Journey to realization: The Tip Of Borneo part one

The most important part of my stay in Tampat Do Aman (TDA) was not the experience I had, or what magnificent sights I saw, but the people. Experience and sights are only of that moment of time, but friendships, they goes on and on and on! Hell Yeah to that! The people at TDA, soon not only became friends, but they became my family. They took me in with open arms and open heart, laugh with me, work with me as well as took care of me. Hence, hereby I proudly and honorably introduced to you, the good people of TDA.

Staffs at Tip Top Restaurant, Tip of Borneo, Kudat, Sabah.

 Howard G. Stanton

A British expat raised from hell!! No I'm just kidding, about the British expat... Mr. Howard Stanton, a pure British, known locally for his fast slinging English speaking and his passable Malay speaking ability, which most of the time left me clueless about what he is talking about. A man with a history that he so proud of. A degree graduate of tourism management, started as a platform builder, soon travel around the world to Shanghai, the Caribbean, and Sabah to name a few, working from bartender to manager. Setting up Orang Utan Sanctuary in Rasa-Ria Resort, Sabah, serving drinks for high prolific guest in the Caribbean or managing the workings of an high end hotel was his A-game. A qualified diving instructor, served as a rescue diver in the army, with more than 3,000 dives under his belt. He played the game of rugby for the West Indies, knocking down runner on the international field and thinks football was a game for sissies. An international Cabbadi player and the first internationally recognised white man referee for that game which was traditionally of the Indian. A man who return to the shore of Sabah six years ago, with eight thousand pound in his pocket, trying to build his dream from square one. See how far now he had made and achieved since then. Managing Director/CEO of Tampat Do Aman, who currently manages two establishment, the Tampat Do Aman Eco-Resort and Tip Top Restaurant, while not forgetting ongoing projects to build chalets and private resorts, adding to the empire of Tampat Do Aman. A man of Compassion and believe in giving back to the community, he sets up a home for children-in-need in Kudat town, grooming children up to serve the community better and show them how good a person they can become. A man who not only help himself, but helps the people and the community around him, by aiding the locals to set up businesses of their own, bringing in basic improvement for the locals and doing his best to preserve and expand the local Rungus culture. A man who woke up early the get the best that everyday can offer. A man who did not eat his word, and will try his best to make every thing works. He was a man who prefer to get his own hands dirty and believes that every problems can be solved by trying. Do not tell him you could not get it done, he will show you how it's done.  A man of love. Love his fiance, his job, his responsibility, his dream and his life. A man who firmly believe that you can achieved anything that you want, with will, passion and a plan. A man who would die, while he still live.

Contact him via email: stanton_howard@yahoo.co.uk

or give him a call: +6013-8808395

or check out Tampat Do Aman Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/tampatdoamanKudat

Toby Wright

Literally a landmark for Tampat Do Aman with him standing out, or should I say standing 'tall' among all of us in TDA with his 6 feet 3 inch height. The scary part was that he will still grow taller given that he was still nineteen when I met him. A chef before he came to volunteer three months ago at TDA, but barely seen him with a pan cooking food for us. Love adventure biking, going through challenges, and exotic animals. A lad who would rushed to his food, beers, ladies and thankfully to his works too. Best few sentences to describe him: Work like a madman, rest like a boss, Set fire on things with a flick of his finger, drinks like he is sweating alcohol all the time and smoke like he had three lungs. His weapon of choice no matter what he is doing was the hammer and the machete (the parang) which he owns six of them. A lad who is proud of his nipples, yes nipples, and yes yes yes nipples. He proclaimed that he has one pair of the biggest man nipples that no one had ever seen, which he shamelessly flaunt whenever he had the chance to. I politely say, he is a ladies man, and I stressed the word politely. A good chap to work with, to have fun with, to chat with but perhaps for the ladies, not the best man to brought home to your parents.

The Ladies of Tampat Do Aman

From the left: Emmi, Grace and Lorraina 

Emmi, the feisty one. Never will let you go once she had an idea for an outing and that plan includes you, she make sure you be there. A girl who age should not be mention. Waiter cum sink hygiene supervisor :p at Tip Top Restaurant. Who always in the  hunt for that short period of rest time in between work which works quite well with her favourite snack, 'Have a break, have a Kit-Kat.' A girl who always spice up an situation without fail with her contagious liveliness and cheerfulness. She was someone who adore the beach, the stars and every beautiful scenery her surroundings can offer. A girl who I presume had a liking towards Toby, always messing up Toby's smoking session or playing games in his mobile phone. They would really make a cute couple. Yeah Emmi I know, thumbs up to that right!

Grace, believe it or not, in her early 20s, a mother of a beautiful baby boy named Dylan. A full time mother on the weekdays, work part time waiting tables at the restaurant during the weekend to make ends meet. She was blessed with one of the most radiant smile that would always light up my day. Remember to look out for that free smile if you happen to swing by the restaurant during weekend, them are magical! Thumbs up to that eh Gracie!

Lorraina, a graduate of Management and Science University in west Malaysia, Howard's fiance, restaurant manager for Tip Top Restaurant. The thing I remembered most about her was her very contagious signature laugh! You can almost heard her from miles away when she laughed. And that awkward slap on your back like you really made a good joke, but in fact you did nothing. She are the one who famously gave me the nickname of 'Justin Terbalik' (a twist of Justin Timberlake), and manage to give everyone a good laugh, everyone but me. A girl who loves to sings, and sings almost every single time when I saw her at the restaurant, and we end up going into duet mode on that song. A darling in the kitchen and a loving fiance who had the kindest heart. Thumbs up for being so lovely ya Lorraina!

J (not in photo), a lady in her late 30s, if not early 40s, was the head chef of the restaurant, the head honcho of the kitchen. The one that make menus in the restaurant spring to life with her cooking. Who had a rather interesting few marriages throughout her life. A mother to I do not know the exact number of her children. They pop up gleefully all the time visiting her during work in the restaurant. A women who deserve credit for her ability to take care of that much child at once. Make if not the best fried rice and fried noodles around that area, the largest portion. That one plate of rice or noodles could manage you your lunch and dinner. She was a women who owns many certificate of skills from her previous vocational training, from sewing to painting. She once said that these would help her in life, as she had many mouth to feed at home. Thumbs up to that!

The Men of Tampat Do Aman

Muisin, head of construction works of all the projects of Tampat Do Aman. He was the one who literally built Tampat Do Aman Eco-Resort from ground up. Master in woodscraft and carpenting, and also the master in sleeping on them wood. A father of seven children, all grown up pursuing their own interest throughout Malaysia. Always the one that arrives on time with his motorcycle, if he is late means that he is not coming to work at all. One strong and experienced man who would build anything from big cultural center to small benches according to Howard instructions. A good lad with a lot of life experience under his belt.

Rony, comes from a family where most of the guys currently working or once worked with Howard. Just 20 years of age when I met him. Master in hammering, machete wielding, jungle trekking and tree climbing. He was a lot stronger than me when you see him carrying tree trunks twice the size of his thigh and twice his height long, with ease. Toby's smoking partner at break time during work. Owns a mobile phone who rings every five minutes indicating incoming messages from his crush he so shy to speak of. A guy who can survive in the jungle for ten days with only a machete in hand. A responsible lad who get his job done neatly all the time. A great friend indeed when he would unconditionally help you when you are in need.

Adorable creatures of Tampat Do Aman

Fred the Duck

Fred the duck, the beak of hell, the weirdest duck I had ever seen! She was named Fred before Howard are able to tell the gender of a duck. Tough luck Fred! To Fred, there was only three purpose of her living. One was to just eat. She would quack all day just for you to feed her. If you do not, she would bite anything she set her sights on (especially your toes). The second purpose of her living was to drive us crazy. She would stand in front of the door of the toilet staring at you and make you feel awkward. She would peak any door that she can find closed, with you inside. She would gladly shake her tail feather once you called her Fred. Trust me when I say she loved her name a lot. Loves the rain, would stand out of shelter when it rains. Will chase you down hard and peak you mercilessly if you ever bullied her. The last purpose of her life was for us to drive her crazy. We would chase her down just to see her lift her fat ass up the ground, just to pissed her off. We would sprinkle water on her to simulate rain, seeing her so happy with it, we will stop doing it, again just to drive her crazy. We would talk about cooking her up in front of her, always thought that she would feel it and got scared. A crazy duck indeed. but a duck who would always put a smile on your face, if only she did not bite your toe. 

Toby's pet lizard

One of the weirdest pet one could ask for, a wild lizard. But a weird guy like Toby ought to have some cool pets right. Here is it, Toby's pet lizard, a rather inactive creature. Spent almost all of its time lazying in a landscaped cage that Toby made specially for it. It is the first wildlife that most of the guest saw during their visit in Tampat Do Aman. Which many find it amusing. Toby fed him with sago worm once a while, so he need not hunt for his food. The only time we got him out is when he did not eat his food and we thought that he was sick. We got him out, trying to set him free. It seems that he hated Toby a lot for keeping him caged by biting his hand before he runs of energetically into the bushes. That was the last time we had ever seen it. 

Fury the slow loris

One of the rare exotic mammals you can find in Borneo, sightings are rare this close up as they are wild. Mostly active during the night and sleep during the day. Here you can see Fury is in the cage Toby built for his lizard. Is bizarre coincidence that he would end up here. We had Rony set up cages around the jackfruit tree with mango fruits as bait to catch rats that been eating up our jackfruits. To our surprise that we got him in our cage in the next morning. Don't let his adorable eyes and his furry appearance fool you. He tried to bite off everyone's finger who tried to touch him, hence the name Fury. Many guest are lucky to see Fury, especially during daylight, where they mostly hide high above branches. But we only kept him for a day as we think that he belonged to the wild. Muisin explained to us that he tried to tamed one for two years, but never could. Thus we open the cage up during the night, and watch him very very slowly climb out the cage, to the common room, made a U-turn, and to the dark of the night he goes free. I guess that slowness of his was true to his name (slow loris) after all. Although it was only a day we had him, he was one of the coolest pet we had ever had in Tampat Do Aman. Live well Fury!

Well there you go people, the wonderful people and creature you have in Tampat Do Aman. A place is beautiful, is because of its people. And this was and hope it always will be, one of the most beautiful place I had ever been, because the people made it such. It was truly my honour to have know such beautiful person, such lovely hearts that would take more than a friendship to define. It was great introducing them to you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. On my next post, allowed me to take you to an experience and meet more interesting people as well as do more crazy stuff, a ride of my life that I would not forget. I am eager to share them all with you. :)

To be continue...

Live well people

Shian

Interested to know more? Check out the whole of my Backpacking trip through Sabah.

Click here for Part One.

Click here for Part Two.