Migrate again?!

Heh...no need to panic...but I've decided to start blogging at the following:

http://mo2cha2.wordpress.com/

Please update your links and feeds. Thought that it is better to do this now rather than later.

Jya-ne mina-san ~~~

Rice Wine - Tribal Version

I am going to zonk out soon and I am reminded of how my imsomniac problem has dissipated due to my daily commute and adventures. Gone are the days when a six-pack or more is needed for medicinal purposes. For all my homies whom we have spent time cooking and drinking at my old crib, I wanted to show some pics of how the natives really drink here. The local natives of Sabah aka KadazanDusun whom are the majority tribe calls their version of rice wine "Lihing". Other names such as tapai, hiing, linahas, etc. are used depending on the tribes. As you can guess, this is not your high class crystal clear Grey Goose-like Japanese Sake, Korean Soju, nor Chinese Mau Toi.

This is as down to earth as you can get. The pic below shows a "tajau" aka big jar already set up for action. Notice the steel bucket of water and a glass. Basically, it's all about physics. Oh yeah, once you have tried this, you will definitely be convinced that the Kadazans knew about atmospheric pressure prior to Belti, Berti, or whatever his name was ...hic... Anyways, the concept is pretty simple. Your relatives (the fun/evil/good ones - it's all very subject to your point of view) will ask/demand/force you to partake n where n = the number of glasses of water. Water is good for your health. You should drink at least 8 glasses per day to maintain optimity.

So, in the beginning, there will be a fresh tajau filled with lihing which is actually made from glutinous rice and yeast - about 90% full and close to the brim. The formula and process of making it is always guarded with Coke-like security as no one can ever duplicate the "one" that everyone likes.

This particular party was to celebrate the "Full Moon" aka first month of my cousin, Ivan's son. The eggs are dyed red.

Banana leaves are cut and shaped enough to cover the largest diameter of the tajau. The leaves will be laid gently inside of the tajau so that it appears to be floating. Then a bamboo straw/tube or a plastic IV tube (yes, the clear see-thru type), will be poked through the leaves until the end of the tube reaches the bottom.

As with everything, benchmarking is very essential to the success of endevour. A marker of sorts will be made so that all will know how much has been imbibed. For example: a line will be made on the wall lining inside the jar, or for the more experience or professionals, they will measure on site or sight, or sometimes, like in my case, until your elders say it is 1 glass or 2 glasses of water.

The pic on the left is my cousin, Royal whom is a reporter for the New Straits Times. The pro on the right is Ivan's father-in-law. All of the lihing are believed to be donated by him.

Anyways, after it is publicly announced that you will consume n, you will start sucking on the straw/tube. Let me tell you from personal experience and my Uncle Paulo's advise, make sure that you take lots of antibiotics, etc. as this is a community-type event. Lots of mouths are gonna or have used that straw/tube. The water in the glass(es) that you have pledge to drink will be slowly pour into the jar. The objective of this exercise is to ensure that the original level inside the jar is always maintained. Since you are drinking from the bottom of the jar, the level will lower thus causing people to delay pouring your glass(es) of water back into the jar.


Well, does it taste like chicken? Or Bud Lite? Well, the finish will send you on a green warm bambooey journey through padi fields with a slight hint of arugula spiced with rosemary and cherry...heh...just kidding, I will just say that the texture of the liquid is heavy and/or even syrupy sometimes. It is sweet and sometimes, it does comes with a slight bitter aftertaste. The colour is more of a S4 - yeah, a real rough diamond. It is guaranteed to come with a water buffalo kick at the end if you are not careful...as in...when it hits you, it really hits the spot and there is no turning back.

I had only tried this once since I came back and all that I can say is, luckily enough, the venue was held on a Saturday night as the rest of the following day was spent wondering where did the 3rd one go ...

Home At Last?!

Greetings and foremost, a thousand apologies...

Wow, Ok...whatever happens, I will post something out tonight. I just logged on and realized that the last time when I was here was January 8th. If I keep on dragging like this, nothing will be posted. Anyways, it's been almost half a year since I have arrived back to the land of open drainage, no laundry dryers, no garbage disposals, no Home Depot, no nicely packed USDA Choice meats where 25 years of misconstrue nostalgia can be instantly wipe out.

Tourism has been apparently a major push for Malaysia and the state of Sabah these few years. For example: There are now 4 flights per week to Korea. My direct flight with Korean Air from Atlanta to Inchon City to Kota Kinabalu was almost flawless. I must say that it was the best international flight experience that I ever had and I would be remiss if I didn't mention it. Short transit time and the airport is better organized than Kim Bo. The flight to Kota Kinabalu was fully packed and 95% of the passengers were Koreans. The only thing that I really need to find out is if anyone has thought of importing "Soju" preferably the "Charm" green bottle yet.

For all of you whom are interested, the state that I am residing at now is called Sabah or North Borneo for you old-schooled dudes and dudettes. I guess being away from ultra humid equatorial climate does have an impact on the mind and body. The first week was pretty tough. Lots of water just to prevent dehydration. I've already lost about 7 cms aka 2 inches to the beltline. Oh yeah! The metric system...even though it is the official measurement for everything from gas...ahem...I mean petrol...to rice i.e. liters, kilograms, hectares in commerce and government, everyone still uses inches and acres in everyday conversation and measurement. Ah well, more tidbits of life in the old country in future posts.

The last few months had been pretty gruelling since I had to set up my crib while working. What?! Work?! Yeah, believe it or not, from high-tech to extremely low-tech. This time around, I get to set up a timber camp near a village called Kampung Ulu Rampayan. The closest town is Kota Belud for those of you interested in emapping it. This site was originally all swamp filled with mangrove trees. I have been given the "privilege" of designing and erecting a living quarters and weightbridge office at this 11 acres of reclaimed swampy area. The picture on the left are 3 of the villagers that were hired to build the living quarters close to an area that they call "stumping" in the timber industry. Their names from the left are Siungkut, Sardin, and Bayan. These folks are from the Kampung Ulu Rampayan where the majority of the villagers are Ilanun. Short story: Sardin has a younger brother called Komplin. There was a period of time when the company was only providing tinned tomato sardines for ration. Needless to say, they eventually made a fuss and complained about the food supply. Don't ask me what the connection is but they said that this situation was due to the recent hiring of Komplin and Sardin which cause them to complain about the sardines for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...

As for these guys on the right, they are my new band of badasses ie. Tractor aka bulldozer, Hitachi aka excavator, Catapillar 966 aka "kapiting", lorry operators, etc. Yes, these are the guys that complained about the brothers. A couple of them insisted that their pics could not be taken as it would result in my camera being ruined/destroyed. I told them that if my camera does not break as a result of taking their pic, they will have to buy me another one. Anyways, long story short, the LCD on my camera did break a couple of months later but I suspect that it was due to my carelessness in not buying a hardcase baggie to put it in. From the left, Richu the chainsaw guy whom has been in the timber industry for at least 10 years - he has been a hookman, apprentice mechanic, etc, Martha the cook, Suqur the tractor mechanic whom I've promoted to Junior Foreman recently, Hassan the 966 operator, Yahya his son the general worker, Endra (most behind) apprentice mechanic, Latun (blue shirt) the "mandur" aka foreman, Ricto (front) tractor operator, Mantok from Ulu Kukut (more about Ulu Kukut later)- hookman, and Pata the Hitachi aka excavator operator. There are a few more folks not included here but they are just too shy.

The picture to the left was taken from a hill sometime in December last year. The living quarters and workshop are behind the logs. The whole area surround the little structure with the orange roof aka weighbridge is called "stumping". This is where all of the harvested logs after being weighted coming down from the "block" - site where the trees are felled: will be piled, graded, re-piled, trimmed, bundled, re-weighted, measured, etc. according to buyer's specs. To the right of the pic (not included) is where the jetty or as they call it here - "pangkalan". I will have to take and post more updated pics next time. When I first got here, I was thinking of camping there but my decision has changed which I will explain in a bit.

Another project that I am involved with is a 100 acres joint venture between SAFODA (Sabah Forestry Development Authority) and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) where a new hybrid of Acacia Mangium will be planted for experimental purposes. Actually, the employees of Ataka Kenzai are the contributors for this project. In effect, it is hope that these experimental trees will grow straighter and quicker for harvesting. In this 5 years, we as the "subcon" aka sub-contractor, in summary, are responsible for clearing, aligning, planting, and slashing this area. Progress is rather slow due to heavy rain and a few factors not mentionable here. The villagers employed for this project are from Kampung Mantanau where the majority of them are Dusun. These villagers have always been employed by SAFODA. The foreman in charge is Gusti who is the KK aka Ketua Kampung aka village head. The workerbies are mostly from his village and the Ulu Kukut nearby area.

For the last few months, I have been pushing to see some logs at stumping. Now, we have harvested to date, about 460 tons of raw logs. Pretty accurate, you say? Well, I am the designated guy to install the WB software, etc. I will have to comment in later posts about computering in Sabah but for the most part, IT is not widely implemented. The company hasn't sold nor ship a single log yet as we need at least 2000 tons for a buyer to come in. I've heard that a ship won't come near unless there are 1000 logs to be transported.

Natural and artificial obstacles such as the main contractor not paying the government their dues, village people blocking roads, floods, heavy rain, release documents from villagers, "orang halus" - translated to be "fine people" aka spirits, ghosts, trees that untouchable ie. pokok Arah, etc. are pretty common. The pic on the left shows an example of the access road which we use to reach stumping from our camp at the top of a hill about 5 km away. The supposely landowner build a fence and placed a letter demanding that RM$ 60,000.00 must be paid when we started transporting some logs. Long story short, we haven't paid him yet because 1) we are not the ones whom dealt with him in the first place - the main con did, we are the sub con; 2) we are currently stopped from transporting these logs as the main con owes money to SAFODA which means that we no longer need this access road - this might change in the near future but I have found out that this is how things are over here; 3) the landowner apparently owes a bunch of land premiums to his bank and they are planning to auction it off but the bank can't find his paperwork ie. title, etc. from the Land and Survey Dept. ie. this guy is quite influential in Kota Belud to be able to vanish the docs mysteriously - in the end, it will depends on how long either party can withstand the standoff.

Forget the conveniences of a normal life. When you are out here in the boonies, you hope for clear skies and clean water. Food is almost a luxury but somehow, everyone seem to be able to afford cigarettes albeit unknown brands, ex: Era, Hope, LA, etc. Not sure if any of you recall some of the movies involving substance trafficking, processing, etc. such as Year of the Dragon, when the Chinese triad head goes to Thailand or wherever it was in the Golden Triangle, cartons of Marlboro were used as presents. Of course, cold hard cash is always best to buy your way around.

So, what was I blabbing about before I got sidetracked...ah yeah, life here is definitely different. I am not sure that I would stay here for long but I am treating it as a life experience. I did hear about a rumour of some opportunities in Australia ie. Perth or Darwin; they need folks at their Uranium mines...hmmm...one of my aunts did say that they pay well...ermmm...for IT guys...I won't know which end of a pickaxe to start but then again, I am not sure that I know much about this timber industry although I am picking up new mechanical vocabs like sprockets, kerfs, slippers, crankshafts, etc.

Five days a week, my commute is about 1.5 - 2 hours one way from Kota Kinabalu to the timber site. The distance is probably less than 65 miles but trust me, the 4 hours drive to Nashville from Atlanta does not even compare. The picture on the left shows how heavy rain ie. flood can affect the roads. Below is an example of seriously required road maintenance. Notice the wooden stacks on the right side just in front of the road where the subgrade and subbase needs re-doing, that is a landslide that is waiting to happen but it has been that way since November last year. And on the left again is an example of water buffaloes, cows, horses, chickens, ducks, goats, and sometimes humans not recoqnizing their vulnerability. It has been reported before that a driver accidentally killing a chicken or maiming a cow had been hunted, chased, and seriously injured by the owner and his fellow villagers. I wished I could take a pic of the rainfall on my windshield here causing literally zero visibility but I am too busy trying not to die when it happens.

So, anything nice to report? Well, the jetty is located right at the mouth of a river to the South China Sea. I will definitely have to post some pics of this place as soon as I find them. But about 15 minutes away, there is a beach where I have not seen any outside visitors at all. Usually, during the day on my drive between the camp at the top of the hill, harvesting block, SAFODA plantation, I would see some villagers. But for the most part, it is really deserted. I have been down to beach a few times and even stripped, swam naked unashamed and disregarding of my worker whom followed me and the 2 village fishermen in a small boat. It is like having your own private beach. I really need to make a boogieboard soon for the low rolling waves. This is probably one of the few undiscovered beaches left in the world waiting to be exploited. I have even heard from the villagers that there are "tayums" aka "Uni" aka Sea Urchins here but they only come out at night to feed. It is on my list to spend a night there in the near future as the season for tayums is supposed to be around March - May.

Argh, I've just realized that it is much too late now. It's been a while but I hope to be back more frequently to apply my computing and English prosing skills in the near future again.