4 July 2013
We arrived Sandakan Airport on 16 June 2013 at 9.15am and was warmly welcomed by Jodhy (014-2822345), our travel agent and Ramli (019-8967914), our ground pilot. We straight away headed to Mamak Restaurant for a good breakfast before starting our city tour.
Our first stop was Agnes Keith House. Agnes Keith was a famous American writer who penned Land Below The Wind, Three Came Home and White Man Returns. The house became home to Agnes and her family. Today the house has been restored and turned into a heritage house, providing interesting insights to life during British North Borneo. It is furnished with a reproduction of colonial furniture and antiques. A Keith time-line starts in 1873 and ends in 2004 tracing the past to the present Keiths.
Another historical visit was to Masjid Jamik AS Sheikh Hasbollah At Tohiri, the oldest Masjid in Sabah built in 1890 and is still undergoing construction via the fund donated generously by congregations, mostly during Friday prayers. The Masjid is located on a hill top in the city.
We then visited Sandakan market for its famous ground coffee and sea weeds. The ground coffee could be smelt from 50 meters away and the smell stayed on for a long time. Its best taken with milk and locally we call it kopi susu. Seaweed contains high Nutrients that can be found in Collagen. Planted in sea (mostly in Semporna area) naturally without any artificial fertilizer or any other chemical substance. Collagen has vast benefits of usage, it improves health by strengthening human immune system and also restoring dead cells in human body. By consuming and using Seaweed in our daily life, you could experience amazing experiences as Collagen impact like enhancing and firming skin structure and improve metabolism rate and improves blood circulation.
By now, we were all hungry and we had ikan bakar and coconut water for lunch, checked in hotel and out again in the evening for sightseeing and seafood dinner.
Next day, we travelled 1 hr 45 minutes to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre which was set up in 1964 to rehabilitate orphaned baby orang utan. Tourists were given the opportunity to watch the orang utan up close in their natural habitat. A boardwalk leads you to a viewing gallery and feeding platform where the apes are fed milk and bananas twice a day at 10.00am and 3.00pm by ranges. Feeding time also attracts long-tailed macaques to the area.
On the road for another 2 hours, we reached Sukau, Kinabatangan. Cik Kertijah Abdul Kadir was already waiting for our arrival and we were accommodated at the Sukau Greenview. We went for the Kinabatangan River Cruise to admire the beauty and natural habitat. The Kinabatangan River is located in Sabah and is the second longest river in Malaysia, with a length of 560 kilometers. We bumped into primates like the long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques, the amazing sounding gibbons, some of the 8 species of hornbills and the great Orang Utans. We also caught sight of Proboscis Monkeys, a primate that is found only in Borneo. We were very fortunate to catch a glimpse of the newly discovered Bornean 'Pygmy' Elephant feeding on the edge of the river. That ended our Kinabatangan River Cruise.
After dinner, we were briefed by Cik Kertijah, Project Manager for Nestlé RiLeaf Project, an initiative by Nestlé to try to create a landscape where people, nature and agriculture (oil palm), are united by their common source of vitality - water - and to demonstrate that mutual co-existence is possible for all stakeholders. Operations are strung along a 110km zone of the Lower Kinabatangan, aiming to achieve forest connectivity, as well as minimise water pollution from sedimentation and agricultural run-offs, by the restoration of a "green" buffer zone – in effect to provide "RiLeaf" such that the river has a better chance to repair itself.
Next morning we travelled on road for 20 minutes to reach Kg Bilit and took a boat ride for another 20 minutes to reach the actual tree planting area. 18 June 2013 was a “Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah” as the six of us planted 60 trees namely Salungapid, Bayur and Simpur. These species of trees are able to enrich vegetation in degraded forest. Yes it was a historial day for us as some of us have never held a ‘cangkul’ before in our lives. We were forewarned of ‘pacat’ who loved to detoxify people. Unfortunately, the ‘pacat’ did not want our blood except for Zaiton’s. Feeling good experience was sensed amongst us as we managed to help in the Rileaf Project.
Back to hotel in time for lunch. Afterwhich we were on the road again for next 3 hours to reachKundasang, Ranau. Our mission : To conquer the foot of Mount Kinabalu. Yes, we did that and we enjoyed the fresh, clean and beautiful scenery.
Another 3 hours on the road to Kota Kinabalu where we put up 2 nights. Wondering what to do in KK as we have no fixed agenda, a brilliant idea came from Marsita to visit the Tip Of Borneo which is in Kudat. Kudat, we stopped over at Sabah Tea Plantation for tea shopping as souvenirs. We then proceeded to Kudat which took us 3½ hours one way. We were flabbergasted at the beautiful crystal clear sea and the fresh air that we breathed in. It was worth the long journey. Another 3½ hours back to KK for a good night sleep.
On the way to
We spent the next day at the Filippines market to buy more and more pearls, crystals and such in preparation for the coming Hari Raya Puasa and also as gifts to friends and loved ones.
After 5 days, we bade farewell to Sabah with such fond memories of the friendly people, good sumptuous food, beautiful sceneries, interesting river cruise, Sepilok Rehabiliation Centre and historical places that we visited. More importantly is, as retirees, we are part of the Nestlé Rileaf Project, a CSV programe working with the local community to restore 2400has over a 3-year period until end 2014.
A friendly note to all : Visit Sabah for your next Cuti-Cuti Malaysia plan. Malaysia Truly Asia.
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