Something that you won't read on The Star

This is a sensitive religious issue. Read at your own discretion. I'm warning you.

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http://www.thenutgraph.com/catholics-lodge-report-against-al-islam

http://www.thenutgraph.com/al-islam-breached-code-of-ethics

It's a month old article, but nevermind about that. Look, I'm not a religious person myself, but I feel like posting this up. At least you'll be aware of what is going on in this country, where freedom of religion is supposedly being practised.

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Here are some quick facts on our Catholic teaching. The bread and wine offered in the Holy Communion are MORE than mere symbols of the last supper, before Jesus was crucified on the cross to give eternal salvation to mankind. In fact, we do believe that through the Eucharistic prayers, the bread and wine are consecrated (or transformed) into the body and blood of Christ. In other words, during the sacrament of Holy Communion, we consume the body of Christ Himself. Only baptized Catholics are allowed to do so.

Recently, there was an issue over the usage of Allah among the non-Muslims. But I think this is more serious. I mean, how can you make a mockery of God, by spitting the body of Christ from your own mouth? I'd say, that's worse than blasphemy. On the other hand, perhaps the undercover journalist was not informed of this belief. May the Lord forgive him...

Nonetheless, as mentioned in the second article, the act itself was against journalism ethics. So it only makes me wonder, what will happen to the culprit? Or the magazine itself? 

Perhaps the publishing license will be retracted for a while? Or how about a permanent ban? Will the culprit be detained under the draconian ISA law? Nahhh, I don't think so. Maybe a warning from the government, at most. In the end, I believe it will be a closed case, and sooner or later, people will forget that the incident ever took place. 

Pardon me if I'm wrong, but that's my humble opinion though.

However, as Christians, we should always remember the greatest commandment of all; that is to love our neighbours, as how Jesus loves us. Nobody said it is easy, but as followers of Christ, He is the perfect example. He was rejected by His own people and yet He died on the cross to give us a new life, including the Jews. How great is the love of our God :)

So please, do not let anger or hatred to conquer our souls, for it is the work of the Devil himself. Instead, let this episode be a reminder to all of us; to continuously pray for our country and its people. May the Lord showers his abundant blessing upon this land and its people; so that love, peace and harmony will prevail in our multi-racial society. Amen.

"There is no peace without justice, but there is no justice without forgiveness" - Unknown author

For the Sake of Nemo

Yours truly is back in UTP. Sigh...

Since we weren't satisfied with the trip to Sapi Island (refer to the previous post), Andrey and I decided to go for a second snorkelling trip. So last Thursday, we headed off to Mamutik island a.k.a the smallest island in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, together with Calvin and Ivan. We were lucky that the weather was fine. No rough storm or wind on the sea.

We spent about 3 hours there. This time around, we got to see a lot of colourful corals and fishes, including the shy yet popular character Nemo.

It was all fun until....

I ACCIDENTALLY STEPPED ON A SEA URCHIN!

To make matters worse, I lose my balance and landed my other foot and my right hand on the creature as well! It hurt like sh!t.... Purplish spots and traces of blood began to appear on my hand and feet. Immediately, I swam to the beach and seeked consultation from the life guard. Thankfully, he told me that the spines were not poisonous. He gave me a bottle of vinegar to wash the stinging sensation away...

According to the life guard, it is very difficult to remove the spines from the skin as they are quite britlle. He advised me to leave them alone to dissolve in the skin. I did google it up, and true enough, the spines contain calcium carbonate only. They would naturally dissolve in the body over the course of time.

Today, there are still some visible marks on my feet and right hand. It's less painful though, which is definitely a good sign :) Hopefully they would recover quickly. For the mean time, the new semester has officially began. I'm staying in the same room with Andrey. Ronny has joined us in the house, finally, hahaha...

My wish for this semester? To maintain my lost sanity which I have found during the recent semester break :)

Priceless

Upon reaching the summit of Mount Kinabalu.

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Day 1 (06 July 2009)

After some last minute shopping for our mountain gears, we headed off to the Tip of Borneo, Simpang Mengayau, Kudat. It was 160km+ away from the town of Tuaran. We took nearly 4 hours to reach the destination. The weather was cloudy, so I didn't manage to snap the sunset. Nonetheless, the view was awesome and breathtaking.

A short visit at the Bavanggazo Rungus Longhouse, before reaching Kudat

At the Tip of Borneo

We reached KK at around 11.30pm. That's when I discovered that long distance driving is extremely tiring.

Day 2 (07 July 2009)

Next, we headed off to the Poring Hot Spring. The rest were playing at Kipungit Waterfall while I was setting up my camera for the following shot. For me, the photo is kinda average though.

Kipungit Waterfall

Now, this is where I had a scary encounter with Mother Nature. While the rest of my friends left for the hot tubs, I decided to stay at the waterfall for a few more shots. There was no other people, so I was literally alone in the midst of the forest. The fact didn't really bother me, after all, I'm often alone with my camera (as mentioned in the previous post).

As I was packing my camera gears, there was a sudden gush of wind from behind. The branches of the trees begin to rattle loudly. Hence I turned around. You notice the slow current in the picture above? Well, within seconds, a strong current started to flow from the top of the waterfall. Together with the rush of wind on my half-naked body, it sent chills up to my spines. I didn't move, I was staring at the waterfall until I realized that it was getting seriously dangerous.

Almost immediately, the strong current caused the water level to rise up. I quickly scrambled, grabbed all of my stuffs and ran to higher ground. About three seconds later, the initial spot where I was standing was flooded with the high current. Imagine, the water could have washed me away along with my tripod and camera... *touch wood*

I uttered a quick, short prayer. Indeed, it was a frightening scene, more so when you're alone and not a swimmer. After I've calmed down, I walked back to the tubs and joined the rest. I shared my experience to them. According to Andrey, one is not supposed to enter a forest area alone. In fact, there's a lot of traditional beliefs among the elders about the spirits in the jungle, huhuhu....

In the evening, we checked in at Grace Hostel in Kinabalu National Park. Andrey joined us for the night. Before we slept, we gathered our hands and prayed for the Mount Kinabalu adventure.

Day 3 (08 July 2009)

We have decided to follow the Mesilau Trail for our morning hike. However, due to some technical difficulties with our climbing permit reservation, we had to follow the Summit Trail via Timpohon Gate.

To cut a long story short, Sutera Sanctuary Lodges have booked our accomodation but did not reserve our climbing permits from the Sabah National Park. Consequently, the permits have all been given out (only 192 climbing permits were given out on a single day). And yes, I was one angry customer. After some heated discussions between the big bosses, we were given the green light at 10.20am. Since it was late, we were advised to follow the Timpohon trail instead.

The hike from Timpohon gate to Laban Rata was approximately 6km in distance. The first 2km was okay, then I began to feel tired. Eventually, my pace became slower as I needed a short rest for each 100-200 meters. The weather was so-so, foggy with occassional drizzle. But alas, after 5 long hours, I reached Laban Rata.

After our dinner and a quick game of Monopoly, we went to bed at 9pm. I didn't get much sleep though, the room was rather stuffy due to the heater. We were supposed to leave Laban Rata by 2.30am on the following day.

Day 4 (09 July 2009)

We left at 3am from Laban Rata. The journey to Low's peak is roughly 2.8km from Laban Rata. The weather was fine, albeit cloudy. The air was much thinner, making it harder to breathe.

From the 6km-7km check point, the hike was fairly easy. And then, it became tough. We had to use ropes to climb up the steep slopes. Since it was dark, we didn't really notice how steep it was. My goal was to reach the peak by 6am, just in time to watch the twilight from the sunrise. And guess what? Adonis and I made it exactly at the sixth hour! The best word to describe the whole experience is nothing else but priceless :)

At Low's Peak (4095.2m above mean sea level)

Goch arrived earlier at 5.40am, Amy and Yoke Mun arrived at 6.25am...

"Ku daki-daki, daki-daki gunung yang tinggi...."

See the monkey face? Hoho...

Probably my best shot from the summit.

Note to self : Do NOT bring a DSLR up the mountain again. Very "ma fan"....

We descended from the peak about an hour later. Going down was much harder than going up. Only then did we realize the steepness of the rocky mountain. Whoever said that Mount Kinabalu is easy, that person must be extremely fit!

Moreover, going down was less exciting than going up. There's nothing much to motivate you, once you've accomplished your mission to stand on the summit. Having said so, the journey was not over yet. We forced ourselves to walk on the same path to Timpohon Gate. I reached at 2.45pm.

With our mountain guide, Rusdi.

His personal record? 4 hours++ only... UP and DOWN the mountain @.@

From National Park, I drove back to Kota Kinabalu with my friends. Everyone slept early.

Day 5 (10 July 2009)

I invited my friends for lunch at home. My mum prepared a few local dishes, including hinava (raw fish) and sup soko (bamboo shoot soup) upon her beloved son's request, hehehe. Without a doubt, those two are my favourites!

In the afternoon, we went to the nearby Lok Kawi Wildlife Park.

Starring King Julian from Madagascar

Proboscis Monkey @ Goch's obsession!

After that, we visited the Monsopiad Cultural Village.

The Sumazau Dance

Trying out the blowpipe (or locally known as sumpit)

Learning the traditional Murut dance, Magunatip

In the house of skulls. It is believed that the warrior Monsopiad had 42 skulls from his headhunting days...

To our surprise, Tania was in Kota Kinabalu too for some work duties. We met up for dinner and chilled out at Signal Hill.

Day 6 (11 July 2009)

We headed to Sapi Island for snorkelling. Sadly, it began to rain heavily upon our arrival on the island. I didn't enter the water, but according to the rest, they didn't get to see any corals or fishes. Waves were pretty strong.

At Sapi Island

We were supposed to visit Manukan Island too, but due to the poor weather condition, we cancelled our plan. This time around, we had dinner at Andrey's place. I really like the grounded sagoo mixed with banana dessert :)

Day 7 (12 July 2009)

No photos from this point onwards. I was lazy to bring my camera around.

Among the places we visited are Gaya Street Sunday Market, State Museum and One Borneo. After having seafood dinner in Inanam, we spent the rest of the night at Cempaka Square for a wonderful karaoke session.

Day 8 (13 July 2009)

It's movie day.

I watched Ice Age 3 together with Yoke Mun, Amy and Adonis. Goch and Andrey opted for the movie Obsession, starring Beyonce. I fell asleep at one point of the movie. Owh well, I guess I didn't have enough rest throughout the week, hehe...

And then, it's time to say goodbye. My friends boarded their flight back to KLIA at 7.25pm.

Okay lah, that's all for now. Another long entry, even I feel tired of typing this up.... hahahaha..... Catch you guys later!

The Hills and Sun

Well, they are my bestfriends during the semester break :)

Sorry, I know I haven't been updating much.

Nothing "inspirational" to write about until today. Hehe.

Holiday has been good so far. Besides the usuals (movies, TV series, food, facebook, youtube, meeting up friends, relatives, moginum etc), I've been spending hours on two other activities:

1. Hiking up hills.

On the 8th of July 2009, yours truly will be ascending Mount Kinabalu together with Goch, Yoke Mun, Amy and Adonis. In great anticipation and excitement, I've been preparing myself by alternately hiking up Tivung Hill and Sukang Hill.

Sukang Hill is located in Tun Fuad Park whereas Tivung Hill is located nearby my kampung. I prefer the former than the latter though. It is further in distance but less steeper than Tivung Hill. At Tun Fuad Park, I would begin my so called "training session" by jogging 1.5km around the park before hiking up the hill.

My best record from the foothill to the peak is 12 minutes 30 seconds. Going up Mount Kinabalu is not a race, but it's important to have maximum stamina before the climb. In addition, it's a mental training in case my muscle pain starts to kick in. The most challenging part of Sukang Hill is walking up 211 steps from about three-quarter of the hill to the top. For a person who seldom do sports like me, it's a physically demanding task to walk non-stop. Halfway through the steps, my legs would begin to ache. Another issue is short of breathe... But alas, I've managed to achieve this feat.

Do you remember that auto-suggestion that we've learned in STE? When you keep repeating words of motivation in your mind? For instance,

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"I will excel in my exam... I will excel in my exam... I will excel in my exam"

or

"I am awesome... I am awesome... I am awesome..."

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Well, I'm putting this lesson to practice for the first time, hahaha! I know it's rather cliche, but you've got to believe that the mind is powerful. Very powerful, indeed. I am training myself to shut off the pain from my brain and focus on that ultimate goal : Conquering Mount Kinabalu. Even in our daily lives, there will be many obstacles and trials in the path to success. The biggest one is yourself; be it physical, social or emotion. That is when mental comes into play :)

As for now, my confident level is about 50:50. I am still a bit concern with my current level of stamina, especially on the shortness of breathe. I'm taking good care of my body, avoiding things that may affect my health. No drinking session for now, hehe. And hopefully, all the hard work pays out in the end. Guys, let's own Mount K!

Sunrise view from Tivung Hill

2. Chasing the Sun

Another thing that I've been crazy about is chasing sunrise and sunsets. If you've known me well enough, you know the fact that I hate being alone especially in campus. My thoughts would go wild and I'll end up being emo. But thank God, it's more seldom now. Perhaps it's a sign of growing maturity, albeit slow. After all I'm a sensitive soul at heart.

However, things are much different at home. I really appreciate the time of being alone. With my mum's car and my beloved camera, I've been a loyal fan of the Sun : Scouting for locations to snap sunrise or sunsets from Kota Kinabalu. I'm usually alone but it is very enjoyable and fulfilling indeed.

I would normally stand/sit at one spot for half an hour while setting up my DSLR on the tripod and waiting for the twilight to appear. And then, I'll be caught up in my very own world, neglecting the presence of others around me. If you're not into nature or photography, you may get bored and annoyed, hehehe. Please do forgive me for this, sometimes I give too much attention on capturing that priceless moment. Only because it puts a smile on my face :)

To see more photos, you can click here!

For now, I am quite satisfied with my landscape photography. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Contentment will lead to nowhere. Last night, I met up with the person whom I consider as my mentor, Saiful Rizan. He is a photo hobbyist who resides in Labuan, but one that is more knowledgable and technical about it. I've learned much from his tips and guidance in our very own Borneoshutter forum. If everything goes to plan, I'll be driving up to Kuala Penyu with Mark and my roommate, Andrey on this coming Monday. Looking forward for another awesome photo outing :)

Anyway, how about you guys? What do you enjoy doing on your lonely time while others are busy with their own business? Reading, blogging, playing games? Hehehe... let's share... my blog has been kinda quiet...

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Lastly, with all the hills and Sun, can I call myself a nature-lover?

Yeah, maybe. It's a sense of appreciation to what God has created on our Earth. The truth is, I don't get hyped over the thoughts of camping in the middle of a thick forest, sleeping on twigs and leaves while getting my flesh bitten by mosquitoes. That is not my cup of tea.

But shooting landscapes, yeah, I'm still loving it! And hopefully it stays the same for a long time :)

My Favourite Quote...

... from a TV series.

"The great moments of your life won't necessarily be the things you do, but they'll also be the things that happen to you. Now I'm not saying you can't take action to affect the outcome of your life, you have to take action, and you will.

But never forget that on any day, you can step out the front door and your whole life can change forever. You see, the universe has a plan kids, and that plan is always in motion.

A butterfly flaps its wings and it starts to rain.

It's a scary thought, but it is also kind of wonderful

All these little parts of the machine, constantly working,

Making sure that you end up exactly where you're supposed to be,

Exactly when you're supposed to be there. The right place, at the right time..."

By Ted Mosby,

02:03-02:49

How I Met Your Mother s04e22

The Flight

An uncle was looking at his flight ticket and noticed that a high school student has occupied his seat.

He told the kid to return to his original seat.

The kid said "Shit!!". No, it wasn't an utter or a whisper. Typical but rude.

Ah well, I often do that too but not in public. Just among friends.

However the uncle wasn't bothered.

Then, noticing that he was being loud, the kid quickly said...

"I'm sorry" in the most polite and gentle manner one could ever imagine.

Slowly, he gave up his seat to the uncle.

Amusing. I couldn't help but smile.

... And with that, ladies and gentlemen. I am home. You can expect more posts coming up for the next one and a half months. So stay tune...

Owh yeah, to all my beloved Kadazan Dusun friends, I would like to wish you "Kotobian do Tadau Kaamatan". I'm so glad that I've arrived just in time for the annual celebration. Mind you, it's my first time ever since coming to UTP. Also, I'm looking forward for an awesome photo hunting session at KDCA on this Sunday. If any high school friends, photog members or even UTP friends happen to be there, don't forget to say Hi! :)