Borneo In Nature - Day 2

Hubby woke up as early as 4am to re-park the car. Last nite, we parked the car by the road side since there was no more available parking space for hoteliers (see…one of the drawbacks of having hotel within a shopping mall). Hubby came back and asked me to get dress for breakfast. The breakfast was fine and the site was elegant. Having the common hotel foods, I took 3 dishes, scrambled eggs (I had it with chili sauce), mixed cereals with low fat milk and porridge (kicap tak masin, yucks!). While hubby, scrambled eggs (he liked it with salt and pepper), porridge and toasted bread. (Pity him; he didn’t get his honey pancakes from this hotel).

“Alamak…hujan!!! Camne nak snorkeling niiiiiii!” hubby and I shouted.

We called Na and the gang, they have already waited in the car. (They took Avanza since there were 6 of them). Ni kira tak kisah la hujan ke ape ke, janji snorkel! Haha! So Cawan lead us to Jesselton Point for boat ride to TAR Marine Park. They have purchased tickets last nite, so we just added another 2 for hubby and I. And so we were in the same boat! Yeaha! Since hubby and I brought our own snorkel equipments, we just rented 2 life jackets. While Na and the gang, got a very good price for 6, both jackets and masks (sempat la bergaduh kejap sebab pompuan bodo tu salah kira, dah delay boat kitorang. Cis! Patut tolak timing sewa kan Na?)

Cawan has bought an interesting gadget, a fully sealed and air-less plastic camera cover for underwater. It came with various sizes, so I should get one for me later. Tak payah beli underwater camera kan! (Kita tengok hasilnyer nanti). After few minutes of jacket and mask drama, the boatman started the engine…

SUMPAH TAKUT SAMPAI I NANGIS TERUS PEJAM MATA PEGANG HUBBY KUAT-KUAT SEBAB BOAT MELAMBUNG TINGGI TAK CECAH AIR LANGSUNG AND TAK HENTI-HENTI RASA MACAM NAK TERBALIK JE DALAM LAUT!!! DAH LA HUJAN RINTIK-RINTIK!!!

Ha amik ko…for a beach goer like me, yang tak kisah naik banana boat terpelanting 10 kali pun, yang tak penah kisah naik fibre-glass boat my dad dari kecik, yang pernah naik boat pegi island hopping kat langkawi and pangkor, akhirnya tewas di tangan boatman dari Sabah bah…so sad…rasa cam nak pukul je beach boy tu!!! And rasa macam tak nak naik dah boat dia balik nanti!!! Lucky he nicely explained to us why he did that and why the boat macam nak tunggang terbalik semata-mata nak melawan ombak. Fine…whateva…

We stopped at Manukan Island first and paid RM3 each at the jetty point. Along the jetty, we saw many marine fish swimming by those visitors who lured them with bread. Rasa macam nak snorkel je kat situ! But we had to swim only within the green area (smaller zone). Red area? It’s a no-no zone. We walked to the right side of the island, where groups of Korean, Japanese, and locals had their own spots. Hujan still rintik-rintik. Kitorang letak semua barang kat satu meja ni (patut la takde orang nak, semut api penuh!!!). Then I changed to my wet suit and kecebushhhh terjun dalam air!

Since cuaca tak panas, air plak tak brapa sejuk, seronok la mandi and snorkeling. Tak pakai sunblock pun tau. Gile! Kitorang snorkeled ke tengah skit, baru nampak ikan besar-besar and warna-warni. Kalau tak, kecik-kecik je ikan macam ikan bilis! Haha! As usual, beraksi la kitorang dalam laut since Cawan bawak camera. Siap nak tangkap-tangkap ikan tu tapi confirmed la tak dapat kan. I started to unclip my life jacket and dive down to the sea floor. I picked up a handful of sands and showed it to hubby as evidence that I had reached the bottom. Hehe! (Hubby can’t dive…). I never buckled up back my life jacket as I can now, floating. Yayyyyyy! (Only when it was deeper by twice of me, and I wasn’t panic!)

The boatman supposed to fetch us from Manukan Island and proceed to Sapi Island. About 11am, he came and we were off to Sapi Island. On the boat, I already set in my mind on what it would be like, so dah tak brapa takut, in fact, I enjoyed it sambil jerit-jerit! Haha! Sampai Sapi Island, again, ikan lebih banyak kat jeti. Colorful plak tu! Beach boy tu kata ikan kat Sapi ni tak selapar Manukan. Haha! Bleh plak camtu ek…tengok diorang kasi roti, berkerumun jugak!

This time, we walked to the left side of the island, since belah kanan takde pantai. Snorkeling area pun bigger than Manukan. Ke tengah laut skit la. Makin lama makin dalam, biru dan gelapppp je airnyer. Hehe…takut gak kang tetiba ada shark kan! Tapi buat bodo je. At the jetty point, there was a sign “Jellyfish season”. Alamak…ni yang tak best ni…ada mamat ni siap dapat tangkap sekor and placed it over the other side of the beach sebab tak nak orang terkena. Upper part dia tak bisa, lower part dia yang ada tentacles tu yang bisa. Eiii takut!

Again, I tried to dive 3 times, but this time, pressure a bit kuat, so tak brapa nak sampai ke dasar. Kat sini, we were so excited and teruja (especially hubby and I) coz we saw Dogface Pufferfish, Maroon Clown Fish, Wrasse, Picasso Trigger and one ikan todak besar. Best gile! Cuma tak nampak Lion Fish je…Powder Blue Dory pun tak nampak. Morish Idol apetah lagi. Tapi takpe, puas jugak la. We even stood on the “tukun tiruan” konon macam tak dalam. Hehe. Masa ada sorang mamat ni tengah snorkel, kasi ikan makan, beratus ikan keliling dia. Kitorang apa lagi, amik kesempatan, gi tangkap gambar kat tepi dia. Haha! Serious pengacau! So next time, dah tau, letak roti banyak-banyak dalam botol mineral and kuarkan skit-skit kasi ikan makan. Tak yah beli. Patu sorang kena amik gambar!

At 2pm, we waited the boatman at the jetty point. While waiting, we thought of having free fish spa treatment (sebab masa sampai nampak sorang minah ni sedap je letak kaki, ikan kecik-kecik tu datang kat kaki dia). Tapi tak seindah khabar, ikan-ikan tu tak gigit pun kaki kitorang! Haha! Dia cam dekat-dekat je. Cis! Naik balik, duk kat jetty.

“Itu yang melayu tu. Mari, mari. Kalau tunggu, sampai esok pun tidak pulang!” a man shouted from a boat stated “Apparu” that full of people waiting on the seats.

Kitorang ke? Haah! Sape lagi melayu kat sini! Hahaha! Mana la nak perasan, tadi boatman lain, ni boatman lain. Rupanya dia angkut semua skali guna boat besar. Cis! Tak pasal-pasal kena jerit. Bodo! We walked into the boat (penuh dengan Japanese) and guess what, boat besar ni pun bawak laju melambung-lambung! Gile tul!

When we reached Jesselton Point, cuaca dah start panas. Nasib baik. But my face dah terbakar macam udang panggang sebab tak pakai sunblock. Thanks to my Roxy wet suit yang berlengan panjang. Hehe! We had our lunch at the food court nearby. Makanan murah, air mahal. Dah la tak sedap. Hmm.

Not enough swimming in the ocean, we went back to the hotel for a swimming pool dipping plak. Since Tune hotel didn’t have any pool, Na and the gang came to our hotel via the 1Borneo shopping complex. Hahaha…dengan baju yang basah, kasut yang basah, selamba je masuk shopping complex. Sejuk nak mampus kena aircond. I plak tunggu diorang kat exit hotel to the mall. Lagi lawak, siap wet suit bagai. Haha!

We took a lift and walked straight to the hotel pool at level 3. It was an indoor pool, covered with super attractive ocean creature’s canvas! All in blue! First time tengok pool se-creative ni. Without wasted any time, we dipped in the pool and,

“YA ALLAHHHHHH SEJUKNYEEEEEE!!! APE HAL POOL AIR SEJUK NIIIIII???”

It was as cold as plain water with ice that you ordered from mamak stall! Sejuk gile! Menggigil-gigil kitorang. Tapi sebab nak mandi pool gak, semua terjun. While swimming and diving (ignore the don’ts), we cursing the cold water. Pool tu dah macam kitorang punya. Dah la standard Olympic size (Chewah! Betul la kot sebab 50m gak panjangnyer).

Lepas mandi, semua balik ke bilik. At night, we went to Philippine Market and did some shopping. Souvenirs were quite pricey and they didn’t look like they were desperate enough to sell it off. Discount setakat seringgit dua, apa hasil! But leaving Sabah with pearls is a must! (Air tawar punya je la, air masin mau kerat jari youuuu! RM4k!) I bought 4 bracelets with pearls for my family (each ladies got one…except me…tah tak tau nape I tak beli untuk diri sendri…hehehe!) and half dozens of fridge magnets!

After shopping, we went to night market just next to Philippine Market. I can tell youuuu, tempat ni macam heaven for food galore! Gerai belambak gile! Ikan bakar, udang bakar, sotong bakar, you name it! Semua ada! Harga plak…tengok size…boleh la, macam harga kat semenanjung je. Kata murah! But I only had bihun sup for dinner while others, ada yang makan nasik and mee goreng. But for those who really hygienic seperti mak mentuaku, sangatlah tidak dialu-alukan. Sebab kat situ la ko basuh pinggan, kat situ la ko ceduk nasik, kat situ la ko buat air, kat situ la ko bakar ikan sotong sume. Hehe…boleh la if nak merasa macam fear factor. I ok je, tak mati pun.

“Pas ni gi mana lagi?”

“1B Rainforest since tempat tu dalam 1B je, leh terus balik bilik” and all of us agreed.

We reached hotel around 8pm. Cari parking, full. Fine, parking kat tempat jokey RM5 per day. Tapi since Na dah bayar earlier, takkan nak bayar lagi. So diorang park kat depan 1B, kitorang park kat luar tepi jalan, free! Nanti-nanti baru cari parking balik. We went into 1B and tried to locate the 1B Rainforest. Sampai je, tutup! Ape ni? Rupanya itu pintu belakang. Letak la sign. Cis! We walked towards the entrance and paid RM8 each. Yang lain semua dah masuk. Tinggal hubby, I, adik Na and her bf je masuk sekali.

Again, not to much to fancy, except for a spitting cobra and gecko. Yang lain semua amfibias, reptiles and few small mammals. Tapi cantik la dalam dia, macam dalam hutan hujan. Ada replica rafflesia, souvenirs, hut and caves. Amik gambar! Amik gambar! Haha! I only used macro to snap pictures. Senang skit, tak perlu flash as I never like to use flash when taking pictures. I suka original lighting.

Lepas semua dah tah ke mana-mana membawa haluan masing-masing, we walked back to the car and parked at the jockey area with no charges! (Diorang dah balik.) Puas hati! Then balik bilik. Tengok tv, tido. Sok kena bangun awal, nak ke Kundasang!

More Pics here :
Day 2
Special - Fauna