Family Vacation to KK - 17th Dec to 22nd Dec

We stayed in Mercure Hotel, one of the latest chic hotel located at 1Borneo. It's the largest shopping complex in East Malaysia. A view of the main entrance of 1Borneo.







Another view of the main entrance.







Talk about sleeping on the job! This cat was found sleeping on the concierge desk outside the hotel.





This hotel room shower/toilet is something out of the ordinary. Notice the screen on the left? Want to know what's behind it? Scroll down now.........

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A see through glass screen! Hah......if you are not careful while taking shower or doing your business, the screen can be raised by someone in the room and a free performance for all to watch. Seen here, Lina powdering her face.


Family photo taken in Cultural and Handicraft Center entrance in 1Borneo.

Cyra in City Mall.

Peek-a-boo.........at Kundasang War Memorial, Ranau.

Heavenly mountain.....Mount Kinabalu with the summit in sight. A rare occasion to be able to see the summit as it is always obscured by cloud. This picture was taken early in the morning from Kinabalu Pine Resort.

Lina with Mt. Kinabalu in the background.

The busy highway to Ranau.

At Kinabalu Pine Resort.

At Kinablu Pine Resort.

I surrender....peace.....

All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth......

Surprise!



I saw that........that......that..that...........

Kadazan bamboo dance at Cultural and Handicraft Centre in 1Borneo.

With the performers...

I want to dive into the pool.....

A quick post

I've been pre-occupied with my work lately and bad internet connection at work place hence no post for a while.
I've received a job offer from another drilling company to work for them. Assigned location is unknown yet but I have a feeling it will be in India as I've work in India before woking in Indonesia.
Anyway, resignation handed in, accepted by management. Now is just a matter of completing my present hitch, go home and then will see from there.

View from my work office....

Work boats at work. Water here is very shallow. Dept varies from a meter to 5 meters so boats has to navigate around this waters with care, else they'll run aground.




Low tide! Note the sand bars. You can actually walk to the vegetations as the sea bed is sand, not mud as you'll expect from river delta. No boats movement now.


More close up view of sand bars.



That's the view of one of the many river mouth in this delta. Oh..by the way, it's known as Mahakam Delta located in East Kalimantan.

Channel deepening in progress. But I can say it's very strange how things work around here. You see, the bucket scoops up sand from sea bed then the crane swings over to it's port side, deposits the scooped up sand some 10 meters away. I would have thought it make more sense to have the scooped up sand deposited far away from the new channel thus preventing the channel from being re-filled by the scooped up sand. This is similar to the then Miri Municipal Council workers clearing weeds, earth and rubbish from drains in Lutong back home. They would deposits and left them by road side for weeks. Then they would come back to clear it up. It's all about money making.......creating work for themselves..I suppose

1 month already! So fast....how time flies

As I'm sitting in my office in front of my work computer, dreaming away.......oppps.... working in a far away land in Balikpapan, Indonesia, my thoughts soon drifted to home in Miri, Malaysia. Yeah right! I'm dreaming coz I'm off duty now writing this post. It has been a month since we moved from Lutong to Krokop. I kinda miss the previous house as it was the first house I bought, married my lovely 'then" girlfriend , Lina (still and forever lovely), bringing up 4 cute children and lived in it for 16 years. In the 16 years, we've been through ups and downs but this house has given us shelter and comfort and most of all, the love we all shared as a family. What a sweet and memorable memories it has been.
We had to move due to the high cost of travelling and time spent on the road shuttling children to different schools. It has became a 'hotel' for us as we leave home early in the morning and is only back in the evening. Before it becomes too unbearable, we opted to move closer to city but a costlier house due to it's prime location.
The house in Krokop has made life much less stressful for everyone. There no mad rush to leave home before 6.00am to beat the ever increasing traffics. Everyone loves it. We are right in the city, everything is almost within reach; shops, petrol stations, restaurants...you name it... Looking forward to many years of living here........what a life!

So now, a million dollar question. What to do with the house in Lutong? To sell or not to sell..that is the question! ahhhhh.....anyone any suggestions or advice?

The Move on 25th May to....a belated post

One fine morning on 25th May, got up early. Together with Lina, we went to the new house to perform the traditional 'red cloth' hanging ritual for the main door. I suppose traditions are hard to break. A ritual which is a must for some families. Might as well follow the tradition....for good luck, health, wealth...........all good things!


The front portion of the new house taken @ 6.30am


The traditional 'red cloth' hanging over the main door.



One minute, the sky is blue.



Finally, the arrival of the big stuff. Got Lina's brother, Ah Chang's help together with 7 of his worker to help carry and move those heavy stuff. 4 lorry loads! Plenty of help from her aunts and cousins. Henz and Jordan, both are a great help. Many thanks to all. Must 'belanja' all when we settle in. Note the sky, thought it would rain but it was all sun the whole day.

View of TV cabinet and living room from entrance foyer.

View of the settees from TV cabinet. A choice selection by Lina. Got them from Modern Furniture.

View of the TV cabinet and dining room partition.

This is one furniture you will not find in the market! It's custom designed and made by Alan of Century Decor. Notice the square hole in the center of the table? There're 3 of these square box which can be turned over to create a flat surface. Otherwise, just leave it as it is and use it as fruit basket or some temporary storage for cutleries. And the stool, a very traditional design, too. This dining table can accomodate 12 people!

In fact, the whole house interior design is done by Century Decor. It cost a bomb for all these but it turn out very well. Very satisfied!

A few days after we moved in, an afternoon thunder storm came through. It flooded the front section of the road to the house. The developer didn't mention anything about a 'swimming pool' being included in the project. How kind of him!

The Move on 25th May 08 from.....a belated post

My first house bought in 1992 in Lutong! For 16 years ,you have served my family and me well. After various upgrade and renovations to accomodate us, (there's eight of us! mom, pop, meself, wifey, 4 chipmunks) it's time to move to a bigger and closer to city house for a growing family. Growing in size and age, not numbers, mind you. 4 children is enough to keep us busy. Ok, back to the move. It took 4 lorry load to move just the big stuff. That does not include the pots and pans, clothings, books, toys.........and what not! How things can accumulate without even us noticing. We still has loose stuff yet to be moved over. Talk about stress.......very stressful, ok!
But, it's worth it.........

Missing in action?

Just move to our new home in Krokop from Lutong. Bad news! no internet connection......ok, I lied. Using DeConnexion right now but man, talk about slow ........I think dial up is much faster. How I miss my streamyx (or is it slowmyx ....screamyx) in Lutong ....eventhough you are also slow at time.
Unfortunately, this new house area has no fixed telephone line service yet so I have to make do with what's available. Hey, DeConnexion is free! What do you expect? Super doper fast connections? hah.
Ok, will write more next time when connection is much better....I promise........