Sabah Fest 2011

The Sabah Fest 2011 is on 30 April & 1 May 2011, held at The Sutera Magellan Ballroom. On both nights, there will be a musical-type show with traditional dances set to the folklore "Papakang - The Odyssey of Seven Brothers". You can read the whole story here.

The stage in the Ballroom looked all set ...

... including the nicely decorated ceiling. Unfortunately, I was told both performances were SOLD-OUT!

Out in the foyer, there was the Handicraft and Food exhibition ...

... with the usual mix of native products (interesting) and the commercial stuff (not so interesting).

The Sompoton ...

... a guy playing the bamboo sax ...

... a unique musical instrument from Sabah; with a case some more! ...

... made from bamboo sections glued together; it was organic and was very "Green Tech" ...

... a Tuan Haji with a set of very shiny Gongs ...

... a lady weaving the Kadazandusun hat ...

... another lady weaving cloth ...

... with colourful and intricate geometric designs (pixels?) ...

... another really colourful cloth ...

... done on-site ...

... there were various other products; from colourful and traditional boxes ...

... to modern batiks ...

... and painted stones ...

... and art ...

... and metal-forged knicknacks ...

... and our Orang Utans reduced to becoming soft plush toys (rather hideous looking though) ...

... finally, not forgetting the local food.

Times Bookstore - Book Fair 2011

I like books and reading, so I could never resist going to any book fair. There is one going on at the Lower Ground, Suria Sabah. It's organised by Times Bookstore during the period 29 April to 8 May 2011.

As usual, the advertising was more exciting than reality; they said discounts up to 90% and books as cheap as RM3 each. I overheard one woman saying she couldn't find any book with the 90% discount sticker. I presumed there must be "one" at least, although I never saw it.

But it was possible to get some value-for-money discounted books; if you were willing to look through ALL THEM BOOKS!

I found a copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (bought for RM104). It was a 2,483 page monster. The good thing about this one was that it was compiled and re-written in more modern english by The Royal Shakespeare Company (the RSC performed the plays). So it was much easier to read.

The FUNNY COINCIDENCE was that, just last week, I bought this other book at the Harris Bookstore. It covered the historical period of Shakespeare and the various mysteries about the man. For example, no one knows what he actually looked like? The usual portrait was one called The Chandos portrait (the balding guy as above); but no definitive proof that this was Shakespeare. In 2009, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust unveiled the Cobbe portrait, saying that that was Shakespeare (a younger and more handsome man with a full head of hair)!

ACCA Members Appreciation Nite - Kota Kinabalu

The ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is an UK based association for qualified accountants. The qualification is recognised by the MIA (Malaysian Institute of Accountants), so there are a significant number of Malaysian members in the ACCA.

The ACCA Malaysia branch held a Members Appreciation Nite as an annual affair. This KK one was the first, to be followed by those to be held in other cities and towns in Malaysia ...

... this was at The Pacific Sutera this evening ...

... where registration got me a bag, and T-shirt & a folder for being a 25-year member. Apparently there were 33 such "old-timers" in Kota Kinabalu! ...

... the attendance at around 60 was very good for this type of function ...

... we had our ACCA's JLo (on the right of the photo)! Yes, her name is really Jennifer Lopez, and she's the Country Head, ACCA Malaysia.

PIKOM Sabah Chapter Installation Banquet

I attended the PIKOM Sabah Chapter Installation Banquet last night. PIKOM is basically the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) vendors' association in Malaysia.

For us, the "man-in-the-street" types, PIKOM was familiar only for the PC fairs organised a few times each year. The Sabah Chapter for this organisation had just been formed and this was the first committee (2011 - 2013).

Hey, I knew the Treasurer / MC for the night. We went to Monkwearmouth College (we rather naughtily called it MonkeyHouse) in Sunderland almost 40 years ago!

The Committee for 2011 - 2013.

Whoa! I didn't know that the Chapter Chairman (my uncle) gets a Chain of Office! The Federal Minister and The State Minister (with ICT responsibilities) are to the right of the photo.

Entertainment was by The Summer Grace Sisters (Feng Cai Jie Mei). I knew nothing about their act.

My "taste" in music were still the oldies from the 50s to the 70s. They did some english songs from those eras.

There was a fella singing as well. I had seen his face on the AEC channel on Astro, but had no idea who he was.

There was a dance with some gold-coloured flags being waved about ...

... and a sketch about Bollywood movies & dances ... plus some malay songs (1Malaysia lah!). All in all, I had an enjoyable night & dinner with my relatives at the same table.

Nirvana Memorial Park Kota Kinabalu

This morning, I went with my aunties and uncles to visit the grave of an aunt of mine (part of the Qing Ming Festival). She had a plot at The Nirvana Memorial Park. As per their website; it is a private cemetery of 138 acres and 15 miles (Jalan Tuaran) from Kota Kinabalu. It is a "Pay once" kind of burial plot; they will maintain the area forever (hopefully).

It was nicely laid out and very pleasant. Obviously the higher up the hill, the costlier the plot ...

... you can see why when you turn around ... it was the "Feng Shui" view.