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**INTRODUCTION
In accordance with the majority wishes of members during the Farewell Dinner to the last reunion in Sandakan, this years' events shall be held on/at:-
==> Date: 30-31 May (Harvest Festival Holidays)
==> Venue: Kundasang
All participants are requested to assemble at the external car parking yards to Kinabalu National Park (KNP)on either sides of Km 62, Tuaran-Ranau Highway. (See photo below). Paricipants can organize their own time of arrival at the KNP and visit the park on their own or in groups before re-assembling at the car parks prior to the time set for lunch and hotel check-in under the Programme.
Those getting to the Kinabalu National Park meeting point late (i.e. too close to the time set for Lunch under the Programme below) should wait around the Panataran Restaurant shown in the pix below. (They should forego visiting the KNP.) For convenience, the Panataran Restaurant at Km 62 shall be our venue for lunch.
(Committee members had dropped by for lunch at this venue during a visit on 18 April and agreed that the fares offered were reasonable.)
** For pix, info &c on Dream World Resort, please go to
http://blogged.my/pingbar-245048-dream-world-resort-kundasang.html and
http://beautifulkk.com/2010/07/26/dream-world-resort
**VISIT TO VENUE
As planned during one of the recent meetings, a few members of the organizing committee made a trip to the Dream World Resort on 18 April. The intention was to check on the dining and other facilities available there. On the way back, the committee would assess the luncheon menu offered by the Panataran Restaurant identified as the venue for the luncheon function on the first day.
The visiting committee stopped over at Nabalu briefly for leg stretching as well as for a relaxing cup of coffee. (Nabalu is a good vantage point for viewing Mt Kinabalu. However, one must time to arrive early or Mt Kinablu will be obscured by clouds.)
^^^^View of Mt. Kinabalu
^^^^(L-R:) William, Catherine, Elizabeth & Stella
....White Hibiscus At Nabalu
.....A Busy Bee
From Nabalu, it took about an hour of normal driving to get to the Dream World Resort (DWR). The sealed feeder road to the DWR, i.e. the Kundasang-Mesilou Road (K-M Rd), was reasonably maintained. (It is the same road that takes visitors to the War Memorial, the Desa Farm and the Kundasang Golf Club.) We took the first left turn at the new round about before Kundasang township to access the K-M Rd. (Participants driving from Sandakan can also turn into the K-M Rd from the round about near the Kundasang shops.) The last stretch of the K-M Rd was quite steep, but my 1.5 Alza (Auto) could still negotiate it. As with the accesses to most locations of interest in Sabah, there was a lack of direction signs to guide you to or to advise that you were on the right track to the DWR. (It would be good if a huge, prominent signboard was erected at the rather invisible entrance to the resort. (Reminder: If you end up at the Golfing range, that means you have overshot!)
On a normal week day, the DWR looked quite deserted when we arrived, with few visitors in sight. However, for the period we had booked, the resort should be very crowded, as it would be in the midst of Harvest Festival, King's Birthday and school holiday. Unfortunately, there was no authoritative personnel at the reception office or the restaurant to enable us to discuss and plan suitable arrangements for special dinners for the two nights. We might have to stick to the a la carte menu! Still, we managed to take a look into some of the rooms that we had booked. (Note: This has since been taken care of by Ms Nancy of DWR and the necessary dinner arrangements for the two evenings have been made.)
The last task for this trip was to check on the Panataran Restaurant's lunch offering on our return journey. We orderd a few common dishes off the menu and found these dishes quite acceptable. The only thing negative about the place was the over-whelming presence of flies all over the place.
***The Main Events
May 30
(i) Assembly Point (Panataran Restaurant)
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It was a long and slow drive to the meeting point for our luncheon gathering outside the Kinabalu National Park (KNP) on 30 May. Because of the need to pick up a Tawau participant at the KKIA(1), this blogger had to depart for the lunch venue (Panataran Restaurant) late (after 10 am). As a result, this had brought our vehicle right into the midst of the heavy holiday (Harvest Festival) traffic to the KNP. By the time we arrived at the venue, the restaurant and the open car parks were crowded with diners/visitors. Due to the crowded situation, and the likely long wait should we order special dishes for our lunch, we decided to grab whatever fast foods (mainly chicken rice) available. This way, we could recover some lost time and get ourselves back on track for the next schedule on the programme -- the visit to the Don Bosco Home at Bundu Tuhan.
(ii) Don Bosco Home, Bundu Tuhan
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It was past 1 pm by the time the group from KK finished lunch and made their way to the Don Bosco Home. (The rest of the party from Sandakan was still some distance from the Panataran Restaurant. Because they had had a rest and some snack after leaving Sandakan, they decided to skip lunch at the Panataran and proceed to Bundu Tuhan directly.) There was a slight drizzle as we approached the DB Home along the poorly maintained Bundu Tuhan Road.
(iii) Check In at DWR
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It was well past 3 pm by the time we checked in at the Dream World Resort, Kundasang. Days ahead, arrangements were made with the hotel management on room assignments. As such the check-in procedure went off smoothly. By 3:30 pm, the participants were relaxing at a high tea session at the Kundasang Restaurant and discussing about the programmes for the rest of Day 1.
(iv) Welcoming Dinner at "Cloud 9"
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Our welcoming dinner was scheduled for 7:00 pm. It was held at "Cloud 9", a function room of the resort. We were lucky to have the whole dinning room to ourselves, and was thus able have our dinner, friendly chats and joke telling in a very private atmosphere.
After dinner, the participants adjourned to the sitting room of Rosa 3 to continue our fellowship activities deep into the night.
May 31
(i) Group Photo Session
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It was a glorious morning to wake up to. Good morning sunshine and Mt. Kinabalu was also in a cooperative mood during the photo session.
(ii) Quick Breakfast at Ranau Township
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It was meant to be a quick session. Unfortunately, by the time we got to Ranau, all the restaurants and coffee shops were filled up with holidaying visitors (Harvest Festival in Sabah). We finally found three tables at the "Shiong Fan Dong" Restaurant. This was fitting, since a few of the participants were keen mahjong players.
By the time we arrived at this destination, it was late morning. The place was very crowded as it was a Public Holiday. It was almost impossible to find a parking inside the compound, due to the park's poor car-parking management. Some of us had to park their cars along the main road outside the park.
.JPG)
.........adding a touch of the Kaamatan spirit before leaving the Hot Spring park
