Et SFR créa la connexion raide

SFR réussira-t-il à battre le record de 50 jours sans connexion à domicile établi par le tandem Free / France Telecom l’an passé ? Avec déjà 33 jours au compteur, ça semble bien parti. Et tout ça pour un bouton probablement mal enclenché dans une armoire électrique. Je n’ai plus aucune connexion à domicile depuis la fin juillet, suite à des travaux d’"amélioration de ma ligne" (sic). A cette époque heureuse, SFR m'appelait encore pour me prévenir d'un petit désagrément qui durerait une semaine tout au plus et me serait remboursé illico sur la facture.

33 jours après, j'attends toujours la ristourne et le retour de ma ligne. 

Il est vrai que je le cherche aussi, j'habite une zone reculée où la main d'oeuvre est rare, l'activité et la demande faibles : Paris.

Si je me passe fort aisément de la télévision (en gain de temps et de concentration, c’est même assez fabuleux), en revanche avec mon Iphone en modem, je n’ai accès en gros qu’à un Twitter poussif, mes courriels, et cette plateforme de blog les jours de beau temps. 

J’en suis à cinq appels au SAV. Un me répondant "Bah on sait pas pourquoi", un autre "Houla, ça va prendre du temps", puis un "nos techniciens n'avaient pas la clé", une annonce non respectée de réparation dans la semaine, une promesse de remboursement sans suite et une réception effective de facture à 35.99 euros pour un service inexistant au mois d’août. 

Voilà donc à quoi on s'expose en optant pour la fibre de SFR au cœur de Paris en 2013. Et ce, au moment où la compagnie se vante sur tous les murs d’avoir la meilleure couverture 4G de la ville. (Rappel 4G pour les néophytes : c’est juste de la 3G qui marche).

J’avais quitté Free pour SFR pensant à avoir faire à des gens un peu plus compétents (enfin avec des effectifs en chair et en os quoi). En fait non, c’est pareil. Du matraquage publicitaire, une gestion qui ne suit pas derrière, un SAV téléphonique sympathique certes, mais en manque de données et un déficit de techniciens sur le terrain (le cœur du problème). C'est vrai que SFR est une petite PME qui débute et a besoin de nos abonnements pour pouvoir embaucher. Heureusement y a les 20 milliards du CICE, merci Mosco.

Le pire ce n’est que je n’ai même plus envie de passer à la concurrence, je sais d’avance que ce sera exactement la même chose à un ou deux euros près et que j’y serai traité pareil : de la chair à abonnement. 

Je m'interroge donc. Ne vais-je donc pas me séparer définitivement de ces escrocs et / ou incompétents et faire une croix sur le merveilleux monde de la connexion continue ? Après tout, y a plein de bons bouquins à lire gratos à la médiathèque et, ce billet en est la preuve, on peut bloguer depuis son Iphone.

Ce trépidant feuilleton du consommateur du XXIe siècle sera updaté au fil des événements.

[update 03.09.2013 / Au 37e jour toujours rien. Enfin si. Je découvre avec joie que SFR a donné mon numéro de mobile à CANALSAT pour me vendre une extension d'abonnement.]

[update 06.09.2013 / Effet blog, twitter bombing ou simple hasard, toujours est-il qu'au 40e jour : changement radical de ton. Je reçois enfin un appel me proposant un rendez-vous "au plus vite" pour le lundi suivant]

[update 07.09.2013 / Au 41e jour, un SMS de SFR me propose une clé USB de dépannage contre un chèque de caution à chercher en boutique le lundi suivant (le jour où ma connexion devrait être rétablie)]

[update 09.09.2013 / Au 43e jour, c'est réparé. La cause du problème : une première équipe est venue en juillet faire des travaux de maintenance dans l'immeuble, a déconnecté tout le monde et rebranché personne (Il est possible que les sous-traitants de SFR ne disposent pas des informations d'abonnement, le SAV me certifie en revanche ne pas avoir pu finir les travaux en juillet pour cause de non accès aux locaux techniques à cause du gardien en vacances). Le nouveau technicien (qu'il soit ici remercié) reconnecte sous mes yeux en 5 minutes. Dommage que cela ait nécessité autant d'appels, un étalage sur le blog et de mauvaise publicité sur Twitter pour en arriver là. J'attends maintenant les deux mois gratuits de compensation.]

[update 10.09.2013 / SFR m'annonce que l'ensemble de l'immeuble sera reconnecté dans la semaine.]

Pourquoi c'est Fillon qu'il nous faut !

Il nous faut retourner aux valeurs simples et actuelles,
Il nous faut de la proximité,
Mais il faut en finir avec la promiscuité,
Il nous faut de la ruralité,
Il nous faut en finir avec la lutte des classes,
Il nous faut des polos Lacoste pour tous,
Il nous faut des tables à brunchs dominicaux en osier et le charme discret d'un château sarthois pour nos congés de fin de semaine,
Il nous faut ordonner au jardinier de tondre les cinq hectares de pelouse,
Il nous faut des adolescents habillés comme dans les années 80,
Il nous faut des espadrilles mauves et un homme vierge de tout pouvoir,
Il nous faut un souverain proche du peuple, sage et responsable, qui saura faire face à un état en faillite et ne causera pas 600 milliards de dette supplémentaire en un quinquennat.
Il nous faut l’équilibre,
Il nous faut Fillon.

Illustration : Paris Match de cette semaine

Le retour de l'attaque des retraites

Cotiser toute une vie pour ne jamais en profiter. N’est-ce pas là au fond la vision de la retraite parfaite (enfin pour le marché) ?

Pas la peine de reprendre mes billets de 2010 sur la réforme des retraites de l’UMP de changer les noms et de republier, ce tweet de Jean-Marc Ayrault datant du 10 septembre 2010 en pleine mobilisation contre la réforme suffira pour saisir l'ampleur de la déception et de la colère.

L’annonce de cette énième réforme des retraites par le Premier Ministre est évidemment une arnaque pour le travailleur dans la droite ligne des précédentes.

Arnaque. 43 ans de cotisations lorsqu'on décroche un premier véritable emploi à 26 ans en moyenne, ça nous conduit à 69 ans pour obtenir une retraite à taux plein, à la condition de ne pas avoir connu de période de chômage (Hi-Hi) et de ne pas être dégagé à 56 ans du "marché" (âge moyen aujourd'hui constaté). Cotiser plus longtemps parce que, parait-il, nous vivrons plus longtemps (oui Marty, je l’ai vu avec ma Delorean !), veut tout simplement dire, chers lecteurs, que beaucoup d’entre vous, spécialement les moins de 30 ans, ne toucheront jamais de vraie retraite comme vos parents (oui les mêmes qui gardent leur abattement de 10% sur l'IR). 

Arnaque. L’espérance de vie avancée comme argument magique est le résultat de gains passés (notamment de la diminution du temps de travail, la généralisation des soins remboursés), et ne peut en aucun faire l’objet de projection sérieuse. Spécialement dans un contexte ou de plus en plus de Français rechignent à se faire soigner faute de budget, et ou l’on peut attendre 5 ou 6 heures aux urgences pour se faire recoudre sa tête ouverte (vu cet été). De plus, on ferait mieux de parler d'espérance de vie en bonne santé. Et là, les chiffres font mal, surtout pour les ouvriers (dont la santé défaille en moyenne à 59 ans). 

Arnaque. Puisque les meilleures années avant d’être perclus de rhumatismes sont précisément entre 60 et 67 ans, et que ce sont également les plus pénibles pour travailler.

Arnaque. Prétendre régler le problème des retraites en 2035, le jour où l'on annonce une nouvelle hausse de la baisse de la hausse du chômage, c’est moyen pour la crédibilité.

Arnaque. Le "coût du travail" (qui n'est que de la richesse décalée pour l'entreprise) n’est pour rien dans cette histoire. Ou plutôt, le problème est pris à l'envers. Augmentons les salaires et les cotisations suivront (Et en attendant on vivra mieux). D'après l’INSEE, en 30 ans les salariés récoltent 9.3% en moins de toutes les richesses produites en France, soit 100 milliards d’euros allant par an dans la poche des actionnaires. Il y a peut-être un début de piste là non (enfin je veux dire pour un gouvernement socialiste) ?

Arnaque. Nous parlons d’un déficit d'environ 20 Milliards d'euros en 2020. Oui, 20 milliards. Précisément le montant de la  somme que le Ministre des Finances, criant aujourd’hui au « ras-le-bol fiscal », à donné aux entreprises via le Crédit d’impôt Compétitivité Emploi en le ponctionnant sur le pouvoir d'achat des français. Oui. Au nom de la "compétitivité" alors que certaines entreprises bénéficiaires du cadeau ne sont même pas soumises à la concurrence, et que l'on appris cet été dans le Journal Officiel qu’il n’y aura aucun contrôle de l’utilisation des fonds. Oui parce qu'au départ c’était pour créer des emplois.

C’est bon de rire parfois.

Bon. C’est pas tout ça, mais on se retrouve dans la rue le 10 septembre prochain (oui comme la date du tweet du Premier Ministre).

Articles connexes :

Pas de retraite dans ta tête

Les débats d'Ayrault

Deux mondes

Review on Sony Xperia L

As, I feels that Sony has reduced his quality and features but I was wrong it’s now much better than before. March 2013 Sony has launched its new device i.e. Sony Xperia L, It’s a mid range phone costing around 17000 INR in India. The phone is pretty and slim in design. I bought this phone on 3rd or Aug 2013, just before three days of my birthday but I planned to bought on Aug 6th but I can’t get stopped myself from letting it buy.

Let’s let you aware about its key features:-

Camera: Rear 8 MP camera it takes an awesome shot in daylight, but in low light the image goes blur. Video Recording is also good. It records video on 720 pixels with 30 fps. Secondary Camera is just for video chat nothing else that you can do more with it because of its very low resolution.

Hardware and OS: It is equipped with 1.0 GHz with dual Core Processor integrated with 1 GB of RAM.

Memory and Battery: The phone inbuilt in 8 GB of internal memory, where the memory is being divided into two separate parts 4 GB for OS and Apps(All 2 GB is already utilized by its OS and rest is being for your Apps and other uses only 2 GB that you will get to download and install your apps) and 4 GB is as an external memory where you can hold all your personal data.

Battery when you run the phone in power saver mode its goes more than a Day but when you runs on default mode it hardly pass the day. Battery has 1750mAH of power.

Display: I never think that it would have such clear and bright display without being BRAVIA ENGINE technology. Display is 4.3 inch which is pretty well with the resolution of 480 x 854 pixels.

Some Good Points which I figured it out:

Camera is good with this price range.

Build Quality is also pretty decent, as its look inherited litle bit with Sony Ericson Xperia Arc.

Some Bad Points which figured it out:

Phone processing speed is not too smooth after having 1 GB of RAM with dual core processor. Get heated after playing some minutes of games.

I feel lacks in sound quality of headphone not as much good as the previous Sony Ericsson phones have, as I used Xperia Ray and Xperia Mini Before it.

Débaptisez-moi !

Mes chers lecteurs. L'Eglise catholique est au taquet. 

Je reçois il y a quelques jours un courrier du diocèse refusant de me radier des listes de baptême comme je l'ai demandé, avec les formes, deux mois plus tôt.

"L'acte ne peut [...] être rendu illisible ni effacé" me précise le courrier laconique avec ajout d’une jurisprudence pour mieux décourager le candidat à l'apostasie de persévérer dans sa requête.

Au mieux, dans sa légendaire générosité et son infinie tolérance, l'administration catholique me précise qu'elle peut inscrire une mention en marge (que personne ne peut consulter, il est précisé. Donc pourquoi ne rien barrer sur la liste puisque personne ne peut la consulter ? Les voies du diocèse sont impénétrables.).

Le diocèse prétend alors que je n'ai rien précisé de mes motivations. Et pour cette raison, il me faut recommencer la demande.

On m'avait pourtant dit au catéchisme (oui ça aussi on m'a forcé) : "tu ne mentiras point".

Ma demande d’apostasie a été faite dans les règles et, après vérification de l'original, voici les motivations qui y étaient jointes :

« En soutenant les manifestations homophobes contre l'égalité des droits qui ont eu lieu en France, l'Eglise a activement participé à la recrudescence de l'homophobie ces derniers mois. Les déclarations outrancières des représentants de l'Eglise n'ont pu qu'encourager la multiplication des agressions homophobes, notamment celles du Cardinal Barbarin,qui n'hésite pas à comparer le mariage homosexuel à l'inceste.

Sur les 37 associations qui composent le collectif a-confessionel “La Manif Pour Tous”, 27 relèvent de la sphère chrétienne, quand 32% sont fictives, sans même une inscription au Journal officiel. Les financements dont dispose ce collectif sont considérables : en une seule publicité dans le journal Le Monde, 138 000€ ont été dépensés, plus que le budget annuel de l'Inter-LGBT, elle-même qualifiée de “lobby gay” par les partisans de “La Manif Pour Tous”. Ces financements, notamment à l'appel de ces associations chrétiennes, sont autant d'argent qui aurait pu servir aux plus pauvres et non à des manifestations de haine.

Pour toutes ces raisons, je vous demande par la présente de radier mon nom et toute autre donnée me concernant du registre des baptêmes et de tout autre fichier manuscrit ou informatisé que vous détiendriez. Cette lettre fait office de décision définitive, il est donc inutile de me demander une quelconque confirmation."

L'église veut une raison, c'en est une sacrée non ?

Donc je résume. 

1 / On me baptise à 6 mois sans me demander mon avis. 

2 / L’Eglise collabore à cet abus de mineur. 

3 / On me met sur une liste ou je suis comptabilisé comme « catholique » alors que je n'ai pas le tiers de la moitié d’un début de croyance, et que l’organisation « Eglise » ne s’apparente pour moi qu'à une secte légalisée. 

4 / La secte refuse de me supprimer de leurs effectifs alors que même chez Facebook, pourtant pas des enfants de chœur, on peut supprimer son compte. 

5 / On me demande de justifier mon refus d'un enrôlement que l'on m'a imposé enfant.

6 / On refuse ma raison.

Bref, vente forcée, comptabilité d’escroc et une mauvaise foi sans nom au service d’une procédure de radiation plus compliquée qu’un désabonnement d’opérateur téléphonique.

J'ai envie de blasphémer sévère.

PS : Prochainement. Je vous raconterai mes vacances sur la côte, les sonneries de clochers intempestives, et la façon dont un groupe de catholiques est venu m’accoster sur la plage pour me proposer un cours d’initiation à la Bible pour mes enfants. Rien de bien grave, si ce n’est que des jeunes auraient fait la même chose avec le Coran, ça se retrouvait illico en une de tous les journaux avec une déclaration de Manuel Valls dans la foulée.

Articles connexes : 

- Ces crétins que l'on ne bâillonne pas assez

- L'abrutea-party

- L'escroquerie institutionnalisée

Raksha Bandhan - Festival for Brother and Sister

Raksha Bandhan:

Raksha Bandhan is a festival which is the celebration for brother and sister. Raksha is protection and bandhan is relation so it tells us the protection of relation. This falls on the pournami for Shravana Masam. This festival shows the affection and praying for well being for happiness between the brother and sister. Sister ties a thread (Rakhi) to the brother wrist and pray to god to protect their brothers from the evil and brother’s promise to protect them from all the troubles.

Cultural Beliefs:

• In mahabhartha sri Krishna had a small cut on his finger when he took the sudarshana chakra to kill Shishupala. Draupadi who saw this immediately tore her dress and tied knot to sri Krishna to stop the bleeding from the cut. By this act Sri Krishna promised her to protect her from all troubles. Sri Krishna protected her by providing saree in the episode of Hastinapura.
• Indra wife Shachi tied a thread to Indra, to enhance the mind power to defeat the demons.
• Goddess Lakshmi tied knot to king Bali,a great devotee of Lord Vishnu.

 In the ancient times while tying rakhi the following mantra was recited:

“Yena baddho Balee raajaa daanavendro mahaabalah
tena twaam anubadhnaami rakshe maa chala maa chala”

Interesting Facts:

• There are also examples for the rakhi festival where rakhi can be tied by wife, daughter and mother.
• In the ancient times rishis tied rakhi to people who come for blessings.
• Sages tied rakhi to themselves to safeguard from the evil.

Scientific Reasons: 

• The festival is popularized by Rabindranath to promote the unity and commitment of society to protect each other.
• The festival is important because it unites the family together in the bond of love.

The Kinabalu National Park - Page 2

Celyn Hotel was located high on the top of a hill far from the main road. The branch road lead to the hotel was too small and too steep for our bus. So, we could only reach the hotel by another 10 minutes' trip using smaller and lighter transit van prepared by the hotel.

Our trip to the hotel was turned into 40 minutes of waiting as the hotel could only provide only one small transit van for us. The van took 3 turns before we were brought to the hotel. Celyn Hotel was a terrible choice for those came in a big group with big bulky bus. The slow transit from the main road to the hotel diminished the good holiday mood.

Small, steep, and winding Semuruh Kinondusun Road lead to Celyn Hotel (upper left). The hotel provides small transit van for those who comes in big bulky bus (upper left). We couldn't leave our luggage unattended (lower right). So, the scenario which people went first and luggage followed later was out.

The room for double with mountain view (upper left). The family suite that we stayed (upper right and lower right) was completed with second floor. The path led to our room was built without cover. It would be very inconvenient to access to the room in rain.

 Good highland view is the only good thing that Celyn Hotel could offer.

Mount Kinabalu couldn't be seen during our stay. The peak was covered by the clouds.

Second day, we departed from the hotel early at 7:30 am to Poring Hot Spring at the foot of the mountain. Poring means bamboo in local. The bus took around 30 minutes to travel from our hotel to the hot spring.

As a part of the heritage site, the conservation fee was required. For MyKad holders, the fees were RM 3 for adult, RM 1 for kid and senior citizen, and free for those below 6 years old. Without MyKad, the fees were RM 15 for adult, RM 10 for kid and senior citizen, and again, it is free for those below 6 years old.

In fact, the whole area around Poring Hot Spring is big with many attractions. We can spend a full day, discovering not only the hot spring, but the butterfly farm, the canopy walk, and Kipungit and Langanan waterfalls as well. However, due to time constraint (as arranged by the tour company), we stayed there for only an hour. What a waste. We will definitely come and stay for longer time in future. By the way, Poring Hot Spring is a must visit site in the national park.

The road lead to Poring Hot Spring was well-maintained (upper left). Floats and tubes were sold at shops opposite of the hot spring (upper right). A bridge (lower right) was built to connect the entrance (lower left) to the bathing area.

The bathing area of Poring Hot Spring (upper left). Rock pool beside the bathing area offered super cooling water from the highlands (upper right). The water from the hot spring was channelled to the public bathing tubs where visitors could enjoy the warm water.

We have only one hour to spare at the hot spring, so we decided to get our feet dipped. Together with us was our tour guide Catherine.

The source of the hot spring. The water gushed out within the stones.

As the hot spring has been named Poring, then the site should has some bamboo trees. Yes, we could see some very old bamboo trees somewhere near the bridge.

Then, we went back to Ranau, where we visited Kampung Luanti Baru. The village is a part of the river conservation programme where "Tagal" is practiced. Tagal is a traditional Kadazan Dusun practice to ensure the sustainable production of the river, which the fish can only be caught during certain seasons. The catch then will be distributed among the villagers. Tagal means no fishing in local dialect.

In Luanti Baru, Tagal had turned the polluted river into natural attraction where the Pelian fish were trained to provide natural fish spa to the visitors. That should be the biggest natural fish massage pool in the world. What we need to do is, dipping our feet into the river, and the tame fish will come and bite our feet.

Painful? A bit. The fishes were too big for a gentle foot massage. We personally don't believe about the treatment or health value of fish spa, however, that was the once in a lifetime experience. The fish spa opens daily from 8:30 am - 5 pm. The fees for 15 minutes of spa, for MyKad holders- RM 5 for adult and RM 2 for kid. For those without MyKad, the fee is RM 10 per person.

More information about this huge fish spa river can be found at SabahTourism.com website.

The entrance of the natural fish spa was marked by a giant fish (upper left). A few stalls were set to sell drinks and snacks along the way to the river (upper right). The food and drink were sold with reasonable prices. We had to register at the counter by the river before we could walk into the river (lower right). The guard at the counter was the time keeper as well. Some facilities at the site were built by bamboo.

The members of our group at the river.

We had to use fish food to lure the fish to our feet. The fish food was sold separately from the registration counter with cheap price.

From Luanti Baru Village, we travelled back to Ranau for lunch at Restaurant Double Luck at 11:45 am. The food, fair taste with fair price. As our tour members were scheduled to fly back to Sibu at 7:30 pm, we headed back to Kota Kinabalu airport right after the lunch.

Ranau is the biggest town between Tuaran and Sandakan, with at least a few grocery shops, a supermarket (Milimewa), a few banks, and of course, many eateries. It is close to many attractions as well. To our surprise, we didn't see many hotels within the town area. In our opinion, more hotels should be set up at Ranau for its convenience and strategic location. By the way, Ranau means flat land in local.

Street of Ranau.

Many shops are operational at the fourth day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri. The streets were full with people and cars.

Wild boar meat is available. Our lunch with four dishes- stir fried wild boar meat with onion and ginger, steamed chicken, and two vegetables cost around RM 12 per person, including drinks.

We stopped by Kundasang market on our way back to Kota Kinabalu for last minute shopping. Local fruits and vegetables were sold with remarkable cheap price. The market is located along the main road. It always causes traffic jam for the double parking and slow moving vehicles.

Various types of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and other products from the highlands were sold in Kundasang Market. This market could be easily identified as a belt of single storey wooden structure by the main road.

Various types of honey (upper left), super hot yellow chili (upper right), and highlands rice were something that we found interesting. Flowers were available too.

Ha, try if you dare! Left photo shows Tuhao- a mixture of wild ginger and chilli, pickled in salt and vinegar. Jeruk Bambangan is showed at the middle- wild mango preserved with chili and salt. The right is a mixture of Kepayang fermented with raw fish, rice and chili. All these authentic Sabah food can be found in the markets at Kundasang and Pekan Nabalu. You can find more information about these only-at-Sabah Food here with recipe. Photo of Bambangan is available here.

Flowers and other highlands plants were sold in the nursery.

Overall, our two days' trip was concluded as "too rushy". Kinabalu Park deserves more exploration, even for someone who has no intention to go above 4000 meters. The public transportation in the park was next to zero. The taxi was the second best option, if you don't dare to drive by yourself (a rental car from KK Airport is from RM 160 a day, you can get even better deal at KK town). 

"Minibus" operated by the local individuals basically helped a bit to bring tourists from a place to another. However, the operation goes without fixed schedule, and the fare was determined according to the number of passengers (the more the cheaper). According to our tour guide, the fee for the minibus from Kinabalu Park Headquarters to KK city was around RM 17 - RM 20 per person if the bus was fully loaded.

About the food, according to our observation, many restaurants were attached to the hotels, and the hotels were far from each other. Dine in your hotel might be the only option that you have without own transport. Basically, the food that we had were quite nice, except the steamboat dinner that we had at Celyn Hotel. The steamboat dinner was too expensive and not worth the money paid- RM 38 for a dinner full of noodles and fish balls (and other types of processed food).

As we were much adapted to free-and-easy and back pack style of travelling, we were not used to the itinerary arranged by the tourism company. However, we had to take it, or leave it. Of course, next time, we will drive. 

Kinabalu National Park is the place we will definitely go back for more exploration. We would like to take our opportunity to thank our freelance tour guide, Miss Catherine for her dedicated assistance, and Borneo Legend for arranging the bus for us. Catherine can be reached at cathtyy@gmail.com.

For more information about Kinabalu National Park, you can visit SabahTourism.com,Sabahparks.org, and ClimbKinabalu.com. 

[Back to Page 1][Page 2]

Other sharing about Sabah are available at

[Kota Kinabalu] [Hotels in Kota Kinabalu] [Food in Kota Kinabalu]

[Shopping in Kota Kinabalu] [Lok Kawi Wildlife Park] 
[Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park]
[All Our Destinations]

The Kinabalu National Park - Page 1

There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Malaysia. George Town of Penang, Bandar Hilir in Malacca, Mulu National Park in Sarawak, and Kinabalu National Park in Sabah.

Mount Kinabalu, with the height of 4095 m, is the highest mountain between the Himalayas and the Snow Mountain of New Guinea. In 1964, the park was established as state park. Then in 2000, the area which is bigger than Singapore Island was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for its mega biodiversity and the value to the world.

We both visited Kinabalu National Park around 20 years ago, when we were still kids, long before we met each other. Our recent two days trip to the park refreshed our old memories. Really, not much had changed. We should said the park was well preserved. The development took place here and there by the indigenous Dusun people, but basically, the nature beauty of the Crocker Range was remain untouched. Together with us, our parents and 25 other members from Sibu Peace Methodist Church.

Our bus departed from Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah at around 10:30 am. We took 20 minutes to reach Tamparuli. From there, we started the ascending. We reached our first stop on the highlands, Pekan Nabalu at 12 noon. The town was not very attractive, except for the souvenir shops. If you wish to get some souvenirs somewhere on the top of Borneo, Pekan Nabalu is the place for you. We found that not much we could see from the observation tower at the middle of the town. We stopped at Pekan Nabalu for 30 minutes to shop for a while.

Pekan Nabalu is not far from Kinabalu Park Headquarters and Kundasang. We took our lunch at Fairy Garden Resort- Chinese style, 8 dishes, big portion for a table of 10 person. The price, RM 18 (USD 6) per person. The taste, not too bad for hungry visitors.

Panoramic view from observation tower at Pekan Nabalu. Click the photo for larger view.

 A few rows of single storey shops at Pekan Nabalu.

Fairy Garden Resort by the road (upper left). The seat arrangement in the restaurant (upper right). The dishes served were quite nice- roasted chicken, curry chicken, tofu, sweet sour chicken, soup, and vegetables.

 Nice view from Fairy Garden Resort.

In just a few seconds, the view is blocked by clouds. This is the magic show of Kinabalu National Park- Now you see, now you don't.

Then, we travelled further east to Pekan Kundasang. Kundasang Town was even smaller compared to Pekan Nabalu. But it was well-known for its Kundasang War Memorial Park. The memorial was built in 1962 to commemorate 2,428 soldiers who died during the World War 2, when they were transferred from Sandakan to Ranau in 1945, by foot. Their journey from Sandakan to Ranau was the last for all but six survivals, who lived to tell their horrific story- the Dead March.

The park was designed by J. C. Robinson, with 4 interlinking gardens- Australian Garden, England Garden, Borneo Garden and a contemplation garden engraved with all the names of the fallen soldiers. The memorial is now maintained by a devoted volunteer- Mr. Sevee Charuruks from Thailand. A minimal maintenance fee was collected- RM 2 for locals with MyKad, RM 10 for the visitors without MyKad, and RM 1 for students with uniforms and children under 12.

We reached the memorial park around 1:30 pm. The strong wind and shrubs in the park cooled us down in the middle of the day. We spent more than 1 hour in the park. By the way, the park was easy to locate- just behind the only concrete shop lots beside the main road in Kundasang Town.

Kundasang Town in fact consists of two rows of concrete shop lots. The war memorial is at the back of the shop lots. Please click on the photo for larger view.

The white gate marks the entrance of the war memorial can be clearly seen from the road. We don't have to speak "Friend" to enter, but we need to pay a minimal fee of RM 2 per person. Awaiting behind the gate are the stairs.

First stop, a small hut with the newspaper cutting, reports, and the photos of the memorial park. From the hut, we turned left and walked upstairs to reach the gardens.

The Australia Garden is the first garden on our left (upper row), followed by the English Garden. The gardens are not big but well-maintained. According to our tour guide, the grass in Australia Garden was imported from Australia. The park has been recognized by Australian Government with grants allocated for maintenance.

Borneo Garden can be assessed through English Garden. Borneo Garden was planted with rare local orchids.

Contemplation garden is decorated with pillars and a pool. This is the place where we paid our respect to the fallen soldiers.  We can see the stone plates engraved with the names on the right. For all the visitors, we would like to advise that we should be quiet and be respectful in this garden.

Several of the fallen soldiers were brothers, twins, and father and son.

We had the privilege to meet Sevee Charuruk. He restored the memorial in 2005, which made the park to be known to the world as it is today. He received recognition from both England and Australian Governments for his commitment in restoring the memorial. You still can meet him at the memorial if you are lucky enough. "Sabah is a good place, you two should come back." This was his message to both of us before we left the memorial.

Then, we continued our trip to Desa Farm, 20 minutes from Kundasang War Memorial. The farm was located along Kundasang Kauluan Road and Cinta Mata Mesilau Road. With light green grassland lined by white wooden fences, and the dark Mount Kinabalu at the back, The view at the farm was stunning! The cooling strong wind blew away the heat from the sun. We visited the farm by looking at the milking process and how the calves were brought up from the nursery. We bought some dairy products too. However, we spent most of the time walking around, enjoying the nice view and the cooling air.

The farm was not big. Not many places were opened to visitors as well. However, in a squeezing room, we observed how the automatic milking process was done (upper left). Calve raising nursery was located in another building in the farm (upper right). While the cattle were lined up to be milked, visitors lined up to buy the dairy products.

Mount Kinabalu showed its face when we were at the dairy farm. Clear view of this mysterious mountain was really treasured.

Our photo at the farm.

Photo of the grassland.

You won't get bored by staring at the pictureque scenery like this for one hour.

Grazing cattle.

Even the workers' quarters look nice from the farm.

We stayed at Desa Farm for two hours until 4 pm. We took 20 minutes to go back to Kinabalu Park Headquarters for a quick visit. As the sky turned dark under the raining clouds, we didn't stay long in the park.

Our journey turned disastrous when we came to the smaller road lead to our hotel. Stay with us as our journey continued.

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Other sharing about Sabah are available at

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[Shopping in Kota Kinabalu] [Lok Kawi Wildlife Park] 
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[All Our Destinations]

Sleeping Direction, Awakening at right side, rubbing palms

Sleeping Direction:

There is a tradition that we shouldn’t keep our head facing north while sleeping. Before knowing the reason for this, we need to know our body construction. Also as per tradition, we have to rub our palms and press our eyes to open them.

Cultural Importance:

Our ancestors used to tell us to get up from sleep towards of our right direction by pressing parts on right side of the body. Body metabolism will be very low when our body takes rest. When we get up from the bed it immediately speeds up. If we get up from left side our heart faces unexpected stress as it is resided at left side of the body. Tradition states that direction South is ruled by Lord Yama who is god of death, facing feet to the south consider as a sin and Lord Yama will take that person to death soon.Hindus fear to face the feet to south, they keep only dead bodies facing feet towards south. A popular story of Lord Ganesha will tell about sleeping in direction of north(facing head towards north) Shiva gana (Servants of Lord Shiva) will cut the head facing north. Vaastu Shastra also strictly says beds should be placed in direction when one should sleep in direction facing head other than north direction.

Mantra while going to sleep
Karacharana Kritam VaaKaayajam Karmajam Vaa
Shravana Nayanajam VaaMaanasam Vaa Paraadham
Vihitama Vihitam VaaSarvame TatKshamasva
Jaya Jaya Karunaabdhe
Shri Mahaadeva Shambhoo
Meaning of mantra :O Mahadev please forgive all sins committed in the day and bless with good sleep.

Sleeping in Shavaasana posture(sleeping on back) is best to rest the body on bed.If you have snoring problem or in pregnancy period sleeping on side position is best

Scientific Reasons:

• The most important part in body is heart, which is placed almost 3parts uppermost of the body. It is not easy circulating blood to the upper parts of body when compared to down parts because of earth gravitational force. In our body, blood vessels in the upper parts are sensitive than the blood vessels in lower part. Blood vessels become vey minute when it goes to upperparts and even if a drop of excess blood in that vessel creates blood clot in the brain. Generally many people face blood clots in brain. They usually occur in minor but affect the complete person and make them lazier. So if we don’t follow any measures, we lose our remembrance after 35 years of age.
• As earth has got magnetic power if we are sleeping towards north our blood vessels in brain get attracted to it and results in blood clots. This is all because of iron content in blood, the medicine for blood loss (anemic).
• As our nerves end at our palms, when rubbed to each other they get activated so that the whole body get active. As to move full body from the sleeping state firstly we have to activate our body and the brain.

Read Sleeping Directions for more Information

Shravana Masam - Month of Love & Prosperity

Shravana Masam:

Shravana Mas is a very special month for newly married woman . This month comes usually in the month of August. Full moon day occurring with the Shravana star is known as Shravana Masam. Every day of this month is very auspicious.

Cultural Beliefs:

Shravan star is believed to be very auspicious star in which Lord Vishnu was born. Also, Lord Brahma had seen Lord Vishnu for the first time on the day of Shravan star. Lord Govinda form also took place in the same time. Lord Govinda stepped in Tirumala hill in search of Goddess Maha Lakshmi on the day of Shravan star.

In olden days Shravan mas is meant to be auspicious month to start learning so upakarma takes place in this month to start studying Vedas,

Shravana Masam is very special for Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Gowri Devi.

Significance:
Ashada masam, known for separating newly married couples where as Shravanam joins them. Festivals' beauty is brought by Shravanam. It is so precious. Shravana means listening and this is an art. A good listener is a good decision maker.

As a wife known for forming a good family, she likes Shravana amongst all. The festival in this month are so popular and precious. Monday is precious in Karthika Masam, Thursday is precious in Margasira Masam, likewise all Mondays,Tuesdays,Fridays,Saturdays are precious in Shravanam.

Festivals of Shravana Masam:

Shravan is the most important month for women. Women who perform vrathams in this month will bestowed with all happiness and  prosperity.

Varalakshmi Vratam:
The first and foremost festival in Shravanam is Garuda Panchami. Lord Garuda, who had worked hard to release his mother from servant work, and so had become the vahanam(vehicle) for Lord Vishnu and a purana is named after him, Garuda Purana.This day(Shravana Sudha Panchami) we should pray Lord Garuda to get (Win) strength ,Courage.

Shravana Sudha Saptami is good for praying  Lord Surya(sun). Shravana Sudha Ekadashi (Putradhi Ekadashi)  is well known for Ekadashi vratam to be booned with children for childless.Donating umbrella is precious.Shravana Sudha dwadashi(Damodara Dwadashi) for praying Lord Sri Hari and to pray Goddess Parvathi and Lord Shiva on Tryodashi and Chaturdashi.

Varalakshmi vratam has to be done on the friday before shravana pournami. This vrat is been preached by Lord Shiva to Parvathi. By doing this vrat all married women believe in their good lives with husband, children and prosperity.

Mangala Gowri:
New married women should perform Mangala Gowri vratham for longetivity and welfare of their husband.This vrat is to be performed on all tuesdays of shravanam as parvathi stops Shiva taking poision while churning milky ocean.This vrat to be performed by all married ladies. Gowri named after Goddess Parvathi done Tapas for changing her complextion from black to red (Goura Varnam).So, Shiva preached that praying Lord Gowri on Shravana Tuesdays will give all happiness and prosperity.

Mondays(Lord Shiva) and Saturdays(Family ilavelpu) are precious in shravanam. Pournami in shravanam is also known as Rakhi Pournami or Jandhyala pournami. Rakhi Pournami, the day on which sisters tie a raksha bandhan(rakhi) to their brothers which means brothers have to safeguard their sisters' lives. Jandhyala Pournami, a festival for a married man who has got the upanayanam done and he has to change his jandhyam or Yagnopavetham on this auspicious day and do Gayathri mantra Japam. Hayagriva (Knowledge god) and Santoshi Matha had taken their forms on this auspicious day. Maa Lakshmi had been given control on money and Maa Sarawasthi had been given control on Education (Knowledge) by Hayagriva on this day. Sage Agasthya preached with Lalitha Sahasranamam by Hayagriva on this special day.

Performing Sankata Hara Chathurdhi in this month is equivalent performing it in the whole year every month and even when not done all along the year are being blessed by Lord Ganesha.

Shravana Shukla Ashtami is known as Krishnashtami or Gokulashtami(the birthday of Lord Krishna). We have to pray Lord Govinda and offer him milk, fruits,cheese and butter. Ekadashi followed by fulfills our wishes if performed with Ekadashi Vrat. Butter to be donated which results in precious wishes fulfilled.

Shravana Bahula Amavasya is known as Polala Amavasya and all Farm Animals will be prayed on this day.

Kanwar yatra is famous in north India traveling long distance on bare foot to bring Ganga water by reciting BAM BAM BOLE. It was stated in skanda purana the people who succeeds this yatra will gain virtues of Ashwamedha Yagna when done with Shiva Abhishekam.

Interesting Facts:

Additionally, in this significant month some special fifteen days are really important to worship God for that particular day:

Tithi- God

Padyami – Lord Brahma

Vidiya - Sriyahpati

Tadiya - Goddess Parvati

Chaturthi - Ganesha

Panchami - Shashi

Sashti – Naga Devatalu

Saptami - The Sun

Ashtami - Durga

Navami – Matru Devatalu

Dashami - Dharmaraju

Ekadashi - Rushis

Dwadashi - Srimahavisnuvu

Trayodasi - Anangudu

Chaturdasi - Lord Shiva

Purnima - Ancestors

Shravana Masam Pooja Procedure:

• House should be clean and tidy.
• Observe fasting on Mondays if possible to perform somavara vratham. Unmarried girls who perform somavara vratham will get a good husband.
• Take one day meals. Fasting during day time and eating at night time is prescribed.
• Try to avoid taking non vegetarian food.
• Wear Rudraksha and use rudraksha for japa mala
• Try to chant Shiva chalisa and maha mrutuyumjaya mantra
• After performing vratha thread has to be soaked in turmeric water and need to tied to the wrist of the hand

Scientific Reasons:

• Shravana start falls in the Capricorn which is ruled by Saturn. Shravana Masam is very auspicious for beginning any new ventures as the sun transits in to the Capricorn and comes opposite to Shravana star the doors of vaikuntam will be opened.
• Shravana Masam is very special for good deeds.
• As per Hindu astrology people born in Shravana masam are honored by the world.
• Shravana month comes in Monsoon Season where there is less sunlight thus effects digestive system to function weakly. so people will eat less on the name of fasting.
• Water Borne diseases will spread rapidly in this month.Fasting will boost the immunity system to prevent diseases. The inner meaning eat less and live more.
• Eating non-veg is strictly prohibited because possibly they may affected from bacteria and virus which will take birth in this season.
• According to Ayurveda, mind will more unstable in this season due to vata imbalance in the body hence these festivals came to existence to control mind.
• This month is also known as month of love, most of the mammals will breed in this month so hunting and eating mammals is a great sin.  
• These weeping sounds which ends with nasal constant(MMMM in BAM BAM BOLE) will bring calmness and control on mind