Boat sunk at Mataking to build up ecosystem

Tawau: A former Norwegian fishing vessel, MV Sipadan Mermaid, was sunk near Reef Dive Resort at Mataking Island off Semporna on September 26.

The dive team started to flood the ship at 11.15am and the vessel began to sink at the assigned position after 55 minutes.

Also present during the event were international guests from WWF, as well as local government authorities.

The Resort's Managing Director, David Sie, said the sinking of this new wreck will help in building up the fragile ecosystem at the island whilst easing pressure involving diving activities off Sipadan Island.

"We hope to see new life on this reef within a matter of months as it creates a new home for many different types of marine life," he said.

The Mermaid is the Reef Dive Resort's second artificial reef. The vessel originally started her life as a Norwegian fishing boat and was responsible for many successful trips, including along the coasts of Malaysia.

Continue reading at: Boat sunk at Mataking to build up ecosystem

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Mini Bird Race is back at Borneo Highlands Resort

KUCHING: The Mini Bird Race will be held for the second time at Borneo Highlands Resort (BHR) this coming Saturday.

Jointly organised by the resort and Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), this annual event is aimed to promote the love and appreciation of nature to the general public, as well as to gather bird-watching enthusiasts from all over.

“A bird race is a fun race where teams of two will compete in searching, identifying and recording as many species of birds as possible within a stipulated time.

“There are around 160 species of birds at Borneo Highland Resort so far, but with this event we hope that participants might come across new species to add on to that number,” said MNS Kuching Branch (Bird Group) Secretary Susan Teal at a press conference yesterday.

The cost to participate is RM100 per team of two, inclusive of return transfer, afternoon teabreak, event t-shirts and insurance.

According to Teal, each team will be given a log book where they record what they have seen and heard during the race, which will flag off at 8.30 am and finishes at 2.30 pm.

There will be three expert birders who act as the arbitrators to verify that the birds recorded are actually found in the highlands.

She revealed that this year they are targetting a maximum of 50 teams to participate. So far, 23 teams have signed up.

Continue reading (incl. pic) at: Mini Bird Race is back at Borneo Highlands Resort

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Chicken Rice in Sarawak

Simple yet delicious. That, for me, is what the Chicken Rice is all about. When you are hungry for something that is tasty but not at all sophisticated (and does not cost too much), Chicken Rice is the perfect choice.

And yes, you can have it for lunch or dinner. In fact, you can even have it for breakfast, whichever suits you.

The key to a good Chicken Rice is of course a good selection of ingredients, with which the savoury rice and the chicken that go with it, are cooked. Timing is also important because you don’t want the chicken for the dish to be too dry or still bloody.

Anyway, this week the Food Hunters went to three different places offering the dish to see which one of them faired best in this week’s Taste Test.

Da-Light Food Court, King’s Centre

Like many other popular food courts in Kuching, this one is packed especially at night-time. The attraction is of course good food. And one of the most frequented stalls is J.C. Phang’s Chicken Rice stall.

From what I understand, the guy who runs this stall used to work at a well-known hotel here. For whatever reason, he left the hotel many years back and started a Chicken Rice business (among other businesses, I suppose).

J.C. Phang’s Chicken Rice operates in two shifts - 11am and at 5pm daily. If you haven’t been to this particular chicken rice stall, be warned that by 8pm, you probably won’t get any more chicken rice. Yes, this stall is that famous!

Continue reading (incl. pics) at: Chicken Rice in Sarawak

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World-class runners to compete in Mount Kinabalu Climbathon

Kota Kinabalu: The 23rd Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon, the annual world's toughest mountain race, scheduled for Oct 24-25 at the Kinabalu Park in Kundasang, will see the world's best mountain runners competing.

Its Publicity and Publication assistant manager Melina Molukun Chia said the climbathon's record holder, Marco De Gasperi of Italy, had confirmed his participation in the event.

Gasperi's unbeaten record of 2:36.59s was set in 2003, Chia said in a statement issued here Wednesday.

She said this would certainly add flavour to the event as he would be competing against other former climbathon champions such as Ricardo Mejia of Mexico, who is currently leading the Skyrunner World Series 2009, Jean Pellissier of France, and Agusti Roc Amador and Killian Jornet of Spain.

Keen competition is expected between these runners as the points collected in the climbathon, which is the final race of the Skyrunners World Series, will be doubled.

Among the male runners from Japan who have confirmed their participation in the race are Toru Miyahara, this year's winner of the 2009 Mt Fuji Race, and Yokoyama Tadao, the winner of last year's Mt Fuji Race.

Continue reading at: World-class runners to compete in Mount Kinabalu Climbathon

ALSO SEE: 23rd Mount Kinabalu Climbathon
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Climate expert praises Sabah’s approach in managing Sipadan and Mt Kinabalu

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah got a “pat on the back” from a United Nations climate expert for its approach in managing ecologically sensitive areas such as Mount Kinabalu and the diving haven of Pulau Sipadan.

Gabor Vereczi, the UN Development Programme regional technical advisor for Climate Change Adaptation in the Pacific, said the move to limit visitors to such sites would ease any stress these areas could face due to climate change.

Borneo would not escape the effects of global warming due to climate change, Vereczi said in an interview yesterday.

It was just a matter of time, said Vereczi who was one of the speakers on the issue at the three-day Tourism Promotion Organi-sation for Asia Pacific Cities (TPO) general assembly here.

Earlier, Sabah Tourism chairman Datuk Tengku Zainal Adlin Engku Mahamood told the participants that the state was limiting the number of daily visitors to Mount Kinabalu to 146 and 120 to Sipadan as part of its management plan for these areas.

To a question from the floor, Tengku Adlin said the effects of climate change on places like Sipadan was negligible, adding that there were no significant signs of coral bleaching.

However, Vereczi said that the effects of climate change would be felt throughout Asia from low-lying coastal plains to mountainous areas.

Continue reading at: Climate expert praises Sabah’s approach in managing Sipadan and Mt Kinabalu

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