Soaring mountains, sandy/pebbled banks, lush vegetation of the rain forests and the crystal clear water liberates the spirit; and not to mention that the delicious durians we found floating on the river feeds the soul and stomach as well!

Wished you were here! Unless of course you don't like durians!

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We tend to bitch complain when we have to do chores or run errands that entail physical activities that make us sweat easily in the hot and humid tropical Malaysian climate.

But take a look at these women villagers at Borneo Highlands and the burden(s) that they carry on a daily basis and see if you still want to complain the next time you have to pick up something heavier than your office briefcase or a stack of files.

By the way, besides being a considerate road user, I had more than a passing interest in their welfare and a compulsion to take photographs; I was actually hoping that they had some durians for sale!

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Durians are digital because there is no in between – you either love 'em or hate 'em! It’s on or off; or one or zero. You cannot sit on a fence on this one as the thorns of the durians are too prickly for that!

So it was 'judgement day' on Sunday morning that Stephanie and Charlotte from the UK tried this ‘dreaded’ king of fruit from hell or heaven depending on your leaning. For Nick, it was a no-brainer as he absolutely loves this fruit and was on the lookout for them upon learning from me that we could pick them up from the river; and much to his delight and joy he did!

Back to Stephanie and Charlotte; who both tried durian for the first time and Charlotte was absolutely disgusted to put it mildly while Stephanie was an instant convert!

To some durian lovers, eating this rich and intoxicating flesh is almost akin to sex! I absolutely love durians but I wouldn’t go as far as this lah! Less I'll be denied this pleasure of the flesh!

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I received this email a while ago on the danger of using disposable chopsticks which could be just another one those unsubstantiated health warnings. However what could be substantiated is this lone 'chopstick' tree we found along Sungai Sarawak Kiri at Borneo Highlands. Perhaps the crown could have burned after being struck by lightning or more likely the leaves caught fire in the process of the burning off of the surrounding vegetation in clearing the land for farming. Perhaps Professor Jackson Mathis can verify this!

DONT USE DISPOSABLE CHOPSTICKS

This is a true case, if you don't believe try the following test:

Soak a pair of disposable chopsticks (usually given to you when you buy pack food from a Chinese take-away) for between 3 to 5 minutes inside hot boiling water. Within minutes and right infront of your eyes, you will notice that some white colouring matter seems to be dissolved into the hot water from the chopsticks. What is released from the chopsticks is actually a chemical, a bleaching agent.

In a campaign promoting healthy care in Singapore recently, Professor Jackson Mathis reminds people not to use disposable chopsticks, as almost the majority of them are made in or imported from China. He explained that during the manufacturing process of disposable chop-sticks before the actual production itself, all raw materials are already cover-grown with germs that make the wood materialslook like they are coated in multiple colours or are covered with poisonous fungus.

The first process itself is already frightening as the manufacturer starts the process by soaking up the wooden raw materials inside a very big container that is filled with a very toxic and highly poisonous chemical. This chemical is intentionally added in inorder to preserve the materials. After a few days of soaking, they are then washed with an even worse cleaning agent, in this case it is a bleaching agent (which chemical ph level is believe to be more Than a thousand times over the general permissible/acceptable international standards). And guess what? these chemicals itself is likely to cause greater harm to our health (if we continue consuming such chemicals into our body on a daily basis) not forgetting that since these chemicals used are usually carcinogenic in nature, they arelikely to cause cancer.

Since his last visit to a disposable chopsticks manufacturing plant in China 5 years ago, Professor Jackson Mathis has immediately stop using such disposable chopsticks anymore. In Professor Jackson case, just incase if he ever forgets to bring along his own pair of chopsticks for lunch or dinner, he usually make sure that he do not forget to put on pair of it inside his bag since it can be re-use again and again. Professor Jackson Mathis said: "If you have been using disposable chopsticks in the past, and you insist on continue using them again, please pause and think for a moment. Why is cancer spreading like wild fire these days throughout the world affecting all sorts of people. After that think of how many pairs of disposable chopsticks a factory in China is producing by the minute. The answer itself is right here !"

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You have seen pink bananas here but have you ever heard of or seen red durians? Not me until today when Selba, who in keeping with the 'practice' of email forwarders, emailed me this photograph of red durians apparently from Sabah, without any other information.

I trust that they are edible unlike the pink bananas as I can imagine that they are akin to fine red wine! Bon aperitif!

Yes they are from Sabah and they are edible as I found out from here:- "The ‘king of fruits’, the durian, flourishes in Sabah, which has 15 wild varieties. One unique variety has red flesh, and lacks the distinctive fragrance of the durian. This red durian is – sacrilege to durian lovers elsewhere- fried with onions and chilli and served as a side dish or sambal."

Labels: Durians

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If there is any silver lining to the hot weather, it has to be durians which ripen best in the hot and dry weather. And as luck would have it, there are durians trees a plenty lining both banks of the river where I normally bring guests to kayak on the weekends. Because some of the trees are right next to the river, so when the durians fall when they ripen, they fall right into the river and luckily they float! And they are there for your picking when they drift to the river banks.

If you’re not feeling lucky; where we put it at Bengoh, there are always villagers coming out of the jungles with sack loads of durians that you can buy from. We bought one sack full of durians containing 8 large durians for RM40/- last Sunday. We normally do not like to bargain with these honest folks for their time and labour in collecting the durians from the jungles.

Also on the river trip we normally take a break at Danu, a bidayuh village where we have another chance to purchase durians if we didn’t buy or had not found any along the way. In the worst case scenario we are also sometimes able to buy them at the take-out at Kg Semadang before we head home.

So that's how we get durians when we go kayaking and this is just the beginning of the durians season in Kuching; so durians kayaking anyone?

Labels: Durians

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To me what sets Kuching apart from the other towns and cities in Malaysia and the region is the main river, Sungai Sarawak, that flows through and the primary reason for its early settlement; and the architecture of the charming old buildings. A perfect illustration of this is the view from the 12^th floor lounge of Kuching Hilton which is one of the most satisfying places to enjoy the sunset and views over old Kuching town.

I happened to be there early this month to meet someone and took the opportunity to take some photographs in the hazy lights where I had similarly been charmed to do so on other previous occasions. I'm borned in Kuching and chose to come back to live here after working and living in various countries in the region. I connect with this place; especially the rivers.

But it is of some concern to note that this idyllic and picturesque view is sometimes marred by the jarring sights of mindless jet skiers who sped down the river without any regards to the other ferry users of the river and the pace and flow of the river. They can and should be banned as the noises, pollution and wakes they generated does nothing but spoil the ambience of the river scene. However what cannot be banned and of even greater concern is the scale of the upcoming D.U.N. building across the river whose massing would make a mockery of the sensible and sensitive roofs skyline of the historic old shophouses and the other similar charming old colonial buildings and especially the adjacent historic Fort Margherita which would be completely dwarfed.

Enjoy these unadulterated views before the heart and soul of the old town is changed forever by the intrusion of new development we strangely termed as ‘progress’. I for one am for change if it’s for the better but certain thing are pricelessly timeless and the least we can do is to be good guardians of them for future generations to enjoy. Is that too much or too late to ask?

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Despite the haze and the slight language barrier, the Schuster Family of 6 from Germany who are visiting Kuching for the first time are determined to have fun on their dolphins spotting trip yesterday morning.

We were lucky to spot a few pods of dolphins not long after we got on the waters despite the poor visibility due to the haze which does not appear to be abating. The surrounding beautiful mountains and landscape of the estuary were obscured from view and staring into this thick blanket of blankness is not exactly exciting to say the least.

So the Schuster Family decided that they would go swimming and diving into the seas instead; but not after strict instructions on how to re-mount the kayaks and the necessity to keep their life jackets on at all times.

Here are some of the photos of the antics of these orang-utans orang-puteh from Germany!

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Nothing beats seeing beaming faces with a sense of wonderment and joy written all over them; especially local city folks and overseas visitors who are on their first kayaking trip. On sunday, the Gerlach family from Germany on their first trip to the far east, the sights, sounds and smells (of the durians!) were simply overwhelming!

Here are some photos of happy smiling folks enjoying themselves on the trip on saturday and sunday at Borneo Highlands, Kuching. When was the last time you experience such fun, adventure and happiness? So what are you waiting for? The sweet waters and fragrant durians awaits you!

Labels: Durians, Kuching Kayaking

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We went kayaking at Borneo Highlands on Saturday and on the way down to Kuching we stopped by the Semengoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Center to see the orang utans there. Gotcha! What were you thinking huh? Heehee.

Semengoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Center which is about 40 minutes drive from town is a 740 acres sanctuary for a number of Sawarak's indigenous wildlife including the orginial "Borneo Man Of The Forest" - the unique and gentle Orang Utans which are the star attraction amongst the other wild animals there including bears, monkeys and hornbills. Most of the animals here have been taken from captivity and are slowly rehabilitated in order to return them to their natural habitat. The rehabilitated animals roam freely in the rain forest, and the orang utans often return to the centre at feeding times which is where visitors can get a chance to see them. And we were there at 3 pm and managed to see one adult!

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His office in Bangsar has the most creative and unusual shade for a car porch and an apt statement as the intriguing entrance to the practice. The creepers are called cissus sp. See it for yourself! The residents of KL can check up on this from the directions to his office from the website. Before you start hanging them up, Sek San tells me that they need trimming once every 2 days! And they get in the way of tall people too! Obviously he does not drive a SUV either, or at least he is not parking it there!

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I was at the official launch of the book, “Sarawak Sketchbook” by artist A. Kasim Abas who was also having a solo exhibition at Artrageously Ramsay Ong, The Art Gallery, who kindly extended the invitation. A representative from the publisher was also there. This is the latest in the line of the popular and famous sketchbook series. It's Sarawak's honour this time round.

The function yesterday was officiated by the Chief Minister’s wife at a convenient time of 4.30pm after which I could then go home for dinner! A. Kasim Abas took two years to finished the beautiful paintings as evidenced by the careful research and painstaking details in the artwork. It's not only a beautiful but very informative book as well. Did you know that the Textiles and Ornament Museum - The Pavilion was originally built as a hospital (in the design and style of the American South) and later served as the Education Office and was substantially renovated in 2005 to serve its current function?

The exhibition will run until 27^th August 2006 and the book makes a wonderful and meaningful gift from Sarawak. It is well worth a visit and the sketches are really something to savour over coffee or tea.

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Had my first experience with the new Low Cost Terminal (LCC) at Kuala Lumpur last week and to summarize it from the perspective of a passenger – it sucks is really “low cost”. Somehow the powers-that-be that conceived and built the LCC must have equated low cost with low quality and confused it with cost effectiveness and functionality.

Cheap is the word and using it makes one feel even more so. It reflects the mentality that if you are paying a low price for something, you should not expect too much! So you ‘must’ be ‘punished’ and should not complain nor expect too much. Hello? Low cost and good design is not mutually exclusive. There is not even a need for a LCC when KLIA is so under-utilized. *sigh*

I wished we have more enlightened and visionary people at the top that makes these and other decisions. I love this country but certain things just get me down. Or perhaps they think that we just love to walk! I prefer to paddle and fortunately the true ‘powers-that-be’ that makes the rivers and seas are infinitely much more intelligent and compassionate. I wished the people irresponsible for the LCC would meet the maker soon and get some timely lesson! Forgive me as I do entertain such wicked thoughts sometimes! You will too once you have done the 'walk'! Then you'll agree that the LCC does not kick ass but that MAB like Jessica Simpson should get their butts kicked for for such trashiness!

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I was using the toilet of a cybercafé in KL (no, I’d not had food poisoning then) when I noticed this truck/van parked in this grubby back lane through the broken louver glass windows. I need to look at something else besides the even grubbier toilet. Incidentally I just happened to be in this wrong part of town or are most backlanes as grubby as this?

It gives a literal meaning to the word garbage truck! Look closely – it’s all tied up together with the garbage bags ready for collection and disposal. But somehow I get the feeling that the council workers are not collecting. And I would also think that they would dread what they'll find if they dare to open its rear doors!

To all KL readers, please note that this is not meant to 'rubbish' KL in anyway or manner! I love the urban jungle (almost) as much as the real jungle. Trust me - my fingers (whether typing or clicking) don't lie!

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We had to send our maid off last night to the maid agency as we caught her throwing a note to the Indonesian construction workers doing some renovations down the road; with the code to our house burglar alarm. Subsequent search in her room revealed that she has collected all the spare keys to the padlocks to the security grilles and external doors. This is most unnerving and we are contemplating making a police report on this incident. This finally adds up and throw light on a number of recent disturbing incidents which I would not like to dwell on nor bore you with; and it's really maddening.

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As we walked down the steps after coming back from taking a look at Danu village, I took a snap of our kayaks parked alongside the traditional wooden boats as they make such an interesting contrasts.

Much as I enjoyed the convenience and comfort of the modern sit-on-tops kayaks, I am very fond of and admire the time-proven design and qualities of the traditional wooden crafts that the local villagers used; simple, honest, functional and yet elegant and river worthy.

I hope our riverine villagers would continue to build such fine crafts for a very long time. It would be a very sad day and we would have lost something very special the day they no longer do. There are always new and even newer things everyday but sometimes I just prefer the old.

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The price of natural rubber has gone up from a ridiculous 80 cents a kilo to around 6 ringgit in recent time for the small scale rubber tapers and as a consequence some rubber trees that have been neglected for almost two decades are not being tapped once again by the local farmers. It's mind boggling to think that a 1.5 liter bottle of latex is considerably cheaper than that of mineral water!

But now natural rubber prices has reached a 20-year high in Malaysia with natural rubber prices having shot up dramatically in the last six months on the back of rising global demand and a weather-related shortfall in production from the other rubber producing countries. Rising oil prices and the corresponding increase in the costs of synthetic rubber production could herald the return of natural rubber's viability in the commodities market.

It's amazing what you can discover and see floating through a rainforest river in Sarawak! Yeah, it's a natural high; and when was the last time that you felt like that on the public transit or highway?

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