Tamu Besar, Kota Belud

This Bajau Boy, leading his horse,in his utmost pride, marching into the centre of Kota Belud field.

    Kota Belud- Generally reckon by the locals as the Cow boy town of Sabah, North Borneo. Tamu Besar, means the feast market which gathered everyone far and near around Kota Belud, to display their best products such as fruits, greeneries(vegetables), handicrafts, local desserts, or even battle nut leaves and  traditional cigars collection. As far as i can remember, the last time i visited Kota Belud, when my grandpa was still alive and he used to hold my hand and walk around negotiating his marketing in Bajau languages. He is gone now and these Bajau traders has turn totally strangers to me, as i sometimes have totally no idea what are the traditional name of certain mouth watering fruits or local delicacies.

As the Bajau are generally also the "sea gypsies" especially those at the east coast, fisheries is also one of their expertise and survival income. Here, in the fish market, you can see, plenty of freshfish selling cheap and fresh, choices at your fingertips.

  

Of course, the prime moment of this Tamu Besar would be the Horse and Buffalo parade that became the centre attention of the crowd.

Parades Move on forming various patent to show symbolic of Bajau tribal victory.

As the horse parade went on, the Kulintangan team keep the rhythm
alive for the riders to follow.   

A Bajau woman concentrating on her Kulintangan instrument.

Beside the Trojan horses, the buffaloes were also one of the main attention gather of the event. Buffalo were once a multi purpose  animal especially to the paddy owners, it is not only as a working tools but also a gift for the bride's family  if a guy is about to marry a Kadazan Dusun daughter in the family. 

The buffalo race is no doubt the most exciting game to view. Taking into account of the heavy rice bag to carry along while controlling the buffalo, i suppose this is not an easy game to handle.

Last but not least, you also have a chance to savour  a moment of being the Bajau queen. The whole world is looking at you, and your hero is the typical Bajau alike "SANDOKAN". Further to the attention from the whole town. What more can you ask for :)

Till we meet again next year! Yeeeehhhaaaaa....

Its been a while, i am back to Firefly

Sorry .. not the Malaysian Domestic airline i am talking about. It is the one in Kota Kinabalu, North Of Borneo.A place where you can meet Gen-y to chill, enjoy lifeband and have some decent meal or finger food at your choice.

Its been a while.. and for certain reason, i need this shot for to jazz up again... The Borneon vibe is back. See you sometimes in FireFly Bar & Grill, KK Timesquare, Jalan Coastal, along Sutera Harbour Resort.

Salute !

Melissa Alut Lim 

Volunteer + Tourism = Voluntourism

Hi, for some friends who have been wondering why couldn't reach me while you were in Sabah. I am so sorry ( Especially @Jackie@Andrew@Anton & Catherine@Pilot Tom@Dwi), for you know i am currently very much involved with out reaching Community Projects, especially on building local community capacity. I sometimes travel to remote area, where the line are really bad.. Although the yellow man ( DIGI/ the leading Telco in Sabah) seems always with me, but somehow still a lot of you guys are complaining that couldn't get hold of me. Check out the organization that i am with,so whatever my organization do, its where i blend in all my passion and vision to eliminate the poverty in Sabah. 

Check this article out where it summarizes what my organization did and still doing now :- 

 ECU on Ecotourism Study Tour

 

 Being the contributor for TIES ( The International Ecotourism Society) under the umbrella of BEST Society.

On top of that, turning my passion to reality, i also write for Lifestyle magazine ~ Breeze. This magazine is free circulated every month in most of the cafe, fitness center as well tourism destination i.e lodge, restaurant and terminal? I am not sure ( but hey, they are cool stuff , check them out in facebook if you are not in town )   

Being the contributor for Breeze ( A Borneon lifestyle magazine ) specializes in domestic Ecotourism Destination. 

Ahh~ this one was featured this month ( for your information May is the Harvest Festival month, which means everyone is their culturistic and drinking mode :)  )

And of course, i do still spend time with my three furkids... who can never leave me alone :) . In fact recently just brought Babe ( my eldest ) to Sully in Timesquare, KK for a Party Animal event, a fund raising event for SPCA KK. So this is for you Catherine, Jacqui Leong and Crystal Fetting, Caroline Anthony. I do remember you girls. 

A gorgeous guest adoring babe...

Till then, amigo. :) 

The RUNGUS Tribe in North Borneo

The Rungus, is one of the most ancient indigenous tribe in Borneo. The are mostly concentrate in the North Borneo, Kudat. By right they are actually a sub group of the kadazan-Dusun, however due to the pride and modernization of the indigenous mindset, Rungus are known to have their own uniqueness in terms of their traditional accustom as well as distinctive attitude ( which is their pride, dignity and..... ignorant at times.) During my community project reached out last month, i discovered that Rungus lasses are simply unique, they have small, fine chinese looking eyes ( in malay we actually call SEPET), thick lips, broad shoulder, and high forehead.

" The Rungus girls proudly presenting their traditional costume"

The event that led me here was actually a community development programme being done by the foundation i am attached to ;BEST Society. A" Living Water Project" that benefits more then 80 household in a village named Terongkongan Laut & Darat... ( well i have difficulty pronouncing this village name before, it absolutely feels like a tongue twister, ain't it :)? )

The Rungus dance performance came in during the prime of the event. We were all sitting in the multi purpose hall which was made of traditional raw material. The thatched roof was made from tidy weaved of dried nipah palm, and the solid house frame were the best quality timber called"Berlian" and the flooring was elevated platform of split bamboos giving the hall a great ventilation and ample of sitting area. Oh, and the wall were partition by a kind of tree skin, which eventually helps to absorb moisture that cause fungus to the building structure. No wonder Rungus are so proud of their talent and arts, I salute !

" The Rungus Dance, smooth and charming"

When the soothing gong orchestra starts playing, a row of charming young dancers led by a male lead dancer,stepping out in raw with their feet in sequel ( pretty much different from Sumazau) each with the bell anklet on their feet. Wrapping around them were colourful handmade beads, and criss cross through their shoulders were the long bead bands. Now i know why Rungus were reckon as the best handicraft maker among the Sabah Indigenous people.

"Simple and inspiring chat with Samoil"

While enduring the breeze and cheerful crowd, i took the time to meet Samoil, whom is the wisest and most respected village headman, also the owner of this piece of land we are sitting on, Samoil told me" Our lives are simple, we have experience in many fields but limited income,” his sparkling charm peeking through in a glance and seriousness, “we like to be self– employed , and have our freedom from “disturbance” ; however to capitalize our strength as a RUNGUS, we have to accept CHANGES. Because of PRIDE, many of us are resistant to change the mindset and carry the attitude of arrogant and preserve, we have to open up and CHANGE , or else we will be leftt behind modernization.” Judging from his words, i now know why he has serves the village as a headman for five series.

"A good caption with my team mates before leaving the local community"

I feel lucky to be here today. To endure the joy of young kids being splashed by clean water after the launching of Living Water Project, years of clean water supply shortage has given an alarming health hazard to them.I am enlightened by Samoil, a simple down to earth man but created significant impact not only to his community but also to me... People who are resistant to change, is always left behind the evolution ......so to my indigenous friends ; come out from your comfort zone, and accept the challenge to come, no one can help you beside yourself.

P/S: Some pictures courtesy by Joebonaventure. Thanks Joe... :)

Celebrating with a Cause ~ Twestival 2011!

I am just so excited and happy knowing the result of fund raised through yesterday Twestival event at Origin and Green Olives cafe at Karamunsing Capital.

. the amount comes up to

RM 22532.50 !

This shows how supportive the locals are and how pro active the generation Y of East Malaysian are.. of course.. plus plenty of Borneon Orang Putih.. ( we love you guys :) ) helping out and contributing in making this event a success !

I wouldn't want to talk much about it.. as the official website has already mentioned on the purposes of Twestival. Visit http://kotakinabalu.twestival.com/index for more detail a

bout this event.

However, some good pictures to laugh and ender about...beautiful , great, amazing and genuine people of Sabah.. you name it.. :) Enjoy !

Without them, this wouldnt be a smooth and success event! Kudos to committee !

Good performance by local talent..

and the blind

Attractive and colourful mural by Uncle anonymous.. good job done !

Variety of products for auction! choose your taste bud! all bidding goes charity.

See! told you :) Dont ask me who they are.. they are taken anyway.. :) by some powerful local chics :)

and of course for the guys....

Braving yourself up on stage, is already kind enough to woo the girls...

An eager and cheerful event.. ends with successful fund raising.. Kudos to twestival KK 2011, see you in 2012 !

I lost him ;But I Found Tranquility -KABULONGOU- Part 1

For some close friends who have been following what i was up to... it has been a jagged period for me during the past few months. No, not the jungle trail and the rocky stream, but the tired soul and turning point in life that i have to deal with.. Closing another chapter and opening a new chapter again...Anyway, i replace this lost by trying to find my tranquility.Physically i am so strong that i want to fight with the wild boar if i see any in the interior of the jungle while doing my fam trip assignment. I was so ready, that i felt there is nothing else i can do but to release my anger to the wild. Indeed, i found KABULONGOU... yes KA- BU- LO- NGOU, the hidden waterfall seems conveying his message to me. So, here i was inspired to write about this hidden waterfall...

To make it short, this hidden waterfall is located far deep inside Kg. Saliku, Nabawan. More details of Nabawan HERE. We drove on a muddy and slippery road for about 30 minutes, and our boat were laying behind the truck .. further with almost 20 minutes raft to the trail starting point.

Murutian are famous with their boat making skills, what more handling their boat with passion and care, it seems, the boat is more significant then their life..Well, pictures speaks a thousand words.. here are some photos i took during my expedition with the Murutian.

Carrying the boat down to the stream using their buffalo strength has already triggered my concern. Look at the rocky path and the slippery stone.. i was just wondering if this raft is going to work!

And then, they asked me to sit in the boat and they said

" Jaga-jaga Kau, duduk tengah -tengah yia" which interprets to

" Becareful OK, and sit in the middle"

WHAT?? Does that mean they are not coming in with me??!

and yes, they will be out side in the rapid maneuvering the boat ..!

This is the kind of raft that is absolutely strange to me, it wasn't the one at PADAS RIVER which i use to raft together with my team mates before !

Below: This is Rezon- to him this rapid is just a water splash, ensuring my camera did not get wet is his priority, even though i told him my camera is waterproof, yet he still insist in making his job well done.

This two musketeers are Pailin and Johanis, they are playful and keep teasing me on boat capsized incident.. instead of worrying and listening to their boat captain,they seems enjoying the water more then anyone else.

And yes, these are the two commanders, Uncle Lapan and Amilik. Everyone listen to them so the boat don't collide to the stone around the rapid.

Challenges ahead.....

And splash ! and paddle and splash and paddle (only with a small wooden paddler)

I was just shouting and closing my eyes.. when i see this big stone ahead of our boat.. and i can only hear Uncle Amilik shouted " Pasioki ! Pasioki ! " in Murut language which literally means

" Hurry! Hurry!"

Finally, we made it... and across the point is the starting trail to the hidden water fall...

So, this is where it begins...

A journey to Tranquility......

I end here for my dinner break .... be back for Part II

Her First Attempt in Sabah... Asia indeed

Today, i finally told her... " You need a to live life Sabahan, eat like a Sabahan and behave like one either ; stop being homesick! and yes i m going to bring you out tonight !"

So there goes the story of a new girl i met from The Hague, Natherlands, Yes she is Mounia, some of you may have met her..... i am gossiping here. No, i am not a back poker ... but i am really concern.

When someone comes to Sabah and feel homesick ! That means this girl haven't seen the real Sabahan yet.. ( if you agree with me.. please click like :)... anyway you can. LOL)

So Mounia is a mix Moroccan/Dutch girl i met lately, reckon she chose Sabah as her internship destination, i suppose she is some one who loves sun, sea and beach, as well as rain forest jungle like Sabah. Well, i was wrong.

Nonetheless in any circumstances, i am planning to slowly letting her exploring Sabah, getting to know and falling in love, as much as i am concerned.. the thrill is.... no turning back and stay put and move ahead !

So here is my plan for her:

1) Sun, sea and beach

2) Jungle and wildlife

3) people and culture/indigenous and livelihood

4) Local community service/study on socio economic of Sabah

5) Night life and Pub

6) Romance and Love

7) Sports and Out door adventure

( Tell me if i miss out something ...)

So i started bringing her to STARBUCKS... yeah .. a globally well known luxurious coffee, and yes she loves it .... :), So i told her, life is all about Eat,Play,Laugh ( instead of Eat, Pray, Love), you have to experience what a local coffee is, and what a local livelihood should be without luxury,

And of course, she met Baby too! my best buddy!

During our trip last week, a community capacity development project in Kudat, gave Mounia and eye opener to the beauty of Sabah. With the abundance of natural resources and the beauty of handmade handicrafts by our local community, i can sense that she is starting to appreciate what Sabah really is, this is where the tribal and origins of natural resources came....

and look at her here, amazed by the handmade handicraft made

by the local woman, and i wasn't sure how much she end up contributing :)

Being part of the community project officer, she has to experience not just the beauty of Sabah but also the culture and origins of livelihood in the local community, where even hygene is an issue concerned to her..

Well, no matter how much challenge and homesick she is, and no matter how occupied i am with work and chores, i am making my way to make her stay, and not to return home and give up on her internship, and making my mission accomplished, to make another person feel home even though they are thousands miles away from home..

Stay Put Mounia..