During this last week I received a shit-storm of text messages from u-no-hoo.  We’re having not-so-polite exchanges about me seeing my son.

I would like to share a particular line of text from one of the little gems she sent on over: “… I do not want to see him become a blogger, a traveller, eco-warrior with no direction & goals.”

I totally agree with the part of not wanting to see my son with no direction & goals.  She thinks I have none of these.  But alas, just because you do not know of something, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

A blogger

What on earth is wrong with becoming a blogger?

It’s a profession, it’s a talent, it’s a hobby.  And if you do it properly it will earn you a salary from which you can live.

Bloggers provide information, insight and even entertainment – whatever information it is you seek, there’s probably a blogger out there giving it.

Bloggers talk about issues, get them known, network across the Internet, spread the news.  We promote  causes that are right, make known what is wrong, expose corruption, we do marketing, advertising and can even generate donations.

Bloggers are resourceful, innovative, rebellious, we break the mold, we make the mold, we think outside the box, inside the box or without the box.

I would want my son to be a blogger, so that he can explore thinking for himself, can learn how to consider matters from various angles.

I would want my son to be a blogger, so that he can conduct a debate about his views, he can raise questions,  state his opinion, solicit comments and weigh them against what he knows and learn new things.

I would want my son to be a blogger so that he can articulate what he thinks / feels / who he is, and open himself to criticism and be able to look at it objectively to either learn from it or defend it.

I would love for my son to become a blogger.

A traveller

What on earth is wrong with becoming a traveller?

Yes, travelling is probably not for everybody.  If you’re open minded, non-racist, curious, adventurous, interested in the people and the world around you, then travelling is for you.

You will learn much about the other people on this planet and about yourself – you will learn that there is more to life than just your own little world.  You will discover alternative ways of thinking, you will gain understanding of other cultures, what before might have been strange and even scary to you, will become clear within the knowledge you will gain of the cultures you will encounter.

If you’re a narrow-minded, selfish, racist, hateful, know-it-all who thinks you’re superior to other human beings, then for the sake of your own reputation (and safety), the reputation of your country and the self-esteem of the people you may meet if you are considering to travel, don’t! Don’t travel! Travelling is not for you.

Stay at home, keep on thinking you know everything there is to know, that you are right and everybody else is wrong, keep on thinking that your way of thinking is the only correct way.  Keep on hating other cultures mainly because you don’t understand them, live only for yourself and learn nothing new.

I would want my son to be a traveller.

He is half South African and half Malaysian, he should explore at least those two cultures and learn about them as much as he can.  Fortunately both South Africa and Malaysia are multi-cultural, so there’s potential to get in touch with the whole world from within these two countries.

I would love for my son to become a traveller.

Eco-warrior

What on earth is wrong with becoming an eco-warrior?

This should, in fact, be a non-negotiable for everybody born after the year 2000.  It’s all of our responsibility to do as much as possible to keep our earth clean.

To recycle, take part in clean-up operations, use reusable bags instead of taking a new plastic bag everytime, taking shorter showers and all the other things we can do to minimise our impact on the environment, is hardly being an eco-warrior – it’s just being eco concious.

What’s the point of hoping to send your son to university 13 years from now if we’re going to have to wade through rivers and oceans of trash, hide from the sun, eat scraps of synthetic protein, move to higher ground and generally enjoy a progressively poorer quality of life because we’ve ruined our environment?

Go to uni and study about how there used to be plenty of fish in the sea, how we use to be able to drink water straight from rivers, explain to him what a forest is, where the Amazon was and why it was such a great loss?

If you’re not an eco-warrior you’re an eco-fiend.  Frankly, if we were all eco-warriors this earth wouldn’t be in such a poor state.

I would love for my son to become an eco-warrior.

Much worse things to be

There are plenty of things I wouldn’t want my son to be.

I wouldn’t want him to be self absorbed, I wouldn’t want him to be narrow minded, I wouldn’t want him to be hateful, or racist, or spiteful.  I wouldn’t want him to be a person who can never forgive, never compromise, who can’t see other people’s point of view or a person who insults other people or lies to himself to make himself feel better.

As long as he doesn’t push drugs, illegally trade weapons, become a hitman or something equally destructive, as far as I’m concerned, my son can become anything that he wants.

It was a successful day of un-trashing the beaches and reefs near the Downbelow dive station and we’re happy to report that Gaya island is cleaner.

A big ‘well done’ to Downbelow for organising this event, mentioned a few days ago, to Sabah Parks for assisting in transport, jetty fees and park fees, and to Project AWARE for the sponsorship to make it happen.

But the heroes of the day were the people, divers and non-divers alike, who gave their time and put in so much effort.  Thanks to them a part of one of Kota Kinabalu’s biggest islands, Pulau Gaya, is now much cleaner and the reefs the better.

The day started not too early as we departed the Sabah Parks jetty from near the Hyatt in KK city.  It took 3 boat-trips to ferry all the volunteers to the Downbelow dive station, which is located on the grounds of Sabah Park’s Headquarters on Gaya Island.

Following a briefing and a few short speeches by Ev from Downbelow and the Director of Sabah Parks, the 40 odd participants were separated into divers and non-divers, and further broken up into clean-up crews.

Armed with our tools, consisting of hard-knit gloves and plastic bags, for the beach dwellers and net-bags for the divers, we set out for some serious cleaning.  The divers got kitted up for diving on some of Kota Kinabalu’s most colourful reefs, whilst the beach squad dispersed along the beach and into the forest.

I was part of the beach clean-up crew and we quickly discovered where the tide and current preferred to dump the glass bottles, plastic bags, pieces of building wood, and all sorts of other colourful trash, which will be around long after the rest of us are on this planet no longer.  We spent the next couple of hours removing the said items from under rocks, wedged in sand, off the branches of low hanging trees and from under shrubs.

Soon a big and heavy pile of rubbish was collected. Heavy, because there were so many glass bottles, and partly because most of the plastic bag trash were filled with sand before we emptied them.  Before long we had filled all the big trash bags we had, and headed back to the meeting point for a well earned break.

Slowly the other clean-up crews joined us with their contributions of trash.  The divers came back with a lot less trash than what we expected, but instead of being disappointed, we took it as a good sign.  Clean reefs, are good reefs.

We had some well received lunch and polished off litres of orange juice and water.  We even had time for a little bit of frisbee throwing (there’s always time for frisbee – and two people brought frisbees along).

Taking pictures of our trophy trash, a brief mangrove tree planting ceremony and Downbelow cap souvenirs closed off the trash collecting proceedings for the day, before we headed back to the mainland again.

The response for the event was overwhelming and I think Ev had to arrange additional transport for all the volunteers that put up their hands to help us clean up.  Thank you very much to everyone who helped – it’s a small squad against the legions of trash out there, but one by one we can make a difference.

If you’re keen to join similar projects in future, keep your eyes on this blog or surf on over to kkdiveclub.com.  If you live in Kota Kinabalu and love diving, join the club for really affordable dive days.

Or if you just visit KK every now and again for a bit of a diving holiday, you can still keep in touch and we’ll invite you along.

Although we often treat the sea as such, it is in fact not a giant dustbin.  Most of the rubbish dumped by man linger around for years, even decades, and might never go away.

In fact, in Kota Kinabalu, our bad habbits frequently come back to haunt us.  The rubbish dumped in the ocean not only washes back up on the shores of 5-star resorts and islands, giving a really bad impression to tourists, but it also gets lodged in reefs damaging coral, and is mistaken as food by hungry sea animals which, if it doesn’t kill them, can seriously hurt them.

So, this Saturday we’re taking a bit back from all those bad things we give the environment as we clean-up our shores and reefs.  Join us for a beach reef clean-up, as Downbelow hosts a Project AWARE event endorsed by Sabah Parks.

Project AWARE is a non-profit organisation that focusses on the importance of our marine environment, and actively encourages the preservation thereof through education, advocacy and action.

This Saturday 20 September, Downbelow Dive Centre moves us towards such action as they provide the infrastructure for this event.

We will be heading out to Sabah Park HQ on Gaya island, and will clean up the beach area, river mouth, and also the reefs nearby.  Both divers and non-divers are welcome, and the event is free to join.

We only had space for about 30 people, so let me know soonest if you’re interested but all the spaces have already been filled, sorry.

Time: 10.30am – 4pm
Depart: Sabah Parks Jetty in front of Hyatt Kota Kinabalu
Where: We’ll be cleaning on Gaya Island at Sabah Park Headquarters
Cost: All it will cost you is a bag or 3 of trash.  Otherwise, it’s FREE! Downbelow Dive Centre provides everything you need, it’s sponsored by Project AWARE and Sabah Parks have kindly waived park & jetty fees for participants of this event.
Included: Return boat transfers to the island, lunch, full equipment rental for those diving, park entrance fees, jetty fees

If you want to be part of the next worthwhile event of its kind and help clean up a part of the Tunkul Abdul Rahman Marine Park, then drop me an email or join the KK Dive Club.

This is a rant.  Don’t read it if you’re already feeling down.

Last night I had a bad experience at the Upperstar in town.  If it was an isolated incident I would probably have thought nothing of it, but it was the final straw in a series of straws.  And I’m afraid to say Upperstar’s star is dimming.

I have a chip on my shoulder about the poor service that I generally encounter in Kota Kinabalu. Sometimes I launch into minute-long tirades about how tourists must be very disappointed with service in KK, because it’s just not like what you find back home / the UK / Thailand / Singapore / how mom makes it.

Even some well-known 5-star hotels suffer this service apathy. Have all the great Sabahan service staff really migrated to KL / Dubai / Singapore?

At the start of the year I raved about the new Upperstar in Damai. But I’ve long since stopped going there, because tragically it was a case of new-broom-sweeps-cleanest.  Some months back when my usually-soft-and-tasty burito foldover came out brittle-crispy and semi-burnt, I had to admit to myself that the cheap food and beer has stopped justifying the slow, unattentive service and mediocre food.

The Upperstar in town lasted a little longer, but the last few times I was there with friends, the service staff were slow to notice us, slow to produce our order and otherwise quite uninterested.  Still, the cheap beer and predictable food has appeal.

Last night Julia and I cruised through KK, pizza on the mind.  Yesteryear Cafe, Little Italy, Upperstar?  Or perhaps rice, meat and veggie at Ang’s Hotel, a new Philippino place we tried in Api Api, Devi’s Corner or The Place?

It’s not like there’s a limited number of places to eat in KK, competition should be fierce.  I leaned towards Yesteryear Cafe, the food isn’t that great, but they do the best Hinava and Ikan Basung I’ve ever had and the service is OK.  Our plans were thwarted by a black-out which struck that part of town though.

Eventually we decided on Upperstar.  Up-stairs we had a look around for a place to sit, about 4 or 5 tables were occupied, obviously a slow night. We passed 3 waiters to sit at a booth in the middle of the restaurant, they were standing around doing nothing in particular.

Then we waited.

And wiated.

And waited some more.

Perhaps as an experiment we didn’t call anybody over.  Perhaps as an experiment they didn’t come over themselves.

A good 7 minutes later, we had spent our patience and headed for the door. And 7 minutes is a lifetime when you’re waiting for somebody to come up and say “hey, welcome, thank you for brining your business to our establishment, here’s a menu, what can I get you?”

“We were sitting there for a long time and nobody came up to even give us a menu”, said Julia on her way out.  The waiter looked pretty much like his colleagues – could have been a uniform – rapper hat pushed down over an unkempt mop of hair, shirt sloppily hanging over his ass-ster baggy jeans.  His hair was orange.

He walked away from her without making eye contact and when he passed her he rolled his eyes, shrugged and mumbled something which might as well have been “what do I care, I get paid for being here, not for who eats here”.

His attitude slightly infuriated me and I approached a waiter standing by the bar.  Same description except black, not orange, hair.  “Where’s your manager?”, I asked him.  Without looking at me he pointed at another waiter of the same description as himself, having what looked like an argument over a bill with a table of 6.  “Oh my god, that’s your manager?”, I asked, mostly to myself, realising that whatever point I thought I was going to make to the manager was obviously just pie in the sky.

We left. Nobody cared.

Still hungry and not in the mood for feeling like we’re not wanted, we headed to Little Italy.  They, like a few other gems in KK, are the shining example of what service in KK could be.  Sure, they’re a little expensive, but damn they treat people like customers and not only that, they make you feel really welcome.

Needless to say we were satisfied by both food and service by the end of the night.

I can’t help wonder though why the service in one place can be in such contrast to service in the next.  Is it the salary of the waiting staff? Is it the pride of the people? Is it the arrogance of restaurant owners who think they can skimp on staff wages and training, give poor service to their customers and still sustain a business?

Perhaps the automatic inclusion of a 10% service charge should be dropped from bills all together, so that service staff can learn to up their game in order to get a tip. Perhaps the tourism authorities should conduct anonymous customer surveys to keep restauranteurs on their toes.

Or perhaps we all should take our money to where it’s wanted, until the rest realise they can’t take customers for granted.

I just scrubbed my Ultimate shirt, which necessarily had to go into my backpack muddy, sweaty and unwashed.  Two days after the event all I could do is make it a lighter shade of mud-brown, but it’s not clean by any stretch of the imagination.

The Singapore Ultimate Open (SUO) was this weekend past.  22 teams from across the region gathered on the green expanse that is Ferrer Park, to pit their Ultimate skills against each other.

The Borneo Bristleheads were there too, albeit in a diluted form.  4 of the team (myself, Julia, Richie, Angela) that went to the Malaysian Ultimate Open (MUO) about 6 months ago, joined the cream of Satu Lagi, whilst 2 Bristleheads (Ken & Brian) joined from KL – 1 because he lives there, and 1 because he moved there.  The rest were Satu Lagi team players, one of the teams that kicked our butts at the MUO.

Discover Singapore – A world of unique contrasts

On Friday we arrived in Singapore to realise what everyone already knew: Singapore is expensive.  Perhaps you won’t notice so much with US, Australian, European or British currency, but believe you me, you do when you travel with Malaysian Ringgit.  Our double hostel room, for which we paid SGD$50 per night for was, to be kind, spartan.  Just a bed, a coat hanger and a mirror.

The fact that it had air-con was negated by the fact that the walls were paper thin and you could hear every little fart from the toilet 3m down the hallway, nevermind the stomping and talking and god knows what else that was going on in the hallway.

But, it served the purpose and is walking distance away from Ferrer Park, so I guess this time we’ll let it slide.  Next time we won’t pay much more, we’ll just expect a lot less.

Singapore Ultimate Open

Saturday morning we arrived at Ferrer Park at about 8am games were already going. Our game was, thankfully, scheduled for a little later in the morning.  We did some warm-ups with more purpose than we did at the MUO, but we were clearly still amateurs.

The Singapore Ultimate Open would turn out not to the be the first tournament where we win a game.  We lost all our games and a particularly fast team from the Philippines actually white-washed us.  I believe it was in under 30 minutes.  We never knew what hit us.

We played a team from Singapore, Chukkies, twice.  Great team spirit and the most unserious Singaporeans we’ve ever seen.  I’ll lose to them any day – they made the games seriously fun.  We also played a team from Vietnam called R.M.I.T.  We did a little skit for them, because in Sabah there’s a saying, which is the equivalent of cheers and is pronounced ‘ari mi ti‘.  We thought it was clever.

Our team worked well together, I thought, and especially the guys from Sabah were nowhere near as knackered as we were after the MUO.  After Day 1 we could all still actually walk – and run – which was good for game play.

Beer on the Field

Ken has previously relayed legends of having beer on the field.  We did, of course, not believe this.  One of the big sponsors of all sorts of sports here in Singapore is Brewerkz, a micro-brewery slash restaurant that brews their own beer.  And good beer too.  And because they sponsored this event, Thomas, a rep, was on the field (well, next to) handing out FREE beer.  I kid you not.

Richie and I took advantage of this and had way more beer than what we should have, considering we still had a few games to play.  But it was all good and the beer was extremely drinkable.  I love Brewerkz.

Saturday’s Party

For the Saturday evening’s party we missed the South Africa vs. Australia rugby game, which the best game of the Tri-Nations as the Bokke won for a change.  We missed it in lieu of yet another not-so-great Ultimate party. All the players crammed into the small, 3-level Majestic bar hat was too overcrowded and necesarily had the players over 3 levels.

We left early with fears of being crushed to death.

Sunday Play

We were up early and I wasn’t a happy bunny.  The previous day’s chaffing did me in and the walking around at night didn’t help either.  I liberally slapped on the Vaseline, but it didn’t work.  Eventually I took off the underwear, which worked a charm.  It was a little obscene, but comfortable and that’s, in the end, what counts.

We had our second came against the Chukkies. They beat us, but not by as much as the day before.  We had our hopes up against team Voodoo.  We drew first blood, then scored 4 points in a row… and then they trashed us.  During the game I did a brilliant layout – brilliant save for the fact that I didn’t catch the disc.

But I slid through the mud for a good 15m and filled my clothes and mouth with muddy water.  It didn’t nothing for the chaffing.

We scored 2 more points in that game and Ken almost got physical during a misunderstanding which, thankfully was cleared up quickly.

After the game Julia was still pretty clean, but only until Miquel pushed her during a photo and she belly-flopped in the mud.  She wasn’t a happy bunny.  We rushed back to the backpackers to check-out as we thought they were full – but turns out they had more space so we stayed another night (only after we stripped our linen and had to redo it all again).

We headed back for more beer and the finals.

Superior Class Ultimate

The Singapore Open Finals featured a team from China and a team from the Philippines.  Hands down it was the best Ultimate I’ve ever seen – ya ok fine, I haven’t seen that many games yet, but still.  It was awesome.  Serious strategy, serious running and players literally flying through the air after the disc.

It was poetery. It was art.  It was Ultimate at its best.

Rest of Singapore

We toured the city a bit until it was time for dinner.  We met the guys at Brewerkz for dinner.  We were a bit late and we had a ‘snack’ earlier in Little India, so we’re not hungy.

A guy, visibly already drunk, shows up and he turns out to be an Ultimate player.  I accidentally invite him to sit down and he proceeds to dominate the conversation around the 12-strong table.  He buys beer and not to be rude, I share.  Lots of it and proceeds to bore the people around him. He was supposed to meet up with his friends – they never show.

We eventually retire and head back for some well decent sleep.

The Singapore Ultimate Open was a great experience, and once again, even though we didn’t win a single game, we learned alot.  We return to Kota Kinabalu with even more enthausiasm than we had before and our love for the game of Ultimate is now deep set.

We vow to turn the players in Sabah into a winning team.  We can dream, can’t we?