'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

Sandakan in July: Part 2 - Kylie Crawley

Continues Kylie's story, adapting her travelogue:


On our third day in Sandakan, we got up at 7:30am, had breakfast and were collected at 9am for our 9:30am boat ride to Turtle Island, Selingan. The ride out was pretty rough indeed but thankfully we didn't need any sea sickness bags. Upon arrival we had a bit of a rest and then went for the buffet lunch.


Turtle laying eggs

 In the evening we visited the aging display upstairs before patiently waiting for the turtles to 'land' and lay their eggs. It was quite difficult to see the turtles coming in and you weren't allowed to shine torches at them (quite rightly) so by the end of the night I didn't know if I was looking at moving turtles or trees that weren't actually going anywhere. Later in the night we were taken on a tour where we saw a green turtle who had just laid her eggs; we then saw those eggs reburied in the nursery to hatch about six weeks later and finally we saw some hatchlings released into the water. Apparently only 2% of them make it to adulthood. Those aren't great odds.


Kylie & Dave

As we had an early departure from the island we had to get up at 5:30am for a 6am breakfast. Jude collected us from the pier and drove us to Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary. We saw about 50 proboscis monkeys who came in for feeding time at Platform A. The monkeys were very entertaining and also a little scary if one monkey started to do the wrong thing to another monkey in their group.



Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary



Before we entered Platform B of the sanctuary, we watched a DVD detailing how two brothers had brought up a lot of land to grow oil palm but once they saw they were inadvertently killing off the monkeys in the process they decided to set up the sanctuary. Not only are there proboscis monkeys but silver leaf langurs also walk around inside and outside. There is an otter and a number of hornbills who fly in to feed each other pieces of banana. Jonathon, one of the handlers, has obviously trained them well. The place has become something of a reserve for injured and orphaned wildlife and the tourists love it.



Buffalo working on an oil palm plantation

On the way out of the monkey sanctuary we saw a water buffalo being used in the traditional way of pulling a sledge to carry out the palm oil nuts that were growing all around us. It was a gentle reminder that even though modern farming methds are instituted, the old way of doing things still works pretty well.

We also visited the home of the American author Agnes Keith who wrote books such as Three Came Home which detailed life in the prisoner of war and civilian camps and living under the years of Japanese occupation in Borneo. The house was beautiful but I can only imagine how hot it got in the middle of summer.



At the English Tea House

 We had a drink at the English Tea House and Restaurant where we watched a couple play a game of croquet (it even looked like they knew the rules) and then Jude drove us to the airport in time for our 18:50 flight to Kuala Lumpur. It had certainly been a very informative tour as Jude has learnt a lot about the history of the area and she knew all the places to visit.

Photos in these two blogs about Kylie's trip were taken by Dave and Jude.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.  I'd love to hear from you at:  jude@astsabah.com

Sandakan in July: Part 1 - Kylie Crawley

The following is adapted from Kylie's travelogue: 

Sandakan War Memorial

The flight to Sandakan from KL was about three hours in length. We were quickly able to meet Jude Day who was to be our guide for the next three days on our brief tour of Sabah. Following a beer in the lobby bar of the Sabah Hotel, she drove us to Sandakan Memorial Park. The reason for this stop over was to visit the prisoner of war camp where my great-uncle Keith Hubert Henley was interned by the Japanese from 29th March 1943 until his death from malaria on the 24th April 1945 in Sandakan. He was just 26 years old. In this camp 2,248 prisoners of war were incarcerated, of those who survived about 1200 were marched 260km to Ranau or to their deaths. If they stumbled or fell, the Japanese shot them where they lay. Only 6 men survived these Death Marches, they were all Australians and they survived only because they escaped. 

Window by Philip Handle

In the grounds of the memorial park the remains of the excavator used by the PoW's to build the airport runway can still be seen. It seems that despite the horrendous conditions, the Australians and other prisoners were larrikins until the last; for instance they went to great lengths to bog the excavator in order that the run way would not be completed.
On a more uplifting note, the commemorative pavilion contains magnificent stained glass windows designed by Australian Philip Handle incorporating the flowers of the states of Australia, Borneo and England.



Leaflet about Keith Henley

 After leaving a paper leaflet on the memorial to commemorate my Uncle Pat and remember his ultimate sacrifice we visited St Michael's and All Angels Church where the prisoners spent the night on route to the camp from Singapore. The church had lovely stained glass windows once again designed and constructed by Philip Handle commemorating those who died and praying for everlasting peace.
                     



Canopy Walkway

 We were able to have a sleep on the second morning as Jude did not pick us up until 10:30am to take us to the Rainforest Discovery Centre. Here we saw macaques swinging wildly through the trees, hornbills flying through the skies, huge trees, beautiful flowers and other assorted wildlife. The canopy walk provided great views of the rainforest below although it was so hot I thought we might pass out.

 Our next stop was the Sepilok Orang-Utan Sanctuary. We watched the introductory DVD and then followed the board walk to where the orang-utans are fed. Despite the fact that the rain fell for the entire time we were there we were lucky enough to see 5 orang-utans including a mother and her very new born baby. They were all so cute and oh so human like. There was a very cheeky one that hung above us for ages, occasionally poking his tongue out at us.


Orangutans at Sepilok

Kylie came to Sabah in July 2010, specifically to visit Sandakan.  Part 2 of her story will be up on the blog soon.
If you have any comments or questions, please let me know.  I'd love to hear from you at:  jude@astsabah.com