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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.