New Zealand in Malaysia?

Desa Dairy Farm, Mesilau, Sabah.

It is 30 minutes drive from Mt.Kinabalu National Park and the largest farm in Sabah with an area of 199 hectares. The road into the dairy farmis not paved. The slow drive on the dirt road can be a tad frustrating but not for so long. I was greeted with a spectacular view of rolling green meadows that stretch as far as to the foothills of the majestic mountain. Every step I made or every angle I looked at, the view was constantly awe-inspiring. For a while, I though I was in New Zealand instead of Malaysia!

Completely took my breath away with its panoramic view of the ever-present Mount Kinabalu, cool climate and lush green landscapes.

View of Mt.Kinabalu


Apart from the magnificent scenery, visitors can also observed the milking process . Guided tour can be arranged before hand, otherwise visitors can only observed the milking process without any assistance. The farm is open daily from 8am to 5pm and the entrance fee is only RM3 per person. The best time to visit the farm is around 2.30pm as milking session starts at 3pm daily. There, you can see all the cows are lining up waiting for milking, without any guide needed as if they knew what to do. Cool! 

Each of the Friesian cattle could produce at least 14 litres of milk a day. The farm is now capable of producing one million litres of high quality fresh milk annually.

If you really want to experience the beautiful scenary of an unspoiled farmland, the Desa Dairy Farm is the exact place for you to be in. Do take your time to explore the vast green landscape of the farm to just simply absorb and let the sight overwhelm your sences. You don't even have to fly all the way to New Zealand to do so! : )

Kundasang a.k.a East Malaysia Cameron Highland

If you love Cameron Highland, then you will definately love Kundasang : )

Kundasang, located in district of Ranau,Sabah and only 4 km away from Mount Kinabalu Park.With an elevation of about 2,000 metres above sea level, it is one of the coolest places in Sabah with temperatures dropping to 13ºC at night, which unfortunate for me who only brought beach or summer attire during the whole trip.

First thing to do in Kundasang? Strawberries hunt!! :)
So my first stop: the local market.


I was a lil frustrated with the strawberries, not only unriped and sour but they are also hard to find in Kundasang. You have to reach the market early in the morning and by 11am they are sold out. Locals explanation for this, "Bukan musimnya". What??? My spontaneous respond was, "Strawberry pun ada musim ke? Kt Cameron banyak je smpai terjual.." Then I stopped. Owh shoot, how could they know, they never been in West Malaysia!

Blackberries! Love those!



You can't find many roses here as there are in Cameron.

Vegetables and Fruits. As u can see, all fruits are peeled, sliced and packed.

Ok, done with shopping and now it's time to get a taste of Sabah's finest Tea!
My second stop: Sabah Tea Plantation, now known as Sabah Tea Garden.
Sabah Tea Garden is the only organic tea farm in Borneo, which makes it the largest single commercial tea plantation in Borneo, with approximated area of 1,000 acres. It is also one of the very few tea plantations in the world certified to produce pesticide-free organic tea.

Sabah Tea Garden. It was officiated on February 19, 1984 by our then Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

A regional brand that has transformed into a national brand, Sabah Tea is now country's third largest take-home tea brand after Lipton and Boh.

Green Tea Pancake and Sabah's Milk Tea @Sabah Tea House. Quite impressive I must say.

After the 2 visits, I have decided to call it a day as I was in sheer exhaustion, not getting enough rest since my journey from Sandakan. So I checked in Cottage Hotel and to my surprise it has the best view of Mount Kinabalu from the room's balcony. Luck was on my side that day :)


View of Mt. Kinabalu at 5.44pm, shrouded in mist.



View of Mt. Kinabalu at 6.27am. The clearest view is from sunrise to 9am.



Say tuned for my next post of Kundasang War Memorial which commemorate the brave Australian and British Prisoners of War who died during the infamous death marches from Sandakan to Ranau in World War II, and people of North Borneo who risked their lives to help them.

Negotiated Infidelity

Throughout my 80 days in Borneo, there was a thing kept on bothering me, which I can't even bare to accept: negotiated infidelity. Not all of them involved in this but most men or women that I encountered with during my 80 days journey in Borneo practising it. Despite being married and making a commitment to one another, they are allowed to have sex with strangers. This is way beyond crazy for me to accept.
For months, I've been looking for a word to describe this kind of behaviour until Taboo was aired on National Geographic Channel. Yes, TABOO is the perfect word!
A taboo is a vehement prohibition of an action based on the belief that such behaviour is either too scared or too accursed for ordinary individuals to undertake which make it sacred or forbidden based on moral judgement and religious beliefs.

I am sure that everyone is vulnerable when your partner is meeting other people. Jealousy starts coming in, trust has been broken, your heart fills with frustration and then a fight...finally it may lead to separation or divorce. But this is not exactly how it happens there. They seem to be okay with it as long as basic responsibilities are been carry out such as providing money and food at home, taking care of children etc.

Weird? Spooky? Well, you judge it! : )

Hadif, the Nemo : )

Whether you are a diver or snorkeller, kids or adults, there is one particular creature which always touches people's heart: NEMO.

It started back in 2003, when Walt Disney Pictures realesed an animated film called Finding Nemo. Since then, clownfish has caught everyone's attention : )

One day, I was asked for a help by a friend of mine to guide his guests for a snorkeling trip in Mataking Island. They are parents with 2 kids, a girl and a boy. Upon reaching Mataking Island, their daughter came up to me, holding my hand and asked, "Can u find Nemo for me?" She was about to turn 6 end of that month, wearing pink Roxy rashguard with a ponytail hair and kept on singing, "keep swimming, swimming, swimming" imitating Dory, one of the characters in Finding Nemo. How can a person resist such an adorable girl?!
So I tried very hard to look out for the clownfish (as I was new in Semporna at that time, snorkeling spot is not my area of expertise) and at last managed to find them somewhere nearby to Mataking Kecil.
The girl was so excited and asked me, "What is his name?" and I said, Nemo. She replied, "No, Nemo is the name of the fish, like I am a girl but my name is Syasha" I laughed and said to her, "Hadif. His name is Hadif".

When I was in Semporna, my mind constantly thinking back home. It is not the fact that I didn't enjoy being there, it's just that I miss my family a lot. So since that day, whenever I think of my nephew, I'll go to that very spot and find Hadif, the Nemo : )

Sipadan Island

If you ask devoted divers to list the top dives sites they wish to visit, Sipadan is frequently at the top of the list. It is one of the richest marine habitats in the world and has been rated as one of the top destinations for diving in the world.

Strong currents and steep walls are the hallmark of diving at Sipadan. I still remember the very first time I hit the water, I was struck by the overwhelming number of Green and Hawksbill Turtles, which gather at Sipadan to mate. It’s common to see more than twenty turtles on a single dive. Meanwhile, sharks are a virtual guarantee, from solo White-tip Reef Sharks cruising the wall to schooling Grey Reef Sharks hunting in the deeper plateaus. For the lucky one’s, scalloped Hammerheads emerge out of the deep. Eagle Rays are common, as are Devil Rays. Manta Rays make an appearance when the deep-water currents bring plankton from out of the blue, as do Whale Sharks. The swirling tornado-like formation of schooling Barracuda, Big-Eye Trevally,the giant size Bumphead Parrotfish and thousands Silver Jack fish are the highlights on every diver’s wish-list : )




Me and my best buddy, Fai at Sipadan Island



Sipadan is the only ocenic island in Malaysia which rise 600m from the seabed. (U can see from the above pic, it turns from turqouise to deep blue outside the floatline)

 

Cute little baby turtles at Sipadan Turtle Hatchery

Swirling Tornado-like shcooling Barracuda



Whale Shark, the largest fish species. The one in above pic is approx 10m long which is about 6 to 7 times larger,compared to me! Although it has very large mouth, as filter feeder, it feed mainly on plankton, which are microscopic plants and animals. What a friendly creature! : )



Hammerhead Shark. This shot was taken from far as it suddenly made an apperance out of the blue. When you are underwater, you see the thing that you were taught your whole life to fear and it doesn't want to hurt you, it is the most beautiful thing you ever seen! Hammerhead is one of the misunderstood species, they are incredible shy animal. Their head is a giant sensor system that detect electromagnetic field, which it can feel my heartbeat. They can feel me and know whether I'm excited or scared.



Spotted Eagle Rays



Giant size Bumphead Parrotfish

White-tip Shark



I must say, it is such a pleasure to dive in Sipadan. One of my Bucket List has been crossed! : ) Stay tuned as more islands updates to come!



Would you rather live your life according to the approval of others or aligned with your truth and your dreams?

2012 was the year I've been struggling knowing myself...I was lost. Trying to find if life is way beyond what I've seen and experienced today. You see, most of our lives are so predictible.
We’re so wrapped up with egotistical things, career, having enough money, meeting the mortgage, getting a new car, owing the latest gadget—we’re involved in trillions of little acts just to keep going. So we don’t get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, Is this all? Is this all I want? Is something missing?
In a daylight, I refused that thought, but at night it would consume me. What a catastrophe. Wasn't I happy and blessed with a nice home, family who loves me unconditionally, friends who always be there for me, weekends spent roaming in malls and hangout places of my choice, buying ever more aplliance on credit? I had actively participated in every moment of the creation of this life, so why did I feel like none of it resembled me? Why did I feel so overwhelmed with duty, tired of being an engineer, collegue, daughter, sister and a good friend?

And this, finally, was how my whole idea about this 3 months of travelling began to gel. I absolutely needed to get myself back to Borneo somehow, on my own dime this time. This was evident. Though I couldn't yet imagine how to do it, given my chaotic and disturbed life.
It wasn't so much that I wanted to throughly explore the places themselves; this has been done. It was more that I wanted to throughly explore one aspect of myself set against the backdrop of each places, in a place that has traditionally done that one thing very well. It seemed a voyage of self-discovery.

A few months later, I am living in Borneo. I have quit my job, put all belongings I had left in my parent's house and packup 2 suitcase, camera, lappy, bicycle and there, my journey begins...

04.10.2012

“Well, for one thing, the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We're teaching the wrong things. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it. Create your own. Most people can't do it.”
- Morrie Swchwartz-

An Escape From Real Life

I’ve had  somebody explain it to me that what I did , it was an escape from real life. It’s a way that I can go out there and just be in my own terms and escape the harshness of reality. 

And to me, it was greater than an exit from something else. It was really like an entrance, its like you are really in tune with the type of person that you want to be and you are comfortable with who you are and the world, and everything that defines you, it seems to be all lined up where it should be.

The feeling is....freedom. just freedom.

And it doesn't last long. Its usually over by the time you take a look back and your mind slowly wanders back into some sort of reality...

This blog is specially created for my family, friends and all those who been asking me to share my experience during 'soul searching' for 80 days in Borneo. It might sounds a short period of time for some of you, but for me it was the longest seconds,minutes,hours,days,nights,weeks and months..which have changed my perspective towards almost everything in this world.

Stay tuned for the updates! : )