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Published: March 8th 2010
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Arriving at the Sunrise hotel in downtown Kudat, this man Peter who has a car tried to persuade us to go with him to the tip of Borneo, his quoted price is 60 ringgits total and some additions for extra attractions like the longhouse, the gong factory and some beaches, anyway we told him we shall think about it and get back to him tomorrow, right now we need to check in.The receptionist told us the cheapest room is 25 ringgits for a double fan room, we wanted to see it, it's at the top floor and when we saw the room full of graffiti in the wall and stinky we decided to upgrade a bit, we ended up in an a/c room with cable tv and indoor toilet no wifi though for 48 ringgits, the room is old but better looking. We are both starving so
ended up walking to the esplanade and found some stalls selling seafood grilled. One piece of mid sized fish for 1 ringgits and mid sized squid for 1.5, super cheap! after meal and time to pay the woman was confused how much we had and Su had to get back back later to get
more change as he paid more than he should, we realized later. Anyhow the sun is setting so we walked around, there are many Filipinos here I can hear them talk especially at restaurants. At the pontoon there are some restaurants near the water and some fish pens, we took fotos there and walked back to town and try and find the night market.
We found it and walked around a bit, its small and mostly grilling fish and stingrays which we tried, a mid sized one costs 2 ringgits! Su never tried it before, he loved it! Then we had his favorite fried bananas while I bought a super cheap lanzones fruits for 2 ringgits a kg. Having our fill we walked back only to get lost and we somehow ended up in this Chinese temple then to the grocery to get some water then back to the hotel where we planned our day for tomorrow.Headed to breakfast, we found a Chinese restaurant near the temple and had a good noodle thing then off to the fish market, it was half empty but still found some interesting bits to browse on, we found some crabs so we bought
2 just to try, problem
is we have nowhere to cook it, we saw porcupine fish as well and sharks among other things, back at the hotel we asked the old lady caretaker if they can cook it and told us we can cook it at the beach grilled, later when we go there. We booked a trip to the tip of Borneo with her son in law visiting the longhouse called Bavanggazo, some bee farm, and gong factory at Sumangkap and then to the tip of Borneo all for 100 ringgits.
We walked around town some more but got quickly bored so we went back to the hotel and had a nap at 10am! noontime we looked fro lunch, Chinese again! then we went back to the hotel and Jake and his wife Norida and her 3 month daughter came with us to the excursion, Norida served as interpreter as the husband /driver does not speak good English, turns out their heritage are both Filipino! Norida is the daughter of the hotel caretaker, very nice woman that treated us like family she is from Zamboanga and came here 27 years ago on a boat which she later told
boat
probably made in Sibutu, Tawi-Tawi us was a horrific trip as the boat hit a big rock and started sinking, they were saved by another boat luckily but then on she never returned to the Philippines severely traumatized by the experience, this could be a novel really what a story.
The longhouse was ok, we just took fotos then left not paying the 3 ringgit fee, no one was there to collect it anyway. Then the gong factory, they showed us briefly how it is made and played a bit of demo performance, then we walked to this park where there is a giant gong. From there off to the bee farm, we did not get off we just took fotos and went on. The next stop is the Tip of Borneo park, a nice park, we walked around then left for the beach nearby where Jake built a fire to cook the fish and more crabs that Norida's mom packed for our picnic! And we did not have to pay for it, very nice family they are.
The grilled fish and crabs filled us up, so delicious and fresh, we talked about similarities of the Tagalog and Malay, it's fun to converse with
this couple, both Filipino in origin but not fluent in the native tongue, they were both born here.
Norida was taught English by her mom who was a teacher. They left us for a bit to visit a mosque, we cleaned up and waited for them and we thought they'd never come back but they did in the nick of time to drive us quickly to the Tip again for the amazing sunset, lots of cool fotos, some people were there too but left quickly. Then back to the hotel where we rested and chill. The town has nothing much to offer really but a good place to plan out excursions, next up to some islands up north near the Palawan island in the Philippines.
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