Thursday, December 10, 2009

Holidays

I resumed work today, after almost a week's break since last Friday. Oh if I could only have more of it! But then again, there isn't much I could do when I'm not working. Running the marathon in Singapore was fun, minus the disappointing performance, of course, but once I came back to KK, what I did was mainly sleep and eat.

I don't really enjoy doing window shopping, so the malls are out. I could've gone for a short visit to, say, Kundasang where I could've watched the mountain which I've seen like a million times by now. Or perhaps I could've gone to one of the islands near KK. Now that would've been interesting, because it's been some years since the last time I went to any of the islands. They used to be quite fun, but the last time I went to Manukan, I thought it was too developed—it had lost its natural beauty as far as I am concerned.

It might be interesting to visit places like Danum Valley or some other jungle resorts in Sabah. I'm sure there are interesting things to see, such as the orang utans, Sumatran rhinos and the proboscis monkeys. But that requires a bit of planning. Besides, it would be more fun and economical to travel in a group with some friends.

The week prior to the Singapore trip, Mia went to the Mulu Resort in Sarawak. She took some nice pictures of the caves. That would be a good place to visit. Perhaps I'll get Karis, our newly-elected Sports Club President, to organise a trip next year.

Yesterday, I decided to spend my day in Centre Point. I went for a foot massage, had a zinger burger and some fries at KFC, bought Merry Madagascar and Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs DVDs for JJ, then had an ice cream followed by a chocolate shake at McDonalds. Oh! I also spent a little over 2 hours watching Twilight: New Moon, a pathetic film where most of them looked so damn sickly. I probably spent an accummulated 10 to 15 minutes' worth of window shopping, and confirmed yet again that I don't enjoy doing it.

More holidays around the corner during Christmas and New Year. I really must start making plans on how I'll spend my time, apart from getting stuck to this damn computer. With about 40 days of unused leave, I plan to have more short breaks next year...

Those of you from around KK, any bright ideas?

5 comments:

aneejamal said...

Hi,went to Sukau-Kinabatangan River Crusie (&Gua Gomantang)recently.quite good & something different.Can c/o more info at my fren's blog.Kalau perlu contact info on B&B & boatman,just email me.Tapi maybe u've been there b4.

aneejamal said...

Siou,4got to add in my fren's blog url http://jipp-world.blogspot.com/2009/11/sukau-kinabatangan-returning-for-more.html

Cornelius said...

Thanks, anee, for the link to your friend's blog. Looks interesting, and no, I haven't been to Sukau. It's high time that I should make some visits to some of the jungle resorts of Sabah.

Need to find suitable dates for those visits though. Must organise trips with some friends. Hmmm... lots to look forward to in 2010.

Socrates said...

I have been to Sukau and wish to share a bit here about the place.

How its name came about
The name "Sukau" actually comes from the Chinese which means "tall trees".History has it that the Chinese from China under Admiral Cheng Ho sailed up the river and some of the chinese sailors stayed back and inter-married with the natives staying along the river banks.

Proof of the Chinese existence can be found from the burial place nearby situated on top of the cliff.There are still remnants of the wooden Chinese coffins there but all the relics and skeletons were gone already having been stolen by treasure hunters.

Why they buried the dead so high up in the cliff was because the Sukau area is a very low lying region and subjected to sudden floods whenever there was heavy rains.

One of the highlight of the river boat ride along the winding Sukau river is the sightings of proboscis monkeys, hornbills, birds can be seen.Deadly sea snakes can be seen also nestling on top of the branches above you as you glide along.

Don't miss also the early morning boat ride when the Sukau River is covered by mist. We got up very early at 4 am and was able to catch this lovely sight.If you are lucky you may be able to see herds of elephants feeding along the river banks as well.

The Ox Bow lake is also found there but it is now overgrown with thick growth of water lilies.

During my visit there I was lucky to meet Michael Wong,the author and photographer of the book "Sipadan".He was in Sukau researching and filming for his next book on the elephants of Sukau.

We didn't go to Gomantong Caves to see the swiflets and their birdnests but will surely not give it a miss the next time I am there.
Worth a visit.

Cornelius said...

Wow! thanks for sharing, Socrates29.

I did not know how Sukau got its name, but I'm inclined to believe your version.

However, I'm a bit unconvinced about the wooden coffins part. Those are perhaps coffins from a much more recent burials. If it's true that they're wooden, then I don't believe they can last that long. They would've gone rotten a long time ago. Now I'm aware that kayu belian is one of the most strongest and hardest of trees, but even those can't last for centuries, unless of course if you're talking about a well-preserved furniture items which are protected from the harsh environment eg rains and hot weather and dampness of the soil.

Being a Sabahan, I should've visited all these interesting places since ages ago. But I have limited my explorations to the islands, and Mt Kinabalu.

The trouble with the jungles is that I have a phobia of the leeches! I'm OK with other big animals. If necessary, maybe I can climb a tree etc. But leeches, they're everywhere, and I can't stand the thought of them sucking blood from between my toes and groin area! Eww!