Bako National Park, Kuching - Part 2

The highlight of the trip was the Jungle Trekking. We picked Jalan Lintang (Lintang Trail), a 5.8 km trail that took us about 4 hours to complete.

Basically it is a loop trail going up Bukit Tambi, located behind the Park HQ.
It is the best trail to see most of the vegetation types found at Bako NP.
Not forgetting the rare Proboscis Monkeys which is endemic to Borneo.

Lintang Trail

▲The start of Lintang Trail, climbing all the way for about 1 hour plus.

Wooden walkway and steps along the way.

▲We encountered lots of root steps like the above picture and several large rocks.

▲Almost at the summit, the beginning of flatter climb.

The Park HQ is down there somewhere. 

▲No worry about getting lost.

Signboards, resting place and maps are strategically located along the way.

▲The Heath Forest of Bako National Park. Dry and rocky area.

▲Root steps of the Heath Forest.

▲Some sections are sandy and relatively flat. William can't wait to be back at the HQ.

▲The mangrove forest. We spotted a group of Proboscis Monkey here.

▲Ahhh... so tired!!

▲Finally we reached the coast just as the sun was setting.

▲Beautiful view of sunset and dead mangrove trees (eerie ya).

Animals of Bako National Park

There are more but these are the animals and plants that we got to see during the trip.

▲The Proboscis Monkeys are endemic to Borneo. 

Mangrove forest is their natural habitat and we were lucky to see some near the jetty.

Sorry no front view of the famous nose. Only the back side.

▲The Bornean Bearded Pig is a common sight around the Park HQ as well as Forest Lodges.

Looking for food all the time and not scared of human at all. I think they can be the mascot for Bako NP.

▲During the day, we were to keep all windows and doors closed to keep this monkey away.

In the morning while we were having breakfast, they were all around us, "asking for food".

Suggestion to the Park management - install grill on windows, so windows can be left open to let the fresh forest air in. Otherwise, its very stuffy with all windows closed.

▲The boys found this beetle early the next morning but lost it to a hungry monkey.

▲Some kind of caterpillar and dragon fly.

 

▲A little purple hermit crab.

Plants of Bako National Park

 ▲Moss found at the lower and wetter part of the forest.

 ▲Heath forest on top of the hill.

▲Mangrove forest...wet and dense...habitat for the Proboscis Monkeys.

▲Lots of pitcher plants, mostly at the Heath Forest. Some almost as big as the 1L mineral water bottle. Others are tiny and cute.

▲Some kind of berry.

Rock Formation

We encountered these rock formation at the top of the hill.

Mostly circular shaped.

Not sure if they are naturally formed or otherwise.

Bye Bako NP.

See you again.....in the next few years.

Bako National Park, Kuching-Part 1

This took place exactly a month ago during the Gawai Dayak Holiday. Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrated by the Dayaks (Ibans and Bidayuhs) in Sarawak every year on the 1st of June. Read more about Gawai Dayak here.

This year it falls on a Sunday, so we got 2 extra off days on Monday and Tuesday. Since it coincided with the boys' school holidays, we decided to head for Bako National Park (Bako NP). The Park is one of the nearest national parks to Kuching.

It is only about 45 minutes drive from home to Kampung Bako, the gateway to Bako NP and where the Bako NP Terminal is located. From Kampung Bako, we chartered a boat which took about 30 minutes to reach the Park's head quarter.

On the Way to Bako National Park

Bako National Park Terminal at Kampung Bako.
Paid for the entrance fee and chartered boat here.

Our stuff - mostly food stuff :)

Henry at the boat jetty/terminal.
This will be his first time on a boat.
Several times we were here before, we just stopped by
to look at the tourists and boats.
Wondering when we would finally take them for a trip....haha

Getting ready for the short boat ride. Life jackets are available.
**Camera man balancing act...

The happy faces!!
The boys' first boat ride.

View of the Bako River Mouth and Mount Santubong.

Here we are, the Park's Head Quarter

The Forest Lodge and Other Facilities

We checked in to a two-bedroom Forest Lodge for the night stay.

Our Forest Lodge, Type 4, 2 bedrooms.
A bit old and run down.
The wooden floor makes lots of noise as you walk.

A short (5 minutes) plank walk to our Forest Lodge.

Our room, three beds and a wardrobe.
Keep all windows and doors closed at all time to avoid unwanted guests.

Bathroom and toilet. Reasonable. Water piped from the city.
Without hot water of course.

This are the other type of Forest Lodge - bigger.

Chalets in the jungle.

A newer Forest Lodge Type 4 which is closer to the head quarter.

During high tide, boats can take you to this jetty.
Otherwise, we disembark at the beach, at knee deep water.

Trail Map for visitors to plan for your walk.

More details on the trails and the amount of time required for each trail.

The Beach

Not many people at the beach the next morning.

The boys don't dare to go to deeper water, so they just play at knee deep water for a little while.

Me, I prefer to stay dry, under the shade and be the camera woman :)

Some nice scenery from beach.

The only other group of people at the other end of the beach.

Sandy but slightly murky water.

Look at the boys!
They are just standing there and looking. Hai yai yai.....

To be continued....

4 Wire Wrapping Supplies That You Need to Get Started

Have you recently found your passion for wire wrap jewelry?
If you have lot of free time in your hands, try making some wire wrapping jewelry and create some unique one of a kind wire wrapped earrings, bracelets and rings that nobody has.
Before you get started, apart from the wire, the four basic types of pliers that you will need for a start are as follows:

1. Wire cutter ('A' on the picture below): It is an essential supply for making wire wrap jewelry. This cutter allows you to cut and trim the wire of desired length. Buy the best quality cutter pliers to get neat edges to make professional looking jewelry.
2. Chain nose ('B'): It is similar to the round nose pliers but here the inner edges of the jaws are flat. Thus, they are used for providing better grip and closing and opening the jump rings. This plier narrows towards the tip that makes them valuable to get into small space, like tuck in the wire end. To get perfection, ensure that the pliers’ inside edges are not serrated or else there will be mark on your wire. 
3. Flat Nose ('E'): It is useful for bending and straightening the wire. This tool is used for a number of tasks when making earrings, bracelets, and pendants as it helps in holding the wire piece securely.
4. Round Nose ('F'): For me, they are an absolute must to get control of the wire when you make loops of any size. They are even needed to make the spirals. To get large loops it is suggested to place the wire near the pliers’ handles and for making the smaller loops, place the wire at the pliers’ tip. Buy good quality pliers that have a return spring mechanism in the handle to ease the task as neat loops are an absolute must to make professional looking jewelry.

These four supplies are not all; you also need a good instruction manual, book, magazine, ebook or search online for free tutorials that gives step-by-step instructions to make trendy and unique wire wrapping jewelry. There are many craft supply online stores that have a good collection of supplies to make wire wrap jewelry. But remember to look for coupons at Frugaa.com to the things at affordable prices.

Happy Father's Day 2014

It is rather last minute.
Father's Day is just around the corner.
Was looking at the following and wondering if I should or should not.
I don't mind the camera for myself though - belated Mother's Day...hehe.
The father/fathers would be very happy with any of these :)

A movie would be good.
Everyone can enjoy together.

This one is good if we were two weeks earlier.
But there will more to come :)

So, there goes.
Whatever it is, Happy Father's Day to all the Dads in the whole wide world.

One of the Bazaars of Sarawak - Siniawan Bazaar

As usual, I am a bit behind in posting. We stopped by this place known as Siniawan Bazaar last March.

There are many similar Bazaars in Sarawak. Siniawan is an example of the early Sarawak towns where time seems to stand still.

I find it very interesting to explore these Bazaars. Interesting because sometimes, you'd find some very interesting items in the shops which you wouldn't find in the city or other places :).

Unfortunately, most shops were closed when we were there.

Anyway, do enjoy the pics.

Made up of two rows of two storeys wooden shophouses.

The main street decorated with red lanterns and flowers.

Siniawan Homestay, coffee shop on the groundfloor.

Only few shops were open that day, including this vegetable shop.

Well kept and decorated five foot way - pretty.

Just an interesting nostalgic little wooden shop.

Siniawan is located at the bank of Sarawak Kanan River.
On the opposite side is a village.
Pay the boatman to bring you across - there is no bridge.

Other than that, you can reach Siniawan by road.

Kuching - Bau Road

Every Friday and Saturday night, Siniawan Night Market would be on.
We were there during the day,
so I only managed to snap picture of the advertisement...hehe

Looking forward to explore more of these bazaars in future.

Wire Jewelry - Sparkly Swarovski Crystal Bracelets

The last four weeks were craaaazy pack.
Firstly, I was "forced" to attend a two weeks audit training and exam which actually was a 3 weeks program because the one week "off" in between was actually spent compiling the audit report.
My hesitation (that's why felt "forced") about attending the training was because of the "exam" at the end of the training.
I am soooooo terrified of "exam"!!!
In the end, I actually enjoyed the training, learned lots of things and made some friends.

Now, waiting for the exam result - I am hoping for the best.
Also, busy catching up with the last 3 weeks work.
Duh!!

That aside, I hope to embark on more wire jewelry projects this weekend - finishing off commissioned pieces and maybe write a new tutorial....mmmmm.....if I have the time.
Anyway, here's sharing my most recent sparkly Swarovski Crystal (4 mm - yeah tiny) bracelets completed early April but only managed to post now.
All wire wrapped with 24 gauge wire.

Looks good with lots of them together.
Have a great weekend and happy wrapping.