Picnic by Madsiang River, Penampang

We wanted to have a spin-off from Kudat and my previous (the place is so cool it's my backyard and I did it alone) camping at another place, because they've been dying to go somewhere and do something. We suggested camping, but a handful of us couldn't make it, so the boys thought of a picnic by the Madsiang River. 

We agreed to it in a heartbeat. 

Aaron told us that Madsiang River actually flows from Babagon River Penampang, that they are loosely categorized that way. They should flow from the same stream, same hill as well. That particular picnic spot we were at is maybe about 30 minutes from Kota Kinabalu town, and located at the Penampang District, probably about 10 - 15 minutes drive from Dongonggon which I think is a very near haven.

I couldn't find a map online to show you guys, maybe you can email or drop me a message if you'd like to visit this place, and I'll see what I can do :)

We met everyone at 9am at Donggongon. Left for Madsiang at about 9.30am. The morning was SO GLOOMY and cloudy we all felt a little depressed and discouraged at first :( Throughout driving for 15 - 20 minutes after Dongonggon, the drizzles came and gone, but when we finally reached the river, IT WAS ALL SUN! It was so weird, to think that it rained in the morning and even drizzled intermittently, but when we finally laid everything down the sun was shining so bright I felt like hugging the trees and all. Man, were we blessed!

Morris, Angel and I were doing most of the planning, we broke the "items to buy" into groups, 1/4 of which he got for the group (and for future use) and another 2/4 of which Angel and I got instead, while the rest are shared by the rest including Inong, Eddy, Natalie and Kim. He got this adorable barbeque pit, some starters and whatever that was necessary, while Angel and I sunk ourself in mostly into our food choices. 

I didn't really take much photos of the whole picnic and the barbequeing so I borrowed some of @evnglka's and @morrishillarian photos to illustrate them to you guys. They've got amazing photos :)

We got chicken wings, sausages, beef patties, corns, sweet potatoes, wholemeal bread, apples, fizzy drinks, wine and some seasonings. AND ANGEL'S CHICKEN WINGS WERE DIVINE. I have to give it to Angel for not only making an out of the world marination (and soaking it for a day), but also to the boys for grilling and barbequeing them so so so perfectly.

Angel's epic chicken wings. I can even smell, and taste the oregano, rosemary and that perfect mix of seasoning smothered in it. UGH, gets me hungry just thinking about it again. 

@evnglka's epic chicken wings Credit to @evnglka

I love how the boys automatically took charge of the barbequeing while the girls.... did.... our fair share of talking (a lot) and maybe indirectly entertaining them. We offered to help, but it seemed like the boys knew exactly what they wanted to do so we volunteered to be their guinea pigs on the food :D

Credit to @evnglka

L - R: Morris, Inong, Eddy and Aaron.  Credit to @evnglka

Inong brought his iPod dock with its speakers, which I thought was a nice touch and perfect for the picnic :)

Credit to @evnglka

And there was this obedient beautiful black dog that followed us everywhere. Even parked itself next to us (must be the food), but the dog was so adorable and obedient we let it stayed, and we even fed it nicely :) I can't help but feel, mother nature must've told it to protect us and guard us or something, to make sure it didn't rain either. Ahh, me and my dreamy pagan ideas. 

And this was probably my favourite shot of all. Morris took this using just his phone and the dog looked as if it was casually protecting us girls who were busy chattering away. And there were some kind of sadness or loneliness in the dog's face. Maybe following picnic-ers or campers around has become such a daily thing for it that it no longer excites it anymore. 

Doggie, Natalie, Angel and Kim. Credit to @morrishilarian

After much barbequeing, we left the sweet potato heated up among the charcoals and gathered around for Cranium. I was the only who ever played it before, so I taught them how to play and there were SO MUCH LAUGHTER. I can't remember laughing that hard in so so so long. My jaws and abdomen hurt so much, the game felt like a workout.

Made the silliest mistake of all time. Our team had to spell Hogwarts backwards and I love how Eddy started it, with an "S" but silly me, I didn't hear him saying anything so I confidently told them I'd start and *clears throat*, I led out out loud the letter - H. 

(-_____-")

Next thing you know, Morris (with the straightest face) was like, uh Jacqkie we should spell it backwards? I wanted to kick myself. Angel disqualified us that round (while still laughing so hysterically -_-). fskfdsflsdfm[wjefks;f. I will never see that word Hogwarts the same again.

Probably the most epic book to describe - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

I think I died from too much laughing. Aaron was like, "This one is so hard, no need the timer la k." And after probably about 5 minutes of tossing and making weird facial expressions that were absolutely not familiar to any of us, the other boys came into help. After a good 10 minutes, Angel finally got it. Dear God it was so hilarious. 

Angel and her "Pink Panther" moves

This is the most random part of all. In the middle of us screaming and laughing when playing Cranium, a group of kids and adults came down to the foot of the river. An elder man walked in to the river, stood still inside it, and kids started walking in to the water one by one, and that's when it registered in our head... that it's a live version of a BAPTISM CEREMONY! It was very random, but we were so fascinated by it, we started taking pictures of it. 

The boys were contemplating of dipping into the river, they kept going in, dipped their toes, cooled some drinks and went back. Went back in, dipped their toes (up to their knees) and went back. Did this for a couple of times. We told them they could just dive in but they didn't want to -________-". 

Last Sunday was perfect, I couldn't have asked it any other way. The weather was on our side, the food was good but the company was greater. We continued the day at a beautiful coffee house called Santola Bar, dinner and then karaoke. It was lovely. Reached home at 2am, beyond exhausted. And we're going camping next. 

Remark: PLEASE PLEASE becareful when you're contemplating of swimming by the river. I know it looks absolutely inviting, but rivers can change it's flow and current in a second. A second. So stay aware, and try not going somewhere extremely deep especially when you can't really swim. 

Love, 

Jacqueline Rowena @ Jacqkie.