{"id":595,"date":"2011-02-14T23:17:49","date_gmt":"2011-02-14T15:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/?p=595"},"modified":"2023-06-02T08:58:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T00:58:53","slug":"monkey-and-monkey-cup-of-weston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/monkey-and-monkey-cup-of-weston\/","title":{"rendered":"Monkey and Monkey Cup of Weston"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the past, Weston is the first town to have a railway station in Borneo, but it is under-developed and remain a seaside village today. Now tourists find a reason to visit Weston, as it is one of the three places offers wetland eco-tourism in Klias Peninsular to see long-nosed monkey, besides Klias<\/a> and Garama<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Map<\/a>
Weston town is about 3 hours drive (125 KM) from Kota Kinabalu city and accessible by paved road. You will pass by Papar, Bongawan<\/a> and Beaufort towns on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jetty<\/a>
Last month I joined a river cruise tour in Weston. I arrived Weston around 10am and our guide, Richard, and his boat, were already waiting at the jetty. It had been raining every day that time, so I was so glad that we had sunny day. For a start, we had a river cruise tour on the Weston River. The wetland here is mostly intact and well-preserved. Unlike the brackish and lifeless water in peat swamp of Klias<\/a> and Garama<\/a>, Weston wetland is a wide river with flowing murky (like color of milk tea) water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Weston<\/a>
>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"intertidal<\/a>
Compared to Klias<\/a> and Garama<\/a>, Weston wetland is located at downstream and closer to the sea. In fact, its estuary is where Padas, the largest river of Sabah, ends as the meeting place of sea and river. As tide level changes daily, so is the depth of the water. We can see some lands exposed during low tide, with mangrove trees growing on it. During high tide, about lower half of these trees will be submerged into the water. A funny view but these vegetation have the ability to live in such intertidal environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"egret<\/a>
Within 10 minutes, our boat spotted the first proboscis monkey. It’s a female monkey foraging at the river bank. Crocodiles also live in Weston River, but most are concentrated in further upstream, so this monkey is safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"male<\/a>
Then we saw about 4 herds of proboscis monkey (about 4 to 8 monkey per group) on the trees next to the river. Each group is dominated by a male proboscis monkey with big nose and belly. Proboscis monkey is one of the biggest monkey species but they are very elusive. They fled into the forest before our boat could get closer, so a binocular would help a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"birds<\/a>
Besides monkey, you can spot some water birds such as kingfisher, egrets and Lesser Adjutant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"fishing<\/a>
Weston is rich in seafood too. We saw some fishing boats in the river, and a few of them were checking the fish traps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"fishing<\/a>
Surprisingly, as an old town, the river of Weston is not really dense-populated. We found wooden houses of fishermen scattered along the river. Richard says the contour of the river always changes, so I assume any area near the river is not suitable for permanent settlement. Due to land clearing upstream, more silt is carried into Padas river, and this would affect the course and flow of the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"fishermen<\/a>
>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"nipah<\/a>
Klias<\/a> and Garama<\/a> wetlands have beautiful peat swamp forest, but I think Weston has the densest and most beautiful view of Nipah forest. Someone told me that nipah tree is an invasive species and very easy to plant. You can see nipah tree in swampy area and wetland in Sabah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"nipah<\/a>
Does nipah tree sound so unfamiliar to you? In fact, most of you (Malaysians) have eaten its fruit. Its popular name is “atap fruit”. Chinese calls it “\u6c34\u6930” (water coconut). The sweet Nipah fruit is a common item served in dessert called Ais Kacang<\/em> or “ABC” (acronym for Air Batu Campur, literally means “Mixed Ice”).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"nipah<\/a>
Above: the semi-transparent and oval-shape nipah (nypa) fruits. The fruit is sweet with chewy texture, taste and feel like jello candy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"nipah<\/a>
Above: nipah fruit is a nice addition to Mixed Ice dessert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"crab\"\/<\/a>
But what Weston most famous for is its crabs. For unknown reason, the crabs from Weston taste sweeter and more chewy. Even my mother knows this and ask me to buy some from Weston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"udang<\/a>
Another popular seafood of Weston is the freshwater prawn “Udang Galah” ( “\u5927\u5934\u867e” in Chinese). You can fish this prawn with specialized fishing hook. Normally the fishermen throw some rice in the river, after a while catch it using the fishing net. You can buy directly for cheaper price from local fishermen in Weston. In fish market, Udang Galah is sold for RM20 (about USD$6) per Kilogram. Unfortunately, due to overfishing, the crabs and shrimps in Weston are getting less.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Weston<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At the end of our morning river cruise, we stopped at the jetty of Weston Wetland Resort, which has its dining area and reception building built next to the river. We were welcome by a fat and friendly cat, aww… so cute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"cat<\/a>
>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a 5-minute video of our river cruise tour and Weston Wetland Resort. Sadly, I notice my video has very low click rate. Now I’m not sure if I should waste my time making video next time.. \ud83d\ude41 At first I thought it was a great idea..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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