Sibu BASE Jump 2011

Sibu B.A.S.E. Jump is back for its 3rd edition! I had been following the event for 3 years consecutively and this year I had noticed some positive improvement by the organizer.

The jumpers participated in the 3 days event starting from 23rd-25th September has obviously increased if compared to last year! 23 jumpers from all around the world mostly from western countries such as Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States of America, Austria and Netherlands were joining the event lead by Gary Cunningham from Australia.

There are also 4 Malaysians taking part in this 27-storey or 126-meter height jumping from Wisma Sanyan Sibu, the tallest building in Sarawak. They are lead by Captain Aziz Ahmad, president of Malaysia BASE Association.

[Captain Aziz Ahmad]

Talking about Gary Cunningham, this name is very familiar to me. I had been mentioning about him since I follow the event from its first edition in 2009. If you wish to see my previous write ups, please click here. He returned to Sibu for 3 years in a row and this year, he brought even more jumpers to make the event grander ever and more excitement than before. Gary himself is the world record holder of the most BASE jumps made in 24 hours and also the technical adviser for this event.

[Gary Cunningham]

This year, as there were more jumpers, thus more variation of jumps could be performed by them. Apart from individual jumping, there were also jump-in-2 and trio jumping! It certainly added more entertainment and heart-beating element to the event and spectators were so amazed with the dedicated performance by these jumpers.

Sometimes they even broke the silence by clapping their hands for the exciting performance as a sign of satisfaction and amazement. This phenomenon is more rarely happened as in normal case Sarawakians are used to be shy. If they clap without been forced, it means the performance had really touched their hearts.

This year the organizing committees had put in more efforts to make the BASE jumping a more happening event. Trade fair had been set up at Town Square 2nd phase to make the event more carnival feel. Besides that, there were also night jumping which never been held before. It was a positive improvement and perhaps it was an effort to put this event in national's sports tourism calendar.

However there is still room of improvement to make this event better. In my opinion, for the night jumps, appropriate lighting should be set up so that the jumps could be seen clearly.

Besides the excitement, the spectators also took this opportunity to take photos with the jumpers everytime after they done their jumping. I believe it is a great experience for both the spectators as well as jumpers and I am looking forward to a better event next year!

 [3 Malaysian jumpers]

Who said I only like to shoot photo of pretty girls? Do look for handsome gentlemen here in this blog!

[Rock man!]

[Nice tattoo!]

Perfect Ice to Quench Your Thirst @ Giant Sibu

If I tell you the term "Perfect Ice", what come across your mind? You can ask at least three Ws and one H question about it. Why an ice can be perfect, what is so perfect then, where these perfect ice come from and how the so called "perfect ice" formed?

For me, the term "Perfect Ice" is not something that scientific and complicated. It is just another franchise shop I spotted at the newly opened Giant Hypermarket Sibu recently. The stall is specialize in selling fruit sherbet. What is sherbet? According to Oxford online dictionary, sherbet means "A cooling drink of sweet diluted fruit juices" while some other dictionaries may define it as "A frozen dessert made primarily of fruit juice and sugar".

Yes! That's exactly what Perfect Ice franchise is selling! Shredded ice made from fresh local fruits. Differ from the shaved ice from Iglool Snow Ice I reviewed few months ago, this shredded ice is not snowy but icy and smooth. If you ever taste the so called "The Coolest Drink on Earth" - the Slurpee sold only at 7-Eleven convenient shops, the shredded ice sold at Perfect Ice feel closer to it, but less watery and the ice is more solid and compact.

Perfect Ice smoothie is categorized into 3 levels of flavors. The Signature Flavors are the most common flavors which are formed from fruits like dragon fruits, mango, lime, honeydew, watermelon, lychee, pineapple and etc. Each flavor (small cup) is RM2.80 but you can opt for max. 2 mixed flavors (big cup) at RM3.80.

2nd level of flavor is called Special Flavors which are made from more uncommon fruits such as strawberry, Passion fruit, mulberry and apricot. The price is a bit higher with small cup RM3.80 and big cup RM4.80.

The 3rd level which is also the thickest flavor is called the Premier Flavors. Yam, Soursop, Orange, Durian, mocha, tiramisu, cappuccino and chocolate are categorized into this level. These are also the most expensive flavors with small cup single flavor priced RM4.30 and 2 mixed flavors RM5.80.

There are some flavors may be added or removed from the menu from time to time especially those related to seasonal fruits. In a nutshell, it is a very cooling beverage to enjoy especially during hot days besides getting some nutrient from the fresh fruits smoothie. Give it a try!

If you wish to know more about the making of Perfect Ice, look at the video clip below - the making of Perfect Ice as reported in 8TV program Ho Chak!

For more information about the franchise, here is its official site:
http://perfect-ice.com.my/

A MerdekaRaya Trip

So, what have you been up to during the special MerdekaRaya break? Frankly speaking, I didn't do anything extraordinary though. I just taken some initiative to drive all the way from Sibu to Bintangor which is located more than 40 kilometers away!

Sounds boring? Yeah... I believe it is. You can either stop reading from here or continue follow my story.

Bintangor (a.k.a Minatang) is actually a small town with not much happening and places to go. The reason for this trip was just to spend the leisure with family members and at the same time, we read from a local newspaper report about the Engkalak at Bintangor is rather cheap. As family members including me are Engkalak fanatic, thus we decided to see if we could find some "harvests" in the trip!

[Engkalak or Buah Tebuluh]

It took me about 45-50 mins to reach Bintangor town. Once we reached there, the first destination no doubt was the native market where Engkalak could be found! Better look for them early than been swept clean if too late! Yeap! spotted plenty of Engkalak at the dark and crowded market with the selling price much cheaper than in Sibu. With RM 2/kilogram, mom had bought quite a few kilos of Engkalak to be brought home!

After a round of "shopping" at the market, we then stopped at Lu's Biscuit Shop. This is an old branded shop you shouldn't miss if you visit Bintangor.

The shop is well-known for all kind of traditional Chinese biscuits and pastries such as the famous "Kom Piang (a.k.a. kompia)" and "Leh Piang" (foochow wedding biscuit with sweet fillings). Most of the pastries are freshly baked and sold instantly.

 

In fact you may ask these so called "biscuits" are available in Sibu, so what is the difference? From what I observed, the Kompia at Lu's Biscuit Shop is generally thicker and much filling than those in Sibu. This is actually the dimension of Kompia one could get in Sibu long time ago, but because of rise of costs and whatever reasons, Sibu Kompia now had reduced in size and its thickness.

[Kom Piang a.k.a. Kompia]

Beside Kompia, the Leh Piang you could find here are also nice to eat with "explosive" stuffing!

[Leh Piang]

Apart from the mentioned, there were a lot more pastries you could try out.

Spotted a very old petrol station just beside Bintangor wharf. Just look at the pump, I believe you will agree with me!

After some walk around, is time for breakfast! Randomly selected a coffee shop to dine on... but had been waited for almost one hours for a bowl of Foochow style noodle soup to reach my table! Frankly, this bowl of noodle not worth such a long waiting at all!

We then continue our journey to another small town called Sarikei which is about 20 minutes driving distance away using its new route. Nothing much had been done there, just had some walk around at the town area.

For those who may not know, Sarikei is a town famous of its pineapple. So, if you somehow visit to this town, don't forget to capture your memory in front of the giant pineapple sculpture which symbolize the town of Sarikei!

After stopped more than an hour in Sarikei, we then headed back home. I know the trip wasn't that existing, but it was the quality time you spent with your beloved family members that count.