Sea creature from Sabah

I almost cancel this trip due to health condition, but with help from few pills with multiple size, I was up and ready to go the next day. It was the periodical inspection and everything was just the same except for extra headache...it last until few hours at the hotel room, had a hard time to close my eyes and wander in zzzland...I watched Interview with the Vampire for few minutes and realised that I was alone, so switched to something safer...but still could not sleep until 1 am.

At 5am I woke up and saw the light coming thru from the sheer curtain, it could not be that early, but the reality is lifes are ahead over there, human activities start earlier than my normal schedule...forced myself to clean up and headed to the cafe..it was closed for renovation, and breakfast was set up by the sea..nice view but the food just so-so..I just finished two piece of French Toast and tea and headed straight to my usual spot.


It was already 9pm by the time I arrived at the location, walked slowly on the slippery cement floor and choosed my route carefully as I always avoid that b**@ area..:-)

People said that art is the expression of life and here in this market, simple purple brinjal has been tied up and become and art stuff..brilliant..looks like a flower

I passed by few stalls and the smell of salted fish were too strong with variety of fish were on the table..saw this one thing that I've tried before in kota Kinabalu, local call this as 'latok'...I think they boil it and top with some air asam and enjoy it with rice and grilled fish
It looks like a plastic thing but crunchy and fresh and unique..that the beauty of this side of world..

And at the side of the table..they call this 'agar-agar'...same kind of thing


I proceed to the wet area and headed to the usual stall, familiar faces were there but no familiar sea creature that day, my hunt for RM5 per kilo crab stop there when all stalls just have small portion of small size crab..I went to the prawn section, they look tempting at a reasonable price, ...so the aircraft loading was reduced to few kilos due to the absence of my big and cheap crab..:-)) The Carb Lady (my own imaginary name for her) told me that I should come early, maybe around seven..

I walked around the Sandakan market looking for some fish head and saw few basket full of kerapu just been loaded..big and fresh..and ikan yu and some kind of big fish that I don't even know their names lying on the floor --headless--

After finished my 'shopping spree' I made another tour looking for something different and here they are, colourful fish on the table..fish that I saw from few snorkelling trips..how could they eat this..when I asked them about the menu, they said..'apa-apa pun boleh' with a laugh...


And to my horror...they also eat this sea shell...euwww..sorry for being like this, but they look so delicate and I think that they are supposed to be for display on the seabed...or maybe I don't really understand the culture and way of life here..
Exotic sea shell with big cuttle fish waiting for their master who loves exotic sea shell....I wonder how they feel in our mouth...?

I left the market with box of prawns, fish head and some cuttle fish, just a small box this time around and asked hotel staff to wrapped them properly.

By 10.30am I was ready at the airport waiting for MH2711...it was full with passenger for due to school holiday, not a smooth journey..it was a bumpy ride up there with the aircraft jerk upon crashing the thick white cloud and the journey continue for half and hour in a thick cloud..spooky view..I look out and it was all white and suddenly all images from Discovery Channel came flashing in my mind...keep on reminding myself that they have radar and what not and the fact that the pilot is a Muslim makes me feel better..and maybe safer...you know what I mean...

To cut the story short, my fish head landed safely on dining table as 'fish head curry' ....

Of River Piedra, Kinabatangan and ketam bunga

We left the house at 6.15am while the kids was still in their sleep mode, it was another trip to Kinabatangan yesterday. Sufiya asked me "awat mama nak pi lagi?"...she asks so many question nowadays, and she demand explaination instead of just a plain answer...

We arrived early at ERL Station and we had enough time to comfort Hadif and as usual he got to play with the steering wheel for a while before they headed to parcel E.

The flight was delayed about 30 minutes, I did not have enough sleep and can't even sleep in the plane so I just continued reading Paulo Coelho's by The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept which I bought at the airport, was searching for some books and this book caught my attention..

Arrived safely at Sandakan Airport at 12.00noon, I was still in Paulo's book somewhere in a village in France overlooking the mountain..but suddenly the hot sun in Sandakan woke me up from my dream...(shall blog about this book one day, a very poetic book from Paulo)

This is the floating village on the way to Sandakan harbour area, please ignore the glare and noise of this photo


Sandakan town, a small town with full daytime activities, you can find people selling turtle eggs by the roadside..sighhh...

It took about 30 minutes from the airport to Swiss Inn Hotel,Sandakan but this time around I got seaview room, love this feature wall..
My bagpack and another bag and purse...and the project file

View towards Sandkan Harbour Square from my room at fourth floor ..tengah panas lit lit time ni..

View towards few small islands, they are Berhala Island and some that I forgot their name,Berhala Island is a transit place for people from the Philippines..the island got its name from a rock formation that looks like a 'berhala'

I got only an hour to fresh up before we left for Kinabatangan at 1.00pm, we had our lunch at Ajmeer, a mamak restaurant in Sandakan..full stomach, lack of sleep, air conditioned car, got a driver...BUT...we can't even sleep coz we were on a Land Rover not an X-Trail or Waja...hmmmmm
I was sit infront and got the whole view but with this kind of weather, taking photos and trying to sleep was not an option...I just prayed for my safety. Drivers here are notorius for drink and drive..!!!

We passed by the famous roundabout with orang utan statue..should try to arraange for a visit to Sepilok one day

This is the culprit for my headache and lenguh-lenguh badan and sakit pinggang...macam nak berperang

We settled our official job in Kinabatangan and headed back to Sandakan at around 5.15pm and the traffic was slow moving..its getting dark...and at around Batu 9 noticed that cars and lorries were slow moving and expected that there might be an accident, to our surprise..there was a body of motorcyclist in the middle of the road covered with a blanket underneath his bike. His helmet was flung few meters away. He hit a lorry and was so unlucky that day...his blood was all over the place..I did not dare to take any photos..let him rest in peace...

Arrived at Swiss Inn at 6.45pm...I was like a zombie..dizzy and floating and shock..went to Watson to get some panadol and minyak cap kapak....

I had just enough sleep..with the help of Seniman Bujang Lapok, 2 panadol and minyak cap kapak...
And this morning we went to pasar which is located not far from the hotel..

Fresh fish, crabs, prawns...and most important thing is...they are so cheap


Ketam batu or ketam nipah..? the seller told us that its not ketam batu, but ketam nipah..we were in doubt so left the stall...


I bought this ketam bunga for 2 kilo=RM10..way much cheaper than in Putrajaya, it normally cost at RM16 per kilo at Pasar Tani...

We arrived at the airport early coz my boss...ehemmm...older people like him..always worried too much, he worried about being late, about the plane crash, about a train without a driver...about anything...penaattt....


This is Orang Utan at the airport....there are quite many passengers maybe due to Chinese New Year...I arrived at home at around 3.45pm and started cooking my gulai ketam for dinner...and kids still at nursery....lenguh tak habis lagi....

Sandakan and Kinabatangan Trip

I had a sleepless night, leaving them was not an easy task, but this was a task not to be missed but it comes with a price.

We left early to catch 6.50am ERL from Putrajaya to the airport, Hadif as usual had a tantrum and at last had a previleged to be at the back of the wheel...not a good option I would say..and we tehm send early to the nursery compared to their normal schedule....poor kid

I was so tired and hungry but not angry..while waiting for MAS breakfast of nasi lemak sambal udang, I did what I'm good at..painting..not on canvas but on my face, had no time to make up at home, so I finished the job at 30,00 feet above sea level...

The aroma from nasi lemak was so tempting but unfortunately for me, they served it in a very small portion and the anchovies should not be included unless they served a fine quality..others are superb..not too many passenger on board, smooth journey except for minor bump due to bad cloud base...

I think this is Mount Kinabalu's peak...
it looks so majestic form up here..Subhanallah

This is the famous Kinabatangan river from seat 22A....similar to Amazon river..it was affected by a flood last week but fortunately the area that I went has fully recovered


View from MH2700..please ignore the glare and what not..I'm still learning experimenting with D90..thanx to hubby.. :-P

It was 2 hours and 45 minutes flight from KILA to Sandakan, I arrived safely but could not find my friend, I thought that I was alone in Sabah..but they were actually waiting for me at the lobby and off we drove to Swiss Inn at Sandakan Harbour Square..nice hotel by the sea but it is just a small town and I had limited time so no wandering around.

We were invited to Sandakan Court and treated with lunch at Hameed's..another round of mee goreng mamak before we left for Kinabatangan. The journey took another 2 hours and we passed by few interesting place like Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary and Crocodile Farm,...and the best thing about their landmark is every roundabout will featured a replica of Standing Crocodile, followed by Turtle and then a family of Orang Utan..

I noticed that most of the houses along the way to Kinabatangan were built on stilt even though it is situated on hilly area, quite contrast with our houses in the Penisular...and most of them already implemented storm water harvesting which the government just proposed to implement in houses and building in Malaysia...

Discussion with the contractor that need to be teach every single thing from A-Z..geraammmmm.. Kelas E tapi mcm kelas F...and that black thing on my shoulder is not a handbag but a free luggage bag from Giorgio Armani Diamond..stuffed everything inside..light travel...

We finished our job and left for the hotel at 5pm and stop by for some snack of goreng pisang and cucur cempedak and tembikai susu, I thought that its honeydew juice, but to my surprise it was watermelon juice mixed with condesed milk..boleh la...

The journey back from Kinabatangan took longer hour due to the traffic and it was already dark at 6pm, the sights are different here, schools are not properly located and the infrastructure need to be upgraded..during these journey the talk a lot about things around us, about law and order, about the project and of coz,....
Bung Mokhtar and his fourth Wifey Zizie Ezzette..they said that Dato' Bung Mokhtar is loved by everybody here in Kinabatangan, they don't give a damn about his personal life as long as he took care of their well fare, then its fine with them..no matter what stories come up..fourth or fifth or whatever is not important...

View from Swiss Inn hotel's lobby..its a decent hotel with wifi at every floor but I was warned not to walk alone after 7pm..too many outlaws from the neighbouring country


I had breakfast alone the following day and it was raining and gloomy..not a good chance to take any photographs..I had simple sausages and bread with jam and tried their local food but only took a bite and left it untouch ..tak boleh telan..

Left for the airport...nothing much at Sandakan Airport..flight delay 30 minutes..


View towards an island not far from the airport, from seat 10A...I should choose my seat properly next time to avoid having a wing or part of the plane body in my frame

Arrived safely at home at 4.30pm...Hadif and Sufiya was so excited...no souvenir for them just hug and kissess...