Saturday, June 21, 2008

My first IET event

Just for a record.
After joining for > 2 months, finally I get to attended the first event. A talk by Ir. Lee CK entitled Introduction to Power System Protection and Applications of Numerical Over-Current Earth Fault Relays at UM Faculty of Engineering.

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Though the topic was something I have not learnt yet, the presentation was really good and it was easy to understand. No worries of dropping off after the tiring day.. haha~

Lots of thanks to Steven for the rides!!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

reality

Been sweating the whole day, physically and mentally. Especially after the jog which opened up my sweat pores and make me sweat the whole day ( =.=ll ) The worst thing is to go all the way to Cheras for an-hour tutorial where the lecturer turned up an hour late!! Then it's all the way back again. Nice game.

Th reality of price hike. Accept it. Though it doesn't create much chaos in my life ... yet, it's better we start a conserving and saving lifestyle. Probably it's the camp effect, but it's kinda sickening to see people wasting food, water, paper, etc...

Fuel price hiking has led to more people switching to public transport. And yet, I wonder why, despite the many complaints, the uni is still so reluctant to operate both the shuttle buses at the same time, especially during peak hours. As if traffic congestion isn't enough, there is even congestion inside the bus! Got really disgusted when some people (to be specific, the foreigner guys) will not give way for people to get in or out of the bus! There was even a situation when two BIG foreign guys, with 20+ people waiting behind them, were arguing and fighting on who to GET ON THE BUS FIRST!! CHILDISHHHH!!! I can't believe this.

I had a general perception that guys from foreign countries are more 'gentleman'. Now I realize that many of them are not just far from that; they don't have a 'ladies first' concept in mind (not that I care so much about it since we seldom get this treatment locally), and they don't give a damn about anyone else except their friends!

Fed up...

Friday, June 13, 2008

Green Fest 2008!

Unlike before attending the camp, I was much anticipating this event, since I finished my tests before it! And of course, mainly because I get to see the friends again!! [Yea I miss them a lot!]


Where it was held might have explained why it wasn't as BIG as expected. We actually took over half an hour searching for the park! It was Taman Lembah Kiara, a mini-Titiwangsa type park.


Except for the rain in the morning, the day was fine, cloudiness that made it 'un-hot'.

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Our booth with the Food and Photo exhibit

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Human boardgame under construction

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The famous trees of our sketch~

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our roadshow!

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this was pretty interesting...

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there was this kid playing around the 'pool'! [with the panda and 3 cubs watchin~]

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and what a surprise (for me)... Daniel Lee!!

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So we must grab him for a photo! =D

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the largest spider on earth... belongs to greeniz~

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Rev. Dhammaratana was there too!

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the Tiny Tapir stall which was filled with interesting reuseable stuff...

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... like this Panda Diaper!! sooo cute~

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Datin Seri Jeanne at our booth... notice the number of coasters she swept~ [that's how they make people happy!]

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nice pose~

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We decided to pose with the friends from the jungle too!

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the coasters left... I wonder if these were sold off in the end.

It's my first time (as far as I remember) getting physically involved in charity event. It was more fun than work. Out of the 84 coasters, we managed to sell at least 79, which brought at least RM237! [Hurray for paper mache~] And never was it a practice to spend away my allowance in one go, but then it was for a good cause. =)

Had a great day.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

"I love Mother Nature!"

That would be one of the quotes we have for our ringtones! [I so love it~] Yup, it's one of the jungle-doofed ringtones that we produced!! [Ahhh.. I'm so excited I duno why...]

[Btw, thanks to Andrew who helped us out with the mixing and editing!]

The P2P Greeniz Camp was definitely a brand new experience for me. It was held in Sukau of Sabah (a little village area alongside the Kinabatangan area), Sukau Rainforest Lodge to be exact, the period of May 25 - 29, 2008.

A lot of my first times as well. First time in KLIA LCCT, first time on budget plane (which is not even as comfortable as dad's car), first time to East Malaysia > Sabah > Sandakan > Kinabatangan > Sukau. First time taking boat trips for 5 continuous days (and I'm still dizzy now~), first time seeing the night line like a wallpaper FULL of stars (!!), first time encountering shooting stars! And 4 of them at least!! [**more excited**]

It's a pity that I haven't my precious camera with me, but did my best with my mobile phone... basically, I even did my group assignment with it! And oh dear, we really need technology even in the deep jungle...

And here, though quite unclear, are the best I can make with my little phone camera.

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Now everyone can fly... (and starve for 3 hours)

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Mary-Ruth and I ;)
{credits to Mary-Ruth for this pic!}

Some of Sandakan's...

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At the jetty to Sukau..

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Sam and I...

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Along the Kinabatangan River, this is Abai Village.





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Spotted pygmy elephants on the way too.. an uncommon scene , which indicated the diversion of their path due to deforestation. Spotted pygmy elephants on the way too.. an uncommon scene , which indicated the diversion of their path due to deforestation. Tragical...

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Kinabatangan River at Sukau

First day at Sukau was basically briefing and ice-breaking. Went on a night cruise, where our sampan motor couldn't start up. But the cruise was very impressing.. birds, monkeys, snake and crocodile! And I loved the night sky... first time to be out wide and dark! *miss the stars...*


I marvel at the ability of our guides to spot the animals with just a spotlight! [Such amazing people...]


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A kingfisher... fishing


The Chief Minister was gonna visit us here on the 2nd day, so preparation for his arrival, where us 'kids' were to put up an informal welcome for him. Dragged by Shin Ying to do her acapella, where I had to do the solo! And constantly singing too soft~ A good experience though (finally I sang an accapella... not quite. Thanks to SY for the pick =D), though our voices were drowned out by the huge troop of CM followers..

The morning was spent on boardwalk and jungle cooking. Presented by Winston and wife Maria, it was truly interesting. The boardwalk is where I wanna go everyday..

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The boardwalk... dear I miss it~


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Elephant crossing halfway between the walk


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Jungle cooking! (if only we get to taste them =.= )

Our fishing trip (using bobo for prawns and 'lazy fisherman' bottle for fish) was fruitless, but got a try on spreading the fish net, which was so heavy! I enjoy the boat ride, just sitting there, looking around... doofing~ [It's so rare to do so nowadays.]


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Look-alikes? SY & XY! (with Patrick staring?)

Sunrise cruise was pretty interesting. That's when animals either go to sleep, or they come out for activities. We actually witnessed a troop of wild boars crossing the river in front of us! That was really cute!! Haha~

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calmness...


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Logs... a sign of deforestation?


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This is made to link the two banks for orang-utans and monkeys

The craziest experience should be the oxbow lake trip. Went by boat to the first oxbow lake which was 'alive', then jungle-trekked into another one which was 'dead', with weeds and plants growing all over it.

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Alive...

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... dead


Was forced by Ju Eng to go waddling in the lake (lots of vines and roots underneath which was kinda scary) as if of no purpose, but that wasn't the worst. What I am most afraid of is... LEECHES!! Of everything, I just hate them so much! Though I haven't experience any leech bites yet, the idea of them sticking onto me and sucking away my precious blood really stirs me~ [I was lucky to not get any then..]

All the while, besides the various activities arranged, we are supposed to work on assignments as peer educator. Our tasks were to use different ways to spread the message of environment and conservation. My group Delta (aka doofies!) got the toughest part - Food & Music. Two most common fields, yet hardest to be themed! In the end, we produced these strange-yet-cute ringtones of nature! And a no-more left-overs concept of recipes! (whatever~)

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Dimitri testing the 'recycled' food! (It tasted good, btw)

I'd say, despite being very anxious about it before, it turned out to be very ejoyable and the camp-mates being very easy-going. [So much better than the KMT time..] Despite having assignments (adding the load of course assignments), we didn't just cincai do it, but gave our best. Despite the sharp comments and lost of ideas, we pulled through. What's more enjoyable than being able to enjoy work and play at the same time?!!

The precious memory in me...

The amazing people in the camp...

The amazing people in Sukau...

The amazing land of Sukau and waters of Kinabatangan...

Featured: TheStar: Down by the River


The StarYouthP2P Greeniz participants find inspiration from the Kinabatangan River for their peer-to-peer green projects.

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Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Aman showed his support for the green environmentalists by launching the programme.

FOR the 31 participants of the StarYouth P2P Greeniz programme 2008, their five days on the Kinabatangan River in Sabah gave them the opportunity to experience nature at its most pristine. While many were enthralled at the opportunity to see wildlife in their natural habitat, for others, it was a treat simply watching the stars shining brightly in the dark sky. Some even caught shooting stars.

The peer educators on the environmental project were youngsters who are passionate and enthusiastic about doing their part and spreading the green message.
Their adventure began from the moment they stepped on the speedboats that took them on a two-hour journey from Sandakan into Sukau, which is at the Lower Kinabatangan river.

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Celebrating their catch, however meagre.

At 560km long, the Kinabatangan is Sabah’s longest and Malaysia’s second longest river.
Much of the Lower Kinabatangan is gazetted under the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, and is home to 10 primate species, 50 mammal species, 250 bird species, 20 reptile species, and 1,056 plant species. It is one of the few remaining rainforests in the world.

Despite the scorching afternoon heat, the youngsters kept their eyes open for birds and animals that are unique to the forest including the proboscis monkey and the pink dolphin.
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P2P Greeniz learnt to cook using a traditional method.

One hour into the boat ride, the group got lucky. They chanced upon a herd of pygmy elephants grazing by the riverbank.

“We were observing small creatures like birds and fishes but when we heard the trumpeting of the elephants, everyone got excited.

It was a rare opportunity. At that point, we took out our cameras and started snapping away.
“It was only later that we found out it was because of the diversion of the elephants’ path due to deforestation that we were able to see them. So, seeing the elephants actually meant that things are not going so well for the animals,” said peer educator Mary-Ruth Low.

During their trip, the participants got to experience the river at different times of the day.
They eagerly hopped onto the boats early one morning to explore the small tributaries to learn more about Kinabatangan’s rich and diverse ecosystem.

We were very lucky to see a family of wild boars swimming across the river to get to other side of the bank. They were just right in front of our boat,” said Leo Xuying, one of the participants.
In the evenings, the group saw trees full of proboscis monkeys who were settling down for their night's rest.
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Participants going down into the oxbow lake.

On the night cruise, the participants tried their best to keep quiet as they cruised down the river to catch glimpses of nocturnal animals.

“I was initially afraid as we were cruising on a small sampan in the dark because you never know what might happen but the guides reassured us that it was safe and soon enough, we all got distracted at the sightings of different birds and animals,” participant Trixie Carlena Richard said.

The youngsters also tried their hands at fishing. They set their traps, or bubu, in the river to catch prawns, and cast nets into the river for fish.

“We didn’t have beginner’s luck. Between the 31 of us, we only managed to catch a few small fishes, which we released back into the river, and only several prawns! “But that got us thinking that it is not easy for the locals to make a living because this is their livelihood and things will get tough when they can’t get a good catch,” said participant Engeland David Apostol.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Aman officiated the programme, and the participants had the opportunity to engage him and Sabah Forestry Department director Datuk Sam Mannan on various environmental issues.
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Getting a briefing from the nature guide on the river.

In a dialogue with the Chief Minister, the participants touched on issues like the role of the State Government in encouraging environment- friendly habits among youngsters and the implementation of environmental education in school. The peer educators also learnt about the Sabah Government’s environment conservation efforts, and various aspects of ecotourism which is one of the main livelihoods along the Kinabatangan River.

The youngsters also learnt more about responsible ecotourism and conservation efforts from the owner of Sukau Rainforest Lodge, Albert Teo, and his team.

Teo spoke to the teenagers about how he practises principles of responsible ecotourism in his resort. Solar panels were used to generate electricity and hot water, before the advent of regular power supply to the lodge.

Boats ferrying tourists to watch wildlife are equipped with electric engines as gasolinepowered engines are loud and noisy.

Teo and his team also carry out reforestation projects. They also try to involve the local community in ecotourism activities.

“Talking to the people here helped us understand the situations and obstacles that they face, and we also got to learn more about their livelihood and how they interact with nature. We learnt that it is a collective effort that everyone must actively participate in to help preserve this forest,” said peer educator Julian Anthony Theseira.

Through these newly-gained knowledge and experiences, the 31 youngsters have incepted various campaigns using different mediums to spread the green message.

The youngsters will be presenting their projects to the public on June 8 in conjunction with The Star’s Green Everyday- Act Now celebration at Taman Lembah Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.

The P2P Greeniz programme is organised by StarYouth, and supported by Maybank.
The event was hosted by Sukau Rainforest Lodge.

To watch the video of the expedition, log on to http://thestaronline.tv. To read the blog and view more photos, log on to www.rage.com.myand click on the relevant links.