Pillgrimage

The house, and its surroundings..

Life in/around Pogun (dunno what caption to put.. shrug)

First pic shows my Uncle Robert trying to cut down bamboo to make fishing rods.. He passed on the job to Garim, an odd-job worker cum gardener (who is partially deaf) and his wife, Kuning.. and that's them in the 2nd pic.. Next pic is a pic of my cousin Eleanore, trying to catch dragonflies.. can't really see the dragonflies unless you zoom in.. and jumping to the 2nd last pic, that is a pic of my cousins Elizabeth, Eleanore and Eloise (yea, sisters) playing "the bamboo game".. Hmm.. I didn't realise I put the same pic twice.. Oh well..

That's my grandfather sitting in his favorite chair in the living room.. Handsome one eh? He was talking to my mum when I snapped this shot..

Still 22/12/05 - Went up to Kundasang which is situated at the foot (I think) of Mount Kinabalu, with my mum, bro, Uncle Robert, cousins Eleanore and Eloise.. Stayed at my Aunt Alice's "hotel" (or more like a lodging) for a night.. Aunt Alice and her hubby, Unc Madhu, were in KK so they weren't there when we were there and the "hotel" was left in the very capable hands of Aunt Alice's youngest daughter, cousin Rachele (who waited on us hand and foot.. haha! yeah right!) and the workers of course..

On the way to Kundasang with Unc Robert behind the wheel..

Strawberry Garden Hotel - My Aunt's "hotel" in Kundasang.. And those strawberries were plucked from the strawberry garden.. they weren't taken from the net!!

These bunch of strawberries are only for show.. can't go plucking them.. people pay to see them k! Hehe!

Breathtaking view from Strawberry Garden Hotel.. Except the third last pic (and me lol).. That was taken in a moving car.. Wonder how that pic got there.. hmm..

23/12/05 - Went to Kundasang town and Kundasang War Memorial Park with Uncle R, and the rest of the gang while mum stayed back at the "hotel" to help with the strawberry cleaning/sorting/packing..

Some of the beautiful flora at Kundasang War Memorial Park

Some of the other stuff you'll see at the Memorial Park.. Btw, that basket in the middle, uncle R said that it was used to catch pigs haha!

Pine Trees.. You can only find them here.. in Kundasang War Memorial Park.. and That's just David acting silly! Hehe.. He was making monkey faces at Eleanore.. And that's me with one of the many beautifully blooming roses in the park..

Tamu (meeting place - somewhat like market) in Kundasang.. Very fresh vegetables and flowers.. Most of the people in that area are Kadazan Muslims..

Inside the "hotel".. There's mum and Rachele cleaning the strawberries and deciding which ones can be sold and which ones can be made into jam and stuff..

On the way back from Kundasang, stopped by at Tuaran to eat Tuaran Mee (which btw, tasted really good! and it came free with complimentary chinese tea - tea leaves originating from Sabah) and at the same time, to sight-see, we went up the famous Tamparuli bridge (there's a story to that bridge.. and a song too) and we also went round UMS campus (where my uncle is the supervisor for the building project or something like that) before heading back to Pogun..

Tuaran and Tuaran Mee.. It didn't look like that when it was served.. that's partly eaten Tuaran Mee.. Hehe..

Tamparuli Bridge.. The new one (on which I was standing, and of which has the song) and the old (and scary with lotsa stories) bridge (down below.. can you see it?)

In the evening, a few of us went fishing in the "Danau" which is Paddy Fields in Kadazan.. Didn't manage to catch any fish tho.. And Inak Soibo (my grandaunt - inak means mother and Soibo is where she stays) didn't allow me to go futher into the Danau coz she said I'd ruin my legs!

The Danau.. Cute nenek there is my Inak Soibo.. btw, it's pronounced as Se-Bak.. and I think it's spelt that way..lol!

24/12/05 - Day before x'mas.. Went to Gaya Street to get some handicrafts and stuff.. It's like an upgraded Petaling Street.. Haha.. Had a bbq party at night.. didn't take piccies tho.. I was too busy bbq-ing.. hehe..

Gaya Street.. The Upgraded Petaling Street!

25/12/05 - X'mas day! Aunty Anne's family came to visit Grandpa in Pogun.. We had another bbq that day.. in the afternoon! Which was kinda weird.. since we usually don't bbq in the afternoon lol.. I climbed a tree that day.. So did my mum and bro.. Long story.. hehe..

Weird people who bbq in the afternoon.. Those in RED are Aunty Anne's kids.. well.. Kia Kee is her son-in-law.. He's the one in the Carlsberg jersey.. The girl in red is Debbie, his wife, and the other guy in red is Jeremy.. Debbie's younger bro.. Oh, and the one in blue is Eleanore..

Up a tree.. Don't we make cute monkeys?? Hehe! Btw, first pic is a pic of cousin Elizabeth whom btw, we call Ebet, next pic is a pic of her youngest sister, Eloise.. The rest.. monkeys!

26/12/05 - Didn't do much the day after x'mas.. went out for grocery shopping with Aunt Rina and Unc Dius and cousin Eleanore in the morning, and Aunt Alice and family came in the afternoon.. Aunt Alice and Unc Madhu went back to Kundasang a lil later but left Rachele in Pogun.. Went for a movie in the evening with her, Elizabeth and Eleanore..

27/12/05 - Gramps fell down.. Had to look after him.. He was really weak so mum asked Unc Francis to come massage my grandfather.. Unc Francis does reflexology.. Gramps felt better after that but was still weak.. He hardly touched any food for the next few days.. Hung out with my closest cousins Rachele and Roy.. things are really diff now tho.. We barely have anything in common.. or at least they with me.. *shrug*

I think you guys can figure out who is who.. Hehe..

28/12/05 - Went to Inobong to eat the famous Pipin Mee Sup!! I haven't eaten it for years and we thought that the shop was only open on Sundays until Unc Francis told us that it's open everyday but not at the usual spot.. Was soooo happy to be able to eat it!! I ate a big bowl and drank up all the soup! Oh.. yeah, mum, Aunt Rina and I went to Menggatal (it's a place FYI) before that to bring my Aunt Rina for her massage.. She was having some pain at her back or something like that.. Later in the afternoon, we went up Gunung Emas, me, David (my bro), my mum, Rachele, Eloise and Unc Robert, to see Rafflesias.. but out timing was kinda off.. The rafflesias were just budding and shouldn't be disturbed or else its growth with be disturbed..or something like that.. Then we went to Tambunan, which was 26km away (unc kept saying that lol) from Gunung Emas and is famous for its bamboo forest.. The houses and furniture and other stuff were all made of bamboo.. most of them didn't have nails but were thightly bound with bamboo strings.. It's also famous for it's terrace paddy (I think it's called).. Didn't take a pic of that tho.. Went to Tanjung Aru Beach in the evening but we were only there for a while coz it was starting to rain heavily and there was thunder too.. At night, we went to our neighbour's place for carolling...

Pipin Mee Sup!! *YUM* That was the girl who took our orders.. She got Uncle Robert's orders wrong and we were teasing him about it.. Hehe! He's still single and very much available, girls!!

Gunung Emas.. Was raining that day.. really really cold there! Some people claim it's colder there than in Kundasang..

Gunung Emas Forest Reserve and Rafflesia something Centre.. lol.. Forgot what's it called.. :P

Pictures with man-made clay rafflesias.. Mum got her idea of our waterfall from here.. oh, nevermind! You need to see our waterfall to understand what I'm saying.. :P

Tambunan town - at the Tamu.. Look! Gardenia Cola!! I thought Gardenia only made/produced bread!! The last pic is a pic of the roof of the tamu place.. It's all made of ratan and so are the strings.. Told you there were no nails!

Tanjung Aru Beach.. As you can see from the first pic, it was already dizzling when we were on our way there.. Rainy season.. :(

Well, we went back the next day and it was kinda sad to have had to leave so fast.. Grandad said he felt like it was less than a week we were there.. Sigh.. Well, I hope I'll get to go back to Sabah again soon! Till then.. Signing off! Oh.. And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!