For Chinese New Year 2010, as usual we had a family reunion dinner on CNY eve.

Sometime during the evening, angpau (red packet containing money) giving out sessions would commence. Some would say it’s better to give than to receive, or even giving is the best anti aging product due to the warm buzz and general wellbeing it generates.

That night, everybody who is single gets something, even the kids of the Indonesian workers:

They even got presents during Christmas!

But what happens to the money given afterwards is another story.

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I went to the temporary GXFC market (lasts 22 January – 21 February 2010) at the Kadazandusun Cultural Association (KDCA), Penampang for the second time tonight.

I spent 90 minutes in total.

Missed the lion dance show last night: too tired to go.

There were more attractions than the last time I went there.

These 100-feet-long dragons at the main entrance have been there since before Christmas

Click here if you’d like to learn more about the event.

For the rides, they used tokens with a swastika:

But I’d like to focus on the Ghost House there.

Yes, there are several human ghosts walking around in the converted Murut House until the 21st.

So I wandered inside with my son – RM5 is the fee, kids go in free.

I found the whole thing more funny than frightening, although my son thought otherwise.

The place is apparently not so popular, so people came in trickles. Which made the “ghosts” bored.

So as we were about to go in, the doorman shouted inside “oi, ada orang!” [hey, there are people coming in!]. As I walked in I could see several “ghosts” sitting on the stairs, smoking away. When the “ghosts” saw us, they scampered off inside, presumably to take up their positions at strategic nooks and crannies in order to jump at us as we walk past.

When we reached the top of the stairs, 2 people started to walk behind us, apparently as guides to prevent us from going the wrong way or a dead end. Or to help the “ghosts” should anybody dared to beat them up. These 2 were also smoking all the time while walking behind us.

The Ghost House should be called The Smoke House.

Still, I must say the organisers did quite a good job at transforming the house into a place not unlike a horror movie set.

Well, my son screamed everytime a creature wrapped in white cloth and Halloween mask lumbered across to block our way, or someone in a wig writhed on the floor and touched our ankles.

The 2 people at the back kept reassuring us that these were not real ghosts, as if we didn’t know that.

Then, at the end of the performance, the “ghosts” offered to take photos with us, to which my son replied emphatically: “DON’T WANT!” and dashed off to the exit.

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I think the ultimate school reunion would be if you got together with people in the same class as you during Primary / Standard I. A second best would be revisiting the place where you spent your earliest years at school.

I went to primary school at SRK Rangalau Baru (established 1959) which is in Tuaran district and nearer to Tamparuli than Kiulu. During those days I walked about 2 miles daily to and from school. The world seemed so big then: Kg Malangang Baru, a mere few kilometres away, where we had our annual inter-school sports meet felt a world apart.

I left the school at the end of 1981.

During the afternoon of 7th November 2009 I managed to spend about 20 minutes visiting it. It was eerily quiet – it was just me and the school. This was not my first visit in 28 years, but it truly felt like it.

The building where I went to for Primary I classes was still there:

So was the other building where I had my primary 3 (or was it 4?) to 6 education. The corridor’s view as I came out of the primary 6 classroom was still very much the same:

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Towards the end of 2009 I went up Bukit Perahu / Bukit Ruhiang / St Veronica’s Hill in Tamparuli. However, I went late, only reached the halfway point as it was getting dark.

Started around 5.25pm, this is the signboard:

From the main road, the way up looks like this:

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Since last year I suspected that there’s something wrong my car’s fuel intake pipe. I first noticed it at one particular pump at the Shell station near Donggongon – its behaviour is rather peculiar – you’d have to keep it horizontal, otherwise it’ll just stop operating.

Everytime I use this pump fuel could be seen spilling out onto the ground next to the inside of the back left tyre. But if I use other pumps where you can keep the pump vertical, there’s no spillage.

However, peering into the fuel intake pipe, I could not see any holes. Nor did I notice any degradation of mileage, or any petrol smell when sitting inside the car.

On the 7th of January 2010 I decided to really check it out, and true enough, the pipe’s severely corroded and there’s not one but several holes near the top.

Got an RM35 replacment from the 76 at Kolombong. Would this be covered by any mechanical breakdown insurance?

Epilogue: after replacement, I didn’t notice any improvement in mileage!

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I think it’s time for an update since my last post about this about 2 years ago.

Has he gotten over all things Ultraman? Not in the least! If anything, I am seeing more Ultraman-themed toys lying about.

One of the things I remembered to take a photo of was this keychain.

And an Ultraman gun:

And an Ultraman blowup:

And an Ultraman birthday cake for his 5th birthday:

There was a photo of him beaming with an Ultraman ride which I can’t locate now. Then there was that Ultraman mask. Of course he can play Ultraman on Playstation for hours, has countless Ultraman statues, and there was once an Ultraman watch.

I saw Ultraman underwear in a shop some time back but luckily he didn’t see them.

Probably as a result of all this, now I can see Ultraman everywhere. Heck, I even noticed the name of the following foodstall in Lido recently:

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Nowadays my head is full of matters related to my ongoing house project. It has reached the stage where I’m looking for doors and related accessories, amongst many other things. I have visited many hardware stores in and around Kota Kinabalu, but have not seen any that sells Baldwin hardware.

Anyway one weekend I needed a break after scouring Kolombong, and dropped by Inanam to visit Kedai Kopi Jeong Hin which can be found opposite Milimewa Supermarket.

[photo source]

The coffee shop is well-known for its super-delicious home-made, fresh-off-the-oven buns.

You can choose from several fillings – tausa (red bean), pineapple, peanuts, kaya & butter.

All tastes good – guaranteed.

It’s no surprise that everytime I go there the place is almost always full.

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Western Governors University (WGU) was founded in 1997. It is a nonprofit, privately-funded distance learning university based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Currently with more than 15,000 students, everything is conducted online except for exams, where students have to personally be at the campus.

Sounds like a worthwhile place to consider doing one’s online degree, but only individuals living in the USA and some parts of Canada may enrol, with some special exceptions for US military personnel.

Courses offered are up to master’s level in IT, business, teacher education and health, so if you’re eligible you can consider getting your masters degree online.

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Back in November 2009 I wrote about some interesting creatures that lurk just outside and quite often INSIDE my house in my village.

On the 2nd of January 2010 I brought the whole family to “balik kampung” and what a new year greeting we got: a cobra was just outside and was trying to enter the house when the dog alerted everybody. It was killed by my brother’s deft blow to the head with a hoe.

The hero and the villain:

If we thought everything’s over and it was going to be a relaxing night, we were wrong: it was one of those nights where flying insects were everywhere, attracted to the lights.

We had to switch off the light in the living room. Luckily they did not come back the next night.

After considering all 3 parts of this blog post I think my Kota Kinabalu-raised kids could be forgiven for not wanting to go back there again; when the time comes, philly jobs .com could be one of the places they visit, with the intention of getting as far away from the village as possible?!

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Growing rapidly in popularity, there’s a few outdoor paintball ranges in Sabah, but in Kota Kinabalu at least, there’s the one and only indoor paintball arena in the shape of the Sabah Survivor Painball Games, at Asia City, next to the food court.

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