Hunters’ paradise by silamstar

Fake overprint ?

2012-01-09T10:07:00.004+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year !

Have not updated my blog for quite some time, my apology.

Recent found an overprinted stamp from a North Borneo collection I acquired. A black 1c o/p on 4c on paper without watermark. It is usually o/p in red, so I asked 'sifu' Gantianexpress if he had any information on this. From him I received the scan of the 1c o/p on 5c, with the note : Sale 11030 Lot 392NORTH BORNEO 1892 (Mar.-Nov.) Surcharges 1c. perforated colour trial in grey-black on watermarked paper with trial surcharge in black, fine. Sold £260.

It is interesting, that stamp issue was suppose to be printed on unwatermark paper. The two overprint look different. I guess I have a fake o/p (1c on 4c) on my hand but this type of black o/p is unusual, even fake. I wonder if any research on this fake o/p had been done and would be very grateful if someone can enlighten me.

North Borneo material is getting very expensive, it is hard to obtain anything interesting at reasonable price (by my standard :0)

Wishing all the 'hunters' a very lucky Year of Dragon !

F.M.S.elephant stamps

2011-06-14T09:38:00.002+08:00

North Borneo stamps are too 'hot' for me to handle recently, so I go for other items. Acquired 2 FMS elephant stamps recently and believe they were postal used.

The $2 stamps is wmk. Crown CA but the post mark doesn't show the town name, Teluk Anson is only a guess, any other suggestion welcomed. Proud's R5 has no image and it doesn't fit with R6.

The $5 stamp wmk I cannot ID, I guess it is Script CA and the post mark fits Proud's R7, and the usage suggested in Proud should make pmk as Script CA a good guess.

My car has been giving me problem for quite some time now, and I have not been able to attend any 'yam-cha' session during this period, hope my 'yam-cha' friend are doing well in their stamp hunting and see the collection of our friend who just returned from Ireland.

Fake postmarks at Ebay

2011-02-11T15:07:00.002+08:00

Bidding on 2 lots with fake postmarks on North Borneo stamps for reference but didn't win. May be some bidding as genuine. Saw some fake over-print on Straits Settlements and fake Jap. Occ. over-print for the passed 2 weeks, hope it doesn't become a trend.

My Keningau friend is winning as usual over the Chinese New Year, surly he is having a very happy new year. Bet he is now worrying about receiving them, that the court found the thieves not guilty, and sent them back to work at the Post Office :) Good luck my friend !

Heard of a a new spot for flea market where a few friends are selling there. Must visit them some time, may be selling some Malaysia gold & silver coins through them by consignment. Hard time, man.... but stamps can stay a bit longer :)

Happy Chinese New Year - Year of Rabbit

2011-02-02T15:28:00.002+08:00

Happy New Year Greetings to all my friends and those 'over-sex bunny ' friends, have a good rest over the CNY, it may be the year of the Rabbit but that doesn't mean......

Today I see a Straits Settlement stamp with Christmas Island cancel being auction over Ebay. At the time of writing, it is not yet closed. I am not bidding on it because I cannot afford the current price :) I always find this interesting, I thought Cocos Island & Christmas Island being administrated by Singapore office in the 1950's, may be Christmas Island was earlier. I acquired one last month with the post mark year inverted. A 'jab-see-gai' for the Chinese New Year, it makes a good finishing for the year of Tiger, may be a good start for the year of Rabbit ??? Hope you do too.

Another 'Odd-ball' ?

2010-12-23T22:00:00.002+08:00

Got my mail from UK after 20 days, I used to receive in 3-5 days. Singpost is no longer safe ? (I'll post a news article about this next time)

I cannot ID this purple pmk from 'Proud', it looks like D2 'JESSELTON', D3 'date' with BNBC at the bottom (may be a cross or star between 'JESSELTON' and 'BNBC'.) Purple JESSELTON pmk is not very common. Hope I will receive more comments than my last posting, all experts, 'sen-kah' or SKL are welcome to guess or enlighten me :)

I have eaten too much good food already, especially last night's 'tung-jeh' (arrival of winter season) dinner. Tomorrow's Christmas dinner will be another heavy one at home. I guess I may have to call gantianexpress to fetch me from the airport with a pick-up truck :)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all my gang members and stamp-nut friends all over the world.

P/S I won this stamp at 99p + GBP2.00 shipping. Thank you, God, for the Christmas gift.

North Borneo 'Odd-ball'

2010-12-05T15:21:00.002+08:00

'Kudat109' brought me a ‘steak & kidney pie’ from England yesterday which I had for breakfast this morning. The long forgotten taste came back to me. Thank you, 'Kudat109' !

‘gantianexpress’ complaint that I have not written for too long. So, I show you an ‘odd-ball’ I exchanged with a friend when I was a kid, whose father worked in the post office from pre- to post WWII. This was one of the goodies I got from him. Unfortunately he became smarter as he grew :) I believe it was the sheet number that printed on the stamp. Any other opinion will be most welcome.

I will be out of town for a few weeks, before the new ‘Axis of Power’ starts WWIII from Asia. Meanwhile, I’m exchanging US$ for North Borneo CTO, at least no more CTO may be printed at will anymore :)

Merry Christmas !!!

Silam outgoing mail via Sandakan ?

2010-08-13T11:59:00.003+08:00

Sharing the view of a stamp with Silam and Sandakan 8 JA 1892 red post mark. Assuming a letter sent from Silam via Sandakan.

Confirmed by a few 'hawk-eye' friends that the Silam pmk is about up side down. The red Sandakan pmk is clear & without dispute.

I'm posting this before I'm off for 2 weeks, just in case my creditors miss me :)

ASEAN + 8 is the end of ASEAN leading the S E Asia affairs. We have more stupid politicians in ASEAN than I thought :)

bury1883 loves politics, I hope he'll have comment on this :)

I've been told there's a Stamp & Coin fair at the China Town,Singapore from 19th - 22nd August. Hope I can go 'look-see look-see'.

Rare KUDAT post mark ???

2010-04-27T15:21:00.003+08:00

This looks like the Kudat D2 with 2 digit year but A mm/dd/yy instead of the normal A dd/mm/yy format. So far I have only collected 2 of this and looks like both used in February 1895. Info from gantianexpress : he saw them used on Coat of Arm and the 1894 issues only and very few seen. Will appreciate more information on this post mark, especially from those 'Tawau' expert like bury1883 and sstawao.

I did not attend the last Saturday night 'yim-cha' session, so I must have missed a lot of gossip :) But the latest I have from bury1883 was the high realized price North Borneo used lot , which also appears on a blog written by a KK collector : North Borneo Stamps A recommended site , though the dark back ground makes it a bit difficult for a 'lau-chai' like me to read. I don't know the blog owner's eBay ID but he is an eBayer, promised to join our 'yim-cha' session when in town. Looking forward to meet our newcomer.

With and without 'stop'

2010-02-22T12:50:00.002+08:00

Won a single lot of "With and without 'stop' after Due" mint stamps from a well-known American Jewish seller from eBay. When I received the stamps, I thought I saw the 'stop' on the second stamp, the 'stop' is on higher than normal position. Please click on the picture to have a better view. Was it supposed to be 'raised stop' or no 'stop' ? I'll appreciate comments on this.

From our regular Saturday night 'yam-cha', I heard that Jellyfish had won 3 lots of China Red Revenue stamps from a Hong Kong auction before the Chinese New Year, at a price that I could not earn in my life time. Unfortunately he did not show me the stamps during our last 'yam-cha' session. Could not blame him, I would have kept them in the safe with 3 guard dogs tie to it, if those were mine :)

Also heard that nbpostcard introduced a friend to bid on North Borneo post cards at eBay and now the post cards and covers collectors are facing a strong challenger. Could not get a confirmation from nbpostcard, he is on holiday in China. bury1883 phone to tell me about the situation last night and I gave him this unconfirmed news. God bless them all ! I'm blessed, I only collect used stamps for post marks :)

Happy New Year everyone, it's not over yet !

My Christmas present 2009

2009-12-31T11:24:00.003+08:00

Happy New Year !

I received about 2 kg on paper for Christmas this year from my brother-in-law, collected over decades from his office. A quick glance picking, a Hong Kong piece with official 'Postage Paid' canceling a 50c stamp ?!! The other one is a clear CDS over a pair of beautiful 'Opera-crown' stamps dated 2002 February, Beijin. At the pace of Beijin development, I wonder if that post office is still around, given the clear CDS applied, it is likely to be a small & no so busy post office. Thanks for a treasure hunting present.

The British (& EU) politicians are making a lot of noice over the execution of a drug (4kg) smuggler by the Chinese court. If they're not happy with Chinese laws, may be they can send their gun-boats to China to start the 3rd Opium War like they did in 1840 ??? I don't request Gordon Brown to eat dog because I do it in Malaysia. Please have mutual respect to others' laws & custom for a better & fair world 2010.

KALAKA, Sarawak pmk

2009-12-10T12:34:00.004+08:00

A rare KALAKA postmark showing 13 JUL, the double ring CDS, presume to be Singapore showing year 23. KALAKA is the district, of which SARATOK is the chief town. Two postmarks of KALAKA recorded by Proud used between 1909-1928.

Many interest topics discussed over email since my last posting. An inquiry from a non-collector about Gantian township came to me one day and it was passed around. Resulting the supply of GPS co-ordinate by chephe; tomb stone pictures of H.S Haynes supply by the inquirer, a district officer, killed in Gantian on 18 June, 1900, ; old newspaper confirmation of the report of his death supply by gantianexpress.

Today I received an interesting email answer to "Stamp collecting a cheap hobby ???" from elopura with the reinforcement of a very convincing picture.

Post WWII perfin

2009-10-09T13:13:00.003+08:00

I tried to write on my facebook but the result isn't as good as here, so I'm coming back.

Acquired these two a few months ago among a small lot, thought it was interesting. Perfin after WWII for security purposes wasn't as common as pre-war. The other one I had on a 1950s Sarawak stamp was sold for a few bucks a couple of years ago. I'm hoping to gain some knowledge on post-WWII perfin in Asia, so I'll keep these two for a while for reference. I am no expert in this field, so I'll be grateful if someone can comment on this or refer me to some reading or information.

My next posting will be a KALAKA, SARAWAK postmark, and I hope g-matang will get ready to comment on it :)

The PosMalaysia hobby

2009-06-21T14:02:00.006+08:00

The recent 'catch' by eBayers in Kota Kinabalu has been reported to the Police which didn't seem to be excited by the event, so a press conference was held on 18th June 2009 at Wisma Merdeka Complex. It was held in English but the poor Daily Express reporting didn't justify the effort, so the Chinese version from the Overseas Chinese News is also made available for those who can read Chinese. I hope the link will work as it is stored in a 'free' internet storage site :)

My eBay purchase from Australia arrived last week after the thief been detained by the Police & last night gantianexpress also confirmed he'd received a few overseas mail recently. It looks like we're back to the decent world, for the time being.

I'm not sure that's the last or the end to the story, I'm still worried because I was told that there are many more of the PosMalaysia staff are getting too 'exited' to be normal. For those of you that have been losing your mail for the passed ten years, you may breath for now, until the thieves are brought to the 'Taliban' justice, I don't think they are afraid as they have been doing it in a 'safe heaven' for too long.

I will be following the story for 'our' interest & post the latest here for your viewing. Comments on the subject will be most welcome and will make it more interesting. A round of applause for our heroes please !

A forge Kuching post mark ???

2009-06-07T13:58:00.003+08:00

I received an email from owley of Australia yesterday regarding my posting on 2nd June, 2008. He suspected the post mark might be a forge KUCHING post mark on the 18c stamp. I went home to do an other check, the result as shown above. I found it a good match of the Proud D.7 post mark. I have not seen the forge KUCHING post mark, so I cannot tell the difference. I would be grateful if I can have more comment and information from you all, on this subject.

Our local eBayer heroes have caught a postal thief in Kota Kinabalu and reported to the Police. I have not seen it reported on the newspaper yet but will be after the progress of the matter. Meanwhile, you may click PosMalaysia's enemies to have fun. Before all the stolen goods buyers are caught, you might still find good material here, especially if you are a 'red-hair devil' :)

Another fake postmark on eBay

2009-03-08T11:45:00.004+08:00

Watch the top left corner carefully, you will see the bar cancel. A 'squared-circle' stamping over the bar-cancel is a common trick by the greedy people. I'm not saying the British seller is a cheat, but when offering any item worth hundreds of $, be careful. Bidders for used North Borneo stamps at eBay, 'jab-sang-lah'. I got cheated before, and might be again if I'm careful.

Glad to see that the seller spotted the fault & re-valued this stamp to start bidding from GBP0.99 & mentioning the bar cancel. So it's not all bad for me to delay posting for a few days.

jeremy6139 is supposed to be in town today but I've not been contacted yet. Will write again after our 'yam-cha' session which I'm sure will happen soon.

"Gook-Miao-Mee-Sui'

2009-03-06T11:55:00.004+08:00

"Gook-Miao-Mee-Sui" in Hakka means "Forcing a cat to dive" i.e. forced to do something unwillingly.

A eBayer friend won a book some years ago was being heard of this ownership by an Official of Sabah Archives. Many attempts to buy off this book from my 'well-off' friend failed. But after many sleepless nights, my 'good-hearted' friend came up with a good ideal & conditioned that Sabah Museum will re-print this book after his donation, so that all of us can buy a copy. Now the feeling of "Gook-Miao-Mee-Sui" has left my friend & I thank him for giving us the opportunity to own a copy of this important book, though it will not be the "Complimentary copy' to Harry Keith as it originally was.

Last night gantianexpress and I went to meet the visiting Mr.Chai from Sarawak, who is an advance philatelist of Sarawak, a friend of g-matang, and a member of the SSS. He showed us some of his North Borneo material, including document and maps that he was trying to dispose of. We ended up buying a few covers from him before we left the hotel. Nothing very spectacular but a sign of good gesture that's all, to a fellow collector. But we know he has a lot of good stuff. He has recently published a postcard book.

A Japanese officer in North Borneo

2009-02-17T12:33:00.003+08:00

Have not written for quite some time due to the failure of my scanner, not an excuse, I've now got a new Conoscan Lide 100 at a reasonable price :)

I have obtained a copy of interesting old photo taken someway in North Borneo during the Japanese Occupation but without much information. I only know that the Jap officer on the left survived the WWII and was returned to Japan, living 'happy ever after' till he passed away in the 1980's. Any information to help identify this officer will be highly appreciated.

Some 'goodies' were won by bury1883 and gantianexpress during the passed 2 months, hopefully I will be able to obtain the scan to show them here soon.

g-matang has expressed his intention to come to Kota Kinabalu in late February but gantianexpress and I have not received the confirmation yet. We are looking forward to meet him here and bury1883 also hoping to be able to make a trip here to meet him. jeremy6139 from UK has confirmed to come and will arrive in KK on 14th March, surely there will be a few 'yam-cha' sessions like last year :)

kbgoh has send me an email for a trip they have organized, to a China stamps exhibition in mid-April. For those who are interested to join them or wanting to know more about it, please email to let me know, I shall forward all the relevant information.

Merry Christmas & a 'jab-see-gai' 2009

2008-12-25T11:16:00.004+08:00

Met gantianexpress in Singapore on 2nd December & g-matang picked us up to see his Airmail cover collection. He specialized in Sarawak & North Borneo 1945 and earlier covers. It was an eye-opening event, and the story behind each cover was making the collection very interesting.

3rd December gantianexpress went home to Sabah. A couple of days later I was him winning this stamp with a clear 'ELOPURA' postmark. So, we in Singapore knew that he was well & bidding from KK :)

I saw SALES before Christmas in Singapore this year, showing sign of recession. I don't know even SALES will help in Sabah businesses but I still cannot win North Borneo stamps cheaply at eBay :)

In this recession time, I'm wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and hope you pick up more bargain at eBay in 2009. Buy more to help beat recession (I will if I have the money :).

Postage Due with stop

2008-09-07T12:52:00.003+08:00

Nice used copy of this difficult stamp won by tapiapi at ebay recently. Not many interesting items from Borneo being offered for the past month, except some from colchew, a Sabahan collector specialize in Japanese Occupation & early items, but they were never cheap for those quality items. gantianexpress may have picked up some nice items from him and a bag or two for the wife :)

I have been trying to jab-see-gai from Jeremy6139's Br. Commonwealth listing with little success, any winning will be delivered by hand on Jeremy6139's next trip to KK, best service anywhere in the world :)

Raining very often since August, I received no 'yam-cha' SMS from gantianexpress last night, so it'll be the next good Saturday for 'yam-cha' unless gantianexpress buys a cow for 10 cents, or something like that in the next few days :)

Xinjian photo from g-matang

2008-08-29T14:08:00.005+08:00

Received a few photo from g-matang taken during his last Xinjiang trip, without any description from him, so it's up to my imagination. Please comment to let me know when I'm wrong :)

This may be the 'Lake of Heaven', I'm not sure but it's beautiful enough, whatever you call it.

This is not g-matang in disguise, I'm sure.
But I'm guessing the background mountain is 'TianShan' where the 'Seven Swordsman' came from.

I wonder if this was the cow that chewed the letter from Gantian to Xinjian ?
In case she has digestive problem, treasure hunt may be on. Hope g-matang didn't miss it :)

I was hoping to see photo of g-matang drinking horse milk tea & eating BBQ camel in the town, may be he'll send them to me next time.He missed the grapes-festival in mid-August that I'll love to see. Hope one day I can organize a trip to see it with gantianexpress, bury1883 etc..since it is a philatelic desert, according to g-matang, so there'll be no conflict of interest going with these guys.

Hope to see some posting from tapiapi, if he has no problem with the technical side of it. Otherwise I'll be happy to do it for him, like this one I'm doing for g-matang. But please give me the description of each photo, or I'll have to 'fire-dog' (bullshit) my way through :)

May be I'll have some photo from jeremy6139 ? Now Beijing Olympics is over, we're looking forward to London2012 !!! Meanwhile, back to work & sleep early.

2008-08-05T07:21:00.002+08:00

Hello Johnny,

Turns out I had already set up a Google account. Unfortunately, I have not been lately winning anything of interest, but I am sure a few nuggets will appear. Cheers!

Papar & Keningau ealy post marks

2008-07-21T11:23:00.004+08:00

A nice lot won by gantianexpres recently at a good price, ssstawao earlier won a cover with the Papar pmk at 5 times the price of this lot. The two big chops were used before the official steel chops were ready, so they were used for a short period. The 1st Papar provisional chop (without the center box) was used in 1949 before this 'boxed' chop. Keningau and Semporna were the other two towns using the provisional chop (without the center box). 2nd provisional chop with the center box only used in Papar. Date inverted are known and seen for these post marks.

Have not heard from bury1883 for quite some time but received a short SMS from him last week regarding a politician, therefore I know he is not yet obsolete. Hope to hear from g-matang about his last Sinjiang trip, there must be a lot of good stories :)

1909 North Borneo 18c used

2008-06-02T13:13:00.004+08:00

Just to let some friends know that I'm still alive & kicking hard :)

I have a few copies of this 18c used but all with the Sandakan CDS, this is the 1st non-Sandakan I've collected. Being overprinted about 2 months after issue date, I expected very few used copies, I have suspected favored canceling at Sandakan PO afterwards, though I've seen one Sandakan used on postcard, owned by gantianexpress. Hope other collectors could enlighten me on this subject.

jeremy6139 should be back from holiday in Spain by now. g-matang has gone to Xinjiang last weekend, I guess he's drinking horse milk tea & looking for stamp-shops like all of us would do. Hope he found a love letter from my grandpa to his secret girlfriend in China more than 20 years ago, thereafter, any communication would not be via postal services :)

This was a KUCHING forge postmark instead of a real KUDAT postmark. Thanks for the information from 'owley' of Australia, also a member of the SSS.

Rare Labuan red dots postmark

2008-03-20T16:03:00.003+08:00

If I don't write again, I'll have to use 'cut & paste' to answer many email.

Our friend 'tapiapi' has won many useful North Borneo & Labuan lately. I noted this 'Rare Labuan red dots postmark', I remember a friend paid 5 times the realized price for a fine used copy. 'tapiapi' has go a bargain here.

It is getting more and more difficult to 'jab-see-gai' these days, even the CTO are getting expensive. So I can only show those my friend won.

Our UK seller friend is going back home next week. Hopefully we'll see some useful listings. Our 'yam-cha' session last Saturday saw 'srilabuk', 'chephe' & 'gantianexpress', where 'gantianexpress' showed us the photo of his recent acquisition of a North Borneo Japanese Occupation used in Lahad Datu, very impressive at a bargain price.

Had not heard from 'bury1883' for some time, later received a phone call from him telling me his children were home for X'mas & CNY, so he was so busy that he even missed some nice items at ebay. He then went to China searching for his 'root' (or most likely stamps). Now back to Tawau, may be studying the 'after-effect' of our recent election result :) I know too little to comment on our domestic politics :) so don't tempt me.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-12T15:24:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas !!! Wishing you one year older but one year wiser :)

Picked up a 'jab-see-gai' for a few bucks last month. The C & s in Cents dropped variety not mentioned in the SG catalog as informed by tapiapi. The variety is recorded in ISC catalog by Steven Tan, but not priced. Advised by sarawakiana to publish this here to benefit those who have no ISC catalog.

I've slow down buying to avoid the 'high risk period' (November to March) as our postal service is not that reliable.

Last week saw chephe out-snipe sstwao for a North Borneo 1964 cover to Germany at a very high price. I wonder if he was bidding on behalf of somebody else, he is only collecting FMS seriously. I suspected gantianexpress, if so this guy (sorry, wrong spelling, this horny fellow is not gay) is stabbing his 'brother' from the back :) I have not asked, not sure if I should be so curious. Hope gantianexpress will make a comment here to clear his name for Christmas. I'm not accusing, but he's the prime suspect, bury1883 already phone up to test the water.

Let the festive season be kind & forgiving !!! After that....we can fight dirty again.

The lazy man responded...

2007-11-11T14:02:00.000+08:00

Sorry gang.... being lazy & will be busy in the last 2 months of 2007. Really...!!!

I will be very happy if anyone can identify the post mark of the top 3 stamps for me. I offered 25% of the seller's selling price but rejected, so I have to stay happy just keeping the scan :)

The bottom row, $2 & $5 are 'JUDICIAL' perfin. This lot saw bury1883 out-snipe tapiapi & gantianexpress on 09-Oct-07 at a reasonable price. bury1883 said he would sell the $2 stamp to his gang, sstawao, one more happy man :) who was out-snipe by me for the $1 perfin in October, 2000.

My friend, gantianexpress, has not been very happy recently. He was out-gunned by a kudat109 for a North Borneo collection containing a very nice GAYAH S.O.N pmk and some other nice cancels. It was a 4 snipers fight, with bury1883, tapiapi came in 3rd & 4th, a total of 13 bids. Almost all the 'kaki' turned up :) The scan is too big to be included here, you may check eBay item#220162218432 , for those who're too late to see the scan from eBay may email me for it. How can I not saved the scan for this event :)

gantianexpress, chephe & yours truly interrogated a suspect as kudat109 and got a confession. We now know who is kudat109 :) gantianexpress was denied the pleasure of torturing during the process, that I can assure you !

Lost 4 overseas letters to Jurong East, Singapore since September, the total lost in 2007 is now 10. Hope it'll end soon. It looks like very little SingPost can do. When thieves are not caught & punished, stealing will continue (I'm telling you, chephe, report to the police ! :)). To pay shipping by registered mail every time, is not an option for 'jab-see-gai', it defeats the purpose :) So good luck friends, prayers will not be entertained !

Crush over North Borneo fiscal used block of 6

2007-10-08T15:37:00.000+08:00

bury1883 phoned to inform me of the crush between gantianexpress & sstawao last weekend. I noted higgijon UK was also involved in this 3 sided snipe won by gantianexpress . The last time he crushed me was in 2005 over a strip of 3 X 10c fiscal used, at a lower altitude than this one :) I'm still having the strip with The Standard Chartered Bank chop and the other few interesting postally used stamps. No hard feeling, this thing happen from time to time :)

Last weekend the subject of Malaysian astronaut came out over a chat. A friend said : ' You should be proud of the achievement. If you don't like the country, you can migrate somewhere else.' It sounded familiar but came out from the mouth of a Sabahan Chinese, that's amazing. I didn't know we have Sabahan Chinese so low :) 4 persons in the room and there was one who seemed to agree to such rubbish. What is even more horrifying is, these two persons are actively involve in promoting Sabah Chinese education activities !!! I'm grateful I refused to join them earlier, I can't afford to help make the next generation lower than slaves, at least the slaves hated to be enslaved. I didn't feel offended, it was enlightening to me :) In case you wanted to know my answer : ' Yes, I will travel elsewhere, when the weather is good and will return home when I feel like eating satay but I will not give my rights in Sabah.' What I didn't say was :' When Sabah becomes a place not even fit for a dog to live, I'll come back to see you from time to time. If you think that's a scientific achievement, call back your son who is studying space science in China and study in a university in Malaysia.' I didn't think it was necessary to insult him. Let me be kind to fools who want to remain fools for ever.

Confucius said,"Men live with honesty. The dishonest live, spared by fortune."

Fake North Borneo post marks on eBay

2007-09-21T15:19:00.000+08:00

September has been an interesting month on eBay, not only my friends winning some good stamps & post marks, also seen fake North Borneo post marks offered by an Italian seller, not mentioned as fake. I should not assume the worst but the seller definitely did not offer them as CTO :) I have seen a few times, on and off, such offers at eBay, so far by the same Italian seller. The post marks are clear and beautiful, as elopura put it, Italian are artistic people :)

There was a black-out last night at home from 7.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. Sabah people have been deprived of the basic necessity for modern civilization for more than 20 years now, it is hard for some to imagine that a city like Kota Kinabalu is still having regular black-out while Malaysia is sending someone to the space soon :) Who are they trying to kid ? May be the rest of the world excluding Sabah, we know because we experience it.

Keningau Provisional post mark

2007-09-05T14:44:00.000+08:00

A few days after crashing me over a North Borneo covers lot, gantianexpress out snipe sstawao for this lot with this clear and beautiful Keningau Provisional pmk, almost a full strike with the 2 stamps together.

Last Friday afternoon I met sstawao in gantianexpress home digging into an old biscuit tin for old Tawau photograph :) Got one & left happily but did not come to our Italian friend's home that night where he & gantianexpress showed each other's while chephe and I were witnessing :) The Italian did not show us the album homing his medal winning North Borneo pages, but it was impressive enough, with a never seen before, specimen set of North Borneo stamps tied by chops of postal authority of some sort, for filing or display purposes. Also saw some red Silam chops and other rare pmk & revenue cancellations.

Having read the news on the Australians' WWII Sandakan memorial service, I notice the recent US, Australia and Japan + others joint military exercise. May be the Australian had forgiven & forgotten but I doubt if the Japanese will ever forget the 2 atomic bombs dropped on them, God bless America ! (As they always said) I believe most Japanese people are OK but their right wingers still having strong influence over their government, they don't see anything wrong invading other countries, now they've found a friend or two. God bless Australia too :)

To guarantee a guarantor

2007-08-28T13:57:00.000+08:00

I applied for a work permit for a maid to assist my 83 year old mum at home. Our Immigration Department insisted that my mum be the guarantor for the maid. This morning I received a phone call from the Department requesting information on the nature of my business, they sounded like they want a guarantee for the guarantor because she is no longer having an income. Such is the efficiency of our Government Department, no wonder someone is singing Negarakuku.

The above scan is the follow up story of our 'heroes' in Australia. Please click the picture to enlarge for reading. I didn't know there was a Sandakan Memorial Park in Sydney when I visited the city, otherwise I would surely visit & take some pictures. Of course I would try to see some of the old soldiers, I'm sure many of those who came to North Borneo for the 'Indonesian Confrontation' are still around. They would be the direct source of supply for my postal history collection for that period.

I have noted the recent news from our Ministry of Education that they will consider, in the future, to admit students into our Universities according to merit instead of racial quota. They now know they've been wrong for 44 years ??? How stupid can some people be ??? But the worst ones are those who know they're wrong and refuse to change, you'll be surprised, there are more than you can imagine !!! Let's hope they mean what they said & give us an other 40 years, and we'll have a great country :)

bury1883 anti-Japanese for life ???!!

2007-08-18T14:53:00.000+08:00

bury1883 celebrates on 15th August every year, not sure if he celebrates the WWII Japanese surrender but that's his birthday. Hope he doesn't celebrate his birthday in Japanese restaurant, if I'm the Japanese chief.........

It's my birthday today on the 18th August, so I'm showing a cover sent on the day in 1945 (I wasn't born then, of course) to 'USS Gold Star', 3 days after the Japanese surrender. The letter was sent via the US Fleet Post Office, nobody was suppose to know the whereabout of the ship, for security reason of course, I guess it must be busy loading provisions in Manila to be sent to the occupation forces in Japan.

chephe is not in town so I'm not sure if there'll be a 'yim-cha' session tonight. I hope it'll be at Jellyfish's place as I've asked him to find the movie 'Far East War Tribunal Trial' for my collection. It should be interesting see the differences between the American & Chinese judges who took part in that trial.

Where the hell was MAS

2007-08-17T11:53:00.000+08:00

Where the hell was MAS when Brunei Airline sponsored our unsung heroes ? It again shows that MAS doesn't know how to do business, I hope our Government will not let them waste our taxpayers money, like all those 'none-profit-oriented' businesses, they should not be allowed to exist for the good of the nation.

I only know Chinese,Bajau and Murut were the main anti-Japanese locals forces during the Japanese Occupation period, it is enlightening to know being humane is good enough to be heroes. Having said that, some of their humane acts towards other races were also heard and recognized. I consider those Murut who ambushed 600 surrendered Japanese soldiers on their way home were heroes. They lived by jungle rules, no such thing as surrender, the Japanese never respected the Geneva Convention anyway :)

For those who have not heard of the song 'Negarakuku', utube is a worthwhile site to visit. Comments are interest to read too. Some stating UNCHANGEABLE agreement, some defend their given RIGHTS, you'll understand how some Malaysian love their country the same way Chen-Shui-Bian loves Taiwan. By universal standard, no one has the right to 'suck dry' one's country, if such rights were given, it should be changed. Not even item without life is UNCHANGEABLE, a corpse will change after buried. Selective changes were made by those who are shamelessly talking about UNCHANGEABLE agreement today.

North Borneo 1890 used stamp

2007-07-20T14:23:00.000+08:00

When gantianexpress won a similar stamp a few months ago, I considered it a 'jab-see-gai', yesterday this stamp closed at ebay at 3 times the price he paid, he must be a very happy man now :)

North Borneo stamps are going up in prices so fast that I can no longer win any useful lot, also a good sign to see such stamps being won by bidders from Russia and Eastern European countries. That means my collection is appreciating :) I'm not a 'die hard' North Borneo collector, I believe I'll sell my entire North Borneo collection one day if the price is right after I've done my fun with it. I'll always be ready to start a new area anytime, being a 'die hard' stamp collector :)

bury1883 has been MIA for some time, I recently received an email from him, don't know sending from where : " A lot of stamp shops in Barcelona but no North Borneo material found." If he can read this blog, I'd advise him not to eat the bull's balls, in case he hasn't heard of the 'ham sab bull fighting' story. Bulls don't always got killed.

capri412 is still frustrated by the uncertainty of the Malacca stamp exhibition 2007, if anyone has any information, please comment, he'll be reading my blog regularly. The exhibition was supposed to coincide with the opening of the Postal Museum of Malacca.

North Borneo 1939 issue

2007-06-28T11:43:00.000+08:00

Had a 'yim cha' session last night with the newly arrived UK seller, gantianexpess & chephe. The subject of the above 1939 issue was brought up because the $5 mounted mint closed at ebay at very high price yesterday. I always consider this a 'worth keeping' set. Excluding the 'WAR TAX' overprint, the complete set had been over printed 4 times, (Japanese occupation twice, BMA & Royal Cypher) how many of the original 'un-overprinted' set do you think will remain ?

North Borneo stamps are selling like hot cakes, including CTO that makes my collection of CDS used very expensive and difficult. May be forced to go into other areas until the 'hot wave' passed, if it ever will :) I've been saying this for years and still cannot resistputting in a bid when I see a 'good one' :)

Interesting theory

2007-06-27T14:49:00.000+08:00

Came across something interesting that should be shared with others. In addition to " One who works like a donkey, lives like a donkey", working smart leads to better life ??? I hope this theory will comfort poor people like me, I've no money because I know too much !??

Have not heard from bury1883 for some time, but gantianexpress, chephe and tapiapi are doing well at ebay, winning some good North Borneo stuff.

Someone looking for traveling companion after reading my previous post. I'm planning for a NZ trip next year but will not want the company of other collectors, sorry. I'll try to get a few 'fishing' friends rather than 'collecting' ones :) Competitors, you know :) I also have 'eating' friends asking me to go to China with them. I think I'll need to erase some of my knowledge (if Ive any) very soon :)

An interesting Labuan pmk

2007-06-11T15:30:00.000+08:00

Received an email from tapiapi yesterday regarding the Labuan pmk he saw on ebay. The day showing numbers of different font but I thought the pmk looked like the D5 of Proud's book. Could it be a replacement of a damaged day slug ? tapiapi also pointed out the same seller listed many Labuan stamps with the same pmk & date, almost all s.o.n. so I guess they were favored cancels from the post office. Comments from other collectors on this will be most welcomed and enlightening.

gantianexpress informed me that a UK seller is coming to KK end of the month who is a Chinese, might even be a Sabahan since she is retiring to live here soon. She had lost some mail selling to Sabah too. I wonder if her out going mail from Sabah will be safe in the future. I don't know if this is her strategy : If you can't beat them, join them ???!!!

More photo taken in Australia

2007-05-24T12:00:00.000+08:00

Photo 1 : Crab ? Never seen this type of crab before, taste good, fine texture.
Photo 2 : Flamington Market From the used good section. Also a table selling old watches.
Photo 3 : Fruits & vegetable section This section only open every Saturday form small farmers to sell their produce but many game Asian & others also selling their goods whole week long. It's good for weekly shopping, cheap in bigger quantity.

Taken a few photo in Melbourne but still in the camera in Sydney :) So all photo published are from Sydney.

Some photo of the Australia trip

2007-05-19T11:11:00.000+08:00

1st photo : The Blue Mountain trip Being me, the nearest thing to a stamp was the mail box that's obsolete in our country, an important item to be photographed :) 2nd photo : The Vietnamese Street It's the take-away food and the sugarcane juice that's eye-catching and very pleasing in place like Sydney. 3rd photo : A stamp shop at last Other than the SG, this was the 1st stamp shop I visited but no North Borneo at all. I was told that the N.B. stamp that came in never stayed long, it must be very popular there.

Will try to post more photo later.

Australia trip diary

2007-04-18T16:07:00.000+08:00

Due to my inability to re-size the photos for posting, this one will go without one. May be I'll post them again when the appropriate program is available.

13th April The Black Friday

Arriving today and my nieces took me for a Chinese sea food dinner, they ordered 'roast pigeon', oysters and lobster (3.3kg), no wonder they called it the Black Friday, to them, 'cos they were paying the bill !!!

14th April Blue Mountain trip

Driving a couple of hours to see the 'three sisters' and the 'Grand Canyon', well..... it was different. But the small village town Katoomba was interesting, visited a few old books store with antiques, 'cut throat' places, all of them, so didn't buy anything. So far the only thing that's nearest to a stamp is the red mail box that I took a photo with.

15th April The Sydney fish market

If you think it's a smelly place, you're wrong. We were there for the 'sashimi', comparing busy prices and found an empty table. The raw salmon, king fish and tuna are common, except the quantity but the Tasmanian oysters my niece's husband bought were giant size. I had to eat 7 to finish the dozen, each must weigh 3 to 4 oz without the shell !!!

16th April The Vietnamese street

For AU$8.50 the Vietnamese 'ngiu chap' was about 2.5 times our KK serving !!! Damn, it was good, but it looks like everything serve in giant size here. A few rows of shops with mini market open by mainly Vietnamese and other Asian, walking those streets make ones feel 'at home'.

17th April My primary school classmate's pet shop

Search & found my classmate's pet shop in Bankstown, 10 minutes drive from where I live. Caught him in the shop with his wife so he had an excuse to go out to buy me a cup of coffee & a chat. The cappuccino cost him AU$2.50 each, that's not too bad, and it was served by a young lady from Shanghai who was surprised to hear us speaking Mandarin.

Talk on colonial stamps - Sandakan 3rd April, 2007

2007-04-03T12:53:00.000+08:00

Today's Daily Express says there's a Mr.Wong having a talk on Borneo stamps, I'm very interested but it is going to be in Sandakan tonight, so I can't make it. May be one day we can have knowledgeable people like gantianexpress or g-matang to do it in KK. If the timing is right, tapiapi from USA might even turn up :)

There is a Sabahan community discussion board at eBay Malaysia. The desire to arrange for a gathering in KK for the local eBayers (of all interests) is noted but I am not a good organizer, hope someone can do it. Not that I'm pushing the work to someone else, honestly, just look at my office desk you'll understand.

There are so many stamp collectors in KK but few are serious and able to advance, that I have to blame POS Boleh's inability to promote the hobby. Hope Sandakan has a better situation after the talk.

2007 a fantastic year for gantianexpress

2007-04-01T14:17:00.000+08:00

Made expensive by bury1883 and chephe but it's still worth it. Congratulation gantianexpress ! Don't forget to give me a good scan of this pmk for my reference when the stamp arrives. This would be the 2nd known copy in Sabah, the only other one is in the collection of our Italian friend, 'the mountain mover' :)

Got a email respond from SingPost about my missing mail, they couldn't find them. They said they would monitor my foreign mail from now on. Well, let's see if Singapore's rating is going down to the level of Malaysia and Indonesia. Hope g-matang is not affected in his area. May be someone in Jurong East is learning from the British postman that had bags of undelivered mail found in his home :)

Saw on TV that NZ was having flood, hope capri412 is not keeping his stamps downstairs like chephe. Referring to his earlier email to me about PosMalaysia not sponsoring the KL Exhibition after privatization. We in KK already experienced that a few years ago when we did ours here. They were even cheeky enough to ask for two free tables !!! May be it's the only postal authority in the world that doesn't sponsor stamp fair and exhibition, I'm not sure, enlighten me please. It would be interesting if the KL organizers could get SingPost to sponsor the KL Exhibition ??? :) If it happens, I don't know where PosMalaysia would hide their faces. Having said all these, hope the Malacca Exhibition will be on, and capri412 can return to Singapore in December and happily exhibit his work there.

Mail lost in Singapore too

2007-03-26T12:56:00.000+08:00

I have always thought very highly of the Singapore postal services, but the year 2007 is a bad year. I have so far lost 3 from UK, 1 from Belgium and 1 from Australia. Even though they were not registered, I email SingPost nonetheless, it'll be ashame to see Singapore's reputation down the drain. I don't know what they'll do but I've done my part to inform them :)

2007 may be a bad start for me so far, but it is very good year for gantianexpress, he has won quite a few good stamps, even though distracted by nick ties. He was having a cup of coffee with me yesterday and I said the stamp (shown) he just won, worth 10 times the closing price. I was too busy and forgot to put in a snipe for it, so he saved a few bucks for that. He would have won it any way, his pocket was made to measure at his arm's length :)

My father has been giving me money all my life and I'm still not as rich as gantianexpress or bury1883, I think he should continue to give me more money. What do you think ? If you know what's wrong with me, please tell our politicians. Some of them may suggest that I find a new and richer father :) Judging from the moral standard, logic and mentality of some of our politicians, they could easily come out with such simple and direct solution as usual :) Life is interesting though may be ugly sometimes with them around :)

Latest 'Jab-see-gai' by gantianexpress

2007-03-01T16:20:00.000+08:00

My friend is not bidding for silk ties only, he hasn't forgotten to pick up any 'jab-see-gai' when he sees one. Well done gantianexpess, you must be having a very happy Chinese New Year, winning this one after the Labuan stamp used in GAYAH !!! Yah.... I saw it.

Sorry tapiapi I didn't know he was snipping for this one, I thought he was mad, buying up silk ties, I must be the mad one thinking this way, this guy is a 'stamp nutz', even worse than me. He must have snipe near to my estimated amount. Anyway, hope you had your good Chinese meal for the New Year & welcome to the postal history collecting :)

bury1883 won a nice Papar cover before the New Year, I think he was thrilled out-snipping higgijon for once, after many defeats.

Fake postmarks on sale on ebay

2007-02-14T16:13:00.000+08:00

Saw a 4c on $10 with the KUDAT A AU 15 1899 fake pmk selling over US$40.00 in January reminded me of my earlier years of collection. Now I see an other 18c stamp closing soon at ebay with a CDS cancel over the bars, starting at GBP12.00. I hope these sellers did not do it by intention, otherwise this world will look very ugly.

With the Chinese New Year getting close, I'm here wishing all my friends & buddies a very prosperous year of the Pig, just don't get slaughtered like one :) With no offence to my Muslim friends, I wish it could be the year of the Cat instead but all my Muslim friends are very understanding and laughing it off. As for the 'orang putih' friends, if you find us eating like pigs, I can assure you that it's not going to be for this year only :) Eat, gamble and ang paw, without them, Chinese New Year won't feel like New Year. Firecrakers may be banned, we still have the Dragon & Lion dances to make noise. We are noisy people.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

50th year of Malaysia ?????

2007-01-30T12:09:00.000+08:00

I've been irritated by those who promote Malaysia's independence in 1957 for many years now, I'm disgusted every time I see the promotion on ASTRO TV. I'm posting this FDC to set a record so those stupid people will not try to change history again and to enlighten ignorants. If those people or politicians trying to change history due to their ignorance, it's acceptable as we know there're many. But for those who're doing it for some other motives, thinking that other people are more stupid than themselves, must be condemned. During a telephone conversation with a west Malaysian last week when this subject was touched, I confirmed that I won't be celebrating 50th year of Malaysia this year, because 50 years ago we were still North Borneo.

I've no other motive showing this Singapore FDC, just reflecting the truth, no offense, Singaporean. Malaysia FDC of this gray period from Singapore is appreciating, so done miss the boat :)

capri412 of NZ is preparing for his exhibits that's going to the Malacca Exhibition in December, 2007. I need to know the exact date to arrange for the trip. Those from Sabah, like bury1883 that loves travel and gantinexpress can contact me for the trip, others are welcomed too, the more the merrier :)

2007 greetings. Better late than never !

2007-01-26T17:56:00.000+08:00

Having difficulty posting. Wishing everyone a peaceful 2007 ! I think the photograph was taken 60 years too late.... if there's anything that you should have done but forgotten, felt lazy etc..etc... it's better late than never, so... my friends wish you have the courage like the above. Must express gratitude to the supplier of the above pic, elopura. Thank you Bob, it's very educating :)

bury1883 has won some very good North Borneo stamps from a very 'cocky' UK seller that did not attract many bidders, at very good prices. How did the the 'dead chicken' taste like, my friend ??? Hope you actually receive them.

g-matang expressed concern about our flood here but I know gantianexpress and I won't worry, only chephe keeps his stamps downstairs :) tapiapi is reading our newspapers online from USA so he's not out of touch on Sabah affairs.

My 2007 wishes : Thanks for all the email and even telephone respond to some of my postings, but I wish you could press the 'comment' button and let others share the fun too :) May 2007 be a lucky year for everyone, with so many 'hawkeyes' watching ebay thesedays, we surely need it.

North Borneo Five dollars

2006-12-14T12:17:00.000+08:00

gantianexpress out-snipe chephe for this fiscal used $5 at a fairly high price with tapiapi came in 3rd highest in November.

I have noted a growing interest in none-postally used North Borneo stamps which I do not collect but have a few collected by accident :) May be I should dig them out for sale when the going is good, especially those with perfin.

Last heard of the KK stamp fair date being changed to March 2007, hope we actually see one such fair before the next Olympics :)

Good to hear bury1883 won the nice Labuan dotted pmk yesterday. Also glad to see the 'die-hard' sstawao coming back to bidding after heavy mail losses like many of my brave friends :) Good show... Gang !!!

North Borneo 1886 1c imperf pair used.

2006-11-30T14:50:00.000+08:00

gantianexpress was out-snipe by dellboy777, UK. This interesting pair with certificate saying "Used is Genuine", wish I can see an imperf pair used on cover.

Received an email from tapiapi that he received a Gayah pmk that may not be recorded by Proud. I couldn't see it clearly from the original ebay scan. Hope he has more information on it later.

gantianexpress is on a long leave, so I guess he'd be watching every North Borneo item very closely. 'jab-see-gai' seems to be an ancient phrase for me now.

g-matang, I'm not sure about the kind Singapore police, will leave that judgment to the opposition party, may be I should say they're very diplomatic ??? I should not comment on police business, ours is not even diplomatic, like you, I don't want to shake their hands :)

Heard from chephe that we'll have a stamp fair at the end of the month in KK, organized by Mr. Bobby Voon. Should I expect to get a Brooketon pmk here ???

Bush in Singapore

2006-11-20T14:01:00.000+08:00

Didn't see you shaking Bush's hand on TV g-matang, but got a photo at your turf welcoming him though. Yes, you must recognize the place, but for the safety of your kids, won't show their faces here :)

Other than tapiapi I don't see many of my friends winning many items recently, are we 'out of date', may be we should all bid like we do at public auctions ???

gantianexpress is starting his 'long' leave but we have missed a few Saturday night 'yim-cha', guess I should call him during day time for a cup of tea, if he's not too busy writing-up his collection that never got started :)

My Tawau friend, bury1883, has been quiet, that fishy feeling of his changing of user name come up again. I should not suspect a friend, he is a honest man when he is not cheating like I do :)

Fake Gaya pmk ???

2006-11-10T17:10:00.000+08:00

This lot won by chephe, out snipping gantianexpress with 'yours truly' at 3rd place shamefully snipping 25% the final price ! I was told some time later by chephe that the 2nd stamp and postmark was fake, I haven't seen the actual stamp but that's not unusual when buying over internet. I'm not saying this seller did it purposely but there're fakes around and we have to be careful.

Hope tapiapi is happy with the US mid-term result since he had to sleep early the night before, for the important event. You're a Democrate, aren't you tapiapi ! Never mind if you're not, Bush might win the next Noble Peace Prize by letting go of Ramsfield ??? Sorry, I'm being too political again.

For your information, g-matang and bury1883 that our Italian friend is back. He joined us at our regular 'yim-cha' session last Saturday night, looking as 'cocky' as ever, that means he's OK :)

Borneo Airways cover

2006-10-30T14:38:00.000+08:00

Saw an interesting Borneo Airways cover listed at eBay early this month, thought of adding it to my collection but it realized 4 times my estimated value !!! No wonder I couldn't win much for the passed two months, my valuation is out of date against so many 'new' bidders as tapiapi put it.

bury1883 phoned me the night I posted the last blog, trying to encourage me to write more on such subject, which I must not promise. I don't wish to be too political here, especially Malaysia politics. As I know it'll take at least another 30 years or more for us to produce Malaysian who can achieve what a smart ass American once said 40 years ago : " Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country', if we start educating our people properly TODAY. rtea53 already suspected me to be a racist or religious prejudice. So let it be philately :)

You're free to make money

2006-10-19T15:34:00.000+08:00

Glad to know that we made it to the top ten (just) in Asia, though a bit embarrassing to be as good as Cambodia and behind Mongolia. I wonder what those big mouths will think when they're boasting their business successes internationally when others read this. If you think 'monopoly' is a dream for every businessman, you should not be wrong, but many dreams turned nightmares in our country, the Government needed to come to the rescue like the hero in any cowboy film. This is an incredible country in many sense.

To inform tapiapi that our heroic Navy sent their vessels to carry sugar to Sabah, now we should be out of sugar shortage :) This is also a reason why I'm against people logging our forest, just in case we're short of oxygen and our Navy needs to ship it to us :)

Good morning burry1883 you've been sleeping for too long, good to see you back bidding on the perforated North Borneo 25c stamp. Good luck.

A good Tenom post mark ???

2006-10-12T13:57:00.000+08:00

gantianexpress outbid tapiapi for this Tenom ??? postmark at a very reasonable price. I'd guess this is Tenom :)

I've been feeling lazy but have to make an effort to post a few more this month, otherwise tapiapi will think that I'm making tons of money out of our recent 'sugar shortage' :) But sugar is an 'controlled item' like many others that we cannot trade freely. Malaysia is a 'controlled' country, may be it'd be interesting to see how others look at us, so I will post something about Economic Freedom in Asia soon.

Heard from elopura that someone is coming to KK looking for a good investment in North Borneo stamps, don't we all ??? It would be interesting to know what he can find. I thought our 'hawkeye' gantianexpress has left no earth Unturned in KK :)

North Borneo 1909 REVENUE perfin

2006-09-30T12:57:00.000+08:00

pfc9 of UK outbidding rheinhold for this stamp, at approx. 40% higher than the 1939 perfin stamp I posted on 2nd June,2006. rheinhold should now appreciate the low price that he won the 1939 stamp which is much more difficult than this one, the 1939 perfin stamps are probably the most difficult of all North Borneo perfins, it will be interesting to see the outcome of the recent SSS auction of the 1939 perfin stamp.

Have been 'lazy' for a while, so I hope to 'make up' the losses next month if gantianexpress let me post a few photo from his Governor Goodge photo album. He has obtained a photo album from Ireland, I believe to belong to the last Governor of North Borneo that was compiled around Christmas 1962. Vast variety of subjects regarding North Borneo seen. A very comprehensive album that may justify an exhibition on its own :) Well done, my friend, you've put Sabah Museum to shame.

Our National Day without our Italian friend

2006-08-31T11:34:00.000+08:00

Last 'yam-cha' with our Italian friend two weeks ago when he returned to Sabah for holiday. I believe he's now back to UAE doing his job, blasting out mountains. Hope I can get him the T-shirt as shown, so that when I, gantianexpress, chephe and serilabuk are running after him, others will follow. Can't imagine that he's celebrating our National Day with us, after the way our immigration Dept. treating him :)

Can't forget trying to export 'rambutan' to UAE, if they're selling US$1.00 a piece, as informed, I can retire very soon, taking up a full-time stamp hunting job. Dream on......

bury1883 is going to China, hunting for stamps. Hope he'll pass KK on his way home, so that gantianexpress and I can rob him. Recommend bury1883 and sstawao to fly their national flags in front of SESB today and prey for continue supply of power.

Early used front - Labuan

2006-08-25T13:50:00.000+08:00

Nice early Labuan used North Borneo stamps on cover front won by gantianexpress, unfortunately made expensive by his dealer friend, psinger869.

Have not won anything from ebay lately, hope to have a 'jab-see-gai' or two to spice up my life. Expecting something from a UK ebay seller who is sending present :) Yes, there're still a lot of nice people around in this world. Hope to show a couple to you when the items arrive in Singapore. So, watch out for my next posting.

bury1883 is going to China soon, hunting for good North Borneo covers, wishing him all the luck and hope he doesn't forget to get a pair of the chopsticks I suggested earlier :)

North Borneo 1939 used Postage Due

2006-08-13T13:10:00.000+08:00

Not very sure about this postmark, less than 2 days to go, one bidder so far.

From last night's 'yim-cha' conversation, we've not been very successful recently, except gantianexpress won a nice N.Borneo used postcard unopposed.

Hope gantianexpress can get his 'snake killer stick' from the 'KPD tamu' this morning. Don't think any snake will come into my house, they can't survive my smelly shoes at the door step :)

gantianexpress was interested in finding an old American tomb stone in Weston, don't know when he's going to organize the trip. I'm more interested in finding the old Gaya and Gantian town sites first which are nearby.

North Borneo Imperial Airways Censor Cover

2006-08-11T13:13:00.000+08:00

Nice cover won by g-matang last month, hi CH I must come to see your collection in October. Hope you would let me scan some of them for my record :)

I have recently obtained a few 'Indonesia Confrontation' covers sent from Brunei, Singapore may be also from Sarawak, need to do some study to confirm it.

I see a North Borneo 1939 2 cent postage due used stamp currently on sale at ebay auction, having doubt about the postmark. Good luck to the current high bidder, sabahman, hope none of my friends from Sabah will be going for it. Will show the stamp on my next posting for your expert judgement.

The issue of 'mail lost' seems to continue and my friends are frustrated, hope serilabuk, chephe will make some comment or update the other frustrated Malaysian collectors with their latest information. May be they will ask for a service fee : Pre-1945 North Borneo cover or RM100.00 in cash :) If they do, I'd suggest that the payer to send the cover via email and cash by fax. Hahaha !

Agnes Keith's cover

2006-07-30T12:52:00.000+08:00

Good try gantianexpress but the cover will be kept in New Zealand till the next auction. Thought the 25c was the highest value available at local post offices for actual postal usage, the $ values were sold in London for collectors ??? Enlighten me, anyone ? if I'm wrong.

I bought a 1960's Labuan 'forces mail' cover from a UK seller that was lost in mail, recently received, in compensation, more than ten such 'forces mail' covers which the seller posted from Singapore and Malaya back to UK during the 'Confrontation with Indonesia' period. I feel so guilty that I have to go to Gaya Street fair to find some souvenir for him, got a native musical instrument (miniature) today, for more information, refer to North Borneo 1954 2 cent stamp. :)

Thought of going to Chendu, China in September, bury1883 didn't give me a chance to revoke, quickly confirmed that he'd go with me and force me to confirm a date. I now have to surf the Net for travel information. Anyone else interested ? Email me or leave a comment at this blog to let us know, the more the merrier :)

gantianexpress - buy-it-now

2006-07-23T14:05:00.001+08:00

gantianexprees got a bargain 'buy-it-now' deal, so he should have no more complain.

bury1883 and I have some recent complain about our work,

but after looking at the other photo that I've just received, it made me feel happier, at least we're not being shot at like that poor guy did. We should be grateful and think about the next trip you come to KK, I'll take you to eat more frogs :) Be happy !!!

Heard about sstawao's complain on the old subject : missing overseas mail, and that he was going to stop bidding at ebay. He just out bided me TODAY on a North Borneo cover. So don't take it too seriously when addicted ebayers like us talking about stop bidding at ebay, gantianexpress said the same after he won an expensive cover, chephe witness all that :) Good luck, suckers......

Rare post WWII North Borneo postmark

2006-07-14T13:13:00.000+08:00

capri412 won this one unchallenged, I thought bury1883 was going for it as he phone about this lot a few days before it closed. Seller's description : " This chop was used between 17.12.45 and possibly 27.6.46. The central slugs of the pre-war canceller were missing after the war, and these smaller ones were used until the new "Australian type" were supplied." A very nice trio of the HV of the set, well done capri412 !!!
bury1883 was in town yesterday, having dinner & coffee with me afterwards, he looked in high spirit, so I guess gantianexpress didn't sent out his dogs after all. bury1883 should be back to Tawau today in one piece :)

My lawyer friend has gone fishing today, so I get a breather too. I've been doing some ground-work for him for the passed few weeks and he passed on some of his work pressure to me at times, he better catch a few good fish today for my dinner or I'll make him pay for my future sea-food dinner :)

Will remain busy till August but I'll try to put in a few posting in between, if I get enough sleep. I know World Cup is finished, but some of my work has a date-line on 31st July !!! eerr...... work......

Answer to gantianexpress's question

2006-07-04T14:13:00.000+08:00

gantianexpress : "what happened to your bid???"

silamstar : " Did I bid and my bid disappeared ??? Don't know what happened. Will watch this lot lah, may be the seller doesn't like me. If you saw my bid earlier, that means Ebay bend the rules for the seller."

May be the seller revised his listing and my bidding was deleted in the process. Mind you, only the sellers pay for listing fees and commission, not the buyers. American (or Taiwanese) justice at work again ??? Life goes on, we're used to these. Just to remind suckers like me, trading at ebay is not that safe and just, in addition to our postal delivery hazard.

Tips to gantianexpress : bury1883 is coming to town in two weeks time. Do you need my socks for your dogs to identify 'friendlies' ??? Just in case I'm nearby the target.

A rare North Borneo cover ???

2006-06-30T15:17:00.000+08:00

I'm glad none of my friends went in for this RARE cover. THE REGISTER LABEL MAY NOT BE PART OF THE ORIGINAL COVER, IT MAY BE ADDED TO THE COVER AFTER THE STAMPS BEING CANCELLED. UNLESS THE POST MARK WERE FROM SYDNEY, THE REGISTER LABEL WASN'T VERY CONVINCING. THE SENDER'S ADDRESS BLACKEN OUT WHICH DID NOT HELP.

bury1883 phoned up last night, telling me his failed challenge with a 'richman', gantianexpress :) but he did make him paid an extra $100 ! I thought the 3rd highest bidder, owley1879's bidding was closer to my estimate. The next time bury1883 come to KK, he'll be chased by gantianexpress's dogs, that may be sent out to 'search & destroy', so don't come to my home until you're secured !!! Shall I show the cover in my next posting ??? ONLY ON POPULAR REQUESTS.

Talking about 'jab-see-gai'

2006-06-26T13:12:00.000+08:00

3 out of 4 bidders for this lot were from KK, chephe started the bidding, when out bid, gantianexpress and yours truly came in with snipes, eventually won by gantianexpress. The last stamp has a Silam pmk on it. I thought my friend was watching the World Cup whole night and I should have an edge over him, but obviously underestimated him when it comes to stamps :)

g-matang is still having trouble with his new house, this matter has been nagging him for quite some time now, hope it can be sorted out soon, but it hasn't affect his appetite for good covers and postmarks as I've noted. Keep up the spirit (not alcohol !)

g-matang done it again !!!

2006-06-23T12:52:00.000+08:00

g-matang has been doing very well lately, not only winning this beautify LAWAS single line pmk, also won a very nice North Borneo 'Imperial' airmail cover. No wonder we've nothing to show you when you come to KK, you've won them all :)

gantianexpress has been fairly quiet, may be the World Cup is killing his eye-sight :) but bury1883 is waken by some nice covers, good luck to him. tapiapi has won a National Geographic VHS video tape ? my tape player had been out of action for years, hope he can get it converted to VCD format so that I can also view it. Not so sure about the NG magazine he won though, is there an interesting article about Borneo ?

Sold a stamp at ebay to tedming5o4b, a local collector who is coming to collect the stamp personally, guess we'll have one more friend.

World Cup 2006 is here !

2006-06-19T17:46:00.000+08:00

Many of my friends seem to have disappeared for the past week, may be they stayed at home like the cats do. gantianexpress was reluctant to come out for 'yim cha' last Saturdays night and went home earlier than usual eventually. Can't really blame him for that, he had his last leg of his 6-match accumulator going. Good luck to him and those ebayers who collect the same areas he does.

For those who drink soft drinks like I do, and want to know how they bottle them in some poor countries, I have some pictures that may change your drinking habit. Email for them.

Will be busy again till end of July, but will try to squeeze in something whenever I can.

My odd-ball

2006-06-13T13:41:00.000+08:00

Having this for as long as I can remember, source cannot be recalled, must have exchanged it from someone else when I was a kid. The 1931 must be the sheet number printed low. The stamp has full gum, unhinged, same colour as the tea stain on my teeth :) Intelligent (or stupid) guess is welcomed, for the fun of it.

tapiapi has recently won a N.E. Borneo Sultanates "Iron Bullet Money", odder than my odd-ball. Must be an interesting subject, I wonder if sstawao has any information on it, since it's here his 'turf'.

Received a 'missed call' from bury1883, inviting me to join his chopstick hunting trip to Shanghai ???

tapiapi's Jesselton G.P.O. pmk

2006-06-10T13:58:00.000+08:00

A nice G.P.O. pmk on the 10 cent stamp, lot won by tapiapi , beating gantianexpres, who has it on cover already, a few bucks for this lot, it must be cheap !!! He is trying to 'jab-see-gai' :) (For those who don't understand HAKKA, 'jab-see-gai' means 'picking up a dead chicken' i.e getting it for free !!!)

Remember a few years back, bury1883 asked me to let him go for the similar pmk that realized about twice the amount, for just one stamp, that tapiapi is now paying for this lot. Well done tapiapi !!!

World Cup has started, it will leave many of us with insufficient sleep therefore affecting our eye sight. Hopefully there'll be less 'hawk-eyes' at ebay, and I determine to watch replays only, to gain an edge over the 'hawk-eyes' :)

g-matang's trophy

2006-06-08T14:06:00.000+08:00

This was the pair with the KUDAT pmk, I was shot down by g-matang, with capri412 in between.

Won one lot from an Italian seller that I believe to have a few such pmk, the scan was blur, but my hawk-eye friend, gantianexpress, later confirmed that he saw at least a SIBU and a SANDAKAN in the lot.

Now my 400 gallons water reserve tank is completed at home, my Mum is very happy. Only have to solve the power problem, but how to catch an orangutan to work the generator ???

Received a +VE feedback from elopura for the stamp he bought from me. It read : "Thank you! Unique item destined for the philatelic hall of fame!" He seems to be thrilled by the 'April fool' pmk :) (see my 22nd May posting)

Hi-tech noodle eating tool for bury1883

2006-06-05T12:18:00.000+08:00

Here you're... bury1883... you can now eat your Korean noodle in a much higher speed. I think it can be improved with conveyer belt added to the bowl, what do you think ???

Sorry bury1883 I was out-snipe by g-matang on the pair with Kudat straight line pmk. I thought he has it on cover already, but received his email this morning saying that he wasn't very sure it was 'KUDAT' he has, looks like he needs to re-organize his huge collection, by the way, my own memory is not that reliable neither :) , also shot was another sniper, capri412.

Well, at least I won one lot with a BROOKETON pmk on a Labuan stamp, paying through the nose as usual, as far as North Borneo pmk is concern, missesval is no longer a push-over, a strong contender is emerging.

gantianexpress - the sniper strikes

2006-06-04T15:18:00.000+08:00

Last night at our 'yim-cha' session, gantianexpress said he felt the 'tooth-ache' after winning the 7 bars lot at a high price. I told him that I was made to pay through my nose when I got my copy, that's life.... man. It's full strike, very clear 7 bars plus a perfect Tawao cds, I'm sure the 2nd highest bidder will be kicking himself losing the bid, so be grateful, my friend, there're many still looking for their first copy :)

This is a very busy weekend at ebay for the North Borneo collectors, some nice lots went to our fellow collectors like gantianexpress, higgijon, capri412, tapiapi. I too have a couple of snipes, hopefully will go on target within the next hour.

Oh yeah, before I forget, I found something for bury1883 to eat his Korean noodles with. Watch out for my next post, friend, you'll have something to shop for, in your next trip to China, don't let your wife do all the spending :)

Won by the skin of my teeth

2006-06-03T15:02:00.000+08:00

Beat another Australian sniper by 3 cents to win this lot, won't get in the snipe if he wasn't a sniper like me :) bury1883 seemed to enjoy the thrill when I told him.

This is the second Singapore used in Cocos Islands cover I have, still looking for one used in Christmas Island.

There's a North Borneo lot with a 7 bars cancel, closing in an hour, I believe the snipers will dive in to this lot and I'll be watching the event very closely :) I already have it, so I'll only be a spectator this time :)

chephe is compiling a report regarding overseas ordinary mail lost, to PosMalaysia, Kota Kinabalu, any additional statistic furnished by fellow victims will be very much appreciated.

Snipers dived in

2006-06-02T14:35:00.000+08:00

Borneo 1939 perforated REVENUE attracted 4 snipers, including our friends higgijon, bury1883, gantianexpress eventually won by rheinhold, at a much lower price than SSS auction realization.

Received a phone call from bury1883 after the auction closed regarding the stamp, I confirmed that I didn't join the fun, I already own one exactly the same.

Email tapiapi 10 minutes before the auction closed, suggested that I would expect higgijon and gantianexpress to snipe. Not at all surprised to see bury1883 to come in for a 'jab-see-gai' :)

bury1883's flowers

2006-05-30T14:16:00.000+08:00

bury1883 has been buying flower seeds over the net, hope his flowers come out with the expected colour or I'll have to call up my little niece again, she likes to colour up things, gantianexpress won't let her do it on his stamps and covers though. I did not see bury1883's flowers during my last trip to Tawau, may be wasn't very successful.

I'm planting a variety of chili, will be getting a new variety from Australia when my niece returns in June. I like those really hot ones, will give some to bury1883, that should go well with his Korean mee and tiger prawns :)

Saw an offer of a few blocks of North Borneo 1947 with sheet numbers at ebay auction, will try to scan one with the number printed on the stamp, that should be interesting, don't you think ???

Clue to Tawau black-out ???

2006-05-26T12:36:00.000+08:00

Found a case history for black-out, bury1883... May be you should get sstawao to put the Orang Utan to the wheel instead ??? You may then industrialize Tawau if you plant enough bananas, not for you two but for the Orang utan :)

bury1883... there're 2 stamps on piece with the Kudat pmk, may be we can share ??? Don't cut horizontally !!!! I need 1 stamp with the pmk, not 2 halves, I know 2 halves = to 1.

My visitors are returning to Singapore this evening, so I guess I'd have more time on the net then. gantianexpress is now doing 5-day/week, must get him 'yim-cha' more often than just Saturday nights which very often rain.

Have not attended to serilabuk's business proposal, he must have thought that I struck it rich already, by selling my stamps ???? Just a dream, my friend, don't take it too seriously :) Will phone you when I get gantianexpress to 'yim-cha'.

g-matang's experience in India

2006-05-24T15:59:00.000+08:00

Out-gunned by another sniper today, so did g-matang during his trip to India. he's now safely returned to Singapore, with his permission, I post part of his email regarding his trip for your amusement :
"Back from India yesterday - not a place to go for a holiday (I was on business) unless one is prepared to put up with all sorts of bugs and car and cow traffic. The VVIP room at the world renown Indian Institute of Technology was crawling with huge coachroaches and bed bugs!! A thunder storm knocked out the power supply in the middle of the night and the room was like a furnace (it was Indian Summer)! One member of our delegation got stung by a hornet and was in great agony. We rushed her to a clinic and the "doctor" - could not speak English, gave her a jab on the backside, watched by a dozen of curious and sympathetic onlookers. I think the exposure of her backside to so many strangers caused her more anguish than the hornet's sting! I was more concerned over possible allergic shock and I had to ring Australia and Singapore to get some medical help. As a lad growing up in Sibu Sarawak, I got stung many times and the usual treatment was to rush for the nearest pee pot and immersed my hand or whichever part of the body into the stinking liquid (the stronger the smell, the better) for 10 minutes or so. The ammonia apparently did the trick. I forgot about this treatment. There were mountains of cow dung everywhere (processed into pancakes and laid out for sun baking) and surely that (especially freshly laid ones) must have worked equally well. The damage (one syringe, one capsule of steroid and one capsule of anti-histimine drugs, plus one prescription) came to a princely sum of 50 Rupees or MR4!"

We should be grateful to live in Sabah, bury1883, I've found the possible cause for the frequent black-out in Tawau. WATCH-OUT for my next posting !!!

elopura bought my stamp

2006-05-23T12:59:00.000+08:00

elopura bought my stamp with a SANDAKAN April fool dated pmk. He's no fool but a knowledgeable and humorous collector in fact. Wish he would comment on my blog so as to share the fun with you all.

bury1883 phone up to complain their black-out this morning again in Tawau. We seem to have sufficient power for the passed few days here in KK, hope it wasn't due to their sacrifice. :)

Grounded again yesterday due to the defect of the spare part used on the previous repair, bury1883 didn't forget to tell me to change my car this morning :)

Rude Orang Utan

2006-05-20T16:08:00.001+08:00

I do not know if this Orang Utan ever caught V.D. but I know Sandakan Health Dept. had been working efficiently, they cancelled our North Borneo stamps since long ago.

Who taught this fellow all these ? Of course I'd suspect gantianexpress but he's so far away, and bury1883 is nearer to Sandakan, then again, sstawao goes into the jungle more often than any of us, that makes him the prime suspect. Right ?!!! :)

chephe told me this morning that his assume lost registered letter was found, it arrived in February 2006 !!! He also received an ordinary airmail from Switzerland that takes him out of the 'total lost' category. Well done, chephe !!!

Health Dept. SANDAKAN 1904

2006-05-19T10:31:00.000+08:00

Obtained one of this chop in year 2000 on a 1888 50c stamp that's not showing very well on a violet background. Hope the 'hawk eyes' can see the 'TH' on this chop I recently acquired. Found this quite interesting, not very sure if this had anything to do with the 'one track sexy mind' of some of our Orang Utan (watch out for my next blog, photo of the Orang Utan is on the way).

Received a phone call last night from bury1883 regarding the Black-out, was informed that they had an over 24hr black-out on Monday in Tawau, and proudly announced that he and sstawao survived it and were ready for the next one in the near future. SALUTE to the survivors of the wild wild East !!!

Black-out and Dry-up in Sabah

2006-05-17T15:06:00.000+08:00

We had a black-out from about 9.30 p.m. for just over an hour last night, gantianexpress probably slept already and chephe might be having canddlelight dinner with the wife anyway, so it might not affect them so much, not sure about serilabuk if his area was affected.

No water this morning when I left home, hope the supply will return when I get home this evening. I drink Coca-cola or Pepsi and learn to cook with them, so it won't affect me so much. If the BN thinks that I'll support them like the Taiwanese support Chan-suibian, I probably will, the Sabahan are stupid anyway.

Those who planned to retire in Sabah are having serious thinking, that's the latest information I received :)

Got my recent winning (via Singapore address), it looks like the 13 bars of Sandakan (Proud K1) in red. Am I attracted to colourful stuff like gantianexpress already ???

Received an email from g-matang today, so he's OK. He's going to India tonight for one week, hope he's his own food & drinks supply with him from Singapore :)

PosMalaysia mail lost

2006-05-12T13:16:00.000+08:00

serilabuk attached this scan of newspaper cutting with his recent email that I think is worth reading. Double click your mouse at the picture to get a better viewing.

Mail lost has been affecting us for a long time already and is getting worse, according to gantianexpress and chephe, nearly 100% lost of their overseas ordinary mail since February, 2006. To be fair to PosMalaysia, security of sorting office at KLIA should be investigated as well. I do not know how efficient is our Government, but luggage lost is frequent and well known all over the world for years already. Though I believe most of us are honest but cannot deny the fact that there are too many cases happening at KLIA that disgrace Malaysia. I can assure you that there will be more than just postal staff that will need weeding out. Malaysian’s dignity is on the firing line, workers at airports all over Malaysia are exporting it, of course PosMalaysia also has its contribution :) Our Government doesn't seem to care about it ???

Education failure is taking effect, very soon we'll be like those Taiwanese who will not tell their true nationality whenever possible, due to shame and they're the 'good' ones who'll feel shameful. We have too many Malaysian qualified to be President of Taiwan ? May be that's the success story of our education system :) God bless Malaysia.

BANDAU North Borneo pmk

2006-05-10T14:57:00.000+08:00

Have not posted for some time. Thought I'd shsre my latest arrival of the BANDAU pmk with you, this lot came with TENOM and TAMPARULI which are also good.

Just received a SMS from 'chephe' reporting his latest lost of registered letter via our super PosMalaysia. Hope he can get a claim somewhere. My 1939 issue from Argintina is still on the way but the seller has responded my enqiry and provided me with a tracking number, at least he told me he posted the registered letter 5 days later than I expected, i.e. there's still hope :)

Last meeting with gantianexpress, chephe and serilabuk two of them complaining near total lost of rodinary mail from overseas. Looks like we have serious collectors working at KLIA or our post office.

Last received an email from g-matang sending from Kuching on 29th April, having fight with his contractor.

chephe's jab-see-gai

2006-05-03T12:04:00.000+08:00

chephe, hope they come with original gum, real beauty. Can't win any good North Borneo lately, might venture into your 'turf'. Saw your wife at Karamunsing yesterday while you were parking your car.

Thanks gantianexpress , I'm bidding on the cover, keep them coming but I won't bid high, you should do the same.

Hope g-matang won his fight with the contractor and return to Singapore in one piece :)

DOES NOT LOOK LIKE Proud D4

2006-05-01T13:43:00.000+08:00

Lot closed but it didn't look like the Proud D4 in my book, as described by the Australian seller. Must verify with gantianexpress, he has the latest copy of the E.Proud book.

chephe has won some nice high value Straits stamps last week, will make some money re-selling them, especially if they come with full gum. Will show the scan next time.

Have not heard from bury1883 since he lost the Beaufort cover to g-matang who is fighting his contractor that failed to complete his house which started 2 years ago. May be we should ask 'Wong-see-fu' (gantianexpress) to help him :)

My 'jab-see-gai' on 18.04.2006

2006-04-28T11:59:00.000+08:00

Having problem with my car, OK, gantianexpress, I know you told me to buy a new car.

Must show you part of the Br.Commonwealth lot I won earlier that included a set North Borneo 1939 mint. Hope it'll arrive from Argintina by 'certified' mail. Well, no pain no gain, some smart ass told me, guess the few sleepless night may be worthwhile, if it ever arrives.

Hi gantianexpress our Gantian pmk on Labuan stamps might get on to SSS journal soon. Will try to get the scan of your copy this weekend.

Sarawak perfin

2006-04-22T12:58:00.000+08:00

Just sold a Sarawak perfin stamp on ebay won by higgijon for a few bucks. Knowing nothing about the stamp, hope someone will enlighten me. It's good to show that good stuff can be found from my auction (sometimes), I don't filter my pee.

Just won a 'jab-see-gai' lot from Argintina & gantianexpress already email me "!@#$%^ so f**king lucky". I hope to see his own 'jab-see-gai' Borneo cover tonight, he said already arrived.

serilabuk is quite active at ebay recently, hope he's doing well.

serilabuk done it again !!!

2006-04-19T11:04:00.000+08:00

bury1883 was wondering if I got my keyboard that I've not written for a few days. The answer is : the manufacturer retained it for his own use, he needed it more tha me !

Well done serilabuk you're selling your good stuff ??? I know gantianexpress is waiting for your 'DOLLAP' $10 stamp :) Couldn't get him on the phone whole day yesterday, may be he went into some 'kampong' looking for stamps, being a 'serious' collector, as he put it. Good luck to him. He hasn't answered my email regarding if he made offer for a small collection that I suspected he did.

Looking for a new keyboard

2006-04-12T11:14:00.000+08:00

My keyboard upper case key (shift) is not working properly, so I've been looking for a new keyboard, some smart ass suggested that I should get one with a 'panic key' as shown, which may be very useful to me, damn it !

We have all sort of fantasy about stamps & postmarks, this type of keyboard is acceptable, right ? gantianexpress ?

Fake pmk at ebay ???

2006-04-09T12:01:00.000+08:00

Saw a North Borneo lot by an Italian seller, starting at GB19.00. Nice 1901 postmarks applied to stamps issued in 1909 ??? I'm watching this lot, just hope that none of my friend is going for it. Good luck to the suckers !!!

Won a cover from serilabuk , must pay him quickly, he's already given me a +ve feedback for free. No yim-cha last night due to rain, must contact the gang by phone in the next few days.

Good job ! serilabuk

2006-04-08T13:12:00.000+08:00

Nice cover sold by serilabuk today, Singaporean are bidding up some nice covers lately, but some Sabahan like gantinaexpress and sstawao are doing OK.

I'm bidding your 'Jesselton' cover, serilabuk. If the Singaporean wants it, pay a bit higher lah... no jab-see-gai.

Hope it's not raining tonight, chephe, gantianexpress, serilabuk and I can go for our regular saturday night 'yim-cha'.

Nice North Borneo cersor cover.

2006-04-06T11:11:00.000+08:00

Not good enough gantianexpress, it's going to stay in NZ. But the winner must be feeling the pinch, you convince me once again that it's cheaper to make a rubber stamp :)

bury1883 has been very quiet since his last attempt on the Japanese Occupation stamps that won by tapiapi, hope he recovered from the defeat. Last heard from him 10 days ago, very busy with his work, looks like he's accumulating 'bullets' for the next round of 'spraying lead' ?

gantianexpress strikes again !!!

2006-04-05T12:36:00.001+08:00

Well done, gantianexpress must show it to me when it arrives by double registration, in view of our PosMalaysia service quality, and if it ever gets through KLIA un-stolen !!!

My friend's grandpa must be preaching there then, and recommending the importing of Hakka laborers. Hope he still has some old photo that he can lend me to put on this blog.

I'm still waiting for gantianexpress to organize a trip to locate the actual Gantian site. I'm preparing a banner "Gantian waz 'ere", as I promised. It'll be an interesting photo to show.

chephe...chephe...chephe...

2006-03-31T11:04:00.000+08:00

Went for a jab-see-gai snipe for this nice stamp, chephe also came in with a snipe, luckily he won it with a reasonable margine for a re-sell profit. !@#$%^& chephe !!!

It had been raining almost everyday this week, hope it won't rain this Satuday night, our 'yam-cha' night & we'd already missed the last weekend, gantianexpress, phone me if I don't call up by 9.15 p.m. I sometimes get carried away if there's a good TV program on.

Snipers' party

2006-03-29T13:08:00.000+08:00

sstawao was seating on this one from the beginning, beautiful postcard used with Sandakan sq.circle pmk. Last minute snipers came in like flies landing on shit. Sorry sstawao, no jab-see-gai, better luck next time.

I have not won any good North Borneo lot for a while now, my estimate is out of date and there are too many hawkeyes at ebay nowaday. Must be time for selling ?

Japanese Occupation 8cent.

2006-03-28T12:57:00.000+08:00

Wow... nice one won by 'tapiapi', withstanding the strong challenge from 'elopura'. Looks like I should re-consider the offer by 'bury1883', at a lower price. Oooi.... bury1883... fatt loh, I know you have 20-30 pieces of these.

Congratulation, 'gantianexpress', you won a jab-see-gai covers lot with a very good North Borneo cover in it. You lucky !@#$%^&, may be you should show it to sstawao ?

Well done, bury1883 !!!

2006-03-25T13:57:00.000+08:00

I don't mean you're over cooked, 'bury1883', but I thought 'g-matang' has this pmk on cover already ? May be other towns, I can't be sure now. It's a 'hard to get' pmk for sure. Celebrating your ebay success in Shanghai, perhaps ?

Saw my other friend, 'tapiapi', won the other one, KUDAT similar pmk. Congratulation, Jon !

Must sort out something for sale this weekend, to provide myself 'bullets' for 'jab-see-gai' at ebay. Not an easy task thesedays, North Borneo material is hot hot hot !

Who sent me this pic !!!???

2006-03-24T12:20:00.000+08:00

Someone sent me this pic. I've never eaten a cat, but would love to eat this cheeky little bastard, and the sender afterwards. Having said that, it must be the best pic I received to date.

'gantianexpress', we'll see the realization of the North Borneo postage due in a few days, I know your fingers are itching.

'bury1883', there's a 7 day trip to Shanghai in May at reasonable price (cost less than your Silam cover) if you can't sit still in Tawau.

Have been a bit busy, hope to have more time by the end of next week. Happy hunting and lucky bidding to all my ebayers friends.

Murut and Dayak hunters

2006-03-21T13:16:00.000+08:00

Won these two stamps yesterday, with 'Parcel Post ' and 'Mail Train' cancels.

Wondering what these hunters can hunt these days in Sabah's jungle, other than those wild boars living off oilpalm seeds in the plantations (provided that they're not shot entering the plantations). Will be interesting to find out from the remains of unrecorded animals they hunted long ago, now vanished.

Nice colour, gantianexpress.

2006-03-18T13:57:00.000+08:00

Looks like you're addicted to colourful stuff, gantianexpress. I still think the green colour on this stamp looks more 'comfortable'. Nonetheless, you've added a very collectable item to your collection.

bury1883 doesn't seem to be bidding much recently, may be busy entertaining his son-in-law :) Hope he doesn't grow mushroom on this collection, but occasion sunbathing for his collection is not recommended, original colour preferred.

North Borneo stamps at ebay are getting expensive, I have not been able to 'jab-see-gai' recently. May have to re-adjust my valuation to have any success in the future.

Colourful cover of gantianexpress

2006-03-16T12:18:00.000+08:00

I email gantianexpress after he won this cover : "Have I missed anything ?"
The reply was simple : "Colourful".
'Jar-dau', being a good friend, I had to offer the free service of colour-up all his covers by my little niece if he wants.

'I like it, so what ?' I like your attitude, gantianexpress, you're a true collector. Salute !!! You'll be even more respectable, if one day you show me your collection of ant's private part :)