Chronicles: bengodomon.com » sabud

Casino on board Logos Hope

bengodomon — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:35:13 +0000

Dubbed the world’s largest floating book fair, Logos Hope stopped by in Kota Kinabalu from 18th November 2011 to 11th December 2011.

The ship as seen from Suria Sabah. In the background is Penaga Hill, Sepanggar

[photo credit: thienzieyung]

It claims to have more than 5,000 titles on offer and a local daily reported that it’s expected that 100,000 would visit the ship during its stay.

We went there on the 26th of November.

Everything was as expected, even perhaps a bedroom vanity set, except this:

Of course it’s there as part of a message.

Total lunar eclipse, 10th December 2011 as seen from Sabah, Malaysia

bengodomon — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:05:56 +0000

There were two total lunar eclipses in 2011, the first on 15th June. The best view was definitely the one in December which justifies the need to get those duracell procell 9Vs ready to power those cams to capture the moment.

From Kota Kinabalu

Click here to view the embedded video.

What you could see if you were on the moon during the eclipse [from a painting by Lucien Rudaux]

Lunar eclipse from moon

This seems to be the best viewing of a total lunar eclipse from Sabah since the one on 16th July 2000.

The one on 24th March 1978 was very special, it passed almost directly over Sabah.

There will be no more total lunar eclipse until April 2014, and even then it won’t make for good viewing from Sabah. The next total lunar eclipse that looks good from Sabah seems to be on 31st January 2018.

First tourist to be gored to death by an elephant in Sabah

bengodomon — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:39:44 +0000

Jenna O’Grady Donley, 25, of Sydney had completed her 7-year study in veterinary science at the University of Sydney, and was due to graduate with first-class honours next week.

Off her Facebook account, taken in Africa several years ago

But before that, she decided to come to Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah with a friend, Ashley Kelly, to celebrate the end of her studies. The place is about 100km from Tawau town.

By all accounts, she knew what she was in for, but what happened next can be deemed proof that anything can indeed happen, even if everything has been prepared as precisely as an inside micrometer set could help to.

On 7th December 2011, around 6.30am, she, Ashley and a local guide were making they way back to the resort after visiting a mud volcano. They then went off the trail when they spotted a pygmy elephant, believed to be a single bull. They inched closer to it, then started to take photos from 10m away. The recommended safe distance from wild elephants is at least 50m away.

Pygmy elephants can grow to 2.5 metres (8.2 feet) tall, are unique to Borneo and is an endangered species, with about 2,000 left in Sabah’s forests. The one that attacked Jenna is believed to be almost fully grown.

Single bull elephants are usually solitary and their behaviour is unpredictable.

Camera noise and light from their torches apparently agitated the animal, which then charged at Jenna who happened to be standing closest to it. The short distance between her and the elephant made it impossible for her to escape. The animal then gored her in the stomach, killing her.

Ashley and the guide escaped unhurt.

The elephant then took off and has not been seen since.

Her remains have been sent to Lahad Datu District Hospital for a post-mortem.

Mamut River looks inviting, pity you can’t go in

bengodomon — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:36:33 +0000

The white water flows rather fast, and looks rather tempting.

But look everywhere in or around it, there’s nobody having a picnic near it, let alone bathing in the river.

Right next to the river stands the answer:

Such a pity, such a waste. I wonder whether it will ever be safe to dive in or to have motorhome insurance if one decides to bring one’s mobile home anywhere near it.

You’ll have to go over the polluted river when you visit Poring Hot Springs, Ranau, Sabah.

Birthday cakes collection

bengodomon — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:06:36 +0000

Here are some photos of birthday cakes for my son over the years.

Full Moon

[forgot to take photo of 1st birthday cake]

2nd birthday

3rd birthday

4th birthday, cake 1

4th birthday, cake 2

5th birthday, cake 1

5th birthday, cake 2

6th birthday

7th birthday, cake 1

7th birthday, cake 2

8th birthday, cake 1

8th birthday, cake 2

I think this is one way to mark his life’s milestones even before he can say ordis!

RIP Rashid Kamsiran (1952 – 2011)

bengodomon — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:23:48 +0000

He wrote probably the most beautiful love song to have ever come out of Sabah – Sinar Matamu (1979?), which was hugely popular and endlessly copied then, down to every clash of the cymbals.

The original version, vocalist: Rudy Ahmad

Click here to view the embedded video.

The updated version

Click here to view the embedded video.

Apart from that he also wrote perennial karaoke favourites Bertunang, the hard-driving Siapa Gerangan and Ibu.

Bertunang (original version)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Siapa Gerangan (updated version)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sandakan-born and bred Rashid started on music at 5 and despite formal music training, was proficient with guitars, drums, keyboards, accordion and trombone.

Of course his greatest talent was in songwriting – his songs became well-known nationwide.

He founded and was leader of D’Atomic Power (later known as simply Atomic Power), which, at one time, was one of the top groups in the country.

He passed away 27th October 2011 in Negri Sembilan at the age of 59.

RIP

Winners of the Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon

bengodomon — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 07:23:39 +0000

Dubbed “The world’s toughest mountain race”, runners run up and down the mountain, a total distance of 21 km. Starting 2012, runners will follow a new route which is longer by 2km and the event will be known as Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon: Adventure Series.

Record: Marco De Gasperi (Italy), 2010: 2:33.56. Time to summit: 1:35.29

2011 (22-23 October)
Men’s Open
1 Kílian Jornet Burgada (Spain), 23: 2:37.04
Note: prizemoney: USD4,500. He’d won the Climbathon twice before in 2007 and 2009.

2 Marco De Gasperi (Italy), 2:37:48
Note: De Gasperi first to reach the summit, clocking 1:37.49

3 Luis Alberto Hernando (Spain), 2:42.36

Best local performance: Safrey Sumping who finished 6th. He finished 5th in 2010.

Women’s Open
1 Danny Kuilin Gongot (Sabah/Malaysia), 44: 3:41.29
Note: this is her 4th win, after 1997, 1998 and 2003. She finished 5th in 2010. No Malaysian woman had won the race since 2003. Having trained for just 2 weeks, she was second to summit in 2:20.17 behind Brandy Erholtz (USA) who clocked 2:11.19. For the win, she received USD4,500. And of course she wore the RM8 Adidas Kampung.

2 Anna Frost (New Zealand): 3:50.38
Note: Frost also placed second in 2010

3 Brandy Erholtz (USA): 3:52.21s

I guess it’s safe to say that you’d never see these guys and gals dress plus size.

2010
Men’s Open
1 Marco De Gasperi (Italy), 2:33:56 (summit: 1:35.29)

2 Sudip Kulung (Nepal), 2:46.14 (summit: 1:48.04)

3 Tofol Castaner (Spain), 2:58.09 (summit: 1:50:20)

Best local performance: Safrey Sumping (5th): 3:02.47 (summit: 1:59.24)

The highest charting artiste with a Malaysian connection in a major singles chart

bengodomon — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:39:26 +0000

Considered major music charts for singles: either the US Billboard Hot 100 or the UK Singles Chart.

Alison Moira Clarkson (born 6 March 1970 in Kensington, London), a.k.a Betty Boo is of mixed Dusun and Scottish descent, resulting in what has been described as “an unusual, striking Emma Peel-like look.” She shot to stardom in 1990 with 2 songs that reached the UK Singles Chart’s top 10: “Doin’ The Do”, which reached no.7 and “Where Are You Baby?”, which reached no.3. Both songs are in her debut album Boomania released in September of the same year, which peaked at no.4 in the UK Albums Chart.

The music video for Where Are You Baby?

Click here to view the embedded video.

One might add that she could very well be the first person with Dusun blood that has had her music album scanned with a Honeywell Barcode Scanner!

Earlier, in September 1988, Tanita Tikaram, the daughter of a Malaysian mother Fatimah Rohani and an Indo-Fijian father Pramod Tikaram released her debut album Ancient Heart. It reached no.3 in the UK album charts and no. 59 in the US. Her single “Good Tradition” peaked at no. 10 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1988.

Honourable mention:

Aishah, then lead singer of Fan Club (New Zealand based band) apparently cracked the US Billboard Hot 100 in the late 1980s or early 1990s with Don’t Let Me Fall Alone

Spectacular night skywatching, 13-15th October 2011

bengodomon — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:09:36 +0000

The last few nights have proven to be excellent for skywatching, to the point that it made me consider purchasing a telescope.

On the late evening of the 13th, it was the spectacular sight of Jupiter “dancing” with the moon.

During the early evening of the 14th, I was doing a night run when I noticed fellow joggers talking about and pointing at the moon. Turning around, I was greeted by a truly mesmerising sight of a moon rise right above Mount Kinabalu. I didn’t have a camera with me, and the only photo on the Net that I could find that looked almost like what I saw was by Dolly MJ:

Original photo

During the early evening of the 15th, the full moon looked even bigger, and looking at it through binoculars I could see clearly its heavily cratered surface.

Certainly one could very well be so preoccupied with looking upwards that when one’s gaze finally lowers, systèmes GPS might be needed to find one’s way back.

Funny signs in Taiwan

bengodomon — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:48:19 +0000

Between 1-8 October 2011.

While browsing for rfid blocking wallets, I spotted the following shop name in Ximenting, Taipei. If you don’t get it, look up the word at urbandictionary dot com.

The following was spotted at Feng Jia Night Market, Taichung. This road’s name can be (mis)pronounced in quite a few ways.

The following was spotted at Dream Mall, Kaohsiung, the largest shopping mall in Taiwan and the largest in East Asia. With a total retail floor area of 400,000 sq m, it’s still smaller than Malaysia’s Berjaya Times Square (700K sq m). 1Borneo is at 140K sq m.

The following can either mean “cycling lane” or “only to be used by males possessing extraordinarily long genitalia”

The following was spotted at an RnR stop along the Taichung – Kaohsiung highway. I suppose it means that you’re allowed to beat the life out of the handbasin for adults?