Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Prayer Mountain of Haleluya Retreat Center

“I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help come from the lord, the maker of the heaven and earth.”
 Psalm 121:1-2



Early morning in Haleluya Retreat Center (Mountain Holiday Home) Sabah, Malaysia under Mount Kinabalu
Haleluya Retreat Center (Mount Kinabalu Holiday Home) Sabah, Malaysia

12th May 2014

A retreat center with beautiful surrounding. Haleluya Retreat Center is located 2 km before the entrance to Kinabalu Park. The retreat center is situated on a valley of Kinabalu mountain range. Mount Kinabalu is a famous tourist spot and is a World Heritage Site.

The Center has been a nice place for Christian events but it also open to the public for overnight accommodation.

A good place for Family retreats, Church seminars, Youth camp, Personal prayer and meditation.  Water supply may be a problem during dry seasons because water are pump up from well and stream.

http://beautifulkk.com/2009/10/14/mount-kinabalu-holiday-home

We woke up in a clear morning and saw Mount Kinabalu and the valleys very clearly. We had a morning walk along the hilly road to Kinabalu Mountain Lodge and stop a few times to get some snap shots. It was an enjoyable magnificent morning. The view of  Kinabalu mountain range is awesome.

View in clear morning from balcony of dormitory block.



Weather conditions can change rapidly on this mountain area. At the left of above photos is the cabbage garden and farmer's house.


Photo above : Weather conditions can change rapidly on this mountain area. At the left of above photos is the cabbage garden and farmer's house.

At Kinabalu mountain range, the best weather in a day is early morning. 
There are two monsoons that bring rainy seasons to Sabah:
1- South West Monsoon stretches May to July. 
2- North East Monsoon October to January brining heavy and frequent rain. This is the worst time to visit Mount Kinabalu due to the heavy rain.

Rains and Vegetable

During the day, the weather is fickle, it changes quickly. Weather conditions can change rapidly on this  mountain area. A clear, sunny morning can suddenly turn into heavy sleeting rain in a matter of minutes by noon. Visitors to Mount Kinabalu Park must be well prepared for any eventuality.


February to  April are best months to visit Mount Kinabalu. These 3 months are non monsoon season with little  rainfall.
Today we are here is May when rains only starting to increase. Rain is what the vegetable farmers in Kundasang expecting all year round.  I saw the cabbage farmer harvesting his cabbages in the early morning. When I walk the slop down to talk to him, he complained of little rains of the past months resulted in his cabbages not growing big enough. But even though not big enough, the cabbages are old enough to be harvested as soon and the land to be replanted with a new batch of vegetable.  



Vegetable farm at Haleluyah Retreat Centre. (The Cameron Highland of Sabah)



Sweet Cabbages
I bought 13Kg of cabbages directly from his farm. He said his cabbages belong to the sweet variety. (The other type of cabbages are bigger and greener but less sweet taste).

Before we left  for long journey home, he carried the heavy big beg of cabbages from the farm up the hill slop to the car park and put into my car. He charged me only Rm2.00 per kg dealer price and gave me another 4 Kg as free gift. I pay him Rm30.00 and asked him to keep the change. He was pleased and  we have sweet cabbages. 

The next day we and the neighbors have fresh sweet cabbages for dinner. 13Kg  is just enough to give 2 cabbages each neighbors. For the next several days of dinner the fried cabbages dish is the first to finish on the dinning table. We all like the fresh crispy and sweet test of the vegetable. The farmer already told me so that his cabbages are sweet.






Corypha Taliera - “extinct in the wild” tree species found in Borneo Island

12th May 2014 Monday

If I have correctly identified this tree as Corypha taliera (Tali Tree) then this is a rear tree species found in Sabah of Borneo Island.

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has classified this plant species Corypha taliera on its Red List, as being “extinct in the wild”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corypha_taliera

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/summary/38493/0