Basking At Bukit Padang

Bukit Padang is the name of a hill and the surrounding area near Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. It is famous for two reasons, the Tun Fuad Stephens Park and its floating seafood restaurants plus Sabah's one and only water theme park.

The Bukit Padang hill itself stood at 145 metres above sea level and frequented by many who took to the peak either by foot or mountain bikes. It is one of the best place to view the whole Kota Kinabalu city and I made it a routine myself to climb up the hill almost every weekend.

Climb it early in the morning and once on top you'll be blessed with this magnificent view.



The peak of Bukit Padang is a nice place to view the Kota Kinabalu city and its surrounding.

The Sulaman and Sepanggar area north of Kota Kinabalu.



The Penampang and Putatan area at the south side.



On bright sunny day, you can view the Mount Kinabalu itself from the top of this hill.



Mount Kinabalu is of course visible from almost every part of Kota Kinabalu.



The highest point or peak of Bukit Padang and couple of shots on top of it.





The area surrounding the peak is mostly flat with plenty of benches for climbers to sit and hang around while enjoying the scenery. Depending on individual fitness, the hike to the top takes between 10 to 20 minutes.

TLDM Open Day 2010

This is a bit late. Somewhere on June 2010 the Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM or Royal Malaysian Navy) organised an open day for the public at Teluk Sepanggar, Sabah. It was a rare opportunity that couldn’t simply be turned down by anyone. You know how hard it is getting into any military base in the world without getting shot at.

So on a sunny Saturday I made my way to Teluk Sepanggar for a close up with Malaysia’s guardians of the sea.



Centre of attraction for they day is without doubt the KD Kedah, an OPV and the biggest ship in Teluk Sepanggar's line up.



On board KD Kedah with the forward or bow part of the ship and the turret of 76mm 62cal OTO Melara DP gun.



Apart from the big OPV, there are several Fast Attack Vessels. Fast enough I guess to catch the attention of the girl in pink.



Here is a close up of one of the gun on the Fast Attack Vessel, KD Ganas.



All the ships fly various kind of flags that stand for some naval codes, totally beyond my comprehension.



It means, "Danger Turret Rotates Without Warning".



On several section of the ship there are placements for weapons like GPMG.



The navy offer the public a ride on their patrol boats for a reasonable fee. Rare opportunity to enjoy they bay area of the base.



Also on display, some of the naval gadgets. Scuba suits and a Starbust SAM at the background.



All in all, it was a great experience despite the scorching sun. Too bad the Scorpene submarines are off limit!

Contest Giveaway by Nurul Khairunie

A friend of mine, who I haven't met for quite some time, is giving away free photoshoot in her own self-run contest.

Run down of the contest is pretty much simple. Send her 3 self-portrait photos of you, which then will be uploaded on her Facebook page and get your friends (and the occasional strangers) to vote for it by clicking 'Like' on the photo. The 'Like' represents the vote and the more 'Likes' you get mean the bigger chance of you winning the contest.

For more details on the contest, just go to Contest Giveaway by Nurul Khairunie.

Oh yes, Nurul Khairunie is her name. This Ranau lass also runs a photoblog, CoupleClick Photography with her beau and surely is avalaible for any photo job enquiries.

Here are some clues of what this girl is capable of, given the right camera for her.