers waiting to be rescued.

Heard some casualties among the 195 climbers to Mt Kinabalu. All the rescue teams and hospitals in Ranau and Kundasang are on now standby. The climbers are trapped by falling rocks. Ropes apparently snapped and some slight tremors are still felt. Arrangements are being made to rescue them by helicopter but hampered by thick mist. Praying everyone and everything will be A ok.

 It was around 7.15 am or so this morning and I was doing the laundry. The machine was on spin mode but strangely was shaking more than usual which puzzled me but did not suspect anything.  Then I noticed that the whole house was shaking. I ran to the living room and saw the TV wobbling vigorously for about 5 seconds. Thank God, nothing fell. I frozed.. My other half who was seated at the dining table having his coffee shouted, 'it is earthquake!!'  Then I heard commotion from the the neighbour. With shaking hands, I sent a watsapp message to one of my group chat asking them whether they felt the tremor.  Thereon, my phone never stopped.

My Committee and I together with 8 Unduk Ngadau are scheduled to travel to Ranau tomorrow for the Majlis Rumah Terbuka Kaamatan Kebangsaan 2015 and to stay at a homestay in Kundasang. We are still waiting if any changes to the program and/or  whether the event will be cancelled. No aftershocks so far. Apart from the casualties at the mountain and some damages to properties in Kundasang and Ranau, no other major damages in KK. We are all fine..

some damages to properties. Image sent by a friend through watsapp.

Some believe that the calamity is a warning, as the spirits of the mountain has not been appeased. The mountain has been desecrated recently when four women and six men, who were in a group of 27 Europeans climbing the mountain on May 30, left the main group and headed towards South Peak, where they allegedly stripped naked and ignored warnings and pleads from their guide to stop. They instead called him stupid and even asked him to go to hell.

Superstitions or not, one should show respect to the environment and mother earth. The 4,095m Mountain is a World Heritage site and is sacred to the Kadazandusuns as the 'abode of the dead' and should be treated with respect.


Now I may have to remove my sidebar pic of Mt Kinabalu and Dr Ben's beautiful quote about our Land Below the Wind not being affected by hurricanes or earthquakes...because we are..

"..a beautiful country is Sabah, Malaysia - Land Below the Wind, where earthquakes and hurricanes never rage to disturb climatic serenity and life's tranquility"... Dr. Ben Topin



Echoing the prayers for Sabah from friends..

"Stay safe friends and family in Sabah. Heavenly Father, we uphold Sabah and the surroundings unto your hand and protect everyone living in this land from any natural disaster. Lord, cancel all the evil plans that have been made for Sabah and have mercy on everyone who lives here. Protect us from any harm and dangers and cover us with Your most Holy Blood. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.  Mother Mary, lead the throng of Angels of God to intercede for us and the whole world. Amen."

7th June 2015

My prayers go out to all those bereaved families who have lost their loved ones in the Mount Kinabalu Earthquake and to the brave Mountain Guides who are the real heroes who worked tirelessly risking their own lives to get the mountain climbers and workers down. Let's continue to pray for our beloved country and may the Lord protect us from all natural disasters.  The official casualties as of now is 13 with several others injured. This being school holidays, many of the climbers were young students, mostly Singaporeans, some as young as 11 year olds. *cries*

May the souls of the Mountain Guides who perished while on a rescue mission and also the climbers rest in peace. Amen.

RIOT OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS...

After so much anticipation, the day of our trip to South Korea, a trip for the reigning Unduk Ngadau Ms Cheryl Lynn and which my team and I had planned since last year, finally arrived. We've been warned of the Spring's still chilly and unpredictable weather in Seoul with temperature of 16'c daytime but would suddenly plummet to 4'c anytime in the day.  Used to hot and humid weather, we therefore came prepared with our boots, shawl and light jacket.

Our 8 days, from 11th to 19th April 2015 in South Korea soon passed quickly taking with us beautiful memories, lots of photographs and burning a big hole in our pockets. Shopping in Seoul is expensive especially as our Ringgit has fallen bad recently. However, our resolutions of  not going to buy anything flew out of the window when we saw lots of nice things.  If you, like me, who love cosmetics, skin care and clothes, bags or shoes, go shop at Myeongdong and Dongdaemun in Seoul. You will be spoilt for choice and can't help but buy as some come in good bargains!  My friends and I, we went a little crazy and the 2 hours that our tour guide gave us felt like 30 minutes.  2 hours, where got enough ohh...Lol! 

We demanded we return there for more shopping the following day...haha... During the last day when we started packing for home, I found myself with 4 handbags, a pair of boots, a pair of sandals, oh and some cloths and some small souvenirs and horrors, could not fit into my luggage! Well, nothing like an extra luggage cannot solve.  Ok, ok, only 2 of the handbags are mine  haha.. sounds extravagant but really mine is nothing compared to some of my friends.

Cheryl with a dashing 'Korean Movie Star' :)

Cheryl, looking like a Korean movie star ..:)

Beautiful Korean ladies at the Festival of Cherry BlossomsYeouido Park, Seoul.

Korean ladies are known for their fair and flawless skin  - no heavy makeup, no photoshop, and these no plastic surgeries.  

What would a visit to Korea be if one does not buy kimchi and ginseng. Though kimchi is readily available in our local stores.  Why ginseng? Well our tour guide said that Koreans who are known for their fair and flawless complexion attribute it to them taking ginseng since young. Ginseng, he said is used for improving overall health, strengthen the immune system and help fight off stress and diseases. The problem, he said is that by taking ginseng, Koreans do not get old, therefore never die! Unless they get run over by a bus.... hahaha.. very funny.

Cheryl at the set of the famous Korean tv series, Winter Sonata

But we did not only shop. We visited museums, old palaces, went up Mt Sorak, visited Nami Island and lots more.  But the most memorable one must be our walkabout joining in the thousands of Koreans who came in hordes at Yeouido Park. It was the Festival of spring cherry blossoms!

Koreans celebrates the Cherry Blossoms Festival to celebrate the precious few days each spring when the thousands of cherry trees especially in Yeouido Park erupt into clouds of pink and white.Our guide told us that it is almost always in the second week of April where the trees's buds inevitably burst and there seems to be riot of spring's spectacular blossoms each tree seemingly in competition with each other of which tree gives a more beautiful blossoms! A really treat for us for after the 2nd day, it rained and the flowers dropped like raindrops creating a carpet of white under each tree leaving the trees bare.  Not all the trees dropped their flowers though as cherry blossoms are planted all over the streets of Seoul but still not as beautiful as the first day when we arrived...

 Kimchi, served to us in one of our meals. Kimchi is served at every meal.

 Street food . giant squids

the one in the big pot is like 'siput sedut' except they are white in colour. No did not try. I am

not that adventurous where food is concerned.

  

We also did our Sunday obligation at St Andrew's, a Catholic Church, Seoul. The Sunday Mass was conducted in English. We met lots of fellow countrymen there..

WANTING - EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD and SUNSETS IN TANJUNG ARU

I just discovered this amazing song and singer, Wanting.. Many thanks to a good faraway friend for sharing..  The words are so meaningful and made me WANTING more.. 

Let's listen...

And it has been mentioned that Kota Kinabalu is one of the best place to see glorious sunsets.. here are some taken, some with just my handphone and digital camera..

.... “Sunsets, like childhood, are viewed with wonder not just because they are beautiful but because they are fleeting.” 

"At sunset, nature is painting for us ... a day after day... pictures of infinite beauty..."