Sandakan in July: Part 1 - Kylie Crawley

The following is adapted from Kylie's travelogue: 

Sandakan War Memorial

The flight to Sandakan from KL was about three hours in length. We were quickly able to meet Jude Day who was to be our guide for the next three days on our brief tour of Sabah. Following a beer in the lobby bar of the Sabah Hotel, she drove us to Sandakan Memorial Park. The reason for this stop over was to visit the prisoner of war camp where my great-uncle Keith Hubert Henley was interned by the Japanese from 29th March 1943 until his death from malaria on the 24th April 1945 in Sandakan. He was just 26 years old. In this camp 2,248 prisoners of war were incarcerated, of those who survived about 1200 were marched 260km to Ranau or to their deaths. If they stumbled or fell, the Japanese shot them where they lay. Only 6 men survived these Death Marches, they were all Australians and they survived only because they escaped. 

Window by Philip Handle

In the grounds of the memorial park the remains of the excavator used by the PoW's to build the airport runway can still be seen. It seems that despite the horrendous conditions, the Australians and other prisoners were larrikins until the last; for instance they went to great lengths to bog the excavator in order that the run way would not be completed.
On a more uplifting note, the commemorative pavilion contains magnificent stained glass windows designed by Australian Philip Handle incorporating the flowers of the states of Australia, Borneo and England.



Leaflet about Keith Henley

 After leaving a paper leaflet on the memorial to commemorate my Uncle Pat and remember his ultimate sacrifice we visited St Michael's and All Angels Church where the prisoners spent the night on route to the camp from Singapore. The church had lovely stained glass windows once again designed and constructed by Philip Handle commemorating those who died and praying for everlasting peace.
                     



Canopy Walkway

 We were able to have a sleep on the second morning as Jude did not pick us up until 10:30am to take us to the Rainforest Discovery Centre. Here we saw macaques swinging wildly through the trees, hornbills flying through the skies, huge trees, beautiful flowers and other assorted wildlife. The canopy walk provided great views of the rainforest below although it was so hot I thought we might pass out.

 Our next stop was the Sepilok Orang-Utan Sanctuary. We watched the introductory DVD and then followed the board walk to where the orang-utans are fed. Despite the fact that the rain fell for the entire time we were there we were lucky enough to see 5 orang-utans including a mother and her very new born baby. They were all so cute and oh so human like. There was a very cheeky one that hung above us for ages, occasionally poking his tongue out at us.


Orangutans at Sepilok

Kylie came to Sabah in July 2010, specifically to visit Sandakan.  Part 2 of her story will be up on the blog soon.
If you have any comments or questions, please let me know.  I'd love to hear from you at:  jude@astsabah.com

Hoya - ole!

Hoya - an odd name, isn't it? But for some reason I find it a particularly attractive name for a species of flower. And at the Sabah Agriculture Park in Tenom there is a hoya garden which generally has a few varieties of hoya in flower. If you look carefully, you'll find them in the native orchid garden as well.

Imagine my delight, then, to actually see the flowers! They are simply wonderful. Tiny massed spreads of star-like beauties in lots of different colours! Sometimes you are fortunate enough to see the really big (this is a relative comment!) purple one which is stunningly strong but generally the flowers are very small, often in unusual mixes of colours.

And when I found out that another name for these flowers is 'waxflower', it made complete sense, as the flowers are just as Wikipedia describes them: Each flower is about 1 cm diameter, with five thick, waxy, triangular petals; colours range from white to pink or yellow. They are sweetly scented and produce abundant nectar. I haven't noticed the sweet scent before - but will be sniffing for it next time. (Usually I'm too busy trying to get a decent picture as they are not easy to capture.)

Intriguingly, there is a whole list of odd words that goes along with this rather special plant that includes: umbellate and peduncles and glabrous! These are words that are worth eating, aren't they?

So, in Wikipedia, I learnt that the grouping of flowers is called an 'axillary umbellate cluster'. And where do they grow? Well, at the end of the peduncle, of course! And then what happens. according to Wikipedia: The flowering peduncles get 2-3 mm longer with each flowering, and can eventually reach 7 cm or more long... Gosh, I'm keeping my eyes open for a 7 cm peduncle!

It's true that the flowers are shaped like 5-pointed stars and it's interesting to know that each group of flowers is called an umbel. Well, umbel - umbellate - umbrella? And an umbel can contain from 1 to 55 or more flowers!

But it's the description of the hoya flowers in Wikipedia that is a real hoot. Here it is: Hoya flowers vary in textures as well as size, some being glabrous and shiny and some being quite hairy... I had to check a dictionary for 'glabrous' and it means bald or hairless! I guess I have mostly seen glabrous hoya then. (You'll be able to talk like this when you're next looking at a hoya!)
And you can let people know that the hoya is native to southern Asia, Australia and Polynesia!

Helen Morgan, Brenda Morgan and Jude Day took these photos.
If you have any comments or questions, please write to us. We'd love to hear from you on: ron@astsabah.com or jude@astsabah.com.

Chinese New Year Lion Dances in KK

Chinese New Year in Kota Kinabalu! It seemed to be even noisier this year - wonderful fireworks and lots of trucks driving around town full of lion and dragon troupes.
Before the start of New Year itself - which is a two week event! - there is a Lion, Unicorn and Dragon festival in KK. It's a wonderful opportunity to see the skill of these young men as they prance and jump and rear up and seem to nearly fall off the poles they leap over. It's quite an amazing display of talent and strength. You can see the poles in some of the pictures in the collage above. They're quite high and are tested carefully by the lion dancers before they begin to make sure they are stable. Some groups even have members sitting around the bottom of the poles to keep the whole structure steady.

The heads of the lions are beautiful to see and the dancer inside can give a lot of character to his lion by the way he moves the ears and eyelids, as well as the tilt of the head and the position of the leg.

Amazing how the lions can be both cute and powerful - the dances are so gymnastic!

Truckloads of lions and sometimes dragons drive around KK during the two weeks of Chinese New Year, visiting temples, homes and business places. They bless the altars, produce scrolls from their mouths that contain best wishes for the year to come, and amaze and delight with their antics on the poles! You can really hear people ooh! and aah! as they watch the amazing techniques that the skilled pair of lion dancers has.

When a new lion's head has been made and is ready to be worn in a dance, someone with status is invited to draw in the centre of each eye - giving life to the head. Quite an inspiring idea. Perhaps one that would make you think twice if you were invited to do this!

These pictures were taken by Helen Morgan and Yap Cheen Boon at the Lion, Unicorn and Dragon Dance Exhibition in KK earlier in February. There are also a couple that I took at other places.

If you have any questions or comments, we would love to hear from you. Don't hesitate to get in touch with us at: ron@astsabah.com or jude@astsabah.com

KK - coming of age

Kota Kinabalu is a great place to live. There is a lot going on here, a lot of new developments, a lot of different events happening all the time. The trick is to be able to find out about them! So you have to get onto people's mailing lists or sms lists - or join societies - or talk to people a lot about what you are interested in so that they remember to tell you when something is coming up!

And there is a new generation now making its mark in KK, so we see the cybercafes and the smart coffee shops and ice cream parlours and the trendy small restaurants with their fusion cuisine. Oh to be wanted to be seen! But I'm long past that. And I prefer the traditional small 'kopi tiams' (coffee shops), anyway.

However, I was sent an invitation to the opening of an art gallery in KK and I went there yesterday. What a great place - the Mary James Art Gallery! And just being there reminded me about how the young people of KK are having their influence on the city, shaping the look and feel of public places and happenings. The works on display also brought home to me again how profoundly artists in Sabah are influenced by the traditional cultures and handicrafts, the landscape, flora and Mt Kinabalu - hence my choice of photos for this blog! It is this link that underlies the design of AST's Flora Tour, where we explore what nature here offers and how this is so often the inspiration for artists (See our tours on www.astsabah.com)

Three Sabahan artists are being featured at the gallery at the moment. They are Awang Fadilah Bin Ali Hussein, Muhammed Amin B Muhidin and Sia Yek Chung. Their work is very different from each other's and very distinctive. Awang Fadilah works in acrylic and his black and white pictures are so full of fine detail that you are constantly seeing new things in them. Muhammed Amin, on the other hand, creates fabulous batiks on silk. They are vibrant and multi-layered, so that, again, their message is not revealed all at once - you need to keep looking at them to see what else is there.

Or you need to hear some of the stories that Ellie Hwong, the Managing Director of the gallery, can tell you about the pictures and the artists. She is committed to both the works and the artists and it is very interesting talking to her.

The third artist whose work is featured in the Mary James Art Gallery is Sia Yek Ching. He works in watercolour and the paintings on display are of pitcher plants, koi (fish) and local handicrafts. His super-enlarged pitcher plants are quite lovely.

In all three artists, the influence of Sabah is obvious, as I said above. The colours, the motifs, the themes, the richness of the cultures here and the unique offerings of nature in Sabah are all there in their work! I am not an artist myself - but I love looking at it, appreciating it and, occasionally, buying it! And all the works on display are very interesting to just look at and enjoy.

The works are all on sale and cater to the high-end and corporate slice of the market. Ellie is committed to promoting the work of Sabahan artists, though, and we look forward to some more exhibitions and perhaps 'meet the artist' evenings at this lovely new art gallery in KK.


You can visit the Mary James Art Gallery blog to see some of the works currently on display: http://mjartgallery.blogspot.com/. You can also call (088) 270223 for a viewing at the gallery.
If you have any comments or questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with us at: ron@astsabah.com or jude@astsabah.com. We'd love to hear from you!

New Year's Day 2010

What better way to start a New Year than going out into the countryside with good friends, a delicious picnic and cameras to the ready!

Four of us set out in the morning – three of us with cameras set to go! We drove through a beautiful part of Sabah and were delighted when we came upon a spot where we could look down into a valley of terraced padi. It was an idyllic scene – the golden padi, the dark green hills and the sparkling water.

Padi has two stunning moments – first, when it is planted out and is a vibrant green, shimmering with its own potential, and then when is it ready to harvest and is a glowing gold, heavy with rich ripeness.

On New Year’s Day, the padi was golden and ready to harvest.

And there were people doing just that! They were harvesting by hand, using the traditional short, curved blade. These were small groups of people who saw us and waved and shouted greetings,holding their fistfuls of padi in the air for us to see. And then photographing us photographing them!

They were also threshing by hand and, somehow, we felt privileged to see them.

The air bubbled with fun!

As evening came, the scene was cast in a particularly beautiful light.

These photos were taken by my friends, Boon and Jessica, and me.

Our day-long trip took us from Kota Kinabalu to Ranau (on Mt Kinabalu) and then from Ranau to Tambunan, through the Crocker Range. We then crossed back over the Crocker Range from Tambunan to KK.

If you have any comments or questions, please get in touch with us.

We'd love to hear from you at jude@astsabah.com or ron@astsabah.com.

Kota Belud's Annual Market - the Tamu Besar

Last weekend, a group of us went to the annual Big Market (Tamu Besar) in Kota Belud, a small town about 45 minutes' drive north of Kota Kinabalu. It's great going to the weekly Sunday market at any time - but this Big Market has an even livelier atmosphere and provides the background to the inevitable speeches, cultural performances and the selection of the young woman who represents the spirit of this event.

What caught my eye this time were the wrappings that were being used - such as folded and boiled leaves, some tied together and others fixed with toothpicks. They are all like magical bundles - what lies inside? And they feel so different from any of the wrappings we're used to dealing with. Then there's the golden glow of the batter that covers the freshly fried bananas draining over the wok. What could be more appetising!

I also enjoyed the lovely patterns made by the items on display - such as the drinks on sale with such 'interesting' colours that you even hesitate to try them! The bundles of local cigarette papers are beautifully done, as are the limes and rambutans displayed on the inevitable bit of newspaper in front of the woman selling them. The ikan bilis (or dried anchovies) are another tasty item on sale everywhere - great with cabbage!


The Kota Belud market is used to receiving a lot of visitors, so taking photos is not unusual. There are different reactions to it, of course, with some people preferring not to have their picture taken and others asking you to! The faces are etched with a life that we can hardly imagine and yet the smiles are all somehow the same! The different styles of head coverings are always a source of interest and I particularly like the traditional woven hats that are still worn a lot, although mainly by older women.

The highlight of the Tamu Besar is the display by the Bajau horsemen which is on the Sunday afternoon. The Bajau people form one of the larger groups of indigenous people in Sabah and most are Muslim. They have a tradition of keeping ponies and decorating them in a kind of mediaeval livery on special occasions. This year, to honour the 1 Malaysia theme, everyone who was riding also carried a full-sized flag. It was a wonderful sight! Children were put on the horses for the first time and little boys also tried on the traditional headdress. The horses looked incredible with even their ears covered - and many with a string of bells around their necks that sounded terrific as they moved around. As with the head coverings at the market, the men's headdresses can be done in a variety of ways, but they all look quite regal - even when the wearer gives the 'v' sign or the thumbs up in the picture!
The Tamu Besar was advertised as a two-day event so we decided to stay overnight at the Kota Belud Travelers' Lodge, which was fine. Very nice people working there. Not much happened on the first day, but that gave us time to wander around and try the many snacks that are on sale around the parade ground. The main events are held on the Sunday morning and afternoon. The speeches and cultural dances are held at the market place and then the display by the Bajau horsemen - and the buffalo races! - take place in the parade ground, a central field in the middle of town.

If you have any questions or comments, please send them to us at: jude@astsabah.com or ron@astsabah.com. We'd love to hear from you!

Malacca - design, colour, history, food

Griffin and I have just made a short trip to Malacca (Melaka), in West Malaysia. It is a place with a long, interesting history that includes Malays, Chinese, Indians, Portuguese, Dutch and, inevitably (somehow) British influences.

Perhaps it is the intermixing of all these cultures that has lead to such interesting decorative elements in Melaka - starting with the handmade beaded slippers that are made for Nyonya weddings (both the bride and the groom might wear them), as well as for other special occasions. In the photo, you can just glimpse the graph paper on which the design has been drawn. It is attached to the cloth and then each bead is hand sewn over it. Very beautiful work and with lots of wonderful designs.

Then there are the tiles found outside a lot of the old houses in the centre of Melaka. The ones for walking on are, of course, plainer and more utilitarian-looking than the ones that run along the bottom of the front wall of the house in various lovely colours and patterns.

If you stand back and look up, you are likely to see some very interesting ornamentation around the windows as well. Something like Melaka rococo? Such a fantastic combination of elements from both the west and the east.

Notice the vertical bar on the open window used to move the louvres up and down to regulate light and the breeze.

Not all the older houses in Melaka are well preserved but those that are provide a feast for the eyes. The usual house front is very narrow - about 21 feet - but this is made up for with the length of the house which can be up to 200 feet! The skyline created by the roofs of the houses was reminiscent of Hanoi in Vietnam. Wonder what created this kind of building? Taxes on the width of the house perhaps?

These particular houses are along the Melaka River that runs through the centre of the old town and creates its own special atmosphere, with people loitering on the bridges and lights glimmering in the water at night.

Melaka is also justly famous for its food, including the Nyonya cakes (the Nyonya people being a Malay-Chinese mix) and the rice porridge. This is eaten for lunch, rather than breakfast, and the basic rice soup is sharpened up with the addition of lots of extras, including small salted fish, eggs, pickles, fried onion, boiled chicken - in whatever combination you like! There's a huge cuisine in Melaka that we only just touched on. You could spend ages working your way through all the delicacies on offer. There seems to be an endless variety of cakes alone!

In the collage, you can see the varied opportunities there are in Melaka for photo-taking. It's a very picturesque place and the museum there gives a very full overview of Melaka's most interesting history.

If you have any comments or questions, please get in touch with us: ron@astsabah.com and jude@astsabah.com. We'd love to hear from you!