BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

26th June is always a memorable and important day of the year. It is the birthday of a VVIP in the family.  You may not believe it! This beautiful yam cake was made by the birthday girl herself !!!

 

                           

 My sister in-law and her 2 children were the first guests in the house. 

 Cutting the cake.

As I have to attend an important function in Kuala Lumpur on the next day, we flew over there in the afternoon. In the evening, I decided to take her to the popular Angus House in KL Pavilion for a western dinner.

Angus House, located on the top floor of KL Pavilion is a "Charcoal Grill" Steakhouse serving Charcoal grill steak & seafood.  

Cooling off with this chilled "Tiger", one of the most enjoyed beer in Malaysia just before dinner.

 Delicious hot bun.

 The starter

 Salad

 Pumpkin soup

For my main course, I selected this Hamburger steak. 

 The tender and juicy rib eye for my wife.

The service and the food were very good. We made the right choice for the occassion.    

HAPPY FATHER DAY!

I accidently stumbled on this very entertaining piece of Country Music which I feel many of you may like.

Enjoy the show!

Malaysia, like USA, Canada and UK celebrate father's day on the 3rd Sunday of June. 

"HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL OUT THERE!"

A PICTURESQUE GARDEN of IWATSUKI

This evening, I received some breautiful new pictures of flowers from Miura san. They were different species of Roses, Petunias and Pansies.

                               

               I especially like these pink Hydrangea. They are just lovely.

 Thanks, Miura san, どうもありがとうございました. よろしくお願いいたします. 

A NATURE RESORT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

Passing through the Kimanis-Keningau highway the other day, I noticed this sign board offering RM99 nett per room at DZ Nature Resort. I was curious and drove in to investigate.

The road leading to the Resort.

It was a short 300 meters drive to the resort. According to the receptionist,  there is a total of 37 units of airconditioned accommodation with meeting and conference facilities. The resort has been in business for the past 4 years or so. However, a new management has just taken over the resort from 01June and named it as "Manis Manis" (Sweet, sweet) Nature resort and SPA. When I asked if I could inspect one of their chalets, he promptly showed me a superior unit.      

The Superior units near the reception.   

The deluxe units on the hill top.

Superior queen bed room.

The room was very clean and presentable with an ensuite shower, toilet and hand basin.  

The Open-air restaurant just next to the reception.

Lobby area.

The resort has a beautiful river running through its boundary. It would be relaxing to to take a dip in the river on a hot day.

I was told that the special offer of RM99 per room is for 3days 2nights stay valid till 31May. I guess the new management may have to apply the same pricing strategy to overcome their low room occupancy. This attractive pricing is really value for money especially for those who love jungle activities, i.e. jungle trekking or bird watching. It would be an ideal location for school excursions or company outing trips for team building activities. Apart from that, there is really nothing much to do there in the middle of nowhere. The drive to this resort is approx., an hour plus from Kota Kinabalu.    

TERATAK RIVER CRUISE

Last Thursday, We were invited to check-out the Teratak River Cruise package. The Teratak river is one of the smaller swampy rivers located in the Garama wetland. Arrived at the Operator's reception and restaurant after a 2 hours and five minutes drive from Kota Kinabalu.

The restaurant.

Just like other river cruise packages, light refreshment of coffee or tea and local delicacies were served upon our arrival.

Ice kacang, a popular Malaysian dessert.

I had coffee, fried sweet potato, pulut panggang (rice wrapped in banana leaf) and ice kacang.

A short briefing given by the Operator's manager before we set off for the river cruise.

It was a very good afternoon as we cruised up the river in search for the Proboscis monkeys and others. This was a great reconnaissance trip for us and I believed for those who have never been on one of these safaries, it would be a experience getting closer to the river's fauna and flora. 15 minutes into the cruise, we spotted the first group of Proboscis monkeys.

On our last leg of the cruise before the "fireflies" session, the boatman showed us the nesting place of the Great White Egrets.

By dusk, the whole area was full of them - at least hundreds if not a thousand heads.

We moved on to the watch the fireflies when it was dark. These tiny fireflies lighted up the mangrove trees making them look like lighted Christmas trees. It was absolutely fascinating.

Upon returning to the restaurant, a Malay buffet dinner was ready for sampling.

This operator has a very good cook. The chili crabs and the curried chicken were really good.