Happy Harvest Festival 2008

Happy Harvest Festival
Kotobian Tadau Tagazo do Kaamatan
Selamat Hari Pesta Menuai
to all Sabahans!

The Harvest festival celebrated in Malaysia by the Kadazan of Sabah (Land below the wind) each May with thanksgiving dedicated to the rice gods. Agricultural shows, exhibitions, cultural programs, buffalo races, and other traditional games are held. There is much merrymaking and feasting with rice wine flowing freely throughout the festivities.

At harvest time the whole of the Malaysian community work together in the rice fields, gathering the stalks by hand. Traditional Malaysians harvest rice with a special knife whose carved handle is said to appease the Semangat or rice spirit.

In the month of May, Sabahans celebrate The Kadazan Harvest Festival. The Kadazan Harvest Festival is known locally as ‘Tadau Kaamatan’.

According to their beliefs, the spirit of the paddy plant is said to be part of the Kinoingan - also known as the Bambaazon, who is revered as the creator, a source of life and existence. The rice spirit Bambaazon is therefore revered in the rice plant, the rice grain and the cooked rice. Many believe that “Without rice, there is no life”.

During the festival, Sabah natives wear their traditional costumes and enjoy a carnival atmosphere which stretches from daybreak till dawn. ‘Tapai’ or home-made rice wine is served as the specialty for the day.

Sabahans are greeted with a special greeting for the harvest festival known as ‘Kopivosian Tadau Kaamatan’ or ‘Happy Harvest Festival’.

source : harvestfestivals

The most anticipated event during Kaamatan is Unduk Ngadau (Miss Harvest Festival) beauty pageant. It is the best traditional beauty pageant in Sabah. Lining up all the pretty sumandak (girls) to compete for the Unduk Ngadau title from district level up to State level.

Few faces (random) of the winners from previous Unduk Ngadau.

Trinna J. Dison - Penampang district 2006 winner (right)
Madelyne M.Nandu - Unduk Ngadau Winner 2005 (left)


Devenna Jaikob - Sabah State Unduk Ngadau 2006
(Miss Sabah 2008 as well)

source : mysabah.com

Daphne Iking - Sabah State Unduk Ngadau 2003

source : worldrec & lowyat


Who will be the winner of Unduk Ngadau 2008?

Apart from that beautiful event, sumazau and other culture dance/show...drinking session (till you drop) will never be forgotten. Tapai, montoku, carlsberg and so on. Some people drink until like really 'dead' on the ground...some people drink but still insist that they're ok, hence drink & driving = accident..some get high = rape cases, some get crazy;out of their mind = quarrel, killing etc...

Hope this year less cases on that.

So, enjoy the holiday and have a Happy Kaamatan! Drink (moginum) moderately la..

Aramaii Ti!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Winner of Unduk Ngadau 2008



Winner of Unduk Ngadau State Level 2008 - Tati Leonie Lawrence Gontuni from Penampang
1st Runner Up - Tati Florence Masimbin from Kinabatangan
2nd Runner Up - Tati Emily Majil from Tambunan

source : MyTitania

Now Watching TVB Drama - The Money Maker Recipe

The Money-Maker Recipe 師奶股神

Theme song

Episode 21


Episode 20


Episode 19


Episode 18



Episode17

Episode 16

Episode 15

Episode 14

Episode 13

Episode 12

Episode 11

Episode 10

Episode 9

Episode 8

Episode 7

Episode 6

Episode 5

Episode 4

Episode 3

Episode 2

Episode 1



credits & source : aiktze & waiteng861

Black and White Scribbles

can't get my hands off the white paper (any paper) and start doodling...

whenever

• i'm stressed
• i need to read instead the hand move to the pen n paper
• i'm not thinking straight
• my mind starts to get crazy
• need escapism
• i've problems
• want to kill time
• want to think 'bout absolutely nothing
• i'm in good mood
• i'm missing someone
  

wherever...

• office
  
• library
• lab
• restaurant
• car
• desk
• bus station
• etc...

before

after PS

can spot my drawing and PS one? (so obvious...duh!)

David Cook - Time Of My Life Lyric

David Cook- Time of my Life

I been waiting for my dreams to turn into something I could believe in
And I'm looking for the magic rainbow on the horizon I couldn't see it
Until I let go, gave in love, watch all the bitterness burn
Now I'm coming alive body and soul
Feeling my world starts to turn 

And I'll taste every moment and living out loud
I know this is the time; this is the time to be
More than a name or face in the crowd
I know this is the time; this is the time of my life
The time of my life

Holding onto things and vanish them to the air left me in pieces
But now I'm rising from the ashes finding my wings
And all that I needed was there all along within my reach
As close as the beat of my heart

And I'll taste every moment and living out loud
I know this is the time; this is the time to be
More than a name or face in the crowd
I know this is the time; this is the time of my life
The time of my life

A mouth on the edge of forever ready to roar
Keeping my feet on the ground my arms open wide faces the sun

And I'll taste every moment and living out loud
I know this is the time; this is the time to be
More than a name or face in the crowd
I know this is the time; this is the time of my life
The time of my life

More than a name or face in the crowd
I know this is the time; this is the time of my life
This is the time of my life…
The time of my life!

Song lyrics Time Of My Life lyrics

Food Craving

How Can I Control Food Cravings and Lose Weight...........when I am eating all these???

AAaaahhh............

Hey, I got my BiG MaC 4-seconds Chant!! (yeah, right..)

I mumbled this....

“Two All-Beef Patties,Special Sauce, Lettuce,Cheese, Pickles, OnionsOn A Sesame Seed Bun!”

+&()_&^$!@#$^&*(_++)((*^$#!@#%&()*............

became... "1 Big Mac burger takeaway please.." Haha!

I bought one lor...craved for it mah. No need to chant ler...with friends chanting then more fun..

A big mac not enough is it?

Dunkin' Donuts ( I don't really like dunkin' but craving for something sweet and quick)

Pandan Omochi (omg!!)

got again.....??

Popiah (woaah...)

(i seriously got problem....can eat these whole food at once!!??!)

I found the calories for some of the food from dailyplate

Right after consuming all these....an hour later, I had stomach pain, not sure stomach or abdomen, at the stomach left lower part.....grrrr. (serve me right, huh?)

Slimming centre...I need 'you'!!

Penniless, still eat so many...

No penny, want slimming centre??

What day is today?

Bā-Bē-Tooues-day ??

This is my bad habit, when I need to buy any gift for any occassion. I'll search and search and end up buy unnecessary things or end up buy something way out of my budget. And always try to make the gift looks at it's best perfect packaging. Oh, and I still have two wedding dinner to attend this year. Hope I won't be crazy in finding the perfect gifts.... I will have to search early for the gifts as well. I'm planning to design a handmade wedding card... hehe..

cute retro baby clothes...

photos source : TheRetroBaby

ahh, babies nowadays are so lucky, so 'hang-fuk' oo... during my time, it's....forget 'bout it. -_-" I think if i have a baby, I will spend like mad and buy all those hip,trendy,cool clothes if it's a boy...and stylish-girlish-damn cute clothes if it's a girl... (dreaming~~~~), put 'em in a baby fashion show... and me shaking leg, waiting the moolahs...haha. Then I can become a hot-trendy-mama... Mums need to shop for the kids and themselves also what... It's hard you see... why do i sound like a mommie now...gosh.. stop!

Toodles!

I need baby stuff 2

I'm still searching for baby gifts...seems like 'organic and eco-friendly products' are the 'in' thing nowadays, is it? Is cloth diaper a famous thing for baby right now?

I found this LiL Diaper Depot, claimed to be an organic and eco-friendly baby shoppe...
Many cloth diapers to choose from oo...quite reasonable price also I guess..

Organic Diaper Tote Bag

photos source : LiL Diaper Depot

Is it okay, if I give cloth diapers with the diaper tote..put the cloth diaper inside. Maybe buy two. Nice as a gift, right?

Then add 1 more additional thing..

Buns n Stuff
Shea Butter Ointment

photo source : LiL Diaper Depot

and then wrap the gift, beautify it, make it looks perfect..
something like this I saw in babygiftbox



photo source : babygiftbox


Nice or not?

I Need Baby Stuffs

NO...what were you thinking? Aha...

I need to buy some baby stuff/products for my friend's baby. I was browsing for some unique nice stuff..don't wanna buy the normal stuff, sure they have it..instead of searching the right gift, I was enjoying seeing all the pretty cute-cute small clothes, shoes, accessories....haha.

This is cute but too common..

out of all the cuties above,

i think i can only afford this if I want...

I'm not a mama yet you know....so, I just need a not-so-pricey but cute unique gift (demanding!)

Photos source : Best Baby Organics

Bad me...

Ok, I know people would say I'm being ungrateful, unappreciative, terrible, wasting and etc...cus somewhere out there, there are poor poor (very poor people) who can't even get a grain of rice.

And me, being... (too full ohkay... not unappreciative.. did I say that?) throw my leftover-can't-finish briyani rice.. Briyani rice! very nice lo. But too much. I feel very bad, and suddenly I remembered this advertlets ads 'bout freerice.. Not sure if you can see at the sidebar on the right there. Freerice is a sister site of the world poverty site, poverty.com. It has two goals which are to provide English vocabulary to everyone for free and help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

For each word you get right, they will donate 20 grains of rice through UN World Food Program to help end hunger. To-date they have achieved 34,230,006,290 (34 billion grains) grains of rice already.


To reduce the feeling of guiltiness in me...I go to freerice to contribute my part.





My briyani rice look something like this...



source : flickr

I've donated 1340 grains of rice. I will play (donate) everyday or maybe spend a few minutes. Spread the word people...




ps : in case you're thinking why you should play the vocab games to contribute rice..you can read their FAQ

I extract one part from their FAQ here...

"Do I really make a difference by playing FreeRice?"

The rice you donate makes a huge difference to the person who receives it. According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children. To a mother or father watching a loved child die in their arms from hunger, the rice you donate is more precious than anything in the world.

Please remember that you are not the only one playing FreeRice. Though 10 or 20 grains of rice is a small amount, it is important to remember that while you are playing, so are thousands of other people at the same time. It is each and every one of you together that makes the difference. Your 200, 500 or 1,000 grains may not seem like much by itself, but consider that in its first five months, FreeRice generated enough rice to feed more than one million people.

source : freerice

What a weekend! Bypass blocked sites..

How to access/bypass to blocked sites

Aaaarrggh...

I can't access my gmail, hotmail, yahoo mail, (all emails!), msn, yahoo messenger, gtalk, bank website, blogger.com, facebook and lots more...I don't know why this stupid wifi restricted/blocked these sites...

Spent almost the whole day to find out how to bypass this firewall or proxy or whatever thingy is that.

Tried lotsa sites, some still can't go through..
Until I found these sites which work for me. Thank goodness...

• wiredtree
• canhide

For messenger, I use this..

Msn Live Messenger - Messengerfx

All messenger - Meebo

All messenger - Iloveim

There are alot of free sites that you can use to bypass the blocked sites. Just have to search and try it.

I read somewhere suggesting using Mozilla firefox or Opera browser, than IE. I used to browse with IE, but it really sucks. Now am using Opera browser, Mozilla is kinda slow for me.

As for now, these few sites work for me and am using now...sigh -_-"

Now Watching TVB Drama - Forensic Heroes 2

Forensic Heroes II (法證先鋒II)

Theme Song


Episode 30


Episode 29


Episode 28


Episode 27


Episode 26



Episode 26-27-28-29-30 Preview


Episode 25



Episode 24


Episode 23


Episode 22




Episode 21


Episode 21-22-23-24-25 Preview


Episode 20


Episode 19


Episode 18



Episode 17



Episode 16


Episode 15

Episode 14

Episode 13



Episode 12


Episode 11


Episode 10


Episode 9


Episode 8


Episode 7



Episode 6



Episode 5



Episode 4



Episode 3



Episode 2



Episode 1



Credits & source : aiktze, joanlhoang, waiteng861 & hersall1

Irritated. Frustrated.

Irritated ...
1. When you say you'll be there and ask the person to wait, and you didn't appear at all
2. Not apologizing, not feeling guilty, not explaining?
3. Shut up, when you are dealing with small matter. Don't make a big fuss!
4. You can't always act immature
5. I still have to face you...


I am frustrated with ........myself? I need to read this.
Frustration - 8 ways to deal with it.
=(

American Idol Seven - David............Cook

what a late post..
connection sucks badly..

Winner of American Idol 7 - David Cook
(I thought it'll be the 'cutie-archu-D')



source : youtube

Anyways, both David are great..

Photoshop Header

I just did my header in photoshop. It's not perfect, am still learning...Anyone can teach me? hehe.. Thanks to this site, ObsidianDawn for the brushes. I haven't got time to read the tutorials. Am looking for nice font, as you can see the word 'blog' and 'bout' are ugly cus I drew it, compare to the word 'anything' which I picked from the font list. And I can't match the background colour..

これはかわいい

Yeah...like I know Japanese words. =P

I saw this... It's an old thingy... Just wanna say that it's cute. I want it, let's 'booze it up' kids..

Kodomo No Nomimono



source : youtube

Pretty Penang

Penang, one of the finest destination in Southeast Asia is famous with its outstanding beaches and exotic views. You can enjoy the view of old historical and architectural buildings, clan houses, places of worship; temples, parks and hills...

Beautiful sceneries - enjoy and relax

Night markets ("Pasar Malam")- get all the cheapest stuff from there, you have to bargain with them

Food - "heaven of food", eat all you want till you drop. Cheap-delicious-food! Everywhere.. (wish I've a bigger stomach) There are lotsa of hawker stalls at night with variety of choices

Places of Interest - Penang Bridge, Penang Museum and Art Gallery Lubus Farquhar, Kapitan Keling Mosque, Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, St George's Church, Lebuh Farquhar, China Town, Kek Lok Si Temple, Dharmikarama Burmese Temple, Lorong Burma etc...

Some random pics in few places in penang...Not many tho'.



I didn't get to snap alot of pictures...Lazy me.. Where's all the nice food pictures? in my stomach... burrrpp...

Cheap and Easy way to go Penang from Kuala Lumpur

Go to Puduraya Bus Terminal - Main bus station in Kuala Lumpur

Go and look for a ticket counter - going to Penang.

Ignore the people there selling tickets to you. Better buy from the counter.

Get Transnasional or Plusliner . Price ranges around RM25-30.