Put Jih Shih Buddhist Temple

Caught a local bus to this beautiful temple which is on a hill overlooking the sea about 4k from our hotel. It was a short walk from the bus stop but uphill on the final section, and I don't think I have ever been anywhere that is so hot and humid.
Fortunately, the temple area itself was a little breezy and it was nice and cool inside.
The gardens surrounding it were beautifully kept, but there is a large symbol made from box hedging that is initially very disturbing. The same symbol is also all over the temple itself.
There is a key difference between the Buddhist symbol and the Nazi swastika. It is that Buddhists use the left facing from and the Nazi swastika is right facing and usually at a 45 degree angle.
In Bhuddhism it is a sign of well being and good fortune.

Happy Christmas everyone

Happy Christmas from sunny Borneo.
We thought ahead and a couple of weeks ago we did a beach photoshoot so that I would be ready for a festive blog.
We were going to take our own photos but a passing friendly tourist took loads of shots for us.
The last one is from our trip to Hong Kong where I think the temperature actually did drop close to freezing!
I wore my Christmas tree hat down to breakfast this morning and it was all very jolly. The hotel have also hired a choir of about 20 local carollers and they keep appearing around the hotel and breaking into song.
We are pretending to be at home, so are just slobbing around for the day, which is what I hope all (both) of my readers are doing.

Rainforest Discovery Centre

Between feeding times at the Orangutan Rehabilitation we went to the Rainforest Discovery Centre.
What did we discover?
1. All of the birds and animal stay hidden in the middle of the day so don't expect to see any.
2. The views from the platforms of the forest canopy are incredible.
3. The platforms are very high, scary and flimsy.
4. I bet you can't spot me in these photos as I am in full camouflage gear.  I am also holding on tightly and my knees are shaking.

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre

Caught a bus to the famous Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre this morning. The centre was set up in 1964 and takes in and cares for orphaned and injured orangutans. The young ones are cared for in a nursery where they are taught jungle skills such as finding food, building nests and even climbing. It is not possible to see this area, but as they get older they are gradually introduced and released into the local rainforest.
The Centre has a feeding area and twice a day tourists are allowed to walk to a viewing area, and food is left out on a platform a few feet away.
It is up to the orangutans if they come to the platform and some that are released never return, but others visit regularly.
We stayed for both morning and afternoon feeds. In the morning an adult female and her own baby arrived, together with a juvenile male. (see pics 5 and 6). They sat with their backs to us, ate everything they were given, then climbed the ropes and disappeared.
In the afternoon we got there early, just as a young female was climbing down from the trees. One of staff told us that she is one of three who are in the middle of the release programme. She can still return overnight to the Centre, but is often now making a nest to sleep in and staying out all night.
She was really cute and put on a good show climbing gracefully down to the platform.
No other orangutans arrived so she ate leisurely then ambled away, striking quite a few poses as she went.

Australian Memorial Park

Caught a bus to the eight mile marker out of town to the Memorial Park. It is now a mixture of garden and jungle and is on the site of a prisoner of war camp from WW2.
The majority of prisoners were Australian, but there were also many Britons at the camp. The Park is dedicated to the 2,428 prisoners who lost their lives building an airstrip for the Japanese.
It was a very peaceful place and we followed a path around the site reading the information notices.
The digger was initially used by the prisoners, but then one night an Australian sabotaged it and it has not moved since.
There was also a nice building with more info. Once inside a friendly local man came over and asked if he could take my photo with his children. We started with a group shot, then individual pictures with each of the four kids, then different combinations of children including me carrying the youngest, then some of the kids and Darren, finally a few of both of us and him.
He kept saying thank you and then shaking our hands in really complicated high five type moves, and then coming back for yet more photos.

Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan

This morning we flew from KK to Sandakan as the roads are very slow and twisting, and the flights are frequent and cheap.
After the terrible hotels in Hong Kong, and with Christmas on the horizon, we decided to for somewhere nice here. Darren found a great deal at the only international hotel - the Sheraton - and booked it over the Internet.
Upon arrival we found there had been a mix up and they had charged us twice. They were not keen to give us a refund, and as they were obviously not full, they kept offering us upgrades and extras instead.
We were totally against it at first, which is probably why they eventually offered us so much, but now we are in an Executive Class room. It is as big as our last apartment in Nottingham with great sea views. Initially we booked for a Standard room only, but now we have fruits and cakes delivered daily, we can use the executive lounge which has free cappuccinos, soft drinks and nibbles all day, then wine and cocktails from 5.30 until 7 daily. We also have breakfast included and a large credit that we are going to spend on Christmas dinner.
All this is still cheaper than the tiny room in Hong Kong. Although, to be fair, HK is a major city and Sandakan is on the east coast of Borneo and pretty remote.
We have a new and unexpected problem now - how are we going to tear ourselves away from this place to see the sights?