Category Archives: Sabah

Inanam Bus Terminal

Finally the long distance express bus station is moved from Padang Merdeka area to Inanam. Now we got three bus stations. If you want to go to Kudat, Sandakan, Tawau, Lahad Datu… take the bus at Inanam Bus Terminal. If you want to go to Beaufort, Ranau, Tenom, Keningau… take the bus at Padang Merdeka. If you want to go to Sipitang, Kuala Penyu, Menumbok… take the bus near Wawasan Plaza. Even KK people are also very confused. You tell me lah, how many of you really know?

Last week I went to Inanam Bus Terminal to buy the bus ticket to Lahad Datu, one day earlier. Once I walked in, there was a bunch of people ran to me like hungry flies. No, I am not kidding. They really acted like flies. They pulled my shirt and hands, trying to sell bus ticket to me. SHIT!!! (yeah, I look like shit to these flies) I was deeply annoyed and tried to get their sticky hands off me coz I really hated stranger touched me. If that was not a terminal, I would think they wanted to rob me.

The next day when I got on the bus to Lahad Datu, I found that my seat was taken by someone else, who also held a valid ticket with the same seat number. Their staff confirmed that it was a double booking error, so they got another seat number for me. I already read from the newspaper that many people complained the new bus terminal booking system was error-prone and always double-book. Sigh… seem like they still haven’t put thing in order yet.

Below is the pricing info about the one-way bus ticket if you are interested:
(Subject to Change)
Kota Belud RM7.00
Kota Marudu RM13.00
Kudat RM18.00
Kunak RM47.00
Lahad Datu RM40.00
Sandakan RM33.50
Semporna RM56.00
Tawau RM55.00
Telupid RM25.00

I remember the bus ticket to Sandakan was RM25 in July 2005. Now it is RM33.50, an increase of more than 30% in less than a year, scary… Seem like our money is shrinking faster than we think…

Why Me Again?
Let’s talk a bit about my trip to Lahad Datu. It took the bus, in Kota Kinabalu, about 6.5 hours to reach Lahad Datu. Before I went there, all my family members kept on warning me that Lahad Datu was not safe at night. I always dressed like a beggar when I travel, so I was not quite worried. There were two police checkpoints on the way. When the police got on the bus to check our I/C, I was so surprised to see that I seemed like the only one who was holding a MyKad. The rest are using IMM13, foreigner passports, and other identity documents. Gee… I looked more like an Illegal Immigrant among them.

After I visited the Cultural Carnival and Tabin Wildlife, I bought the bus ticket back to Kota Kinabalu, one day earlier. The bus schedule is very funny one, only departs at 8 AM or 9 PM something. There is no bus departs in the afternoon. When I ordered the ticket at the counter, I saw the staff used the pen to write, mark and make changes on a piece of “seat-tracking” paper. Then he called someone a few times to confirm the seat availability. My gut feeling immediately told me that this manual tracking system was messy and error-prone. So I asked him again to confirm if I really could get a seat. He said yes. Well, what happened in the following day proved me right.

The next day I was ready to leave Lahad Datu in the afternoon. But my bus departed at 9:30 PM, so I just sat in the 24-hour AJ Cafe at Fajar to wait. When I was sitting in the cafe, I heard a lady screamed and a few men ran to chase something. It happened so fast, so I had no idea what was going on. Later I knew that she got snatched under daylight. The robber escaped and she sat there crying… Sorry ah, I am not trying to talk bad about Lahad Datu. This is what people say and what I see ok.

Finally, after hours of waiting, I caught the bus at 9:30 PM. When I sat down, another passengers holding a ticket and said I took his seat. AIYA!!! WHY LIKE THIS AGAIN OH!!! I WAS REALLY FUCKING TIRED AND WANTED TO GO HOME ASAP. WHY THESE PEOPLE ALWAYS GAVE ME THE SAME SHIT OH!!!!!!! REALLY PISSED OFF!!! I demanded an explanation from the bus conductor. He was showing me another damn piece of seat tracking paper and told me that my ticket was valid but the serial number did not match his record. WHAT THE FUCK!!! Who care about your serial number thing? I am not working in your company. Obviously it was the double booking problem again. They tried to explain their tracking error caused by my early booking. I only told them (decide to act ignorant), “I don’t care about your serial number thing. It is your fault, not mine. I only know that I have bought and paid for the ticket. Now just get me a seat and send me back to KK!!!” Then their counter staff, bus conductor and bus driver walked to side and had hot argument over the mess-up, while other passengers were waiting on the bus. I recorded part of it. Click Here if you want to hear. I don’t know how they did it. They managed to get me a seat at last.

I have traveled with Express Buses so many times and never had such problem. Hard to believe that it happened twice to me in a trip. That really sucks. Well, somehow I think this problem is related to the new booking system imposed by the new bus terminal. Hopefully they can resolve the issue ASAP.

Lee Hom Promo Tour

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If you ask me where was the hottest place last night, I would not hesitate to answer you that was the Lee Hom Promo Tour (something like a mini-concert) at KDCA Penampang. The show started at 8 PM but I already saw a queue there around 2 PM, coz those hardcore fans wanted to get the best position. When I got there again around 5:40 PM, the parking lot is 90% occupied already. I estimate there were about 4,000 to 5,000 audiences.

I don’t think anyone of you will ask me who is Lee Hom, right? He is a superstar. It was so crowded that I had to move inch by inch in the crowd nearly 30 minutes to enter the hall. Needless to say, the hall was totally full. I was not holding a VIP ticket so I was quite far behind. But thanks to the 12x zoom of my camera, I still could capture a few reasonably good shots and share them here.

The show started at 7:45 PM, with 5 fans being invited on stage to sing Lee Hom’s songs. Then Lee Hom came on stage at 8:10 PM. Click Here to see video clip (Length: 1 minute, Size: 2.2 MB, Windows Media Video) of audience’s responses when Lee Hom appeared after a long wait. I was so surprised that Sabah fans can be so crazy. I could not hear him sang liao. Near the end of this video clip, you also can hear clearly a moi moi cai (little girl) says “Very Liang Chai (handsome) oh!!!~” Huh? Lee Hom was so far away, she could tell meh? Probably she was saying me. Haha…

It was not a concert, so the show ended at 8:30 PM, after Lee Hom sang a few songs of his new album “Heroes of Earth”. Then there was a signature gathering until 9:50 PM. I was waiting in the l…o…n…g… thousand-people-queue for over an hour to get his signature, though Lee Hom did not shake hand and take picture with the fans.

Due to the long wait, a few times the worried crowd almost lost control and wanted to rush to the front. The MC had to keep on promising many times that Lee Hom would sign ALL the albums, to cool down the crowd. Even though Lee Hom tried to be fast, he would always do eye contact with his fan after signing each album (OK lah… he is really a lot more liang chai than me. I have to admit that). I also got the signature. If you want it, please make an offer and I would sell it to you. Just kidding…

Mud volcano

Tabin Wildlife

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“I’LL BE BACK!”
This was what I thought when I left Tabin Wildlife Reserve last week. Don’t get me wrong. I am not going back there to kill animal and shoot wildlife. I want to kill more time and shoot more photos. If you love nature, Tabin will be like a treasure hunt to you. There is always a new pleasure surprise waiting for you in next minute, and you will want more.

Besides Danum Valley, Tabin Wildlife Reserve is another best wildlife watching spot. It is just 44 KM away from Lahad Datu. The transport will take 1 hour 30 minutes. 10 minutes on the usual road, then 1 hour 20 minutes on gravel road. You will see ocean of oil palm plantation on the way. No, there is no bus going there. Taxi will ask for RM250, gila… You already can book the Tabin tour, which costs less than RM200 (USD50) and 2-way transport is included.


Click Here to see the photo gallery of Tabin Wildlife >>

Our first activity is to go to the Lapid Mud Volcano. It is as big as a football field. According to the guide, the mud volcano is still active in producing mud, and it becomes higher and higher due to the accumulated mud. They say the mud contains a lot of minerals and it is good for your skin if you apply it. Even the elephants and wild boar know its value and come to eat the mud.

After 30 minutes of jungle trekking (700 Meters trail), we saw the mud volcano. I was so excited and walked quickly to the centre of the mud volcano. Then “pop!”, one of my feet was trapped in the mud. Man… the suction was so strong that it took a lot of strength to pull out my foot. Actually it is very dangerous to run to the centre. The mud on the thin surface is dry and looks hard, but underneath is a pool of deep soft mud. I heard that there was a girl got half of her body sank into the mud. She was so scared and cried for help. Two guys finally got her out of the mud, but her pant was left in the mud. So be careful.. BTW, you really need a spare shoe for the jungle trekking, as the trail is very wet and muddy.


Click Here to see the photo gallery of Tabin Wildlife >>

Of course, Tabin is never lack of wild animals. I have taken some photos during the jungle trekking, and share them in photo gallery here. The resort itself is already in the forest so you can see and hear the wildlife too. Unfortunately, many of them flee before I take out the camera. All 8 species of hornbills can be spot here. Too bad I didn’t see any Pygmy elephants.

The staffs advised us to leave everything in our room and lock the door. This is because the monkeys (Long-Tail Macaque) are very naughty and know how to open door and steal our things. If you leave your shoe outside, the next day you would see a monkey wearing your Nike. The chalet is very well-equipped. Got air-con, hot water, lighting, bathroom and big room…

We also had a night safari at 9 PM. We found deer, slow loris, fire fly… It should be more animal if it was not raining that night. This is not a zoo so you will need a bit of luck. Anyway, this was the first time I explored forest in the dark. Still an interesting experience. I should have stayed long enough.

Click Here to see the photo gallery of Tabin Wildlife >>

Cultural Carnival, Lahad Datu

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I think I am among the very few Sabahans who really appreciate the traditional costumes of indigenous people. Whenever I tried to share the photos of these colourful costumes with my friends, most would answer coldly, “Hmmm, Hmmm… good…” (try to entertain Smoke Head)

Well, I don’t really care if anyone is interested in my hobby. I just enjoy doing it, and that is what motivates me to visit all the local festivals throughout Sabah since last year. After nearly 1 year of photo hunting, I have posted hundreds photos of so many Sabah indigenous people such as Bajau, Suluk, Dusun Tatana, Rungus, Bisaya, Murut, Kadazan Penampang, Kadazan Papar, Lotud, Dusun Segama Subpan, Kimaragang, Dusun Lobou Sook, Dusun Tindal, Kimaragang, Tombonuo, Iranun, Orang Brunei, Lundayeh, Kedayah, Orang Ulu… Hope there are foreigner visitors, who like this stuff, attracted by my photos and come to Sabah. I am looking forward to the Harvest Festival in May. That whole month will be really a harvest time for me.


Click Here to see the photo gallery of Cultural Carnival >>

I read the news about Cultural Carnival 2006 in Lahad Datu (Mar 11 – 12). Without hesitation, I went to Lahad Datu excitedly to see it. It is fun to look for pretty models wearing beautiful traditional costumes. They are always happily pose for photo shooting. Not bad lah this trip, coz I got the photos of people in Idahan, Lidu, and Bugis costumes.

The 2-day Cultural Carnival was organised by Sabah Cultural Board. I must say it is very well done. They got cultural performance in the morning and evening. The stage setting, dance performance, costumes… all was excellent. High quality show, a big thumb up. Because of that, my index finger lost control already and kept on pressing the camera shutter, until my 1 GB memory cards all full. You don’t need to travel long distance to see this. Just click the picture below to view the photo gallery.


Click Here to see the photo gallery of Cultural Carnival >>

Likas Sport Complex

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Today 2 PM I was on the way to KK City Bird Sanctuary. When I passby Likas Sport Complex, I decided to change my destination to there. I took some pictures until 4 PM. Due to the cloudy sky, the sunlight was soft but sufficient for some ideal close-up shoots for small objects such as insects, and nobody around to distract me.

Last week I just resumed jogging that I have stopped for nearly a year. Likas Sport Complex has been one of the popular jogging sites in Kota Kinabalu, due to its beautiful and nature surrounding. However, usually people just come and go quickly. I think I could explore it a bit to find some “surprises”.

Most of the pictures were taken near the pool side, usually the most active spot of the bugs. During the photo shooting, always got something crawled under my trouser, some got many legs, some are very cold. I didn’t check so I don’t know what they are, haha…

Click Here to see the photos >>

Old Face of KK City

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There is an exhibition about the history of Kota Kinabalu city, at Palm Square of Centre Point Sabah. If I am not mistaken, it will open until 5th of March. You can check out the model below (1:500 scale) if you are curious about how KK looked like in 1930.

Haha… the public toilets of KK city were on the sea. Interesting… just imagine the fishes opened their mouth wide under the toilets. This is the only thing I learn from this exhibition.

The fishes in 1930 were fatter, right? No, no, no… today no difference also, you forget the generous contributions from Gaya Island?

Trip to Kudat – Part 2 of 2

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After the lunch, we continued our tour to The Tip of Borneo. It has been raining for the past few days. The weather was not good in the morning. Luckily, after the morning rain, we got a clear blue sky. The 30 minute ride on graval road was quite an enjoyable experience, as we were welcomed by thousands of coconut trees.

Before we arrived The Tip of Borneo, the white sand and crystal blue water at Tanjung Simpang Mengayau caught our attention. The beach is so beautiful, clean and pure that I call it the “Perfect” beach, something that would only appears in dream. I was told that we could camp there, and the sunset of The Tip of Borneo is one of the best. I will come back again next time, for longer period. There are also a few longhouses nearby that offer accommodation to tourists.

I don’t want to be wordy on describing the beauty of The Tip of Borneo. Just check out the photo gallery and see it yourself. Actually we are not allowed to go down and walk on the rock. But I just could not resist to get closer to the tip. If you check out my photo gallery later, you will know that it is quite dangerous to stand near the tip coz the strong wave would hit you to the sea.

The nature has done an excellent job to make the Tip a piece of art. I like to check out the rock ponds. You can see fishes, crabs, shrimps and shells trying to hide in the small pond. If I can cook the rock pond, each of them will become a bowl of delicious seafood soup, hahaha…

Click Here to view more photos of The Tip of Borneo >>

Trip to Kudat – Part 1 of 2

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Finally I went to Tip Of Borneo the second time with my family. It will take 3 hours to drive from Kota Kinabalu to Kudat, if you use the route that passes through Kota Belud. It is a long way and you will passby many padi field, forest, hills, rivers, coconut trees, oil palm plantation, villages… For those foreigner tourists who never see a coconut or think padi grown on tree, the countryside view should be interesting. For local yokel like me, I will open my mouth wide and take a nap in the car.

The road condition is considered ok overall. When you reach Kota Belud, the famous cowboy town, be extra cautious. Coz you will find many cows roaming on the road. Sometimes they just come out from nowhere. Do not horn them. You will only get two results. The first one is – they ignore you totally. The second response is – they got panic and run like a headless fly, causing accident on another lane. Before you reach Kudat, you would find some wooden stalls by the roadside, where you can stop and buy some local farm products, such as peanuts, coconut, rice cracker, corn… Again, for local yokel like me, I will open my mouth wide and take a nap.

We arrived Kudat around 11 AM, with empty stomach. So we decided to try the famous Kudat Tofu (Soybean cake) Dumpling in Pakka Choon. If you are a muslim, sorry lah, it is not halal coz it contains pork. To get there, if you see the temple below in Kudat (see pictures below), just go straight and you will see a roundabout at the end. Turn to the road that has the sign “Jalan Tomanggong Kurantud”. Follow the main road for roughly 1.5 KM, you will arrive Pakka Choon area, and you would see an old wooden shoplot at your left side. You can see a few yellow signboards such as “Siew Lan Tailor”, “Thart Seng Electrical” there. Hope this info is good enough for you to locate the place.

They offer rich variety of yummy yummy tofu dumpling, e.g. eggplant, mushroom, liver, sausage, curry flavors… I personally like the one with liver. If you are first time trying, you may order a few bowls of different tofu dumpling so you can taste each of them. Each bowl costs around RM4 to 5 (USD1 to 1.25). When I was taking photos of the food, those waitresses hiding behind laughing. Probably they think I am nut. You also can order Ngiu Chap (or U-Chap) there and it tastes quite good.