Tip of Borneo

Last time I could not provide any pictures for my Kudat posts though I raved so much of Simpang Mengayau so here I managed to procure some nice ones.

My Sabah Journey: Day (04) Home Sweet Home. Pantai Dalit.

Day 4.

The storm rested at dawn to a light drizzle that continued to the end of the day, making our visit to the Tip of Borneo a tipsy one against the wind. We peeped at the cool, rustic chalets of the homestay resort and browsed through the corals and shells at some makeshift stalls nearby before making the trip back to KK. The drizzle continued as we drived on and it was decided to be unsuitable for the Matunggong attractions so we took a detour to Kota Marudu instead for the heck of it.

Kota Marudu main town is another small town. Along the way, churches cropped up again but luckily there were still some Malay shops in town. Either we missed it or there's none, we passed no mosque along the road of Kota Marudu.

So now back to KK. If you know the roads well enough, you can bypass Kota Belud town and take a right turn at the 3 - way junction just after the Kg. Taun Gusi school. And if you are interested to view a breathtaking sight of a beautiful fisherman village river along the way, take the route of Pantai Dalit instead of following the direct route to KK as the signboards dictate. Following this route too will bring you to a road lined with stalls selling coconut puding made inside the coconut itself and also roasted lokan, a mollusc served with tantalizing chili dip.

Since the meal of lokan and pudding did not satisfy us, a buddy insisted on stopping at Anjung Selera despite my warning. After a disappointing meal (except for the sayur manis with egg and pucuk timun in belacan, which were so good), we stopped for the prayer at Likas floating mosque.

Another night at Marina Court.

My Sabah Journey: Day (03) To the Tip of Borneo. Kudat.

Day 3 was for Kudat.

Before leaving Kundasang, we took to driving into a village uphill where the vegetable plantatations were. It happened that during our visit that Sabah is having a Cabbage Festival so loads of cabbage were being brought down from Kundasang. So anyway we made it to some remote area somewhere up there and discovered the signboard to the cow farm. Not that we're eager for milk and dairy, just the curiosity so we drove on through wonderful sights of green meadow, rocky peak of Kinabalu and black-and-white cows grazing. To reach a guardhouse where we're informed that the place was currently closed to visitors for renovation.

The Desa milk cows, Kundasang '08

View of the Kinabalu peaks along the cow farm road, Kundasang '08

And so we made our way down to town and onwards, passing Nabalu town again and took a junction to Kota Belud that we saw the day before when we drived up. It turned out to be a shorter route compared to driving down towards Tuaran and rather straightforward. Furthermore, this route directed us straight into the main town of Kota Belud

Again, eating and praying in Kota Belud town is no problem as majority of people here are Muslim. There is a mosque and many Malay shops, and even a KFC here. On Sunday, a tamu will be held and among the specialties are the various kinds of local rice sold.

It started raining as we continued the journey to Kudat. As we passed through Matunggong on the way, we made mental notes to visit the Rungus long house, bee farm, gong factory and Rungus bead centre the next day on our way back. It was still raining when we passed by the junction to Simpang Mengayau @ the Tip of Borneo and Pantai Bak Bak (Bak Bak beach) so we headed straight to our next accomodation, Marina Golf and Country Resort.

Hmm... My expectations were probably too high for this 4 star resort as I did not find it living up to the stories and reviews by friends and Internet. The room was OK, but the bedspread shabby and even was frayed, there were no bathroom mat and shampoo, no room slippers, the sugar clumped, the room a tad stuffy and musty when we first entered. Thank goodness it was facing the sea.

The bay view from my room, Kudat '08

After a brief drive around town, a dinner at KFC and a snack at Sidek Esplanade, we returned to rest. Only to be woken up at 3 am by the storm. The wind was making a harsh sound outside as the storm raged and splattered against our window. But it was pretty mesmerizing to watch the waves curled and splashed, until one by one we drifted back to sleep.

Kudat town of Kudat… Kudat of Sabah… Sikuati of Matunggong… Kudat, Sikuati, Matunggong…

I think some part of my article is pretty confusing, like the relation between Sikuati, Kota Marudu and Kudat, especially without the intro to Kudat district so here goes.

As you can see from the image, Kudat and Kota Marudu are districts of Sabah. Matunggong then is one of the divisions of Kudat district, and Sikuati is a town within Matunggong.

Ok, another confusing statement here. Kudat town, is a town in Kudat district. Get it? In Kudat district there’s a town called Kudat, its administrative town.

Never mind, further info on Wikipedia webpage.

Anyway, Kudat town is the most developed part of Kudat district, with more schools, shops, banks, small hotels, markets, eateries, a hypermarket, better housing areas and a health office, to name a few. This is where we usually shopped for groceries such as canned goods and seafood, and lunched. Then there’s the Marina Golf Resort for more comfort and luxury, the Sidek Esplanade to frolic at night for light supper and fresh sea breeze and an elaborate Chinese temple.

Marina Golf Resort.

Majority of the population is Rungus so the main attractions centered around the Rungus longhouse where they offer home – stay program. There’s also the beadwork center (bead crafts is one of the traditional Rungus crafts), gong making factory and a honeybee farm in Matunggong, along the way to Kudat town.

Honeybee farm in Matunggong (requires an entrance fee).

Scary: though they numb the bees with smoke, some may buzz around you.

The display honey combs container.

Fresh honey from the comb: the workers cut out chunks from this honey comb and we chewed it like chewing gum as we sucked the fresh honey.

Bottled honey sold at the farm.

Some of the mini gongs made and sold at the gong – making factory.

Another attraction is the Tip of Borneo in Tg. Simpang Mengayau, the northernmost point on the island of Borneo where supposedly you can see the outline of Philippine island and enjoy some coconut drink. Some Bajau and Rungus people lived along the beach here and sold dried fish and pretty seashells to visiting tourists.

Due to time constrain, I could not explore further the fact that Kudat offers a variety of fresh and cheap seafood so maybe next time I’ll do so. Until then, that’s all on Kudat.

My Kudat days: culture shock. Still in Kudat…

My last stay in Papar is nothing to be compared to the one in Sikuati. The gap is way too huge. It’s an eye – opener and also I was hit by culture shocks, lots of them.

So here goes.

The village where we carried out our research project on hypertension was Kg. Rampai. At first glance this picture shows you a very tranquil village; azure sky, swaying coconut tree, lush paddy fields, friendly villagers. That was, before we had to trudge through sloshy, muddy paddy field to reach some of the houses, panting through the hill climbs, all bang – up in the bus during the rough trip on the pothole – filled and uneven road, chased by dogs and walking around in the dark when evening came as there are no street lights. Then came the part when you enter the houses where the stairs and plank floor creaked with your body weight, animal litters scattered on the floor, the dilapidated roof and wall seemed as if it’s gonna collapse soon, houses sometimes indistinguishable from the woodshed, no pipe system (most relied on the rain water collection and gravity feed system) and more dogs which freaked the hell out of our Muslim companions.The view of Kg. Rampai Vinilai, Kudat, Sabah.

So the dinner at KFC after that was a treat to us all.

This one shows the condition in a house with a case of undernutrition child in Kg Barambangan, Kudat, Sabah.

Some villages still rely on well as water source, like the one here in Tg. Kapur. The one below here is not for drinking purpose however, due to the fact that it’s dug too near to the sea.

A well shared by many houses, Tg. Kapur, Kudat, Sabah.

We joined one of the Aedes mosquito surveillance activities, also in Tg. Kapur. The pictures depict the housing conditions there.

The backyard of a house in Tg. Kapur, Kudat, Sabah.

This one is from a fogging activity in a water village, Kg Landung Ayang. The houses may seem crappy from outside but upon entering you’ll be surprise to see the sound system set – ups. They will at least have a karaoke system. The house with the grandest set – up is easily recognized as they would be playing music at full blast, which we passed off as a joke “song dedication for the whole village”.

The houses here are referred collectively as the "kampung air" @ water village since houses are built on platforms on seashore.

There was this remark made wryly by an officer regarding these villages: “it is difficult to determine the poverty line in Sabah sometimes, you’ll be thrown off balance when you see the sound system set ups in the houses and the undeclared lands they own in contrast of their income, housing conditions and undernutrition children.” Which is sadly, mostly true. And I leave the rest to your ponder.

My Kudat days: Water shortage!!! (I’m still here… in Kudat…)

Water shortage!!!

On our 2^nd week stay in Sikuati, we experienced the two of the most dreaded situations, water shortage and rainy season. Sounds ironic, doesn’t it? Lemme explain…

As the intro goes, the water supply to Sikuati and Kudat comes from Kota Marudu, the neighbouring district through some complicated underground pipe system. When it rains heavily, the water pressure in these pipes increases which makes them prone to bursting so during the rainy season the pipes are usually shut off which in turn shut off the water supply to Sikuati and Kudat.

So during the season where there should be abundance of water, we have water shortage instead.

And crappy food. Since our water supply would be provided from the rain water collection from Surabaya restaurant, our landlord (plus we couldn’t cook) so in return for their kindness, we have to eat at least once there where they served the saltiest, most oily food ever (I take back some of my praises…). To make it worse, their cutleries and wares were so oily that the drinks served were often contaminated from the oily cups, glasses and spoons. God bless us, no one suffered from the dreaded diarrhea which was another dreaded situation during water shortage. We also thank God for Singgah Rasa, another Malay restaurant nearby which served better fares and had clean wares.

For nearly 2 weeks we suffered and bear, living with each shower using only 2 large bottles of mineral water equivalent to 3 liters before we found one company that sold water (for RM40 they would fill up the main conservation tank). Another irony to this is that as soon as we filled our tank with the murky brown water of unknown origin, the water supply was resumed on the next day. But for safety measure, the bus during the weekly returns to UMS was always loaded with empty bottles to be re – filled with fresh, clean water.

My Kudat days: the first Kudat stint…

My dreaded day has come. The day when we all would be shuttled off to one of the remote areas in Sabah; Sikuati town in Kudat. No, it’s not the rural part that threw me off but it’s the dustiness of the place since I have this skin allergy towards dust which in turn, turn me into a dust – free – environment freak.

The dismal of the situation is much weighted by the thick layer of dust on the hostel floor and furniture. So our first day… crap. Enough of these. The room’s finally clean and the house spick and span after much effort, so to cut the story short since this is not the main reason I’m typing off here.

So now I happily declare that although daunted by the state of the house and the distance from Kota Kinabalu (>300 km!), Sikuati is actually live - able. There’s the fresh market operating from morning to evening selling all sorts of my fav veges and fresh village produce, mini marts selling necessities and 4 Malay restaurants identified. I’ll live.

The fun part yet to be told, is that our group brought with us portable stove, a wok and 2 rice - cookers along with other cooking utensils. So in our first week we are already experimenting some stuffs such as nasi goreng tom yam, pucuk manis with egg, sardine cooked with soy sauce, siew pak choy in oyster sauce and brinjal in chili paste. One guy even fizzed up our simple dinner with this fizzly punch made from canned pineapple and 7 – up.

What more, the kindly aunty operating the Surabaya restaurant below our house gave us special students price, gave us free ice for our homemade drinks and let us took our food and drinks with their cutleries to our class ^_^ Life is looking good here.

So actually I’m kind of looking forward to it. Maybe from time to time I’ll write more on Sikuati, Kudat.