SDK - JHB - SDK - WRLD??

Im actually dying to take a piss after me double tall latte in starbucks,but I really need to get this out of my system too...*legs tightly crossed*

Initially i was hoping my short trip back to Johor will give me the much needed breather..well,apparently not if your going back to mum's. Sometimes I really don't know if she's in her normally weird mode or if she's really acting weEEird. Its really complicated,I don't want to go there,..but bottom line is you know mothers,they really know where your Achilles Ankles are.Even thou they might not sound sane, they still have the ability to make you twitch... well it varies from a "twitch" to "bitch fit" or worst of all is when they total you with a deadly "stroke!".

Apart from getting the usual complaints of I'm too far away and your not ready to handle the oh so big big world,this time she gave me the "you're too emotional to be a leader"lecture

To cut the whole ordeal short,amidst the whirlwind of mess,loneliness, disillusionment and discourageousness( Ha! i don't even know if the word exist) I've decided to plunge my head,heart,soul,toes into creating more great holiday escapades .Which is way I've decided to post these private moments on the blog...u know.. just for the record kinda thing...just in case I chicken out again - NOT!



" Today we will do what we do everyday.."
"WE WILL CONQUER THE WORLD!!''
Quote Brain from Pinky and the Brain

The Axe Fairy

Now you see him............

Now you dont!

hehe,we're banking on the Axe fairy to help us catch the deadline.

Sweet beats of the forest

Few days ago,I visited the busy construction site.While busy figuring out how to use the bloody SLR camera - of course trying very hard not to drop Anton's expensive toy..,I got quite attuned to the beats and shuffles created by the busy workers..Wood Sawing,Hammers Beating,Trees rustling,Imagine a STOMP! act. For a split second,It just felt really gratifying. I mean dough aside..

It pretty much sounded like people working hard to piece your vision together. I guess that's the true value and magic of handmade products.Technically speaking Paganakandii is almost 100% handmade.With literally alot of real blood and sweat put into it. - erm and some dead fingers and toes ,tell u man,..its no fun when your nails break open from the impact of free falling timber.

Both of us are prolly what u call music junkies,who listen to all sort of shit,..except i hate the mornin radio.We're like the epitome of people who bob heads and snap fingers while drivin,well cuz we attempt to do the samba and hip snaps on the driving seat. * HA! bet u haven't done that before* I've always adore concept of great music outdoors,while checkin out youtube and entertaining the thought of having our own Rainforest Music fest .. these are some of the folks who'll go well on the greens.

Hello Saferide feat Firefox AK - Long Lost Penpal

Wicked Aura Batucada

Thirsty Merc - 20 Good Reasons - Piano Acoustic

Recycled Flooring

This is basically where most recycled wood from Happy estate is gonna get a second life.We're begining to appreaciate the material more each day,Its amazing how a little *CPR* - Chop,Plane,Revarnishing can bring em back to its former fully functional glory.

Rainforest Discovery Center - Part 1

I must admit, I've left this window open for the past 20min.. just to check out how Victoria Beckham carries her sassy new bob.Recently snipped my old curls and got myself a bad mop..*fine! bob.* the ordeal have been so disturbing that I kept having nightmares bout some guy behind me in the cinema seat going "dude,your mop is blocking my view !" .. sigh~

So back to this...The Rainforest Discover & Research Center had an open house last Saturday,We made a trip smack in the mid day heat,hoping we could get some tips on breeding glowing orchids and possibly even get some free seedlings.Hehe I know im oozing with "MakcikNESS" these days.

We saw lots of bugs,butterflies, trees,timber samples,fruit trees and weird traditional tribal herbs, I think Chinese herbs still top the list tho~If mum was here, she prolly go crazy and start blurting a long list of remedies using god knows what funky greens.

However there were these little tags that made my toes tingle...I do that when im annoyed.
it says *Armsghohgdo(Scientific name)* - to heal eyes and good for lung. - good for lung ...WHAT?!! Lung cancer?Lung Infection?Lung What? I hate it when people leave me on a disappointing high note.

Dr Arthur Chung,a family friend who works in the Entomology department. showed us his extensive collection of bugs.Apparently he got it from his dad.. If my boy showed interest in catching butterflies i'd be quite worried about his sexual orientation.But alls well,Arthur is as manly as any man can be - imagine spongebob and his jelly fishing gear and you get Arthur. The collection was really pretty,perhaps one day i'll use the patterns and colors as an inspiration for print making.He even gave us a peek at these Rafflesia ,The biggest,
ugliest,smelliest flower in the world.Unfortunately not so perky and happy in the preservation spirits.Then He went on to make sentences full of unpronounceable scientific terms about the process but all I could think about is "FWAAHH RAFFLESIA VODKA SHOTS" that must be DEE most potent stuff!

But the absolute bestest part was the wood library..This little room packed with thousands of cut specimens, .All the different local timbers most of them still wrap up in by the original tree bark like real booklets with a book cover! Unfortunately they were all tagged with scientific terms,and I only know Tectonis Grandis which is Teak. Emotionally you get the same calmness as shopping in a bookstore,Naturally running the fingers along the barks,the eyes tracing an enormous variety of textures and grains. Add all that with a distinctive mixed of earthy scent and dust and you get a nostalgicIsh romantic kinda thingy.

Moving along..In the seed collection and cultivation center.First i learnt whats Diptocarp - a group of trees that has got seeds that floats away from the mother tree.Then we found out how Belian seedlings look like,..its like a freaggin Avocado.Big seeds makes big trees.The RDC gives away seedlings to plantation owners for reforestation.she mentioned some highly valued seedlings can fetch up to 500USD per Kilogram..particularly this timber that's made into incense - which is banned for export.The cynist in me tried really hard to hide the wry smile in the corner of lips,I mean for all you know the govt. bodies are the real puppet master! But as of now all i gotto say bout this whole illegally logging & exporting scene is "quote Ms Farah Azizan,our Architect - STOP RAPING THE FOREST PEOPLE!"

Rainforest Discovery Center - part 2

Old mcdonald had an organic farm

Long House on the right and Mini me on the left Longhouse 2nd floor

Even thou I feel pretty indifferent about organic fruits and veggies,It only seems natural to offer our guest with good food.When you have fresh ingredients,you really dont need to do much with it. (hahah yes I do watch Jamie Oliver quite often) Like any true getaway or retreat,Fresh food,Fresh air will definately satisfy that fix your'e looking for.and and some Kampung "YEAYYYY i finally get my own herb garden,n somebodyelse is doing the dirty job for me!"

Hence we set out to look for that perfect spot of land that'l be big enough for

1) My herb garden

2) Mini Corn Feilds

3) Veggies,Aubergines,Tomatoes,Tapioca

4) Chickens..

5)Herree fishie fishie

Productive Procrastination

The duplex looks like mini meee long house

Im suppose to be doing something else, But I figured updating the blog is a pretty productive way to procrastinate..

The crew is slowing down a bit because we've ran out of materials only till recently, plus its been raining quite a bit.Nevertheless they've start cracking on the Duplexes while we crack our heads on sorting out the communal toilet.

Bidding Happiness Goodbye

"40years of History,and we are left starring at Nothingness."

Coming Soon

Coming Soon..

"Tales of the Guru

and his happy people

under the sun..."

Tongkat Ali

ALI AND HIS TONGKAT

Tongkat Ali : Eurycoma longifolia is a flowering plant in the family Simaroubaceae, native to Indonesia and Malaysia Popular for its testosterone-enhancing properties. Historically, it has been used by the folk medicine in its countries of origin as a libido enhancer and to treat various sexual dysfunctions.

Anton insist i post this pic.and name it Ali and his Tongkat. My Argument was that it really doesn't look all that funny,...nor does it look like Ali(guy wt the moustache) and his walking Cane(tongkat)..besides Ali dont look like he needs help with getting his buddy up~ anyhow u be the judge.!

Silly billy Jaga Api!

Jaga Api :" Watching fire in malay,..common term used by housewives when they need to stay home and watch over their boiling soup."

I dunno what made these silly billies so silly.Is it really the education level or a lack of common sense?First of all, somebody stub cigarette into a huge stack of papers that could possibly initiate a huge plantation fire, then when you tell them to put it off expecting the flame to be extinguished once and for all, just to find the people who created the mess were having a cosy afternoon nap on the second day!... blowing ever so "gently" into somebody Else's face!

The most outrageous part is when the guy in-charge wakes up and rubs his sleepy eyes he tells you that they've been "Watching" the fire all night, that's why they're resting now! ..sigh~ anyhow we finally manage to put it off after continuously dousing it with water for 2hrs.

Recycling an old barn

Happy Estate : An old family palm plantation.its Not so happy these days as the government is trying to reclaim this land to turn it into a University.Under some serious negotiation currently.

The old barn you see here was build in probably the 60s-70s.When the Malayan palm industry was in its expansion era.By late 50s,the govt have acknowledged rubber crop gave a lower profit margin as compared to Palm oil,Hence launched many half /full conversion of rubber estate into palm estate.Till this day you'll notice some estates have the 2 distinctively different crops sharing the same alignment.

I'm not too sure bout the history of this particular land,but according to Ant,..we have had Cocoa, Coffee,Rubber and some other agricultural thingy before it was converted into a full Palm plantation. Reminisce of the yesteryears still lingers in the barn..I found some old chinaware,retro pvc mats,govt newsletters dated in 59-60s,even company receipts dated in the 70s!Apart from processing palm fruit,the 2 story building was probably a poultry barn for awhile,smells kinda funky..but it really felt like a walk down memory lane

anyhow,Its been unused for quite awhile.And we had the wickedness idea to rip it apart and recycle as much wood as much it can.I mean ..as sentimental as it gets, the govt would destroy everything if it lands on their hands..Besides not only do we get to save cost + play our teeeeenny weeny part in conserving natural resources,we also get to take a part of the glorious days into the new project..

so look out for aged beams,old gazette wallpapers,fancy partitions.
www.flickr.com/photos/linnshoots/

The Skeleton

Skeleton : Anatomy, Zoology. the bones of a human or an animal considered as a whole, together forming the framework of the body.

So the full frame work of the long house is up,We just bot the scalp (Zinc roof). And did a brief calculation of how much hair (nipah/dried palm leaves that covers zinc) we need. Even tho market rate is around 70-80cents per feet.It would still add up to a 5digit cost. Unfortunately we can't leave this handsome building "botak" nor would I be impressed if there was bald patches on his head..(yes,.. everything i own is male) we would have to fork out quite a bit to give it that early 90s Aaron Kwok, lush center parting hair.

The Dismantling of the old barn in Happy estate has also gone full on,will be capturing some of its "last days"~ sob sob..

More pics on http://www.flickr.com/photos/linnshoots/page2/

Yoda says:"
build we must,
till the
break of day."

Rumah PanjangNYAA

click to enlarge

Rumah Panjang : Roo-maah Pan- Jaah-Ng

Long House, A long wooden housing unit Traditional found within villages of indigenous tribes in Borneo, Such as the Ibans and Rungus.Usually house up to 3generations under the same roof.

Like all passionate relationships,you discover many traits to fall in love with .This project is very much as such to me. With every visit,every new idea conceived and every attempt to perfect the final delivery,the little voice in your head goes : "hey,i lyyykke that!" well,.. even tho technically speaking i've only got half a foot in,dipping the shallow waters,I really can't wait to work on the detailed touches and interior designs.cuz thats like the cosmetics on a woman's face..the stuff that'll finally make her GLOW!

Being the extremist scorpio that I am,I must say im about the die in this heart-throbing romance.

PS: Actually it sounds more like this "Oh oh i know,.. we can do this!,.. we can do that!.. hey oh no wait thats better,.WoW thats great,.oh yeah thats a yummy idea,.OOohh my thats hot 2!!!."

Plant it.

After rounds of meticulous measuring,aligning and re-aligning,screaming,bearing embarrassing T-shirt tan-lines,suffering from heat stroke and dizzy spells,we finally took the plunge and planted the seeds.

In barely two weeks, Anton manage to drive his 12men crew into laying majority of foundation works.The supporting timber pillars were fixed just 1meter from the Cliff edge!Like a kid with her bag of candies, I couldn't wait to see more! Even tho I must say, with great plans for the sky high living habitats comes sky rocketing blood pressure too! While waiting for the cement to set,The unwelcoming rain decided to gatecrash our building party, We were all soaked in anxiety on those few stormy nights.Fortunately the beams remained erected in the puddle of mud.. which almost feels like cheesecake to walk on~

Keeping it short tonight so check out some pics,..more on http://www.flickr.com/photos/linnshoots/page2/

Tales of our forefathers

fine he's anton's popsie not mine!,But this great man left a great legacy in Sandakan,.he's got palm,timber,developement,cinema,hotel and a nice school to finish things off..YUYUAN SCHOOL is the only independent school in Sandakan,Mr Ngui Ah Kui founded it based on a very simple pricipal - everybody should be given a 2nd chance!..before the existence of this school,Kids who fail their final exams would have no where to go..and YUYUAN would offer them a second go at education. Till date it has expanded much and become the only school that provides private education. they're ripping away the old wooden building from the 60s,to make way for a much bigger one. Best part is - we get to recycle the wood ..hooohoo

PS: ppl stop diggin the roads in town!!!! they are fine as it is!!!

a freaky trivia : Mr Ngui and his Wife and his Mum, where once upon a time buried within the school compound!Brrr