wordspics.com Of Foods and Travels

… continuation

Next up was island hopping. It’s a must-thing-to-do when one is in Sabah, especially in Kota Kinabalu. There are 5 islands in total;

1. Pulau Gaya
2. Pulau Sapi
3. Pulau Manukan
4. Pulau Mamutik
5. Pulau Sulug

Out of 5 above, the first four islands are the famous ones tourists would go to. And to get to the said islands, one would need to board a speedboat from a jetty.

The most common jetty, which I went to, was called Jesselton Point jetty. It’s about 15 to 20 minutes walk from Gaya Market itself and I had to walk along the main road.

Upon entering, the ticket counter / building was on the right side. In there, there’re 9 counters with different company occupying each counter. I had coupon / voucher with me, which was provided by the accommodation, and so, I got a slightly cheaper rate than others.

As recommended and since it was a Sunday, I picked only one island that has the least tourists. I was told that there weren’t many tourists going to Pulau Mamutik as there are no resorts or any fancy stuff in there. Besides, Pulau Mamutik is the smallest amongst all islands and it’s the nearest to Kota Kinabalu.

It took about 15 minutes to reach to the said island. Word of advice, try to sit at the back (of the boat) as the ride will be bumpy. And before entering the island, one needs to pay entrance fee. The rates vary according to one’s nationality.

Honestly, what I was told about was pretty true. There weren’t many things to see. It took me 15 minutes to walk from one end to another and I’m done with the island.

There were a couple of small huts and that’s it.

One could opt for diving or snorkelling as the coral reefs are beautiful. There are pit areas for barbeque too but you’ve have to pay additional fee for that.

Other than those activities, one could just lay back and do nothing while enjoying the sight of greenish-blue sea. I spent almost 3 hours on that island itself. The sight of hot chicks sunbathing, coral reefs and clear waters was just so pleasing to the eyes. It was one of those relaxing moments when there was no interference from what-so-ever.

Around the jetty itself, there were fishes ‘camping’ in groups. One could just buy a couple pieces of bread and feed those fishes.

It was around noon time when I decided to hop on a speedboat to get back to the mainland / jetty.

to be continued…

Chronicles of Sabah Trip 2009 :-

• In Sabah – Day 6
• In Sabah – Day 5
• In Sabah – Day 4 (Part 2)
• In Sabah – Day 4 (Part 1)
• In Sabah – Day 3 (Part 2)
• In Sabah – Day 3 (Part 1)
• In Sabah – Day 2 (Part 3)
• In Sabah – Day 2 (Part 2)
• In Sabah – Day 2 (Part 1)
• In Sabah – Day 1
• In Sabah – Prelude

It was a Sunday, and I knew for the fact that there was a Sunday market nearby; the Gaya Market. Local folks talked about it so were the tourists. So, I guess it was wise not to give a miss. Besides, I was told that there’s good food over there.

To avoid the crowd, which I failed miserably, I woke up at about 6am to prep up and left the building by 6.30am. Due to its position, one thing I’ve learned was that the sun rise earlier compare to that in Peninsular. At 6am, the skies were already all sunny bright!

Lucky for me, Gaya Street was located about 10 minutes away from my accommodation. Along the way, there was courthouse as well as other official buildings.

The streets weren’t as quiet as I would thought it would be judging at the time (6.30am) I was out there. But nevertheless, I felt safer when there were people around. Heh!

But before that, as I said earlier, I looked for that famous shop named Kedai Kopi Yee Fung, which was located along Gaya Street, to grab my breakfast. It was rather easy to find it due its crowd overflowing out of the shop. I had to wait for a while before I was shown to a small table to be shared with an uncle.

As usual, I ordered what the locals claimed to be famous for; Yee Fung Laksa. The not-so-thick broth wasn’t as spicy as I expected it would be but it was fruity flavourful. The odd thing about it was the noodles they used. It’s a cross between an instant mee and wantan mee. Spring-y yet brittle, it’s kinda weird to chew them.

There were other choices available such as  Yee Fung Ngau Chap and wantan mee (from other stall) but I was quite full with that bowl of noodles. After the meal, I continued my remaining stroll along the street.

Gaya Market occupied the whole of Gaya Street. I reckoned it stretched to as far as 500 meters. All sorts of things were being sold in there. Dogs, fishes, crafts, clothes, foods and etc, these were a few I could think of.

With street performance and all, it’s more than a ‘pasar malam’.

The very end of Gaya Market is where the Jesselton Hotel located.

From there, I walked towards the sea side (somewhere near Hyatt Hotel) where there’s a swordfish monument placed on a lil roundabout.

to be continued…

Chronicles of Sabah Trip 2009 :-

• In Sabah – Day 6
• In Sabah – Day 5
• In Sabah – Day 4 (Part 2)
• In Sabah – Day 4 (Part 1)
• In Sabah – Day 3 (Part 2)
• In Sabah – Day 3 (Part 1)
• In Sabah – Day 2 (Part 3)
• In Sabah – Day 2 (Part 2)
• In Sabah – Day 2 (Part 1)
• In Sabah – Day 1
• In Sabah – Prelude

Update : As of July 2010, Jin Xuang Hong Kong (Kuchai Lama) Dim Sum has taken over this restaurant.

It was one of those days when a ‘railway track’ needs to be altered for a change. Not wanting to eat the same thing for the past few weeks, I’ve decided to change my breakfast location on one fine hazy weekday morning.

I’ve been to this place once and that was way back last year. This restaurant is located about 5 minutes drive away from my house and it is famous for its dim sum.

I got to know about this restaurant due to its massive crowd on weekends especially on Sunday morning. It is a frightening sight as they arrange tables up to the parking slots outside of the shop.

As usual, I would normally go for the ‘must-have’ items in the menu. For start, the Lean Meat & Century Egg Congee was pretty good. The congee was smooth and there was ample amount of ingredients such as meat, egg and dried oysters.

One of the highlights (or favourite dishes) of that day was the Har Kow (prawn dumpling). The ‘wrapper’ wasn’t thick at all and the prawns were crunchy. Best of all, there were more than one prawn per dumpling!!

The Steamed Prawn Rice Rolls was pretty good as well. Like others, the prawns were fresh and crunchy and the chili was good.

Fried prawn rolls were equally alright too. But sadly, it was quite oily as I saw the amount of oil at the surface of the plate. It was so oily that I could use them (the oil) to fry an egg. Urrghh…

What surprised me the most was the size of Siew Mai (meat & prawn dumpling) and Steamed Beancurd Rolls. It reminded me of the ones I had in UK as they were big. Filled with bits of prawns, meat and lards, the Siew Mai was alright.

The Steamed Beancurd Roll wasn’t bad either. Though it was sweeter (but not overly sugar sweet) than normally it should be, it tasted quite alright.

The steamed BBQ meat dumpling (Char Siew Pau) and red bean paste dumpling were good as well. They weren’t dry at all yet they were pretty fresh.

All in all, it was pretty good if you ask me. The dim sum was fresh yet the environment was clean. The price came up to about RM27 (including 1 pax of tea).

Compare this to that of Pang Ki Dim Sum (in Sri Petaling), the price over here is slightly higher but the portion is slightly bigger. They steamed the dim sum upon receiving the order and they used bamboo baskets for their dim sum – pretty much of Hong Kong style, I would say.

Address :
A32, 34, 36, Jalan 1/116B,
Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park,
Off Jalan Kuchai Lama,
58200 Kuala Lumpur.