This is the route we took this time around...
Saturday, up from Sipitang to Tenom. Yes, the road was steep, but it was not that bad if you know how to handle your car. Breaking is not just about stepping on the break pedal and hanging on to dear life. It's also about controlling the speed of your car with your gears. When you know if is going downhill, quit pushing the gas pedal and shift to a lower gear. Yes, your engine will roar, but your break pads won't heat up and malfunction and kill you and everyone in the car with you.
On the way up we found this spot where there wind blew like there was a wind tunnel and the view ofd the cliff was spectacular. I wish I own that place so I can build a retreat there and wake up to that view every day for the rest of my life. It was spectacular; greenest of green, bluest of blue skies and whitest of whites. What else is there? Oh the wind... I've never been to the highlands of Tibet, but that was probably close.
We visited the Taman Pertanian, Then on to Keningau, through the unfinished road up to Kalabakan, which was a 250km stretch of gravel and dust. That took us 5 hours at 40kmph and keeping my fingers crossed that my car wouldn't be acting up with me being so severe with it. There it was in all its purple loneliness traversing such rough roads only 4x4 dared to roam. There were the occasional Kancil and Iswara's inching their way up and down the lonely and dusty road, but they all looked so beat up, they worry me as much as they comforted me, knowing that help won't be too far away if the need arises.
We stopped for some gas at a lonely stop over, in the middle of nowhere. RM30 worth of petrol just to get us to the nearest town.
We passed by Maliau Basin on the way there. Would be a good idea to call ahead and book yourself a guide and spend a few days trekking through its verdant virgin jungle. I have a book given to me by JEB which was a present he didn't really care about I guess. I'll spend some time reading it soon.
We stopped for some photos and after replenishing the milk bottle for the kitten(they came along since the mommy kitty died three days before we left for this trip) and zipped on to Tawau. Not before stopping again at Kalabakan for some more gas, which was fed into the tank via fifteen platic soda bottles.
From there, no more gravel road and being able to drive at normal speeds really pumped up our morale after having been shaken and stirred and everything in between inside the care up the five-hour long trek along the gravelly road.
As we approached the town, we found a mamak style restaurant and decided it was high time we stopped for a meal. Everyone was famished so we pleased to be able to have somewaht familiar foods that evening which consisted of nasi briyani and chicken korma.
With stomachs full, we went on into the town of Tawau and checked in to King Lee hotel. Tried calling other hotels while we stopped for dinner but they were all booked out. Decided to gamble it, and found this gem of a place. Everything about the hotel was new. I'm not sure if it was new or just newly renovated, but anyone planning to go to Tawau should consider staying there because the rooms are newly furnished, spacious and not expensive at all.
The next day, we drove around town a little bit, had breakfast and went to Pasar Besar Tawau. I have been there once, so I just let the others check it out, while I stocked up on supplied for hygiene. Traveling with five kittens can be quite dirty. Armed with Dettol multicleaner and some kitchen towels, the rest of the trip felt so much cleaner and fresher both for me and the rest of the crew.
On the way out, we stopped at the airport for some cash and a loo break. Can't help but went to see the gift shops and got ourselves some cute tees; I chose a white one cuz white feels cooler while the others got some black ones and another white one and everyone had the same cute green big-headed turtle on it. Made us look like a team, which was cute.
We had some time to stop for some deer soup on the way out. Yeah, right outside the airport, there is a quaint little restaurant painted red all over, run by these pleasant Indonesian ladies who are always ready for a joke or two with the patrons. Not sure if they were really Indonesians though but they sure sound like them. This place is quite famous for its deer soup. I've been there only once before the last time I was there with Zana, Mimi, Saiful and Gossipzilla.
Next stop, was Sempoerna. I have such fond memories from the last two times I was there with my sister, friends and the forgettable N.
Planned to stay there overnight, so we can book a boat to go snorkeling on Mabul, Kapalai, Mataking or Sipadan even. But somehow we changed our minds. Honestly it was the rubbish that had put the crew off the idea. Sempoerna, as I remembered it, had never been the cleanest of towns, but now even the wonderful Dragon Inn is getting worse as visitors and restaurant operators keep dumping trash into the sea. It is such a sad thing to see the fish in the enclosure swimming amongst the garbage thrown in by visitors. People can be so ignorant if what a gift they have been given. I really hope the municipal council will open their eyes soon and take action so it doesn't get any worse, if not better.
We drove on to Lahad Datu and spent the night at Grace Hotel which used to be a member of the Residence group of hotels. The rooms although a little dated, is still clean and spacious. Since we got the executive suite, we got the room with king sized bed and a space for a coffee table. The next day, we visited Sandakan.
On the way there, we went over the bridge that went over the Kinabatangan river. A litte further down the road, we stopped by at these caves where the natives kept the coffins of their dearly depart. The coffins were carved out of tree trunks and for some of the more higher ranking members of the society, they even have buffalo heads into the coffin, making it look a little more extravagant than the rest. And these, the ones with the buffalo heads carved into them are stored in the highest cave. The rest were just arranged in the bigger cave down below. The ones higher up had some bees hovering and perched on them... some fresh sweet nectar from the dead, I presume. Yums?
These coffins looks almost like the ones that belong to the natives in the Indonesian Islands called the Toraja. Well, i am no archeologist. I saw those on NGC a few months prior. I might be wrong.
We climbed quite a few flights of stairs into the clouds... heh! Not really, but the trek up the wooden staircases left me in a puddle of sweat, panting and gasping for air. I am so out of shape... But it was all worth the effort as we were granted the gift of the surrounding view.
That is the highest summit for miles around so we could see the surrounding areas. Sadly, the lush greenery of the natural jungles have been replaced by miles upon miles of oil palms. As far as the eyes can see. The greedy hands of industry have wrapped itself tightly around most parts of Sabah it seems. It was a nice scenery anyway if you don't mind the oil palms. The air was clear of smog, so we could clearly see the Kinabatangan River flowly so slowly, winding its way around the green landscape like a lazy gigantic snake.
We carefully climbed down the stairs back to earth and after a quick tea break at the museum's canteen, were on our way to Sandakan. And it was not even half the day yet!
Ah, Sandakan. I was there again early last year, and it's already on its way to cleaning itself up. And there I was again. It's making great progress and I am so happy to see that the smelly and cramped disheveled seaside town is now all smartened up with fabulous waterfronts and fascinating boulevards. The old market that used to stink up the whole godforsaken town has been torn down replaced with a much bigger and better wet market-cum-crafts market a little ways up the road, away from the maddening crowd and the winding roads that wound it's way up and down the now quaint seaside town. We stopped at the Sim Sim Mosque for Dhur prayers and were again on our way.
On the way out, we stopped by at Sepilok to look at the orang utans. The big ones weren't there. Only the smaller, younger ones came over during feeding time.
They are fed bananas and basically the same things every feeding time so that they will get bored and eventually will become independent and forage on their own. I'm glad the bigger ones finally got the message. Of course it felt a little like a waste, but what's good for the animals should be good for us.
Next on the route was Kundasang. We saw a beautiful river, perfect for a swim as it had inlets and deep ends. We stopped there for a while. If it weren't for the fact that we were strapped for time, we might have stripped down to our skivvies and took a dip into the clean and refreshing mountain river. I have no idea what that place was called, but the rocky river can be seen from the bridge overhead and you could go down there easily from a little path from the side of the road. There were loads of photos taken while we were there. How we wish we could have swam in it!
Got to Ranau at 7pm. Before sunset, we did manage to sneak a peek into the breathtaking view of the highlands and couldn't help but stop a few times to have pictures taken. I have been up and down these winding slopes so many time before and they are still as enchanting as the first time I saw them.
This had never been planned to be a luxury trip, so I didn't book us into any hotel, gambling pretty much on luck. We probably ran out on that when we got to Ranau because when I called the hotels in Kundasang, as I should have realized during a long CNY break, were fully booked.
So what else is there to do than look around for any place we can find so we can just lay our head on a pillow with a mattress under us? We spent the night in a dingy backpacker's lodge that night. It was not too bad though. It was tiny but clean and no strange noises. Mind over matter, you see? At least it has a heater in the bathroom, tiny as it was.
And all because so we can see Kundasang and Kinabalu in all its glory the very next morning. Could have turned back to visit Sabah Tea plantation and the hot springs in Poring, but due to the fact that we are rushing to get to KK to hand over the house keys to Ain, I had to scratch that plan. Will have to go there again soon to cover the whole place. Couldn't do that the last visit cuz I had to rush downhill to KK to hand over the keys to Ain as she starts work the next day and was ready to leave KK at two o'clock that afternoon.
Planned to go up north to Kudat that same afternoon, but had to trash that plan since Ain's mom and dad were adamant that we don't go since it is a dangerous route. I've been there twice, with Zana and Mimi once and again with N. But when you don't listen to the elders, something bad is sure gonna happen, right? So we stayed put in KK that afternoon and spent the rest of the daytime with uncle and auntie. Doing what, you ask? Having tea at @mosphere of course. The infamous revolving restaurant is located on the 18th floor of the tallest building in Sabah. Thanks, auntie (Ain's mom) for the tea.
It offers a 360 degree bird's eye view of Kota Kinabalu city, the South China Sea and the Crocker Range. Nowhere else in Sabah can you do this. Best of all, the people there were kind enough to spin the restaurant just for us so we could see the beautiful sun as it sets behind Gaya Island. It usually starts spinning around at 7pm, but since we were early, auntie asked them to spin it a little early. We're so lucky!
It was too late to go back to the apartment but too early for our show, so we went up to the look-out point atop the hill to sample the view of the bustling city at night. Yo wanted to get some water color palletes for the kids at school so we made a quick dash to Karamunsing. The art store was closed. So we went back to the cinema and waited to go in for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. So nice to see a movie that is doing okay after the mother of all modern fairy tales that is Harry Potter. After which we had some roasted seafood by the seaside, before returning to our apartment. Everyone seemed to be famished because the tuna, the other fish, the cuttle fish and the prawns we ordered vanished in a matter of minutes. That was some good eating.
The next day, we went home to Lawas and cuz Anim had to go back to Long Luping to start school on Thursday. But we'll awlays have time for a meal at Restoran Malaysia for the pau and nasi sambal. Always...
Verdict?
Yes, there were some kinks that needed to be ironed out, but nobody is perfect. Having said that, I am not denying that Sabah is one whole big party of natural wonders which will never run out of surprises.
This trip has indeed restored my faith in friends. New memories with new friends is always a good start to a good year. IMHO.
So, how did you spend your CNY break?
Happy Chinese New Year to everyone. May the year of the Tiger bring us much joy and strength and endless abundance be it in prosperity, luck and love.
Saturday, up from Sipitang to Tenom. Yes, the road was steep, but it was not that bad if you know how to handle your car. Breaking is not just about stepping on the break pedal and hanging on to dear life. It's also about controlling the speed of your car with your gears. When you know if is going downhill, quit pushing the gas pedal and shift to a lower gear. Yes, your engine will roar, but your break pads won't heat up and malfunction and kill you and everyone in the car with you.
On the way up we found this spot where there wind blew like there was a wind tunnel and the view ofd the cliff was spectacular. I wish I own that place so I can build a retreat there and wake up to that view every day for the rest of my life. It was spectacular; greenest of green, bluest of blue skies and whitest of whites. What else is there? Oh the wind... I've never been to the highlands of Tibet, but that was probably close.
We visited the Taman Pertanian, Then on to Keningau, through the unfinished road up to Kalabakan, which was a 250km stretch of gravel and dust. That took us 5 hours at 40kmph and keeping my fingers crossed that my car wouldn't be acting up with me being so severe with it. There it was in all its purple loneliness traversing such rough roads only 4x4 dared to roam. There were the occasional Kancil and Iswara's inching their way up and down the lonely and dusty road, but they all looked so beat up, they worry me as much as they comforted me, knowing that help won't be too far away if the need arises.
We stopped for some gas at a lonely stop over, in the middle of nowhere. RM30 worth of petrol just to get us to the nearest town.
We passed by Maliau Basin on the way there. Would be a good idea to call ahead and book yourself a guide and spend a few days trekking through its verdant virgin jungle. I have a book given to me by JEB which was a present he didn't really care about I guess. I'll spend some time reading it soon.
We stopped for some photos and after replenishing the milk bottle for the kitten(they came along since the mommy kitty died three days before we left for this trip) and zipped on to Tawau. Not before stopping again at Kalabakan for some more gas, which was fed into the tank via fifteen platic soda bottles.
From there, no more gravel road and being able to drive at normal speeds really pumped up our morale after having been shaken and stirred and everything in between inside the care up the five-hour long trek along the gravelly road.
As we approached the town, we found a mamak style restaurant and decided it was high time we stopped for a meal. Everyone was famished so we pleased to be able to have somewaht familiar foods that evening which consisted of nasi briyani and chicken korma.
With stomachs full, we went on into the town of Tawau and checked in to King Lee hotel. Tried calling other hotels while we stopped for dinner but they were all booked out. Decided to gamble it, and found this gem of a place. Everything about the hotel was new. I'm not sure if it was new or just newly renovated, but anyone planning to go to Tawau should consider staying there because the rooms are newly furnished, spacious and not expensive at all.
The next day, we drove around town a little bit, had breakfast and went to Pasar Besar Tawau. I have been there once, so I just let the others check it out, while I stocked up on supplied for hygiene. Traveling with five kittens can be quite dirty. Armed with Dettol multicleaner and some kitchen towels, the rest of the trip felt so much cleaner and fresher both for me and the rest of the crew.
On the way out, we stopped at the airport for some cash and a loo break. Can't help but went to see the gift shops and got ourselves some cute tees; I chose a white one cuz white feels cooler while the others got some black ones and another white one and everyone had the same cute green big-headed turtle on it. Made us look like a team, which was cute.
We had some time to stop for some deer soup on the way out. Yeah, right outside the airport, there is a quaint little restaurant painted red all over, run by these pleasant Indonesian ladies who are always ready for a joke or two with the patrons. Not sure if they were really Indonesians though but they sure sound like them. This place is quite famous for its deer soup. I've been there only once before the last time I was there with Zana, Mimi, Saiful and Gossipzilla.
Next stop, was Sempoerna. I have such fond memories from the last two times I was there with my sister, friends and the forgettable N.
Planned to stay there overnight, so we can book a boat to go snorkeling on Mabul, Kapalai, Mataking or Sipadan even. But somehow we changed our minds. Honestly it was the rubbish that had put the crew off the idea. Sempoerna, as I remembered it, had never been the cleanest of towns, but now even the wonderful Dragon Inn is getting worse as visitors and restaurant operators keep dumping trash into the sea. It is such a sad thing to see the fish in the enclosure swimming amongst the garbage thrown in by visitors. People can be so ignorant if what a gift they have been given. I really hope the municipal council will open their eyes soon and take action so it doesn't get any worse, if not better.
We drove on to Lahad Datu and spent the night at Grace Hotel which used to be a member of the Residence group of hotels. The rooms although a little dated, is still clean and spacious. Since we got the executive suite, we got the room with king sized bed and a space for a coffee table. The next day, we visited Sandakan.
On the way there, we went over the bridge that went over the Kinabatangan river. A litte further down the road, we stopped by at these caves where the natives kept the coffins of their dearly depart. The coffins were carved out of tree trunks and for some of the more higher ranking members of the society, they even have buffalo heads into the coffin, making it look a little more extravagant than the rest. And these, the ones with the buffalo heads carved into them are stored in the highest cave. The rest were just arranged in the bigger cave down below. The ones higher up had some bees hovering and perched on them... some fresh sweet nectar from the dead, I presume. Yums?
These coffins looks almost like the ones that belong to the natives in the Indonesian Islands called the Toraja. Well, i am no archeologist. I saw those on NGC a few months prior. I might be wrong.
We climbed quite a few flights of stairs into the clouds... heh! Not really, but the trek up the wooden staircases left me in a puddle of sweat, panting and gasping for air. I am so out of shape... But it was all worth the effort as we were granted the gift of the surrounding view.
That is the highest summit for miles around so we could see the surrounding areas. Sadly, the lush greenery of the natural jungles have been replaced by miles upon miles of oil palms. As far as the eyes can see. The greedy hands of industry have wrapped itself tightly around most parts of Sabah it seems. It was a nice scenery anyway if you don't mind the oil palms. The air was clear of smog, so we could clearly see the Kinabatangan River flowly so slowly, winding its way around the green landscape like a lazy gigantic snake.
We carefully climbed down the stairs back to earth and after a quick tea break at the museum's canteen, were on our way to Sandakan. And it was not even half the day yet!
Ah, Sandakan. I was there again early last year, and it's already on its way to cleaning itself up. And there I was again. It's making great progress and I am so happy to see that the smelly and cramped disheveled seaside town is now all smartened up with fabulous waterfronts and fascinating boulevards. The old market that used to stink up the whole godforsaken town has been torn down replaced with a much bigger and better wet market-cum-crafts market a little ways up the road, away from the maddening crowd and the winding roads that wound it's way up and down the now quaint seaside town. We stopped at the Sim Sim Mosque for Dhur prayers and were again on our way.
On the way out, we stopped by at Sepilok to look at the orang utans. The big ones weren't there. Only the smaller, younger ones came over during feeding time.
They are fed bananas and basically the same things every feeding time so that they will get bored and eventually will become independent and forage on their own. I'm glad the bigger ones finally got the message. Of course it felt a little like a waste, but what's good for the animals should be good for us.
Next on the route was Kundasang. We saw a beautiful river, perfect for a swim as it had inlets and deep ends. We stopped there for a while. If it weren't for the fact that we were strapped for time, we might have stripped down to our skivvies and took a dip into the clean and refreshing mountain river. I have no idea what that place was called, but the rocky river can be seen from the bridge overhead and you could go down there easily from a little path from the side of the road. There were loads of photos taken while we were there. How we wish we could have swam in it!
Got to Ranau at 7pm. Before sunset, we did manage to sneak a peek into the breathtaking view of the highlands and couldn't help but stop a few times to have pictures taken. I have been up and down these winding slopes so many time before and they are still as enchanting as the first time I saw them.
This had never been planned to be a luxury trip, so I didn't book us into any hotel, gambling pretty much on luck. We probably ran out on that when we got to Ranau because when I called the hotels in Kundasang, as I should have realized during a long CNY break, were fully booked.
So what else is there to do than look around for any place we can find so we can just lay our head on a pillow with a mattress under us? We spent the night in a dingy backpacker's lodge that night. It was not too bad though. It was tiny but clean and no strange noises. Mind over matter, you see? At least it has a heater in the bathroom, tiny as it was.
And all because so we can see Kundasang and Kinabalu in all its glory the very next morning. Could have turned back to visit Sabah Tea plantation and the hot springs in Poring, but due to the fact that we are rushing to get to KK to hand over the house keys to Ain, I had to scratch that plan. Will have to go there again soon to cover the whole place. Couldn't do that the last visit cuz I had to rush downhill to KK to hand over the keys to Ain as she starts work the next day and was ready to leave KK at two o'clock that afternoon.
Planned to go up north to Kudat that same afternoon, but had to trash that plan since Ain's mom and dad were adamant that we don't go since it is a dangerous route. I've been there twice, with Zana and Mimi once and again with N. But when you don't listen to the elders, something bad is sure gonna happen, right? So we stayed put in KK that afternoon and spent the rest of the daytime with uncle and auntie. Doing what, you ask? Having tea at @mosphere of course. The infamous revolving restaurant is located on the 18th floor of the tallest building in Sabah. Thanks, auntie (Ain's mom) for the tea.
It offers a 360 degree bird's eye view of Kota Kinabalu city, the South China Sea and the Crocker Range. Nowhere else in Sabah can you do this. Best of all, the people there were kind enough to spin the restaurant just for us so we could see the beautiful sun as it sets behind Gaya Island. It usually starts spinning around at 7pm, but since we were early, auntie asked them to spin it a little early. We're so lucky!
It was too late to go back to the apartment but too early for our show, so we went up to the look-out point atop the hill to sample the view of the bustling city at night. Yo wanted to get some water color palletes for the kids at school so we made a quick dash to Karamunsing. The art store was closed. So we went back to the cinema and waited to go in for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. So nice to see a movie that is doing okay after the mother of all modern fairy tales that is Harry Potter. After which we had some roasted seafood by the seaside, before returning to our apartment. Everyone seemed to be famished because the tuna, the other fish, the cuttle fish and the prawns we ordered vanished in a matter of minutes. That was some good eating.
The next day, we went home to Lawas and cuz Anim had to go back to Long Luping to start school on Thursday. But we'll awlays have time for a meal at Restoran Malaysia for the pau and nasi sambal. Always...
Verdict?
Yes, there were some kinks that needed to be ironed out, but nobody is perfect. Having said that, I am not denying that Sabah is one whole big party of natural wonders which will never run out of surprises.
This trip has indeed restored my faith in friends. New memories with new friends is always a good start to a good year. IMHO.
So, how did you spend your CNY break?
Happy Chinese New Year to everyone. May the year of the Tiger bring us much joy and strength and endless abundance be it in prosperity, luck and love.
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