Filipino Market Food Hunting

After work, my friend and I decided to food hunting in Filipino Market. Filipino Market is one of the famous place for you to visit in Kota Kinabalu. You can find Sabah handicraft, artificial pearls, ready-packaging seafood, local fruits, seafoods etc. 

Filipino Market DO NOT have restaurant but only hawker's stalls. Most of them serves 100% Halal Javanese Food such as Bakso & Soto (Javanese Beef Soup with noodle & meatballs & slices of beef meat.) You can purchase them between RM4.50-RM5.00. And also BBQ chicken & seafood.

But what was really interesting that night was the dessert that we tried for the first time- Ais Pisang Hijau (Green Banana with Ice). According to the owner of the stall, Ais Pisang Hijau is an Indonesian Traditional Dessert which consists of coconut milk, pandan flavor, banana, sugar and... and.. yeah its really fattening haha but I love the taste! Oh ya the price is only RM4,50! Great food with great price! :)

"Ais Pisang Hijau" Indonesian Dessert

"Soto" Javanese Noodle Beef Soup

Seafood BBQ

Ready Package Seafood

Probosics Monkey & Firefly Mangrove Rivercruise

Hello there! Its been a really long time for not blogging. Well, I'm here again! So happy to blog again.

I'm back again to work in a travel agency. Want to know? Just PM me :) The travel agent company is based in Kota Kinabalu and our main product is Probosics Monkey & Firefly Mangrove Rivercruise Tour but ofcourse we also provide other Sabah local tour service.

Nanamun Jetty; Ready for River Cruising!

Rivercruise along Nanamun River, Kota Belud

Nice view :)

Sunset at Rampayan Beach after rivercruise

Well, that's all for today. If you are interested with this tour, please don't hesitate to call/whatssap/kakaotalk/wechat me 016-7800741 Have a Nice day everyone!

Turtle Eggs Night Walk

It was my very first time experience to search turtle's eggs at night time. Together with 3 dive centre staffs. It was quite interesting when a Mother Turtle has the instinct to dig the depths level of a hole by the numbers of it's eggs. But sadly the Mother turtle is about to swim back to the see once I arrived. I missed the laying eggs part! :( 

I started to learn about Sea turtles when I started to work here. There are 2 types of Sea Turtles in Pom Pom Island : Hawksbill & Green Turtles.

Hawksbill Turtles

• Spend most of their time in the water but they are good climbers on land in order to get to the sandy areas to deposit their eggs.
• The main source of food is sponges.They also consume jellyfish, fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and worms to satisfy their need for food.
• Female Hawksbill could lay from 100 to 150 eggs at a time. It will take approximately 60 days for the eggs to hatch.

Green Turtle

• Can stay under water for as long as five hours. They are deep divers too but have to come up regularly for air.
• As new hatchlings entering the water they are meat eaters. When they are about 3 years of age though they change to being vegetarians so they won’t be eating any type of meat in the water. They consume algae and sea grass which isn’t very filling so they consume large amounts of it every day.
• Males will return to the location where they were born annually for the mating process

Source: http://www.seaturtle-world.com/green-sea-turtle/

Started to collect the eggs and placed into a pail.






Deep hole of nest 

Replaced the eggs into a Human Made Sea Turtle nest and wait around 2 months for it to hatch.

Call me MAORI

My very first piece of sketch - inspired by my first love, Walter.

I love to draw since I was a little. It help me to express my feeling . Walter, my first love was the first person who inspired me to sketch something when he found out my talent. So he asked me to draw something about him . Well, maybe you guys expect something romantic but it's not. He is more like a tutor for me than a lover.

The first sketch of Mix Polynesian Maori Tattoo.

I still remember a friend of mine, Mark from Philippines who is very excellent in illustration art and sculpture making said, " Your art defined your personality." And yes, it does make sense. I draw what I feel. I expressed my feelings through drawings. Every inch of sketch is the symbol of my feelings, my emotions and my passion towards art.

During my college time, I was exposed to Maori Tattoo. Maybe because the environment in where I studying my college. Near to my college there is an old street or better known as the oldest street in Kota Kinabalu - Gaya Street. Also one of the tourist spot- lots of backpackers, hotels, italian foods and chinese cuisine. There was an afternoon while I'm having my lunch, I saw a Europian guy full of tattoos. I'm attracted to it and wonder what kind of tattoo was that then found out it called as - Maori.

I began to practice it. Search as much pictures as I can. But every art had it own story. HISTORY. So that you will understand it. What is the meaning of the Tattoo. Its a Polynesian Tribe Culture and we should respect it.

Well, these are some of my drawings and give me your comments. :)

My second Sketch of Maori for my Nokia Lumia 920 cover

Cute little sea Tutles

26 April 2015 - It was the very first time in my life I saw sea baby turtles. Grey in colour and of course cute as well! It hatched around evening and our Sea turtles Conservation staffs released it to the sea. Not to forget the baby sea turtles releasing were joined by our Pom Pom Island Resort Staffs as well as our beloved Guests from French, West Malaysia and China.

One of our Dive Centre Staff member collected the sea turtle eggs around the beaches at dawn. After that he put the eggs into a human-made nest until it hatch. The purpose why we do this is to protect the egg from being eaten by predator ( snakes etc) and taken from human either for sale or eat which is illegally against the law. 

Palson is digging the human made sea turtle nest.

Baby Sea Turtle is out! :)

After Palson took out all the Sea Baby Turtles, he placed them in a pail for the guests to take  pictures.

Cute!

Pom Pom Island Guests from China, French & West Msia had their great time watching Sea Baby Turtles.

Rayner, one of the Diving Centre Staff member released the baby sea turtle into the sea.

After around 30 minutes, the dive staffs carried the pail to the seashore which is heading to sunset. because baby sea turtles will run direct to Sun after it hatched. 

Run cutey Run!

 It was a nice experience to have. But the most of all, its our duty to protect the Nature and animals from extinctions- for our good as well as for our future generations good.

Sipadan Pom Pom Island Resort

Its been a week since the last post. Well, I got a new job as an Resort Executive in Sipadan Pom Pom Island Resort. It was really exciting but nervous at the same time, but I bet this job could bring a lot of great experiences to me!

Travelling to Semporna, far away from my hometown Sandakan would be the second experience I had to stay far from home. I started to travel far from my home since I was 18 so I guess this wouldn't be a problem to me. (I'll survive!) But the most important is have faith in God and respect others culture and religion whenever you go.

Water Villas

Well, I'm going to give a short brief about Sipadan Pom Pom Island Resort. It is an Eco- Resort . You can reach there by 40 minutes speedboat ride from Semporna Jetty. Its not really situated in the SIPADAN island but if you are a guest of Pom Pom, you can request the management to arrange a boat to Sipadan which takes around 1 hour ++. Pom Pom Resort contains 39 villas houses : Beach Villas, Garden Villa and Water Villa. I prefer the Beach Villa since it is near to the Dining restaurant, Massage center and Dive center. If you love beaches, the marine life, escape from busy life, Pom Pom Island Resort welcome you! :)

Okay that's all for today. I will post the other updates ASAP! :)

Sabah Largest Tribe - Kadazandusun

PENAMPANG - ORIGIN OF THE KADAZANDUSUN TRIBE

   Ever since when I was a little, I love to come to my granny's village in Penampang during the school holiday. I started to travel far from my parents when I was 8. Luckily, my mom was okay with it. But of course, I wouldn't get the knowledge that I had today without their supports.

THE KADAZANDUSUN - LARGEST TRIBE IN SABAH

ME IN MY KADAZAN OUTFIT - THE MARUDU

  

     Sabah have so many tribes - one of them is the KadazanDusun Tribe ( the largest tribe in Sabah). My mom is a Kadazan and my father is a Chinese so that makes me a mix blood or simply known as SINO- kadazan. How it will looks like? Depend on which parents gene is stronger. Some people said that I look like Chinese but most of them said that I look like Kadazan. I guess the kadazan gene in me is stronger than the chinese gene. 

LUNDAYEH TRIBE -THE WARRIOR TRIBE

     Imagine Red Indian than you can have picture of Kadazandusun. But not to say my tribe have the warrior blood. Murut and Lundayeh are the warriors tribe. 

     According to my mom, before the religion ( Christians, Islam, Buddhist ) came to Sabah, the ancestors pray for the Nature. The Nature is the God. The sun, the trees, the grass, the wind, the fire and the water. The ancestor talked to the nature, asked for forgiveness, strengthens and courage. My ancestor believed that everything have it own soul. So that's why we have to respect. For example the Mount Kinabalu, when we enter it, we shouldn't make noises or simply pick flowers. You can't even break a stick. If you insist to do it, either you will get sick or dissapear/lost.

NATURE - RESPECT THEM.

     My ancestors are the last generation who worship the Nature. Started from my granny all are gone. But sometimes, my granny still asked help from the Nature and the souls - to heal the sick one. 

If you are interested to know more about tribes in Sabah, Mari- Mari Cultural Village would be the best place. It is a live museum with an in- house guide who will explain all the information about tribes in Sabah. You can contact me for booking ;-

Email : maoriyvana@gmail.com
Phone : +60 14 359 2689

Beautiful Kundasang - Strawberry Garden

     Strawberry Garden is located in Kundasang : 10 minutes away from Kinabalu Park and 15 minutes away from Kundasang Town. It is very easy to find because you can see the "STRAWBERRY HOTEL & GARDEN" signboard just at the side of the road.

STRAWBERRIES

The entrance fee is only RM 1.00. It's not a big garden actually, sort of mini garden. When you enter the Strawberry garden, you can see the Rose Garden too.

ROSE GARDEN

BEAUTIFUL :)

SELFIE! :)


Both Garden are not big as I imagined so its only took 15 minutes to finished it. Before leaving Strawberry Garden, I bought a homemade Strawberry Ice Cream for RM 7.00 . The taste is really unique and delicious! You should try it too!

PRICES

HOMEMADE ICE CREAM

Beautiful Kundasang - J. Residence

     It's been a busy week for me - car rentals and tour stuffs. But thanks God, I was able to get chance to escape from all these busy life for a while. I was wondering to choose what place to choose to have a rest. Well, I love beach but now is so called "summer" in Sabah. Too hot and I don't think hot weather will release my stress. Perhaps Kundasang would be just nice. Cold and quiet. 

     So I asked some tips from a friend of mine, Sharween - trust me, she's a hyper active person. Climbed Mount Kinabalu for almost 10 times. She knows Kundasang stays very well so she suggested me to stay in J Residence. Yep, it's suited with my needs - QUIET, BEAUTIFUL and most of all NATURE.

J.RESIDENCE

My room 3B - Quiet messy for a girl haha :P

     Lovely, quiet and peaceful yet affordable price - I got the weekday promotion RM99 since I stayed on Wednesday. Breakfast is not included but I don't mind. I bought some Instant noodle cup and bun from a groceries store in Kundasang Town which is only 15 minutes away from my stay.

Tables and chairs are provided outside the room.

Parking Spaces are limited

**I love the interior design. Green Colour is my favy all the time.

**The room is very spacious for me but parking space would be a problem for

guests who are coming in a group. 

**They do provide water heater but it is not warm enough for me.

TV is provided but there will be no channel, but DVD player is provided and the DVD can be choose at the lobby counter. 

**There will be no wifi in room but according to the J Residence website, wifi will be provided in the lobby and it is FREE. But hey, I'm here for a rest. Forget about the world for a moment! :P

Dining place with bigger space

     Okay, this is my favorite part - the Dining place. I love the idea when guests were given options to cook their meal- either by using the stove or barbecue. Well, it would be very convenient for the guest and for me too. It make me start thinking :" This is good. Good for family and friends' weekend gathering."  There would be a mini pantry - gas stove, barbecue facilities and etc.

89 STATION RESTAURANT

     But since I was not prepared well, I don't even know that there will be a pantry in where I stay so I went out for dinner. Luckily, I found a Chinese cuisine Restaurant - 89 Station. Only 8 minutes away from J. Residence and can be seen just by the side of the road. 

INTERIOR DESIGN OF THE RESTAURANT

     They served Chinese cuisine and beers which is obviously Non Halal for the Muslims. Good food with reasonable price. The service is a little bit slow - maybe due to lack of kitchen staffs. But overall, the dinner is okay, food is okay. I love it.

Me with Catty MEOW :) in J Residence

     I stayed in J Residence only for 1 night because I had to go back to KK on the next day. Overall, my trip went out smoothly. The stay was fabulous. I would like to come here again. This time maybe with friends and family. I did stop by at the strawberry farm before headed to KK but I put it on the next blog.  Thanks to God for the wonderful trip and Thanks to J Residence for the amazing stay. :)

Sabah Tour Packages.

 Hello there, if you are a lover of Nature and Island, Sabah welcome you!

 I can offer you many kinds of Tour Packages with great PRICE.!!! 

Tour Packages that are available :- 

   

  ** Mantanani Island**

  (Snorkelling, Diving and etc) 

** Kinabalu Park Tour

(Rafflesia <seasonal>;

Mount Kinabalu and etc)

** KOTA KINABALU TOUR**

( City Floating Mosque, 

Signal Hill Tower and etc.)

 ** Island Hopping 

( Snorkeling, Water Activities, Barbeque) 

** Mangrove & Firefly Tour (Most FAMOUS tour in Sabah)

** .. and Many more

 If you have any suggestions about joining other tour in Sabah that are not listed in above, I can arrange it for you. Do PM me for more details or email me through maoriyvana@gmail.com.

 Thank you and have a nice day everyone!! 😉:)