Sabah's West Coast Road Trip

by Daniel Chiam 

From the greenish jungles to the blueish sea, it was a great experience driving around Sabah and exploring what mother nature has to offer in the Land Below the Wind. Like I said previously, I was going to make a short documentary film for the trip but I don't think that it will turn out like I expect it to be initially, haha.

I'm not quite sure yet how the video will turn out but rest assure that the post production process has begun and it was anything but easy. So, do keep yourself updated with room8five and don't missed out when the videos are live later :D

Batu 16, Keningau

Batu Punggul, Nabawan

Mahua Waterfall, Tambunan

Luanti, Ranau

Kundasang, Ranau

Tindakon Dazang, Kudat

I've started to plan for the next Sabah's east coast road trip but it was anything but cheap since many of the place that I wanted to visit so badly are islands and I wanted to go for diving this time! At the moment, I can't decide yet on the date since I'm starting to get busy with events and other video projects but hopefully I can do it before the end of 2014.

Anyway, it is the Visit Malaysia Year 2014, so make a date with your family and friends and bring them to Cuti-cuti Malaysia! There are tons of beautiful places and hidden gems within Malaysia; waiting for you to discover. If you are planning to visit Sabah, the month of May is probably one of the best timing yet because it is the Harvest Festival and it's like celebrating Christmas throughout the month May for the Sabahan people.

Go go go holiday!

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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My Inner Rock Star Unleashed!

by Daniel Chiam

The first thing that people comment about the latest video I made is, why the heck am I even in it? Haha, just to be fair, I wasn't suppose to be in the video the first place, and it was a last minute request to Jaya because I thought the video needed a filler to add some more entertainment value to the video. 

I always have this dream of being a rock star in my teenage years but too bad I don't really have talents with any musical instrument and somehow I feel like this is my only opportunity to achieve that and yeah, I pick up my guitar hero controller and the rest the said is history. Again I just wanted to emphasis that its a guitar hero controller and I'm not playing air guitar at all, haha.

Anyway, Jaya is really a talented artist. Just look at his electric guitar or Sapetar [Sape (a Sarawakian's traditional guitar) + electric guitar], you can tell that this dude has flare. He used to be in a band called Polar Attraction. Do checkout his Facebook page - Jaya Sapetar, for more info about him, his magnificent guitar skills and also find out when can you catch him performing live with his many other songs.

Lastly, I really hope you enjoyed the simple video that I've made. We'll try to come out with much more cooler and awesome video in the future... so stay tuned!

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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Road Trip and First Documentary Film

by Daniel Chiam

Mahua, Tambunan

A fresh grad and unemployed dude with another freelance blogger (whose basically unemployed too) are going for a two weeks road trip on the west coast of Sabah. From the jungles to the beaches, this is going to be my first road trip in Sabah ever since I got back! I'm extremely excited about the trip and both agreed that this is going to be a super low budget trip, haha.

We've decided that we are going to camp out rather than paying too much for accommodation and that also means our meals are going to be mostly can food and instant noodles. Oh how it brings me back to the old scout days. Hopefully I still can remember some of the survival skills just in case it was needed.

Tip Of Borneo, Kudat

It's the first time for my friend from KL to visit Sabah and this is anything but a vacation, haha. Since we both have the same interest in film-making, we are going to try and make our own documentary film for this trip and I seriously think the outcome are going to be spectacular cause Sabah's naturals beauty are just too awesome.

Anyway, I'm not going to be around for the next two weeks, so do keep me in prayers for the safe journey and also, do keep each other's hope alive for the crew and passengers of flight MH370. #PrayForMH370 and don't keep spreading unnecessary news over the social media that wouldn't do anyone any good, especially to their families.   

See you all soon!

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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Sabah Talent Star 2014 (Semi Final and Grand Final)

by Daniel Chiam 

After touring the 7 district all across Sabah, the search for Sabah Talent Star has finally come to an end yesterday with the final showdown took place at Palm Square, Centre Point, Kota Kinabalu. 19 finalist has battle it all out to determine who deserve to win the RM5,000 grand prize and the bragging rights of being the most outstanding talent in Sabah.

The semi-final is anything but mediocre. All the finalist battle their heart out, trying to make the cut into the final. Tomas Ceasor Wong (KK), Gzow (Keningau), Vivian Chung and Shining JM (Lahad Datu) failed to make it to the final even after performing their best for the judges.

Lum Kong Yaw with his costume for the semi-final

The final showdown has seen crowd filling up the venue to hype up the occasion and it was a fire fiesta and dance craze when most of the memorable performances by the contestant involved dance performance, fire eating and fire breathing. The singing contestants and solo performer had to step up their game by including other elements such as magic, fire (yes fire again) performance and some even brought their supermodel friends to make their performance interesting.

After hours of jaw dropping performances, it was then time to announce the winner of Sabah Talent Star 2014. The young magician representing Sandakan, Sonia and Hui Ying aka Miracle Beauty won the most creative performance with their singing and magic act. Madonna (Lahad Datu) won the most popular title with her Bollywood dance performance and fire performance. The dance group from Labuan, Original Rumble Beast won the best costume. Skoutz 1134 (Sandakan) won the best performance with their dance routine. The dance group, Hype Daft-Ignition (KK) won 2nd runner up, Lum Kong Yaw (KK) won 1st Runner Up with his solo dance performance, John and Sylvia Voo (KK) takes home the champion's trophy and RM5,000 prize money with daughter's magic performance and dad's ability to peel coconut and durian with his teeth.

Sylvia and John Voo. Sabah Talent Star 2014's Champion!

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With all that hype and all the excitement, the question remains, what is next for all this talented Sabahan? Is this just another competition for them to try and earn an extra pocket money? Could #SabahTalentStar2014 be a platform for them to start being notice by the rest of Sabahan and hopefully Malaysian?

I really hope that they could do more in order to bring their talents into another heights and hopefully open the eyes of the world that we Sabahan are awesome too!

All the winners of Sabah Talent Star 2014

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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Covering for Sabah Talent Star 2014 Finale

by Daniel Chiam

Sabah Talent Star - Keningau Audition

This weekend (March 1-2, 2014) is the semi final and also the final showdown for the Sabah Talent Star 2014 competiton. Organized by Borneo Events Production to search for the talented star in Sabah to be brought up and polish so that the winner can shine brighter in the local entertainment industry.

It was a joy when I get to cover the Keningau's audition and surprisingly the MD of Borneo Events Production, Mr Peter Dicky Lee was really impressed with my work and so, he invited me to cover and make the highlights video for the finale of Sabah Talent Star 2014 this weekend! Woohoo!

I have been upgrading my tools and skills ever since the first video so I hope this time I'll be able to make a much better quality video. I am just super excited and anxious at the same time. Can't wait to see the talents from other districts that made it through the cut.

This is my very first paid event as a freelance blogger ever since I came back to Sabah, and hopefully more will follow after this. Haha, I really felt like a struggling artist here. So please help me out by coming to the final showdown on Sunday at Palm Square, Centre Point, Kota Kinabalu (you know, if you are around) to be the most happening crowd ever!

Tho I'm mainly there for work but it won't stop me from cheering for the representative of Keningau. All the best to Swagger Squad, The Girlky, Gzow and Borneo Soul Breakerz! I really hope all of you will be able to made it to the final!

I''m all ready for work now.

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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