Sandakan Uncovered

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Sandakan is a town often overlooked, with people pausing only to visit the Orangutan centre, however when you stay longer and get under the surface of this unprepossessing community you discover it's unique mingling of colonial and military history with the karaoke bar scene of mile four! There are opportunity for partying and pampering, visiting local villages and learning of Sandakan's past.

Feeling a little sore and rather grimey after our jungle camping adventures we were looking forward to the soft mattresses, clean sheets and hot showers of Hotel London. This aptly named hotel had been our home last time we stopped in Sandakan and the friendly owners welcomed us back with open arms.

After a little snooze we set out to find our days activity, which turned out to be croquet! Our jungle sturdy legs propelled us up 'The 100 steps' no problem, and a short, shaded walk brought us to the teahouse. Lewi and Durks went straight over and began practicing their swings, while Jen and I took a quick look around the Agnes Keith Museum next door. Agnes Keith was an American author who lived in Sandakan and wrote of her experiences there both before and during the war years. Her books are very insightful and relatively well known, but even so the perfectly restored family home was a rather eerie tribute to a woman who was, in reality, simply the wife of a forestry officer.

The teahouse was a much less creepy experience, what better way to spend an afternoon than by sipping earl grey tea and knocking a croquet ball about the lawn. It was a flash back to a very colonial England. We even had a dispute over the rules of the game with a couple of Oxford university students, Lewi animatedly disagreeing so sure that his version was correct. All was forgiven though as later that evening, Nathan and Jodie joined us on the hotel rooftop and shared plenty of beers and a delicious Indian takeaway. This chatty couple were not just croquet fiends, Nathan also happened to play Didgeridoo and so he and Lewi had an impromptu jam session. It was a lovely evening and the cheap beers flowed into the night.

The next morning we strolled through the town which was beginning to feel homely and familiar to us. We grabbed a juicy fresh pineapple from the market and ventured out to a nearby village. On a recommendation from our friend at the tourist info office, we visited the visually impaired learning centre for a foot massage. The centre had been well equipped with braille computers, and ran classes in massage and basket weaving. The foot massages we collectively received ranged from excellent through to deeply painful, but the experience of meeting these hard working and determined people was treatment enough. We contributed happily to their funds and said goodbye as a storm broke overhead.

Karaoke is widely popular all across Asia and we decided it was time to introduce Jen and Durks to the Malaysian delights. That evening after homemade piña coladas and a few cheeky shots we took a taxi to the 'Kiss Me' karaoke bar at Mile 4. It was tough to select the venue as there were about twenty to choose from all within an area of about half a kilometre! "Don't look back in Anger" was our first performance, and other classics such as "White Christmas" were later blasted out. As our drinking increased so did the volume and confidence of our singing, which I'm not sure the professional karaoke'ers around us appreciated. It was an extremely comical evening which only finished at 4am and was followed by acute embarrassment when reviewing the photo evidence the next morning!

The late night should have meant a late start but Jenny and I had planned a Spa day as it was her last day out here and I had birthday money to burn. We shrugged the hangovers off and enjoyed the sauna and massage treatments at the '2Inn1' Spa, and the free buffet lunch that was included!

Smelling of aromatherapy oils us girls met the boys at our favourite spot, 'The Teahouse' for one last game of croquet. It must've been the crazy moustache creations especially prepared for the occassion which brought Lewi and Durks their second victory on the lawns. All too soon it was time for Jen to depart. Operation Jungle Julie returns to London began, and I felt extremely sad to see her go. The time had gone quickly but it had been so great to spend that time together.

And then there were three...

Very shortly there would be only two, but for one more day we were a trio. That morning we went to the War Memorial Park to learn about Sandakan's World War Two history. The POW camps and death marches that the Japanese inflicted upon Commmonwealth and local soliders lead to the deaths of over 3000 people with only 6 escapees surviving. It was an awful atrocity which took place within the last weeks of the war, and it was shocking to read about this dreadful crime against humanity. We paid our respects.

In Sandakan we had become locals at "Zakaria's" an Indian restaurant with the most delicious food. Indian cooking is so full of flavour we can't resist it. Before going for the last supper we went to the local snooker hall across the road. The room was crowded with men who were betting huge sums of money on each game, and generally loafing about. The silence that fell over the room as I (a female) walked into the room was so intense that I decided just to let the boys play, I think it would've caused quite a scene if I'd picked up a cue.

As we drank a final beer on the rooftop, we watched a young man on the building opposite practice his Kung Fu, whirling around the roof like a master. This was one of many experiences that proved to us that, once you get under the surface, Sandakan is an interesting town with a wealth of unexpected things to do that people just passing through would miss out on.

We waved off our second taxi in two days, having said goodbye to another very good friend, and couldn't help but feel that it would be very strange without them here. But luckily we quite like spending time with each other too!

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Comments

[josh]

beautiful
i love this game,and the lady,i realy love american.