The DIGI Yellow Man in Kota Kinabalu

There's a Yellow Man (DIGI - Telco) on a rooftop in KK. Do you all know where its at?

Its eye-catching, but I would feel its facing in the wrong direction.

New Header - Mt Kinabalu

A very nice morning in Kota Kinabalu, sunny and clear. With a clear view of Mt. Kinabalu, I decided to take a panorama with my Lumix FZ-35. I took 20 photos after setting my camera for the panorama feature. The set of 20 photos covered about 180°.

Using the Panasonic-supplied Panorama Maker 4, I decided only to use the first 7 photos. It stitched them together and created a panoramic photo sized 7.97MB at 21,471 x 2,803 pixels!

I discovered this file was too big to open in Photoshop Elements (I didn't know it has file-size limit?).

Anyway, the panorama is now the background to the Header at the top of the blog page.

Borneo Coffee Hills - Grace Square

I had noticed a new shop (quite some months back) opening in Grace Square selling "20 Types of Coffee". Feeling adventurous, I went in there today.

The 20 types are all kinds of flavors (Tongkat Ali, cappucino...); some are not even coffee (Rose Tea, Mint Tea). It seemed "odd" as they had one that said "Green Tea Flavored Coffee"!

I should have been more suspicious. I decided to buy 1 pack of the "Kahue Arabica" thinking that nothing much can be wrong with 100% coffee. I did ask if the coffee was grown locally (I meant in Sabah or Borneo).

After trying out the coffee at home (pretty weak but not acidic), I began to notice a number of "inconsistencies":

• They charged a lower price for non-foreigners.
• The label said "coffee powder" instead of "Ground Coffee"
• It said "Formulated & packed by Daily Recipe Industries (M) Sdn Bhd"
• What does "Kahue" mean?
  

Checking on the internet, Daily Recipe Industries (M) Sdn Bhd turned out to be a company in Penang distributing what seems to be the exact same range of "coffees". I doubt the coffee is even grown in Borneo. This seems to be a totally "Touristy" outlet. Caveat Emptor.

The Heritage Village - Sabah Fest 2010

Sabah Fest 2010 is happening this month of May. From 1 May to today 9 May; the first 2 days had handicraft and food showcases with concerts and dances in the evenings, then from 3 May to 9 May, you could visit the Heritage Village at The Sabah State Museum; where you could visit the various ethnic houses, see the natives in their traditional costumes, and watch their dances.

If they build a pair of big wooden gates (instead of those small metal ones), this would be comparable to the one in Jurassic Park!

The entrance to The Heritage Village (Entry Fee RM10 - very reasonable).

The ubiquitous sumazau. This is the dance of the Kadazans, the most urbanised of the native races of Sabah.

The Rungus Longhouse. The Rungus are mainly in the Kudat Peninsula (Northern part of Sabah).

Rungus women with brass coils around their arms and legs. They sometimes have brass coils around their necks giving them a somewhat space alien look.

Each ethnic race has a type of metal gong set to provide the percussion rythmn for their traditional dance.

A nice couple (Murut), in the shaded doorway of one of the houses, was posing for a photographer. I was some 20 feet away. The program mode set the shutter speed at 1/6 th second, which was too slow to cope with their slight movements.

The man was wearing the Murut male traditional costume made of tree-bark.

I re-shot them using shutter priority (1/160 th second). The shot was under-exposed as they were in the shaded doorway of the house. But the magic of RAW and Photoshop Elements gave me a much sharper image (though a little grainy). But at least I got the shot fast (shoot first in RAW and process later).

The Murut male headgear made of tree bark with the feathers of the male Great Argus Pheasant bird. The feathers have "eye-like" features.

Yellow Pond Lily (Nuphar Lutea)?

A suspension bridge, there's a real one in Tamparuli.

You could try The Blowpipe.

Or some traditional games; what do they call these? Short stilts? or non-bouncing pogo sticks?

A nice texture in light and shade.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kinabalu

As the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is near to the Sabah Museum, I took a photo of it, on my way to the museum, as it may soon be demolished. The state government website gave the history of this hospital (the main hospital in Kota Kinabalu for many years).

As usual, the info is not up-to-date. The building structure had been found to be unsafe, so it is no longer in use.

It was named the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as Queen Elizabeth II visited Kota Kinabalu in 1971 according to that website. The wikipedia page on the official commenwealth visits by Queen Elizabeth II said that the visit was in 1972.

I do not remember the year, but I do remember going to the Tanjung Aru Beach to take photographs of the event, as part of my school's photographic club. One of the parks at the Tanjung Aru Beach was named Prince Philip Park, in honour of her husband.

I believe they came by their Royal Yacht Britannia. So perhaps their visit to Kota Kinabalu was unofficial in 1971 (stopover), while the official visit in KL was in 1972 after visiting Singapore.

PIKOM 2008!?!?

If you had ever wondered what happens to the banner after the event is over?

I was walking pass the kitchen of this coffee-shop and found the answer. It made me laugh as the PIKOM Fair 2010 is actually on this weekend (May 7 to May 9). Anyway, I guess re-cycling is a good thing.

The PIKOM Fair is a computer and IT Fair held annually in the major cities and large towns in Malaysia. You get a very good range of IT related products (mostly hardware).

Its being held at the Lower Basement Car Park at 1Borneo. I didn't go this year as I didn't really have anything to purchase and I rather go to The Heritage Village at The Sabah Musuem.

100% Kylie

While taking those photos of the marathon, I took one of the "controversial" billboard featuring 100%Kylie. It's "controversial" because someone wrote to the local newspapers complaining that it wasn't made clear that the show stars Lucy Holmes, a Kylie look-alike, with her tribute show.

Anyway, what's important is that the occasion (21 May 2010) is the annual fund-raiser for one of Kota Kinabalu's worthwhile non-profit organisation; The Palliative Care Association, Kota Kinabalu (PCA KK). They provide various free services for patients with terminal cancer. These services include training and assistance to caregivers for patients living at home, activities for patients, and day-care facilities. Do learn about them and also do support them.

One feature of the fund-raiser is a raffle (if I remember correctly, last year's prize was a watch donated by the Chief Minister of Sabah). This year, the prizes are 2 watches (diamond studded ones!).