Kotobian Tadau Tagazo Do Kaamatan!!

It's already May and that means it's the Harvest season for us Sabahans, and long weekends for everyone! If you're planning a getaway for the long weekend or planning to come to Sabah for a holiday this June, why not WIN a two-day-one-night stay at Novotel in 1 Borneo, Kota Kinabalu, courtesy of us, Calista and Aby?

Just go to the YouTube video below and

1. Subscribe to both mine and Aby's YouTube channels
2. Drop us a comment saying who you'd like to bring on this getaway if you win.
3. Leave your email address in the comment so we can contact you!

Winners will be contacted on 30th May and selected via random.org as usual to keep it fair. The voucher expires on 30th June 2013 so no worries, you still have a whole month to plan your trip!

So what are you waiting for? Check out the video and enter now!

Now I dont usually do fashion posts like this, but when I found out this year's theme for the Met Ball was Punk: Chaos to Couture I couldnt help but keep an eye out for the gorgeousness that was sure to ensue!

For those who arent in the know, the annual Met Ball (Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City) is one of the most important red carpet affairs. A star-studded event, celebrities parade fashion's finest among carefully selected guests, hand-picked by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour herself.

This year saw a great selection of amazing punk-inspired dresses, as well as quite a few misses. As many a fashion website has also mentioned, quite a few guests seemed to have overlooked the memo of the theme of the night. All in all, it was a fashion frenzy and Instagram was a great source of drool-worthy photos!

Here are my personal top 10 favourite dresses of the night:

Cara Delevingne's Burberry dress is definitely my fave - what a way to mix punk and glamour!

Taylor Swift in J. Mendel is definitely a close second - but I've been loving Taylor's style for a while now!

Have always thought Balmain's designs were gorgeous from seeing so many of them via Tumblr. This top (yes, she does the same top-as-dress thing that I do!) looks stunning on Kate Bosworth!

Anne Hathaway looks striking in this Valentino gown - this collab is definitely a winner!

Constance Jablonski's luxurious black & gold Wes Gordonin gown costs a reported $35,610

The gold mohawk Philip Treacy headdress definitely stole the show for Sarah Jessica Parker!

Gisele Bundchen's off-shoulder black & metal Anthony Vaccarello dress is somewhat of a punky classic!

Loving the armour-inspired Rachel Roy dress worn by Stacy Keibler!

Model Chanel Iman also rocking a J. Mendel dress - not so punky but still a lovely sight!

Now I know this supposed to be about Miley Cyrus' Marc Jacobs dress, but the resemblance to Kate Moss' dress is to crazy to ignore! They're both rocking it though!

I didnt really pay attention to the less-than-pretty dresses, but there were a few that jumped out at me (to my horror). I think we can all agree that Kim Kardashian kinda topped the Worst Dressed List - perhaps of all time, no exaggeration:

Even Kanye doesnt look happy with her outfit choice! The Givenchy frock has been compared to curtains, a sofa and even Mrs Doubtfire!

Considering the fact that Kim was banned from attending any Met Ball before this by Anna herself, I would have thought she'd try harder to impress! Ms. Wintour certainly isnt a fan as, rather than choosing a photo of Kanye solo for the Best Dressed list, Kim was cropped out of photos published on Vogue.com, leaving nothing more than a florally hand to be seen on the photo!

Ooh BURN!

Other stars who just didnt impress:

Surprisingly: Beyonce. Totally unflattering Givenchy (again!), from any angle.

Ashley Olson: What is that?!

Madonna - Just too much going on here, but too little bum covering!

A bit too try-hard there Jessica Biel!

So which was your favourite dress? Or the dress you think should be burned? Did I leave anyone off either list that you prefer? Drop me a comment and let me know!

*I do not own any of the images (obviously), all copyrights belong to the respective photographers.

xxxxx

Well it's 4pm on the 4th of May, and that means it's time to pick our winner of the pair of Injin Puput dance-drama tickets worth RM50 each! (If you dont know what I'm yapping on about, read the post HERE!)
Thank you guys for joining the giveaway, it was really interesting to see your comments! The winner will be picked by random to make it fair and square using a Random Generator, and the number it churns out will be the comment number of the winner, with the top most comment being number 1 and so on.

So are you guys ready? I'm keying in the numbers now......

And the person who gets to watch this year's Sabah Fest Injin Puput: Passage to the Heart of Borneo is......


COMMENT NUMBER THREE - AZHAR RAHZA!!

CONGRATULATIONS! =D

To claim your prize please PM me on my facebook page (which you should have cz you would have needed to like it to qualify to win!) so we can discuss how I can pass them to you! Please note that if by 7pm I still have not heard from you your prize may be passed on to one of the other winners to avoid waste! So Paulin and Margaret, you can PM me your phone numbers too just in case I need to call you! ;p I already have my 2nd random number so I know who to call in such a case.. Haha..

Have a great time at the show Azhar!

xxxxx

Sabah Fest is a yearly, month-long event that happens every May here in Sabah in conjunction with Kaamatan - the Harvest Festival of the local Kadazandusuns and Muruts.

Kaamatan is a fun time to be in Sabah, as there is lots to see and do and you'll get the full cultural experience, especially on the actual festival days (30th & 31st).


This year, Sabah Fest will feature a dance-drama entitled Injin Puput, a term used by the locals referring to the old Vulcan train that used to run from Kota Kinabalu, all the way into Tenom (a.k.a the Heart of Borneo) until not too long ago.
The drama, which also features complete live music and singing, chronicle the perception of an old Murut warrior (the actor playing this part is actually a real Murut warrior!), and in the second act follows the journey of Aki Arusap, who takes his grandson Aaron on a journey while reminiscing about the memories he has at each stop.

Chinese + Murut Mixed Wedding Ceremony

Now I dont want to spoil the story for you, so I wont elaborate too much, but do make sure you catch the show as you'll be able to witness all different cultures of the railway in one show, like

Bajau Putatan - Limbai dance & Bertitik music from Kulintangan Photo credits to MalaysiaAsia

Kadazan Papar - Bosilat Mandung-mandung martial arts and Suzau Modsuhung dance

Bongawan Brunei - Ampok-ampok Bulan dance

Kadayan Beaufort - Cuk Surapit & Chamchambi dance Photo credits to MalaysiaAsia

Murut - Lansaran (Bamboo Trampoline) dance

Murut - Anggalang/Magunatip dances

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the media preview for the show last night, but you can catch the shows tonight or tomorrow (3rd & 4th May) for RM50/ticket, OR because I had a double dose of Kaamatan luck, you could also WIN a pair of tickets from me on this blog as I won 4 tickets from KK fm!
After giving a pair to my parents, I still have 2 left so why not give them to you wonderful people? To win, all you have to do is LIKE my FACEBOOK page HERE, then drop a COMMENT on this BLOG post telling me either:
a) Your race if you are from one of the local tribes in Sabah; or
b) Have you ever danced the local bamboo dance before?

The winner of the tickets to the show at the Cultural Centre in Penampang on the 4th of May (Saturday night) will be chosen by random by 4pm tomorrow! So hurry and enter now! You wont regret it, it's a really good show (English subtitles on screen). =)

xxxxx

PS: You can view a clip of the much-loved bamboo dance Magunatip on my YouTube channel HERE! =)