'The Secret Spots of Sandakan' - could only be about food!

I have been to Sandakan quite a few times and, as everyone says, the food there is delicious.  But you know what it's like - as a visitor, you feel that you're not really getting to the places that locals think are the BEST places to eat.  And 'best' here can mean taste, freshness, quality, value for money - not usually anything to do with the decor, the service, the desirability of the location...it's ALL about the food.

Bak Kut Teh - our first evening meal - fantastic!

So I finally got to visit Sandakan with some locals.  It was a great trip.  The first thing that is funny - funny-ha-ha, not funny-weird - about Sandakan is that everything happens in doubles.  As you come closer to the east coast, it all starts with the town of Dum Dum.  There's Dum Dum Besar (big) and Dum Dum Kecil (small).  And so you sit and wonder to yourself whether it's said Dumb-Dumb or Dawm Dawm.  Well, some of us wonder about things like this.  It's something to do before you start eating!

Sim Sim, the kampung air, for seafood breakfast

Our first eating stop was at a shop called:  Siang Siang and it was here we had our first taste of the kway teow goreng and mee goreng - fried noodles.  They are really good.  I've had them again since then and can say again that they are: really good.  Even my friends who had hardly any space left for more food thought they were REALLY GOOD!

We went on to visit the brother of our friend who has a shop called:  On On.  As it's an electrical shop, we thought it was better to be called On On than Off Off or even On Off!  And it didn't stop there - we ate at a place called Yum Yum and visited the 'kampong air' or water village called: Sim Sim.  Fantastic seafood!

Other treats included Portuguese egg tarts that come fresh from the oven every hour.  They are fabulous!  With coffee, of course.  And then the varieties of ABC - a really Malaysian iced snack that is basically shaved ice with lots of tasty bits added!  Makes you cool from the inside.  Perfect in this climate. 

Shaved ice (ABC), mini homemade hamburger, Portuguese egg tarts

We did make a search for UFO's or Cow Pats - you can imagine the general shape!  These have a thin, round layer of sponge on the bottom, then a toffee-flavoured filling, and a topping of soft meringue.  The old man who was famous for making UFOs in Sandakan couldn't persuade his son to join him in the business and wouldn't pass his secret recipe on to his daughter who did agree to join him - so the magic went with him to the grave!  And I have to say that I think the UFOs we get in KK are better than the many we tasted in Sandakan.

So there it is!  I was so busy eating on this trip that I didn't take nearly as many photos as I should have.  Ah well, I guess I'll just have to go back - for the photographs, of course.

If you have any comments or questions, I'd love to hear from you!  jude@astsabah.com

From KK to Sepilok

Recently I drove from KK to Sepilok with some friends who were in Sabah on holiday.  They only had a few days, so we went straight from the airport to Kundasang.  And Mt Kinabalu offered some beautiful views, both in the evening and the next morning!

On the way to the east coast, we went on a rafflesia hunt and were lucky enough to be able to see one.  Although I have seen quite a few now, it is always interesting to see the flies buzzing around the centre, as well as the texture of the leaves, the interesting nodules hanging around the inside of the lip and the large cabbage-like buds - which take 9 months to develop.

Our next stop was Sepilok and the orangutans.  As we were walking to the feeding platform, a fairly large orangutan came down from a tree and started moving quickly among us.  We were alternately told to stop and move, stop and move - not sure what the right thing to do was, so maybe both.  We saw a mother and child, I think.  They are so surprisingly gentle, frightened even of the marauding macaques.

Not to be missed in Sepilok is the Rainforest Discovery Centre.  Great information, wonderful walks, a very strong canopy walkway and a great flower garden.

I am constantly photographing orchids too - their beauty is not that easy to catch - but their colours are gorgeous.

From Sepilok, we went to the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary - another 'must see' in this area.  The guides there are very informative and you can get very close to the proboscis monkeys themselves.  The males are very strong and have lovely coats - the females and young have incredibly cute, little up-turned noses!

An added attraction at Labuk Bay are the silver leaf langurs.  They are generally around - although I've been a couple of times when they seemed to be taking a break from all the tourists.  We were especially lucky to see the baby ones - who are orange in colour at first and then gradually get darker over the months.

If you're into photography at all, you'll know that you go through stages of being interested in certain things - and it's the same with me (except for Mt Kinabalu which is a passion!).  So here are some pics of heliconia.  They are fantastic because of their colour, their variety and their sculptural quality.

Sabah offers such variety.  I never tire of travelling to each different part - and taking photos. 

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.  I'd love to hear from you:  jude@astsabah.com