Such a long time ....

Seems like I am really busy these few months :)

Anyway, I will keep update about the Bario progress here :) Maybe will post something next week... hopefully.

I am going to Bangkok, Kasetsart University to present my first conference paper this October. Will be going with my wife and also honey moon around there before coming back and continue my Master Research :)

There can be Miracles... When you believe...

This song really mean something.... Coz God really bring me thru lots of miracle so far... God never let me down....

"WhenYouBelieve"

Many nights we've prayed
With no hope anyone could hear.
In our hearts a hopeful song we barely understood.

Now we are not afraid
Although we know there's much to fear.
We were moving mountains long before we knew we could.

There can be miracles when you believe.
Though hope is frail,it's hard to kill.
Who knows what miracles you can achieve

When you believe.
Somehow you will,You will when you believe.

In this time of fear,
When prayer so often proved in vain,
Hope seemed like the summer birdsso swiftly flown away.
But now I'm standing here(Now I'm standing here)
With heart so full I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words I never thought I'd say.

My third day at Bario...

I created an eBay account and now started to sell some Hand-made bracelets. You may have a look at these items thru these links.

100% hand-made colourful small beads bracelets from Borneo Island

On the 13/10/03, the third day I stayed at Bario.....

I wake up at 8am and when straight to eat my breakfast without brushing my teeth because the water was freezing cold!!! I ate corns and drink tea. The corns are sweet but a bit too hard to bite on it. Anyway is good for me as I did not brushed my teeth. Around 9am, me and Hoi started to track to Bala Palaba's farm to take some photos and to have a look of the farm.

On the way, we saw lots of pitcher plants. We passed by some paddy fields and pineapple farms too. The pineapples were so BIG and Yellowish. Around 10am, we reached Bala Palaba's farm. Bala Palaba taught us how to pluck the pineapples and without wasting any time, we went to pluck 2 pineapples and start eating it!!

Nearby the farm, there was a fish pond. We could see the fish swimming at the cyrstal clear water in the pond. Its such a wonderful place for fishing. Around 12 noon, we went back to Bala Palaba's house. We ate a simple lunch and around 2pm, we started our journey to Pa' Lungan. Pa' Lungan is the furthest village at Bario and the climate there is SUPER COOL!!! Day time is around 18 degree celsius and night time is around 10 degree clesius.

We went by boat using the river nearby Bala Palaba's house. Esther's brother was our guide and also the boat driver. The journey on the boat was adventureous!!! We passed by fallen trees and on the way there are lots of blue berries, which can be eaten!!! I ate lots of it. It is so sweet!!!

It took about an hour on the boat. Then we needed to track from the place the boat stopped to reach Pa' Lungan. We started walking to Pa' Lungan and the time was around 3.15pm. The road was wet and muddy. So MANY GOOD FRIENDS WAITING FOR US TOO!!!! THE LEECHES!!!! Esther told us to walk faster as a way to escape from our GOOD FRIENDS. The sceneries were nice.

We reached Pa' Lungan around 4.15pm, that was 1 hour walking. The weather was much colder than Pa' Umur. We stayed at Batu Ritung Lodge. The house is nice with lots of facilities. The owner of the lodge is a CHINESE!! Me and Hoi were amazed that we still can find Chinese people around besides 2 of us!!! At 5pm, it started to rain. We ate a snack made with tapioca flour called Diru'. It was nice and yummy!!!!

Then we had some rest and ate dinner around 8pm. WAH!!!!! We were amazed by the dishes for the dinner! We had HONEY CHICKEN, FRESH VEGETABLES, POTATOES, STEAM SWEET AND SOUR FISH and WILD MUSHROOM SOUP!!!! It was our first time we ate meat at Bario. We were at the most rural village at Bario but we the most luxury meal here !!!! The owner said there are plenty of foods around here and the peoples here are well blessed with the foods provided by the nature. I am AMAZED how GOD really BLESSED this place.

We chatted with a tourist called Helen from London, England. She had been around for a month!! We interviewed the logde's owner too, which is the Chinese guy. We slept at 10pm and it is SO COLD!!! At night, there are many BEST FRIENDS TOO, the Cockroaches!!!!

After back from Rumah King at Julau

What an exciting trip to Julau last week. I went to a long house name Rumah King. I learned something new, which the name of the long house actually related to the Tuai Rumah (the leader of the long house). So, King is the name of the Tuai Rumah !!! So, if we think deeper, how are we going to develop a good map? The name of the long houses keep changing!!!

So, I think I will write about my trip to Julau here. Its very exciting too, but not as advanterous as Bario. There is a telecenter too at Rumah King. So, I think I will be working with this field because of my experiences, which bringing ICT to Rural area for improving the lifestyle of the villages.

So, on the 22nd of March 2006, me, my supervisor (Dr. Alvin) and the Dean (Prof. Nara) flew to Sibu. We stayed at Hotel TanahMas. Just 2 years never been to the town of Sibu, so many changes.

The next morning, we started our journey to Julau ( located at the Pakan District). I am the driver and this was my first time driving a 4WD truck.

I think this is the most modern long house I had seen before so far. Its totally make of bricks and look like a row of houses sticked together. The peoples (Iban ethnic group) are so friendly and the hospitalities is perfect.

The enviroments around Rumah King is beautiful. There is a river behind the long house which all the children will go there and play water. For the adults, this is a good fishing place.

I will be going back in to Rumah King next month for quantitative survey. Its a nice place and you can go a good vacation there :)