The International Bornean Frog Race 2014, Kuching Sarawak

Last 2 months, I was invited to The International Bornean Frog Race event at Kuching, Sarawak. I was very excited as that was my very first time been to Sarawak. And of course, my first time attending such an event. Initially, I thought that was truly frog racing competition but no..... Continue reading and you will know :P

上两个月，我受邀出席在古晋举办的国际婆罗洲青蛙比赛。这是我第一次到砂捞越，心情超兴奋的。在加上，这也是我第一次参与该项活动。起初我以为是青蛙竞赛可是不...继续阅读你就知道了:P

We took our flight at LCCT (yeap my first and last flight here before it closed and moved to KLIA 2) to Kuching and the whole journey was about 1 1/2 hours. We had some city tours during the first day and the second day we headed over Kubah National Park to cover the event.

我们在LCCT（第一次也是最后一次在这儿搭）搭飞机过去古晋，整个行程大约1小时半。 第一天我们就只是在城市兜兜，第二天我们才过去Kubah 国家公园参与活动。

Kubah National Park is gazetted as a national park on 11 May 1989 and opened to the public in 1999. It is one of the smallest national parks in Sarawak covering an area of only 2230 ha. It is rated the richest palm site on earth renowned by Dr John Dransfield. 

Kubah 国家公园在5月11日1989年公报为国家公园，1999年才开放给公众参观。这是砂捞越内最小的国家公园，占地只有2230公顷。但是它被Dr John Dransfield誉为全球最富有的棕榈地。

Kubah is a Malay name for the dome. The name is chosen by our former chief minister of Sarawak. It is in reference to the shape of the 5 mountains representing the park, namely Mt Serapi, Mt Bawang, Mt. Matang, Mt. Selang and Mt. Kayan. 

Kubah 是翻译自马来文，拱顶的意思。这名字是由前任首长所选的。这名字是参考公园内的5个山脉形状包括Serapi 山, Bawang 山, Matang 山, Selang 山 以及 Kayan 山.

The Bornean Frog Race is celebrated every year on the last weekend of April since 2012. The first Bornean Frog Race was held at the Permai Rainforest Resort, on the evening of 28 April 2012. The event comprised exhibitions, talks and a race to document amphibians in Gunung Santubong National Park. The second larger event was held on 27 April 2013. The race was organized by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC). The event coincides with the annual "Save the Frogs Day" (www.savethefrogs.com/day), a global event celebrated in over 30 countries, to highlight conservation issues facing the world's amphibians.

自2012年起，婆罗洲的青蛙竞赛是每年的四月最后一个周末庆祝的。第一届的婆罗洲青蛙竞赛是在2012年4月28日，Permai Rainforest Resort举办。活动包括展览，讲座和一项记录Gunung Santubong National Park两栖动物的比赛。第二届较大的活动是于2013年4月27日举办。这项比赛是由Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)与Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC)联合举办。这活动与一年一度的“拯救青蛙节”（www.savethefrogs.com/日）撞在一起，它是一个全球性在30多个国家的庆祝活动，点亮世界两栖动物的保护问题。

The race entails participants walking a trail at the Mount Serapi foothills within Kubah National Park, for a period of 2 hours and returning with digital images of amphibians. Prizes and certificate will be given to participants for the following categories:

1. Most number of amphibian species found

2. Rarest amphibian found

3. Best amphibian photo taken (DSLR, compact camera and phone categories) 

在这比赛，参赛者必须沿着Serapi的山脚道路，在两小时内捕抓到两栖动物的影像。奖品和奖状将会依据以下类别颁发给参赛者：

1.最多两栖动物品种寻获者

2.最稀有两栖动物品种寻获者

3.最佳两栖动物拍摄者 (专业单反相机，傻瓜相机和手机类别）

  

Aren't they super cute? 

他们可爱吗？

But they are not for sale. They gave out to kids.

但是他们不是售卖的。主办单位是拿来送给这里的小孩。

First time so close distance and face to face with the tadpole.

第一次那么近距离和面对面对着蝌蚪。 

There was an exhibition room with all kinds of frog merchandizes include stamps. However, the stamps were not available for sell...LOL

这是展览室，里面摆放青蛙的各类商品包括邮票。但是很可惜这里的邮票是没有出售的...哈哈

Visitors also can choose to stay a night at the park if they want. Different types of accommodation provided tailored to everyone's need.

游客可以选择是否要留宿在这国家公园内。有各式各样的住宿供选择。

Various species of Pitcher plants

各样品种的猪笼草

After a simple introduction of the park, we are then taught about the frogs. This is really something interesting that I never know. So we began with the physiology of the frogs.

一番简单的公园介绍后，接下来的讲座都是关于青蛙的一切。对于没有研究的我，这是非常有趣的演讲。所以我们先从青蛙的生态说起。

The giant frog :O 

庞大的青蛙 :O

and the tiny frog 

以及非常渺小的青蛙 

everything about frogs 

关于青蛙的一切 

frogs used in drug industry

青蛙在药物界的用途

Other than that, a basic photography class by professional was held.

除此以外，当天也有一个专业人员教导的普通摄影课程。

At night, after taking our dinner and the sky darken, the race started. 

晚餐后，天色渐渐灰暗，比赛正式开始。 

But before we went into the jungle, we need to step both of our shoes in a basin with Potassium Permanganate to make sure we did not bring any diseases to the frogs. This was really surprising and showed they were very conscious in protecting the frogs.

在我们还没进入森林内前，我们必须把双脚的鞋底浸入装着 

高锰酸钾的盆内以确保我们不把疾病带给这里的青蛙。这令我很惊讶也显示他们在保护青蛙方面很有自觉性。

 

 The park is so dark without any light. LOL...I had not been informed that they were having the race at night and thus I did not bring any torchlight with me. Quite scary when I was alone and I always stick with other participants with lighting equipment.

在没有灯光的照耀下，这公园非常得黑暗。哈哈...我是没有被告知说比赛在晚间举办所以我没有带任何的手电筒。当我独自一人的时候，这感觉真的很害怕，所以我都一直紧贴着有备灯而来的参赛者。

 

The participants were very aggressive. Regardless of the dirt and dangers that might arise, they just went down the drain to look for the frogs. 

有些参赛者真的很认真。不怕肮脏和有机的危险，他们竟然跑下沟渠去寻找青蛙。

The signboard at the roadside when we walking uphill (but at total darkness, how many of us will notice?)

在上山时，路旁的告示牌 （但是在完全黑暗中，谁会察觉？）

Along the way up, we saw lots of people squatting at the roadside and taking pictures. We took a close look and found they were taking a frog's picture. 

一路向上的时候，我们看到很多人蹲在路边拍照。我们近距离看才发现他们在拍着青蛙的照片。 

Can you spot the frog in this picture?  Imagine this in total darkness 

你可以看到这照片内的青蛙吗？想象你是在全暗的情况下发现他

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That's the camouflaged frog at the ground among all the dead leaves. One needs to have sharp eyes to spot it. 

在许多的枯叶内，有只伪装的青蛙。你必须要有很厉害的视觉才发现它。

After 45 minutes of walking uphills, we reached the natural frog pond in the park. I heard we can find a lot of frogs here.

走了大概45分钟一路向上的山路，我们便抵达公园内的青蛙天然池塘。据说这里是青蛙聚集的地方。

Some pictures of frogs that I able to capture that night ^^

这是我当晚拍到的一些照片 ^^ 

It was very adorable, clung the tree branch with closed eyes and I wonder if it was sleeping

这只非常可爱，它闭着眼睛依附着那支树枝，我真在想它是否在睡觉呢

Comparing bird watching and frog race, frogs are easier to capture, they are static and not moving even though we flashed a lot of light on them. (Haha I was quite worried previously if they would jump to our bodies after disturbance but totally no) Overall, they are not as scary as we thought of.

相较观鸟活动和青蛙竞赛，青蛙是比较容易捕抓的动物。当我们一直把光打在它的身上时，它一动也不动，一直保持同样的姿态。（哈哈之前我还担心他们是否被我们打扰后会跳去我们的身体但是完全没有） 总结就是，他没有我们想象那么恐怖。

At 9pm, participants must get back to the centre to submit their photos and form. 

9点晚正，参赛者必须回去会所交上他们的照片和表格。

Congrats to all winners. This race gave me a lot of insights about frogs and I gained wonderful experience here! Last but not least, I wish to thank Tune Hotel, AirAsia, Tourism Sarawak and Planet Borneo for their sponsors and hospitality. 

我要恭喜所有的参赛者。这比赛让我对青蛙有了新的见解同时我也在这里获得不少宝贵的经验！最后，我要特别感谢Tune Hotel, AirAsia, 砂捞越旅游局以及Planet Borneo的赞助和款待。