The Sabahan Bloggers Gathering 2008 was held on 2nd August at the Roof Restaurant of Imperial International Hotel. Read more>>>
Pesta Gambus 2008 was held on 25-27 July 2008 in Sipitang. This annual festival celebrates the musical culture of the Brunei community in the West Coast of Sabah, with the Gambus instrument as the central theme.
Lifeinborneo.com has released another post on the World Harvest Festival 2008, where have a theme play based on a 500 year old Bidayuh legend, titled Panglima Kulow. The show was played out at the Sarawak Cultural Village’s lake at night, with an army of casts and a display of impressive special effects worthy of a movie. Read more on the story>>>
Visit lifeinborneo.com to read about this event
The Unduk Ngadau Grand Finals was held in the Main Hall of KDCA’s Hongkod Koisaan on 31st May 2008. The contestants from all over Sabah represented their respective districts, including one from Klang Valley. Dressed in traditional ethnic costume, the contestants graced the audience with their charm and beauty in the most anticipated event of this year’s Kaamatan Festival.
Representing Likas, number 14 is my favourite contestant, i think she has the most beautiful smile of all… sigh, I know she’s not smiling at me lah. Anyway, the coverage about the event + photos are up now on lifeinborneo.com. read more…
May is cultural events galore for KK, and another event that I went to is the Kota Kinabalu Kaamatan Carnival 2008. This is the KK City level celebration. All of these events are part of the Kaamatan Festival 2008 leading up to the Grand Finale on 30-31 May 2008 at KDCA Hongkod Koisaan.
Read more at lifeinborneo.com
Last weekend, me and friends went to the launching of Sabah Fest 2008. Sabah Fest is a yearly event aimed to provide visitors the opportunity to see, taste, hear and feel Sabah’s unique culture through a kaleidoscope of cultural performances and spectrum of activities lined up throughout the month of May. Visitors will get to sample local delicacies such as cakes and traditional foods, and also witness unique works of crafts demonstrated live by skilled handicraft makers of various ethnic groups.
Read more on lifeinborneo.com
Last weekend, our city of Kota Kinabalu had the Freedom Of Entry To The City 2008. This event is jointly organised by the KK City Hall and Royal Malaysian Navy. I went and took some photos too. Read more at Life In Borneo.
On the 2nd February 2008, Kota Kinabalu City Hall (D.B.K.K.) held the KK City Street Parade 2008 at the Promenade Boulevard. The event started from 7pm and lasted until 10.30pm. It was a wonderful night filled with performances by local and international participants wearing their respective traditional attire.
Malaysian Dancers
The local participants consisted of Traditional Dancers from the many races in Sabah (Malay, Indian, Chinese, Kadazandusuns and more), lantern possesion by students of a few local schools, and a parade of city floats.
New Zealand Dancers
The International Dancers were from 8 countries: Brazil, Spain, Kenya, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland and Ukraine. All the dances were performed one after the other and had cheers of applause from all the audience. According to the D.B.K.K. website, estimated numbers would be around 50,000 spectators.
Brazillian Dancers
As the finale, all the participants joined together in a huge ensemble and danced together with the KK City Day Song. Then fireworks exploded above the skies of the waterfront signaling the end of the night’s celebration.
Finally! Dewa 19 in KK! I never thought it would ever be possible, because big Indonesian bands like them only does concerts in KL, until now!!! Last Saturday (15-12-2007), I went to Stadium Likas to see them perform. I took some pics and videos (though the videos are only short clips).
A shot of the stage before the concert starts.
Opening by Jinbara.
Felix A.F. with Jinbara.
And then, the stage was darkened and I knew Dewa was next to play.
Video of Dewa 19’s first song, “Angin”.
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More pics.
Ella and Dewa’s Dhani in a duet of “Sedang Ingin Bercinta”.
Video of “Dewi”.
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Video of “Kangen”. This time I got quite close to the stage.
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At the end of their final song, they said “Terima Kasih, Kinabalu!”
Video of Laskar Cinta and ending of concert.
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All in all, Dewa 19 concert was an awesome show! They did a stellar performance. Our local artists (Jinbara, Felix and Ella) also did a good job. But, Ella must have been so surprised to see the crowd’s laid back attitude. “Mari nyanyi sama-sama! “… … crickets … …
Somehow I felt weird when Dewi-Dewi (Indo Girl Pop Group) was singing. They were covering Dewa songs, but in a Pop/R&B way and made the stadium so quiet (maybe most everyone was so puzzled, “huh? what is this?”. Though they managed to pick up the crowd’s mood with their own hit “Dokter Cinta” as their last song (which sounded too much like “Everybody Dance Now”.
There are a few things that every singer/band/group needs to know about performing in KK, the audience here are shy and very laid back. Asking the audience to sing-along is fine, but we came to hear you guys sing, not tuneless out of sync singing of our own voices. Also, there is no mosh-pit or stage diving, or crying/feinting. We might seem “cold” but we are enjoying your music, just in our own way.
After people started to leave, I finally found my sisters and cousin.
Last Sunday (18-11-2007), we had the paintball match between bloggers of K.K. versus the Penampang Hoodlums! The match was played at Penampang Point Paintball (PPP) in Kg. Tanaki. Our team consists of 9 people (6 bloggers & 2 more friends + 1 more at the 2nd half). Our opponents, the Penampang Hoodlums (5 of them) is actually going to be the team representing Sabah in the 5 Man World Cup Asia Malaysia 2007, Paintball-Asia League Series next month.
Briefing before the game by Reuben
The bloggers: Julian, Wei Chuen, Dinoza, George, Tim, Me
The Penampang Hoodlums
We knew we were the the underdog here, nevertheless we gave it everything we’ve got. But then of course we all got killed in mere seconds in the first few rounds. Why? you ask? Well, the Hoodlums are well trained and really accurate in shooting. Bear in mind that I’m really a small guy hiding behind a bunker, and they still managed to shoot me in the head (ouch, but ok what, ada goggles).
(This pic is from Julian)
We did manage to shoot a few of them in the next few rounds, but we still lost cause they shot all of us down. After a break, we went for Round 2 and switched to the other side of the field. This time, the game was more interesting and had heavier action going on!
This is what happened ( Cue Slow Motion): I was running towards a bunker, made it there (managed to duck dozens of bullets) and ran towards another bunker. Then Smack! I fell to the ground and ate some mud. I somehow managed to get up and Splat!!! I was shot in the face and ate some paint… lol
After 2 rounds, we unanimously decided that the Hoodlums won the match. We lost but glad these guys are representing Sabah, show them that Sabah Boleh! Bulihbah kalau kau!!! Good Luck at the tournament, guys! We had some pellets left, so we had a mini match amongst the bloggers (5 vs 4). After that, a one on one until no more pellets.
All in all, we had a great time there on Sunday, and learned something important.
NO PAIN NO GAIN.
hehe, can’t wait till next time. 
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