Last Day in Sandakan:Wet market place.29 Mar'08

*At Sandakan Wet Market Place.

Mr.Moha****, former office colleaque who was transfered to ILP Sandakan two years back, played host on the day of return to the Peninsular. (L) Ya***, Ina & Moha*** with daughter

Before sending me to Sandakan airport Moha***, wife Ina & his cousin Ya*** took me to the wet market place At the wet market place. Dried prawns, anchovices etc

just to show around how the Sandakan wet market environment is or buy sea produce to take back to Putrajaya... Sandakan is a heaven for sea produce and they are quite cheap too compared to Semenanjung.

Wow, what a big catch this was! A weeks' supply huh?

Sandakan coastal town. Nice sea views and interesting water fronts.

Thank you Moha*** & family for showing me around :-)

*Back to KLIA.

So many Caucasian tourists at Sandakan airport :-)

Back in KLIA. Waiting for my box of dried anchovice & prawns :-)

In the ERL train. Tired but happy to be back in the Peninsular

Waiting for a cab at Putrajaya Sentral.

Readers, go visit Sabah and Sarawak.

You'll enjoy it! :-)

Day 3.Visiting Orang Utan's sanctuary in Sepilok 28Mar 08

At the entrance signboard

There was time for a Sepilok the Orang Hutan Rehabilitation Centre visit on the third day.

With Mr.Sa** (in white shirt)

So, I invited Mr.Sa** (who works 2 floors below my office in Putrajaya) to join in the trip to Sepilok which was 35km from Sandakan.


Entrance fee for locals is RM5. Cameras in RM10! Mmmm...no way I would pay 10 bucks for that reason and with that I left my camera with them at the counter...but I still had my mobile phone camera so there was 'still hope' to snap photos :-) Oh,BTW sightings of orang utan are not guaranteed although 3 pm is the feeding time!

Friends Mr.Sa** and Mr.Nu** walking along the timber walkway on timber stilts

Waiting for Orang Utan to come by, hanging on to the ropes tied from tree to tree,

for the bananas

So many Caucasians tourists around :-)

(Top 2 photos)

It's 'makan'/eating time!

Amidst beautiful Caucasian chicks :-P

Amidst lush greenery

Day Two. 27th.Mar'08. Visiting Agnes Keith's House in Sandakan.

Immediately after the PPL Induction course was adjourned around 5.30pm ,

Mr.Nu**, the office driver (in blue batik shirt)

I quickly called Mr.Nu**, the office driver to be ready to take me to Agnes Keith's house before it gets dark (you know, Kota Kinabalu Sabah is 55mins earlier than KL time so if we reach Agnes's house by 6 pm or later than that,it will be very near the sunset or 'maghrib' so we'll be unable to 'see' anything!). Having this passsion for old/ historical buildings (which is probably because I took architecture during my university days), we managed to reach this 'I must visit place' which is at the top of a hill facing the Sulu Sea by 6pm. Alas, it was already closed for visits (a small fee is charged for entrance) but we were allowed to move around the compound and see the house.

The 'sentry post' that greets visitors leading to the pathway to the house

Pathway leading to Agnes Keith's house

Nice architecture. High ceiling and open verandah with good ventilation. Strong sturdy timber columns. Large compound for garden party and evening tea. There is even the servants' quarters (they looked like one) at the foot of the hill with matching architecture. Agnes Keith home, built circa 1946-47 was restored by Sabah Museum, was called Newlands until the Keiths left Sabah in 1952. .(Readers, the Wikipedia and numerous websites has the Keiths' story.)

Lush greenery surrounds the Agnes Keith's house

27 Mar'08. Facilitator for the PPL Induction Course at ILP Sandakan Sabah Land Below The Wind.

With Mr.Sya***, the Sabah regional office director at the admin block's compound


Facilitator for the first day of the PPL Induction course while Mr.Sya**** handled the second day. Some of the participants were vocational training officers from the Sandakan Industrial Training Institute, technical school teachers from various parts of Sabah as well as personel from various accredited centres.

Registration handled by Hj.B**

Welcome note from the Director.

The participants

Facilitator for PP/PPL Course at ILP Sandakan.26 Mar 2008. (Day 1 in Sandakan)

DAY 1.
Episode 1. From KUL to BKI. The arrival...

(KUL stands for Kuala Lumpur while BKI for Kota Kinabalu *grin* ).

Arrival at KKIA (Kota Kinabalu International Airport)

Straight from the Landscape MySkills competition site in UPM Serdang, I rushed to the ERL station to catch the train to KLIA to fly to Sandakan Sabah, to become the facilitator for the PP/PPL induction course at Institut Latihan Perindustrian (ILP) Sandakan. Organized by DSD's Sabah regional office, they needed someone from HQ to facilitate together with them (so since I had never been to Sandakan & there was no one available from HQ,so I volunteered) :-)

(Neighbour Napi sent me to the ERL station and it was 'on the dot' situation when I arrived at the station the train had already stopped to let the passengers alightened the train. Phew! If I had missed this 4.20 train, next will be at 4.50). For the PP/PPL induction course, I decided to facilitate the first day while DSD's Sabah director takes the second day.

On the sky bridge to board the plane to Sandakan with DSD Sabah Director Mr.Syah***

We met at Kota Kinabalu International Airport to board the same plane to Sandakan. However Mr.Syah***'s colleagues such as Hj.B**, Sa** and driver Nu** had hit the road for 6 hours from KK to Sandakan in the office 4 wheel drive. That very first night in Sandakan the five of us went around Sandakan town looking for local food and did some brief sightseeing.

Arrival at Sandakan airport. Lots of Mat Sallehs around...

Are you calling the driver to fetch us?

Episode 2.

"Jalan-Jalan Carik Makan" or "Looking for Food" in Sandakan.

The Sabah office decided to 'play host' to 'this guest' (that's ME!) from Putrajaya. Since Sandakan is famous for its prawns and fish, 'the' host decided to look for sea food (or anything that comes from the sea for dinner when I answered "Sea food" not 'siput' (snails)" to their question "what do you want to eat for dinner Che Lan?"

Nu** the driver was quite familiar with the town & off we went to the night market area somewhere at the outskirts of Sandakan & looked for any 'edible sea creature' to eat. (Actually we ate stingray & the 'ikan jaket'.

I was busy taking pics, see my untouched rice :-)

Mr.Syah*** (in white shirt) probably was thinking "we must feed the guest from Putrajaya!"

Episode 3. Ronda-ronda pekan. ("Look-look and see-see" around town).

Taking pictures of KD Sri Sandakan armada.

The KD Sandakan naval base and dockyard are the must see spots in Sandakan. Sandakan town faces the South China Sea with some distant islands (Philiphine?) as the back scene.

Sandakan, a coastal town, offers scenic views of the South China Sea and producer of salted sea produce such as tiger prawns and salted fish. Throughout our stay in Sandakan, all 5 of us stayed at the ILP's institute guest house.

Thanks you DSD Sabah office and ILP Sandakan for the kind hospitality :-)