The sun sets over 2006

As this will likely be my last posting for this year, I thought it was appropriate for me to attach this picture of the sun setting at Tanjung Simpang Mengayau, the northern most point of Borneo, a three hour drive from Kota Kinabalu.

The title of this post does sound corny but I couldn't resist it. It seems so dramatic. A nice touch to close a year.

Looking back at 2006, while there weren't any really dramatic moments for me I'm glad to have got some things done including getting this blog going.

Now the only thing is to keep it going. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that.

Update

I'd like to say a big thank you to those who have given me feedback about this blog. The encouragement is keeping me going as well.

As a result of starting this blog, I have made a concious effort to take my camera with me where ever I go. As an editor once told me there is a story tell any where as long as I keep my yes and ears open.

Phil, I've done the necessary corrections and yes, I shall be a gentleman blogger and put in my mugshot as well.

Once again, thank you to all.

Ruben

Dragonfly

I was about to leave for the office one morning when I spotted this dragonfly perched on a mango leaf just outside my bedroom window.

I quickly grabbed my Canon S3IS camera to take some shots of it. Seeing me giving it some undue attention, the insect kept flying and perching from one leaf to another. I was finally able to grab a decent shot.

The experience made me appreciate the difficulties professional photographers experience just to get those excellent wildlife shots which we often take for granted. It made me also realise that I don't have to go far to get some pictures of nature as well.

Father and son

As I sat in the cool comfort of a resort at Pulau Mabul off the east coast Semporna district sometime last September, I spotted man and and boy paddling their outrigger canoe nearby under the heat of the noon sun.
It was a weekday and it occured to me that the boy should be in school and not in that canoe.
And then I reminded myself that finding their next meal may be the most important thing for them instead of thinking about how having an education could mean a better future.
As they paddled past me, the boy noticed I was taking their picture and smiled. I waved to him and he and the man waved back. And then they were gone.

Deft hands

Her hands may be gnarled with age, but Mak Cik (Aunty) Ida can still stich pandanus leaves colourfully dyed in various rainbow hues to make this tudung luang, a traditional food cover that her Bajau community has been using for generations.
Now in her 60's, Mak Cik Ida carries on her craft without the aid of spectacles. Her reputation of making the finest tudung luang is so established that she is usually invited to demonstrate her skills at the various handicraft events around Kota Kinabalu during the Kaamatan or Harvest Festival in May.
But it is at her simple wooden house at Kampung Kuala Abai in Kota Belud district, about an hour's drive from Kota Kinabalu, where Mak Cik Ida quietly goes about stiching together what has become a distinctive Sabahan souvenir.

Lush and green paddy fields.

The leaves of a mango serve as a frame for this paddy field I found in the northern Kota Marudu district, a three hour leisurely drive from Kota Kinabalu.

Such scenes are becoming scarce at what used to bepaddy growing areas near Kota Kinabalu such as Inanam and Penampang.

Population growth has resulted in higher demand for land and this has resulted in paddy fields being filled up and transformed into housing estates or worse yet industrial areas.

I can only wonder how long will we continue to see paddy fields in smaller towns around Sabah being reduced to sites for illegally constructed workshops or warehouses.

A man, a boat and a river

I was on a trip to Sukau village in the Kinabatangan river about three years ago. I was waiting for the sunset and just as I was about to press the trigger of my Sony camera, this man came along with his boat. Perfect.

I like this picture, it reflects the serenity of Sukau which can get rather busy with the hordes of tourists heading there to see the proboscis monkeys and other wildlife. It also gives an idea of the immensity of the 560km Kinabatangan, Sabah's longest river and second longest waterway in Malaysia.

A new month and a new blog

Welcome. After much thinking and hesitation, I finally got down to getting my own blog going. Since this is the first posting, I'll explain what it all will be about. As the name suggest, postcards from northborneo will focus on the pictures I've taken during my travels around my home state and perhaps relate an experience or two.

The first pix entry I've chosen is that of my favorite - Mount Kinabalu. It was taken when I was visiting a village somewhere between Kota Belud and Kinabalu Park several years ago. It was evening and the sun was setting. I whipped out an old Nikon digital camera and managed to get the shot before the clouds enveloped the mountain.

More to come in my next posting.