As much as there is so much to be fixed in Kota Kinabalu, I’m very proud to say that DBKK is going forward in the right direction by launching the ‘No Plastic Bag on Monday‘ Campaign.

Today is the official kick-off date, and participating stores which include Parkson, 7-Eleven, Tong Hing Supermarket, Giant hypermarket, Milimewa, Southern Bakery and Popular Bookstore will not be giving out free plastic bags to shoppers at the checkout counter for free.

If you are shopping today without your own bag or basket in any of the stores above, you will be charged 20 cents per plastic bag. Those proceeds will go to fund environmental and cleanliness projects by DBKK and the Enviromental Action Centre (EAC) around the city.

But why stop today? Say no to plastic bags everyday! I guarantee you it’s a much sexier look and you’ll be kind to the earth and all who inhabit it.

So bring your reusable bags to the supermarket today!

If you want a reason to get off your couch, now is the time. The Sutera Harbour 7k Sunset Charity Run is just around the corner. Whether you are going to do it for charity, health and/or fun, this is the hottest active event to go to in Kota Kinabalu! With 10,000 people expected to participate, it’s the ideal event to show off your muscles to a band of screaming kids or prove to yourself that you can hit the distance with the grannies!

The best part of all is that you’ll help raise funds for the Sabah Thalassaemia Society and Special Olympics Sabah.

The run will be held on Saturday 10th July 2010. Registration costs RM25 for adults and  RM 15 for children (comes with a t-shirt). For more details on the run and where to register, visit the Sutera Harbour website. See you there!

Here’s a list of the best coffee shop foods in Kota Kinabalu, as submitted by a reader called Ah Bing. If you’re always getting asked where are the good places to eat local food in K.K., now you have a handy link to pass on. Enjoy!

Visit AhBing.com

Our KK Twestival 2010 Short Documentary Film Feature from the funky, groovy, and fantastic Sri Southall is now out on YouTube. Watch it, share it and spread it with love!

A big thank you to Sri of Helvetica’s Army and Scubazoo for sponsoring the production of this. Now we’ll all remember the magic of KK Twestival thanks to you!!

We raised RM 6,330 (USD $1,940) for unschooled kids that night!!

If you missed it and would still like to be a part of Twestival, you can:-

1. Get yourself a t-shirt where 100% of proceeds go to Concern Worldwide!
2. Follow our story on http://kotakinabalu.twestival.com
3. Follow @fooz @kktwestival on Twitter for future Twestivals in KK!

See you at the next one!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

1. Charles Miao, Stone Bridge Galley – @stonebridgekk – For sponsoring the food and letting us use your restaurant.
2. Bernie Chan, Xquisite Journey – @bemingo – For your time, resources, and everything else!
3. May Wong, Cube Private Kitchen – @meihoneybee - For the sponsored dinners!
4. Clive Chai, South Sea Sanctuary – @southseasanc – For the vouchers, masseuse and showing up.
5. Alvin Ho, Hito Restaurant – For the sponsored dinner.
6. Rachel Khoo, The Body Shop – For the 5 lucky draw gift sets.
7. Kareen Lim, Pharmex.com.my – For the cash sponsorship to run the event.
8. Gerry Kong, MSJ Media – @bananakk – For filming and editing for us.
9. Helvetica’s Army – @srijivesouthall – For filming and editing for us.
10. Scubazoo – @scubazoo – For letting Sri use your facilities.
11. Euphrasia Fung, Celyn Hotel – For the lucky draw gift sponsorship.
12. Dinoza Mahruf, Imperial International Hotel @dinoza – For partially sponsoring the food and the lucky draw gift voucher.
13. Jasmine Leong, IEC.com.my – For the use of two of your projectors.
14. Sharifah, RedTone – For showing up and giving us a decent connection.
15. Elson Kho, Vchocolate.com.my – For the chocolates.
16. Phyllis Chin & Sue Chong Hartley, TheBagBar.com – For the birdie bag!
17. Angeline Han and Honeybee – @meihoneybee – For the cupcakes.
18. Amie Stan, Breeze Magazine – @breezemag – For taking photos.
19. Liu Mun Yin, CNNGo.com – @cnngo – For telling us about @twestival and retweeting us proud!
20. CDS Printing – For printing banners and sticker logos for free.
21. Instant Exhibition, instantexhibition.com – For the chairs, tables and lighting at the back.
22. Patrick Tiew & Co., AVS Sound and Lighting – For the amazing sound and lighting for the event.
23. Canon Ling Wine Supplier – For providing us happy elixirs.
24. Kwong Hin (HK) Sdn. Bhd. Wine Supplier – For providing us happy elixirs.
25. Best Vintage Wine Supplier – For providing us happy elixirs.
26. Cynthia Low, Wakili.com.my – For partially sponsoring our t-shirts and helping us sell it on the day.
27. Sam Tan, Core Fitness – @dustnshadows – For getting involved.
28. Karis Chong – For your contribution toward running the event.
29. Jackie Miao, JACKIE.MY – @fooz – For organizing, sponsoring, and leading the event like a nutcase over 3 weeks!

THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS

1. Jackie Miao – @fooz – Lead Organizer
2. Bernie Chan – Event Management – @bemingo
3. May Wong, Sponsorship – @meihoneybee
4. Donald Lim, Design – @pakpandir
5. Charles Miao, Logistics
6. Francoise Lourdes, Administration – @Francoise_L
7. Yolanda Graham, PR – @yograham
8. Melissa Leong, Emcee – @fridaycat13
9. Gerry Kong, Videography – @bananakk
10. Sri Jiva Southall, Videography – @srijivesouthall
11. Amie Stan, Photography – @amiestan
12. Mia Meara Robinson, Volunteer Coordination – @miameara
13. Will Robinson, Logistics
14. Jacquelin Ajuni, Social Media Evangelist – @caneeliea
15. Chua Li Ying, Logistics – @LiYing_Chua
16. Liew Yu Li, Logistics – @YuliLiew
17. Genn Lai, Food Serving – @GennLai
18. Roger Wang, Entertainment – @roger_wang
19. Jonathan Tse, Entertainment – @jontse
20. Angelina Perete, Entertainment
21. Clive Chai, Sponsorship Coordination – @mansun48
22. Lam Lam, Videography
23. Jackson Ho, Videography
24. Euphrasia Fung, Logistics
25. Jasmine Rajah, Logistics/Deco – @imjasmine
26. Jacintha Rajah, Logistics/Deco
27. Edward Ginibun
28. Christine L Santos, Decorations
29. Ong Jay Jim, Security
30. Norif Paival Yahya, Security – @paival
31. Kaisen Chin – @sandcookie
32. Jet Chung, Sponsorship Coordination/Logistics
33. Valentine Collins
34. Adriance Valentine
35. Chin Li New – @weNiLnihC
36. Ralph Lauren Taddeus – @larphe
37. Dexterowie Ian
38. Arthur Almanzo J Bangguan
39. Christal Connie, Logistics
40. Cynthia Low, T-shirts
41. Jason Wong, Food Serving
42. Yin Wong, Food Serving
43. Marie Bibiana Baxter, Entertainment
44. Alan Lip Vui, Entertainment
45. Welfred Saw, Entertainment
46. Jordan Khong, Entertainment
47. Sam Tan, Entertainment – @dustnshadows

This is the last part of Angelina Perete and Roger Wang’s set at KK Twestival 2010. Stay tuned as the videos of the sensational live performance of singer-songwriter Jonathan Tse will be released as they become available in the coming days!!

Here’s a video message from the Marketing Manager of CNNGo.com Mr. Liu Mun Yin to all you fantastic, wonderful, fabulous volunteers who came and gave a part of your heart to help Concern Worldwide at KK Twestival 2010.

Twestival to put it in the simplest terms is a Twitter festival that happens one day, once a year where people get together for a tweet-up party to raise money for charity. This year 200 cities will get together on 25th March 2010 to raise money for Concern Worldwide, who are helping the poorest kids in the world go to school.

We’re currently looking for volunteers and sponsors at the moment, and if you’d like to help follow @kktwestival @fooz @twestival @concern @twestivalasia and drop us a line here kktwestival@gmail.com with your name and contacts. In the coming days, we’ll have more information on how you can participate!

Visit our official blog here!  http://kotakinabalu.twestival.com

When my bike started to get really stiff on the pedal, I decided it was time to begin learning how to maintain my bicycle. Since I had no clue how to go about degreasing, oiling, and maintaining a bike I turned to The Complete Bike Book: Choosing, Riding, and Maintaining Your Bike, which I got a year before I bought my GT bike! The book has instructional photographs on how to maintain a bike, which made it easier for me to learn on my own. While it is quite a comprehensive guidebook it lacked recommendations on brands of chain lubes, so I posted a question on Facebook asking for some suggestions.

A few people came back with some ideas ranging from Singer oil to WD-40. Eventually I chose to heed the advice of Clement and headed to Spring Trading to get Pedro’s Lube! While I was there, I realized I needed a couple of more tools to make the maintenance process easier. I got a working stand (RM45), track pump (RM25), cleaning brushes (RM54), and Pedro’s lube (RM 32). The bike shop owner recommended that I use WD-40 (RM 14.90) as a degreaser so I stopped by at the supermarket to pick a can up.

I’m pretty proud to say that my first maintenance session was pretty successful. Pedro’s lube is really silky smooth; took the bike out for a 45 min spin and it rode smoothly and beautifully! Now the next step would be to learn how to maintain the other bike parts and change a flat tire. Wish me luck!!!

To get your bike supplies in K.K., you can head to Spring Trading at Kampung Air:-

Spring Trading Co.
No. 5, Ground Floor, Jln Sentosa,
88000 Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysia.
Tel: 088-26 2201

Maybe this is really late, but it was supposed to be my very last post on my Hong Kong trip and life just kind of got in the way. People tell me that you don’t leave Hong Kong without having dim sum and so that’s exactly what Rachel and I did for my last day. We went to West Villa Restaurant in Causeway Bay, which is said to be a favorite for local celebrities.

Here’s what we ordered:-

Rachel was craving for some Char Siu Bao so we got some. The top of the bun is like a Mexico bun and the filling inside the bun is a Char Siu pork filling with sweet gravy. I really liked the texture of the bun as I could really taste the freshly baked goodness from the first bite.

We also got some steamed Pai Kuat which tasted classic, unpretentious and good. I was however most impressed with the Siu Mai. The pork meat and big prawns were really fresh, juicy, springy and delicious. I’ve never had Siu Mai quite like it; not in Malaysia, not in New York, not even in London. It was arguably the best Siu Mai I’ve ever had in my life (so far) so if you eat nothing else in Hong Kong, eat the Siu Mai at West Village Restaurant.

Perhaps what was the least familiar to me was this Dim Sum style frittata. The glutinous rice with meat is coated with egg and fried like a frittata, then sliced and eaten with a dipping sauce. Apart from the virginal visual sensation, it was not bad but something that will probably come in as the last choice if I had to order it again.

Since I was missing the ritual Sunday dim sum sessions at Yi Ban and The Laureate in London, seeing this Kuay Tow wrapped with Cheong Fun dish on the menu was a pleasant delight. I was glad we ordered it because it was crunchy, chewy and had the subtle flavors of five spice. Chewing through this made me think about  how incredibly well the British-Chinese have tried to retain the best of Cantonese food and offer it to Britain.

Finally, Rachel insisted that I have the Tau Foo Fah. OUT OF THIS WORLD, glad she suggested it! I’ll be sure to head over for some Tau Foo Fah on my next trip because it’s really so smooth, silky and absolutely beautiful with the shaved palm sugar topping.

Overall, the meal was beautiful. I’m really glad we had dim sum on my last day because now I know what the big deal is. Here’s how to get there:-

West Villa Restaurant
Room 101-102, 1/F., Lee Garden Phase 2, 28 Yan Ping Road
tel: 852 2882 2110

So I hope you’ve enjoyed my blog series on Hong Kong. I love it so much I will definitely be back for more munchies and partying!

Taken from Tanjung Aru

It all started on Facebook when Phyllis woke up to this view from her bedroom.

Mount Kinabalu from Jalan Tuaran

Then I looked out my bedroom window, headed downstairs and took this shot. (I was actually closer than Phyllis to Mt. Kinabalu but my camera was crappier.)

Mt Kinabalu from where Bob is. Yea, with his toy heli.

Bob flew his toy heli in front of his view and took this one. The helicopter almost looks real doesn’t it?

Cornelius took this from Pekan Nabalu from his mobile

Last but not least, here’s a shot of Mt. Kinabalu this morning from Cornelius Chua. Isn’t that just breathtaking? Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos with me.

P/S: If you would like to share your Mt. Kinabalu shot with me, email your picture to me with the time, date and location of where it was taken to jackiemiao.my(at)gmail.com. Remember to let me know how to credit you.