Monsopiad Cultural Village, 10th March 2012

Well hello there, readers! :)

On a beautiful, sunny Saturday, we got the chance to visit Monsopiad Cultural Village, the historical living museum of the Kadazandusun tribe. Our guide for the day tour was Ben, one of the senior staffs at Monsopiad. He was dressed in the traditional warrior costume, with headgear and all.

Ben in the center, acting all gangsta' ;p

We were treated to a cultural dance performance, where the Monsopiad music and dance troupe performed several traditional dances. The well-known 'Sumazau' and 'Magunatip' dance were among the dances that were featured. For each performance, the dancers transformed into various traditional costumes.

'Sumazau Penampang'

'Sazau Papar'

Those are just some of the variety of 'Sumazau' dances that you can expect to watch while at Monsopiad. The opening performance was the 'Sumazau Penampang', whereby after they have performed, the audience are invited to do the 'Sumazau' as well as the 'Magunatip'. It was hilarious as we tried the 'Magunatip', I panicked and stopped dancing as the music got faster. LOL moment

Slowly becoming 'dogo', as you can see. haha

After the cultural dance performance, we were given a tour of the 'House of Skulls'. This house showcases the skulls collected by headhunter warrior, Monsopiad, as well as other traditional Kadazandusun artifacts. Here, Ben explained to us how Monsopiad began his career as a headhunter and the story of his life. According to Ben, the village was built on the same land that Monsopiad lived and roamed about three centuries ago by his direct descendants, the 6th and 7th generations.


The tour continued as we proceeded to make the rounds at the traditional games site, Kadazandusun house, rice wine making station and so on. There is so much to see here, the tour just gets better and better!

Monsopiad's skull collection

A replica of the Orang Utan skull

Listening to the Kadazandusun tribe stories

Traditional Kadazandusun house

 

A variety of some of the traditional games

Ben explaining the uses of rice wine and its benefits

As usual, no tour to such places as these would be complete without a visit to it's souvenir shop... so here it is! ;)

How it looks inside ;)

waiting on the world to change, teehee

Signing the guest book.

As per customary, a tour is incomplete without the final group photo. *rolls eyes* KIDDING!

An awe inspiring place, with rich histories of the Kadazandusun tribe, definitely a must-see for all locals and tourists alike. So go on, click this link Monsopiad Cultural Village, you know you want to. *winks*

INQUIRIES

Monsopiad Cultural Village Sdn. Bhd.

Kampung Kuai Kandazon

Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia

P.O Box 153, 89458, Tanjung Aru

Sabah (East Malaysia)

Tel: +60 88 761336

Fax: +60 88 761680

Email: info@monsopiad.com

Zipping with Zip Borneo at Kiulu

One day activities at Kiulu, Tamparuli

Once again, the Sabah Young Tourism Ambassadors and finalists went for a day trip at Kiulu, Tamparuli. There are three activities that we did that Saturday. Now, let’s see what we have been through ;)

Activity One: Zipping with Zip Borneo
Zip Borneo (Asia Ability) offers several activities but the activity that we get to try was the Flying Fox. 

"Whizz across the Kiulu River and back again for a unique double zipline experience! Start by climbing our hair raising 18 meter tower before zipping across to a jungle platform. With the help of our instructors, you will clip into a second cable and woosh your way back to the adventure centre after travelling 320 meters of zipline cable!" - Zip Borneo

It was fun and exciting when we first stepped onto the field. Bear in mind that, "Please stay away from the cables", it's dangerous.

Welcome by Alex, the Expedition Manager whizzed across the Kiulu River and greets us. By the way, it's a nice welcome by showing us how it is like to do flying fox. This is her picture with an incredible pose. I can't do that!

Alex began with the basic safety briefing before we started.One by one, each gadget were clearly explained on how we are going to use it. Alex also demonstrated on how to wear the safety gears and how can we take turns by doing the flying fox. Of course, Alex and the crew helped us to wear the safety gears. 

Now, it’s time. We have to climb the 18 meter tower before zipping across to a jungle platform. With the help of the instructors, they helped us by clipping the safety gears that we are wearingm to a second cable. So we can fly across the river!

Chloe has landed. Safely.

Yep. That is how we did. Pictures left a thousand words. All together, 320 meters of zipline cable of double zipline experience. But please remember not to be too close to the cables while you are doing the flying fox, otherwise, it's all fun and exciting! More pictures on my Facebook.

Zip Borneo provides other activities as well, kindly visit their website for more information.

For enquiries:

ZIP BORNEO

Tel: +60 1380 88075

Email: ask@zipborneo.com

Website: www.zipborneo.com

P/S: Please look for Alex. ;)

Next activity on that day that we have done? Gonna check on Chloe's next pose. ;)