"Cuti-Cuti Cari Makan"

The idea was mooted by my sister, Wah, sometime in June when I was down in KL. She just got this restlessness that we never travelled together somewhere and just went off anywhere. I asked her where would you like to go? She did not know but she just wanted to travel somewhere. Thus, I told her okay ... sometime in November during the long school break. So, I would be free. She was afraid Noor would not allow it. I told her it would be alright because personally I think he would like to be on his own too. So, the idea was planted and fermented. Then, I chatted with Kak Haj through facebook. I posted the photos of food that I went to eat out with friends and Noor. She commented that one day she would like to go for "jalan-jalan cari makan" also. I told her about Wah's idea and she was immediately sold. Besides, she said Abang Zul would not mind.

But ... one could only plan. We waited for the long school holidays and Noor decided to take us off to Sabah for a holiday. Wah could not get leave during that November. So, it was pushed to December. Since all of us got the invitation to Zul's sister in-law's wedding at Felcra Changkat Lada in Kg. Gajah, Perak, (1st December 2012 )Wah and Kak Haj set the plans in motion. I agreed to go with their plans as I was free. I would be their driver. The boys are back in their respective college and varisities. I had nothing in particular to do as it was the holidays. So, all of us would be meeting at the wedding and Wah and Kak Haj would be travelling back to Alor Setar with Noor and I to start off the "cuti-cuti cari makan". I called up Shaun, my nephew in Uitm Penang, if he would like to tag along for the wedding seeing it would be a day trip during the weekend. The catch was on Sunday he would take us to his house. Then, we would start our journey towards south.

I plan that upon arrival to Alor Setar, we will take them for dinner of mee udang and ikan bakar at D'Perindu at Kuala Kedah. The next morning, for breakfast, we will eat the special roti jala near the stadium. If my mother in-law, who is quite discerning about her food, liked the curry, then it should be recommended. Lunch will be at Stargate Arabic Foods before we leave for Penang. Then, we will put ourselves unto Shaun's hospitality as our next host. We can only plan. InsyAllah, He will take care of everything.

I wanted to do this for my sisters. Besides strengthening the bonding of sisterly love and ties, I realised that we do not have much time anymore. Kak Haj is 58 years old. Wah is 54. We only weet up during Hari Raya Puasa if Kak Haj returns to Melaka. That is also for a limited time only due to social obligations and commitments. Very soon health problems will be catching up with us. We are all in our 50's. Nothing is guaranteed as of tomorrow. So, if I can make my sisters happy, why not? I am grateful to Noor for giving me the space and freedom to live my life to the fullest, within bounds. Life is too short. So, for now, Allah has the grace to give us this idea, insyAllah, He will see us through it. Ha..ha.. :-))  may we have the patience and tolerance to face each one's idiosyncracies and habits. But ... I think it's going to be okay. If we can tolerate friends ;-}  ... these two are more than sisters. They are also friends. That means much more isn't it?

Kota Kinabalu -Last night

When we reached Jesselton Point from Pulau Sapi, it was raining hard. Akmal insisted that he had to go back to his hostel instead of having dinner with us. He had 'Marine Pollution" exam tomorrow. Poor guy! We would not see him before taking off for KL. So, we let him go on his motorbike and we proceeded to the hotel to change.

It was drizzling when we went out for dinner but it really poured as we were eating. We went to an Indonesian restaurant in KK - "Nasi Padang Ibu". This was our final dinner in KK -

Clockwise from left - gulai ayam, ikan terbang, pecal, paru goreng cili, bergedil kentang and gulai sotong

We were stuck in the restaurant due to the heavy rain. After some time, we crossed over in the rain and watched the futsal players at the futsal court while waiting for the rain to drizzle off. It was interesting watching the ladies play against the guys. At least it was healthy activity that they were engaged in. While waiting, Syafiq went to buy "goreng pisang with cheese" for his supper.  :-)  This was goreng pisang special i.e. with chocolate, vanilla or cheese flavoured. I did not quite get the hang of it when Akmal introduced it to us last night. The boys liked it. Finally, we reached the hotel, tired and started packing for our departure the next day.

Friday, 16th Nov. We finally checked out and started for the airport. I managed to drop by the friendly next door bakery for our supply of crispy layered egg tarts and some freshly baked buns.  :-D  We only got to see Akmal when he dropped by the airport to say goodbye after his exam. Then he had to rush back for his next class. It was a tiring albeit wonderful bonding time with the boys. It was worth it just to see Akmal and understood the life he had created for himself here. Thus, until we meet again sometime during convocation next year (October), thank you for the time spent together and very much appreciated the effort to make our trip a memorable one.

Kota Kinabalu - Pulau Sapi snorkelling adventure

Akmal took the guys snorkelling. I waited on the beach, very comfortable with myself and enjoying time out with myself!!! :-D   I managed to complete reading the book I brought along with me for the holidays - "King of the Sea" by Dina Zaman. A nostalgic collection of articles that she wrote about her hometown - Terengganu. These were what the guys saw - the creation of Allah swt under the sea - courtesy of Akmal's new camera.

The colourful "lintah laut"

A small colony of corals - it's only snorkelling not diving ...

The extremely shy and camouflaged "ikan sebelah" - one can see the bulging eye on the foreground on the right

The mini world of corals and variety of colourful fishes

Another colourful species

The clown fish's sanctuary

"Nemo" on guard - they attack anybody or anything that got near enough to their home

Another part of the underwater world ...

I may  not go under the water, but I managed to share what they saw through the photos taken. The guys had a lot of fun. Akmal showed his "world" to us. I understood now when he said he might not be coming back to the peninsular. He let us saw a glimpse of his life here - his diver friends, how at home he was in the waters, near the waters, his carefree but serious life here ... I accepted it. He even worked part time for the "Bwave Divers", a diving company where he took his license. I may not like it but I understand. He intends to pursue his masters here and try to get a job that involves his passion for diving and the sea. When he started talking about the creatures, the corals, the sea, the boat ride ... he is home. I hope he will find a partner who can understand and accept that his first love is the sea and the world in it.

The skies were getting darker. I was hoping we would reach Jesselton Point jetty before the rain poured. We managed to reach the jetty just as it started to pour. Otherwise, we would be drenched as the speed boat was hardly adequately covered against the lashing rain. The waves would be worse and the ride would definitely be like jumping over hot coals.  :=DD  It was an enjoyable ride back as the driver was having a gala time racing with the other boats. We made it to Jesselton Point in 10 minutes flat. Could you just imagine the speed ???!!! We laughed at him and I thanked him for the ride of a life time.  :=D

Kota Kinabalu - Day 3 - Sapi Island

Thursday, 15th Nov. Ma'al Hijrah holiday. It rained early morning and was drizzling by the time we got to Jesselton Point. It was already 8:30am. I called Akmal. He was still asleep but would soon be on his way. There were already people queueing for the boat. So, while waiting we had breakfast of nasi lemak. By the time AKmal appeared, it was already raining heavily. No way would we be able to leave for the islands in this weather. Most of the boat operators would warn you about the trip and refund your money for tickets bought. They used speed boats and the journey would take between 20 minutes to 40 minutes depending on which island you were going to. The three islands - Mamutik, Manukan and Sapi were part of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. Thus, we decided to go to the Hari Penternak and Peladang near Likas. It was still raining cats and dogs that the islands were shrouded and covered by thick mist. One could not see anything across the sea. We spent a couple of hours here and Noor bought frozen "daging payau" or deer. I enjoyed tasting all that they asked us to take and taste. Something new and innovative like the keropok lekor eaten with jeruk asam limau. Okay .... for someone who was not adventurous about food, I was willing to give it a try.  :=)  

Finally, the rain subsided and we returned to Jesselton Point. We managed to get tickets to Pulau Sapi, the nearest island and the boat ride would take about 20 minutes. What a ride!!!! It was open air, low 15 seater speed boat. The sea was rough and every time the boat hit the wave, it was like your car hit a large pot hole on the road. The ride was very bumpy but FUN !!!! I loved open air mode of transport. That was why I love the Penang ferry. Every time the driver of the speed boat made a curve to avoid the oncoming wave, huge splashes of water would hit your face. Ha..ha..ha.. I enjoyed it! Syafiq, who sat on the other side were half wet by the time we reached Pulau Sapi. It was quite a ride.

Buying tickets for the boat ride

The price for a trip to Pulau Sapi - to the island

The ticket

Jesselton Point jetty - the speed boat

Pulau Sapi jetty

The entrance to the island from the jetty

The plaque

The rates for conservation fee  to enter the island - different rates for locals and foreigners

How clear the waters were - view from the jetty

What one could see on the beach - BEWARE !

Kota Kinabalu - Day 2

Wednesday, 14th Nov. We were on our own since Akmal had a full day of lectures and appointments with his supervisor. We would only see him for dinner tonight. So, we went out for breakfast somewhere near the hotel. It was an Indonesian restaurant and had bakso and soto ayam for breakfast. Food was quite expensive here. Roti canai cost RM1.60 per piece. After that we took the boys to Akmal's university for a visit so that they could see their brother's varsity up close. We drove through his school or faculty - School of Science and Technology. Then, we went to his School of Marine workshop at the end of the university, near the jetty. Here was where the aquarium was located but a pity it was closed on Wednesdays for cleaning up. They had this aquarium for the students. Noor and I had entered it when we came for the first time. So, we walked further in to the UMS jetty where Akmal used to hang around. Most of his samplings and studies were done at the islands near the jetty. Thus, being a very friendly and affable guy, he made friends with the "bengkel bot" guys. Here was his place to "lepak", learn how to drive the boat courtesy of these guys, fishing and diving. It was a nice place. Here was where he took his first sunset photo with his then new camera - the Nikon 3100. Now, for underwater photos, he used his latest camera - the Canon Powershot g1x with the underwater casing. Of course, both cameras were sponsored by Mum. Worth it because he had now become a better photographer.

Part of UMS

The hatchery for the aquaculture students

The view on the right side of the UMS jetty - very clear waters

The view towards the jetty

The UMS jetty - view from the gate

After that, we went to 1Borneo, another shopping mall. We did not do much here except for window shopping and had lunch at Ayam Penyet Ibu. We have to tick our own orders, queue to pay first and then wait for the food to arrive. Later, we proceeded to the Phillipine's market to look for souvenirs. They had a variety of pearls. The fresh water pearls were much, much cheaper than than the sea water pearls. I did not buy much because I was not very interested in it. I just bought for some friends who would like it. We bought some Borneo batik and of course, fridge magnets! Very soon, my fridge would protest for being covered with all the fridge magnets from travels and friends. What with the sticker pictures that the boys pasted on it when they were children and sticker-crazy!  :=D  

We stopped at Masjid Bandaraya or Masjid Likas for our Zohor and 'Asar prayers. Alhamdulillah. We got to perform our solat jemaah for 'Asar and recited the doa akhir tahun with the Imam. The next day was "Ma'al Hijrah 1434H". Small mercies and gentle reminders from Allah. So that we never forget Him even when we were travelling or gallivanting.

Masjid Likas @ Bandaraya - the only masjid in Malaysia with a water theme park

Akmal managed to join us for dinner at Jesselton Point. He was trying to get some work done so, he did not spend the night with us at the hotel but went back to his hostel. We would see him tomorrow for the trip to the islands. It was as usual raining. What did we we have for dinner? We had ikan jenahak asam pedas, baby kailan in oyster sauce, dry butter prawns, fried ginger beef and air kelapa. Akmal was really running here, there and everywhere. He was busy but he still wanted to spend some time with us. It was a thoughtful gesture and very much appreciated. Thus, we went back to the hotel to retire for the night.
  

Kota Kinabalu - Day 1

It was raining. We managed to find the hotel - Hotel Sixty3. It was right in town. It was also directly across Sabah Tourism building. The address was interesting - 0km, Jalan Gaya, Kota Kinablau. It was situated on 0 km. Have you ever heard of this?

I thought it was unusual for an address without numbers ..

The explanation ...

We have booked the rooms since October hence we got the promotion price of RM198 for a family room for 4 persons. The listed price in the hotel's pamphlet was RM390. The room was comfortable with 2 queen sized beds. What got our attention was when we switched on the TV  -

Noor's name was set on the TV screen to welcome us ...  :-)

When you wanted to choose the channel, the hotel personalise it with your name ... how welcoming 

Even the password for the WiFi was set to our room number and Noor's name. They personalised little, little things which was actually very thoughtful and showed the graciousness of their hospitality. We unpacked, rested and performed our prayers. Later, we went to Suria Sabah - a shopping complex akin to Suria KLCC. We went our separate ways and I wandered alone in the complex. Noor went shopping with the boys. It was a walking distance from our hotel. After that, we walked in the rain back to the hotel. After maghrib prayers, we went to the Phillipine market to have our dinner. The last time we were here, this was the place for grilled seafood. We had ikan jenahak, large prawns and squids. Noor also ordered fresh seaweed. They served the rounded Sabah rice. It was still raining and Syafiq saw the grilled chicken wings. We bought that for his supper.

The hotel had no restaurant thus, no complimentary breakfast for the 3 days of our stay. What I liked about the hotel was the bakery next to it. That night, before we went back to our room, I checked out the bakery and bought crispy layered egg tart. Yummm .... delicious. Every morning, I would come here as the buns were freshly baked and just to get the egg tart. Even on the last day, I bought some to eat along the way. I usually do not eat egg tart at all but I was tempted over here because they were freshly baked. Every day, I was a regular customer of the crispy egg tart, almond butter buns, raisin custard buns, blueberry bread ... all hot and fresh from the oven. I even tried the pineapple tarts shaped into cute oblong shapes. And .. I usually do not like pineapple tarts too !!! Ha..ha..ha... It was heavenly. Another food to add to the comfort food list ....  hhmmmmm ....  ;-D  We were tired, so after dinner the boys settled down with their laptops while I was already preparing to sleep. Our first night in KK - rain, contentedly full, comfortable beds ... but still COLD !!!

Pit stops on the way to KK

After the War Memorial Park, we took a walk around Kundasang market. It was nice weather and bless.... the hot sun !!! :-D  They had stalls like the ones we could see at Camerons especially along Brinchang where they sold almost the same type of highland vegetables. Something different was the "pucuk timun" or known locally as "Sabah vege". I asked them how to cook it and we had an interesting chat about the many ways to cook it. The guys bought and ate "buah terap" - something that was the size of a sukun fruit, the hair ourside was like pulasan, greenish in colour and the flesh was like cempedak. They said it belonged to the cempedak family. No, I did not try it because we were continuing our journey to Kota Kinabalu. What caught my eyes were the colourful and attractively packaged cut fruits sold at RM2 each but with an offer of RM5 for three packets. The flowers were not very fresh as those in Camerons neither were they in abundance. Maybe as Akmal siad, it was almost noon.

The rows of colourful displayed cut fruits at the Kundasang market

Next stop was the Kinabalu Park, on the way down to Kota Kinabalu. It was packed with people. You could hike up. It was the foot of the mountain. Part of it, anyway.  :-D  Akmal had climbed up to the peak and managed to catch the early breaking of dawn photos at 4:00am. He said it was freezing cold but worth the photos.

You can either park your car here and walk up or you can just take a drive up

Every place of interest in Sabah has a fee. It is all in the name of conservation.  :-)  We took a drive around the area. No, we did not do any trekking.

Neither did we took a lot of photographs. Now, we started the journey down to KK. Akmal suggested that we took lunch at KK so that his mother would survive the journey. Well, I did. It was much better because I knew we would be on level ground again.  :-}  Ikram would say "it's all about the mind". Ha..Ha..Ha... Such consideration from them. Alhamdulillah. We stopped at Tampuri to see the upside down house. We did not enter as there was a long queue and besides, we were not allowed to take photographs inside the house. So, these were what were taken from the outside. The entrance fee was RM10 each.

The entrance to the house - you hit the gong for the door to be opened

The upside down car

We continued our journey to Indah Permai to drop off Akmal at his hostel. He had a pre -presentation on his final thesis tomorrow. We chose this week for a holiday because of Tuesday (Deepavali) and Thursday (Maal Hijrah) holidays. So, Akmal could spend some time with us. After lunch near his hostel, Noor took over the wheel and Syafiq, the GPS, with his smart phone. We proceeded to find our hotel for the rest of the 3 nights in KK. We told Akmal not to worry about us  and let us venture on our own. He was really busy this week with an exam coming up on Friday. Well, we had ventured into unknown places before without GPS, so, we would survive KK.

Kundasang - The Kundasang War Memorial

The arch leading to the memorial

The entrance ticket

A dedication for the English POWs

Especially for the Australian POWs

For the locals who helped the POWs along their death march from Sandakan to Ranau

The dedication plaque

A section of the memorial - one can imagine a garden wedding here. On the right hand wall are the plaques where the 2400 names of the dead POWs are engraved and etched forever for remembrance.

Kundasang ... 12th November 2012 - Part 1

It was a winding road up to Kundasang. Not as bad as the Tapah road leading up to Camerons but more like the Simpang Pulai. Stretches of winding roads and then straight for a while. The view from the road going uphill was mostly mountainous and covered with clouds. It was raining all the way to Kundasang.

Kundasang was cold. COLD. It was challenging my motion sickness but I managed to reach the first hotel that we stopped for accommodation in one piece. I was just relieved to stand on my two feet on solid ground. I refused to get in the car again. So, Noor and Akmal went to ask and as it was fated, they had the last 2 vacant rooms. I told him to take them up. It was almost 4:30pm. The name of the place was Nabalu Lodge. It had a cafe and restaurant. Prayers time was an hour earlier than the Peninsular. Thus the prayer times were as follow : Subuh  :  4:44am. Zohor  :  12:02pm. 'Asar  :  3:21pm. Maghrib  :  5:57pm and Isyak was at 7:10pm. That was our prayer times for the whole week. It took adjusting to as light of day came early. Soon, it was dark and we were of course hungry. It seemed that upon reaching KK we were hungry all the time. We checked out our rooms and everybody was in the boys room to lepak and rest. We ate the cookies that I brought along. One of them boiled water and made tea for me. I was having a headache. Noor went out with Akmal to investigate the area before it got dark. After maghrib prayers, we went to the cafe to have dinner. Akmal said that the town closed down by 6:00pm.

The view of the shrouded Mount Kinabalu from Nabalu Lodge

Ikram and I had sweet sour chicken, Syafiq ordered sweet sour fish and Akmal had the same. Noor refused dinner. Syafiq saw the cakes on display. As it was my birthday, I ordered the chocolate fresh cream cake and New York cheese cake. Dinner was on me. Only the 4 of us ate dinner. After dinner, we went for a walk towards the town. Everything closed early. It was so cold and chilly. I was hoping the walk would clear my head. Later, we went back to the boys room and had supper of cookies and hot tea/coffee. Syafiq saw the maggi cup and decided to have that for supper as it was complimentary. There was also a bottle of vanilla and chocolate cookies courtesy of the hotel. Well...such a generous welcome. I guess they knew that the cold would make everybody hungry and most of the town would be closed except for the respective hotels cafes and restaurants.

Syafiq and Akmal's dinner - sweet sour fish at Nabalu Cafe

Chocolate fresh cream cake - real fresh cream and not whipping cream

New York cheese cake which was really cheesy and yummy ...  :-)

The next morning, breakfast was on the house. A simple buffet of fried mee, bread and the usual works, hot tea and coffee. We checked out of the hotel at about 10am. Our first stop was the Desa Dairy Farm to see the Freisian cows. It was very smelly and higher up. I decided to walk down the dairy farm as my head was not feeling itself ...:-{  The view of Mount Kinabalu was not very clear due to thick clouds and the rainy weather. It did not rain this morning. After that, we proceeded to the Kundasang War Memorial. It was worth the short climb up. It was a nostalgic memorial and to honour the death march of the Australian and British POWS during the Japanese occupation. It was a garden of sorts. It was a very nice place. Reminds of one if one wants to have a garden wedding. The view was breathtaking and on a clear day, one could see the peak of Mount Kinabalu on the background.

The view of Desa Cattle Farm from the entrance. Mt. Kinabalu is on the background

The entrance ticket

RM1 to buy the grass to feed the calves and RM5 to feed them milk

There were also goats - all white in colour