Cry baby and Cinnamon story...

Daughter Vanessa was all cry baby when she was carried by our local Sabahan artist, Abu Bakar Ellah aka Ampal. He was the guest artist during the Fund Raising Dinner for the Annual Pesta Koningau (Pesta Kayu Manis @ Cinnamon Festival) on 25 October at the Dewan Masyarakat. We were there bcos hubby’s Auntie whose in the organizing committee had sponsored a table for us..so no excuse not to come ...hehe

I guess Ampal just couldn’t resist but carry this cute little sumandak of mine…*LOL* But obviously, daughter is not a fan of Ampal...hehe. He entertained the diners with his jokes and belted out a song from his latest album. I wasn’t really paying attention though as daughter was getting cranky…so we left. It was passed her bed time already. Leaving behind our Lucky Draw Tickets for my SIL to claim the prize…in case we got lucky this time, BUT nope, we didn’t. Seriously, I NEVER won any prize in any lucky draw before…hmmm wonder why??!

The annual Pesta Koningau is a three-days event, starting today until 09 Nov. I guess I’ll miss it out again this year. The activities include agriculture exhibition, handicratf, cinnamon products, traditional dance performance and fireworks display…sounds interesting enough. The hightlight of the festival is the crowning of the new Beauty Queen, the Ratu Pesta Koningau. During the Dinner, all the contestants were introduced…but it was kinda odd because there was a contestant from Sipitang. As far as I know, Sipitang is another district and it is far, far away from Keningau…

I was also enlightened that Keningau District is once the largest producer of cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) in Sabah. I never knew this…hubby never told me either. The name, Keningau itself originated from Koningau, a popular term among the Hokkien community and was derived from the plant that is endemic in the district. After World War II, the British renamed the district Keningau.

Couldn’t help noticing, nowadays we celebrate all sort of festival in Sabah annually. Besides the Kaamatan Festival and Cinnamon Festival, there are also Kudat’s Coconut Festival (Pesta Kelapa), Kota Marudu’s Maize Festival (Pesta Jagung) and Kuala Penyu’s Sago Festival (Pesta Rumbia).

Have a nice weekend ya!