TASK 2

REPORT WRITING

Report on Study Trip to Kundasang and Ranau, Sabah

Last year, on 19th and 20th October 2012, my classmates and I had
participated in a study trip. We were students of PPISMP Pendidikan Islam
Semester 1 at that time and we were required to participate in a student trip as a part
of our project for the semester. The trip was taken place at Kundasang and Ranau,
Sabah. Kundasang and Ranau are two of the most interesting places in Sabah.
That was the reason why this trip took place in there.

Before the study trip began, many of us were questioning: “why we need to
participate in the study trip?” It was because we are majoring in Islamic study so
we were a little bit confused about “what is the connection between Islamic study
and study trip?” However, we were informed by the lecturers that even though we
are majoring in Islamic study but we still need to explore many kinds of places
to gather more experiences. After being informed by the lecturers, we started to
understand the reason behind the study trip.

The participants of the study trip were 15 students of “PPISMP Pendidikan

Islam” and two lecturers, Ustaz Mohd. Rusli bin Ismail and Ustazah Hamidah binti
Jusoh. A few days before the study trip, we made sure all the preparations for the
study trip were in good condition. We also paid the fee which was dirt cheap
because it was just RM 30 for each person.

On 19th October 2012, we started our study trip. We gathered at the

assembly site at 6.30 a.m to make sure everyone was there. Many of the
participants were very excited as kids because the study trip was a chance for all of
us to get over our stress from assignments and studies which always cause us to
wear a long face. It was also an opportunity for us to get along with everyone
since we needed to spend the whole two days and one night together.

At 6.40 a.m, we were given a briefing by Ustaz Rusli about the study trip. In
the briefing, Ustaz Rusli had informed us about the tentative of the study trip and all
of the rules that we needed to follow. After the briefing, we left “IPG Kampus
Keningau” and headed to Kundasang and Ranau. We arrived at Kundasang War
Memorial at 12 p.m. Kundasang War Memorial is one of the first memorials to
commemorate the brave Australian and British Prisoners of War who died in
Sandakan and during the infamous death marches to Ranau during World War
II. Without any doubt, they were really lions in the war. The War Memorial is
made up of four beautiful gardens which are the Australian Garden, the
English Garden, the Borneo Garden and the Contemplation Garden and Pool
to represent the different nationalities. We spent one hour at the memorial. We
ate lunch there and took some photographs since the view of the memorial was very
beautiful.

After visited the Kundasang War Memorial, we stopped at a mosque to do

‘Solat Zuhur’. Then, we headed to the Desa Cattle Farm. It is located in Mesilau,
Kundasang. We could see many cattle were welcoming us to the farm. The
surrounding was also very cold and refreshing. It felt like we were in New Zealand.
We also learned about milk processing in the farm because we could see the
process in front of our eyes. We enjoyed looking at the cattle and before we left the
farm, we bought some milk and it was very delicious.

At 3.30 pm, we arrived at the strawberry garden in the Strawberry Garden

Hotel. It was once of the blue moon experience for us because there are not many
places where we can plant strawberry in Malaysia. Talking about the strawberry
farm, many of us always thought “how strawberries can grow in this country?”
Our visit told us the answer. The strawberries are planted in a hydroponic
environment. We took some pictures at the garden and wandered among ripening
strawberries. We were very excited as we could see the stage of strawberry growth
from a single white flower to a gorgeous red strawberry. The Strawberry Garden
Hotel is not only planting strawberries in the strawberry garden. Other fruits like
apples, grapes and mandarin are also being planted in the garden. We ate a lot of
fruits especially strawberries in the strawberry garden.

At 4.45 pm, we stopped at a mosque and did “Solat Asar”. Then, we checked
in at Walai Tokou Homestay and had a little rest after the busy day. The homestay
has a very beautiful scenery since the Kinabalu Mountain is right in front of the
homestay.

On 20th October 2012, we woke up very early in the morning to do “Solat

Subuh”. After that we went outside the homestay for a while to have some fresh air.
We were very mesmerized by the beautiful scenery around the homestay. We could
see the Kinabalu Mountain was covered by fog and it was a good way to start our
day. At 7 a.m we cleaned ourselves and checked out of the homestay.

We headed to Poring Hot Spring at 8 a.m. We could see many types of

people in the hot spring since the hot spring is one of the main destinations for
tourism. There were Malay, Chinese and even foreigners in the hot spring. We
were enjoying ourselves in the hot spring by swimming and having a barbeque. The
barbeque was very delicious.

After spent around three hours in the hot spring, we headed to Sabah Tea
Garden. The tea garden is located in Kampung Nelapak, Ranau and it is one of the
organic tea farm in Borneo. The landscape of the garden is full of green. It gave
us a very nice sight so we took a lot of pictures in the garden. Do we learn
anything in the garden? Of course we did. We managed to learn the type of tea in
the garden and how to identify the quality tea.

At 1.00 p.m, we had our lunch and did “Solat Zuhur”. Then we headed to
Kinabalu Park. However, due to the constraints of time, we were unable to do a lot
of things there. We just went to the gallery and looked at some exhibition in the
gallery. The exhibition showed us a lot of information about Sabah.

After finished visiting and taking pictures in the park, we gathered at the lobby
of a building there and at 2.00 p.m, we left Kundasang. Along the way of going back
to “IPG Kampus Keningau”, many of us slept in bus because we were very tired.
However, it was a very wonderful memory for all of us.
 If we are asked, why we want to participate in this kind of activity again?
We will answer that it is because this kind of activity give us a lot of benefits. One of
it is this kind of activity will help to create students who are interested in the
environment. It also will provide exposure to the students about the history of
Sabah and the variety of flora and fauna in Sabah. We hope we can participate in
this kind of activity again in the future.

Reported by: 10th January 2013

………………………………

(Nursyafiqah binti Saman)

Secretary,
PPISMP Pendidikan Islam Semester 3,
IPG Kampus Keningau,
Sabah.