We checked into the hotel promptly on arrival. We had separate rooms from Shaffik and on different floors as the hotel was apparently full. They however promised to move us to an adjoining room with Shaffik the next day as that next room will be available then. True enough, we got that room the next day. The kids could move around the two rooms giving them more space and it was convenient for all of us too.
This hotel is located at the seafront in a new development area of the city. Most of the buildings are new and modern. There are many serviced apartment buildings amongst them but they were all full during this period, heavily booked by holidaymakers from nearby states (Sarawak and Labuan) and Brunei too (we were caught in long queues of cars on our way into the city as per my previous entry in this blog). The Christmas festive ambience was felt throughout the area. Loud music could be heard while walking along the pavements and inside the shopping complexes. There were people everywhere, many with loads of shopping bags and oversized too. I had a good time people watching, many with kids in tow and having trouble keeping them in tow with all those shopping bags in their hands. All the outlets had some sort of festive offers to entice shoppers but I figured the price reductions are just nominal. You may gain a little more if you buy more, buy two get one free, or buy this item and entitle to buy another item at a discounted price etc. etc. but ………. think about it ……… do you really need that extra quantity or that other item? It has been the same whenever a festival came up and there are four major festivals in a year. Add to them the so-called mega sales periods the shopping outlets put up for tourist seasons they have sales almost every other month.
I have been to KK several times in the course of my work and every time I was just rushing through the shopping areas in the little spare time that I had to look for whatever was appropriate as souvenirs to take home. However this was the first time for Ram, and since we had all the time to spare we were leisurely walking around and spending time at various places around the city. We also visited the wet market, the dry market, the arts and craft market, the Philipino market and others.
You can get local food and handicraft products of all sorts at these markets and they were cheap too. By cheap I mean when compared to KL prices, or for that matter Bintulu prices even. They were generally about half of KL prices and some even much less. Imagine prices of lobsters and prawns that were about 30 to 40% of KL prices or vegetables and salads at half KL prices. Walk into a restaurant and check out the prices of food they serve. They were normally much cheaper than the charges in KL restaurants. I told Ram that we are living in the wrong area for our retirement!! The handicrafts were mostly indigenous types made from articles salvaged from the sea or the jungle. Similar items can be found in KL at exorbitant prices. However the cheap prices are usually for local produce while the imported stuff can be just as expensive as KL prices.
There has been quite a lot of development in KK since the last time I was here, which was quite a number of years ago. There are more highways, tall buildings, complexes and public areas while more of them are being built. The areas I visited appear to be more congested now, more cars on the road and more people moving around. I will not be surprised if in the next decade or so cost of living here will increase in tandem with the development. There is always a price tag to development, to pay for the cost of the facilities, infrastructures and their maintenance, and the funds can only come from the public. Already, the prices of accommodation are as expensive as KL prices and I assume property prices are similar too. It is inevitable then ….. prices can only go up and up. People will be finding ways to increase their income to meet the rising cost and these will continue to spiral…… My simplistic view on costs…..
MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Petaling Jaya
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Bintulu to Kota Kinabalu - Passing Through Brunei Twice
We continued our journey passing through several towns and villages in Brunei on country roads most of the way and dual carriage highway some parts of it. Along the way I noticed rice being cultivated and several farms too. I also noticed one oil and gas installation and various other industries. There was a lot of construction work going on too including infrastructure work.
After about two hours driving we approached the next checkpoint which was for us to exit Brunei and reenter Sarawak. We got into the queue of cars and noticed a very long queue ahead of us and another long
one building up behind us. We inched along . . . . . and slightly less than two hours later we reached the Brunei Immigration exit point. No hassle getting our passports and papers chopped. After another 20 minutes queue of cars we reached the Sarawak checkpoint, a distance of 50 metres? No hassle in getting our passports and papers chopped here too.
Off we went, on country road again, to the town of Limbang, Sarawak. We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. They served good food and cheap too. Went to the town mosque after lunch for our day time prayers. A big mosque and very clean facilities, very comfortable and the people at the mosque were friendly too. Limbang is not a big town, as it only took us about 10 minutes to go around the whole town in the car, but the town appeared to be bustling with activities and people were moving around looking busy. Most of the major banks have their branches in the town indicating possible active economic activities.
We continued onwards to the next Brunei border. We checked in at the Limbang town Immigration office to have our passports and papers chopped accordingly for our exit of Sarawak and proceeded to the border which was about twenty kilometers away. A river was the border. We had to cross the river by ferry. The ferry could take only about ten cars each trip and only a couple of minutes crossing as the river was less than 100 metres across. There was already a long queue for the ferry too. I counted seven crossings before we got our turn. The Brunei checkpoint was just after the ferry crossing. No hassle getting our passports and papers chopped here too although there was quite a long queue but the speed with which the passports were chopped were
much faster than the earlier checkpoints. I guess the officer here just went on putting chops on the passports and papers after seeing the chops done earlier without having to check in detail, trusting the checks done by his fellow officers at the earlier checkpoints.
Our next wait was at the other end of Brunei where we had to queue and wait for the ferry to cross another river. A few kilometers before the river was the border and exit point for Brunei where we passed through and had our passports and papers chopped. The Sarawak checkpoint was located after the river crossing and getting the formalities done here was easy too. It had then become routine to get our passports checked and chopped……. The final checkpoint was at the Sarawak and Sabah border some 40 kilometres after we had reentered Sarawak at Lawas. And from this checkpoint its 160 kilometres to Kota kinabalu passing through several towns like Sipitang, Beaufort, Papar and other smaller towns and villages. It was raining most part of this route slowing us down further. We had stopped for dinner and our evening prayers at Sipitang and finally arrived at our hotel in Kota Kinabalu at just before 9.00 pm.
We had to pass through ten checkpoints altogether on a route of about 400 kilometres. It would have taken us about 5 hours for that journey if it had been in the peninsular but here we were, having to pass through all the checkpoints and two river crossings, the journey took us more than twelve hours. The kids were restless, we were tired, and arriving at the hotel in Kota Kinabalu was a great relieve in deed. Something we had been looking forward to since the last river crossing. Dedek kept asking us whether the hotel has a swimming pool. When we replied yes, he asked “Are you sure?” He did this several times and was restless too asking, “How long more to the hotel”, and “do we have a room number yet?” and blah blah blah……… A really restless 4 year old kid, really while Babang was just cool and relaxed. Baby Haadiya meanwhile kept was restless in her own way. She was jumping seats from the front to the middle and the back every so often giving us adults a handful to keep her at peace. Truly a relief when we reached the hotel………
MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya
After about two hours driving we approached the next checkpoint which was for us to exit Brunei and reenter Sarawak. We got into the queue of cars and noticed a very long queue ahead of us and another long
one building up behind us. We inched along . . . . . and slightly less than two hours later we reached the Brunei Immigration exit point. No hassle getting our passports and papers chopped. After another 20 minutes queue of cars we reached the Sarawak checkpoint, a distance of 50 metres? No hassle in getting our passports and papers chopped here too.Off we went, on country road again, to the town of Limbang, Sarawak. We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. They served good food and cheap too. Went to the town mosque after lunch for our day time prayers. A big mosque and very clean facilities, very comfortable and the people at the mosque were friendly too. Limbang is not a big town, as it only took us about 10 minutes to go around the whole town in the car, but the town appeared to be bustling with activities and people were moving around looking busy. Most of the major banks have their branches in the town indicating possible active economic activities.
We continued onwards to the next Brunei border. We checked in at the Limbang town Immigration office to have our passports and papers chopped accordingly for our exit of Sarawak and proceeded to the border which was about twenty kilometers away. A river was the border. We had to cross the river by ferry. The ferry could take only about ten cars each trip and only a couple of minutes crossing as the river was less than 100 metres across. There was already a long queue for the ferry too. I counted seven crossings before we got our turn. The Brunei checkpoint was just after the ferry crossing. No hassle getting our passports and papers chopped here too although there was quite a long queue but the speed with which the passports were chopped were
much faster than the earlier checkpoints. I guess the officer here just went on putting chops on the passports and papers after seeing the chops done earlier without having to check in detail, trusting the checks done by his fellow officers at the earlier checkpoints.Our next wait was at the other end of Brunei where we had to queue and wait for the ferry to cross another river. A few kilometers before the river was the border and exit point for Brunei where we passed through and had our passports and papers chopped. The Sarawak checkpoint was located after the river crossing and getting the formalities done here was easy too. It had then become routine to get our passports checked and chopped……. The final checkpoint was at the Sarawak and Sabah border some 40 kilometres after we had reentered Sarawak at Lawas. And from this checkpoint its 160 kilometres to Kota kinabalu passing through several towns like Sipitang, Beaufort, Papar and other smaller towns and villages. It was raining most part of this route slowing us down further. We had stopped for dinner and our evening prayers at Sipitang and finally arrived at our hotel in Kota Kinabalu at just before 9.00 pm.
We had to pass through ten checkpoints altogether on a route of about 400 kilometres. It would have taken us about 5 hours for that journey if it had been in the peninsular but here we were, having to pass through all the checkpoints and two river crossings, the journey took us more than twelve hours. The kids were restless, we were tired, and arriving at the hotel in Kota Kinabalu was a great relieve in deed. Something we had been looking forward to since the last river crossing. Dedek kept asking us whether the hotel has a swimming pool. When we replied yes, he asked “Are you sure?” He did this several times and was restless too asking, “How long more to the hotel”, and “do we have a room number yet?” and blah blah blah……… A really restless 4 year old kid, really while Babang was just cool and relaxed. Baby Haadiya meanwhile kept was restless in her own way. She was jumping seats from the front to the middle and the back every so often giving us adults a handful to keep her at peace. Truly a relief when we reached the hotel………
MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Bintulu To Kota Kinabalu – Stop Over In Miri
We started our journey to Kota Kinabalu by road from Bintulu in the evening of Tuesday 19th December 2006. Both Shaffik and Mini were working that day, so we left after office and headed first for Miri, which is about two and a half hours drive away. We have done this route a couple of times previously, hence there was nothing new. The regular apartment that we always stayed in when in Miri was full for the night and we had made alternative reservation at another smaller (read cheaper) hotel close by. We know that this hotel is also popular with families visiting Miri. Anyway, we were staying overnight and just needed a reasonably comfortable place to sleep. The hotel was sufficient.
7.30 am Wednesday morning, everybody was ready to go. The children were very excited. We left at that time and headed for Brunei. It was about 30 kilometers from Miri to the border. There was already a queue of cars at the immigration checkpoint. We had our passports chopped at the Malaysian side of the border followed by the Brunei side a few metres away. Then Shaffik had to register his car for entry into Brunei. The maid, holding an Indonesian passport, had to have her passport checked and chopped in the office proper. Shaffik went with her into the office to assist. They took quite a while to come out and we wondered whether there was any problem. We found out later that there was no problem at all. All the officer did was look at the passport photo, looked at her, viewed the written forms cursorily only and then chopped the passport. But ……. Why so longggg? Ah-haaa…. It appears that if its time for the immigration officers to go for a drink, all others can wait…… and there were a few of them. All of them decided to rest and have a drink, chit chat together? and in the view of all their waiting customers too!! That seemed to be the attitude of the officials, who had some form of ‘power’ in office!! Speaks much about good customer relations doesn’t it?
While waiting for the maid to get her papers done, I felt the urge to visit the rest room. At the entrance was a prominently displayed saying in Malay translated as “Wash your hands, look after your health”. My immediate thought was “Ahhhh, good, they initiate thoughts of cleanliness to the public. A good move on the part of the authorities”. But when I got into the rest room it was exactly the opposite. It looked as though the place has not been cleaned for a while……. days maybe……. The toilet cubicles ? Yak yak yak! The floor was wet with stagnant water here and there and the walls dirty!! No signs of cleaning utensils anywhere let alone sign of or presence of cleaners!
1st checkpoint formalities done with and off we went on our journey, wondering in our minds what else we will encounter on our way to Kota Kinabalu………
MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya
7.30 am Wednesday morning, everybody was ready to go. The children were very excited. We left at that time and headed for Brunei. It was about 30 kilometers from Miri to the border. There was already a queue of cars at the immigration checkpoint. We had our passports chopped at the Malaysian side of the border followed by the Brunei side a few metres away. Then Shaffik had to register his car for entry into Brunei. The maid, holding an Indonesian passport, had to have her passport checked and chopped in the office proper. Shaffik went with her into the office to assist. They took quite a while to come out and we wondered whether there was any problem. We found out later that there was no problem at all. All the officer did was look at the passport photo, looked at her, viewed the written forms cursorily only and then chopped the passport. But ……. Why so longggg? Ah-haaa…. It appears that if its time for the immigration officers to go for a drink, all others can wait…… and there were a few of them. All of them decided to rest and have a drink, chit chat together? and in the view of all their waiting customers too!! That seemed to be the attitude of the officials, who had some form of ‘power’ in office!! Speaks much about good customer relations doesn’t it?
While waiting for the maid to get her papers done, I felt the urge to visit the rest room. At the entrance was a prominently displayed saying in Malay translated as “Wash your hands, look after your health”. My immediate thought was “Ahhhh, good, they initiate thoughts of cleanliness to the public. A good move on the part of the authorities”. But when I got into the rest room it was exactly the opposite. It looked as though the place has not been cleaned for a while……. days maybe……. The toilet cubicles ? Yak yak yak! The floor was wet with stagnant water here and there and the walls dirty!! No signs of cleaning utensils anywhere let alone sign of or presence of cleaners!
1st checkpoint formalities done with and off we went on our journey, wondering in our minds what else we will encounter on our way to Kota Kinabalu………
MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
On The Move Again
As soon as we returned to Petaling Jaya from Kerteh we had to prepare for a trip to Bintulu. We had made reservations on Air Asia to be in Bintulu from about mid December to the end of the month. Shaffik had planned to take his family on an overland trip to Kota Kinabalu for the Christmas holidays and there was enough space in his new MPV for us to join them in the trip. Hence all the pre bookings for the cheap air ticket and the preparations for the trip.
We planned and execute our plans but there are certain things we could not plan or predict. Like Shaffik and his whole family having flu and fever, one after the other, starting about ten days before the overland trip; like Ram and I having flu as well when we returned to PJ from Kerteh, which put a strain on the well being of everybody healthwise. The weather too had not been any help as it had been raining and gloomy over most of the days.
Shaffik was determined to go ahead with the trip as although we have been to Kota Kinabalu before, this will be his first time by road and first time for me too. We envisage the trip will take about 10 hours road traveling time. There will be quite a few immigration checks to go through and the queue and waiting time may slow us down. Immigration checkpoints are open during daylight hours only hence we may have to break journey overnight somewhere.
There will be ten immigration checks along the way. The only way to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from Sarawak is through Brunei. Look at the map of Brunei. The country is split into two portions with part of Sarawak (Limbang) in the middle. Therefore the checks will be on exiting Sarawak, entering Brunei, exiting Brunei and entering Sarawak at Limbang, exiting Sarawak again and entering Brunei and exiting Brunei to reenter Sarawak. Then exiting Sarawak to enter Sabah. Ten immigration checkpoints altogether!!!
We traveled to Bintulu on Thursday 14th Dec. The whole Bintulu family including the maid were down with various stages of fever, flu and cough. Ram and I were no better. I was sneezing away while Ram was sniffling too. It became worse on our second day in Bintulu, especially Ram. But the Almighty be praised, all of us recovered in time for the trip which was scheduled for 19th. to 26th December.
We started our trip in the evening of the 19th. More of the trip later……..
MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Petaling Jaya
We planned and execute our plans but there are certain things we could not plan or predict. Like Shaffik and his whole family having flu and fever, one after the other, starting about ten days before the overland trip; like Ram and I having flu as well when we returned to PJ from Kerteh, which put a strain on the well being of everybody healthwise. The weather too had not been any help as it had been raining and gloomy over most of the days.
Shaffik was determined to go ahead with the trip as although we have been to Kota Kinabalu before, this will be his first time by road and first time for me too. We envisage the trip will take about 10 hours road traveling time. There will be quite a few immigration checks to go through and the queue and waiting time may slow us down. Immigration checkpoints are open during daylight hours only hence we may have to break journey overnight somewhere.
There will be ten immigration checks along the way. The only way to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from Sarawak is through Brunei. Look at the map of Brunei. The country is split into two portions with part of Sarawak (Limbang) in the middle. Therefore the checks will be on exiting Sarawak, entering Brunei, exiting Brunei and entering Sarawak at Limbang, exiting Sarawak again and entering Brunei and exiting Brunei to reenter Sarawak. Then exiting Sarawak to enter Sabah. Ten immigration checkpoints altogether!!!
We traveled to Bintulu on Thursday 14th Dec. The whole Bintulu family including the maid were down with various stages of fever, flu and cough. Ram and I were no better. I was sneezing away while Ram was sniffling too. It became worse on our second day in Bintulu, especially Ram. But the Almighty be praised, all of us recovered in time for the trip which was scheduled for 19th. to 26th December.
We started our trip in the evening of the 19th. More of the trip later……..
MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Petaling Jaya
Sunday, December 10, 2006
In the East Coast With A Japanese Family Friend
We had a few days rest at home in PJ, after attending the funeral of Ram’s nephew in JB, when we had to prepare to go away from PJ again as we had planned. This time to Kerteh in the East coast.
Several weeks earlier we received a phone call from a Japanese family friend Ohtani, Tadasu-san, living in Kobe, Japan that he, his wife and daughter will be holidaying in Club Med Cherating, in the east coast, for about a week. This time around they will not stop over in KL, as they often did whenever they holiday in Malaysia (they had stayed over with us in PJ several times previously), as the daughter had just changed job and cannot get away from work for too long. Hence we made plans to stay with Sita in Kerteh during the period that the Ohtanis were in Cherating. Kerteh is only about a 45 minutes drive from Cherating.
The Ohtanis enjoy tennis. They play tennis whenever they get the chance and when in Club Med Cherating. In fact they go to Cherating with the main intention of playing tennis!
I have known the Ohtanis since the early eighties. I was then working in Tokyo for the Bintulu Fertilizer Plant Project and was in the same office with Tadasu-san. Tadasu and family later moved to Bintulu for the construction of the plant. Our children were small then and they used to play together. We maintained contact even after the project was completed and visited each other whenever we can. While working on the project a few other Engineers were together with me and most of them who knew Tadasu Ohtani are now working in Kerteh. Sita made arrangements and invited those who know Tadasu to her house for dinner but not telling them that Tadasu will be there. I meanwhile arranged to pick up Tadasu and family from Cherating on our way up to Kerteh from PJ, and I too did not tell Tadasu of the impending presence of old friends.
It was raining most of the way from PJ to the East Coast. It was expected as it’s the monsoon season in this part of the country. It was still raining in Cherating when we arrived at the hotel at about 5.00pm, fetched the Ohtanis and headed straight to Sita’s house. Tadasu had catalogued old videos and pictures into a DVD and we viewed them while waiting for dinner. It was fun watching videos of the kids when they were small, ourselves when we were much younger and various other scenes that we have somewhat forgotten. It was nostalgic.
Meanwhile Ram and Sita, also with Fahrul’s help, got dinner ready and waited for the arrival of other old friends. Sita had invited four families and when they arrived there were ‘surprised banter’ between the Japanese and the Malaysian old friends and it was hilarious looking at them. Everyone had a good time that night, including the children. I think most were not too excited over the food served as they were more interested to catch up on old times with Tadasu-san and family.
The next few days were spent with the Ohtanis, taking them around the area, introducing them to local food, showing the sites and so on. Tadasu was also
fascinated by a fruiting mango tree. He had his camera, both still and video, clicking on and on, at the mango tree, at the 'strange' looking food, (some of them wrapped in banana leaves or coconut leaves) and also at local scenes . Miyuki-san wanted to get local spices to take home and we brought them to a local shop where these stuff can be obtained quite cheaply, more so when compared to prices of the stuff in Japan (which can be more than ten times!!).
The last day of the Ohtani’s stay in Cherating came so soon. It was Friday and they were scheduled to leave in the late afternoon. Sita was not working (Friday being the official weekend off day for the Terengganu state) and invited them to play tennis with her at her club in the morning.
We picked them up at 7 am and headed straight to the club in Kerteh. While the four were playing tennis, Ram and I practiced our qi gong while little Najla played around by herself. We had late breakfast and sent them back to the hotel. We said our goodbyes and promised to meet again hopefully not in Cherating this next time but in PJ and Bintulu. We can perhaps squeeze a day or two in Port Dickson as well then. They can still play tennis there as there are tennis courts in our resort condo. They are already planning to come again in 2007 . . . . which really is just around the corner!!
MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya
Several weeks earlier we received a phone call from a Japanese family friend Ohtani, Tadasu-san, living in Kobe, Japan that he, his wife and daughter will be holidaying in Club Med Cherating, in the east coast, for about a week. This time around they will not stop over in KL, as they often did whenever they holiday in Malaysia (they had stayed over with us in PJ several times previously), as the daughter had just changed job and cannot get away from work for too long. Hence we made plans to stay with Sita in Kerteh during the period that the Ohtanis were in Cherating. Kerteh is only about a 45 minutes drive from Cherating.
The Ohtanis enjoy tennis. They play tennis whenever they get the chance and when in Club Med Cherating. In fact they go to Cherating with the main intention of playing tennis!
I have known the Ohtanis since the early eighties. I was then working in Tokyo for the Bintulu Fertilizer Plant Project and was in the same office with Tadasu-san. Tadasu and family later moved to Bintulu for the construction of the plant. Our children were small then and they used to play together. We maintained contact even after the project was completed and visited each other whenever we can. While working on the project a few other Engineers were together with me and most of them who knew Tadasu Ohtani are now working in Kerteh. Sita made arrangements and invited those who know Tadasu to her house for dinner but not telling them that Tadasu will be there. I meanwhile arranged to pick up Tadasu and family from Cherating on our way up to Kerteh from PJ, and I too did not tell Tadasu of the impending presence of old friends.
It was raining most of the way from PJ to the East Coast. It was expected as it’s the monsoon season in this part of the country. It was still raining in Cherating when we arrived at the hotel at about 5.00pm, fetched the Ohtanis and headed straight to Sita’s house. Tadasu had catalogued old videos and pictures into a DVD and we viewed them while waiting for dinner. It was fun watching videos of the kids when they were small, ourselves when we were much younger and various other scenes that we have somewhat forgotten. It was nostalgic.
Meanwhile Ram and Sita, also with Fahrul’s help, got dinner ready and waited for the arrival of other old friends. Sita had invited four families and when they arrived there were ‘surprised banter’ between the Japanese and the Malaysian old friends and it was hilarious looking at them. Everyone had a good time that night, including the children. I think most were not too excited over the food served as they were more interested to catch up on old times with Tadasu-san and family.
The next few days were spent with the Ohtanis, taking them around the area, introducing them to local food, showing the sites and so on. Tadasu was also
fascinated by a fruiting mango tree. He had his camera, both still and video, clicking on and on, at the mango tree, at the 'strange' looking food, (some of them wrapped in banana leaves or coconut leaves) and also at local scenes . Miyuki-san wanted to get local spices to take home and we brought them to a local shop where these stuff can be obtained quite cheaply, more so when compared to prices of the stuff in Japan (which can be more than ten times!!).The last day of the Ohtani’s stay in Cherating came so soon. It was Friday and they were scheduled to leave in the late afternoon. Sita was not working (Friday being the official weekend off day for the Terengganu state) and invited them to play tennis with her at her club in the morning.
We picked them up at 7 am and headed straight to the club in Kerteh. While the four were playing tennis, Ram and I practiced our qi gong while little Najla played around by herself. We had late breakfast and sent them back to the hotel. We said our goodbyes and promised to meet again hopefully not in Cherating this next time but in PJ and Bintulu. We can perhaps squeeze a day or two in Port Dickson as well then. They can still play tennis there as there are tennis courts in our resort condo. They are already planning to come again in 2007 . . . . which really is just around the corner!!MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya
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