Showing posts with label Penampang. Show all posts

Thursday 1 November 2012

Hollanders Rocking the Sumazau Dance

Sumazau Dance by Hollanders and Penampang Homestay Famillies
Just last month, 19 retirees from Holland visited Malaysia for a 3 weeks' holiday. They spent 2 weeks in Malacca, Peninsular Malaysia, 1 week in Sandakan, Sabah and the last day of their holiday at homestays at Kg. Putaton Inobong, Penampang, Sabah.

Although they only get to spend half a day with the locals, nevertheless, they had a blast!!!

Upon their arrival at Putaton homestay, they were divided into several groups and each group was placed under the responsibility of a homestay operator who participated in the proggramme. Then, each of these homestay operators brought their guests to their humble homes and showed them what they have, shared with them about things that they do to make a living and teach them a few of the recreational activities of the locals.

They also had the opportunity to check out on some of the rare and distinct tropical Borneo herbs, learn to prepare local dishes, learn the process of "Lihing" making (our local rice wine) and get a closer look at the way rubber is harvested and the process to harden it before it is sold.

They had a good time chatting up with the family members of homestay operators while enjoying lunch. Lunch was awesome and several traditional dishes were served.

Just look at the short videos below.

They had a "Sumazau" rock 'n' roll!!






The "Sumazau" dance is the KadazanDusun traditional dance which is commonly performed in weddings, during the annual "Pesta Kaamatan" festival and any significant or special occasions. The dance style is similar to a number or groups of birds soaring together. The arms are raised and flapped similar to that of a bird and "glide" softly at about shoulder level. The elbow and wrist are gently bended parallel at both sides of the body.

These Hollanders may not rock the perfect "Sumazau" dance but considering their very short visit, it's not too bad huh! They had a really great time. Need proof? One couple, Dekker and Gerda, even offered a free accommodation for the homestay families who intend to visit Holland (Of course it was just a verbal promise, a promise made from the heart, nevertheless). Homestay is truly an experience that should not be missed if you want to build a close relationship with the locals.

To those who are interested to learn the Sumazau dance, watch the video below and learn the dance...practice always makes perfect!


Wednesday 24 October 2012

Think Bambangan, Think Sabah


What is Bambangan?
It is a seasonal fruit, is sometimes described as a wild mango, when ripe has thick brown skin and fibrous yellow flesh and gives out a very strong sweet aroma. I don't know why some people say Bambangan gives out a pungent smell. According to dictionary.reference.com, pungent means "acutely distressing to the feelings or mind" which is NOT the case for me. I LOVVVEEE Bambangan, love to eat it, love to smell it, is acutely COMFORTING to my feelings and mind.

Bambangan which is about 80% ripe is used to make pickle Bambangan. The young fruit is smaller in size than the ripe ones, the skin is brown and hard, and the flesh is white. This is most suitable to be used for cooking the "Pinasakan" dish, a favourite local delicacy, that incorporates young Bambangan fruit in its recipe.

Where is it found?
Some people say it is found ONLY in Sabah Borneo (???). When it comes to Bambangan fruit, Sabah is the only place that I know (please correct me if I am wrong) in the South East Asia region that never stops hollering "Hail, Bambangan!!!". When you want to talk about Bambangan, you have to talk about Sabah. Hence, the title of this post "Think Bambangan, Think Sabah". But you do know that I am being biased, right?

Since we have the same climate, I am sure Bambangan also grows abundantly in other parts of Borneo, like Sarawak (part of East Malaysia), Brunei and Indonesia which make up the island of Borneo, the third largest island in the world. The only difference is that the people there do not eat it as much as the Sabahans do (or maybe they're not even aware of the existence of this fruit). The matured tree has a very big trunk and tall, and during its season, will produce fruits abundantly. In Sabah, Bambangan is very special. It's a delicacy that is closely guarded and taught down to the younger generation so that it can be preserved as our food heritage.

When is the Bambangan season?
According to local farmers, who make their living by selling fruits and rubber sheets, when you hear  it's the Durian season, then you know Bambangan season will follow suit. That is roughly around October to December every year.

Where can you get it?
You can find fresh Bambangan and Pickled Bambangan either at the vegetable market or during "Tamu" time. "Tamu" literally means meeting time. Farmers gather together weekly in one place, the place and time are already fixed, to sell their produce. You can find all sort of fresh produce at the Tamu.

Bambangan Pickling Demo - How it started?
I received an email from one lovely lady, Miss Cheng Yueh Fang, a UMS (Universiti Malaysia Sabah) student from Perak, inquiring whether the homestay operators conduct demo on "tapai making" or "Bambangan pickling" and I replied with an immediate "YES!". I was quite surprise and thrilled at the thought of meeting these young ladies. It must have been due to this post, a culinary event that I have had a chance to attend, that triggered Cheng's interest to contact me.

So, to make long story short, Cheng and her friends decided on the day and time to watch the food demo on how to pickle Bambangan. Cheng and four of her UMS friends are studying in the final year of their food-tech course and Bambangan pickling is one of the projects they have chosen. The other four students are Chang Sook Poh from Kuala Lumpur, Josyan ak Jangar from Sarikei, Sarawak and another two students, like Cheng, also hail from Perak, Ng Jia Qin and Lee Poh Yoke. All of them are in their early 20s.

How do we make Pickle Bambangan?

Ingredients
5 Bambangan fruits (about 80% ripe)
2 Bambangan Seeds (shredded & dried)
Salt

Instructions:
1. Peel off the Bambangan skin.
2. Cut the Bambangan into small pieces. Use a pair of gloves when cutting the fruit to prevent rubbery substance from sticking to your hands.
3. Prepare shredded Bambangan seeds. Take out the soft inner part of the seed. Before you do this, you have to cut/ peel off the hard fibrous shell that protects the soft inner part of the seed.
4. Grate the seeds and dry them under the sun. Once shredded seeds are dried, sprinkle them onto the cut Bambangan pieces and add salt to taste. Then, mix thoroughly.
5. Leave for 30 minutes.
6. Prepare a glass bottle that is already sterilized. Transfer the Bambangan pieces into the glass bottle.
7. This pickle Bambangan is ready for consumption in 1 - 2 weeks' time.


Which native in Sabah eat the most Bambangan and how is it served?
Here in Sabah, we either like to eat it fresh or pickled it. It is mainly eaten by the KadazanDusun people, the biggest indigenous group in Sabah. They eat pickled Bambangan as often as the Koreans eat their Kimchi.

Frequently, it is served with white rice and other main dishes such as meat or fish and vegetable. The pickled Bambangan is sometimes mixed with chilli, soya sauce (we call ketchup) and sometimes with "Belacan", shrimp paste. You can use all of these or just pick any combination. It's your choice!

Newspaper Publications for our "Bambangan Pickling" Event
Daily Express, 11 October 2012
Borneo Post, 15 October 2012
continuation...Borneo Post, 15 October 2012

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Homestay Penampang Showcasing Traditional Food of the KadazanDusuns

One of the major attractions in Sabah and one that has huge tourism potential is culinary tourism. I consider it as a highly untapped niche as it is a unique tourism package and rarely offered since the product is quite new in Sabah. Its marketing is also still at its infancy stage. It is a great way to attract international travellers who are curious and eager to seek culinary pleasures.

There are three main ethnicities in Sabah: the KadazanDusunMurut or KDM (which is the indigenuous group), Malay and Chinese. The races in Sabah have their own distinct identity to present Sabah, Malaysian's Borneo, internationally. Owing to Sabah's diverse ethnicity, it is a melting pot of many unique culinary heritages.

I had a chance to visit a homestay runned by Mrs Mathilda and her family, who lived at Kampung Putaton, Inobong Penampang. On the day my friend, Lorena and myself visited Mathilda and her family, they were expecting three guests, to savour the culinary experience that they're offering as part of their homestay packages. Guests will also be given the experience to cook some of the local delicacies themselves.

Mathilda's house is a double-story house, built on family's land, probably previously built on stilts like most other kampung houses in Penampang villages and then when the family expands and more rooms are needed, the kolong which is the open and airy ground floor, is converted into a proper ground floor with concrete walls. They also have a big backyard with several fruit trees which were fruiting abundantly and barns for the chickens, pigs and wild boars.

We arrived about an hour earlier than their guests. So we had a good chat with the host and even  feasted ourselves on a rather late and delicious breakfast. We then roamed about the place, enjoying ourselves by randomly taking pictures of the beautiful flowers, fruit trees, disturbing the caged wild boars and playing with little Achoi, Mathilda's grandson.

Our breakfast

Jojoba tree

Water Guava tree

Little Ah Choi

Jetropha tree

When the familiar tourist van finally arrived at Mathilda's house, three foreign guests, emerged from the van along with Randall and Danny, two staffs from Borneo Eco Tours.

The guests were from Melbourne, Australia, and introduced themselves as Barb and Megg Ross and Tali, the couple's beautiful 15 year-old daughter. Yes, this was a family vacation.

Randall and Danny took out the vegetable, fish and chicken which they bought from the market (Rita guided them when they visited the market earlier) and laid everything on a table. Without wasting any time and before our stomach croaked, food preparations were immediately undertaken. The Sayur Pakis was unique to the Australian family, so, they were taught how to pluck and choose the edible part of the Pakis besides being told that the Pakis grew mostly in the jungle.

First we need to do the hard work...food preparation !!

The Ross' Family at Mathilda's House

Mary teaching Barb and Tali how to pluck the Sayur Pakis

By looking at the food preparation, I knew most of the dishes they were going to prepare. We would be having the Hinava, Manuk Lihing, Sayur Pakis, Sayur Kampung Campur, Pinasakan, Tuhau, Bambangan, Noonsom and the Rebung for our lunch on that day. The food preparations were done rather quickly as they were several people doing the work and some food like the Tuhau, Bambangan and Noonsom which are Sabah's local pickled food, have already been prepared in advance.

Tali and Barb were given the honour to cook some of the dishes while Megg looked on and busied himself chatting with Randall and taking snapshots of the culinary event.

Tali cooking the Sayur Pakis

Barb posing with Rhododendron flower tucked between her ear

It's amazing to see what culinary interest can do to our lives...one shot for the album!

Finally, the moment of truth...

After all the hard work phewww, foods were finally served...

Traditional Food of the KadazanDusuns
Hinava is raw fish cooked with fresh lime, mixed with shallots, ginger, chillies, salt and shreds of Bambangan seeds. You also have the option to add bitter gourd into this dish.

Manuk Lihing is chicken cooked with Lihing, our local rice wine.

Sayur Pakis is a fern type of vegetable and is usually stir-fried with red chillies and dried shrimps. If you don't like seafood, you can leave out the shrimps.

Sayur Kampung Campur
is mixed local vegetable that is comprised of Bunga Kantan, Sayur Bawang and Green chillies.

Pinasakan is fish that is simmered with water and fresh ginger, turmeric, some vegetable oil and salt are added to it.

Tuhau is wild ginger (the one with strong pungent smell) and mixed with lime, salt and bird's eye chilies.

Bambangan is a type of mango fruit, has thick but peelable brown skin and yellow flesh.

Noonsom can be either pickled meat or fish that is mixed with white rice and preserved with Pangi, a natural preservative made from pangi seeds.

Tali who usually steered clear from seafood dishes, this time, had an exceptionally difficult time keeping away from the 'Hinava' dish. In fact, it was her favourite food, the one that she liked the best. She also enjoyed the Sayur Pakis and the Rebung.

Barb and Megg also expressed their satisfaction and complimented on the deliciousness of their newfound menu from Borneo. Mathilda shared some of the Sabahan traditional recipes with Barb. Barb and Tali said they would attempt to prepare the dish when they're back in Australia.

As for me and my friend, the two Borneo Eco Tours staffs and the host family, we too were busy savouring and enjoying our food. To me, it was a rare experience to have one hundred percent traditional food served on my plate.

With good food, good host, new friends and wonderful guests, we were on cloud nine!

Food experience can indeed bring people come closer together.

I find that homestay can give a more real experience, not just in culinary but also other aspects in tourism. It is the best and most relaxing way of learning the everyday lives, culture, language, costumes and food of the Sabahan people.


For more info on Homestay Packages in Sabah, please contact: homestay@kotakinabalutourism.com.  All pictures are copyrighted to @kotakinabalutourism.com

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Unduk Ngadau Videos 2012















Monday 4 June 2012

State Level Unduk Ngadau 2012

Miss Melinda Louis, 22 years-old, was the first Unduk Ngadau from Telupid to win the state-level Unduk Ngadau which was held at KDCA where the state-level Kaamatan Festival was being celebrated. She is from Kampung Gading, Telupid and works as an administration account staff.

The first runner-up was Miss Fenney Doimis who represented Kota Kinabalu City.

The second runner-up was Meryl Foster Paladius from Tambunan.

Melinda received a cash prize of RM5,000 , a pewter trophy with gold trimming worth RM1,600, a diploma scholarship from Asian Tourism International College (ATI) worth RM25,000, crown and jewellery set worth RM8,300 from Diamoney Jewellery Holdings, a Samsung smartphone inclusive of one-year free internet, a gold edition hotel voucher, hamper, Innershine beauty products, Victoria Jackson beauty products, winning sash and a bouquet of flower from the organizing committee.

“I didn’t expect to win this title as all the finalists are very experienced and beautiful in their own ways. However, this winning is a special gift to my district, first time winning the state-level Unduk Ngadau,” said the winner.

Melinda will be a ‘Huminodun’ of the Kadazan Dusun Murut to promote the tourism of the state for a year, until the next Unduk Ngadau is chosen next year. She is also expected to carry out social works such as raising funds for charities.

The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh winners were Vanessa Samantha Manih of Tanjung Aru, Samantha Sharon C.E. Laujang of Penampang, Milviana Madrigal of Kota Belud and Raemma Justim of Tuaran who received a total of RM4,000 prizes from the sponsors.

After receiving the most votes through the DiGi voting contest, Juslinah Dian Rangga from Tawau was awarded the subsidiary title of Miss Popular Digi.

The Unduk Ngadau is a tribute to legendary Huminodun, the beauty among the beauties who without hesitation came forth to offer herself to be a sacrificial lamb to save her people from sure death from starvation.

Spectators inside the KDCA

The KDCA hall was packed to the door

UN 2011 Bo Tiza Disimon made an appearance before the 41 UN contestants

Some of the 41 UN contestants

5 UN taking turns to parade
UN Papar - Miss Wedylin Patin
  
UN Banggi - Miss Evilin Mathis

UN Inanam - Miss Elsie R. Marius

Another 5 UN taking turns to parade
 
UN Kota Kinabalu - Miss Fenney Doimis

Next 5 UN taking turns to parade

UN Penampang - Miss Samantha Sharon C.E. Laujang
 
Next 5 UN to parade

UN Telupid - Miss Melinda Louis

UN Beaufort - Miss Gurmesh Kaur A/P Harjit Singh @ Geraldine

UN Kinabatangan - Miss Nelly Lynda Abidin
UN winners for the 7th, 6th, 5th and 4th place

Miss Melinda Louis from Telupid is the Pesta Kaamatan's Unduk Ngadau 2012

Big smiles for the photography session



All Pictures Copyright @kotakinabalutourism.com

Sunday 3 June 2012

Sodop Unduk Ngadau 2012


The Sodop Unduk Ngadau 2012 or Harvest Festival Queen Gala Nite which was held on May 29 at the KDCA building not only paraded all the contestants for the State Unduk Ngadau but also raised funds for the Sabah Society for the Blind.

On this Gala night two other subsidiary titles; Tati Topiodo or Miss Natural Beauty and Tati Tosuau or Miss Friendly were presented by Puan Sri Genevieve Kitingan, wife of  YB Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Pairin Kitingan, also the Huguon Siou.

There were several artists who made very outstanding performances during the Sodop Unduk Ngadau 2012. As usual there was also the drawing of lucky tickets with the grand prize worth not less than RM25,000.

Forty-one contestants representing all districts and sub-districts across the state would compete for the Unduk Ngadau 2012 title. The Unduk Ngadau competition was the main highlight of the Kaamatan Festival celebration at the state level.

They say a picture paints a thousand words...well, I wanted to get the best photo shoots of the Unduk Ngadaus but it was hard, really hard...the video man cum photographer in charged for the Gala night took a spot that was right in the middle of the audience just below the stage and as usual there were sooo many other photographers who were swarming near the stage...ohh it was difficult indeed! Between the delicious foods that were being served and photographing...I chose to concentrate on the food instead while enjoying the show. But I still managed to get some pictures...oops the audience heads were definitely unavoidable.

Appearance by the then reigning UN 2011, Miss Bo Tiza Disimon

UN Parading on Kaamatan's Gala Night
 
UN Parading on Kaamatan's Gala Night

Swarms of Photographers with all kinds of Gadgets

Marsha was a Great Performer on Gala Night

Linda Sang while the UNs Continued Parading

Announcements of the Winners

Tati Topiodo and Tati Tosuau

Miss Melinda Louis from Telupid is Tati Topiodo

I felt honored to be eating one table with Datuk and Datin Mayor

All Pictures Copyright @kotakinabalutourism.com

Thursday 5 April 2012

Kipandi Butterly Park, A Great Place For the Nature Lovers

Kipandi Butterfly Park
The Kipandi Butterfly Park is located in the Crocker Range which is a complex of high altitude hills, up to 1500m, extending southward from this summit. These hills are mostly covered with primary forest in which at least 8000 species of  plants including 2500 species of trees have been recorded and this area is one of the most important sanctuary for the biodiversity in the world. The entomological fauna of this area is one of the richest in the world.

Kipandi Butterfly Park is situated in Moyog, in the district of Penampang and lies at 700 meter altitude in the heart of the Crocker Range. It  is a very beautiful place, great for relaxing and enjoying the cool mountain air. It is also a favourite place for photographers who enjoy taking nature photographs especially gorgeous butterflies and exotic flowering plants. The park is surrounded with forest and taking a walk in it will bring you back to a lost paradise with the song of cicadas and birds and fluttering butterflies sipping the nectar of rare flowers. Many butterflies come into the garden to suck nectar from the many flower shrubs. Over 100 species have been recorded and they can be easily photographed inside the enclosure.

A Rare Butterfly
Some of the rarest species of butterflies that can be seen at the park are the Rajah Brooks' and Golden Birdwings. The breeding of these species is carried out through a joint venture project with Sabah's Wildlife Department. This joint work aims to repopulate the forest with the threatened species and since its inception, have several times released hundreds of birdwings butterflies into the wild.

First Insect Museum in Sabah
You will also be able to visit the very first Insect Museum of Sabah at the Park. There, you will see a great diversity of butterflies in various shapes and colours. The museum has over 500 butterflies and over 3000 beetles. It also showcases some very rare endemic species recently discovered by scientists.

Butterfly Enclosure
Special enclosures have been constructed to house some of the rare and endangered orchids and pitcher plants in Sabah.

Native Orchids



These botanical collections allow specialists to study the more than 500 species of native orchids, which are known to be extremely rare and therefore, difficult to find in the forest.

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