Fathers day 'roti' making competition @ 4 Points

Fathers Day '09

On Fathers Day on Sunday, I forgo my weekends of trekking and soaking under waterfalls for a father’s day buffet lunch at Four Points with my dear children and wife who wanted to treat me there (and I foot the bill!).

The place was packed (lots of guilty children and spouses) and the spread of food at RM48/- per head is reasonable although soft drinks (free flow at RM5/-) and coffee are not included. Included however was a cap (I’m wearing it in the cam-whoring photo on the left) for the fathers and an invitation to join their “roti prata” making competition which I was coerced into joining and came in last! I trust that you’d had a happy and enjoyable fathers day. Fathers are the greatest. Just ask Kim.

A memorable Fathers Day for the fathers

I love cupcakes, eating them that is; but I have never seen nor had paid too much attention to cupcake decorating ideas until the other day in my office when I saw some really fun cupcake ideas! To think that all this while all I know of are plain cupcakes. Silly old me who’s interested only in paddling.

Someone ordered cupcakes for a celebration in the office and it was actually baked and decorated by one of the staff who sells it for RM2.50 per cupcake. These fun cupcake ideas are just too pretty to eat and I kept mine for a good part of the day but I still couldn’t bear the thought of biting into such pretty cupcake designs; so in the end I gave it to someone else. I am silly this way (and in many other ways too I’m afraid). I supposed that cupcake recipes are quite simple by itself but the elaborate and creative ideas for cupcakes are certainly not! It would seem that the design are limited only by one’s imagination and creativity. I’m really humbled by a simple cupcake.

Take a look at these cupcake designs and you’ll agree that these are really creative ideas for cupcakes! Contact me (francish2o@gmail.com or 013-8119669) if you want to order these beautifully decorated cupcakes (minimum order is 20) in Kuching for your parties or functions and they can be in any customised design (logos, etc or even your face if you look like a caricature!). No, I’m not venturing into the bakery business; I just think that they are fun and should be shared while helping a fellow colleague out at the same time. Amen. Now go and get some of your own.

The one and only "francis ho" in facebook!

Actually I guess I manage to get “francisho” because it is not a common name. However with 225 million users and with a “first come, first served” policy, for those with common names; it could get ugly in the mad scramble. So good luck to all the Johns, Tonys, Ah Bengs and Ah Lians. Whatever.

So if you are reading this - go ahead and add me as your “friend”.

Leap of faith @ awesome Jankar Falls

Jankar Waterfall! On Gawai’s eve, Danny invited me to join him together with Bryan and gang from Borneo Outdoor Explorers - BOX for short (who described themselves as “a group of nature-loving, adventure-seeking, adrenaline-fueled, outdoor-obsessed explorers who constantly hunt for new place in Borneo and based in Kuching” in their Facebook) to explore Jangkar Waterfalls reputed to be the largest waterfall in southern Sarawak. This, I’ve definitely got to see even though trekking is not my forte; being clumsy and less than sure footed on terra-firma. They have been there more than half a dozen times and Danny’s face lit up with the mention of the name and after seeing this awesome waterfall; I can understand why they are addicted to Jangkar!

Scrapped knees is a small price to pay for the sight of an awesome waterfall.

And so early on Sunday morning I met up with Danny and his friends outside “Ruai” (where the ‘BOXers’ hang out) and together we set out in his van for Lundu to meet up with Bryan and gang for breakfast at Lundu Market and some shopping after. Shopping? Yes, my expensive Adidas water shoe was deemed unsuitable for the trek and so I bought a RM11/- “kampong adidas” in Lundu town instead. This rubber shoe is reputed to give you the best grip although ankle support is solely lacking due to it’s flexibility. Anyway according to Danny this trek is a level 3 out of 5; 1 being a stroll in the park and 5 being pretty tough. But then again Danny and members of BOX are mountain goats and the rest of us being mere mortals I was to subsequently discover that his level 3 is more like a level 5 to me! The primary reason being that his ‘trek’ involves an hour or so of clambering over humongous and treacherously slippery granite rocks!And that’s after trekking up hill over secondary forest for over an hour. By comparison my daily half hour work-out on the summit trainer in the gym is a woefully inadequate preparation for this!

I took a slip on the rocks (and scrapped my knees in the process - darn!) at the start of the trek when we reached the river’s edge and decided to forsake my shoes and chose to go barefooted like Danny and our local guide, Kapik from Kg Biawak.

Jangkar Falls in sight

Anyway so finally after 2 hours of hard work we were finally rewarded by the amazing sight of Jangkar waterfall looming ahead and greated by the roar of the waterfalls. Standing near the bottom ledge of the falls; the sight, sounds and sprays of wind and fine mist is exhilarating and really something to be experienced and relished. After the hot and humid trek, led by Bryan;  Ben, Raymond and Alan all leaped into the pool below the falls without hesitation while I was quite contented to just sit on the rocks to catch my breathe.

Amy taking in Jangkar Waterfalls @ Lundu

By my estimation Jangkar falls must easily be over 6 stories high but no building of the same or greater heights can rival its beauty and breathtaking presence. I’m really grateful to Danny and Bryan for sharing this hidden treasure in Lundu that is largely unknown even to outdoor enthusiasts in Kuching.

“Jankar what?”, is a common refrain when informed of this amazing place.

Lower Jangkar Falls (where Ben & Hudson cooled themselves and their beers)

It’s a privilege to be there and the difficulty and logistics involved in getting there has kept it untouched and unspoiled over the years, as it should be. Heavens forbid if they start to build an access road and a resort here. The thought has crossed my mind not to blog about this but it’s too awesome a place not to. Well.

Danny's amazing energy & jungle cooking skills

But Danny has more surprises for us up his sleeves as while we were relaxing, he was busy preparing a delicious jungle meal for us completed with BBQ and “pansor”, a famous Iban cooking method in which food is cooked inside a bamboo over a wood fire. It’s such luxury to have delicious food cooked for you right out in the middle of the jungle.

Enjoying a jungle lunch @ Jangkar - life's sweet.

When you’re hungry everything tastes good. And I really enjoyed the boobs food and so would you …

Yoga @ Jangkar Falls

Meanwhile Sim Chin Kiong and Krystin Kuek demonstrated their yoga skills; and not allowing themselves to be outdone by the young and pretty, the two “old men” in the group also strutted their stuff … *ahem* Alan claims that as short as 5 years ago he could still walk up stairs with his hands but I know that some Canadians are prone to exaggeration! Just kiddin’ Alan! It’s interesting how nature brings out the little kid inside of you.

You're never too old to have fun - Yogis wannabes ... *sighs*

There were 14 of us including the guide and we all had a really great time and wished that we could linger on at the falls but unfortunately I have a colleague’s wedding dinner to attend in Kuching that night (and I was really really late! Sorry Dennis) and we reluctantly packed up and headed back for the 2 hours trek back to the village where we parked our cars. Time is too short when you’re having fun and I’d would love to get to know Raymond, Ben, Hudson, Amy, Felix and French couple Amelia and Xiaver better.

I understand that BOX’s website would be up soon with details of this and many other trips that they are organising - but meanhile if you are interested to go explore Jangkar falls, you can contact +6016 8899449 (Bryan) +6019 8399996 (Danny) or email them (borneooutdoorexplorers@gmail.com) and beg urge them to take you there! A word of caution though - you may become a “waterfall junkie” after this!

Spashing time @ Jangkar Falls on Gawai's Eve - a definite 2 thumbs up experience!

See Hua Daily News 7 May 2009

I’m afraid more Chinese translation is required and this time it’s in on consecutive days of the See Hua Daily News; on the 7th and 8th of May where you can see yours truly in the feature story by feature writer Miss Lau Sie Heng with some great photography by Lim.

See Hua Daily News 8 May 2009

Although we have been featured previously (haven’t you heard that I’m famous?) in both the local English as well as Malay dailies; this is the first time we are in the Chinese papers. So we are quite thrilled about this and no translation is necessary as we know that both Miss Lau and photographer Lim were quite thrilled on their maiden kayaking trip with us of the 22nd March 2009.

However if you can read Chinese (and can also endure large files downloads); you can view the pdf files of the news feature here and here. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend. You should be kayaking, really - haven’t you read the news?

Lost in Translation?

But somehow I don’t think the Chinese to English translation on this banner is quite correct. Either that or my English vocabulary is not that “powderful” lah! Or I need to learn pin yin. Whatever.

And those of you who know both Chinese and English - please put us out of our misery and translate please. Thank you kindly.

This is what I bought for our kayaking trips - an Olympus Mju 850 SW Digital Camera because it is such a bargain at RM522/-; and easily half the price of what it was when it first came out. And 8 megapixel is plenty of pixels for our kayaking day trips snapshots.

And because I’ve had such good experience with our previous Pentax waterproof digital camera I also ordered the 10 megapixel Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera for my kayaking expeditions. For some silly (homophobic?) reason the pink ones are RM145/- cheaper compared to the (macho?) blue and silver ones! And since I’m already paddling a pink kayak, I ordered the RM923/- pink Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera to go with it! I think these 2 cameras are bargain deals as replacements for our current ones that has died on us. And before I forget - never buy Sanyo’s waterproof ‘Exacti’ range which looks really cool but are fragile and unreliable - it died on us after only a few gentle outings.

Enjoy your Good Friday long weekend and for your information starting today, we’re booked through till Monday - so see you on the waters!

PIKOM PC Fair 2009

Yes. The Pikom PC Fair is on again this year starting in Kuching, Sandakan, Ipoh and Kuantan from the 3^rd to 5^th April and the rest of Malaysia from then on and finishing in Muar on 24 to 26 April. You can check out the schedule here.

Ready or not - the PIKOM PC Fair 2009 goes on

Bargain Notebooks Galore

And in the annoying tradition of the previous PC Fairs in Kuching; it was crowded, hot and bloody noisy with the ‘music’ blasting out from the speakers booths. I actually turned down their volume as I walked past. I’m not hard on hearing - yet. Not as annoying but just as silly are the scrawny young girls (who unfortunately are ugly not ‘presentable’) dressed up in nurses’ uniform promoting anti-virus software. More sensible is the company, Micro World who handed out FREE e’Scan anti virus and content security CD. Trial no doubt but free for the moment.

Wanna get innoculated by a silly nurse? Stop sniggering!

With bargains galore every which way you turn; it was inevitable that I ended up buying something that I had not intended to buy - a seductive rubberised 320GB external hard disk (StoreJet) from Transcend for RM240/- with claims that it meets U.S. military drop test standards. Whatever. It just feels and look so darn cool.

Transcend StoreJet

Have a nice weekend and do avoid the PIKOM PC Fair 2009 if you’re on a budget. You have been warned.

Felicia Home Page

Anyway the Felicia I’d been involved with for the past couple of weeks or so is the Felicia single-storey semi-detached show house in Miri that we’re launching this weekend and that we are also for the first time (in my backwards Company) having a separate website to brand and market it. I hope you like my “first” attempt at website design with the willing and cheerful help of Chang P.K. (and also sweet h.san) despite the rather grudging and grumpy “assistance” of our IT dept. Screw them.

Felicia Showhouse Interiors

That’s reason enough for me to post something on this blog before another busy couple of weeks sped me by. I hope you enjoy your visit. Yes, some architect can design not only buildings. Whatever.