Selamat Hari Merdeka
Happy Independence Day
Malaysia!!
We're 49 this year and counting, somehow it feels like we're still young and rough at the edge and hopefully in the coming years we'll learn to be more mature than what we currently are. Let's all celebrate as one, at least on this day and leave the politics, religious dogma and differences aside for once. Happy Merdeka Malaysia. P.S. Let's also remember Hari Malaysia this Sept 26th as well for us in Sabah and Sarawak.
One of the beautiful stretches of azure blue water and pearl white sanded beaches seen from the stop over point.
Someone once quoted that the joy of travel lies in the journey and what it takes to get there rather than the destination. Well that someone most probably must be referring to Simpang Mengayau because the journey itself is an adventure in itself but the end point is no push over though as you will be richly rewarded when you finally set foot at the northern most point of the island of Borneo. Situated at least 30 minutes from Kudat, it is veritably an isolated cove with fantastic rock formations, idealic beaches and fantastic vistas. Though who are planning to venture to this destination better be prepared to have a four wheel drive vehicle or at least a car which suspension you don't mind saying bye-bye to later after your return journey. Far from being accesable the path leading to Simpang Mengayau only stretches for 10km of paved road while the last 6km of the way one must pass through a winding, bumpy and often butt aching dirt tract. Needless to say travellers are advised to go during the dry season as the stretch can be quite trecherous after rain storms when the road turns muddy and slippery. You will be passing through various villages and forested area as you make your way there, stopovers are non existant at this stretch of journey though at times some villagers do prop makeshift huts to sell wares like home grown vegetables and seashells.
Stone pathway leading to the northern point.
Once you reach the end you can relax a bit as there is a small canteen selling food and drinks. There is also a small resort in kind which offers overnight stay in a traditional Murut longhouse if one is so inclined a little off the way before reaching the end. Travellers can also opt to take a few hours to swim in the clear waters of the beach or have a nice picnic out in the shadded coast. The main attraction awaits at the end though and most will often head there without pause. There is little in the way of shade here and after aligning from your vehicle there is still about 200 meters of walking distance to the rocky outcrop and this you'll have to do on foot. Various wooden huts are situated near the parking lot for those wanting to enjoy the coastal vista which the elevated ground offers.
One of several huts for people wanting to rest or have a break facing the coastal sea.
The way is nicely paved and there is more than enough walking space to accomodate a large crowd so that one will still feel the vast empty space that seem to just strech from miles away. The breeze here is strong and offers some modicum of relief even when the sun is scorching heavily. Along the way you can stop at several lookout spot to view the great coastline, often with beautiful rock outcrops and gentle conifer trees. There is no other vistas like it anywhere nearby. Many offer beautiful spot for a commemorative photo shoot which a lot of people I observed do take advantage of.
The large bronze globe denoting the site as the northern most point in Borneo.
You'll know that you are almost at the main attraction when you spot the large globe and compass, Here too is a great photo opt with one face describing Simpang Mengayau as the most northern tip of Borneo and the reverse with a small map of Southeast Asia with a large marker saying 'You are Here!'. But other than that there is not much to linger for, for your information this place often play hosts for the Kota Kinabalu Symphony Ochestra for the annual evening concert held here, details can be obtained from the Sabah Tourism Website. Moving on you will reach the climax of your trip.
The folded effect of various rock layers caused by geologic forces are quite common along the peninsula.
The apex of the peninsular is a grand rocky outcrop of mostly obsidian rock with fringing sandstone. One a particular good day most of it will lie exposed as waves upon waves crash into it. Though people are often discouraged to venture down and a sign delivers this message clearly, it seems curiosity, adventurism, defiance or stupidity often cause certain people to try and climb down anyway to truly stand at the edge of the continent. This can be a bit dangerous as the rocks are often slippery and the fast incoming tides are unpredictable at best so the danger is real for one to slip and be swept off.
The apex of the peninsular is a large rocky outcrop of obsidian rocks.
From here one can stare out into oblivion and the vast stretching horizon without obstruction and it is truly a magnificent sight. To the right of the outcrop is a shallow seaflat with tiny islets bespeckling the azure bay and a single lighthouse built on a small outcrop in the middle of the ocean. Linear rocky outcrops are also present and makes a nice study in geometric patterns. Well that is most what you'll get if you decide to travel here and after all that sighseeing one can opt to take in a local specialty, burnt coconut or fresh coconut water straight from the trees. Other avenues to explore are the town of Kudat with fresh and cheap seafood.
The front of the UMS booth which incidentally won the best booth award for the expo.
It was a double blessing that I managed to hook onto and join the UMS entourage for the recent Biotechnology Asia Exposition held at Putra World Trade Center from the 9th to the 11th of August. One it gives me the opportunity to finally enter one of the projects i've been involved in for a regional competition against others from the scientific community as well as NGOs, and another point is that if I win this will go a long way towards some recognisation for any future venture or job I may apply to. Not forgetting too that this gives me an all expense paid trip down to KL for a long sought after holiday as well as to catch up with some long lost friends.
Our little corner for our own display with exhibits and posters.
Things were a bit hectic as I was put in charge of two projects, one of our own natural products laboratory and another for the Institute of Tropical Biology and Conservation. Things did not go smoothly as I wished it to be, there were equipment breakdowns, schedule overshoot, problems with batch fermentation, the irritation of handling all the paperwork and chasing after the suppliers to get the finished products ready in time for the show. But at least in the end all went well except for a few hitches with the other project. Packing was sheer hell as there were a ton of stuff to lug, its not as if we were from UM, crossing the South China Sea in a plane requires the shifting of tons equipment (our overweight charges alone amounted to near RM700) and personnel. The worst part was that most of the otehr exhibits were mostly Professors or lecturers who have experience attending trade shows and expositions overseas, the look of sneers and put down I had to swallow nearly made me want to scream outloud, not to mention the severe axing of our poster by our esteemed Datin and my Dean of Institute.
Trade visitors viewing our booth and hearing explanations on the product.
It was nice this was the first time I actually followed a UMS team for a competition and the people were very friendly especially those from the Pusat Penyelidikan dan Inovasi (PPI) such as Kak Zarinah, Kak Azie and my roomie in the hotel, En. Awang who is a jovial sort of fellow though his one fault was that he chain smokes. Sitting in MAS also was a treat as I usually take Air Asia, the food seems to have improved from the hard spongy egg mass I has when I first came to Sabah, this time the nasi lemak was even nice and enjoyable. KLIA was as usual busy with people coming and going, we wanted a legitimate ride with the Limo Tazi but they could not provide us with the van to transport our stuff so too bad even when we want to go legit in the end the system failed us so we had to go with a taxi tout which turned out to be top notch surprisingly from what horror stories we had been told, it was such a nice ride that we decided to retain him for our journey back. Haze in KL was bad, with an already irritated throat from a recent bout of flu, things was really hard to breath, the KL skyline was a total white fog. If there was anything I miss of Kota Kinabalu was the clear skies and fresh air.
Closeup of our marine silage display with fermenter, products and of course the gold throphy.
The organization was pretty bad this time around, setting up of the booth only commenced a day before the exibition started and when some of our lecturers came late due to flight delays the guards would not allow the Tun Razak Hall to be opened past 9 pm. We thought we still had time to make changes but the following day we were told judging would commence immedietly in the morning and the frantic pace the professors assembled their products especially the larger reactors and machinery was a sight to see. It didn't help that the arrangements of some of the displays was wrong and it took a while with the help of the booth construction team to set things right.
Closeup of the final product, PROFEED marine silage for fish feed.
The first batch of judges were quite bad tempered battering the entrants with questions and snide remarks without giving a break. It was even worst when we found out that our poster for worm enhanced compost would be disqualified when the researchers name we registered with didn't include mine and one of the judges would not allow it to qualify as an entry due to this technicality that my name was not on it. So scrap that. At least the ones judging our marine silage was quite a good crowd, we were peppered with questions but they seem receptive and was not too pushy and negative, it was nice talking to them even. True to our supervisor's advise, as soon as the judging was done with, we all let our guard down and relaxed. It did catch us offguard that the judging took place so soon and mostly panicked from the rush. The next two days were a breeze compared to these first few hours, we even had time to skip to lunch at the Mall and even made trips to Low Yat to spot some cheap software purchases.
The UMS contingent receiving the innovation awards.
The announcement of the results was a nail biting affair, more so because one of our posters was disqualified and if the other didn't win I really won't know what to say to my supervisor who was hedging his bet for a medal not to mention I would have to explain to the head of institute that we didn't win anything and her project was disqualified. I really sweated buckets but me and my colleague discussed that we could hope for the least a bronze or if God willing a silver. So it was a tense moment when the moment of truth came. The bronze awards went by and UMS managed to garner 3 of the awards. So a little of our soul felt like it left us as our names were not there. Next the silver, one of the lecturers was ticking off a count sheet of the medals awarded and with every silver announced, we were already planning our last will and testemant for when we were eaten alive by Dr Charles. So when the final award was given away and UMS garnered another 3 we felt our heart stopped and truly understood the phrase 'like a chicken running about without it's head'. I can safetly say that we both gave up all hope of winning anything and was wondering what excuse we were to tell sir, we really thought we had no chance in hell of a gold truthfully. Already the others looked smugly at us and we felt quite small. Worst was that one of the lecturers was from our old institute and his poster which was a last minute entry got a bronze, i can just hear what my supervisor would scream at us for this.
Closeup of the trophy and products.
Imagine the surprise when at the 11th hour and more precisely the second last gold award given out, we heard our names being called. We actually stopped and looked blankly at each other for almost an eternity wondering if our ears were playing a trick on us and someone would come out from behind the partition and scream 'Gotcha'. But it wasn't a trick and as everyone of the lecturers in front of us including Datin Ann, head of biotech institute and Prof Dr Perumal, medical facualty lecturer as well as the other higher ranking lecturers all turned their heads towards us in the back with saucer liked eyes, it must have been true. I really felt like a corpse recently risen from the depth of hell and given a second chance. Coming back from the stage, my colleague was clutching the trophy and laughing hysterically nonstop and I can imagine my own face was mirroying the same expression. We WON the only GOLD award for UMS and one of only 9 given for the exhibition, it was a miracle.
Me holding onto the trophy next to our winning entry.
Surprisingly after we won everyone was more polite and amicable towards us, maybe the shock of master students beating professors who had entered and won international events was too much but we didn't care. When my colleague called Dr Charles in Japan the conversation went something like this;
MY: "Sir we won a trophy, guess which?"
Sir: "Gold right?"
MY: "Gold that's right sir."
Sir: "GOLD..... you sure? Not pulling my leg?"
MY: "Yes sir, its gold no joke about it"
Sir:"Eer ok then congrats"
He must have been as shocked as we were, I'm sure he was expecting a bronze or at most silver from us. It was nice to be able to surprise him like that I can tell you. Well we won Gold, we had a nice time, I had a refreshing holiday, life is good.
Me and the team from the PPI on a Airbus 330-200
I'm happy that the event was a success and also there was a chance to catch up with some old friends, had dinner with one of my ex roomies, Kuok Sum who now works as a fire investigator, met up with my old form 6 school pals for dinner, it seemed like forever that we last saw each other and had breakfast with my old lab mates now working in KL. I hope there will be another such opportunity like this but till then its back to the daily crunch of work.
Click Here to Read More..Beserah might not be on top of the lists of what’s hot to see in Kuantan in most travel agents’ to do list but in my books it’s one of those place that few people actually know well enough to appreciate until they’ve seen it themselves. Beserah is situated about 25 km from Kuantan town connected by the old coastal road leading to Terengganu. A dual carriageway now connects this fishing village and ensures a smooth ride. Besides the direct excursion to Beserah itself, there are a lot of other detours along the way to keep visitors occupied. It is no secret that all through the journey the entire stretch is prime beach front, whereas Teluk Cempedak and many of the other beaches nearer to town are heavily visited and at times in bad shape, there are exceptional beaches all throughout that one can just stop by and take in the view. Expect to see lots of coconut trees, village houses, cows lazing in the middle of the road and chalet resorts as you travel through.
The most famous of these beach stretches must surely be Pantai Balok which is sited near Club Med Kuantan. Here pristine whitish to yellowish sand grains tickle your soles, water (okay so they are not as blue and pristine as those in Mediterranean islands but still rates high among Malaysian beaches) lapping on your bare feet as you splash along the surf, cool sea breezes tickling your skin and great activities lie in wait. The tree lined coast offers great spots for picnics or for the more adventurous taking a dip in the surrounding waters is safe and refreshing. Budget travelers can be assured of cheap accommodations and food easily found everywhere you look, various chalets and motels have set up businesses throughout the beachfront while eateries are plentiful and serve cheap seafood dishes. Holiday makers with less concern for cash can opt for luxury, various high class hotels such as the Legend, Club Med and Palm Beach Resort serve everything from gourmet spread to activity planners for all your needs.
Batu Hitam (Black Rock) is another known attraction yet today suffers from a combination of vandalism and neglect. The beach is named after the various black volcanic rock formations near the coast where during low tide are revealed. As a kid I used to walk precariously on the flat outcrop, peering into the rock pools in search for strange fishes or other watery denizens; went looking for shells for my collection (a practice I discouraged nowadays) and making sandcastles. Now this is no longer possible as many of the black rocks have been taken by people in the past for their use and now only the large immovable rocks are left in place, greatly diminished from the large stretch previously. Uncontrolled sewage discharge from nearby development also adds pollution to the bay and facilities are run down at the beach. Still you can find families during the weekend enjoying the beach.
If you’re peckish, a recommended diner nearby will be Pak Su’s seafood restaurant. Here you can order various dishes for dinner and seafood prices are quite cheap compared to places like Kl. Their signature dish here is the stuffed crabs, crab filaments cooked in spice and served in their shells with a thin coating of batter. I can attest that it’s worth it and the taste is excellent. All seafood is freshly taken from local fishermen and you can be assured of the taste, sotong (squid), fish and shellfish are particularly good.
Lastly don’t forget to visit Beserah itself, it is just a small village but still quaint. Kampung houses are scattered along the beach and the main occupation of residence here is fishing. Come early in the evening and you can see fishermen returning from a day at sea with their catch, several men lugging the boat ashore where waiting people are ready to snap up the choicest fishes while the rest are shipped to the nearby market. I do not need to tell people that Kuantan’s keropok lekor (a kind of fish cracker) is the best in Malaysia, I swear (don’t forget the rich chili sauce that comes along with it). Keropok and salted fish is a local specialty and often my family and I make it a point to bring a few specimens back to Kl whenever we head down.
A little detour near Beserah will take you to the Satellite transmission center, one of the two earliest satellite transmitters in Malaysia. It’s fenced up so you can’t get too close up for a look but a picture of myself in the past showed that it was not always so and I was actually a few feet from the giant dish, sadly sabotage concerns outweighs all other consideration at present. Not much you can take in from the side of the road but the dishes can still be seen in the distance.
The old gang and some new faces to boot; front: Chew Lii T'san, Shakina (hope i got the spelling right), Thiagu and Lay Cheng, back: Myself and Kwang Meng.
Time really flies, that is my impression when i look back and ponder about the past few years. The most regretable thing that always follows the passage of time is partings, which is most heartfelt when you and your friends walk their own path in life which often leads to different destinations. Yet that also allows the chance that everyone would one day find ourselves crossing paths once again. That was the happy conclusion that we all found ourselves, the old form 6 schoolmates, meeting once again after almost a hiatus of 4 years or more. Sadly two of our members couldn't be here to complete this eccentric bunch. The best part is no matter how long we haven't seen each other, it was good to find out that none of us really did change much and is a mirror image of when we were all still in school uniforms, albeit more mature and older.
Kwang Meng and Lay Cheng, couples. First up is one of our resident smart alecs, good in studies, wrestling kaki, sports buff. Already in his final year in Medic and going for his residency. He may be quiet but he's the dependable sort of guy you can always count on whenever you're in a tight spot and he's jovial and cheerful mostly, don't think I've ever seen him get angry before. It came as a surprise when we found out he and Lay Cheng were going out, there wasn't a hint of this budding romance during school years and it only came apparent when we all came out of form 6. But they make a good pair, it was lucky too that both are in UKM and since KM only managed to get into medical in the second try both will be graduating at the same time, she with a masters degree.
Next up was a guy that we thought was lost to us as he skipped local uni for pilot training under MAS. Skipped town and was unreachable for quite a while that we thought he no longer saw us as friends and had moved on. Well imagine our surprise when he contacted us all and was also kind enough to organise this little gathering. Well our resident funny man is still himself and according to his girlfriend it was this charm and charisma as well as a bottomless humor that netted her affection. Well he was always one who could walk into a room of strangers and by the end of the day will be friends with each and everyone of them as well as know them by name. As always he was the life of the party, cracking jokes and reminiscing about our past misdeeds. It was a nice surprise that we found out he managed to net a stewardess as a girlfriend and a pretty one at that.
On the final roll call will be our lawyer, T'san. If we need to say who changed most in appearance it must be her, with a new more metropolintan imagine after going overseas to study in Leeds and spending the last few years as a KLite. Yet it was a relief that inside she was preety much the same, funny, easy to talk to and down to earth. It was a surprise to find out that she and Thiagu were staying close to each other at Damansara Perdana which also happens to be where most of my relations are living these days, talks about KL being a small place. Well she looked stunning this night with her dress, my only regret was not being able to talk to her more that day though i wanted to.
All said and done, even when everyone was more or less pooped from work and it being a Friday the table at Kenny Rogers rang with laughter and nostalgia. We talked about how everyone was and how each was going about life. We gossiped about who's getting married, who broke up, who's seeing each other and generally where everyone else is. We joked about our high school antics and how our past teachers were, how Kuantan is turning into a town where everyone seems to be getting away from. It was sad to note that everytime any of us went back, there is less and less people we know staying there, most of the young adults are heading to places like Penang, KL or Johor to find employment.
It was a pity that two of our members could not be there to join us, last we heard Chin Ching was still in Penang where she is working as a doctor and still major major strides from sorting out her life especially in the love department. Also according to KM, Anantharaman another ex classmate is now working in the Babas factory in Kuantan.
It was truly a memorable night and even more so that the chance that we were all there to meet up. If Thiagu had planned it a week earlier or later I would not be able to join there so it is indeed fortuitious or maybe it was fate that I was down town attending the Biotech Asia Expo. I wouldn't want to miss this for anything in the world and I truly had a great time, great food, great companions, great atmosphere and great memories.
Just couldn't resist in putting a picture of the scrumptious Summer Berry ice cream I had from Haagen Daez, which i must admit is my first time at the place in my life, for RM20 this is actually worth every penny I paid for it. Anyway it was a bit hard to part even when we still had so much to catch up on and who knows when we will be able to meet up again. But i know that it will be just as great if we ever do and maybe hopefully when I'm working in KL by the end of the year there will be more opportunities to see each of them. Till then.
