Wednesday, October 26, 2011

When will I see you again?

The first time - the first time we met, I am already mesmerized by you. A brief encounter. Can't wait to see you again.

The second time - we met again. Just the two of us. Even a shorter encounter, but there were sparks around us. I got a feeling you are the one I have been waiting for...

Now I can't get you out of my mind... when can I see you again? And for the third time we meet, I hope it is not in dreamland... but in real life.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Land below the wind II

Leaving Mabul with a heavy heart, we had a long drive to Sandakan, reaching there almost midnight.
Too tired to do anything else, we just went straight to bed.

We stayed at NAK Hotel - beautiful view from the room.

But the thing that made me fall in love and book this place was the rooftop garden - beautiful!


Overlooking Sandakan city on one side, and the sea on the other...


Slow start to the day, we headed to Buli Sim Sim for 2nd round of breakfast - had preserved egg dumpling - yummy!!!


Visited the Puh Jih Shy temple, which overlooks Sandakan Bay @ 300 metres above sea level...

Next stop - one of the oldest church in the country - St Michael's which is situated on Elton Hill. It was built in 1893 and took 30 years to complete.


Holidays and food go hand in hand - met up with an ex colleague for lunch.



Had wanted to visited Sepilok, but we missed the feeding time - so we decided to check it out some other day. The journey continued with another long drive back to Tawau - where we stayed another night before I head home to KL.

A very good break - no rushing around like a headless chicken, just slowly soaking up the sights and sounds, enjoying every moment. However, next round  I won't want to cover so many places, I need to 'slow it down more' ... especially to make the long drives worthwhile. Sabah - I will see you again!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Land below the wind

23 - 24 June 2011 (backlog for 3 months ++)
First time visiting the beautiful place, Sabah - also known as The Land Below the Wind.

Taking an early flight to Tawau - which I almost missed. No, I wasn't late to the airport. I was there JUST IN TIME, an hour before to check in. Then I went to have my breakfast at Old Town - which was a wrong decision. The food took some time to arrive, which in turn made me almost late for boarding. I reached the boarding gate just as it closed, 20 minutes before fly off. Then it had to happen that the plane was parked furthest away...

Anyway, despite the early scare - I made it safely to the plane & touched down nicely in Tawau. My first time. My friend came pick me up and we drove straight to Semporna.

In my 5 days there - just managed to cover very limited places and sights - still, this had motivated me to revisit the place again some time soon.

First stop after arriving at Tawau airport was Semporna. Had our lunch nearby before proceeding to Big John Scuba's office to arrange for our boat transfer to Mabul Island. 





45 minutes boat ride later, with us being splashed half wet, we arrived at Mabul Island, a small island off the south-eastern coast of Sabah. The island has been a fishing village since 1970s. Majority are immigrants from relatively nearby clusters of islands of the southern Philippines. They are mainly Bajau Laut and Suluk Muslims who live a nomadic lifestyle.


Crsytal clear water!

 


So worth it to exchange the sunset view with KL Tower as the backdrop with this... especially if it means I could just sit there and do nothing, enjoy the breeze, enjoy the serenity... just waiting for dinner to be served
Visited the Kapalai Island as well - beautiful place! The island is actually just left with a strip of sand bar...



As can be seen from the pic - rainy day!