A fun day with my dog walking through jungle and picnic at a nice waterfall.
The path is pretty abandoned and slippery,with some part of the wooden stairs are missing or broken.
Anyway,the virgin jungle and the crystal clear water at the waterfall is worth visiting for short picnic during the hot sunny day.
The waterfall is just 45 mins drive away from home and provide a good retreat from the hectic city life and the boundaries of the 'new normal'.
According to historian Chang Pat Foh, the legends behind the stalactites and stalagmites lie in the story of a poor boy and his mother who lived at a big Bidayuh kampung known as Kampung Kapur located near Fairy Cave.
One day, a Gawai celebration was being held at one of the kampung houses.
Curious, the boy came and peeped in on their celebration, which made the homeowner unhappy. Rather than simply chase the boy away, the mean-spirited homeowner collected some sugarcane waste and gave it to him, telling him there was pork inside.
Happily, the boy went home and presented what he thought was a gift to share with his mother. When his mother found nothing but sugarcane waste instead, she was humiliated and so began plotting her revenge on the proud village folk.
She took a cat, put it in a beautiful dress and threw the cat into the middle of her neighbour’s Gawai celebration to the surprise of its attendees.
They began to laugh at the sight of a cat in a dress. Their laughter brought on a storm, and the sky roared with thunder and lightning. When the storm eventually stopped, all the villagers had turned into stone.
They are what make up the stalagmites and stalactites inside Fairy Cave.
Another version of the legend is that it was the boy who threw the cat in the middle of celebration and that the mother had instructed him to cover his head with a chicken basket so that the curse would not touch him.
Besides the Bidayuh community, the Chinese have also their own interest in the Fairy cave as the cave is believed to be home for Chinese gods and goddesses.
Some of the rock formations were even named after Chinese deities such as Kuan Yin, the goddess of Mercy.
Mount Santubong is a mountain located near Kuching in Sarawak,Malaysia Borneo. Believed to be inhabited by the elves, genie and goblins that reign the area in an unseen kingdom and castle to human's naked eyes. There were two princesses sent by The King of Heaven to create peace between warring villages. They fulfill their Devine task but both fell in love with the same man, Prince Serapi and fought till angered their father that cursed them into mountains and islands.
Watch the video below for the full story. Happy watching!
Video click HERE
Lagenda dan misteri Gunung Santubong yang diperintah oleh kerajaan ghaib yang didiami bunian,jin dan makhluk halus lain. Puteri Santubong dan Sejinjang diturunkan oleh Raja Kayangan dari alam Dewa untuk mengamankan perang antara kampung. Mereka berjaya dalam misi tetapi jatuh cinta dengan lelaki yang sama, iaitu Putera Serapi. Mereka bergaduh hingga murka Raja Kayangan dan menyumpah mereka menjadi gunung dan pulau.
The origin of the name Iban is a mystery, although many theories exist. During the British colonial era, the Ibans were called Sea Dayaks. Some believe that the word Iban was an ancient original Iban word for people or man. The modern-day Iban word for people or man is mensia, a slightly modified Malay loan word of the same meaning (manusia) of Sanskrit Root.
The Ibans were the original inhabitants of Borneo Island. Like the other Dayak tribes, they were originally farmers, hunters, and gatherers. Not much is known about Iban people before the arrival of the Western expeditions to Asia. Nothing was ever recorded by any voyagers about them.
The Ibans were unfortunately branded for being pioneers of headhunting. Headhunting among the Ibans is believed to have started when the lands occupied by the Ibans became over-populated. In those days, before the arrival of western civilization, intruding on lands belonging to other tribes resulted in death. Confrontation was the only way of survival.
In those days, the way of war was the only way that any Dayak tribe could achieve prosperity and fortune. Dayak warfare was brutal and bloody, to the point of ethnic cleansing. Many extinct tribes, such as the Seru and Bliun, are believed to have been assimilated or wiped out by the Ibans. Tribes like the Bukitan, who were the original inhabitants of Saribas, are believed to have been assimilated or forced northwards as far as Bintulu by the Ibans. The Ukits were also believed to have been nearly wiped out by the Ibans.
The Ibans started moving to areas in what is today's Sarawak around the 15th century. After an initial phase of colonising and settling the river valleys, displacing or absorbing the local tribes, a phase of internecine warfare began. Local leaders were forced to resist the tax collectors of the sultans of Brunei. At the same time, Malay influence was felt, and Iban leaders began to be known by Malay titles such as Datu (Datuk), Nakhoda and Orang Kaya.
In later years, the Iban encountered the Bajau and Illanun, coming in galleys from the Philippines. These were seafaring tribes who came plundering throughout Borneo. However, the Ibans feared no tribe, and fought the Bajaus and Illanuns. One famous Iban legendary figure known as Lebor Menoa from Entanak, near modern-day Betong, fought and successfully defeated the Bajaus and Illanuns. It is likely that the Ibans learned seafaring skills from the Bajau and the Illanun, using these skills to plunder other tribes living in coastal areas, such as the Melanaus and the Selakos. This is evident with the existence of the seldom-used Iban boat with sail, called the bandung. This may also be one of the reasons James Brooke, who arrived in Sarawak around 1838, called the Ibans Sea Dayaks. For more than a century, the Ibans were known as Sea Dayaks to Westerners.
*source www.enotes.com
The largest flower in the world,reaching a diameter of about three feet,Rafflesia is found in forests in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. Seven out of fifteen species worldwide of Rafflesia can be found in Malaysia.
Because the Rafflesia flower is located in specific areas, and little is know about its methods for pollination and seed dispersal, it is difficult to find conservation methods. Residents in Malaysia are encouraged to save the flowers on their private property, and are encouraged to charge small entrance fees to see the flower. This little income goes a long way in conserving the flowers. In peninsular Malaysia, flower buds are sold as traditional medicines. These buds are seen as a sign of fertility, and are given to help mothers recover after birth. The over collection of these buds has not helped with conservation efforts, and has drastically reduced the number of Rafflesia in the wild.
All of these factors lead to decreasing numbers of Rafflesia. Many species of Rafflesia are vulnerable to deforestation and development, and as populations grow, Rafflesia becomes more threatened.
In Sarawak,Rafflesia can be found in Gunung Gading in Lundu,not far from Kuching,the capital city of Sarawak.
In Sabah, the flower and host vine Tetrastigma are protected under the state's Wildlife Conservation Enactment of 1997. In 2002, 44 of 83 Rafflesia found in the area were outside of designated conservation places. The beginning stages of conservation call for finding, monitoring and protecting the flowers that appear. Conservationists are hoping that complete habitat protection will come, but there is no sign of complete habitat protection in the near future.
The longhouse faces the river. Each family unit in the longhouse has its own section, consisting of a room (bilik) with a solid door, an equal-width section of the common area onto which all rooms open, and an equal-width section of the porch (tanju) -- which, as you can see, is a rickety affair made of split bamboo laid (not fastened) across supporting logs. We tourists were warned not to go out on the porch because it likely would not hold our weight, and believe me, we were not tempted. In addition to hanging laundry, the porch is used for doing work. An old man spent the morning out there building a door from fresh-looking boards.
Below, you can see some chicken coops on the left side, beneath the living quarters. The people kept a large number of chickens, which strut all around but are chased out if they come into the house. Several dogs and one very small, friendly, flea-infested cat shared the house. The people raise fish to eat in their own fish farm on the river; big bags of tilapia feed are stacked inside the longhouse.
First thing in the morning, most women went out to gather some food. They raise padi rice, vegetables and pepper on the hills above the house. (Black pepper is a major export of Sarawak; we saw pepper plants trained to climb poles in long rows everywhere as we traveled the roads.) The women strap a giant cylindrical basket on their back, put a conical hat on their head, and wearing long sleeves and usually pants, climb up a narrow path to the cultivated fields. When they return, the basket is filled with greenery. They make the baskets from grasses and rattan; the straps are made from tree bark.
One of the two women who cooked for us came in with what appeared to be some kind of tree leaves brimming from her huge basket. Later I realized I had heard a dull pounding coming from the kitchen for a very long time, so I went to investigate. In a small stone mortar she was mashing all the leaves to pulp. She already had a big blue plastic basin full of it. I signaled that I would like to try it and she gestured permission. But she had meant touch and not taste, because as I moved to put a clump into my mouth, both women urgently warned me not to do it. Pointing to the wok on the double-burner gas cooker (same as what most city Malaysians also use), they explained that the pulp had to be cooked. We ate it at lunch that day, and like everything we ate in the longhouse, it was delicious. The texture was heavier than chopped spinach but equally smooth. I don't know if they cooked it in chicken stock or just a combination of flavorings such as soy sauce, but the unique taste of the leaf remained, neither sweet nor bitter, a cross between mustard greens and collards.
In Central Kalimantan, the hunters and poachers have the blood of orang utan on their hands. The forests that are home to these animals are also being cleared at an alarming rate in the name of development. A rehabilitation centre offers some measure of hope, writes AMY CHEW.
NODDY, an orphaned baby orang utan, climbs up a tree and stares into the distance at the Nyaru Menteng Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, his future as uncertain as the existence of the forests which used to be his home.
His mother was killed in the wilds, under what circumstances, his carers do not really know.
But what is sure is that she met with a cruel and violent end -- hacked to pieces, burnt or shot to death -- like so many others before her.
In a forest in Sampit, an animal poacher fires a shot at a female orang utan with a baby in her arms. As the orang utan falls, she clings tightly to her baby.
When the hunter comes over to the dying creature, he is stunned -- he sees tears flowing from its eyes.
| Orang utan have emotions just like humans. They can cry, worry and experience sorrow and joy. |
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