Returned to our actual topic, on the 19th December 2008 approx. 8.00 pm, there was a Christmas Carol held at the Jesselton Point jetty. Folks who coincidentally playing “futsal” or dine at Jesselton Point’s restaurants were among the listeners of the Christmas message that night.

(Video)

(Video)

“Like the sun beam through the window as it sends the night away, that’s how Jesus pierced the darkness of our hearts on Christmas day, little Jesus light our way… Shine…”

Have a Blessed Christmas to you and your family. Shine…

This was a gentle performance from The Sabah Tourism Board representatives and it’s really heartwarming. The unique thing about this performance was all music instruments were made from bamboo. None of them were using modern music equipments.

Apart from stage performances, some people occupied with photo taking activities, taking their family photo next to the holy baby Jesus, while some busy buying foodstuff or souvenir for their kids, some cheering, laughing, singing and many more. Wow…What a JOY! We hope this coming Christmas will bring more blessings and happiness to our beloved families. Praise is to GOD for these beautiful moments.

It’s December 2008 and it’s a suitable time for us to take a break from our hectic daily life. Take a rest. We need to refresh our body, mind and energy. Go for a brief or long vacation with your beloved family.

Right! Let’s talk about “itinerary in Sabah”. This is just a clear-cut guideline for a brief vacation, 5 days 4 nights in Sabah, Borneo Malaysia. Remember, it supposed to be a relaxing vacation and it’s up to you to nourish it with you own flavor. Don’t forget to identify your type of transportation if you travel with family. You could either travel by bus, taxi or rent a car.

Day 1: Reach Kota Kinabalu Sabah – Kudat District
Reach at Kota Kinabalu International Airport and immediately travel to Kudat District (approx. 152 km from KK to Kudat area).

Day 1 activities: Visit the Gong (a type of music instrument) making village, honey bee farm, Tip of Borneo and overnight at the Rungus Longhouse at Kg. Bavanggazo, Kudat (book the accommodation in advance).

Day 2: Ranau District
Travel from the Rungus Longhouse, Kudat to Ranau District (approx. 173 km from Kudat area to Kinabalu Park).

Day 2 activities: Visit the Kundasang War Memorial, Kinabalu Park (the entrance for the Mt. Kinabalu climbers), Ranau Town and Ranau Poring Hot Spring. You could stay overnight at several places for instance Kundasang, Ranau Town or Poring Hot Spring, up to your preferences.

Day 3: Kota Kinabalu City Centre
From Poring Hot Spring or Ranau Town or Kundasang, travel back to Kota Kinabalu City Centre (approx. 122km from Ranau Hot Spring to Kota Kinabalu City Centre).

Day 3 activities: Visit our shopping complex, souvenir shops or stalls along Tun Fuad Road, view Kota Kinabalu City from the observatory tower at Signal Hill, go to Kota Kinabalu State Museum to gain knowledge of the establishment of North Borneo or the Jesselton’s histories.

Day 4: Beaufort And Kuala Penyu Districts
Travel approx. 95 km from Kota Kinabalu to the district of Beaufort and Kuala Penyu.

Day 4 activities: Go to Pulau Tiga (or also known as Survivor Island) by boat and experience the magnificence of the ocean, beach and the island. You could stay overnight there and make sure you dip yourself in the volcano mud which is good for the tired skin. Or, if Survivor Island is not in your list, your may perhaps consider visiting the famous wetland either in Klias or Garama village for river cruise while watching the Proboscis Monkey (one of the endangered species in the world) and amazing fireflies. Stay overnight at Tempurung Seaside Lodge and take enough rest before continuing tomorrow’s journey. It’s a very beautiful place which is actually located on a small hill overlooking the South China Sea.

Day 5: Penampang District
Penampang District is only a step away from Kota Kinabalu City Centre which is approx. 11 km to Donggongon Town.

Day 5 activities: This might be your departure day and you might want to rush back and catch-up your dear flight. I hope you booked a night flight because you don’t want to miss our final destination here. I would suggest you to visit the Monsopiad Cultural Village which is only about 15 km travel from Kota Kinabalu City Centre. This place represents the authenticity of Sabah and the Kadazan folks.

I hope you and your beloved family enjoy your stay in Sabah, Borneo Malaysia!

Okay, for those who are in Kota Kinabalu Sabah on 17th – 19th December 2008, you should come and join the “Gaya Christmas Celebration” at Gaya Street, Kota Kinabalu. These spectacular family events are organized by the Sabah Council of Churches with a collaboration of Kota Kinabalu City Hall. The activities will commence from 7.00pm - 10.00 pm every evening.

Don’t miss it. Why not share this memorable moment with your loved ones. Go with your spouse, your children, your parents, relatives or your friends. The theme of this celebration is Peace, Love and Goodwill Towards All People. There’ll be various hawkers’ stalls selling fantastic local cuisine, handicrafts, and Christmas decorations and many other exciting stuff.

Let me give you the general breakdown of the events:

17th December 2008 (Wednesday)
- Launching ceremony,
- Carols Singing,
- Combined Choir,
- Local Artists Presentation
- Children Dancing,
- Fireworks,
- Hawker’s and Charity Stalls.

18th December 2008 (Thursday)
- Choir,
- Solo,
- Men Accapella,
- Bamboo Orchestra,
- Hawker’s and Charity Stalls.

19th December 2008 (Friday)
- Carols Singing,
- Power Kid,
- Dancing,
- Hawker’s and Charity Stalls.

Welcome to the Gaya Christmas Celebration 2008. See you there!

Yahoo…It’s end of November and now going to December 2008! I really love this season. I can imagine families go for picnic, fishing, shopping, traveling or even performing indoor activities such as barbeque, decorating Christmas trees with colour lights, family reunion, listening to music, dancing, Christmas caroling, cleaning and many other exciting events.

Wow, interesting! It’s really my favorite month. To me, I’m looking forward for the immediate family gathering. It’s very rare to have this kind of opportunity. Hence, praise to GOD, appreciate your time, love and treasure your family deeply if you could meet your family members frequently. Some of our unfortunate friends out there don’t have the same opportunity with what we have.

Alright, don’t let your bright day spoil because of my gloomy message here. Don’t worry, we have various manners to show our love to our beloved family. Don’t be too stiff, be flexible and free your mind from stress… You know what? We can always pray for them or bring them together with you to a nice place in your country or outside country. Arrange interesting activities with them as I mentioned before. I believe, it might brightened their day and make them feel healthier and happier.

Plan your day wisely especially during these school holiday period. If you intend to visit Sabah for a brief or long vacation, kindly refer to my previous post for more interesting places in Sabah. Enjoy you day!

Yes, I have problem.. So what?

We need to rectify the problem. We have to face it responsibly. Different people come with different challenge and different ways of tackling it. Some people might sit down with their spouse and discuss their very best solution. Some might just sit there and think. Some might go for retreat.

What I try to suggest here that we require suitable place for the said purpose. Why not allocate some moments to isolate yourself to one peaceful place and rejuvenate your mind as well as energy? Take a break and enjoy your retreat for a healthier mind!

Confuse? Relax. I’m just over excited. Why? Because during school holidays, normally we will travel and visit our local popular tourist destination especially throughout weekend. Apart from that, some people or families try to organize certain picnic or outdoor activities with their beloved family. Wow, I love family values.

Alright, just to let you know that next week would be our school term break (for Sabah as well as Malaysia). Thus, I would have to warn you that during this period all accommodations, hotels or air ticket will hike up their rates. Normal huh? Right..

So, plan your vacation wisely. You could come during our school holidays but of course you need to book the trip or accommodation in advance. Happy holidays!

Guess what? I’m in a process of writing an ebook! This ebook will carry a very valuable messages to me as well as to you. I don’t have the title yet, but I’ll inform to you sooner or later. Yes…I’ll inform you through this blog and of course the content will be interconnected with this blog. If you are familiar with this blog, you are slightly close to your guess. I think that’s all for now. Let’s get enough rest for today and wake-up tomorrow with a fresh mind.

Good night and GOD bless..

As I promised before, I’ll bring you to the other part of Sabah Borneo Malaysia. How about we take a trip approx. 60 km away from Kota Kinabalu? Today, we’re going to have our breakfast at Papar District. How about that?

Okay, let’s just assume that we reached Papar after 45 minutes travel from Kota Kinabalu City Centre by car. Before proceeding with the visit, we stop by at one of the food stall in Papar Town. It’s a very simple and humble stalls but I like it very much. In fact they serve a similar food with any restaurant in that town. The difference is the environment of open space stall. This is one of the suitable places if you want to experience the originality of Papar town.

We’ve selected one of the stalls and ordered our favorite meals mainly for breakfast. Yummy.. Let’s take a look. Oops, before that I need to warn you that I’ve ordered “Noodle Soup with pork”. If you are Moslem, don’t worry. You can order at the Moslem’s stall. Really sorry for the hassle.

I proceed.. Noodle Soup with pork cost me RM 3.50 or approx. USD 1.10. If you like the soup, feel free to ask for additional soup. Guess what, you can ask for extra soup Free of charge! They are very generous and hospitable. Good news huh? Now, enjoy you breakfast.

I will proceed with our journey in Papar District in my upcoming post. Stick with me.. this time we’ll visit some of the interesting places in Papar District. Welcome to Papar, Sabah!

Wow.. again, we’ll talk about my favorite subject. Yummy.. my delicious food! Alright, this time I bring you to the other part of Kota Kinabalu (KK). Bear with me.. Definitely I’ll take you to the other part of Sabah. Which part do you want or prefer to visit? Kudat district? Ranau? Sandakan? Tawau? Beaufort? No problem! I’ll take you there. But right now let’s talk about foodstuff at Old Town Café, City Mall, Kota Kinabalu.

Basically, the story of this restaurant or café starts from a humble coffee shop called OLDTOWN, located in the old town of Ipoh (somewhere in Peninsular Malaysia). It begins in the year 1958 where there was a Hainanese founder in Ipoh formulated an ingenious style of roasting coffee beans, much to the delight of local coffee drinkers. Now, the said coffee shop has expand their business and open up several branches of restaurants or coffee shops all around Malaysia including Sabah.

Okay, let’s peek at their menu. Yummy…

The food is serve at a very reasonable price. Don’t worry, it won’t carve your precious wallet. You’ve seen part of the menu and you can actually plan your expenses. There would be a range of prices and depends on you to choose which food you would like to taste.

This is my “Noodle with Chicken Sausage and Egg. It cost me approx. USD 1.70 or RM 5.50. Did you say inexpensive? Well.. it’s up to you to judge, but I’ve told you before that there are various types of food, deserts and beverages to be selected of with different range of price. Enjoy you lunch!