Our version of Tadau Ka'amatan 2015 Celebration @ Sabah

Going to Sabah is our family's way of winding down . Just like the meaning of Tadau Ka'amatan (Harvest Festival) , it is the time we reap the rewards of a year's hard work .

We always commence our ritual with a hearty bowl of beef noodles at Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap . It is located at the corner Block A of Kolam Centre Phase 2 . The exact address is :

2-0-10 , Block A , Ground Floor , Kolam Centre Phase 2 , Jalan Lintas , Hilltop , Kota Kinabalu

What's good : Beef Tendon , 3 Colour Milk Tea , Mixed Beef Noodles Soup

Then we would continue our journey to Kinabalu Park , Kundasang . The drive would take about 2 hours to reach . Just enjoy the view .

On the way up , you will find 3 to 4 huts that stationed interspersely along the road with the sign "Sinalau Bakas" . These are non-halal (not for Muslim) . 

For souvenir hunters, you can stop by Pekan Nabalu . There are rows of shops selling all sorts of souvenirs . We do not usually buy toys for the kids . For this holiday , we let them choose musical instruments for entertainment . 

When we reached Kinabalu Park , I realised I made a mistake in the reservation . I had booked my stay a day later . Lucky for us there is still 1 last room left despite it being a public holiday . We stayed in Liwagu Suite for 1 night .

The suite comes with a king bed at the 2nd floor , while the lower floor is the living room and a balcony facing the botanical garden .

Many people asked us, what do you do there ? There is really not a lot to do . You can stop by the rows of stalls along the Kundasang main road to buy vegetables , fruits and flowers .

We found uncut cinnamon for sale . 

You can also go to the Kundasang War Memorial Park that commemorates the British and Australian soldiers who died during the "death march" from Sandakan to Ranau . We didn't go this time as I did not find the right mood in my kids . I had dreamt of bringing along painting kits for them to paint flowers in there . But the kids were too engrossed in doing their painting at the new lodging - Peak Lodge in Kinabalu Park .

 I personally prefer the lodges in Kinabalu Park . Reason:

1. All the balconies faces Mount Kinabalu

2. They come with chimney/fireplace that you can get the staff to light up for you at night

3. They come with kitchen where you can cook the veges bought from Kundasang stalls

Our beloved relative helped us bought some really fresh prawns from the market, 
which we brought up to Kundasang, 
especially to go with the sweet sweet vegetables bought there.

Our mornings were spent walking about Kinabalu Park , stopping ever so often to look at the plants . We took the kids to walk around the Botanical Garden . Very interesting plants and explanation provided with signboards everywhere . 

DO YOU KNOW?

1. Do you know there is a fruit called "Buah Minyak Tanah" (Kerosene Fruit) because the fruit can be used to start fire?
2. Do you know figs grow at the root of the trees and not at the top?

If you have kids , they might enjoy Desa Dairy Farm which is 10-20 minutes uphill from Kundasang town . The place has been been expanded to accommodate the increasing number of visitors . You can go there to take some "oversea-like-highland-field" photos .  

 The kids love to feed the calf and goats milk and grass.

 You can buy fresh milk , yogurts or eat gelato . Kids love them all .
I personally like the windows where they showed how the cows are milked and packed .

Going back to Kota Kinabalu , we checked in to Sutera Harbour Magellan Resort . 

From then onwards we did nothing other than relaxing in the resort and let the kids rule .

The other highlight would be this new beef noodle shop at Kolombong . The twist here is the curry laksa version of beef noodle . I love the rich and sour flavour of the curry laksa , which goes just as well with the beef .

(Address: 36, Ground Floor, Block C, Nountun Industrial, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia)

There are other eateries that we would go back again:

1. Fish head noodles @ Fatt Kee (Address: Taman Hilltop, Lintas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia)
2. Har Kaw Wong and Char Siew Pow @ Foo Phing Dim Sum (Address: Kolam Centre Phase II, Taman Hilltop, Lintas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia)
3. Kaya Butter Bread & Milk Tea @ Fook Yuen (Address: Jalan Damai, Luyang, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia)

THE END…

for 2015, in Sabah

Penang Kek Lok Si Temple - 2015 Chinese New Year Light Decorations (An outdated update)

Whenever we talk about going to Kek Lok Si Temple to view the Chinese New Year Lighting Decorations, Ben would flail in protest. He can't stand the crowd, the jam and goodness knows what. So the last time we came, was at least 10 years ago.

Then out of the blue, this year he is willing to go. I quickly grab the chance and didn't give him time to re-think his decision.

There were indeed many people. and cars. We slowly drive our way into Air Itam market area, and slowly jam our way up to the highest end of the temple. We then have to walk down from the carpark to reach the first stop, where the gigantic Guan Yin Pavillion is situated. The official name is called "The Kuan Yin Bodhimandala".

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Even at this level, we have plenty to see. Lines and lines of lanterns with auspicious greetings written on them.

There were plenty of buddha statues and there were also statues of the 12 zodiac signs. The trees and pavillion around the areas were decorated with lights. Many families were busy taking photos with their loved ones. 

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We walked up to the shrine. There were many activities the kids enjoyed e.g. putting coins into the buddhist alms lined around the foot of the Guan Yin's statue, hanging up wishes on top of tree branches, etc. 

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 I caught a glimpse of the moon at the far end of the shrine. Given the less popular seasons, this place has the potential to exude calm, serene and peace.

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There is actually a gondola system to take you a level down to the main temple area. But the queue was just unbearable. We thought we should just leave. But as we descend, I manage to convince Ben to turn into the main temple carpark, to just give it a try. What luck, we found an empty lot almost in front of the entrance to the "Tortoise Liberation Pond".

The festive lightings were everywhere.

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The intriguing "Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas / Rama Pagoda" is highly ornamented with lights. It would be interesting if they could use relevant colour schemes to reflect the 3 different architectural designs of Burmese dome (top part), Thai roofing details (middle part) and Chinese octagonal base (bottom part).

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I wonder how much electricity they use per night. But the effects are really alleviating.

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We walk up the stairs towards the main temple. The perspective upwards and downwards were just too enticing.

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Loving the upward view of the lanterns with the pattern of the roof as background. The order is attractive to me (must be my inner OCD).

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We came to the original Kek Lok Si Temple building. It was the grandeur of this temple that so impress Qing Emperor GuangXu that volumes of sacred sutras were bestowed to be kept here.

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The golden colours does not go well with my personal taste of Buddhism. But this is just my personal view.

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Like the balance (argh... inner OCD again)

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My favourite part of the temple is the floor. 

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2nd favourites are the bronze like statues of Golden Youth (Cantonese: Gam Thung) and Jade Maiden (Cantonese: Yuk Lui) and cranes.

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Bronze-like crane

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Bronze-like Golden Youth

I am also fan of ceilings. Old buildings have great elaborated ceilings. It reminded me of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Building at The Bund, Shanghai, China. Similar great details of artwork depicted at the ceiling. Respect the masters who does these.

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Leaving the original temple behind, we walked to the open area. The open garden were laid with flower beds. The originality and choice of flowers were commendable.

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In fact, you will find edible plants placed with labels as exhibit. 

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Sprout from Arrowhead Tubers

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Ginger torch flower (Malay: Bunga Kantan)

The only place we did not visit that night was the current main temple where we have to pay entrance fee. The price is reasonable, given that much effort they put through to decorate the entire place. But we just do not have enough time. By the time we reach the entrance for the main temple, it was nearing 12am. Unknowingly, we had spent 4 hours around Kek Lok Si.

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So we say bye bye and good night to the Pagoda.

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Took one last panorama shot of the place and go home.

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FAQ

Q: When?
A: Starts from Chinese Lunar New Year and last for a month.

Q: Is the trip worth the trouble?

A: Yes. The scale of lightings and decorations was impressive.

Q: What to take note of?

A: Wear good walking shoes. You'll be walking a lot.
    Wear light clothing. It's Malaysian CNY weather. Hot and humid.

Q: Parking?

A: You can park at the bottom, or every level of the area. There will be signs and temple members to direct you.

Q: Are there food and beverage?

A: Only stalls selling drinks and snacks. Eat before you go up.

Long Stay @ Pulau Ketam

It's a long weekend and I wish to bring the family for a short getaway. I have browsed through the net for any interesting things to do in Pulau Ketam, but majority of the results were disappointing. Many say it is not worth the trip because they are looking for ready entertainment. All that's being said did not satisfy me. My mom came from fishing village. I remember I had a good time when I followed her back for holidays. And so I continue to seek for that childhood joys and hope to share them with my kids. That's when I came across one blog http://ys-electrical.blogspot.com/2011/09/pulau-ketam.html. I was thinking the homestay concept would suit my purpose better on introducing the kids to life in a fishing village (rather than a soul-les hotel room).

Since I want it to be a carefree getaway for the whole family, I suggested a train ride to Pelabuhan Klang instead of tiring drive for Ben. We leisurely start our journey in the afternoon.

The jetty is across the road from the Komuter KTM Pelabuhan Klang Station. We walked across and took the speedboat instead of the usual ferry. It was a windy ride with a view to boot towards Pulau Ketam. The beauty of using the speedboat is that they can drop you at any destination you requested.

We could have disembarked right at the doorstep of our homestay destination. But it was our first time, and we do not even know where exactly is the place.. We used the long way from the official jetty of Pulau Ketam. From the jetty, it was a good 10 minutes walk from the jetty through the narrow-elevated streets to Long Stay.

Heading out to the sea

Once we reached, the keeper gave us the key to our room. We dumped all our luggage and were whisked off for the evening tour - a boat ride.

We were the only ones on the boat that day. The kids get to be captains of the boat for a while.

There is even a hammock for us to relax on the ride.

We reached Sungai Lima Village and had a walk around. The village produces dried prawns and belacan (shrimp paste). Unfortunately, we came late in the evening, so all the drying and processing has already ended that day. But the village walk-a-bout was still fun as many of the houses there were decorated with colourful murals. 

The village kids were very friendly. They even pose for my photoshoot. Behind this boy is the village's community notice board.

Once in a while, you will see boats coming back from fishing.

The highlight of our boat tour was eagle feeding. The boat captain discovered this place and he'd come often to feed the eagles. Now the eagles can recognised his boat and one of it actually accompany us along our journey after we have left that place.

Kids were throwing out eagle feed to attract the eagles.

There were hundreds of eagles. The scenery was awe-inspiring.

And all along our journey, you get to enjoy epic scenery that would definitely motivates you or keep you in awe.

 We left the eagles behind and head out to the high seas in search of:
1) Dolphin - not present
2) Seal - not present
3) Sunset - checked

 By the time we are back, the sky has already darken. Cold and hungry, we were greeted with the steamboat dinner prepared by the keeper.




Simple and fresh seafood. Cold drinks and warm soup. Perfect!











Thinking the food is too much for us, we took our own sweet time to eat. We sat from 8pm to 10pm. We ended up clearing everything, including 4 portion of dried fried noodles (yee mee). The keeper must have wondered if we are descendants of Sit Yan Guai (the infamous legend that has an appetite of 10 men).

SUNRISE @ LONG STAY~~~
We woke up around 7am and get to witness such beautiful sunrise.
 The kids truly enjoy their stay here. They get to eat, play and sleep above the sea. The environment is so relaxing.

Cool sunrise

Warm sunrise

For breakfast, we were served local nasi lemak. The sambal is made of dried chili. Something different.












After breakfast, I taught my kids my favourite pastime when I spent my holiday in mom's village. crab fishing.

Our equipments consist solely strings and rubber band.

Our haul of the day

After the chaotic catch, the kids set the crabs back to freedom.
Hope they learnt the lesson and not be so curious in future.

After saying goodbye to the crabs, we then took a walk to the village center. What an interesting walk. We saw 3 snakes and lots of big-big midskippers. Some pretty birds and fishes in the rivers.

We rented 2 double seater bikes. We rode all over the shophouses and temples. Cut through the markets and explore the ends and corners of the island. Then we stopped for the O'Chien (oyster omelette) and Lala'Chien (clam omelette).

It was bright afternoon by the time we came back to Long Stay. The water has receded by that time.

 The last meal served by the keeper for our stay is a simple home-cooked meal. But it is the heart of putting these food up that I truly appreciate. Keeper's mom is the cook. She had prepared shark meat for our lunch, but seeing the kids, she suggested deep fried instead of the usual curry. The fishballs were home-made and the cucumbers were home-grown. I truly appreciate these meals.

fried shark meat ~ sweet and meaty

home-grown cucumber

home-made fishball soup - heart+tummy warming

naturally sweet prawns

After packing our bags and returning the key to our keeper. We left with a lighter pace. It was indeed rejuvenating.

ABOUT LONG STAY
We booked a room for a family of 4. The room came with 2 double bed, a fan, an air-cond, a tv and small cabinet.
Toilet is common sharing, but generally clean.
To avoid the hassle to search for food, we took up the keeper's offer that provides us 3 meals for a sum.
The boat tour can also be arranged via the keeper.
Attached is the contact details, should you wish for a near getaway that feels like home.