Sandakan Itinerary - Day 3

Date of Travel: 14-16 Sep 2013

On our last day here, we decided to stay in town area and visit some of the sights on the Sandakan Heritage Trail. Instead of walking, we drove instead :P

First off, breakfast at the third floor of the Central Market located next to Fourpoints hotel. What's famous here is a deep fried pork noodle. I liked the fried noodles instead.

Sandakan Itinerary - Day 2 Visiting Monkeys

Date of Travel: 14-16 Sep 2013

After visiting the morning market, it's time to start our day with a hearty breakfast highly recommended by blogs. We are off to Kampung Buli Sim Sim to look for a shop called H84. All we know is that it's located on Pier 8, along Jalan Sim Sim. We ended up at Jambatan 8, instead of Lorong 8. We got to see real families living on the water.

Jambatan 8 - WRONG! Not the right place for seafood breakfast

Sandakan Itinerary - Day 2 Buying Seafood

Date of Travel: 14-16 Sep 2013

The sun rises at around 6:00am. Fourpoints Hotel is located next to the market and I have a good view of the market from my hotel room window. Since I was up at 5am, I watched the boats come in, and they carry baskets of fish onto the dock where they are sold to vendors. Here is the biggest tip for Sandakan - HOW TO BRING SEAFOOD HOME

1. Bring or buy an Ice Box. A 50cmx30cmx30cm box costs RM9 here. If you're staying at Fourpoints, the shops start selling them near the roundabout later in the day, perhaps 10:00am.
2. Seafood start selling at about 8:30am until 5:00pm. If you have only 3D/2N here, you need to buy it on Day 2 to give it enough time to freeze.
3. Have fun shopping for seafood. Seven-star Grouper fish goes for RM20/kg, tiger prawns for RM35-50/kg depending on the size. The super large ones are about RM70/kg.
4. Bring your filled up ice box back to the Concierge of Fourpoints, and pay him RM15 to store it for you. Collect it back just before you head to the airport. 

These are going for RM70-80/kg

Continue reading:
Sandakan Itinerary - Day 1
Sandakan Itinerary - Day 2 Buying Seafood
Sandakan Itinerary - Day 2 Visiting Monkeys
Sandakan Itinerary - Day 3

Sandakan Itinerary - Day 1

Date of Travel: 14-16 Sep 2013

Sandakan is THE place for seafood. How is this better than KK or Kuching? It's simply cheaper! For starters, there's a great hotel with a great location. It's obvious, you have to stay at Fourpoints by Sheraton, Sandakan. We got a great deal for RM160++ per night without breakfast.

The welcoming lobby of Fourpoints Sandakan

All Twin rooms come with 2 Queen beds. All rooms face the sea, pay more for a nicer side of the sea

Pity, no bathtub

Located next to the Waterfront

Bali - A photographer's playground!

Date of Travel: 24-28 January 2013

My favourite place in Bali - Blue Point Beach

To a photographer, Bali is heaven. You have beautiful sunsets, paddy fields, beaches, mountains, architecture, culture, nature, just take your pick. You can be as creative or silly as you wish.

Bali - Sleeping in a Paddy Field

Hotel Review: Pertiwi Bisma 1, Ubud

Date of Travel: 24-28 January 2013

HH has always dreamed of waking up to seeing paddy fields from the room window. Unfortunately, such places cost quite a bit in Ubud, our initial booked hotel cost US$135 per night. Then came along this place that was BRAND NEW and looked good enough for US$55. Plus it looked to have paddy fields nearby, so why not? Let's try it out!

Bali - Top 3 Favourite Restaurants in Ubud

Date of Travel: 24-28 Jan 2013

Nasi Babi Guling from some roadside shack frequented by locals. 10,000Rp worth of crackling goodness!

This was my second visit to Bali, and I was not expecting much. In 2005, my flight was delayed 6 hours and I ended up having dinner at 10pm. I immediately had a bad reaction to the food, and could not stop vomiting every half hour until I called for a doctor to come to my hotel to give me a jab at my behind at 3am in the morning. I paid USD100 for the house-call injection and needless to say, I did not eat too adventurously for the entire trip.

This time in 2013, the food in Bali really blew me away! I truly did not expect to find quality European cuisine at such valuable prices. For this trip, HH wanted to wake up to see the paddy fields. Therefore, we stayed at Ubud the entire time, and these are restaurants entirely in Ubud.