CHRISTMAS MEMORIES...

I was out window shopping with a friend the other day and we got to talking about the numerous Christmas decor that are now displayed at all the shopping malls. "But I don't like Christmas" she said. I was like, hey did I hear you right? "What? Did you say you DON'T like Christmas?" I asked in disbelief.. hahaha... 'cos who doesn't like Christmas? Or even if they do not like it, they would not go around proclaiming they don't right? She repeated "Yup, I DON'T like Christmas."  

 "Scrooge!" I said laughing. We both laughed.  "Now don't get me wrong. I like what it stands for.. the Advent, the birth of Christ our Lord.  Just that Christmas season reminds me of a tragic incident that happened around this time years ago." She said.  "Oh..I am sorry, I get what you mean, I feel you." I said.   She did not elaborate and I did not push on. It must have been a real painful episode of her life.  For how many of us have experienced tragic circumstances during festive season. Whatever it is, everything happens for a reason and that the Lord works in mysterious ways.  If He put you to it, He will put you through it.   

I too have yet to feel the elusive Christmas spirit, but am in my own small way participating in the Gaya Street Christmas Carnival and will be selling my hand made Fashion Jewellery for charity from 10th to 13th December 2012 from 7.00pm onwards. I will be donating a portion of the proceeds to Sabah AIDS Support Association (KASIH)  More info on KASIH : 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabah-AIDS-Support-Services-Association-KASIH/117257678385784

So if you are in KK and looking for gift ideas for Christmas, do drop by.  Come and rejoice with the people of Kota Kinabalu as fun-filled events take place. Wouldn't it be fun to stroll under twinkling fairy lights and browsing through hawker stalls selling Christmas goodies? :)

Meanwhile, I love this meaningful  Christmas Song by Mariah Carey... 
"Miss You Most At Christmas Time" .   

Cheers. :)

The fire is burning 
The room's all aglow 
Outside the December wind blows 
Away in the distance the carolers sing in the snow 
Everybody's laughing 
The world is celebrating 
And everyone's so happy 
Except for me tonight 

Because I miss you 
Most at Christmas time 
And I can't get you 
Get you off my mind 
Every other season comes along 
And I'm all right 
But then I miss you, most at Christmas time 

I gaze out the window 
This cold winter's night 
At all of the twinkling lights 
Alone in the darkness 
Remembering when you were mine 
Everybody's smiling 
The whole world is rejoicing 
And everyone's embracing 
Except for you and I 

Baby I miss you 
Most at Christmas time 
And I can't get you 
Get you off my mind 
Every other season comes along 
And I'm all right 
But then I miss you, most at Christmas time 

In the springtime those memories start to fade 
With the April rain 
Through the summer days 
Till autumn's leaves are gone 
I get by without you 
Till the snow begins to fall 

And then I miss you 
Most at Christmas time 
And I can't get you 
Get you off my mind 
Every other season comes along 
And I'm all right... 
But then I miss you, most at Christmas time

TRAVEL MEMORIES OF FUN TAIWAN

Hi All, I know talking about the trip to Taiwan is a little overdue, but I guess, a little late is better than never. After all, I did promise to write a little about it ..:)...of which I almost forgot. I was reminded when I made a visit to one of my lovely blogger friends blog where she posted about persimmon which then triggered my memory...aheemmm......gosh, my age has caught up with me?

The trip was organised by the KDCA State Level UNK Committee as part of Melinda, the reigning Unduk Ngadau's activities. The  trip served as an educational trip for her to expose her to other cultures to empower her knowledge as an Ambassador for Tourism.  We, the Organiser of course had to tag along. The group of 18 traveled to Taiwan on the 1st November and upon reaching Taoyuan Airport, Taipei,  I immediately felt I was in foreign land because of the chilly temperature. Of course, it should be. It was autumn after all but it was pleasantly cool and fresh, a stark contrast from the usually hot and humid temperature here. We arrived our hotel in Taipei at around 9 in the evening.

The following morning, dressed in our traditional costume, a chartered bus brought us to the Malaysia Friendship and Trade Centre (MFTC) Taipei where we were scheduled for a courtesy visit to the Head of Mission, Taipei, Ybhg Datuk T S Yong. We were welcomed  by his beautiful wife and ushered to a Conference Room. Datin Dona has been instrumental in arranging our travel itinerary in Taiwan.  We met several Malaysians staff working for MFTC. All the formalities done, a presentation of the MFTC personnel showed and briefed us the roles and functions of MFTC.  We were informed that Head of Mission is equivalent to Ambassador.

For refreshments, we were served with a delicious Malaysian Nasi Lemak with super hot sambal cooked by Malaysians.

Later, we were brought to visit a few landmarks in Taipei, one of  which is the Taipei 101 Tower. It is one of the tallest buildings in the world at 1,667 feet high. The tower and its spire even outrank the Petronas Twin Towers, in Kuala Lumpur.

We were brought to luncheon hosted by the wife of Head of Mission where we were joined by the Ambassador of Swaziland to Taiwan and several Ambassadors' wives and towards the evening we were brought to watch a cultural show.

The following days were spent sightseeing and window shopping.  Ahh..but let the pictures speak for themselves.

at the persimmon farm..too ripe huh

'Persimmon Picker'...hehe

At the persimmon garden, a Persimmon Festival. 
The Persimmon Festival is one of Taiwan's tourist attraction.

 Group photo with the Head of Mission Taipei, his wife and staff of Malaysian Friendship 

and Trade Centre Taipei

Middle, an aborigine lady, flanked by Ray (left) and Melinda 

Background  : Chang Kai Shek Memorial

Lunch with the wives of Ambassadors of various countries.

On my left is the wife of Ambassador of Singapore in Taiwan

On the right is Ambassador of Swaziland in Taiwan. 

a cultural performance by the Aborigines Cultural Group, Taiwan. There are 14 aborigines tribes  in Taiwan. There's one tribe (can't remember which one) which has an uncanny resemblance with our traditional costume.  

Even  some of their language are similar to the Kadazandusn tribe in Sabah. We asked one lady to count 1 to 10 in their language and there was a lot of similarities for example,  five in  Kadazan is himo and the lady told us that it 'hima' or something like that in their language. I also asked how they say eyes in their language, and she said 'mato' and ears 'tolingo'......We were shrieking in amusement. That was sooo eerie. 

  Some has claimed that the ancestral roots of Kadazandusuns could have originated from here. So far no concrete evidence is available and has remained unproven until now. It would be quite interesting. I hope one day, someone would do a proper research on this. 

 "a groom carrying his bride on their wedding day"

aerial view of Sun Moon Lake

 Note the lady with a headdress. She is a fine example of Taiwan's aborigines. 
But she looks like one of us doesn't she.

they know how to aramaitie also ..hehehe

an aborigine lady. She's gorgeous!

Melinda with  a beautiful Malaysian lady, now a PR of Taiwan. She has been residing in Taiwan for the past 35 years. She has not forgotten her roots. See what she wears.. love it.

TARAP, A WILD FRUIT WILDLY DELICIOUS

My family is always in dismay whenever I do my weekly visit to the market as I tend to buy more fruits than anything else. I would normally depend on Mr Hubs to buy fish or meats as he makes better choices while I buy vegetables and fruits. Especially now that it is the fruit season, you’d find me struggling with bags of all sorts of fruits like langsat, rambutans, even durians, mangosteens and tarap. 

For those not familiar with tarap fruit, it is a wild fruit and native to Borneo and I believe is not found anywhere else. The skin is spiky but spikes are not hard like the durians, rather rough and colours of the ripe fruit may vary from greenish to yellowish.

It has a strong scent (but not anywhere like durians) and the flesh when ripe is soft, sweet and white. Ok, not a good description and you still have no idea what it looks like? See pictures please :)

Tarap fruit

When the fruit is ripe, the outer skin can easily be pulled apart and it would then reveal the delicious fruit inside. The fruit comes in seeds and each seed has a layer of the soft white flesh covering it. The flesh can be eaten direct from the fruit or you can scrap the flesh into a bowl or a fancy container, have it chilled and viola….a great dessert! 

tarap flesh... ahemm...this one looks a little too ripe.. 
No need to eat the seeds :)

I’ve also tried placing them in a freezer and eat them just before they freeze. Sinking one’s teeth into the succulent fruit with just a hint of frost is like a little bite of heaven!  Alternatively, one can also make fritters out of it much like making banana fritters.

So if you intend to visit Sabah, come in October or November and you will find them everywhere in the open market or ‘tamu’ even those roadside stalls. They would be sold side by side with the other seasonal fruits like durians, mangosteens, langsat, rambutans.  

durians, the King of fruits 

 langsat

 rambutans

mangosteen

A good place to stop by if you are on the way up to Kundasang where the mahestic mountain, Mount Kinabalu is situated, is Pekan Nabalu.  Just head to any of the stall selling tarap, request them to open them for you, and you can sample them there and then. Usually a medium-sized fruit will cost RM5.00 each. I’ve come across Japanese and Korean tourists even visitors from Peninsula gleefully enjoying the fruit. 

Just a word of caution, if you are not a fan of soft sweet fruit with a strong scent, tarap is not for you.  Why do I say that...well ‘cause I know of people not really keen on them ..hahaha…just like how they do not like cempedak or durians.  Oh well, one man’s food is another man’s poison. 

Tarap anyone?  :D

CHANGE IS CONSTANT IN OUR LIVES....NOVEMBER RAIN

Have not touched my camera lately apart from just randomly shooting. It is not the same as in really taking photos you see. At least that's what I think. Yeah, have gone a little lazy I guess.  

As I was browsing through the thousands of pictures that I've taken a little way back - landscape mostly,  some macro and some so-called portraits,  I discovered that I've taken some nice pictures which I've totally forgotten.  A couple I took with my digital camera.

Have adjusted the colours on 2 of the pictures into black and white - yeah changing what's real.  Change is inevitable in our lives, so let's freeze time through these pictures. 

These were taken from Strawberry Garden Resort in Kundasang, Ranau. Hence, the strawberries. Too bad they weren't in season but I managed to capture some...

Here's how it looks with colours and below in b & w

'Cause nothing' lasts forever

And we know hearts can change
It's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain..

(excerpt of a lovely song by  Guns n Roses)

SHOP TILL YOU DROP..

I woke up with a start.  I blinked and I wondered where I was. I looked around, but the place was not familiar. I sat up and collected my thoughts. Oh my God, I thought, where am I? Then it slowly dawned on me. Of course I was in a hotel room in Taipei. But where is everyone? I reached for my mobile phone which was on the bedside table. The time showed almost 10.05 pm. There was a WatsApp message from my friend. "I've gone out with TM and D. Couldn't wake you up."

Hahaha...gosh, what was meant to be just a little nap have turned into a deep sleep, dead to the world for almost one solid hour! This must have been a culmination of the hectic schedules we had the last 6 days. Hey, I am usually a light sleeper you know. I took that little nap after coming back from a whole day of window shopping and sightseeing, hopping from one train station to another station and from mall to mall in Taipei. My friends and I were supposed to go out again for supper and a little chit chat in our friends' room. It was our last night in Taipei after all.  So, literally, I shopped till I dropped.

Ready to paint the town red..

New Taiwan Dollars  .. don't be deceived by the looks. NTD1000 is equivalent to around RM100.00 only.  Anyway, things there are not cheap. 

Sogo, sighh... we only managed to look inside. Couldn't afford anything..

Taipei 101, is a landmark skycraper, once the tallest building in the world, yes even taller than our own twin towers, until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground.   Ouchh, my neck hurts looking up.. :)

Taiwan is prone to earthquakes and we were informed that there are several mini earthquakes the year round. All tall buildings in Taiwan are earthquake-proof.

View from the 85th floor of Taipei 101..

We can only afford to shop here...a wholesale market

But they sell nothing but winter clothes...LOL

in between hopping from shops to shops... antics of the naughty boys and girls... 

Hey, we managed to get some nice food. Ordering food when Mandarin is not one's language is a little tricky.  Ahemm.. they do not provide spoon, they give you ladle. LOL

The Shilin Night Market. Hmm.. love this..

the famous Stinky Taufu at the night market. 

These stink to the heavens but a delicacy to the locals. I understand the taste is nice but oh puleeezzz, not for me.. sorry.. LOL

Ohh so tired..we sat about anywhere... 

at a cool countryside of Taiwan, overlooking the Tachia River and the misty mountain..lovely.

Forever fumbling for something  :)

at a Taiwan countryside 

I called our friend's room which was 6 floors below and yes there were there chit-chatting.  They laughed at how they failed to wake me up even after vigorously shaking me...hahaha..eeekk, how embarrassing. Them old body has taken its toll. They invited me down but I declined. I still felt a little groggy and a little disoriented. I thought I'd better take a good shower and start packing.  We had to leave at 5.00 am for the airport the following morning anyway. Yayy.. we're going home.

After shower and feeling much better, I again lamented at the arduous task of packing. I looked at what I bought..hey, how did I come up with so much stuff? How on earth am I going to fit those in one bag. Granted I have a big luggage but even if I can fit all those God knows what stuff, what about the 20kg limit on luggage? Sighh..big problem..

Homeward bound at the hotel lobbey, 5am in the morning. 


OK,  more about the trip later. Meanwhile, cheers everyone and have a lovely Sunday.