No more 15 hours of Bus Ride!

After the first experience of taking bus down from Miri to Sibu then to Kuching, we actually said that we will not take the bus ride down anymore...but...as work is needed to be settled in Kuching, Catherine and I decided to take the bus down from Miri to Kuching which we both knew that it will take 15 hours. Flight tickets are rocket high as Raya is coming soon.

The ride started at 7am although our ticket was a 6.30am ticket. The bus driver drove madly down the winding road and we reached Sibu at 1.30pm instead of 2pm. Well, basically we slept altogether 13 hours out of 15!!! *we're not counting stars to sleep*

We had many stops before reaching Kuching and if not mistaken, we only came down the bus 3 out of the many stops...the rest of the time, we were sleeping~~~

Well, the whole body is aching badly, feet swells...and we swear we will never take the 15 hour bus ride ever again~!

*good thing my parents bought flight ticket back to Miri*

Looking forward to another 'Not Free' free Week

It's Friday and it's the last day of school before the next 'not free' free week~ Don't know whether should I be happy or otherwise, coz it's another busy week up ahead.

Well, as a start, it wasn't that a week this week, only with assignments due, presentation and meetings (as usual every week) for updates on the project...and don't forget shootings last Saturday and Sunday and also Wednesday in campus and today back in MCMC...and hopefully we're done by then. 

And a whole weekend waiting...first with Prom Nite this Saturday and of coz the after party. Will have a great time with the CV!s (as crazy as they can be). And the 15 hours bus trip down to Kuching with Catherine for a business meeting on Monday and hopefully will be able to get back to Miri as soon as possible. Phew~ But at least get to go back home, even for a day, for FOOD!

The whole next week will be just meetings, assignments...and meetings...

At least it's going to be over for this semester. Another 4 weeks of study, 2 weeks of exams and I'm done with Semester 2, 2008! Yippie! Back to Long Makabar for the project installation and either an internship in ASTRO or a job in KL...

Aits! Will be back for post on the weekends!

First Class in Karate!

After a semester, after my first tryout in Taekwondo and failed very badly after suffering from virus attack which had my muscle all inflamed, I stopped immediately... *sob sob*

And now, I'm back with Martial Arts! This time, Shitoryu Karate. Catherine went back to her training after a month of break and she brought me along for a trial, so I did, today~ and I seemed to like Karate. The steps were easier and the training weren't that drastic like the one I had previously. I had a great first time in Karate and would like to continue for another few more classes before deciding on whether or not I should start my white belt...

Learnt a lot of steps in my first class and of course, a lot of mosquito bites as well, but, it's all worth the stress-release time and at least I get to exercise. Looking forward to the training~

Curtin Masquerade Grand Ball '08

Curtin Student Council proudly present their first Masquerade Grand Ball.

Yeap...and this time, I'm going! YEAH~! My first ever prom nite...

Looking forward to this night!

Mooncake Festival 2008

Finally after *counting*... 4 years of NOT celebrating mooncake festival, NOT having any mooncakes, NOT knowing when is the festival...I finally had a fair share of the feeling of celebrating the Mid Autumn Festival.

Many thanks to Catherine for having a small celebration today...

First stop, we went to Bintang Plaza for our dinner - and I seriously mean DINNER! Not consuming anything other than plain water for the whole day, I was ready to dig into having tons of food. Being so hungry, we ordered a set of meal for 4 people, but there were only 2 of us eating. These are our food list for dinner:

1. 4 bowls of mushroom soup

2. 4 glasses of Pepsi

3. 2 personal pizza (Chicken and Egg & Tuna)

4. 2 loaves of garlic bread

5. 1 plate of spaghetti bolognese

5. 1 plate of curry chicken rice

...and of course, we 'tapau'ed' back some leftover food that we couldn't finish

Second stop, we went home and took out the lanterns we bought a couple of weeks back. We lit all 6 lanterns and hung then on our cloth rack. Catherine had a bowl of water and started lighting the candles and had the wax dripped on the water... it made shapes out of it... 

...the wax on the water...

...first time playing this wax dripping thinggy *so cool!*...

Well, out of the 6 lanterns we had, only 2 survived in a piece - 1 burnt to death, 3 caught fire but still alive but severely injured... *sigh* Had the waxed fished out from the water and it looked so nice~

...one of the lanterns which caught fire...

It was a great, small, fun celebration. Alas, there was a change...no more NOT knowing when the festival is, no more NOT having mooncakes, and of coz no more NOT celebrating it...

HAPPY MOONCAKE FESTIVAL/HAPPY MID AUTUMN FESTIVAL 

FTV334 Minor Production - Sweet Revenge

Finally, something not on Project Care~

Now, it's my FTV334 Minor Production! Although I don't have the photos with me yet, but it was a funny production, though. It was more a less a very quick thinking about the script and the writing up to storyboarding then to approving our documentation and to shoot! All within a week!!!

We shot on Friday, 5th September 2008 for about 3 hours at Lakeside Apartment area only. Managed to get everything done and soon afterwards, it rained so heavily! Thank God we finished~~~ Sores everywhere thanks to carrying the whole box of Tota Light from Campus to Lakeside and back to Campus.................. *so heavy!*

Editing started right after the shoot and continued on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for submission. I came to help for the music composition where we search high and low for effective sound effect for the video as well as horror music for it too. Our lecturer took a last look after making changes the day before and we compiled, transfered to master and submitted!

First time ever, pre-production, production and post-production, all happened within two weeks! Hah~!

Will try to post up the video...

One last production to go before finishing my whole degree course here in Curtin! GAMBATEH!

Our Trip to Long Makabar~

It took me like almost a month to post up this post. Was and still am very busy with the projects especially on Project Care and my production assignments for FTV334. At least I have a minute to sit down now to write a little bit on my trip to Long Makabar.

An hour of tarred road, 3 hours of 'lubang-lubang' road and another 5 hours on timber road. That's how far we had to go to reach our final destination.

The team departed on the 21st August 2008 to a mission to see the livelihood of the people in the rural area. We finally chose Long Makabar and along with MERCY Malaysia Miri Chapter, we travelled into the jungle of Sarawak and found this little village called Long Makabar.

First time travelling on a Hilux for 8 hours really drains everyone. I was also taking video along the way only until I made a wrong decision to turn around and take the back of the car which causes me to feel so dizzy and finally had my car-sick! 

...this is how I take videos in the car...

Will cut to the chase... and fill everything up with photos!

...somewhere about to reach the village...

Half way through, we stopped at Long Lapok for a meal and continued until reaching the village at 4.30pm. It was tiring but we continued unpacking and cooked our dinner and prepared for a village meeting that night itself to plan for the activities for the next day.

...our pit stop at Long Lapok...

...that's me with the PD170...

Day 2

Woke up early in the morning and time to start our work. Some of us helped MERCY with the medical relief mission in eye-checking, deworming, etc. Later, we had some time with the children, teaching them our dance and had them to decorate our banner with their handprints. At the same time, Catherine, Gerain and I went all out to the village to take videos and photos for our documentary. First day was all about helping the villagers out in any means that we can.

...sleeping outside the verandah...

...interviewing Shahul...

...Johan and Gerain busy with the eye-checks...

...Suhas making his very own 'adut'...

...Kah Yi and baby Patricia...

...me exhausted after a whole round around the village...

...Catherine just loves this photo...

Day 3

It was all about fun! First thing in the morning was the paddy planting. I was wondering...how do we plant paddy when we're on top of a mountain...and to my surprise, we had to plant the paddy along the hillside...........!!!!! Along with my PD170, I climbed the hill and reached the top where I took videos of the people planting them. It took me a long while to get myself and the camera safely on the ground. Later after that, we were brought to a river (1/2 hour Hilux drive) and again, shockingly, I had to cross the river, climbed to the land, down the river to get to a shed they prepared for us. We had fishes, frogs, deer meat.......................... That night was fantastic. We had dances from the villagers and even Project Care went up for our own performances! We were all given souvenirs by the head of village as a token of appreciation.

...a little excited...why? look at the picture below~

...that's Catherine, Gerain and I at the back of a moving HILUX!!!...

...after the paddy planting with our faces smudged with charcoal...

(Jennie, Kah Yi, Tili, Gerain and me)

...syok sendiri with charcoalled face...

...the rest of the team at the back of the Hilux...

...this is how we had to walk to get to the picnic site...

Day 4

Time to pack and leave the village to continue on our Project Care. It was hard to say goodbye to the children and the elders alike. They had been like our family. Some shed tears, some waved goodbye but the memories will last forever. Another 8 hours drive back to Miri~

...see how 'fatherly' Suhas and Gerain is with the kids...

...and see how 'motherly' Ming Yi is...

...another syok sendiri before leaving Long Makabar...

...the one and only photo of us with the Cultural Center...

...a sneak peak to our horrifying legs with sand flies bites...

...finally upon reaching Miri...

everyone was exhausted!

It was a great experience to be there. I saw many things that I couldn't imagine. I felt many emotions being around the villagers. It was an opportunity of a lifetime to live in such a place. We, Project Care came back with a mission; to help the people of Long Makabar, to give light to the people of Long Makabar!

...the team (Project Care and MERCY Malaysia)

One thing for sure, we will be back again~!

Project Care in Borneo Post!

Village to harness solar energy for electricity 

MIRI: Unavailability of electricity will soon be a thing of the past for Lepo Tau Long Makaba residents in interior Baram once power is supplied to the village.

Members of Project Care are making efforts to provide the much needed utility through corporate sponsorships, partnerships and public donations.

They are to raise RM15,000 for the purchase and installation of solar panels for the village.

“The project is expected to be implemented in mid-October,” Project Care project manager Karen Kuek said yesterday.

According to her, once completed, the village which is better known as Long Makabar would become one of the first villages in the state to harness solar energy for electricity.

Long Makabar - a village of the Penan and Kenyah community in Sungai Silat - is close to the Kalimantan border.

Currently, there are about 200 residents in the village and they comprised mostly elders and primary school children.

The youth are said to be staying in various urban areas of the state and elsewhere in search of greener pastures.

Long Makabar is about eight hours by four-wheel drive vehicle from here through rough and treacherous logging tracks.

A recent visit by a consultation group consisting of Project Care, Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus and Mercy Malaysia, Miri Chapter to the remote village found that it had no electric power supply of whatever nature, either from the authorities or others.

When contacted by The Borneo Post, Kuek said electricity was only available at the primary school in the village - SK Long Makabar - and it was obtained via powered cable.

The team felt that lack of electricity would be a big hurdle for the development and progress of the village, hence the need to have the supply sooner or later.

After an extensive research to assess the ground situation during the visit, the team decided to choose Long Makabar as the site for the project.

Kuek said the village was rich in culture and resources especially human resource but unfortunately it had no electric power supply.

She believed lack of electricity could slow down the progress of the village, thus it might lag behind other villages in terms of development.

Meanwhile, Project Care has video documented its trip to the village and will use it in its efforts to gain corporate support and sponsorships to fulfill the commitment made to the village folks.

Kuek said with unstinted support from the university and Miri Mercy, the members of Project Care armed with the documentary and seasoned by the personal experience would reach out to the corporate and the public, through various campaigns that would run until mid-October.

“In addition to that we will be running a month-long photo exhibition on Long Makabar at Pustaka Miri, besides fund-raising campaigns in shopping complexes,” said Wong Ming Yi who is in-charge of marketing for Project Care.

This was to raise awareness while forging corporate partnerships with larger organisations to sponsor their initiative, she added.

“This isn’t about donation or charity but about the future of Long Makabar. So please help us to help this village,” she said.

Project Care is a student-run-leadership-oriented rural community project consisting of eight leadership students, and an offshoot of John Curtin Leadership Academy from Curtin University of Technology that aims to improve remote rural living conditions.

To contribute, the public may call Kuek at 013-8168827 or visit Project Care website at http://groups/google.com/groups/projectcarejcla/web/project-care.

When team members are down; one-by-one

After the Long Makabar trip and after Curtin Carnival, one-by-one, Project Care members are getting sick. It started from Gerain whom we sent to MCMC for checkup a week before leaving to Long Makabar and then it was me, having terribly bad cough, flu and fever. It was a terrible trip for me in Long Makabar, coughing my head off and had to control myself during the shoots. When we got back to Miri, preparing for Curtin Carnival, Catherine started to have cough, and really bad cough. 2 days before the carnival, Suhas was down with fever and during the carnival, Ming Yi was getting sick...

...2 days after the carnival, I received a call from Suhas. He was admitted to Columbia Asia hospital for dengue fever! The next day, Ming Yi went for her check-up and also was found with dengue fever but not severe!

We're still wondering... 'where did this dengue fever come from?'

Just as a precaution, everyone in our team were advice to be careful and take good care of ourselves. A slight fever and off to hospital.

For now, the team has to carry on with our project. 

Get well Suhas and Ming Yi~!