Tamparuli Mee (Tamparuli Fried Noodle)

1. Keng Swee Hing coffee shop (瓊瑞興茶餐室)

One of the places you can try Tamparuli Mee is “Kedai Makan Dan Kopi Keng Swee Hing” (or Keng Swee Hing in short) in Tamparuli town.

Above: Keng Swee Hing coffee shop (瓊瑞興茶餐室)

The shop address is No. 3, Jalan Bontoi, 89257 Tamparuli, Sabah, Malaysia. The shop opens from 6am to 5pm daily. It has off day every month, so you better phone the owner Mr. Foo (符先生) at +60 88-782417 to confirm before going.

Above: Tamparuli Mee. You can Click Here for larger close-up photo

Tamparuli Fried Noodle is freshly handmade so the texture is more “springy” and it has stronger egg aroma than Tuaran Mee. Usually it is served with egg roll slices (春卷), minced roasted pork (叉烧) and scrambled eggs. It costs RM5 (≈USD1.50) per plate, RM6 (≈USD1.80) if you prefer seafood flavor.

Judging from the expression of the hungry ghosts in front of me, you can bet the noodle tastes good.

Another item we ordered at Keng Swee Hing was pig liver soup with salty vege (猪肝咸菜汤). I like pork liver and I have no problem to finish one big bowl myself. This soup is a must-try to me.

Their steaming hot pumpkin steam bun (金瓜包 in Chinese) is also nice as breakfast or high tea, due to its sweet pumpkin smell. It has no filling so you can eat it with curry sauce or even apply jam to it like normal bread. Even kids who don’t like bread love it. Each bun costs RM1.20 (≈USD0.40).

The shop also proudly displays a news clip with a review of its food. You may Click Here to read the content if you understand Chinese.

Above: the menu of Keng Swee Hing. Click Here for bigger photo
You can order other food items. Other recommended dishes are fried pork ribs (排骨) and fried vegetables.

2. Restoran Wun Chiap (云集酒家)

Just one block away there is another restaurant named Restoran Wun Chiap (云集酒家), which is also very famous for its Tamparuli Mee. It is located next to the a Chinese school, SJK (C) Chung Hwa Tamparuli (担波罗里中华国民型华文学校) and open from 9:30am to 5pm daily.

Sometimes they may close for food catering so you better call them before you visit. Their phone number is +60 88-782845 and the address is Restoran Wun Chiap, Lot No.9, Tamparuli, Sabah, Malaysia. Each plate of Tamparuli Fried Noodle is RM4 (≈USD1.20).

Above: Tamparuli Mee by Wun Chiap (Click photo above to enlarge it)

Some says the noodle tastes better if you put tomato sauce on it, because the sauce blends well with the egg aroma of the noodle and its scrambled egg.

Below is the location map of Keng Swee Hing and Wun Chiap Restaurants:

View My Sabah Map in a larger map

Other Popular Sabah noodles:
Tuaran Mee (Tuaran Noodle)
Beaufort Mee (Beuafort Fried Noodle)

Photos taken in Tamparuli, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Horny buffalo enjoying sunset bath

Yu Kee Bak Kut Teh (佑记肉骨茶)

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Yu Kee Bak Kut Teh (佑记肉骨茶) is the most crowded restaurant in Gaya Street of Kota Kinabalu city after office hours, and throngs of local and tourists come to try their famous Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶 in Chinese), which is pork and organs simmered for hours in soup of herbs and spices (such as star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui and garlic).

The broth has nice aroma of traditional herb and the soup is thick and rich in meat sweetness. Once it enters your mouth, your body will send you a rewarding signal to tell you that it’s nutritious stuff.

Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶) literally means “meat bone tea” in Hokkien. It is introduced to Malaysia by Chinese labors and coolies of Hokkien origin in 19th century. As they are too poor to afford expensive herb such as ginseng, they cook the pork with herb and eat it as a supplement to boost their vitality.

If you eat alone, you can order the standard set meal, which costs about MYR15.00 (about USD4.50) and includes a bowl of Bak Kut Teh, white rice, soup, a teapot of Chinese tea and a few pieces of beancurd puffs (see photo above).

Pic: price list of Bak Kut Teh items (as of April 2015, 6% GST tax included).

Or if you eat with a few friends, you can order a few bowls of different items (see photo above) such as meat balls, kidney and liver and share the food together. The items and their prices per bowl are shown in the photo above (Note: RM is Ringgit, Malaysian currency). To balance your diet, you can order blanched lettuce with oyster sauce too, which is not listed. The prices are subjected change in future (prices listed here are updated on 8 Apr 2015).

Pic: meat balls

Pic: blanched lettuce with oyster sauce

Pic: different dishes of Bah Kut Teh

Besides the meaty pork ribs & belly, there are intestines, liver and pig ear slices in the soup too. If you don’t like organs, you can tell the waitress that you want meat only (you can even ask for slim or fat meat only, or both), but I have to tell you that you will miss the best parts..

Above: workers preparing Bak Kut Teh. The restaurant is always packed with hungry customers, so they are very busy.

The beancurd puffs (known as U Cha Kui or “油条” in Chinese) go well with Bak Kut Teh.

Enjoying the fatty meal but it doesn’t really taste oily though. Bak Kut Teh tastes best when served hot, so I hope they will use heated claypot to store the soup. After 5 minutes of photo-taking, my soup was cooling down and affected the taste.

It’s full of people even on weekdays. The shop address is No. 74, Jalan Gaya, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (opposite Jesselton Hotel in Gaya Street). Yu Kee Bak Kut Teh opens from 4:00pm to 10:30pm daily and closed on alternate Mondays. To be sure, you can phone +60 88-221192 to check in advance. The owner is Mr. Yap Leong Tuck.

View Larger Map

Yu Kee Bak Kut Teh is so well-known that even foreign tourists, especially those from Hong Kong know it, so I think blogging to introduce it is not even necessary.

You see. The restaurant is so crowded that some have to sit outside but everyone still looks happy. If you come after 6pm, you will have to stand and wait for your turn to get a seat.

After a pork-laden meal, drinking Chinese tea can help to dissolve the excessive fat. They are serving Tie Guanyin (铁观音).

A little note for foreigners

The pot of boil water is for your to “sterilize” the dinner set. It’s not soup so don’t drink it.

Above: the optional condiment for Bak Kut Teh. Dark soy sauce if you want it more salty. You may eat the meat with chopped chilli or minced garlic for extra flavor. Up to you. I like to eat it with a lot of garlic. Don’t do this if you will go for a date later LOL.

Bak Kut Teh is herb soup with “heat” property. Don’t take too much if you feel feverish.

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Upside Down House (Rumah Terbalik)

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This is probably the hottest new stuff people talking about in town, and first time ever people feel happy that their world turning upside-down. After seeing so many friends introduced this place in Facebook and blog, I decided to visit the Upside Down House in Tamparuli.

Which one is upside-down? The house or the man? LOL.

Something that you can’t do in real life are all possible now at upside down house.

To get there is easy, if you go from Kota Kinabalu, just a few Kilometer before Tamparuli town and before a Shell gas station, you will see the house at your left, as shown in photo above. Its address is Kampung Telibong, Batu 21, Jalan Telibong, Tamparuli. You may Click Here for the location map. Their website is www.upsidedownhouse.com.my.

Below is the ticket fees. You can save a few bucks if you visit both Upside Down House and newly-opened 3D Wonders Museum (2-in-1 package):

Ticket Fee*	Malaysian Adult	Foreign Adult	Child (4-12 years)**
Upside Down House (Rumah Terbalik)	RM10.60	RM19.10 (≈USD$5.50)	RM5.30 (≈USD$1.50)
3D Wonders Museum	RM24.40	RM35 (≈USD$7)	RM15.90 (≈USD$4.60)
2-in-1 Package (Upside Down House + 3D Wonders)	RM31.80	RM47.70 (≈USD$14)	RM19.10 (≈USD$5.50)

* Fee inclusive of 6% GST tax (price as of June 2015)
** Free entrance for infant 3 years and below

Above: the ticketing counter. The visit will take 30 to 45 minutes.

The logo of Upside Down House (Rumah Terbalik).

The friendly staffs. There are quite a number of visitors even during weekday. We were waiting for our turn.

Here you go, the upside down house! It looks like a traditional Sabah village house from outside. Not only that, the inside is fully furnished. The interior area is about 1,500 square feet, with master bedroom, child room, living room + kitchen and a bathroom.

Finally it’s our turn to enter the house. We were asked to knock the door as if we visited a real house. A staff will guide you in the tour.

Sorry, no photo-taking is allowed after this point. It’s air-conditioned inside.

As expected, it’s an “insane” house, as everything, from small to big, are upside down. We were walking on the “ceiling”, with fans, lamp and even lizard (toy) next to our feet. And all the furnitures are above our head. I started to imagine that I was a ghost hovering near the ceiling LOL.

Group photo at the back door. Do you see the bicycle?

Another group photo. It’s fun to show this picture to others.

Let’s see what they have inside… 40-inch TV, VCR player, microwave, vacuum cleaner, computer & desk, chairs, sofa, beds, cabinet, washing machine, cabinet, closet, painting, etc. just like a normal house. They say the main challenge is to hang the 35-Kg sewing machine on top. They even have poker cards, toys and comic book scattered on the floor, like there are people living inside. The radio is on and luckily not the fan, haha.. I was told that a few visitors are not used to the upside down world and got a bit of motion sickness inside the house.

Hmm… can I sit in that car?

They have a gift shop next to the house.

They sell mainly environmental-friendly local products such as the organic soap and handicraft made of recycled wood.

You may watch the 1-min video of Upside Down House below:

Shuttle Services

You can take their shuttle depart from shopping malls (see below) to this place for RM50 (≈US$12.50) per person. Please call +60 18-8614688 / +60 88-230534 in advance to book a seat (before 4:00pm).

From Center Point	From Wisma Merdeka	Return
8:30am	8:45am	11:30am
10:30am	10:45am	1:30pm
2:00pm	2:15pm	5:00pm
3:00pm	3:15pm	6:00pm

Mango Garden Restaurant

If you visit Upside Down House, I highly recommend you to have lunch or dinner at Mango Garden Restaurant, which is right next to Upside Down House. This air-conditioned restaurant serves authentic traditional cuisines of Sabah and they even take our local food to fine dining level. It’s really a surprise for me to find such a decent restaurant in countryside.

Pic: the beautiful interior of Mango Garden Restaurant, decorated with cultural stuffs and photographs such as handicraft and musical instruments. You can see the Upside Down House from inside.

They have rich variety of exotic food. I tried the dishes below.

Pic: My appetizer, Hinava Sada, which is freshly selected fish fillet marinated in lime juice, shallots, ginger, sliced chili and grated Badu (wild mango seeds). This is a must try dish, very popular in Sabah and originated from the Kadazandusun tribes. You will love it if you like sour and spicy food. Price: RM11.50 (≈US$3.25)

Pic: Asam Pedas Ekor Lembu, sliced oxtail slowly cooked in delicious sour and spicy gravy. Commonly known as oxtail asam pedas by the locals, very tendon. Price: RM29.50 (≈US$8.35)

Pic: Dessert: Sweet Mango Sago & Ice Cream, soft jellied sago with palm sugar and coconut milk topped with fresh and sweet local mango. Price: RM8.50 (≈US$2.40)

After 10% service charge, the meal costs me RM54.45 (≈US$15.40). This is because I ordered the expensive items. Anyway, it’s worth every penny. They also sells common food such as fried rice and noodle, starts from RM8.90 (≈US$2.50) if you don’t want to spend too much.

Pic: Mango Garden Restaurant can accommodate about 40 people.

The following is more info of Mango Garden Restaurant:
Opening Hours: 10am – 10pm daily
Tel: +60 88-783911
E-mail: sales@trekkerslodge.com
Facebook: MangoGardenRestaurant

Photos taken in Tamparuli, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Bonding with Gaya Street, the heritage street of Sabah

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Try to tell the youngsters about your past, and you will see the “WTF, here he comes again…” impatient expression on their faces. However, everyone did want to hear about your stories in Gaya Street last weekends (11-12 Feb).

Not only that, the TV media also interviewed the people about their stories.

All these excitement are the outcome of the “Bonding with Gaya Street” event, which is a community heritage exhibition that features old buildings, old-time stories, cultures and social history about Gaya Street, which is known as Bond Street during British colony era. Gaya Street is chosen for the event because it is where Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu (KK), capital of Sabah) started.

“Sudah lama lor…” (means it’s a long time ago) is the commonest phrase heard during the event. The old photographs of Kota Kinabalu with timeline from 1657 to 1960 attracts locals from all walks of live. Most KK folks have a piece of memory in Gaya Street, so these nostalgic photos bring back their memory. Strangers pointed at the photos and shared with others that what was used to be there and what they had done.

Bonding with Gaya Street is organized by North Borneo History Enthusiasts (NBHE) and Kota Kinabalu City Hall, and supported by Sabah Tourism Board, Information Department, Sabah State Museum, Sabah Archives and Daily Express.

Today Gaya Street is well-known for its Sunday market that is frequented by many tourists, but few knows about its history. After the event, I know that it’s more than a tourist attraction, it is a heritage street rich of history!

My favorite of this event is the display of colorful street art painted on the sun shade canvas, a very welcome enrichment. These are the creative works of professional artists, teachers and students as young as 6-year! You may look at my photo album for bigger photos. Which painting you like by the way?

Above: Nunuk Ragang photo exhibition by Flanegan Bainon.

Above: the volunteers of the event. They have a Collection Booth for old photographs and personal stories in Sen Chong Wah restaurant (新中华) in Gaya Street, if you would like to share yours.

If you go inside this restaurant, you will a beautiful display of Kota Kinabalu’s old-day information on the wall.

Above: a street performance by Julie Sawmundax during the launching. It’s fun to have her around.

You may watch the 3-min video below about the event:

Above: vintage cars

Above: a replica of North Borneo war memorial made of bamboo. The “real” memorial is moved to City Park many years ago.

Many shops in Gaya Street also decorate their doors and windows with nostalgic items such as old photos. Do you see your pretty mom or handsome dad in the photo? LOL.

At first those locals felt suspicious, when the organizer asked them for the old stories and photographs. Once they understood the purposes, they become very supportive to this project.

It’s so cool that some shops were showing the historical photos of their shops 50 or 60 years ago. Gaya Street has become a live museum. Our schools have turned history class into something dry and boring. This might be the first time people, both old and young, think that history is interesting. And these things are not found on our textbook, so we need to document them ASAP before they are gone forever.

Above: proud of the history. Sen Chong Wah restaurant (新中华) was established since 1945!

Above: this stone on the wall of Syarikat Eng Leong is the most important relic easily overlooked by most. It is laid in 1951 and marks the first row of 17 permanent shophouses of Kota Kinabalu. These traditional shophouses are under threat when big and air-conditioned shopping malls sprout in city nowadays.

Above: built in 1954, Jesselton Hotel is the oldest post-war hotel in Sabah. The famous boxer, Muhammad Ali stayed there before.

Above: the Sabah Tourism building is nearly 100 years old. Locals still call it “old post office”.

In the past, I thought that the historical value of an old building is only from its age, the longer it is, the more precious. Now I think the stories and collective memories are more significant. Without any story, an old building is just an aged structure that has no life and meaning. I hope the social histories of our Gaya Street will be passed on to our new generations.

In conjunction with Bonding with Gaya Street, Hotel 63 held an exhibition about the 107-year-old Atkinson Clock Tower in 1st floor. A coffee-table book titled “Colonial Townships in Sabah: West Coast” is on sale for RM135. Since Richard, the author was there, I bought the book and requested for his autograph. Haha, then the rest also became kiasu and did the same thing. Richard was busy writing but I guess he was also glad that the books were sold like hot cake.

Atkinson Clock Tower is built in 1903 in memory of Francis George Atkinson, the first District Officer of Jesselton. There are many information and old photographs of Atkinson Clock Tower in this exhibition. I’m glad that Malaysians today really care about their history and heritage, like what the Jalan Sultan incident shows.

The highlight is the 8×48 foot graphic mural of the Atkinson Clock Tower. If you look closely, this mural is formed by a large collection of photos.

Above: Atkinson Clock Tower is only a stone throw away from Gaya Street. This oldest structure of Sabah has become an iconic landmark of Kota Kinabalu.

However, Atkinson Clock Tower is under serious threat when a developer proposes to build a 16-storey Commercial Shopping Mall next to it! WTF, there are many damn developers cut all the forest and mangrove to build their housing, then market their property as a nature-rich location. Same to this greedy developer who wants to build a mall next to Atkinson Clock Tower, they are not f*cking care about our heritage. Please do object this project!

More Info:
Official website of Bonding with Gaya Street
North Borneo History Enthusiasts (NBHE), the main organizer

More Photos

You may check out my photo album if you want to see more nice pictures:

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Kesusu, the Coolest Fruit of Borneo!!!

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Hi friends, this fruit is so awesome, I just can’t wait to tell you this.

Let me introduce you the “Kesusu“, the strangest but coolest fruit of Borneo island. It has other names such as Karon, Buruni and Ematak. According to the guide, Kesusu belongs to Jackfruit family (Anacardiaceae), a type of latex plant. Its scientific name is Prainea limpato.

Isn’t Kesusu look like an exotic fruit from outer space? The edible part is the protruding seeds in orange color. The seeds are soft and loosely embedded in the fruit and easy to pull out.

The surface of the seed is oily. The pulp tastes sweet with a bit of sour. Nice..

The ripen Kesusu is in orange and yellow colors. It really looks like a star. This kind of funky fruit should be a superstar fruit of Borneo, so hard to believe that I never see this fruit.

Above: the Kesusu fruit tree. You can see it in Sabah Agriculture Park (Taman Pertanian Sabah) in Tenom.

Kesusu grows in the wild but it is considered rare nowadays as our forest is vanishing.

Photos taken in Tenom, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Wild mangosteen of Borneo

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Mangosteen is also known as “Queen of Fruits” and most of you may have tried it. The skin of ordinary mangosteen is in purple color, as shown in photo below:

However, I only find out recently that there is a type of wild mangosteen only found in Borneo. It’s called Selabi (hope I spell the name right).

As you can see in photo above, Selabi is in bright yellow color.

When you peel off the skin, you will see orange pulp, instead of the usual white pulp of common mangosteen. Selabi tastes similar to mangosteen but sweeter and less sour.

Above: The wild mangosteen tree.

Due to deforestation, wild mangosteen is now very rare.

You can see this fruit in Sabah Agriculture Park (Taman Pertanian Sabah) in Tenom. Hopefully the park will introduce this Borneo fruit back into our forest again.

Photos taken in Tenom, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Weird flowers & fruits in Sabah Agriculture Park

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Sabah Agriculture Park (Taman Pertanian Sabah), which is located 15 Kilometers away from Tenom town, is one of the best agriculture parks in Asia. The park has about 20 gardens with different themes, the area is so big that you need to spend a few days to see everything. I had a day trip there last week and I find the following exotic plants are interesting:

Above: “Mickey Mouse” Flower. Do you see the eyes and ears?

Above: heart shape flower. Valentine’s Day is around the corner.

Above: Circular floating leaves of the giant Amazonian water lily (Victoria amazonica). It can grow more than 1 Meter in diameter and no problem having a 30-40 Kg child sit on it. Some visitors throw coin on these big leaves. Please don’t do it, coz it will cause “sunburn” to the leaf when the metal coin turns hot by sunlight.

Above: Dutchman’s Pipe from South America

Above: Dutchman’s Pipe stinks so bad when it fully grows and flies love it.

Pucuk Manis (species name: Sauropus androgynus) is a very famous vegetable of Sabah. Local Chinese calls it “树仔菜” (means tree vegetables literally). We always recommend tourists to try it.

Above: this flower looks like shrimp’s mouth.

Above: Mahkota Dewa from Indonesia, a magical fruit that can cure cancer of early stage.

Above: “cotton tree”?

Above: the seed with “cotton” inside.

You should hire a guide with you if you want to sample fruits in the park. Not everything is edible. Like the fruit tree above. This tree is used for decoration and the fruits are not edible, and it’s quite a pain to clean the dropping fruits.

Burahol / kepel fruit. Eat it and your urine will smell good.

The fruit of burahol / kepel needs to be cooked to yellow color before consumption.

Above: beautiful Hoya flower

We sample some ripen fruits. I can’t recall their names. They all taste sweet with a bit of sour.

Above: “Ah Bill” fruit (that’s how the name sounds like)? The meat is sweet and taste like pudding, nice!

To make the tour more enjoyable and informative, it is highly recommended that you hire a park guide to show you around. You may go in group and pay for the guide service. Even though I think Sabah Agriculture Park is one of the “must-visit” parks in Sabah, it is not a popular tourism attraction. One of the reasons is that this park is over 100 Kilometers from Kota Kinabalu city and travel agents are lack of interest to promote it.

Photos taken in Tenom, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

MySabah.com

Travel guides to Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Tamparuli Mee (Tamparuli Fried Noodle)

1. Keng Swee Hing coffee shop (瓊瑞興茶餐室)

2. Restoran Wun Chiap (云集酒家)

Horny buffalo enjoying sunset bath

Yu Kee Bak Kut Teh (佑记肉骨茶)

Upside Down House (Rumah Terbalik)

Shuttle Services

Mango Garden Restaurant

Bonding with Gaya Street, the heritage street of Sabah

More Photos

Kesusu, the Coolest Fruit of Borneo!!!

Wild mangosteen of Borneo

Weird flowers & fruits in Sabah Agriculture Park