Welcome
Welcome to my homepage! If you share a keen interest in photography, travel, adventure and living life, I hope through this website and blog, I can share my life journeys with you. Being a keen outdoor adventurer, I love photography, the great outdoor, classic cars, mountain biking, camping, trekking and offroad expeditions. JOHN KONG
LAND ROVER SERIES I – THE GO ANYWHERE VEHICLE
The first overland expedition was in 1955, after months of extensive preparation, six students from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, aboard two identical Land Rovers 86-inch Series I, set off on The Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition. Flagging off from Hyde Park in London, headed through Europe, the Middle East and Asia, before arriving in Singapore from Thailand and Malaysia. After six months and six days, the team returned to London in August 1956 having logged over 32,000 miles. This was one of the longest overland journey during that time and no one or no vehicles has ever done it. Read More
A photo exhibition themed “MOUNTAIN TORQ – World Highest Via Ferrata by John Kong” was held during the relaunching of the via ferrata circuit on Mount Kinabalu by Mountain TORQ on Jan 19th, 2016 at Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu. The exhibition was hosted by Mountain TORQ, the company that is operating the via ferrata and was officially launched by YAB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, the Minister of Tourism, Enviroment and Culture Sabah. The event was also attended by 200 invited VIPs and guests which consisted of YM Dato’ Seri Tengku Dr. Zainal Adlin, Chairman of Sabah Parks, YB Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, Chairman of Sabah Tourism Board, Dr. Jamili Nais, Director of Sabah Parks, Datuk Irene Benggon Charuruks, General Manager of Sabah Tourism Board, Pn. Azizah Aziz, Director of Corporate Communications, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, members of the tourism industry and medias.
For this exhibition, 20 prints were exhibited which covers the new summit trail which is now called Ranau Trail and Aki Point, a new observation bridge along the new Ranau trail that has beautiful scenery of the Mesilau peak, eastern ridge of Mt Kinabalu and Ranau town. A 24 page 2016 Calendar was also produced for Mt. TORQ as a momento to guests and 6 VIP Fine prints mementos were also printed and framed.
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REDISCOVERING THE SUMMIT TRAIL – From November 28th to 5th December 2015, the Borneo Expedition team members John Kong, Wong Hoe Kiat and John Lee spent a week at Pendant Hut, operated by Mountain TORQ to rediscover and document Mount Kinabalu new summit trail which is now opened to the public from December 1, 2015.
Mount Kinabalu, which stood strong after the June 5th earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 rocked the mountain and took 18 lives. Since that day, the summit trail to the peak was closed by Sabah Parks for maintenance and to rebuild a much better and safer trail. The daily lives and incomes of the silent heroes of Mt. Kinabalu, the mountain guides and porters were greatly affected by the quake with the closure of the park to climbers. Risking their lives, they worked with Sabah Parks rangers to rescue stranded climbers during the quake by bringing them and carrying some to safety. Take note that all the facilities and amenities at Laban Rata; the chalets, the bed, the food, the wood that makes the steps and all luxury comfort and utility items are carried by them, piece by piece, day by day like human ants. We had the opportunity to meet up with Ridzuan, one of the 3 Sabah quake heroes during our visit and had to opportunity to photograph him.
In the far far southern corner of the State of Sabah near the borders of Kalimantan and Sarawak once lived a legend called Upai Semaring, a giant, village chief and warrior who possessed special powers. This place is called Long Pasia, home of the Lundayeh people. The Borneo Expedition will make a 5 days expedition to explore and document the beauty and historical sites of the Ulu Padas area from November 18th to 22nd this year. The team will camp at the Maligan Forest Reserve, trek to the Maga Falls, ancient burial sites and historical traces of Upai Semaring’s cave, foot prints, cooking stones and carved rocks. The expedition will be led by Nooh, a strong historian of the Lundayeh people who often wonders into the forest some say up to a month alone to discover new historical and geological sites.
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TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE 2015 – On the night of September 27–28, 2015 the full Moon will plunge completely through Earth’s shadow for the last time until January 2018.
If your skies are clear after the Sun sets on Sunday, September 27th, be sure to head outside to see the total lunar eclipse that happens that night. This will mark the end of a “tetrad” of four total lunar eclipses spaced a half year apart that began back in early 2014. But, perhaps more importantly, it’s the last one visible anywhere until 2018.
Unlike the lunar eclipse on April 4th, which might not even have been precisely total, this one will carry the Moon through the umbra — the dark core of Earth’s shadow — for 1 hour and 12 minutes. Moreover, it’s the biggest eclipsed Moon you’ll ever see! That’s because the closest lunar perigee of 2015 occurs just 59 minutes before mid-eclipse. The Moon (in Pisces) will appear 13% larger in diameter than it did when eclipsed last April.
Unfortunately, for those of us from Malaysia and East Asia region, we will not be able to see it this time as it will be daytime in our region. The last lunar eclipse for Malaysia was on December 10, 2011. It was the second of two such eclipses in 2011. The first occurred on June 15, 2011. That was a relatively rare central lunar eclipse, in which the center point of Earth’s shadow passes across the Moon. I manage to capture the 2011 lunar eclipse with my Nikon 500mm lens with Nikon D3x body.
The moon turning red with glimpse of distance stars- look like a scene from Star Wars!
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