Karambunai Lagoon Park - perfect for large group outing.

The Lagoon Park is located at Mengkabong river front, on the edge of Karambunai Peninsula and is just 5 minutes away from Karambunai Nexus Resort & Spa. It is owned and managed by the resort.

For Nexus resort guests, entrance is free. For non-guest, fees of RM10 (adult) and RM5 (child) are applicable which is fair and pretty affordable.


As mentioned in the title, the park occupies a large usable area and is suitable for family day, group outing ans seminar as is can accommodate 500 visitors easily.



Depending on weather condition, you can enjoy all of the recreational activities offered, such as:

Motorised -

• parasailing
• banana boat ride
• wake boarding
• water skiing
• jet skiing
• knee boarding
• boat ride
• fun fishing trip
• sunset/firefly cruise

Non-motorised -

• kayak
• volley ball
• pottery painting
• batik painting
• archery
• etc.

Of course, you can bring your own props and tools once you get permission from the resort.






Open-type multi purpose hall.



Play chess with your friend, on a huge 'battleground'





Not bad a location for landscape photography session.




'Frame your shot...and, fire away'



Take the jet ski for that adrenaline-filled ride...



...or take a dip and play water polo (I'll call this wet volleyball)






Need some instructions while stretching? Not to worry, they have plenty.



On the other side of the lagoon you can see some excess gas burning (not part of the park).



The popular Kokol hill (your gateway to Kasih Sayang Resort) is on the background. Note the prominent tele-com antenna overlooking Menggatal and Kota Kinabalu.

More pictures of Karambunai Lagoon Park here.


HAPPY HOLIDAY!

Switch to LED lamps, save 90% of energy...

Ok, 90% may look a lot and you thought that 'it's too good to be true'.

While you can't be blamed for thinking it's a total bull*, there is truth to it. A 100W incandescent lamp can be replaced by a 20W compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) of an equal luminosity. Today's technology can offer a LED lamp equivalent of 10W to 12W power consumption.

So, comparing to incandescent lamps, switching to LED saves you about 88% to 90%.



However, most of us are no longer using 'traditional' incandescence lamps nowadays, hence, that 90% efficiency claim is not attractive to us anymore. The reference now for efficiency gain is the CFL, which is a big improvement from the energy guzzling filament lamps. Still, LED is the way forward.

In 2012 the Ministry of Green Technology and Water announced that to government is phasing out traditional light bulbs (incandescent bulbs), which would eventually lead to a complete ban in 2014.

I don't know if everyone has thrown theirs in favour of LED lamps yet but for me the announcement was a 'hasty' one.


Should we change to LED light bulbs now?

Ideally yes. But there is issue with this type of lighting, apart from the PF issue (though it may not be anymore), the manufacturing of LED lamps is highly unregulated unlike the conventional ones. The LED component itself may last 10 years, perhaps 15 or 20 years, but the driver unit's lifespan varies and is significantly shorter.

Due to the unregulated (not standard) construction of drivers, one that's fabricated by Osram for instance, would not fit one that's fabricated by Phillips.

What this means is that, you end up buying the whole set of lamp instead of just replacing the faulty parts - which is an expensive exercise. You will then be stuck with one brand, without having the flexibility of switching between Philips, GE, Panasonocs, Osram, etc. Moreover, LED lamps are still very expensive and you don't want to replace them after just 2 to 3 years due to faulty drivers.

Doesn't this remind you of the convenience - you currently enjoy - of replacing your 36W fluorescent tube with a brand of your choice?


The Green Mechanics: Prices of LED lamps are dropping but not appealing enough for me. I'm currently more inclined towards replacing mine with the CFLs. I use them a lot - 20W, 23W and 25W - equivalent to traditional bulbs of 100W, 125W and 150W respectively.

The 5 countries that lead the way toward 100% Renewable Energy

Last year (2014) was an exciting year for renewable energy. For example, in December last year, wind turbines alone provided around 1,279 MWh of electricity to the Scottish national grid, enough to supply the electrical needs of 3.96 million homes (164% of households).

Wind turbines. Photo credit: Creative Commons


According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s latest energy investment report, China led as the world’s largest investor in renewables, with the U.S. coming in second place.

Worldwide, around 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind power capacity were built in 2014—up from 74 GW in 2013—and nearly during every month the headlines were filled with record generation in cities and countries across the world.


Here is the list of FIVE records that were broken in 2014:-

1. Denmark sets world record for wind

Denmark set a new world record for wind production in 2014, getting 39.1% of its overall electricity from the clean energy source.

The latest figures put the country well on track to meet its 2020 goal of getting 50% of its power from renewables.

Denmark has long been a pioneer in wind power, having installed its first turbines in the mid-1970s, and has even more ambitious aims in sight, including a 100% renewable country by 2050. Last year, onshore wind was also declared the cheapest form of energy in the country.


2. UK wind power smashes annual records

In the UK, wind power also smashed records in 2014, as generation rose 15% from 24.5 TWh hours to 28.1 TWh. The country now generates enough wind energy to supply the needs of more than 6.7 million UK households.

A combination of grid-connected wind farms and standalone turbines produced 9.3% of the UK’s electricity demand in 2014, up from 7.8% in 2013 and the latest data follows a string of wind power records announced in the second half of last year.


3. Renewables provide biggest contribution to Germany’s electricity

Renewable energy was the biggest contributor to Germany’s electricity supply in 2014, with nearly 26% of the country’s power generation coming from clean sources.

Electricity output from renewables has grown eightfold in Germany since 1990, and the latest data further highlights the dramatic shift towards clean energy taking place in Europe’s largest economy.


4. Scotland sees “massive year” for renewables

In December last year, wind turbines alone provided around 1,279 MWh of electricity to the national gird, enough to supply the electrical needs of 164% of Scottish households, or 3.96 million homes.

The latest figures further highlight the record year seen for renewables in Scotland, with wind turbines providing an average 746,510 MWh each month—enough to supply 98% of Scottish households electricity needs. Over 6 months of the year, wind generated enough power to supply more than 100% of Scottish households.


5. Ireland hits new record for wind energy

According to figures record by EirGrid on Jan. 7, 2015, wind energy had created 1,942 MW of energy, enough to power more than 1.26 million homes.

And while we are still only a week into 2015, this announcement marked the second time this year the country has seen this record broken. Windy conditions in Ireland meant the country saw not one but two wind energy records set already this year.


The Green Mechanics: Renewable resources as the main sources of energy isn't too far away from matching the finite sources.

Should be good for us.

Source: REW Magazine