Kudat Field Trips Part II

Hello everyone, I'm just back from Kudat.
Ahhh...what an experiences I had way back from that place....tired yet so many sweet and great memories I'd gain from the trip fields and it's all with my fellow classmate. Cheers to all memories!

Okay on the way to our first destination, well you know how everybody was really excited about it.... some of my classmate even bought a guitar and play it along the journey. Well actually I never thought she was good in playing the guitar. Yup SHE. Who can resist good music from your friends and fall asleep? The journey to our firt destination takes about 2 hour from Kota Kinabalu. Thats a really long journey you know. As far as I remember, there's like three bus for this trip and of course DTM and DHM must stick together, right?

Okay back to topics, first destination was the Gombizou Honeybee Farm located in Matunggong, Kudat. You can read about this place in Sabah Tourism webpage. Sorry no picture for but I promise I'll include some picture later. We've some research by interviewing the people who manage the honeybee farm...the thing makes me itchy about this place was all the bees surrounding the lady who demonstrate about the honey-making...Ha I shoot some picture and run away from that place. Same goes to my sister too, we really hate bugs and all that stuff since we're little kid.
There's also honey that already been process and sold around....I think the big bottle was RM100, medium sized bottle was RM32 and the small one was RM14. After the honeybee, we went to the house where they present us their traditional dance called "Mogigol dance". And guest what I got the chance dancing with them. Although its a little embarassing, but hey let just think this way, the next time go there you won't be to dance with them because all the dancer ...in their golden age. So its worth it.

Next, we went to our second destination which are the great Gong Makaing Factory which was the place for the Rungus people makes it muscial instrument which played durinf festivities and even weddings. According to the villagers, the place has been part of World Record which I think really amazing. Such a cultural and tradition that still exist till today and still continuing the great living tradition from the past.
This place located not far from the Gombizou Honeybee Farm where it only takes about 5 minutes from there.Before we leave, they present us with 2 traditional dances which are the " Manaradan" and "Mogigol" at the Sumangkap Village community Hall. Same with the previous one but just a bit different actually. Then we went to another house where Ms Rohana demonstrate on how to make the gong. She brief us all about 15 minutes on how to measure the surface before you actually can knock it, how many inches for the center ( its 3 inches for sure..). She said that it takes about 3 days to get the goong-making done. So its kinda a lot of work you know. All the goong are label acccording to numbers. We also went to the biggest goong (20 feet high) and its was really awsome.
We take a lot of picture with friends plus the goong itself. So great that the big goong will never fall down when there's strong wind blowing it.( except for apocolypse I think) Fun moment!

Next destination, we went to the Bavanggazoo(Rungus Longhouse), a very long house made of natural material such as bamboo and some straw. Funny things happen here, when we first arrive at the place we found the right longhouse, but somebody I don't know who,Shout from the back of our group and told us we get the wrong longhouse, we supposed to climb the hill 10 minutes away from that place to get to the right place. So we all climb the hill but I run.... You should look at my face....tired but fun too.
At the longhouse, I take some picture of the Rungus people selling some cultural bracelet and stuff. GORGEOUS
The door if you pay a visit to the place, you'll notice that the doors or the rooms names are labels according to birds name. I was attracted to this traditional puzzle for the Rungus but I don't even remember the name the people told that once this game was take serious for the women ONLY in the village where if they cannot solve the puzzle, they won't be able to get married. Hmmm....interesting. But my future doesn't depend on that thing for god sake!
And yes, they present with similar dance and some my friends are dancing too but one thing for sure attract when the old lady present a song by playing the flutes using her nose. Yes, her NOSE!!! She played graceful and delicated. I was like amaze by that, well some my friend are asleep (silly pig... ).
We can't get to Tamu Kudatbecause we're running out off time. Ngeh...

Next stop, Our resting place...its not some fancy hotel or something but good enough for us to sleep in. This what people said " back to basic" hehehehe . Okay I was group with my sister and two friends ( Micheal L. and Marilyn K.)which I think really great because their really nice people. 3 hour rest fine with me but I don't know the other including my sister. We then at 7.30p.m played a game ( passing puzzle )which was so....okay so lame but quite fun if you played with all total 70 plus of student in one night!
There few student incharge in this game where a cup of glass full of water was passing around in a circle of student with some music playing. And if the music stop or the water from the glass splash when you trying passing it, you'll get some punishment that totally embarrasing you. Ha ~~ I've once get the punishment by shuffling in front of everybody. But not for this trip! No way!
Funny thing was there's a girl were been punish by counting all the star and you know what she kept counting it. Hello ~~ just say crazy things like its has 8 billion star or something but she kept counting, counting and counting. Good luck with that! I'm really hungry at the time so I was just going with the flow.

After activity has ended, some student went into their room and some stil hanging around or having late night snack or something. Micheal went to dinner with Ah Tee and Vincent and my sister are just went straight back to our room. As for me, I went to department store with my friend Marilyn K. I bought food some cup instant noodles for me and my sister and for the dessert, just cocoa pie are enough good enough for your hungry little tummy!
Same goes to Marilyn K.
15 minutes after we came back to our room, we eat and done some talk in our room. Girls talk! Then Micheal and the boys went to the room which makes me quite suprised! Dull moment arose so us girl put make up to those 2 boys. Well the boys look so funny when their in make up especially Vincent whose face really looks like a girl!! All I can says was he's face looks pretty ugly but cute.
Surely I had lot of fun that night....in a good way of course!
It was fun and tiring, so I slept early eventhought I actually can't sleep over there....


 
To be Continue in Part III

Just another flower I love the most..

Cherry Blossom
The flower symbolism associated with the cherry blossom is education. In China, the cherry blossom is also a symbol of feminine beauty. It also represents the feminine principle and love. In Japan, cherry blossoms symbolize the transience of life because of their short blooming times. Falling blossoms are metaphors for fallen warriors who died bravely in battle. This connotation links them with the samurai.






Source
www.arenaflowers.com
www.google.com

A Friend's Flower

Always my favourite flower of the day...

Travelling with photo equipment

Photography is an expansive art form that includes more than just portraiture, landscape or glamor photography. Both professional and amateur photographers may favor specific types of photography over others. While a professional photographer may work in photojournalism, an amateur may be particularly interested in macro-photography. Read on to learn more about the various types of photography.
Traveling with photo equipment can get complicated, but traveling without photo equipment would be pointless to anyone who loves photography, so here are some pointers that should take some of the stress out of it.

1. If you’re flying, carry your camera onboard with you to avoid damage. When you go through metal detectors, ask the attendant to hand-screen your film. To help expedite hand-screening, carry your film in clear canisters or remove it from its packaging and place it in clear plastic bags.

If you can buy film where you’re headed, consider waiting until you get there to purchase it. It’ll at least make one leg of your trip easier going through screening devices.

Do not pack unprocessed film in checked luggage. The scanner equipment is stronger than the ones used for carryon bags, and may well fog your film.

Check your airline’s web site to find out carry-on and checked-luggage policies. Some overseas airlines or small airlines do not allow you to carry luggage onto the plane with you.

Digital media are not affected by x-rays, but magnetic devices could harm them. Because there may be powerful magnets in the motors of conveyor belts, place your camera as far away from the beginning of the belt as possible.

2. If you’re traveling by car, keep your camera inside when you’re driving so it will stay cool. Carry it with you when you leave your car; it can easily be stolen out of the trunk.

3. Always, but always, keep your eye on your equipment. It takes only a couple of seconds for anyone to grab an unattended camera bag. Dangling a camera from your neck isn’t a good idea, either; it’s very easy to cut a strap with a quick cut of a sharp knife.

4. Know what you’re going to do about storing digital images before your trip begins. Personally, I prefer memory cards. Lugging around a computer or portable storage devices is a hassle. If I’m particularly protective about images, I either go to a one-hour lab and have them download the images to a CD or I go to a cyber cafe and download the images to an online image bank. If I need more memory cards, I just buy them. They’re not hard to find. If I think they may be hard to find, I take extra ones with me. You can never have too many memory cards.

5. Insure your equipment. See if your insurance company already covers your equipment in case of theft or damage. If it doesn’t, get a policy that will, especially if you’re traveling with thousands of dollars worth of equipment.

6. Unless you know your camera inside and out, take your manual with you. Just pack it in your luggage.

7. Make sure you take all your cords, etc. with you. If anything needs an outlet, bring an electric plug adapter if you’ll travel overseas. Bring one for your car, too, if you’ll be doing a lot of shooting in the field.

8. Protect your camera from inclement weather.

9. Avoid leaving your gear in extreme heat.

10. If it rains unexpectedly, the very least you should do is get your camera under an item of clothes to shield it the best you can. Get out of the rain.

11. If it’s cold, warm your camera up with your body heat to avoid condensation. If condensation does occur, empty the battery and memory compartments and keep the compartments open until they’re dry. If you take them back outside with condensation, they may freeze, and that’s bad news.

12. Use a UV filter to protect your lens.

13. Take equipment you’re familiar with. Traveling isn’t the time to try out new equipment if you want to be confident you’ll get good results.

14. Travel light with a good bag. Don’t bring every lens or body you have “just in case.” By limiting yourself, you may also find new ways of seeing.

15. If you’re going overseas, declare all your photo equipment with custom officials at the airport before you leave so you won’t have to prove ownership when you return.

by Nancy Hill
source
photography.com