52nd La Salle Alumni Dinner 2013

The 52nd Annual Dinner for Ex-students of La Salle and Sacred Heart was held on Saturday 17 August 2013.

 

Never having been to "Port View Palace Hall" at Wisma Hakka, I went earlier to have a closer look at the place. Its in Tanjung Lipat, next to the KPD Tamu Ground.

The entrance looked rather grand, but no multi-storey parking ...

... though with the hall on the first floor, there were parking spots underneath and also parking on the open ground outside as well as in the Tamu Ground.

The building at the end was the official Wisma Hakka ...

... though uncompleted and much "junk" stored there.

The event hall was very big and very well air-conditioned. I was told (not sure though if this is true) that this is currently the largest function hall in Kota Kinabalu.

Sneaking up on the stage gave a view from behind the MC's little nest.

The hall had a transparent glass stage ...

... and a giant electronic backdrop screen.

 The first floor lobby/reception was rather small ...

... though you could use the larger space in the ground floor lobby. What was that boy doing behind the pillar???

The Alumni Association was doing the usual. I bought a T Shirt and a lapel pin.

The food was good (since it was by Port View Restaurant) and an enjoyable evening with my old classmates. The "old" is getting more literal by the year; it was the 40th year since our Form Five at La Salle!

Homeless in Kota Kinabalu?

Last night, with my wife going out for a dinner function and my eldest daughter at work, I had one of the rare occasion to buy dinner from Bomber Burgers in Gaya Street for my younger daughter and myself. This is to explain that I am not a "night owl" so the sight of the benches occupied by what seemed to be homeless men surprised me. If so, I can only say that I am grateful for what life has given me.

Fuji Xerox Printer Warranty

My Fuji Xerox CP205 colour laser printer started to give problem last month. It sprayed a lot of cyan toner over the left side of the page. Due to some urgent report-printing, I went and bought a new unit without checking the warranty on the existing unit. Subsequently (after calling the distributor), I discovered that the warranty (3 years) was on a swap basis! I could have saved the expense of buying the new printer (lesson learnt).

The distributor, Mavisco Sdn Bhd, was located at Plaza Kingfisher (stupid GPS map in the car could not find this address! it was listed as King Fisher). After inspection, I was given a new unit. But this replacement unit did not carry a "further 3 year warranty", it is covered under the remainder period of the existing warranty. After the end of the 3-year warranty period, any printer breakdown will not be repairable and the broken printer can be dumped at our local landfill (slight sarcasm if Fuji Xerox is claiming to be an environmentally friendly company). They did tell me that, in that situation, to keep the broken printer and wait for one of their "trade-in" promotion for a new printer.

I had never been to Plaza Kingfisher. One of the staff there told me I had not missed anything by that omission.

But it can't be too bad if there was a Pizzahut ...

... and a Giant Hypermart. Where there is a Giant ...

... there's usually a Guardian Pharmacy! They are part of the same group (I believe Cold Storage is also part of that group).

Haze - June 2013

The haze in Kota Kinabalu this morning (9.43am). No Mt Kinabalu.

The haze in Tongod (middle of Sabah) yesterday ...

... the sun at 8.35am.

 

But work still went on. Palms growing, mucuna (low creeper cover crop to suppress weeds) growing, AA mulch (plastic sheet covering the palm circle to prevent weeds, conserve some moisture and also fertiliser applied) fixed.

The Land Rover Defender 110 (current price said to be RM270K!). Comfy and good for the estate roads, but weird things still there (to those used to all the "modern" gadgets and stuff on their cars); like the tiny windscreen wipers, the non-electric door mirrors, non-electric windows, fuel cap still outside locked, rear door also outside locked, and water still get in when crossing slightly high rivers.

 The felled logs have rotted giving a chance for very colourful fungi.

In the mid-distance, a waterfall ...

... looked like a multi-staged one (photo at maximum zoom is not the best due to the haze) . The estate staff told me they did managed to make it through the jungle to the foot of the waterfall. I hope this area will not be disturbed.

Cactus in Kundasang

Yesterday, I drove to Kinabalu Park (with my wife and her friend from Denmark). Cool and cloudy day but luckily no rain.

The park was nice and clean and had a good number of visitors. In nearby Kundasang, we visited a plant nursery.

In addition to the usual nice flowers and plants, there were quite a number of cacti (or is it cactuses?) ...

... some fruiting (is that the correct term?). Hmmm, I don't know much about cactus, but they are nice to photograph ...

... especially with their small flowers ...

 ... seemingly somewhat unexpected from a spiny plant ...

... colourful yellow flowers ...

... and red flowers.

One with a "Bad Hair Day" ...

... one "bowling ball" shaped ...

... tentacles shaped ...

... Did it snowed last night?

Another Unusual Cloud Formation

Another Unusual Cloud Formation seen this morning in Kota Kinabalu. I have no idea if there is a name for this type. Previously I posted one photo of a lenticular cloud formation over Mt Kinabalu.

A visit to 1Borneo - 25 May 2013

 Upon arriving, I noted many standing in front of a shoplot on the 3rd floor ...

 ... wow, all them brand names ...

... and a promise of "fun" ...

... leading to many posing and taking photos ...

... I didn't know what exactly they were selling ...

... but all covered, it seemed ...

... except the shutters were rolled down a half hour later (when I happened to pass by again). Checking the website seemed to show some kind of reward system (for all those brand name products) of discounted purchase price using some "S" point system. No details of how to get these "S" points; perhaps another multi-level marketing thingy?

One of the atrium had a fashion show (updated modernised traditional Sabahan fashion - definitely an oxymoron) by, I presumed, fashion students at UMS.

The basement floor had a shop I hadn't seen before; GreenVille Nature Aquarium ...

.... their tanks had more "greenery" ...

... not that I knew anything much about fish and aquariums!