INTRODUCTION
This event was held in Sandakan on 30-31 May 2017, a period coinciding with the annual Harvest Festival holidays in Sabah.
The main function was the reunion dinner on the evening of 30 May. As with most past reunions that took place in Sandakan, the venue selected was the Equatorial Sea Food Restaurant (贵都海鲜楼), off Leila Road, Sandakan.
Other related activities included:
+ a brunch and an early-bird dinner (29 May)
+ a sea-food breakfast at Bridge No. 8 Buli Sim-Sim (30 May)
+ a 'Bak Kut Teh' lunch at 'Good-Taste' Kopitiam (好味), Nam Tong,
Tanah Merah (30 May)
+ a Nature Trip to the Sukau MYNE Resort (31 May)
We must express our sincere thanks to Fung Ket Wing and his committee for organizing the various events for this occasion.
* * * *
Appended below is a collection of the photos of the various reunion events. Most of the photos have been taken by this blogger. Also included are some photos taken by other classmates. These imaged have been gleaned off from our Whatsapp chat group.
(Please click on the images for a larger view)
May 29, 2017
Arrival at Sandakan
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| (Sandakan Airport Terminal) |
It has been more than 16 months since I last set foot in Sandakan. Too bad the aero- bridge in the far end was not intended for low-cost passengers, and we had to disembark and approach the Terminal on foot.
⬅
At least, today, baggage seemed to get loaded onto the conveyor belt much faster. I did not have long to
wait for my baggage at the arrival hall.
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Brunch
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At late morning, a short meeting over brunch was arranged with FKW and his committee at the Food Court attached to the indoor football courts at Mile 4, North Road. ➨
Early-Bird Dinner
I have always thought this restaurant is called "Keranamu". Actually, as per the signage, it is "Kenalanmu". More or less like "好友记"?
⬅
Apart from my wife and me, the early birds included Peter Kan, Edward Chok and wife, and Nyo Cho Tong. (A few others had arrived, but could not make it to this function for various reasons.)
30 May 2017
Yumcha at Buli Sim-Sim (Bridge No. 8)
A breakfast session at one of the sea-food restaurants at the Sim-Sim low-cost housing area is a must for visitors to Sandakan.
Our venue this time was the seafood restaurant called Sim-Sim 88. The weather so far had been good.
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Two of the participants posing for a photo in front of the painted frontage of the restaurant
This visitor and a few of his fellow egrets are always present at a nearby perching point just outside the restaurant. They are perfect models for photographers patronizing the restaurant. You do need a telephoto lens, though, to get good images. ➨
(Remember to click on the images to enlarge them if you cannot make out the classmates clearly.)
The next three specimens, however, were not available as menu dishes. They were swimming happily in their aquariums, completely oblivion of the fact that people were munching on their kinds nearby!⬇
⬅
A few of us, especially Lee Kok Chee, have been wondering as to what have become of the "Suluk Dogs" (叔录狗) of our childhood days. Well, they are still there in the sea, under the restaurant. Their numbers had apparently dwindled drastically, though.
Sea-food Bak Kut Teh Lunch at "Good Taste"
31 May also happened to be the Chinese Dumpling Festival (端午节). Many restaurants in Sandakan did not open for business. Luckily our intended venue remained open. Because of the fewer eateries available, we had expected that this restaurant would be very crowded and had therefore made the necessary arrangements to have two tables reserved.
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| (L-R: NYO C T, LAM Y F, W KOH, A KOH, CHIN W M, TAN F L, FUNG K W) |
➨
Of course, the Prima Donna dish of the Bak Kut Teh lunch is the tasty "Lai Mang" fish found in Sandakan waters. Unfortunately, despite our prior booking, there were only 9 fish left (against some 20 classmates). So, it was decided to give the priority to those who were not normally residing in Sandakan.
Main Reunion Dinner
The venue for the 55th Anniversary Reunion Dinner (55ARD) was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Equatorial Seafood Restaurant located at First Floor, Block K of Taman Leila. The weather had been kind to us so far. Had it rained, it would have made it very challenging for those of us who had to drive there. Due to advancing age, many of us are experiencing problems with driving at night. Doing so during a heavy showers would be a daunting venture for the average 75 years old!
* * * * *
(Pre-dinner Social)
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| (L_R: David Kwan, Paul Chang and Lee Kok Chee) |
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| (A general view of the dining hall with early arrivals) |
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Edward Chok chatting with Mr. John Koh (Teacher). Mr. Alban Lagan (Teacher) is seen with Nyo Cho Tong in the background.
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| (Edward Chok with Mr. John Koh) |
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| (L-R: Mrs Lee Kok Chee, Stella and William Koh) |
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| [L-R: Khoo Get Saik, Michael Tan, Chan (Tan) Fook Loong, Ms Chan, Mrs Chan] |
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| [Anti-Clockwise from L: P Chin & wife, Lee K C & wife, W Koh & wife, A Koh & wife and Lam Y F & wife] |
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| [L-R: P Kan, Fung K W, J Koh, A Lagan, Fung (Jr.), Nyo C T and Fung Y L] |
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| [L-R (Foreground): Sim Doo Lok, Chin Vui Ming and Edward Chok] |
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| [Michael Tan, posing with classmates at my table] |
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| [L-R: Sim Doo Lok, Michael Tan, Paul Chang & wife] |
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| [General view of the Hall] |
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| [L-R: Mr. J Koh, Mr. Alban Lagan, Nyo Cho Tong, Michael Tan, Fung Yew Ling and David Kwan] |
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| [L-R: Fook Loong, Get Saik, Peter, Michael and Yew Ling] |
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[David, Michael and Edward]
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⬅
Peter Kan and Michael Tan had the distinction of being the two classmates who returned from the most distant cities to join us. Michael came back from Perth, Australia and Peter all the way from San Jose, California, via Singapore.
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[Ket Wing and Michael]
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* * * * * *
(Dinner Being Served)
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Mr. Alban Lagan, saying grace before the start of the dinner
⬇
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| [The Menu for the evening] |
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| [The first dish was very 'firey' - with 3 'fire' (火) characters in its name!] |
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| [This is the 'head table', with guests (teachers and wife)] |
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| [CKK and LKC busily taking photos to post to social media] |
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| [Serving the second dish -- a special soup] |
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| [FKW going round to get 'feed-backs' on the quality of the dishes from classmates] |
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| [Chin Vui Ming must be sending out some msg on his mobile] |
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| [Edward looks well satisfied with the soup] |
All good things come to an end. The Organizing Chairman Fung Ket Wing made a short speech to thank the guests of honour for gracing the occasion. He also thanked the classmates for supporting the event, not forgetting those who contributed cash generously to this reunion function. He hoped to see everyone at the next (Diamond Jubilee) reunion!
(Group Photo)
This is usually the most difficult activity to accomplish. I had to maneuver more than 30 people into the next room which did not have good lighting. Apparently, to save cost, the restaurant did not replace many of the expired light bulbs. This meant that I would probably be getting some low-res and/or blurry images. Still, a poor quality image would be better than having no group photo to remember the occasion by!
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| [Getting everyone to settle down to their positions] |
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| [Almost there] |
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| [Take a shot, without me; hand over the camera to FYL's son and get myself in the picture (next shot below)] |
* * * * * * *
31 May 2017 -- Sukau Nature Trip
Bus Trip To MYNE Resort
Our bus journey to the MYNE Resort started at 7:40 a.m. from the Sabah Hotel, the assembly point for most of the participants. There were two other collection stops along North Road. The first one was at Mile 2.5, Taman Sentosa (opposite the St. Mary's Secondary School), where classmate Khoo Get Saik and his family boarded the vehicle. The last pick up point was at Mile 5. Here Chan Fook Loong and his family joined us.
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| [At car park of Sabah Hotel] |
Approaching Mile 32, our bus had to make an unscheduled toiletry stop requested by one of the classmates. We made it to the Pentrona fueling station at 9:05 a.m. Once there, all of us also took the opportunity relieve ourselves there, as there would be no more reasonably clean toilets on the last leg of the ride to the MYNE Resort.
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| [The Petronas Station at M32] |
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| [The bus is rolling again] |
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| [The party arrived at the MYNE Resort at 10:35 a.m.] |
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| [Time to sit down, relax and have a cup of coffee] |
The whole bus trip had taken approximately 2 hours, including pick-up stops and that lengthy stop at the Petrona Station at M32.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by the resort's staff. Each visitor was offered a glass of cold, welconing drink.
Landscape/Flora/Fauna around MYNE Resort
Most visitors, especially foreigners, taking a nature trip to this resort would steep themselves in the bounties of nature there. Unfortunately, this group of classmates mainly in their 70s preferred to keep away from the heat and stay indoor just to chit-chat. We did have a point though, as by the time we arrived there (late morning), we could hardly see any of the birds and bees and other wild lives.
Nevertheless, that did not stop me from doing a little exploration around the place....
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| [Access road to the MYNE Resort] |
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| [A side view of the resort] |
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| [Arrival frontage] |
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| [Kinabatangan River frontage] |
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| [A closer view of the river frontage] |
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| [View of Kinabatangan River 1] |
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| [View of Kinabatangan River 2] |
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| [View of Kinabatangan River 3-Boat quay] |
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| [View of Kinabatangan River 4] |
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| [View of Kinabatangan River 5] |
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| [View of Kinabatangan River 6] |
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| [View of Kinabatangan River 7] |
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| [Butterfly 1] |
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| [Butterfly 2] |
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| [Butterfly 3] |
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| [A lone sparrow in the midday sun] |
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| [Close-up view of a tiny red flower] |
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| [Butterfly 4] |
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| [An unusual beetle on one of the dining table in the main hall] |
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| [A golden cricket on another dining table] |
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| [Butterfly 5 - resting on a post of the front set of stairs] |
Group Photos/Luncheon
A buffet luncheon was provided by the resort as part of the package. It was scheduled for 12:30 noon. Prior to that, a group photo session was organized at 11:20 a.m.
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| [A Test Shot (without me)] |
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| [This one is taken by FYL's son] |
(Standing, L-R) Alex Koh & wife, Edward Chok, Irene (Mrs FYL), Mrs Lam Ying Fan, Mrs Khoo Get Saik, Mrs Chan Fook Loong, Ms Chan (CFL's daughter), Peter Chin, Chan Fook Loong, Khoo Get Saik, Fung Ket Wing and W. Koh
(Front) Peter Kan, Mrs Edward Chok, Stella (Mrs. W. Koh), Mrs. Peter Chin, Fung Yew Ling and Lam Ying Fan
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| [This version is received from LYF via Whatsapp] |
⬅ Luncheon in progress
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| [Viewing Pavilion] |
MYNE Safari
This safari involved trekking through a few kilometers of a jungle trail near the resort. According to FKW, part of the trail could be tough as the participants would have to make their way up a hill to a look-out platform. Nevertheless, they would be amply rewarded with some fabulous views of the surrounding landscapes from this viewing pavilion.
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| [Starting Point] |
Time and stamina were not in our favour. We started this safari at around 2:30 p.m. and had only an hour or so to spare before embarking on the next activity (river ride). Even if we had the vigour to reach the viewing pavilion, we would probably be moving far too slowly to enable us to catch up on our next programme.
We had to compromise on an abridged version of this safari. The destination of this shortened safari was only a few hundred meters from the resort. It had less thrills. Because of the dry conditions, we would not even have to face any leeches! We would be visiting a historical icon (or just a legend?) --
The Merbau Tree.
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| [You can see FKW leading the way] |
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| [This football field looks abandoned] |
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| [A close-up shot of a giant wild weed] |
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| [A direction pointer guiding us to the tree of interest] |
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| [On...on] |
This notice board nailed high up an adjacent tree, which looked a bit like a crumpled and then flattened paper, should adequately explain the circumstances leading to this Merbau tree ending up as an icon in the area. It's interesting to note that the Chinese version took the least space to tell the story.
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| [It has a huge, but relatively short trunk] |
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| [A giant vine, looking like a python wraps round a brunch on top] |
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| [A close-up view of the foliage atop the trunk of the tree] |
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The access to the 'chamber' is visible at the bottom of this picture.
➨
FYL, who had crawled into the tree chamber during one of his previous trips describes his experience
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| [Edward Chok making his way into the chamber] |
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| [One for the album] |
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| [Peter Chin and wife] |
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| [Probably someone is still in there!] |
River Boat Ride
Outward Bound
The process of suiting everybody up with life jackets started around 3:30 p.m. 15 minutes later we were ready to board the river boats. FKW, P. Kan, FYL and family, Edward Chok and wife and Stella and myself were in the second boat. The other participants were in the first boat which departed some 5 minutes before us.
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| [Classmates about to board the first boat] |
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| [Passenger on my left] |
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| [Passengers at front, left] |
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| [Passengers behind] |
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| [Passengers front] |
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Classmates in the first river boat ➨
At about 4:10 p.m., the boatman took us into a tributary of the Kinabatangan River. The first thing we observed was a cable stretching from a tree on one side of the tributary to another tree on the opposite side. The guide stated that this cable was erected to enable monkeys to cross the river. (No fooling?) There was a similar cable at a point further into this rivulet. About another to minutes into this branch of the river, a flock of hornbills suddenly appeared in the sky on the right side, and headed towards some trees on the left bank. Their fly-past was to rapid that I did not have time to position my camera to capture the image. Nevertheless, amidst the fading light, I managed to take a few shots after they had landed on trees on the left bank.
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| [2 hornbills atop a tree] |
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| [Here's another hornbill] |
Pygmy Elephants
The main attraction for the Sukau Nature Trip has to be an encounter with the threatened pygmy elephants of Borneo. It is a relatively rare occasion for visitors to have such an opportunity of meeting up with these elephants openly and in close proximity. I made a similar trip here 6 years ago with a different group. That time, we could only hear their trumpeting in the jungle far away. No sighting. This time, we watched them feeding near the water's edge, and taking their bathe in the river. As an encore, these gigantic creatures even performed 2 river-crossing acts for us.
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A pygmy elephant grazing some 50 ft from our boat near the river bank
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| [Jumbo close-up Shot 1] |
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| [Jumbo close-up Shot 2] |
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| [Jumbo close-up Shot 3] |
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| [Jumbo close-up Shot 4] |
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| [Bathing Beauty 1] |
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| [Bathing Beauty 2] |
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| [Excited elephant watchers] |
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| [Another boat-load of tourists waiting for their turn to get closer to the beasts] |
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| [Bathing Beauties 3] |
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| [Bathing Beauties 4] |
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| [Bathing Beauty 5 -- "I am watching you"] |
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| [Best viewed with a pair of binoculars] |
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| [The group on the left have the best gears for this activity] |
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| [Taking a selfie?] |
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| [CKK and the rest of the classmates are on that left-most boat] |
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| [Another view of that boat with a lot of expensive equipment on board] |
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| [Visitors with a vantage point for viewing the elephants crossing the river (1)] |
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| [Visitors with a vantage point for viewing the elephants crossing the river (2)] |
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| [View of other touring group's boat (1)] |
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| [View of other touring group's boat (2)] |
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| [View of other touring group's boat (3)] |
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| [View of other touring group's boat (4)] |
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
** Appended below are clips showing the two river-crossing sequences encountered by us (Courtesy FYL and family):-
Video (1) : https://youtu.be/uiTEt359qdc
Video (2) https://youtu.be/vB_8OPyuHHM
= = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Home-Bound
By 4:45 p.m., all the boats could be seen ferrying their passengers back to their relevant resorts. In the fading light of the day, we could still experience the sights of some animals returning to their trees for the night.
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| [A pair of hornbills] |
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| [A proboscis monkey, backside presentation] |
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| [That's better!] |
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| [A pair of monkeys] |
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| [Another couple of monkeys, settling down for the night] |
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| [This one will munch on his supper first] |
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| ["I am a bit tired now, good evening to you all. Safe trip home"] |
It was past 5:15 p.m. by now, and darkness was approaching. It would be difficult for us to spot any more wildlife clearly among the foliage. For the rest of the river ride to the MYNE Resort, we just sat back and enjoyed the colourful cloud patterns playing out in the sky ahead.
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| [Clouds formation 1] |
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| [Clouds formation 2] |
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| [Clouds formation 3] |
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| [Clouds formation 4] |
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| [Clouds formation 5] |
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| [Clouds formation 6] | | |
By 5:50 p.m., we were all safely back on terra firma, and then promptly boarded our bus for the trip home. At Mile 8, we stopped by the KFC outlet and had dinner. It had been more than 7 hours since our lunch, and everyone was tired and hungry, and grateful for whatever portions of fried chicken that we could lay our hands on.
Our bus finally arrived at the starting point - Sabah Hotel - at 9:15 p.m.
It had been a great day for us, with good weather throughout. See you all in 2022, if not earlier (2020, perhaps).
⏫ ⏫ ⏫ ⏫ ⏫ ⏫
➨ ➨ ➨ ➨ ➨......Some associated Activities
Lost & Found
Peter Kan met up with three old friends, 2 from his Hotspur Sports Club days.
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| [PK with Chan Kui Man (L) and Dorothy Funk] |
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...and another footballing friend from the 50s/60s in Sandakan.
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| [PK with former St. Mary's footballer Chan Man Huen] |
Lee Kok Chee also looked up his old "Bak Sha Wan" (白沙湾) gang, one of whom helped him locate our classmate Lo Fook Yee. (Lo Fook Yee missed the reunion activities as the Organizing Committee did not have his contact.)
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| [Lo Fook Yee (L) and LKC] |
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| [LKC and some of his childhood friends who used to live in 'Bak Sha Wan'] |
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Finale......
I am sure, many of you from outside Sandakan, like me, must have been looking around Sandakan for things that you have dearly missed, especially items which are indigenous to Sandakan.
I went to the fish market with my wife on 2 June, looking for my favourite boney "little yellow fish" (黄鱼仔), among others. Unable to find any of that tiny yellow species of fish, I just spent time going round the different floors of the market and took photos randomly. Inadvertently, one of the photos I snapped provided a clue as to why I could not find my (黄鱼仔) that morning!
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| [The (黄鱼仔) seem to have been taken up by this vendor in the basket indicated by the arrow] |
Thanks for spending your time here. I hope you enjoy reading this post.
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{END OF POST}
