Airport Blogging Ritual

At the terminal 2 free internet stations. Boarding in 5 minutes time.
Today has been a crazy eventful day even before I get on the plane to go to Sabah.

I tried looking for free wifi but there was none at the airport. Unbelievable. Wireless@sg doesn't extend to terminal 2 and the place with ethernet requires me to provide my own cable! WTF! I really need to send out the survey questions and interview questions for my thesis and now I have to wager on Kota Kinabalu having internet access.

Anyways I sustained a slight injury this morning and hopefully that will not affect me when I get to Sabah. Sigh.

What a way to start an adventure. See you guys in 7 days! And if you are lucky, KK comes with inet and I'll be online before you know it.

Maliau Itinerary

20 Feb
Arrive at Kota Kinabalu, 4.40pm

21 Feb
Leave for Maliau Basin via Keningau
Arrive Maliau late afternoon

22 Feb
Field work at Maliau

23 Feb
Field work at Maliau

24 Feb
Field work at Maliau

25 Feb
Depart Maliau towards Tawau
Arrive KK in evening

26 Feb
Field work in Kota Kinabalu
Visit island off KK

27 Feb
Return flight to Singapore arrive 1.5hours before Dan's talk

Gearing up

Bought new footwear at Feder Shoes, located at Peninsular Plaza #02-58 last Sunday.

I supposed had I know of Campers Corner at Capitol Building earlier, I would have ended up with a pair of Gore-tex shoes. Unfortunately I did not and spent $149 on a pair of waterproof mid-cut hiking boots instead. If nothing else, it's a nice purple and grey color combi.

Even still, the gore-tex shoes, like this pair, were similar in that the shoe is not totally waterproof. It's not river-wading friendly and would only work as far as keeping my feet dry in a rainstorm. However, if water goes above the line marked "waterproof", my feet would still get wet! Nothing is worse than a pair of wrinkly pruney stinky monkey feet.

After chatting with Calvin Tay*, the manager at Campers Corner, I was disappointed to find out that the MION amphibian shoes line has apparently been stopped this season! That shoe indeed would have been able to worked both as a bootie and also as hiking shoes.

If it's any consolation, Calvin convinced me to buy a pair of socks from campers corner which purportly keeps my feet wrinkle-free even if it were soaked in wet socks the whole day! Can't wait to put that to the test in Maliau.

*Got his full name from this article. Indeed, campers corner is a total gem and I had a lot of fun chatting with Calvin. More about my conversation with him later, probably to be posted on MMM. He shared with me so much about the latest in organic and upcycle merchandises. But most of all, he put my mind to ease about my trip to Maliau. In fact he got me plenty excited! He was actually one of the first people to see Maliau, more than 10 years ago! He was one of the legendary ones who helped to clear a helicopter pad for people to enter and helped with building up the base camps there. WOW! Got me very excited indeed. Looking forward to Maliau now!

Survivor Maliau

Coming to your screens in 10 days.
SURVIVOR MALIAU
Sabah's Lost World

Outwit. Outplay. Outlast!


Map of Maliau

Unfortunately, although Sabah has mobile phone network, the heart of the forest is absolutely free of phone frequency and network. Internet is out of the question. I will not be blogging from site but just like Survivor, broadcast begins the minute the mandated stay is over. You will soon be able to see all the juicy, bitchy, gory behind-the-scenes drama.


As seen from space, this is the result of uplifting to a delta area

Unknown to humans for hundred thousands of years, the first exploration team that entered the Maliau Basin was a mere 20 years ago. The basin is enclosed by undulating clifts that surround the basin which prevented entry into the basin previously. Likewise, it would be as if I would be stepping back in time into this self contained unique ecosystem through the mouth of the reserve where the base camp is, just as the gate greeted the visitors in Jurassic Park.

There may not be dinosaurs but with a species count of at least 80 mammals like Sambar deers, wild oxens, 2 species of leafmonkeys and ubiquitous leeches lurking in this Lost World of Sabah, you can definitely expect the adventure of your life.

Will the rambling leafmonkey survive outside of her native habitat?
Find out on February 28 when I return!
Exclusively yours at the Traveling Menagerie.

More reads about Maliau Basin:
"Maliau Basin: Scouting Out Sabah’s Wildest Frontier", Wildasia.net
" 6-14 May 2006 Expedition to Sabah's Lost World", Yeoh Chee Weng