The last time I was there, It was a work-cum-pleasure trip. I didn't seem to be able to fully relax. And in any case, Sabah is such a big place, it deserves a second visit (or more).
I didn't want to learn cooking at Le Cordon Bleu for fear of backlash (and I am the man in the streets and I know I can only afford a cheap holiday in east Sabah).
This time round, it was just the four of us (wife, me, & 3-year-old and 4-month-old kids). If I didn't fully relax on my first trip, then I didn't even manage to relax at all on this one. It's no joke having these two around, because our days were spent attending to their every needs and that left very little time to actually "sight-see". Anticipating this, I chose a secluded resort with very good children facilities.
Apparently, the resort's definition and my definition of children are quite different because there is an age limit to many of the activities provided, eg. nature trail walk, cycling (no child seats), horse-riding etc. Luckily, they still have a neglected enclosure where there are a couple of huge tortoises, a goat, some squirrels and stray, foraging monkeys to keep Yu Wen entertained. In fact, she was thrilled to feed the goat with all sorts of grass and leaves (yeah, right, feed goat in Sabah!), and she kept saying "Billy is so silly" (with reference to one of her books)!
We also took a river cruise to the mangrove forest and watched macaques, and proboscis monkeys in the wild. It ended with a glittering display put up by fireflies.
Seafood there is relatively cheap and it's very fresh (a better place to eat seafood will be Sandakan and Tawau). There are many different types of garoupas that are only found in waters off Sabah. They have fancy names like eastern star garoupa, seven star garoupa, tiger garoupa, and the elusive and super coveted mouse garoupa (all direct translation from Chinese). Prices range from RM100-380 per kg (would have easily fetch triple the price in Singapore, if you can find one).
I didn't take much photos because my hands are always full (either with diapers, or the baby strollers). It's a pity, and a lesson learned.
The weight of these two combined is not even 30% of my weight but their stuff contribute to 90% of our luggage weight.
That's the view of the evening market by the port from our hotel window. We changed to a city hotel after the first few days of seclusion.
2 comments:
Sounds tempting... I have to look you up for more details! =)
I can also fully understand the luggage bit! Ha
Happy CNY guys!
Hey, they look adorable. But the way you described the place interests me. Especially that you mentioned about a cheap holiday, because I'm a man on the streets too. But holiday is for everyone so we can still travel even if we don't have much budget. There are ways on how to make things cheaper.
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