carpenter.street tea break

after the heavy breakfast, you skipped your lunch and went for afternoon tea instead...

at the famous hawker stalls located at the carpenter street, literally the china town of meow meow city

you came here for a portion of pork satay... these skewers are super delicious after all, pork satay can hardly come by in most famous satay joints....you savor this to bits

and a bowl of tofu fish ball soup... still serve in the way you know from your childhood with just vermicelli...

this place is like a hot oven as the heat does not escape easily due to the material of the roof.  it's again a sweat and perspiring meal.

===
it's almost june and the weather in europe is still like early spring, something is not right somewhere... that's said you actually find it a relief that you are no longer perspiring every single minute, but autumn like cold is not welcome either.  you guess life is never perfect.  still heavily attacked by jet lag, you only hope it will soon be over
===

duck.n.waffle

 hello london , needless to say again, you are back to your routine as of 28th. with jetlag still kicking in, you hardly eat your dinner but just went straight to bed at around  8pm.

you finally got the chance to check out the establishment that you know you probably can have your breakfast without breaking your expense limit. 

so you went and arrived at around 7am, only to realize that the whole restaurant will be full house at 8am.

 the restaurant is located on the 40th floor in the city, literally just stone throw away from you. 

 you're glad you made. at such a high altitude a good view is guaranteed.

 first a cup of tea to wet your palate

 you ordered the signature dish, duck and waffle that serves with a sunny side duck egg...

 while the two by itself is nothing but ordinary food, but when you put waffle and duck confit together and marry them with drizzle of spiced maple syrup, it works.

 you enjoy your sweet, savory and fluffy breakfast.  a very yummy and heavy one though.  

!!food attack!!

good morning meow meow city.  you arrived late last night but woke up this morning totally impressed by this view of the city.

this is your home town, you can't wait to attack the food here, food that you grown up with, food that bring forth memories of the good old time...

 nyonya kuih, these are the delights that you crave for ^^

 kuching kolo mee, the heavily lard loaded bowl of noodles, unique to meow meow city

a dear friend came and bring you to the food hunt

 kueh chap, your bowl of kueh chap

 you don't mind the intestine at all haha....

 kuching style shio bee, again unlike cantonese style siew mai (烧卖）, this has a unique taste only can be found in meow meow city

and 3 layer teh si peng (3 colors milky ice tea), also a delicacy of meow meow city but this doesn't exist during your prime time in the city.

needless to say you didn't finished them all, as much as you would like to eat your heart out but you can only sample them mouthful, the rest go to doggy bag...

day 17: hello mount kinabalu

your last day here, you took a late flight not because there was a choice of flights but this is the only flight available today.  it works out anyway, after all you are not in the hurry to rush to meow meow city.

what amazed you is the fact that you see mount kinabalu for the first time this trip at this hour (6pm) just as friend drops you to the airport. the presence of mount kinabalu put a perfect ending note to your brief stay in the city.

Day 16: it.is.done

it is done. today everything that you ordered is delivered and installed.  you finally meet up with your eldest sister from brunei, who supposed to be here on the first week but delayed to the third week.  it's better late than never!

 you met at the korean restaurant, apparently the owner is the karate master of your eldest nephew...

 together with your sister, your younger nephew also showed up with his girlfriend.  the dinner was great

a group photo to end. it's good to see them again, even though it's brief and short.

tonight you did something out of ordinary, i.e. you went for a supper after the bbq and the drinks.  that's just because you know your days here are numbered, so a bowl of famous sang nyuk meen, in your case, it's just a bowl of sang nyuk soup without the noodles.  it's truly live up to the expectation and the fact that the shop is packed with patrons at late night (close to midnight) is already a good sign.

Day 15: pentecost.sunday

time past so fast, it's just too soon. today you're at sutra harbor again for the sunday service. unlike in europe, pentecost is celebrated subtly even in the church, nonetheless,the sermon is an eye opener for you. in a nutshell, the law of moses is the truth and grace by Jesus. and you live now in the truth and grace, not by the law.  profound and powerful massage, serious food for thought.

the weather was extremely hot when you finished the service, another quick stroll around the resort before you left here to grace point for your lunch. his idea was to have something western at bread and co but he ended up with asian food again. grace point is probably the cleanest hawker stalls you ever visited in malaysia. the cleanliness is far superior than the food court standard.

  the weather stars changing by the time you are done with your lunch. the sky is like a battlefield. at one side is the completely clear blue sky, the other side is the white and dark cloud struggling. It's like a tug if war, whoever wins determine the dry or rainy weather for the rest of the day.

you wanted to visit the revolving restaurant, so you drove to the yayasan sabah, but only to find out the @tmosphere is closed. bummer but nevertheless, the view from this site gives you a different perspective of likas bay.

so you return to the city and off to your if not famous but surely most frequented place - suria sabah. while you decided to have a session of body massage, he hung around starbucks happily reading and browsing. you hang around for a long time before you settle your mind on dinner. In the line of western dinner, the original choice was pappino which you disagree as you now the total bill will be high even if you get a true western meal. So you decided on upperstars. you've been there for drinks before but dining in is the first time.

you find the interior bizarre, the italian style ceiling with some sort of fresco painting, hard rock style wall decoration with guitars and records.

tiffany style lamps and a desktop on each table to provide guests with free Internet.it's a world of (con)fusion!

you asked for medium rib eye, it came out well done, but his sirloin steak was fine. you did have your western meal as the way it's interpret and famously accepted by most consumers. that said, you did had a relaxing time there.

day 14: tuaran, rasa ria. koko hill

a day out to three different places with distinct impressions! for now just a summary, more to come later when you have the chance to sort out the photos.

first stop calling at tuaran town for an authentic tuaran mee... personally you prefer the tamparuli noodles more

then a very long and warm halt at rasa ria.  you didn't stay in but just a day visit, you enjoy sitting at one of the hut, admiring the sandy beach and chatting away with friend.  this resort is really beautiful, you told yourself you will check in here the next time you visit borneo again.  it's just so peaceful and tranquil!  it's extremely hot and humid when you're there.

last stop calling at koko hill, located between tuaran and the city, but this hill is above 2000m and the drive up is a journey where you had rain and by the time you arrived, the place is filled with puffy white cloud hovering at close proximity. it's just too extreme, from severe hot and sunny weather to rainy and cooling evening.

Day 13: gunter's gasthaus

you hate counting down, but today you have to start sorting out your return journey, that means you are close to the end of your holiday. time flies in split seconds. you went shopping today, bought everything that you like and you know is costly or impossible to get in europe.

you know you have to return to europe, but most importantly you have rested! you're busy in the first week but that's different sort of hectic and you kinda enjoyed it.

 tonight's dinner at gunter's gasthaus, a german indian cuisine restaurant in the city. the location is quite nice but the food is just average, taking the european standard in comparison.

 you had a haxeswine pork knuckle, it looks big but the meat just isn't that much for the price you have to pay

 and this dessert becomes a highlight to the meal

at least it brings forth smile to the kids' face.  and you actually find delight in the ice cream cake too.

Day 12 a.tamu.and.a.beach

a quick visit to your BIL office to drop off some souvenirs, then you're at the weekly market, a rather popular one at donggongon. the market is big and consists of almost everything from sundry to fresh produces of greens, fruits and meat to seafood.

you like to stroll casually despite the stint of the drainage and rubbish nearby.

 you enjoy asking questions about the veg that you never see and the sellers happily answer your question.

 sea products ranging from sea corals to dried salted fish and dried shrimps

 fresh seafood

 local rice, these are not fragrant like the normal thai jasmine rice but being unprocessed, you probably got more nutrition from these rice...

some handicrafts, in this case the traditional tribal beads and what you know as nyonya belts also available from the stalls

you got some thing for dinner and also some snacks for lunch and in between the bites. apam balik and tofu fa for yourself. he had a dumplings and a glutinous rice fritter.

the weather seems promising, so you head to karambunai again, this time really spending your lazy time, lying on the beach bench and just do nothing. the cloudy sky makes a perfect sun tanning afternoon. you swam in the sea for awhile, it's calm and you have no chance to jump with the wave. so you return to your bench and little you know you dozed off and fall asleep.

 a random picture, what caught your attention is not the two floating flowers but the arrow sign that made up by the shadow of the roof that reflected in the water.  awesome to think out of the box.

you're grateful and you have no complaint for an "uneventful" afternoon. this is exactly what you need. rest and relax, happy days with flip-flops. you don't even bother to take proper picture but just some random shots, and spent most of your time in the pool, swimming happily!