BEKAM

Most people would cringe at the sight of 2 large leeches happily sucking blood from any part of your body. I would too. But not this you lady who was happy to let these two slimy creatures feed on her blood at the spot where she seems to have a skin disease of sort. I guess she must have exhausted all means of modern medicine to cure it and and now she is resorting to this traditional mean with the hope of curing her ailment.

I chanced upon her at the night market in Down Town Shah Alam. After asking for permission I took a couple of shots of her undergoing the 'bekam' which is a form of blood letting using a leech. The leech is the big ones and not the 'pacat' kind which is more bearable to me at least.
There she is smiling at the sight of the two leeches doing their job. The spouse was definitely supportive of her.

This is the guy who provided the 'Bekam Lintah' services at Pasar Malam Shah Alam. I took one of his phamplets where all the goodness of blood letting using the leeches were espoused and also his contact number. Somehow I have misplaced it so I can't share with you the details. Anyway should you need his services just go to the Pasar Malam Uptown and look out for him there.

When I was small my late grandmother used to ask me to look for leeches to be used on my granduncle whenever he had a bad headache. I was scared of the leeches but had to brave myself and catch the big leeches without touching it. Almost 50 years ago, leeches were easily found wherever there is standing water. Even in the driest of season, there is a water body somewhere in the village where there were leeches to be found. Of course nowadays leeches are reared for many purposes.

I did mention about seeing 'berbekam' being performed on the streets of Labuan using glass cups purpose built for 'berbekam'. These glass cups were fitted with a valve each and a simple pump is used to remove the air inside it creating a vacuum. This is better as clear glass cups are easier to be cleaned when used for blood letting. Small pin hole punctures are made in the skin where the patients blood oozes out. The punctures are so small that it wont leave any visible scars as often is the case when using blades.

This guy showed me how it was done using the vacuum pump.

Blood oozing out from the pin pricks.

Yesterday while walking around Pasir Mas I saw this guy performing a similar thing near the 'Sudut Penjual Ubat' in Pasir Mas. He was using bamboo cups and spirit was used to burn the oxygen in the bamboo cups before placing then on the places where the patient felt the pain.

This guy complained of a shoulder ache and so the cups were applied there. Since the skin or blood vessels were not punctured, there was no blood letting involved. It was just for 'buang angin'.
While taking the photographs the others around asked me to try it out for myself so that I can experience it and this write better about it.

Since there was no blood letting, I agreed to it. He applied his medicated oil before applying the cups on me.

How many cups were there? The suction was quite strong.

After they were removed, you can clearly see the welts on my back. He did it for free so I bought a bottle of his massage oil which cost me RM10.00.

I definitely felt relieved of my backache after that. Unfortunately I am feeling the backache again just a day after that.

Another guy gave it a try after me.

Tomoi Anyone?

Tomoi or Muay Thai is getting very popular nowadays. Tok Guru Nik Aziz, the Menteri Besar of Kelantan tried unsuccessfully to rename it Muay Klate but the new name didn't gain any popularity so it will remain as either Tomoi or Muay Thai to all ardent followers all over the world. Mind you Tomoi aren't the same as kickboxing. Don't ask me to explain the differences as I have yet to learn more about it. My only association with this game started only at the TM Kelantan Muay Thai International Championship held in Kota Bharu on 17th - 18th November 2008. Read about it at my earlier post here.

For the 2009 season, the first Tomoi championship will be held on 27th - 31st January 2009. The championship will be held at an open field in Taman Rogayah in Gual Tinggi. The landmark will be the Shell Station which is still some distance from the town of Rantau Panjang near the Thai border. Be at the Shell Petrol station on the 27th of Januari 2009 at 8.30 PM and you will know where to go.

Looking at the list of fighters, there seems to be many notable names that are worth going to see them fight. One of them is Aik Salsaloon of Kelab Salsaloon Pasir Puteh who had the reputation of beating the late Wan Dik in a fight in Kota Bharu resulting in the death of Wan Dik of Thailand in that fight. Pak Zawi have not met most of them except for Ajan Putra and Robot Afrika of MZ Repek Pasir Mas. Pak Zawi went to photograph them while they were training at their make shift gym in Repek. Pak Zawi is most interested to see Che Pa of M150 fight. Beside fighters from Thailand there will be two fighters from overseas such as John Smith of Australia and Alexander of Denmark.

Tikects will be priced at RM12.00 for adults and RM5.00 for children.

From what I heard after the opening event in Rantau Panjang, there will be fights literally every week around Kelantan. I have yet to know of their schedule.

For those around Jengka there will be an event on 6th February 2009 in Bandar Jengka. I don't have much information on this event.

Another prominent Championship will be the one organized by BoxxEvent, an event organizer based in Kulim Kedah.

The KL fight was originally scheduled to be held earlier at Dewan Titiwangsa but was rescheduled to Stadium Badminton Cheras due to the bigger size. So remember this date for
KUALA LUMPUR: 7th & 8th Feb-Stadium Badminton Cheras.

This event will have many great names on the drawcard that will definitely whet the appetite of all Tomoi lovers. Look at the list of confirmed fighters below which was emailed to me by the Big Boss of BoxxWarriors Tuan Zahari Ahmad.

1. Abbas Ahmadi, Boxx Warriors, Malaysia
WPMO World Champion, 2006-2008, 63.5 kg
WMC Asia Champion, 67.5 kg 2008
PK 1 World Champion, 61.5 kg, 2006
Champion 63.5 kg, Macau Muay Thai World Championship 2007
Chaweng Stadium Title Holder, Koh Samui, 2006
Title Holder, TM WMC World Muay Thai Challenge – Royal Cup of Kedah 2008
Ranked # 6 at World Muay Thai Council, Lightweight Category
65 fights, 45 wins, 17 losses, 3 draws, (16 KO)

2. Chaowalit, Boxx Warriors, Malaysia
WMC Welterweight World Champion
Former Rajdamnern Stadium Super Welterweight Champion
Former Thailand Super Welterweight Champion
Ranked # 10 in Thailand, Welterweight Category
Ranked # 3 in World Muay Thai Council, Welterweight Category
101 fights, 74 wins, 24 losses, 3 draws

3. Akhbar Hanafi, Boxx Warriors, Malaysia
29 fights, 27 wins, 2 losses (won 27 by KO)

4. Vladimir Konsky, Slovakia
PK 1 World Champion, 2008
Champion, Patong Stadium, Phuket, Thailand
25 fights, 18 wins, 7 losses

5. Johar Hussein, Senegal
15 fights, 9 wins, 6 losses

6. Seetanonchai Sor Chitlada
PK1 World Champion
South Thailand Champion
Champion, Patong Stadium, Phuket
WMC World Title Challenger
Contender Asia Challenger

7. Fasochun Sit O

Thailand Champion, 115 lbs, Lumpinee Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 2003 Champion, 115 lbs, Lumpinee Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 2004 Champion, 118 lbs, Lumpinee Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 2004
Listed as Muay Thai Legend by Thailand Board of Sport
200 fights 150 wins 45 losses 5 draws 3. Champert Chosipaset Thailand Champion, 154 lbs, Lumpinee Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand, 2002 Champion, 154 lbs, Rajdamnern Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand, 2004 220 fights 170 wins 50 losses 4. Tengku Shahrizal Kuda Merah, PDRM Champion, Contender Asia Malaysia Qualifier 45 fights 40 wins 3 losses 2 draws 5. Faizal Ramli Malaysian Tigers 55 fights 51 wins 0 loss 4 draws 5. Hamdan Mokhtar Malaysian Tigers 89 fights 68 wins 20 losses 1 draw 6. Akhbar Hanafi Boxx Warriors 29 fights 27 wins (27 won by KO) 2 losses 7. Che Pol M 150 Kelantan 89 fights 77 wins 12 losses 8. Fauzan Zabidi Boxx Warriors 5 fights 4 wins (4 won by KO) 1 losses

8. Barbod, Iran
6 fights, 5 wins, 1 lose (5 won by KO)

9. Alex Lim, TNT MMATC Team KO, Malaysia

10. Steven Ban, TNT MMATC Team KO, Malaysia

11. Firdaus Janai, Boxx Warriors, Malaysia
5 fights, 5 wins, 0 lose (3 won by KO)

12. Karim Geliga Merah, Terengganu
90 fights, 79 wins, 11 losses

13. Hazeem, Turkey
Turkey Muay Thai Amature Champion
61 fights, 45 win, 16 losses

More info on http://boxxtomoi.blogspot.com/ or call 013 3351 877

If you have read my previous post on the Kelantan Championship, fighter number 8 - Barbod of Iran KOed my grand nephew Alif in a one sided match in Kota Bharu. I hope Barbod will have a better opponent this time around as he has the height and reach that will get many opponents into trouble. Alif was sent down to the canvass by Barbod in the second round via a solid punch on the nose. Alif told me he was not prepared then. Now he is training with BoxxWarriors in Kulim and hopefully he will become a better fighter fit enough to have a rematch with Barbod.

Tickets for the KL fight will be priced at RM25.00 for ringside, RM15.00 for terrace and RM5.00 for children below 12.

Pak Zawi will be going to KL solely to watch this fight. Since a month ago I have booked a return train ticket from Pasir Mas to Kuala Lumpur. If you were to ask me why I am taking the train, my answer will be because I want to experience it and write about the ride. I have not experienced a train ride for a long time and as a government retiree, I am entitled to a 40% discount. So I will be travelling in the comfort of a second class sleeping berth at the rate of RM38.00 each way! Hopefully I will be able to produce an article about the ride to see the KL fight and the article will be published in the second issue of BoxxTomoi magazine. With that article about the train ride, hopefully Mussadik of BoxxTomoi will be able to use as leverage to convince Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad to advertise in the future issues of BoxxTomoi Magazine. Pak Zawi has contributed an article for the first issue on the topic of Tomoi Scenes of Kelantan.

BoxxTomoi Magazine will be given away free with the coming fights in Kuala Lumpur and also the mother of all fights at Stadium Sultan Muhamad IV Kota Bharu sometimes in late February or early March 2009 (dates have yet to be confirmed). So come early to those championships and you will create history as being the owner of the maiden issue of BoxxTomoi Magazine, the only tomoi magazine in the whole country.

For you info, Dato' Sakmongkol an ardent tomoi fan and prominent SOPO blogger of Sakmongkol AK47 fame will be one of the VIPs watching the fight in KL. Why not join him there?

Fo updates on result of the fights in Rantau Panjang please visit this site called Tomoi.

I Thought It Would Be An Uneventful Day Today

The election fever gripped the whole nation for the past week and ended with a convincing PAS/PR win over UMNO/BN. Though it was just a by- election for the Parliamentary constituency of Kuala Terengganu in the laid back state of Terengganu, the concern for the outcome kept the whole nation and me glued to the internet till late evening of the 17th January 2009 to know the result. Read al the SOPO blogs to feel the mood.

Since today is already the second day after the election day and I have fulfilled my promise to write a short article about the Tomoi Scene In Kelantan for the soon to be published BoxxTomoi magazine's maiden issue, I felt relaxed and wasn't in a hurry to do anything. I didn't even bother to switch on my phone. Afterall who is there who would call me? If they are close relatives or friends they can always get me on the housephone.

It was quite a surprise as immediately after switching on the phone a call from Sherry of Kuantan came in. A call from Sherry can only mean something to do with Mat Cendana. It is always that way with Mat Cendana lately, everything must be routed through Sherry in Kuantan. I wonder why he cannot deal directly with me. Then I remembered that I had just switched on my phone. So how could he reach me? Maybe he had tried.

Sherry's call came in at 10:37 AM asking me to meet Mat at the Pasir Mas' Syariah court to bail out Mat Cendana or something which she herself wasn't clear about. Later I saw Mat Cendana's SMS at 9:38 AM. The SMS read (dengan izin) ,

"I'll be sent to prison if you don't come to jamin me. No need money...just to sign."

Poor bloke. He must have been desperately trying to get me for the past one hour. In desperation he must have called Sherry to try and reach me somehow.

After a quick bath I put on my clothes. Initially I wanted to put on my sloppy dress. Realising that I was going to the Shariah Court I had to change my mind so I dressed up in my Baju Melayu with a black pant. A skull cap would give me a more respectable look I thought.

Sherry did mention something like RM1000.00 was required and she asked for my account number to remit the money. My call to Mat confirmed that the money will only be necessary if he failed to come back to court on the coming hearing on the 11th of February 2009. This time the court had to impose this bail because Mat had not made his presence at the first hearing sometime ago. I know he didn't go as he went to Kota Bharu instead. It was quite foolish of him as it will give the judge a bad impression of him and can be charged for being in contempt of court. Anyway he must have his reasons.

When I reached the Syariah court I was surprised to see a well dressed Mat Cendana wearing a white long sleeved shirt with a shiny songkok a size bigger than his head. He looked rather smart. I was surprised too as he was not being handcuffed. I had wanted to bring a coat along as it seems to be the fashion when you are handcuffed, a coat is used to cover the cuff. Or fashionable still to have the face covered like those in the Altantuya murder case.

One of them asked me about my relationship with Mat to which I gave a single word answer of 'kawan' and they didn't pursue the matter further.

Back to Mat's case I was told by the female court clerk to produce my identity card. I asked whether I have to pay the RM1000.00 cash to which she initially said yes. I told them I had to go to the bank to get the cash as I didn't bring much cash with me and I was in a hurry to stop at the bank earlier. After consulting her other colleagues she decided that there was no need for the cash there and then. Cash will only be needed if Mat were not present on the coming hearing on the 11th of February 2009. OK fine I thought.

I really looked foolish when I can't locate my identity card in my wallet. All the other cards such as credit cards of which I have several and loyalty cards for Bonuslink, Tesco, Mesra and what have you (loyalty my foot hehehe) but my identity card was nowhere to be found!. Flipping my wallet over several times failed to get an identity card. My hands was shaking from the failure to produce it and the lady clerk told me to take it easy and be calm. To her eyes she must be thinking that I was another drug addict who was craving for a dose to keep me calm. Well for a hypertension fellow like me, a situation of high excitement will always result in such shaky hand condition with my heart beating in hyperactive mode. Then I remembered that I had scanned my IC to email it to my daughter in Labuan for something she needed. I must have left it there in the scanner. I asked for time to go back and get it. Then the lady clerk said my driving licence would be enough in lieu of my IC. Smart girl.

After both of us had signed the letter of guaranttee, Mat was allowed out. We went for a small makan. I wasn't hungry but I guessed Mat could do with one so that he doesn't have to have lunch again after that. After the meal Sherry SMS me to thank me for the help to which I shot back: "What friends are for?" to which she replied "To help and 'basuh' @kutuk2 as well..ha ha." She seemed to be in a happy mood even though she wasn't feeling well.

We drove to my home. I had wanted to let Mat knows where I live as when he needed me, he knows where to come and look for me later.

At my home I switched on my wifi and asked him to try the wifi with my notebook. He was ecstatic at the speed of the broadband and was almost on the verge of orgasm when he downloaded my website even though it was full of pictures.

"I am so used to driving a Kancil and now I am driving a BMW" he modestly quipped.

"Next time you just take a bus and come over here to enjoy streamyx at a higher speed". I offered him an advice.

I had to send him back to town to enable him to look for something he wanted and take the bus home. While in town he told me that now there was free wifi at Bangunan Serakai Mas provided by the Majlis Daerah Pasir Mas (MDPM). The wifi will be provided free for a period of 3 months ending at the end of March after which a fee of RM30.00 per month will be charged. This is something to blog about.

From Adi Cafe this small notice can be see.

Amother notice on the other side of the building

While moving around the building I saw a technician servicing a printer. I asked him if he could service a Lexmark printer to which he said yes. This is something good as my printer had not been able to print for sometime after the first ink had dried out and no amout of ink refilled could bring it back to satisfactory printing situation. Leaving Mat there I went home to get my two printers the other one being the Jurassic Epson Stylus C20SX which the boy said he could try servicing too. I brought along my camera and laptop to test the wifi provided by MDPM. My initial try at Adi Cafe was unsuccessful as my notebook failed to detect the wifi from MDPM. Moving to the center of the building my notebook detected the Kel PMnet with two bars of strength with the speed of 11kbps. High enough speed to download my blogsite.

A call to MDPM confirmed that it was on free trial for 3 months and I came to know that they were available at several other spots beside Bangunan Serakai Mas, there is the Dewan Majlis Daerah, Plaza MARA, Sekolah Menengah Sultan Ibrahim 1, Sekolah Rendah Abdul Rahman Talib and at another location in Lemal of which he wasn't sure exactly where.

Just to check I went to Dewan Majlis Daerah to test the speed there and I got the same reading.

I had a nice surprise as there was a function going on over there. The hall was full of people and outside of the hall, long tables were laid with food for lunch for those attending the event. Hey there was no publicicity about it and I didn't know about the event. Otherwise I would have made an attempt to cover it.

With my camera I took some shots of the event. Everone was smiling at my camera thinking that I was from the media. 'Sinaran' was the one being mentioned by a few of them which I managed to overhear. I just kept mum and not reveal that I wasn't from any media but just a blogger.

From the back drop, this was the infomation I could glean:

PROGRAM CAKNA KESIHATAN DAN KEBAJIKAN BAGI WARGA EMAS, OKU DAN ORANG MISKIN JAJAHAN PASIR MAS.

The event was officiated by the Director of the State Welfare Department.

Some of the VIPs.

I was in time to witness the handing over of a mock check for RM20,000 to a village committee.

These were some of those who attended.

Well those were the events of the day. I will make sure that Mat Cendana attend the coming hearing on the 11th of February otherwise otherwise either me or Sherry will have to fork out RM1,000 for the failure. Mat Cendana, dead or alive I will get you there hehehehee.

Read Mat Cendana's side of the story here.

PALESTINE RELIEF FUND

Elviza of the blog Write Away has appealed to every blogger she knows to blog about the appeal for Palestine Relief Fund. This way more people will be aware of the atocities of the Israelis against the the helpless Palestinians under the pretext of flushing out the HAMAS fighters amidst the innocent people of Palestine. In the process, many innocent people were killed or maimed.
Those who died leave behind grieving loved ones without much of a future. Those injured and maimed need to be taken care of. Without proper food to eat, water to drink and house to shelter themselves, massive funds are required to help them with the basic necessities of life especially medical necessities.
Today at every mosques in Malaysia, donations will be collected for this fund. Please give generously. Any amount will do.
Read the following appeal and you can find out how the fund will be used by Mercy Malaysia and other ways you can donate if you are not donating at the mosques.

Personally I often wonder at the folly of Hamas taking potshots at Israel with their rockects which often resulted in retaliation of massive proportion from Israel. The damage from such retaliation in the form of lives, property and future doesn't seem to be worth the effort from Hamas in the first place. Is it their desire to die a martyr that is driving them to take potshots at Israel? Why not wait while Hamas muster their strength in terms of numbers and artilery before making an attack on powerful Israel backed by USA? When you strike the blow must be so telling that your enemy will not be able to wake up and fight back. As it is, Israel may over run Palestine and even claim ownership of Gaza. With the back up of USA and The UN being toothless, I think that is what is on their mind right now, another territorial expansion.

Mercy Malaysia appeals to generous Malaysians to send it cash donations. Contributions will support Mercy Malaysia to procure emergency surgical kits, medicines and hospital equipments to help the hospitals in Gaza.
Cheque is to be made payable to “MERCY MALAYSIA” and addressed to Mercy Malaysia, Level 2, Podium Block, City Point, Kompleks Dayabumi, Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin, 50050 Kuala Lumpur.
Cash donations can be made via on-line transmission or deposit at CIMB Bank Account No: 1424-000-6561053.
Donation form can be downloaded from here.
Further enquiries are to be directed to +603-22733999 or info@mercy.org.my

Read more on how the USA is directly involved in the killings in Gaza at Karin's site here:
or at this address http://1158munich.blogspot.com/

Tell Me What This Building Is.

When I was traveling around Sabah and Labuan I saw many buildings there with the above architecture. I don't have the slightest doubt in my mind that such a building with such a distinctly Chinese architecture can only be a Chinese temple. Could I say the same thing of this building when I saw it in Rantau Panjang, Kelantan?

Definitely there are not that many Taoists worshipers in this town to merit the building of such a big temple if it were a Taoist temple. Across the border in Thailand there are more Buddhists believers than Taoists even though a sizable number of Chinese are found in Sungai Golok.

I asked a local from Rantau Panjang and he said the state Government of Kelantan has spent about RM7.5 million for this building and still more is needed since it is yet to be completed.

This building was used by moslems to perform the Sunat Idul Adha prayers during the recent Idul Adha even though the arch below was not fully constructed.

Hey, it is a mosque! People entering Kelantan via Rantau Panjang will see the sight this magnificient mosque on their left. Those leaving Kelantan will have a lasting impression of this mosque built not with the usual Moorish design but of distinctly Chinese architecture all for about RM8 million. How much did they spend for the Crystal Mosque in Kuala Terengganu?


Can you see the word Allah on the minaret?

Kundasang, Sabah.

That sunrise greeted me after my Subuh prayers on that morning of Idul Adha from my hotel room in Kundasang. Thank you Allahfor this wonderful view. To my left I could see half of the peak of Mount Kinabalu. Not knowing that there was a mosque nearby, I decided to go out early and do a photo shoot of whatever I could find.

I was taking shots of this flower when a voice behind me told me that the flower is edible. I turned around to see this man who after a short conversation told me that his name was Koh and he came from Sungei Petani Kedah.

Earlier I had seen him standing infront of his shop. I couldn't figure who he was but he was definitely an early bird. He was waiting for his workers to report for work on that morning of Idul Adha. It was a working day for him and perhaps for some of his workers.

After further probes he told me "Semua ini saya punya" (all these are mine) while making a small circle with his fore finger. I can understand that he owned the farm but there was also the hotel which was opened a year ago. I had stayed the night at his hotel. Next to the hotel was a hardware shop and another shop dealing in agro products like fertilizer and chemicals. Yes he owned them all. Hey this is a very rich man I was talking too.

Later I talked to his wife as the friendly Mr. Koh had gone down to Kota Kinabalu and won't be back till evening. Mrs Khoo whom his workers called her as Nyonya. Her name was Woo Mei Yin. Mrs Koh who came from Kota Kinabalu Sabah. She said Mr. Koh came to Sabah in 1972 and worked as a lorry driver. Wow, this is really a rag to riches story.

Mrs Koh and me in front of her shop selling agricultural produce.

The hotel business was managed by his manager Mr. Michael Chong while his sons took care of the Agro and hardware businesses.

The ever friendly Michael Chong manages the hotel. He will greet every customer who came to stay at Cottage Inn especially those who came to dine at the restaurant.

The hardware and -Shop belonging to Mr. Koh.

We didn't know there was a mosque in Kundasang until my son in law made an enquiry. All the while we thought the nearest mosque was only in Ranau some 20 odd kms away. Thank Allah, we would be able to do our Idul Adha prayers.

The mosque was just within walking distance but nevertheless we rode the car to there as it was atop a hill.

Ustaz Markhizam led the prayers. I have never heard such melodious and lilting recital of the surah during a prayer. With him leading the prayers, I could pray behind him all day and not feeling tired.

After the prayers Ustaz Fadley delivered the Khutbah. He exhorted on the danger of Muslims questioning tha Fatwas (edict) by the ulamas.

I can't really discern the locals among the congregation but most noticeable was the presence of Indonesians and Bangladeshis as significant. Thus when we did the Takbir, there was a distinct group of people with two different timings.

Mount Kinabalu as viewed from the mosque.

At about 10.00 AM, we checked out of the hotel to begin our tour of Kundasang.

15 months old Balkis was the most eager to move out. She immediately climbed into the car after seeing her dad seated behind the steering wheel.
The next stop was barely five hundred meters away at The Kundasang War Memorial. The memorial was established in 1962 to commemorate the death of hundreds of Prisoners of War comprising of the British and Australian soldiers who died in the march from Sandakan to Ranau, a distance of more than 200 kms in the harshest of condition. The memorial is a must visit when you are in Kundasang. The three gardens in the memorial compound are simply amazing especially the Contemplation Garden with Mount Kinabalu in the backgaround. Read more about it here.

The entrance to the Kundasang War Memorial.

She will approach you as you walked up the steps to collect maintainence fee. Its maintainence fee not entrance fee OK?

They installed CCTV to deter thieves from stealing the plants inside the memorial.

This is the route for the march, 265 kms of hell.

The contemplation garden. The pool is well stocked with kois.

Next we stopped at the Kundasang vegetable market since this was my other half's first visit.
This vegetable market could do with a better well structured building. As it is, the place is quite unattractive.
Just like Cameron Highlands, beside fresh vegetables, colorful cut flowers are the main attraction.
Next on our destination was Poring Hotspring, quite some 32 kms away on the same way to Ranau.

The entrance tickets to Poring Hot spring which is a World Heritage site. Don't throw these away as the same ticket will allow you entrance to the other park where the hiking trail to the summit of Kinabalu begins. If you feel charitable, buy a new ticket at the other entrance like I did during the first visit.

The manay outdoor pools. This is the third generation pool as they keep on improving the design of the pool. According to Dr. Zhaini Shaarani who is a prominent adventurist, Poring Hotspring is the best in the world in term of layout and design. Any other hotspring development should follow the concept done here.

This is the source of hotspring and this pool is out of bound. From this pool the hot water is channeled to the other smaller pools via an underground pipe reticulation.
Each tub is drainable so you can always bather in fresh water and not feel scared of what germs the previous user may have left. There are two faucets to each tub, one delivering the hotwater and the other the cold spring water. You can mix the two to get your own preferred temperature.

Balkis thouroughly enjoyed the bath. Here they are waiting for the tub to fill up.


If you are ealy you may book the chalet and bathe in privacy. Of course you may have to fork out abit more.
The general view of the open air bathing area.There is also the bigger childrens pool with life guard to look after them.

The signboard to other facilities at the hotspring.

The last time I came I didn't get to see the butterfly farm. It was a disappointment as there were not many butterflies were found. I managed only to sight one Rajah Brooke and a papilion other than the other smaller butterflies. Thus I had to resort to taking photograph of the butterflies set in display cases.

Butterflies mounted in a box on display

Kipungit Waterfall can be reached after a trek up along a clear forest trail. I took this shot during my June visit.

I promised these youngsters that I will put their pictures in my blog. So here it is tokeep to my promise. Unfortunately for then rain started coming and they decided to turn back with me.

We stopped for lunch at a stall in Ranau which was located infront of this lodge. There are a number of lodging places in Ranau so if you can't find any place to stay in Kundasang, try you luck in the town of Ranau. A friend of Lokman came without prior hotel bookingand he found a nice homestay around Ranau complete with cooking equipments and stove. He was very happy with it.
Next we stopped at Kinabalu National Park Base camp.

This is the main entrance.

We drove right up to this point where climbers will strat their hike. There is a lodging place near here so climbers can start their hike very early in the morning.
By the time we got back to base camp, the cloud was so low that we couldnt see anything from the yet to be completed Vista Point.
We drove down the mountain in early evening on our way to Kota Kinabalu. The cloud was so think and it was raining. Visibility was so bad that we could hardly see the tail light of the car infront which we used as the guiding light.

Due to the bad visibility, we missed the stop at Pekan Nabalu. From my previous trip, these pictures at Pekan Nabalu excited Fatthiyah so much and she wanted to see it. We overshot the place but in that condition of visibility, making a U turn was just too dangerous.


The watchtower
The signboard.
The handicraft at the stalls. On a clear day, the sight of Mount Kinabalu summit is best seen from this town.The last time we went up to Kundasang, we came via the old town of Tamparuli to see the famous Jambatan Tamparuli made famous by the song of the same name. There is another bridge beside it which is passable when the water level is low.


This is a picture of the old shop house in Tamparuli which I captured while on the move when passing by the town in my previous trip. Later we came to know that these old wooden shops were razed down by a fire. What a loss.

We checked into Tune Hotel in Kota Kinabalu. We bought 2 rooms over the internet and paid a total of less than RM80 for two rooms for 2 nights. Later when we extended our stay, the same room cost us RM80 per room per night.

That night Balkis had a bad fever. The medication we got from a clinic in the One Borneo Complex didn't seem to help. We had to compress her fever using ice cubes. We had to take her to another clinic the next day.
The last time we came back from Kundasang she had fever too. This was how she looked then.

That was how she looked when she had the same fever about 6 months ago.

The next post will be about Kota Kinabalu and the trip back to Labuan. It will be the finale to my trip to Borneo.