Monsopiad Cultural Village

A nice view of the entire Kota Kinabalu city from Signal Hill Observatory Platform.
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After having some refreshments in Berjaya Palace Hotel, me and Audrey decided to travel around the city area of Kota Kinabalu. By taking a cab, we had our first leg at Signal Hill Observatory Platform (Bukit Bendera). Standing at this highest point in the city, we had a GREAT view of the entire Kota Kinabalu, which extended to the outlying islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park! Since this place was off the bus route, the only way to get there was either by cab (RM10)or 15 minutes walk from Padang Merdeka. Anyways, admission is free!!So, it's worth by just stopping here at a couple of minutes to have a glance of Kota Kinabalu city!

Some of the tools and weapons used by Kadazan/Dusun villagers
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Following this, we went to one of the most famous historical spot in Sabah -Monsopiad Cultural Village, which was located in Penampang district. From Kota Kinabalu city, it took about 30 minutes drive to get us there. After paying the entrance fee of RM30/person, we were led to an airy, wooden house and given a welcome drink of local rice wine. Out of my expectation, the rice wine was SUPERB compared to other rice wine that i had tried before! I bet you would definitely like it once you got a taste of it!!.. At 4pm, Crystal (local villager, being our guide that evening) brought us to another wooden house to view their musical performances, traditional dances and hunting skills with the indigenous blow-pipe. In addition to these interesting performances, i was also attracted by their fascinating Kadazan/Dusun costumes. Before ending, we and other visitors were invited up to the stage to dance together with them. It was really really fun that i got to learn their traditional dances! 'Bamboo dance' was the one that i enjoyed the most as it would go faster and faster till we had to be extremelly careful to avoid our legs being snapped by two big bamboo sticks!

This guy is demonstrating the traditional hunting skill.
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After that, Crystal led us to the House of Skulls, which was just located opposite to Monsopiad Cultural Village. Before entering the house, we were asked to said aloud the words stated on a plaque above the door - 'Siou Do Mohoing' to ask for forgiveness from the spirits if we did cause any disturbance as we entered the house. Besides, it was also to warn ourselves that we had to be true in mind. Once stepped into the house, Crytal started telling us a true and mysterious story about Monsopiad, who used to be a great Kadazan warrior and head-hunter in the past 300 years. While listening to the story, looking at the collection of 42 skulls that were real and were indeed hunted by Monsopiad long time ago left a chill down my spine!