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Tiger prawn

BBQ Seafood in Kota Kinabalu

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I love BBQ food b’coz anything tastes good if you grill it. If you are a tourist who wants to have a seafood feast without burning a hole in your pocket, you will be very happy to know the seafood night market in Sinsuran, a very accessible spot in Kota Kinabalu (KK) city.


As a matter of fact, Sinsuran Night Market is well-known among the locals and it is always packed with people who look for budget seafood. This place is not advertised as widely as other decent (and expensive) seafood restaurants in city. Some tourists who care to research a bit online will find out this “hidden” place.


Sinsuran night market is very easy to find. For those who stay in city center, it’ll take them less than 10 minutes to walk there. Go to the Handicraft Market, or more commonly known as “Filipino Market” by the locals, in front of Le Meridien 5-star Hotel. The night market is just right behind the Filipino Market, as shown in the map below:


View My Sabah Map in a larger map


The Filipino Handicraft Market is a popular location for bargain local handicrafts and products such as beadwork, batik, wooden craft, traditional handmade baskets, key chains, dried seafood and even freshwater pearl. It’s hard for visitors not to smell the smoke with BBQ aroma at the back of Handicraft Market after 5:30pm. I believe that’s how most foreign tourists learn this place when they trace the smoke, and many decide to eat there after handicraft shopping.


There are many BBQ seafood stalls. You may tour around and look at variety of seafood on display. The seafood is half-cooked. You just point at the seafood you want, and they will grill it again and serve it hot to you in minutes.

FYI, the seafood night market is just next to KK fish market, one of the most important fish landing port of Sabah. That’s why fresh seafood is readily available for the hawkers.


Just take time to look around and you will be spoiled with choices. Besides fishes, they also sell BBQ squid, prawn, crab and lobster. They also come in different sizes with prices range from RM8 to RM20 (≈USD2.50-USD6) each. Usually the bigger one costs more. Anyway, the prices are for your reference only. Lobster can cost more than RM100 (≈USD33)! I think they charge higher price for tourists, so do bargain with them or check a few other stalls first, before you sit down.


The “must-try” seafood is Tiger Prawn. The Tiger Prawn is the most famous seafood of Sabah, as it is big and longer than your palm. Tell you, whenever Sabahans order prawns in Peninsular Malaysia, we always laugh at their size. Not only the prawn in Peninsular Malaysia is expensive and not so fresh, their small prawn is only “qualified” for making shrimp paste in Sabah LOL.


After you make your order, you can enjoy the grilled seafood under the canopy. It’s very simple setup, with only a few tables and chairs. You will see a small plastic kettle filled with water on the table. It’s for washing your hands so don’t drink it ok, haha. You will see most locals eating seafood with bare hands. You can ask for spoon and fork if you are not used to our dining style. You may order white rice to go with your seafood if you like to.


My BBQ seafood, yum yum.. :-p~


Occasionally I have my dinner at this night market too. Did you see the green stuff on my plate? It’s seaweed and I strongly recommend you to try it. For me, it tastes like tiny and juicy sour grape with a smell of seawater, after applying a bit of Calamansi Lime juice on it. It’s only RM1 or RM2 per plate.


The Sinsuran Night Market is more than seafood stalls. You can find almost any kind of common local food there, for example, fried noodle (Mee Goreng), soup noodle (Soto). The BBQ honey chicken wing is also the favorite of locals.


Ok, you come here all the way from other country and you want something exotic right? You may try the grilled chicken butt (actually it’s chicken tail but locals call it butt) and chicken liver. It’s a very subjective matter whether you like chicken butt, personally, I think it is quite oily but the meat is more “juicy”, sweet and tender.


You gastronomic adventure shouldn’t stop here b’coz there are more local food for you explore. A few steps away from the seafood stalls is colorful and rich variety of local breads, cakes and dessert for sale.


Well, there are too many to introduce. Just try whatever looks delicious to you. Most of them taste sweet.


For drink, you can try coconut juice (Air Kelapa) or other local fruit juice, for example, the Kit-Chai-Ping (Iced Calamansi Lime Juice or “???” in Chinese). At this point, you would agree with me that it’s not too much to call Sinsuran Night Market a little food paradise. The food there is so irresistible that it’s impossible you leave with an empty stomach.

Related post
BBQ Seafood in Sandakan (Sim-Sim)

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

BBQ Clams & Grilled Coconut

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The BBQ Clam (Lokan Panggang) & Grilled Coconut (Kelapa Bakar) roadside stalls in Tuaran always caught my attention every time I passed by. “They must be having great stuffs,” I think, when I see so many cars stop there for a meal, though it’s hard to associate 5-star food with such primitive stalls that look more like makeshift structure.


But if you try their food once, you will want to come back again. You can’t find THIS taste elsewhere.

BBQ Clams (Lokan Panggang)

The “must-try” is their Lokan Panggang (BBQ Clam). The clams (or cockle) are those bivalves molluscs (Species: Polymesoda expansa) living in the mud of the mangrove forest.


Above: the clams come in 3 different sizes, i.e. big (besar), medium (sederhana) and small (kecil), and they cost RM12 (?USD3.60), RM10 (?USD3) and RM7 (?USD2.10) for 20 units respectively. If 20 is too much, you can ask for 10 clams only and pay for half price.


There are over 20 stalls along the road. I randomly picked a stall and ordered 10 big BBQ clams (coz big clams look good in photos, haha). The smaller clams have tender and sweeter taste. Anyway, it’s a personal preference. If you are unsure what size to go for, you may order 10 big and 10 small clams.


The way they cook the clams is simple, they grill the clams on a zinc plate. They also add a bit of oil, which I believe containing a mixture of onion and ginger to remove the fishy smell of the clams. The smoke is so strong that the cook had to squint his eyes.


Oh boy, oh boy… the smell of seafood and sizzling noise really stimulate my appetite.


As you can see, they use very simple method to BBQ the clams. No fancy stuff. I like it coz that’s the best way to appreciate the original taste of seafood.


To get better photos, I move my camera very close to the boiling clams. They warn me that the hot meat would “explode” so be careful, LOL.


They will also ask you if you prefer dry (fully-cooked) or wet (half-cooked) style. For me, half-cooked tastes the best! But if you are tourists with sensitive stomach to raw seafood, I strongly advise you go for dry style (fully-cooked).

Clams are from mud. To those European and Japanese tourists who are used to the “germ-free” environment of their countries, they will get sick easily for trying something different. That’s why travel agents will never bring you there for lunch coz the tourists who get ill would suit them. I think I’m also obligated to advise you that you better get Hepatitis B vaccination prior to eating seashell food in Malaysia.


However, none of our locals (and tourists from South-East Asia) have such problem. A famost host of a TV food programme “Taste with Jason Axian” even came all the way from Kuala Lumpur to feature the BBQ Clams & Grilled Coconut here.


Above: the grilled clams are ready to be eaten. It should be 20 clams by standard, but I ordered only 10. See the Sambal sauce in the green plate? You may dip the clam into this sour and spicy sauce which goes very well with seafood.


For each bite, the half-cooked juicy clam meat “bursts” in my mouth. The meat is tender and creamy! It’s a highly satisfying seafood meal.

Below is a 1-min video of BBQ Clam. Don’t watch if you are hungry!

Grilled Coconut (Kelapa Bakar)

After having BBQ clams, I tried their Grilled Coconut too. It costs only RM3 (?USD1) each.


Above: different way to enjoy coconut


I have no idea why they have such an idea of “BBQ” a coconut.


Basically, they just grill the coconut over the firewood until its skin turns black.


Above: preparing Grilled Coconut. The coconut is steaming hot, so he has to be very careful.


Above: what a skill to remove coconut crust without breaking the meat layer. Probably he is a part-time brain surgeon too, haha!


The coconut juice is very hot. You can see its steaming in 30-sec video below:


You can drink the juice and eat the coconut meat. But to be honest, I like cool coconut juice much much better, and it’s not so enjoyable to sweat profusely while drinking hot coconut juice in hot day. Anyway, you must try their coconut pudding, which is more highly recommended.

How to get there

When you drive from Kota Kinabalu city and head to Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort in Tuaran, after 25 to 30 minutes and 5 KM before the resort, you will reach a roundabout like photo below:


Turn left to enter the Sulaman road. You will see the roadside stalls at both sides of the road only 20 Meters away. Most of them open from 9am to 8pm daily.

Below is the location map. Note the boxed area:

View My Sabah Map in a larger map


There are over 20 roadside stalls along both sides of the road, and each has a name (“Gerai” means stall in English. “Selamat Datang” means Welcome). They welcome locals as well as tourists, so don’t be shy.


Is this the 1Malaysia restaurant initiated by our Prime Minister?


This stall is going enterprise and international, haha..


Most of them selling the similar food, i.e. clams, coconut and probably some local snacks. From the number of stalls, they seems to have good business and demand.


Just take your time and browse around. All stalls look the same too me. Do you have any specific stall that you like? Please share.

Photos taken in Tuaran, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Usukan Cove

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“A bay full of corals” is my first impression of Usukan Cove in Kota Belud district. In fact, the rich diversity and density of corals in Usukan Cove reminds me of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park 30 years ago, the time when the corals were in pristine conditions and found in shallow water only a few feet away from the sandy beach, before they were spoiled by thousands of tourists nowadays…


Above: Japanese Bridge

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

To go there from Kota Kinabalu, just drive in the direction to Kota Belud town. After an hour, you will arrive a roundabout, just follow the brown signage that says “Jeti Ke Pulau Mantanani” (Jetty to Mantanani Island). Then you will see second roundabout (Kuala Abai), follow the junction at the left, and you will arrive the entrance of Usukan Cove Lodge within 10 minutes.


On the way, you will pass by a white steel bridge built by Japanese to transport the copper that they collected from Mamut Minefield about 30 years ago. The locals call it the “Japanese Bridge”. The funny thing is – it is a one-way bridge in arch shape. Cars entering from both directions can’t see each other until one of them reaches the top. One car has to give way (by reversing back) to the car that comes up to the top first. The traffic volume is low so the locals seem to get used to such inconvenience.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

Usukan Cove Lodge offers basic and economic accommodation, from bunk-bed room (2 to 4 beds) to sea front twin-bed room (Online Booking available). These building were used to be the staff quarter of Shell who has oil rig off Mantanani Island. A tour operator took over it in March this year and turned it into a lodge. Though the rooms have no attached bathroom cum toilet, they are clean and cosy. The lodge is able to host maximum of 50 people, so it is a suitable school retreat location. Many European tourists also like this quiet place, because other islands such as Sapi and Manukan are too crowded and noisy to them. But frankly, the beach area there is quite small.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

Snorkelling

Snorkelling is the best choice of activity due to the rich corals in Usukan. Diving is available but you should not expect “too high” coz in rainy season, the flowing river nearby would make the sea water a bit murky and poor in visibility. One of the highlight is the “Christmas Tree” coral, which I believe is a tubeworm. Turtles and seahorses were spotted here before but not common. There are about 4 dive sites in Usukan, and 3 wreck diving sites for advanced divers.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

The density and size of the coral reef is remarkable. The boat dropped me in Usukan Reef and Icy Point for the snorkelling. The Usukan Reef mainly consists of hard corals. Each species seems like gathering in large clusters. I saw large areas of big plate corals and stag-horn corals. In Icy Point, I also saw mainly hard corals, with more mix of soft corals and sea grass. The sea water in Icy Point is a bit funny. In one spot I felt warm, but moving a few Metres away I would feel cool, probably that’s why they call it Icy Point. The corals come in different shapes, like big boulders, brain, hand, pyramid, sponge and flower. Though the shore is quite a distance away, the water was shallow and the corals grew quite tall. I had to be careful so I would not destroy the corals by accident.


Above: Diving / Snorkelling sites of Usukan Cove

The sad thing I noticed was the coral bleaching. About 10% of corals here were showing sign of bleaching. You can even see these white spots (bleached corals) clearly from the boat. This was not present two months ago. I saw a big and white “coral tree” underwater. Its look was so stunning, like a big snowy tree with ice branches. But the corals were dead actually, a heart-broken but beautiful scene.

Due to global warming, the corals of Peninsular Malaysia are badly affected and they have to close down 12 dive sites. Now the coral bleaching is slowly spreading to Sabah. It is not a local issue, as other Sabah islands in west coast (in South China Sea) are also facing the same problem. In fact, the pollution from our mainland has been stressing the corals, global warming is just the last stack of grass that crushes the camel.


Above: clear spot of coral bleaching

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

Deep Sea Fishing

Then I went “deep sea fishing” in the sea 20 minutes off Usukan Cove by boat. Ehem… it was only 14 Meters in depth, not really deep. The “real” deep fish fishing is going for the depth of over 30 Meters. This tour operator does take hardcore anglers to real deep sea but that’s another package. It was so nice that the workers prepared everything for us, the fishing rod, hook and bait, making our lives so easy.


Above: fishing bait (basung fishes & squid)

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

Can you believe it? In 3 minutes, we got our first fish! I thought we were only lucky. But from there on, we got fish in every 3 minutes. That’s not my case though. At first my fishing line entangled, then my fishing hook stuck in a rock, no fish for 30 minutes but the bait was gone, my fishing became “feeding fish”. Then a worker taught me a tip, I had to release my fishing hook all the way down to the bottom, not letting it dragged in the mid water or surface.

Above: blue-dotted stingray that has venomous sting


Above: our caught in one hour

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

The tip really worked! Within 20 minutes, I got 3 fishes, two blacktip groupers (red color) and a Jackfish (silver color). One of us even got a puffer fish and another got blue-dotted stingray. The capture of blue-dotted stingray caused a brief moment of fear onboard coz its sting is venomous. I’m not sure about other countries, stingray is considered a delicacy in Sabah. Its meat is quite delicious if you don’t mind it gets a weird “chemical” taste (can mix it with lime juice to cover the smell). The sea was a bit choppy, so I walked like a drunken man on the deck. Btw, it is perfect to enjoy some beer while fishing. After an hour of fishing, we returned to Usukan Cove Lodge with our fruitful caught and they cooked the fishes for us.

Above: They cooked our caught as dinner. I hope this is steamed though.

Above: meat of stingray

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

River Cruise

We started our river cruise at Kawa-Kawa River at 4PM, to look for playboy of Borneo. I mean the Proboscis Monkey, which has many wives and always in “ready” mode to mate. On one side of this 15-Meter-wide river is human settlement and another side is mainly mangrove and nipah forest. Since the proboscis monkeys are used to people, they are relatively less elusive and we can get really close to them.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

Proboscis Monkey has the habit of spending the night on the trees next to the river in the evening. For them, riverside is the safest site to stay away from predators at night. About 4 to 5 herds of Proboscis Monkey were spotted at Kawa-Kawa River. But there is no guarantee we can see them. Luckily we found 3 groups of them despite the poor weather.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

Besides long-nosed monkeys, we also saw crab-eating macaque (long-tailed macaque), monitor lizard and many birds such as oriental darter, white-bellied sea eagle, little heron, blue-throated bee eater, white-collar kingfisher, frigate, doves, egrets and bulbul. After we exited the estuary of Kawa-Kawa River and on the way to Abai River, we were rewarded by the magic moment of the sunset.


Above: a male proboscis monkey showed warning then ignored us

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

Then we proceeded to the mangrove forest of Abai River to look at firefly around 6:40pm. Normally there should be hundreds of them. Unfortunately, that night was rainy and bright with moonlight, the most inactive time for firefly, so we only spotted a few twinkling fireflies in the riverside. Weather is not something we can control so nevermind then. Anyway, I had so much fun that day and would call it an excellent trip.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Usukan Cove

If you are interested in tour to Usukan Cove, you may contact Inno Travel & Tour Services (http://www.sabahholidays.com).

Photos taken in Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Giant Clams of Sabah

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Out of 9 species of giant clams (Kima Gergasi) in the world, Sabah has 7. Namely (number in bracket is the adult size of each species):-
1. Tridacna gigas (1.5M)
2. Tridacna derasa (40cm)
3. Tridacna squamosa (30cm)
4. Tridacna maxima (20cm)
5. Tridacna crocea (15cm)
6. Hipoppus porcelanus (40cm)
7. Hipoppus hipoppus (30cm)

Don’t be so happy yet. Due to overfishing, the two largest species, Tridacna gigas and Tridacna derasa, are now considered critically endangered in Sabah (some say they are locally extinct). All species of giant clams are listed in “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora” (CITES), which means they are endangered and should be protected.


Above: Tridacna gigas, the largest species of giant clam, can reach 2 M in length, weigh over 200 KG, and live to more than 100 years old! But sorry, locally extinct already.


Above: Tridacna derasa, also a locally extinct species. Very rare in the wild.


Above: Tridacna squamosa species


Above: Tridacna maxima species


Above: Tridacna squamosa species

Giant clams live like a plant, as their main diet is organic nutrients which come from the photosynthesis of millions of symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) that live inside their mantle. In return, giant clams offer the algae a safe home.

Harvesting, trading and buying of giant clams are prohibited under the Malaysian Law. However, enforcement is different story. Just went to tamu (native market) in Kota Belud and see it yourselves. The hawkers sell and slaughter the giant clams openly. They don’t feel anything wrong about it, and didn’t even bother when I was photographing them.

Above: see the yellow and red boxes and two big white sacks behind the seller? They are all giant claim shells! There were many happy buyers and many giant clams were sold in just a few minutes.


Poor giant clams. They may have taken more than 3 years to grow to these sizes. They are eaten before they are mature enough to breed.


Giant clams live in shallow lagoons, reef flats, and the sandy and rubbly substrate of coral reefs in the tropical Indo West Pacific.


Giant clams were once everywhere. Now they are getting rare because human eats their meat. Humans are the worst predators of giant clams.


Giant clams do not get enough attention like sharks and turtles, though they are one of the most fascinating marine creatures.


Giant clams also uses a siphon to draw in water to filter and consume plankton. By absorbing and filtering nitrates, ammonia and other organics that are harmful to coral reefs, giant clams help to clean the water in marine ecosystems.


These giant clams were slaughtered for their meat and sold for RM5 (small) or RM8 (big) each.


Above: giant clams waited to be slaughtered alive. Business was good and they were unlikely to survive until sunset.

I also went to Gaya Street Sunday Market on the same day. More than 100 giant clam shells were sold as handicraft items such as soap dishes, ash trays, shell lamps and ornaments.

There were tourists buying giant clams. Under the regulations of CITES, giant clams, whether dead or alive, cannot be carried out of our country. I don’t blame the tourists don’t know they are sponsoring an illegal trade. But what the heck is happening to our authorities (Fishery and Wildlife Departments)? Are they blind?

Below: a big giant clam shell is sold for RM25 (about USD7.50).

More photos of giant clams sales in Gaya Street… It seems like giant clam trade has become an “industry”. It is very hard to find the whole complete set of giant clam shells on the beach, so very likely these shells were taken from live giant clams.

So you think that the problem is not serious enough? Just take a walk in dried seafood market nearby. You will see giant clams (as dried seafood) everywhere.


The most valuable part of giant clam is its adductor muscle, which is commonly sold as scallops, which cost over RM100 for a small pack in dried seafood markets.


Overfishing of giant clams is a serious problem, as they are considered as a delicacy and profitable seafood. Besides overharvesting, climate change and pollution are also factors that speed up the extinction of giant clams. Excessive CO2 from atmosphere makes the sea water more acidic and lessens the ability of giant clams to grow their shells. The rise in sea temperature will also disturb the symbiotic relationship between the clams and the zooxanthellae that nourishes them. The introduction of a coal power plant in Darvel Bay, which is located inside the Coral Triangle, would pose a threat to giant clams.

More giant clam handicraft items sold in handicraft market… My heart is broken.. FYI, giant clam in movies is always portrayed as a man-eater because it snaps swimmers’ legs by surprise and drowns them. Actually this is impossible. First, you have to find a really huge giant clam, which is extremely rare. Second, giant clams close very slowly and most do not close completely. They do not snap. They are not monsters ok.

Currently Sabah has two places that spawn and propagate giant clams and you can see all 7 species of giant clams in their sites. The first one is Marine & Ecology Research Centre (MERC) in Gayana Eco Resort of Gaya Island, and another one is Sabah Parks Hatchery at Bohey Dulang Island (see photo below) in Tun Sakaran Marine Park off Semporna. This hatchery was built in year 2004 and fully operational with a completed laboratory in 2009.

To start, the giant clams will be induced (by temperature or injection of chemical) to release their eggs and sperms for fertilisation. The eggs will be collected. A week later, the larva of giant clams will settle and find a spot to grow, then they are moved to settlement tanks.

The giant clam larva will spend half a year to grow up to 3 cm. Then they will be released to the sea inside a cage (to protect them from predators), until they grow to 9cm or more after a few months. At last, they will be released independently to the ocean bottom without a cage. Less than 10% of the eggs will survive at the end.

T. gigas and T. derasa have the fastest growth rate. They may reach up to 9-12cm after a year. The suitable release spot will be clean and well-illuminated sea about 10 feet in depth or less with mild water current. Giant clams reach maturity very late, at about 7 to 8 years old.

Bohey Dulang Hatchery Station has a mini exhibition hall and a settlement tank area, which are open for public to visit. You can see at least 5 species of big giant clams in their display tank, great for an education tour. To visit the islands of Tun Sakaran Marine Park, you need to get a permit from Sabah Parks first.

However, no matter how hard and how long these two centres try, they are only able to increase the population of giant clams in limited scale, not the whole ocean around Sabah. The conservation has to be started from you, the consumers. Just don’t eat and buy any giant clam product and the killing will stop. Eating giant clams is as bad as eating shark fin and turtle eggs. The key obstacle of all conservation efforts in Malaysia is the mentality of “if I don’t kill them, others will”, a selfish excuse for greedy mouth of Malaysians. Well, that’s why our country is so dirty, as everyone thinks, “if I don’t throw rubbish, others will.” Anyway, if I can make only one of you to stop consuming giant clam, this blog already worths my time and efforts.

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu & Semporna, Sabah Malaysia

BBQ Fishes of Sim-Sim Market

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My mouth was watering when I wrote this. BBQ Fish (“Ikan Bakar” in Malay language, means BBQ Fish), in Sim-Sim Pasar (market), only a few KM away from Sandakan town, is probably one of the “must-try” food for people who come to Sandakan, and everyone who had tried it always give a thumb-up and come back again. It is a sin if I don’t share this with you.


Pic: BBQ fresh seafood. They use charcoal so the grilled fishes have appetizing aroma.

The location map of Sim-Sim market:

View My Sabah Map in a larger map


Pic: Sim-Sim Pasar (Market)
Sim-Sim Market is open from 8am to 10pm daily.


Pic: dining area inside the market

Even in afternoon and at night, Sim-Sim Pasar is still a busy place coz of its famous tasty BBQ fish. There are a few stalls selling this food and many local people queue up and pick the fish they want. You just choose your fish and they will BBQ it over the charcoal for you on the spot. Depends on your liking, you may have something such as whole fish, fish tail, fish head and even BBQ shrimps.


Pic: food menu with price list. (USD1 = RM3 in Malaysian currency)
Translation: RM (currency Ringgit Malaysia), Kecil (Small), Sederhana (Medium), Besar (Big), XL (Extra Large), Ikan (Fish), Kelapa (Coconut)

Note the BBQ fishes served with red sauce below, a recipe in Indonesia Bugis style.


Pic: BBQ Sapi-Sapi fish, RM8 each


Pic: BBQ Trigger fish, RM10 each


Pic: BBQ squid for RM10


Depending on the size of the fish you order, the price ranges from RM5 – RM28 (USD1.70 – USD9.30). The great thing is – white rice and vegetables are included. No cut-throat 3-digit price there, unlike other seafood restaurants that show you the eye-popping bill after a happy meal.

Sabah is famous for its seafood and the secrets of nice seafood is fresh, fresh, and fresh! They use bigger fishes and apply special sauce on the them during the BBQ. It looks yellow and I don’t know what it is, may be some spices that makes the fishes so tasty, in addition to the BBQ aroma.

Spoon and fork are not given unless you ask. Try eating it with your bare hands is a more enjoyable experience. Rice is provided. For tourists who are not used to eating rice, you need to be careful with the fish bones. Just don’t chew rice and fish in your mouth at the same time.

After the BBQ, the fish skin is harden a bit and hold the “juice” in the meat, so it doesn’t taste dry. I love spicy stuffs, so I always dip the meat in “sambal belacan”, a very hot shrimp paste. This further wet my appepite that I can eat 2 more plates of rice. Life is so beautiful with mouthful of fresh seafood.


Pic: BBQ chicken and shrimps are also available.

You are dripping now, aren’t you?

Photos taken in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Trip to Tawau

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The last time I went to Tawau was so many years ago. Whenever I wanted to visit my friends in Tawau, they would say, “why you come to Tawau Oh? Nothing to play here leh.” Tawau is too far away from Kota Kinabalu city and got no attractive tourism spot . I know they got a Cocoa Museum and a Hill Park. Unfortunately, even people from Tawau also don’t know much about them, so I really had doubt if these places worth a visit.

I have traveled in many places of Sabah. To “conquer” the whole Sabah, Tawau seems like a must-go destination, just for the sake of making the list complete. Luckily, there was a Tawau level Kaamatan (Harvest Festival) celebration on May 6. So I found more good reason to go to Tawau. Besides, I got an aunty stays in Tawau.

The next thing is to choose a transport. Taking a bus from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau will cost RM55 per trip, and the ride takes 9 hours. Getting there by plane will cost RM120+ per trip, but it takes only 40 minutes to fly to Tawau. So I took the plane. RM240+ is quite a rip off price, consider it is enough to buy a AirAsia ticket to fly to Kuala Lumpur. Once I arrived Tawau airport, I still had to pay RM10 to get a bus from airport to the town centre, which took another hour.

I took a walk in Tawau town. Tawau is really a big town. I think that the road system in town is a bit messy, like not systematic and well-planned. There are many faces of foreigners who look like Indonesians. I walked to the Dewan Masyarakat Tawau. They would have the Kaamatan celebration there that night, so I wanted to survey the place. Yeah, you can expect photos of Tawau Unduk Ngadau Beauty Pageant here later.

My Tawau aunty lent me her old car, so I could roam freely in town and made it felt young once again (but the wheels almost went off). She only showed me the way back home once, then I was totally on my own. I had no problem to drive home, even in the dark. Not because I have 6th sense or great memory, I got pen and paper mah, hahaha… The faintest ink can beat the strongest memory. Why burden my brain so much? What I need to do is just taking note of the important junctions and building. Now I only remember that Tawau road got a lot of roundabout and bridges. My aunty asked me not to lock the car at night. The car window was broken twice coz the thief tried to look for something in the car. Might as well just leave the car unlocked for them. When I was staying in Tawau, there was power blackout of one to two hours every day. I could hear that Tawau was sighing.

Tawau may not have a lot of places to travel but it is definitely one of the most place to eat seafood. My aunty and her husband treated me dinner at Sabindo. We had some prawns, fish and seashells, cost about RM80 for 3 persons. The taste? Not bad lah..