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..."

A CELEBRATION, 3D PAINTINGS AND SUNSETS

It was a beautiful celebration.. the birthday and engagement of  my friend Jo's eldest daughter, Ava.

Too bad I did not bring my DSLR cam.. :(

Some photos taken with my digital camera.

The new in thing - 3D paintings.

This beautiful 3D painting was painted on a wall of Jo's beautiful house.

Jo's house is near a beach ... and so, she's got the best of both views, sunrise and the mountains on the east and on the west, the sea and beautiful sunsets... 

                                                                              ..taking his family for a ride..

..the airport is about 5km away, so a plane every few minutes...

WISHING ONE AND ALL A VERY HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR..

 Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xi Nian Kuai Le

from 

Pic above show us with our signed Declaration to pledge our full commitment towards the
Unduk Ngadau activities. This is a voluntary job and we not only organize the annual State Level Unduk  Ngadau pageant and promote  KadazanDusun culture but we also conduct fund raising for the less fortunate.
 This year the Charity Dinner "Sodop Unduk Ngadau" will be held on 29th May 2015 and we hope to raise enough funds to enable us to assist St Pius Children's Orphanage, Bundu Tuhan, Ranau in their day to day expenses and also the repairs of their dilapidated  building.

The unique thing about the native of Sabah is that many in one way other possess some Chinese blood. Most of my friends in the picture for example even though on official documents, they are Kadazans are infact not pure Kadazans due to parent's inter-marriages especially those in urban areas.

 My friend Mart, (standing 2nd from left) has a Chinese grandfather with a surname Lee, Lyn (standing 4th from left) with surname Wong, Teri seated extreme left,  maternal grandfather is a Chuan and Phil whose father is mixed Chinese, surnamed Chai.

 My hubby whose birth cert says he is Kadazan but actually come from the lineage of the Wong Loong Clan, his father side.  His maternal grandfather on the other hand is pure Chinese, a skilled carpenter who came from the mainland China with his parents when he was a young boy surnamed Chong. He married a local Kadazan lady and adopted most of the Kadazans way of life.  Hence, the reasons why most Kadazans are fair skinned with Chinese features and people can be forgiven for mistaking them for Chinese. All my children, 2 beautiful girls and my handsome son... hehehe....took after their father whose features are more Chinese, the classic fair skin and almond shaped eyes.

the eldest (right) and youngest on the left

Do we celebrate Chinese New Year? Oh yes in a way we do, but now only just a small new year eve dinner as my son is living abroad, my eldest daughter residing in KL which left my youngest.  Unlike those days when my parent in laws were still around,.....  I miss them.

Be safe this holidays folks.
..

ROSES HAVE THORNS...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

 "Even if sometimes love is full of thorns, embrace it for in between those thorns, there is a rose that's worth all the pain"

I went a little crazy a couple of weeks back and decided to chop off my tresses... 
my latest pics, taken last nite when we took a friend (in black tank top) for dinner. She is on a visit from Kiwi land. (sorry for poor quality of pics.. taken with a hand phone cam in a poorly lighted restaurant.)