Six weeks ago (according to my Twitter

Six weeks ago (according to my Twitter DM date stamp) I received an invite to attend the SBG event in Sabah end of October 2009. You have to love how invites are now sent off Facebook and Twitter (E-mails are so yesterday) and “Direct Messages” column isn’t normally visible on TweetDeck.

Hey Jan! On behalf of the Sabahan Bloggers Gathering committee, we’d like invite you to come to the SBG this year on Halloween Oct 31st! What say you? — Caneeliea

I would have gladly accepted if Sabah was a district in Brunei. The idea of an hour’s commute from Seria town to the airport and then catching a flight to Kota Kinabalu (this is KK you know, not KB) and then returning to Brunei doing the same thing except in reverse—or drive roughly 6 hours one way (+/– an hour or two losing my sense of direction: you know men and directions!)—I feel tired just conceptualizing the journey :)

That said, I’m very honoured and grateful for the invite! Unfortunately, I don’t think I can make it as I’m shooting the Toyota Classics 2009 on October 30th and I’m very certain I’ll be knackered the next day. Nonetheless, a big Thank You is in order but I do look forward to visiting KK again. I know Louis Pang made a guest appearance at SBG 2008 and I would love to catch up with him again. My last trip there with my family was every bit fun and memorable:

DOING KOTA KINABALU

GAYANA ECO RESORT THE LANDSCAPE

Louis and I met in person for the very first time at Starbucks Warisan Square, Kota Kinabalu

GAYANA ECO RESORT THE MARINE CENTRE

Continuing from Gayana Eco Resort The Landscape here are the pictures from the visit to the Marine Ecology Research Centre (MERC). Gayana takes pride in its conservation and preservation efforts of marine life and have in its collection of 7 of the 8 Giant Clams of the world among other unique attractions it has to offer. MERC offers research programs with a vision to be pioneers and leaders of eco tourism in Sabah and Malaysia. Programs include Giant Clam Propagation, Coral Replanting and Restoration of Marine Life.

Expansion of MERC in the works to realise its vision to be an international player in the protection of the environment and “provide international customers with an exceptionally high international standard of hospitality and experiences unique to Malaysia in an eco-friendly and sustainable manner”

↓ Coral Replanting (more info)
MERC has implemented a coral planting program to restore areas damaged by destructive fishing practices such as fish bombing and cyanide.

The turtles are a favourite with my family. Curious and graceful by nature, they enjoyed our presence and from time to time surfaced to take a peep when we walked away. Rather unsurprisingly, one could get easily attached to their grace and attention-seeking nature. It’s not everyday you get to interact with these sea creatures within touching distance. In an adjacent tank were a pair of fairly large squids that kept changing their body colour (resembling a coral) for protection against predators.

↓ The Touch Tank where guests caress starfish and other soft sea creatures.

Here a giant clam was brought to the surface very briefly for the TV crew from Radio Television Malaysia.

↓ Boat men with two 5-ft sharks that were spared from becoming a culinary statistic. As a supporter of Saving The Sharks campaign, this was an exciting moment and opportunity to capture (possibly poor choice of word) a live delivery of the sharks to MERC much to the delight of everyone present including the TV crew and my family who witnessed a true “save the shark” moment.

One of the sharks was placed in the same tank as the turtles and that caused some discomfort with a turtle. So much so that the distressed turtle had to be relocated to an adjacent tank. The presence of the shark stirred the otherwise calm waters and trust me when turtles freak out, you want to get away from the tank pronto—my mother-in-law got fairly wet from a couple of splashing.

GAYANA ECO RESORT THE LANDSCAPE

Continuing from Doing Kota Kinabalu came the much anticipated visit to Gayana Eco Resort that took about 20 minutes boat ride from Jesselton Point Jetty (slightly longer than our ride to Manukan Island if my direction and navigation skills are anything to go by). If there’s one thing you’ll notice a lot in KK is the frequency of flights in and out of the airport. I could be wrong and at the risk of being absurd, it seemed as though a plane was flying over the apartment every 15-25 minutes or so. Marina Court aparment is located in the flight path so I had that impression. The picture below was taken at Manukan as a plane flew by. There are two parts to this post: The Landscape followed by The Marine Ecology Research Centre.

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Despite the very wet weather the afternoon before, the weather cleared up over night and we had gray skies on the morning we made our way to Gayana. Half of the family members who had driven to KK had left and were on their long journey back home. This day the waters were calmer compared to just 24 hours ago we literally jumped off our seats given the rough waters and strong winds. Here, as you see, waters were calm enough to please the little boy in the boat.

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Our visit coincided with a documentary Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) was producing of the resort and here we were filmed making our way there and there’s Linda (sales and marketing manager of Gayana) waving to us from across. She was recently in Brunei during the Sabah Tourism fair that was held at The Mall in Gadong.

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↓ Expansion work in progress at the Marine Ecology Research Centre (MERC).
A common feature of the resort buildings is the thatched roof design that gives its a distinctive appeal of a “contemporary tropical style architecture”

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↓ Dining at one of two restaurants: Alu Alu Seafood Restaurant and Fusion Poolside Restaurant
(see website for more information)

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↓ Four types of rooms are available. Shown here is the Bayu Villas at RM1,460 per night
(see website for room rates)

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The rooms are air-conditioned and luxurious with a spacious and elegant bathroom to match.

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↓ Workers trimming the thatch roof of the new extension to MERC.

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↓ Three scuba divers who had just returned from a morning’s dive making their way to the Gayana Dive Centre.

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↓ My son Jamie sitting by the steps pondering the fate of the remaining of this long days and equally long nights how he’s been dragged from place to place and often denied of his Game Boy. If it’s any consolation, at least he has on a pair of genuine Crocs … the closest association to Marine life …  though I have a feeling that he’s the least bit genuinely interested in them.

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Stay tuned for the next post on the Marine Ecology Research Centre.I hope to return to Gayana to check out its after hours illumination. I imagine it to be quite spectacular when the night lights are switched on.

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Interested in other resorts?

Visit Brunei and check out our own Ulu Ulu Resort in Temburong, Brunei Darussalam.