There was a power interruption in Likas which started around 4.15 in the afternoon. By 6 something I was feeling a little concerned, so I called Sabah Electricity Sendirian Berhad’s (SESB) hotline number, or what I thought it was: 15454. The lady said need to call 088-282249. When I called that number, another lady said need to call 088-515000. The guy at the other end said there’s a problem (fire?) at a substation (?) near Giant Kolombong, and power “should be up soon”.

While waiting for the power to be back, I watched the screen on crimson mounts, and pondered that it would’ve been prudent for SESB to have a One Stop phone line, i.e. no need to pass me around. And they should’ve also put up information on outages lasting longer than 2 hours at their website or FB page (both none).

By 6.30pm it became apparent that there’s something wrong with our building’s electricity supply – ours was the only building in the neighbourhood without power. I called SESB again immediately – at that time I wasn’t sure if it was our substation or the building itself having issues.

To SESB’s credit, they came back to me within the hour, and power was restored by 7.30pm.

While waiting for them, I had time to do 3km run around the stadium’s lake before dashing back to doublecheck on the Yellow Monster, which is my term of endearment for the generator.

When I finally reached home at 8.30pm, I had to dash out again to purchase my daughter’s stationeries.

Dinner and shower was definitely later than normal that day.

Update 27 January 2013

The best explanation I think is that this phenomenon signifies a change in season i.e. from rainy to dry.

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23 January 2013

This morning, there’s mist / fog around Penampang. This rather rare occurence happens like once every few years.

Can any experts give their views as to how this phenomenon came to be?

The following photo was taken by Bop Juanis around 7am:

If one’s Golden Eagle Coin fell off in this situation, one’d have a hard time locating it.

20th August

Annual sale at KK Toys – Christmas presents shopping for the kids.

Early December

Christmas tree up, this time with a better-looking crib Jane brought from the Philippines the month before:

Kids didn’t want to brave the crowds at Gaya Street Christmas Carnival (12-15 December) this time.

Christmas Eve

I elected to go to work today – Christians allowed to go home at 3pm. Went to Holy Nativity Church, Terawi for Christmas Eve mass (8 pm), and enjoyed a celestial wonder too.

We learnt our lesson from last year well – have dinner first, so the crib visit, conveniently located outside, near to where we were sitting, was possible.

Christmas Day

Present opening in the morning – as usual, the smallest gets the most presents.

Now is there a rear bike rack somewhere there?

In the afternoon, attended the 3G Christmas Party in Tamparuli. Had time to feed the deer:

Also spent some time at the kampung home.

26th December

Did the family tradition routine – visited 1Borneo, the mall with the perhaps the best Christmas decorations in the city, for photos, Boo Boo Land and some back-to-school shopping.

27th December

At the beach for some good rollicking in the water, kite-flying and seriously jaw-dropping sunset photography:

28th December

Mega back to school shopping. In evening, attended a charity dinner, followed by an end-of-project party.

29th December

More back to school shopping. Cut Ethan’s hair.

30th December

Even more back to school shopping.

31st December

New Year’s Eve celebration at home.

Daily Express, which I still regard as Sabah’s top newspaper, should do some research before committing its front page to Flying Rods on 20th December 2012. In addition, a substantial area of its inner page was also devoted to showcasing many photographs of the supposed mystery creatures.

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If Sudirman was known as the singing lawyer, how about Bode the hard rocking medical doctor?

Associate Prof. Dr. Tengku Ahmad Shahrizal is an otorhinolaringologist (ENT) at UM. I encountered him when I was active in the Malaysian Students’ Society at the University of Sheffield and he was doing his MBChB.

A preview of what he can do on the electric guitar.

I think it’s safe to say that he’s the only doctor in Malaysia where you might see Mixers in his consultation room.

P.S. My neighbour back then was Azlan Abu Hassan, another talented musician who co-wrote Sheila Majid’s all-time favourite: Sinaran & Adibah Noor’s Terlalu Istimewa which won Anugerah Juara Lagu 2006, arguably Malaysia’s top music award.

Sungha Jung is a 16-yr-old Korean teenage fingerstyle guitarist and YouTube sensation. He has garnered more than 560 million youtube views and almost 1 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.

It’s his first visit to Kota Kinabalu.

Date: 15th December 2012
Time: 7-10pm
Place: Convention Hall, Star City Conference & Events Centre, Asia City, Kota Kinabalu
Ticket price: RM80/pax onwards

Source
Sungha Jung Live in Borneo

Some videos of the show (not taken by me).

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Here’s another of those pretty numbers shown on the clock that happens once in one hundred years.

And talking about 100 years, that might be the time when I finally have floor stand mounts for the monitor.

The following is a screenshot which I took on my PC during the actual event – when that point of time passed.

Honest, no cheating whatsoever was done…

8 February 2013

I finally heard this one again after a gap of at least 35 years – been looking for it for decades.

Thanks Gilbert!

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26 January 2013

I only remember the following song as “The Yang Song” since it must be the Malay song that has the most occurences of the word “yang” in its lyrics. For the first time in 27 years, I heard Haliza’s Kelahiran Cinta (1985) again today.

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5 December 2012

For me, previously it was about 34 years with Agnes Chan’s Sweet Dreams.

Earlier today, that record was broken.

When I was very young, there’s a tune which stuck to my head, and since then I’ve looked high and low for it for many years.

I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but a few days ago I finally got round to playing, on guitar, what I remembered, recorded it, and put it up on youtube:

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This came to my attention due to the many people I see every day at Alpha One’s outlet in Sri Kepayan, Kota Kinabalu, which apparently started off in Papar before moving to its current location sometime last year.

The concept is electric current therapy (also known as electrotherapy, electrostatic therapy, electric field physiotherapy).

Players include:
- Alpha One BIOS 9000, apparently their flagship model, priced at RM16,800
- Al-Jabbar Dr. Jism (5 functions): RM10,500 – RM12,500
- Al-Jabbar Family Dr. (3 functions): RM5,500- RM6,500
- Golden Wellness Dr. Health 9000: RM5,500- RM6,500
- Pro Nature: RM5,500
- Pyr Energy

Is it effective? Well, judging from the many people thronging the place daily, it would seem so.

I think many are there to take advantage of the free, limited-time treatments. If you can rid of an ailment without paying anything, hey why not, it’s time for a famous smoke cigars, no?

Having said that, cursory facts-finding would reveal that:

In 2000 the Dutch Medical Council found that although it was widely used, there was “insufficient evidence for its benefits”. Since then, a few publications have emerged that supports its use, but “data is still scarce”. The American Physical Therapy Association acknowledges the use of Electrotherapy for, amongst others, pain management, treatment of neuromuscular dysfunction, improving range of joint mobility, and tissue repair. Some of the treatment effectiveness mechanisms are little understood, with effectiveness and best practices for their use still anecdotal.

KudaBelang mentioned that he asked doctors at a hospital their opinion about this kind of device, but they just smiled and didn’t answer the question.

There’s a blogpost that sees proponents of some of the players bashing each other in the comments section.

Of course the one and only Aidid Mu’addib lambasted this kind of thing in his usual inimitable style.

I first heard this song during a wedding reception in Kota Kinabalu on the 12th November, when people started congregating on the dance floor on cue, and the emcee himself joining in, for it’s in the same line-dancing vein as that other hugely popular Indonesian song, Poco Poco.

For me, it was a “one listen I’m hooked” moment, so compelling was the melody that it didn’t matter that I didn’t understand most of what’s being sung, nor could I at least make out the lyrics, for it was sung in a rapid-fire style.

I was told it’s very popular in wedding receptions in Papar.

In typical Timorese style, the music video featured simply dressed people going about their daily business

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