Day 01: Pullman Miri Waterfront (May 2019)

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Sunday, 19th May 2019

Miri have been one destination on my travel bucket list ever since I joined the Oil & Gas Industry some 12 years ago. However, it took me a good decade before stepping foot again to the state of Sarawak in East Malaysia. Handsome and I decided on this trip at the eleventh hour and we were glad that we still managed to score a great deal for a 4D3N vacation in this little oil town. Without a doubt, our stay at Pullman Miri Waterfront was one of the highlights where we were rewarded with fantastic views overlooking the coast of Miri.

After checking-in and freshening up a bit in our spacious room, we had lunch at the nearby Nasi Lemak outlet located at the older part of the town. The tri-coloured milk tea was a delight to cool down from the afternoon sun. This is a concoction of brown sugar syrup, evaporated milk and freshly brewed black tea. We spent sometime exploring the Container City, an eatery complex which was littered with cute cartoon characters including the popular Minions.

With the sun past its peak, it was time to check out some of the best sites along the nearby coast. This was made easy with the Grab hailing service which made it a painless way to travel around. Coco Cabana was our first stopping point with its iconic Seahorse statue and the Instagram-worthy Swing overlooking the South China Sea. We spent time sitting along the beautiful coastline while watching families at play on a busy Sunday afternoon. In contrast to the quiet town centre where we stayed, this was where most of the local people congregate on a weekend.

From Coco Cabana, we made our way further west towards the direction of Tanjung Lobang hoping to catch a glimpse of the setting sun at its very best. We were soon rewarded with a view that was resembled to what we had hoped for on a clear Sunday evening.

Miri is home to a large number of Iban populace and many of their traditional dishes like the paku kubok are commonly found at many restaurants in the city. Seafood is popular given its location near the coast and we tasted some of their freshest prawns on offer over dinner.

With great food, great sites and a great travel kaki, this was a great getaway that I hoped for over the Vesak Day long weekend.

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