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Travel: Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu back to Singapore

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

All good vacations come to an end. We flew Air Asia to return to Singapore, transiting in Kota Kinabalu airport.

View out of our Air Asia flight. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3 with Dramatic Tone Effect and Frame Filter.

We took the morning flight out of Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu where we waited for the connecting flight.

The locals believe Mt Kinabalu is inhabited by spirits that need to be appeased for safe passage.

Mystical Mt Kinabalu

The domestic flight from Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu was rather empty but the connecting flight back to Singapore was filled.

From the papers, we read about the annual religious ritual that was conducted at Mt Kinabalu yesterday.

The “monolob” ceremony is conducted annually as part of the local traditional practice of appeasing the natural spirits that is believed to inhabit the mountain.

Barges in Sandakan port bathed in the golden light of the sunset. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3 using Frame filter.

This is to ensure safe passage for some 15,000 climbers who scale Mt Kinabalu every year.

Lone boat at sunset in Sandakan port.

Seven white-feathered chickens were slaughtered as part of a sacrifice.

150 villagers from Kampung Kiau, Bundu Tuhan, Sayap and Melangkap Kapa then ascended the mountain.

Overall, this has been an absolutely fantastic vacation.

The children love animals and nature, and we’ve literally immersed ourselves in the abundance of wildlife in Sabah.

And not forgetting the bubbly local community and markets of Kota Kinabalu.

Most importantly, the biggest thanks goes to the kindness and generosity of our host family – which was the main reason for the visit.

We had the most wonderful hosts during our stay in Sandakan. Thank you!

Goodbye for now, Sabah. We’ll be BARRCK!

Tags:Kota Kinabalu, Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Sandakan
Posted in Lifestyle, Sabah 2011, Travel | No Comments »

Travel: Orang Utans and Sandakan sunset

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

The second highlight of our Sandakan visit was the Orang Utans. We visited the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary to view free and wild Orang Utans feeding and playing in the wild.

Orang Utan mom in full swing, with baby clinging on for dear life.

Mother and child Orang Utan on a morning swinging exercise.

The Orang Utans are endangered apes that are currently found only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. “Orang” means people in Malay while “hutan” means forest.

Guess who invented Yoga?

Orang Utans are therefore the “people of the forest”.

The Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary takes in orphaned Orang Utan babies and nurtures them until they are ready to be released into the wild.

There are now more than 250 Orang Utans in the Sepilok reserve.

We visited during feeding time at 10:30 in the morning and saw four of them at the feeding platform.

The ranger, Annie, told me that only a few days ago, there were seven at one go whereas on another day last week there were none during one of the mealtimes.

Four legs good, two legs better!

I feel it’s a good thing that the Orang Utans wean themselves from the feeding, because it means that they have become independent and are able to find their own food in the wild.

Tree-top canopy walk @ Sandakan Rainforest Discovery Centre

During the feeding, there was this dominant male that turned up 10 minutes prior to the appointed hour and plonked himself right on the feeding platform.

When the keeper came with the basket of fruits, he just sat there stuffing his face.

There was this mother and child Orang Utan that kind of skirted gingerly around the fellow, collected a handful of fruit and then retreated to another platform to eat the food.

The only bird we spotted. Taken handheld with an Olympus PEN E-P3 with 40-150mm lens. 300mm (35mm equiv), f/5.6, 1/200, ISO 320..

Only after both the keeper had left, and the dominant male had gotten his fill, did the mother and child amble over to pick among the scraps.

The whole viewing platform and food platforms were pretty well designed, so that visitors could get a clear view of the Orang Utans from about ten metres away.

The feeding times at the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary and Labuk Bay are very well spaced out so that visitors to Sandakan can visit both places in the same day, without even spending the night!

After Sepilok, we took a stroll around the Sandakan Rainforest Discovery Centre.

There was this canopy walkway for a tree-top walk.

The view was good and gave an idea of what it’s like to live at tree-top height.

Sandakan port in the evening. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3, 12mm lens, Pop-Art effect, Frame filter.

In the evening, we visited the Puu Jih Syh Buddhist temple at the top of the hill overlooking Sandakan.

The sunset was beautiful and gave me ample opportunities to snap some nice pics with the Olympus PEN E-P3 that I‘d used to good effect throughout this holiday.

Golden sunset at Sandakan. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3, 40-150mm lens @ 164mm (35mm equiv). f/10.0, 1/640sec, ISO 200.

This retro looking mirrorless interchangeable lens camera really grows on you with the fast focusing and sharp pictures that outshines other mirrorless cameras and rivals entry-level DSLRs.

Tags:Orang Utan, Sabah, Sandakan
Posted in Lifestyle, Sabah 2011, Travel | No Comments »

Travel: Proboscis monkeys and crocodiles

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

Viewing proboscis monkeys and silver leafed monkeys close up but in the wild at Labuk Bay; followed by totally captive crocodiles and little animals at the crocodile farm.

Mother and child proboscis monkey. The female has a smaller upturned snubby nose.

The bigger male proboscis monkey. The males have larger noses.

The proboscis monkey is that unique human-like monkey with a seemingly swollen and elongated nose, which can exceed 10cm in length. The male specimen is taller and twice the weight of the female and sports a much larger protuberance.

The mother Silver Leafed monkey makes a grab for all of the vegetable stalks.

Proboscis monkeys are endemic to the Southeast Asian island of Borneo, and occupies coastal areas and riversides, feeding on fruits and leaves. They are an endangered species dwindling in numbers because of the loss of their habitat.

Silver leafed monkey.

We visited the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary in the morning after a sumptuous seafood breakfast at the famous Sim Sim restaurant.

Mother and child silver leafed monkey. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3 with Soft Focus effect.

There are a number of seafood restaurants at Kampung Buli Sim Sim, the original site of Sandakan.

We were at the one at Bridge 8.

Now back to the proboscis monkeys.

Years ago, the private plantation owner at Labuk Bay had discovered the proboscis monkeys on his estate and gotten the necessary permits from the Sabah government to develop the area into a sanctuary. The whole place was pretty well designed.

A hornbill paid a surprise visit when we were at Labuk Bay.

A sheltered viewing platform allows visitors to watch the proboscis monkeys from about ten metres away when the monkeys emerge from the forest during meal times to feast on the food placed on the feeding areas.

This must be the most undignified and BL looking crocodile I've ever met.

We could see clearly the big dangling noses, reddish flat-top hairstyles, white tails and markings, and pot bellies.

This is one son of a croc.

A couple of silver leafed monkeys came into the shelter and afforded us an even closer view of these fine specimens.

There was this mother and child couple wondering along the railings waiting for the staff to hand out vegetable stalks to them.

The child kept on jumping onto my daughter’s lap to be cuddled. The mother didn’t seem to mind although the staff was concerned that the mother would become over-protective and hostile.

After lunch, we visited the crocodile farm. There was crocodile feeding and a short crocodile show when three Timorese keepers kissed the reptiles, laid on them and put their fists into their wide open jaws.

To take macro photo of crocodile's eyes, simply mount camera on mini-tripod and place the tripod on the croc's snout. Try not to get eaten in the process.

Some of the crocodiles on display were gigantic. There was this 17-feet long fellow that was 60 years old, weighed 800 kg, who had eaten four residents before checking into the crocodile farm.

Ces't la vie! These two otters were taking an afternoon nap.

Ces't la vie! A great way to take an afternoon nap.

We could barely believe our eyes when we saw this prostrate otter.

This is the life! Just behold this prostrate otter.

There were also other smaller animals kept in enclosures and cages on display. The kids were particularly thrilled feeding them.

Tags:Sabah, Sandakan
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Travel: From Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

I checked out more markets in KK before boarding the flight to Sandakan.

Sunrise at Kota Kinabalu. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3 with 40-150mm kit lens using Frame effect.

Night falls earlier in Sabah than in West Malaysia.

Fishing boats at the dock.

This is because their time zones were standardized in 1982 even though East and West Malaysia are really from different time zones in terms of geographical latitude.

Sunrise is also much earlier.

So photographers wanting to catch the golden hours to capture the sunrise/sunset over the South China Sea in Sabah would be well advised that the two timings are around 5:30 am and 6:00 pm local time respectively – lest they gear up and venture out only to discover that the show’s all but over.

The vegetable market starts early at dawn by the seaside of Kota Kinabalu.

A Sabahan I spoke with mused rather pensively that when he was in Kuala Lumpur, the sunrise was always late and he had to wait so hard for daylight to come.

A local fish seller waving Selamat Pagi

This morning, I visited the early vegetable market across the hotel by the sea, followed by the fish market by the pier before hitting the Central market.

It was really interesting observing the locals do their marketing since these markets are really meant for them.

Upon returning, we headed for breakfast after a short visit to the gym, and returned to pack for check out.

At 11am, the guy from the car rental company swung by to send us to the airport.

Fish market in KK kicks off at the crack of dawn. Taken with Pop Art effect on a Olympus PEN E-P3 with 12mm lens which captured a wide FOV at the crowded local market.

The fish market in KK kicks off at the crack of dawn. Taken with Pop Art effect on a Olympus PEN E-P3 with 12mm lens which captured a wide FOV at the crowded local market.

Steven had offered to do so FOC when he turned up at the hotel to pick up the car on Monday night and observed that the fuel tank was still three-quarters full even though we were only required to return it with an empty tank.

Freshly sliced fish. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3 with 12mm lens right in front of the crowded stall.

The rental company worked on a “pick up empty tank – return empty tank” principle.

A vegetables stall in Central market

The guy at the counter had advised me to fill up the tank for a drive from Kota Kinabalu to Mt Kinabalu and back.

It turned out I needed only one-third that amount.

Anyway, Steven took time out and picked a large clean car in order to send us to the airport, and refused to take any payment for his favour.

The guy from Kudat – some two hours drive from KK, at the tip of the dog’s ear – gave me a lasting good impression of an indigenous Sabahan.

The 45-minute flight to Sandakan on board the Air Asia Airbus A320-200 was uneventful. No more pigging out this time.

Another vegetable stall at Central market. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3 with 12mm lens and Pop Art effect.

For the next three nights, we’ll be staying at a nice house in a gated estate that is so new that the optical fibre for Internet services has yet to be laid.

Seaside restaurant in Sandakan to which connoiseurs from West Malaysia specially fly to just to enjoy its fresh seafood.

Our friend depends on his BlackBerry service for messaging and communication. Anyway, the plan was for us to immerse ourselves in nature.

Prawns, clams, crabs and fish are the order of the day.

So it’s time to check out what Internet withdrawal symptoms are like – and the fabulous seafood that everyone in KK recommended up in Sandakan.

Tags:markets, Olympus, PEN E-P3, Sabah, travel
Posted in Cameras, Compact camera, DSLR, Gadgets, Lens, Lifestyle, Olympus, Sabah 2011, Travel | 1 Comment »

Travel: Marketing in Kota Kinabalu

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

There is a market for everyone in KK: Sunday market, Night Bazaar, Central market, Handicraft market (formerly known as the Pasar Filipino), fish market, fruit and vegetable market.

Dried & salted fish market in Kota Kinabalu. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3 12mm lens using Pop Art effect with Frame filter.

Blue skies and whirlpool at Le Meridien in Kota Kinabalu.

We had missed the Sunday market because we arrived on Sunday night, but there was no stopping us from checking out the rest.

After spending the morning frolicking in the hotel’s pool, we headed out for lunch and the markets.

The lunch recommendation by the concierge turned out great.

The Chinese coffee shop – Seng Heng – at the corner behind Le Meridien served great Tom Yam noodles, Laksa, Tuaran mee and Kon Loh noodles.

The three-flavored milk tea was good too, with large dollops of gula Melaka.

Handicraft market or Pasar Filipino. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3 with 12mm lens.

Laksa from Seng Hing restaurant

After lunch, we ventured into the markets across the road from the hotel and by the sea.

First was the dried and salted fish heaven with the attendant smells, then the handicraft market with plenty of souvenirs and sea water pearls, and finally the fruit market.

Two hours in the sweltering heat of the covered markets, and we dived headlong into the air-con comforts of Centrepoint shopping centre.

It is a shopping complex resembling Sungei Wang in Kuala Lumpur and the Holiday Inn in Johor Bahru.

Dried & fresh fruit market. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3 with 12mm lens and Pop Art effect.

BenBen slippers at Night Bazaar

After reveling in banana-chocolate-cheese crepes, bubble strawberry icees, and cut guavas, we returned to the hotel for a breather.

Time for a full-body massage at the hotel’s spa to loosen the joints and ease the aches from the market hopping.

Anyway, after a heavy shower, we ventured to the night bazaar last evening.

No watches, no wallets, no bags or knapsacks.

Just some loose change and the hotel room key card.

Trinkets at the Handicraft market. Taken with Olympus PEN E-P3.

Seems the night bazaar is notorious for pickpockets.

The night bazaar turned out to be more of the same things as the handicraft market that we had visited earlier in the day – with an emphasis on pirated goods.

So we left after a short stroll through and left for dinner at the Warisan Center next to the Meridien.

It was then “Alamak … Toyol” time back at the hotel.

The DVD movie really brought back memories from the seventies, and other associated movies in the genre – such as Pontianak, and Orang Minyak.

Tags:Kota Kinabalu, markets, Sabah, travel
Posted in Lifestyle, Photography, Photos, Sabah 2011, Travel | No Comments »

Travel: When technology fails you

Monday, November 28th, 2011

That’s when old school topo skills come in useful.

View from Base HQ of Mount Kinabalu. Taken with Dramatic Tone Art Effect on the Olympus PEN E-P3.

In the interest of packing light and reducing the gadget count, I’d decided to leave behind the TomTom VIA 280 dedicated GPS portable navigation device (PND) at home.

Mt Kinabalu, shrouded in clouds

We were also undecided whether to rent a car to self-drive from Kota Kinabalu to Mount Kinabalu or to take a local tour.

Furthermore, I’d just installed the equivalent turn-by-turn navigation app from TomTom on an iPhone 3GS and found it to work as well as the PND while driving around Singapore.

When we arrived at 8pm last night, we found the rental rates at the airport to be reasonable and decided to go for the self-drive option.

Imagine our dismay when we found the iPhone 3GS could not get a GPS fix.

The other iPhone 3G that we had did not have any problems getting a fix so we realized the problem lay with the GPS unit within the iPhone 3GS.

Fresh Bougainvillea enroute to Mount Kinabalu

Fortunately, the 15-minute journey from the airport to the hotel was short and simple, and we managed it through good old verbal instructions from the rental guy and maps from the brochure.

Pekan Nabalu enroute to Mt Kinabalu. Taken using Pop Art effect on Olympus PEN E-P3.

By the time we reached “Le Meridin” hotel (the neon light for the second “e” in Meridien must have burnt out), the iPhone 3GS still couldn’t get a fix.

The next morning, it was the same story, the 3GS couldn’t get a fix even though the 3G could.

Who would have thought a relatively simple and basic module like the GPS would fail on a month-old iPhone (Yes – I know – it’s two generations behind the iPhone 4S).

Stores at Pekan Nabalu. Olympus PEN E-P3 with Pop Art effect.

And the iPhone 3G (Yes – that’s THREE generations behind the iPhone 4S – and proud of that) didn’t have that app installed, and I wasn’t prepared to chalk up huge data roaming fees using the Google Maps app on the 3G.

So it was back to paper maps, driving instructions from the concierge, and old school topographical skills.

We’d driven around the complicated and tiny country roads of the Loire Valley in France on nothing more than paper maps, and surely the single highway route to Mt Kinabalu would be a piece of cake.

Prior to starting off, I ran the route through the Google Maps app on my iPhone 3G to download map data into the app’s cache using the hotel’s free WiFi. That should serve as reference later on during the drive.

Wild squirrel on the alert, at the foothills of Mt Kinabalu.

We made the 2-hour drive to Mt Kinabalu smoothly. There was only one wrong turn prior to reaching the highway and a quick check on the Google Maps app on the iPhone 3G guided us back to the highway and we were on our way.

As in a marathon, most amateurs complete in more than 4 hours, although most choose to do the climb over 2 days, planning the arrival at the peak at sunrise.

After a lunch stop at Pekan Nabalu, we reached the base HQ of Mt Kinabalu. Only at this highest mountain in Malaysia and South East Asia did the iPhone 3GS finally pick up a GPS signal, and it promptly told us we were some 300km away in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei.

After a long while it finally placed us at Mt Kinabalu. All along the way back to Kota Kinabalu, the GPS of the iPhone 3GS kept flip-flopping between our true location and Bandar Seri Begawan, forcing the GPS app to recalculate routes.

Half-way home, the 3GS decided it had had enough. It finally ran out of battery – from the constant search for a GPS signal, as well as its exertions to recalculate routes.

By which time, we’d all but given up on depending on the iPhone. I sure hope TomTom comes up with a GPS app on the Android.

Tags:Apple, drive, GPS, iPhone, navigation, Sabah, TomTom, travel, VIA 280
Posted in Gadgets, GPS, iPhone, Lifestyle, Phones, Sabah 2011, Travel | No Comments »

Travel: To the land of the dog head

Sunday, November 27th, 2011

Tall mountain, Orang Utans and Proboscis Monkeys beckon from the land of the Sabahan

Clearing customs at Kota Kinabalu Terminal 2

My earliest memory of Sabah came in the form of a geography tip. One elder sibling was telling another, “Sabah is the state whose map looks like the head of a dog.” I was a mere toddler than but that little factoid has stuck in my mind ever since.

The Airbus 320-200 from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah was fully packed.

This December school holidays, we’d decided to venture into nature for a week at the invitation of a friend who runs plantations in Sandakan. The plan was to fly to Kota Kinabalu, check out the capital city of Sabah state for 3 days, and fly to Sandakan for another three days to visit the nature reserves there.

Incidentally, this was the first time the family flew Air Asia. In planning the flights, I found the website user friendly and easy to use, and much more responsive and less frustrating than that of SIA, even though I’m much more familiar with the latter’s website.

As a budget airline, everything came down to options and dollars and sense. You want this – here’s the price. Don’t want? Leave it out to save some money.

There wasn’t much selection of food left cos’ we didn’t pre-order.

Prior to going to the airport, I checked in for all four flights online.

At the airport, the Air Asia staff verifying documents and checking carry-on luggage was very friendly and approachable and even though we busted the limits of our carry-on luggage, she let us off with a gentle admonishment.

Actually, we wouldn’t have busted the 7kg limit if we’d separated out the camera bag and the laptop bag which were allowed on board over and above the 7kg limit – so next time, we’ll pay more attention since they check so rigorously.

The 2.5-hour flight was smooth. I’d thought we didn’t need to eat on such a short flight and had not pre-booked any food for the flight. But once the trolleys came out and the smell wafted our way, not to mention the couple next to me having a mini feast (with pre-booked Air Asia food AND take-away food from Coffee Bean), we splashed out for food and dug in.

Upon arrival at Terminal 2 at Sabah International Airport, we walked on the tarmac to the terminal building and took 30 minutes to clear customs, together with a bunch of NJC students, who were wearing their school T-shirts and busy snapping photos of each other. Such a young and enthusiastic lot!

Tags:Air Asia, Sabah, travel
Posted in Lifestyle, Sabah 2011, Travel | No Comments »

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