The Grand Old lady and internationalization of culture in Miri

Two aerial views of Miri - above is view from sea to land, below is view from land to sea.

I have fond memories of Miri in two respects. First as a young student where I came to town in 1967 doing my Fourth Form studies at Tanjong Lobang School. At Tanjong I completed my Sixth Form education in 1970 at the age of 19. My school days at Tanjong was instrumental in moulding my adolescent personality and has resulted in some deep traits in me. I'll find time in future to write more on this very early influences in another blog here .

The story continues ...>>>>http://mykambatikworld.blogspot.my/2008/12/miri-city-and-grand-old-lady.html

Cats and country roads

Overhead signboard near Betong rest area

Inul

 It was only yesterday (1 Jan'16) that Sarawak was declared a toll free state with regards to usage of  its road and bridges.  This as Adenan Satem, the Chief Minister of Sarawak said was to ease the burden on the peoples of Sarawak especially in view of the escalating costs of living in the state.  All this while the standard of Sarawak road is technically called 'trunk road'.  With the financial assistance from the Federal government, Sarawak is to see a proper highway and is planned to be completed in about 7 years time following closely the existing trunk road alignment.
It has been 8 years since Daisy and Inul have traveled the Sarawak trunk road from Bintulu to Kuching and back.  Their traveling feat has been recorded in a special blog called Hav Paws Will Travell.  The cumulative distance achieved  stands at 64,200 km and is equivalent to one and a half turn round the globe. (Earth circumference round the equator is 40,075 km).  They have experienced traveling the trunk road on the average every monthly over the 8 years period. Follow this link to see images of the present state of Sarawak's trunk road and Mama Daisy and Inul's adventures.

Fondly called 'Mama Daisy'

Tarzan ropes and emergents.

An emergent  - growing to tremendous height
Zone I

A complex network of 'tarzan ropes' or lianas
Location : Licuala Hill

The Kambatik jungle gives an ambience of age-old mystery and popular folklore.  There are very tall individual trees that grow to tremendous heights and below it are many more smaller trees that try hard and successfully  find a corner in between other tree trunks to fit into the jungle architecture.  The 'tarzan ropes' are lianas which are woody climbers and they can climb over many tall trees and in some instances can snap the top canopy of the 'host' tree by its dead weight causing the broken section to fall down or get suspended in mid air.  Over time these broken branches will rot and enrich the forest floor with more organic matter.  In the Kambatik jungle death is the source of new life.
Sarawak is naturally endowed with rainforest trees from coasts to mountain highs.  In a little corner of Sarawak the original forests are kept intact in botanic islands even though the fringes are planted with oil palm trees in an integrated manner.  There is much beauty about conserving forest trees and to see them in crowing glory gives us reason to celebrate its integral role in human existence.  Follow this link to see some forest trees at the Kambatik jungle in Bintulu...>>>http://kambatikpark.blogspot.my/2014/06/the-beauty-of-forest-trees.html  and here