For the first time…

I had been to Sematan twice before…in the 70s, and once I drove there in my tiny Colt Minica with some friends using the dusty untarred road, and we even had to cross a river by ferry. But I had never been to Lundu so this was the first time I had set foot in the town…

It is very small and there are still a number of old wooden shophouses around…

I had taken another better photograph of the old shops…but somehow, it seems to have got lost in cyberspace. There is a pleasant-looking park in the town centre…

…and a number of new concrete shophouses…

Firm believers in Chinese feng shui would think that Lundu has a strategic location with the mountains at the back and the river in front. However, I would think that as far as the town is concerned, prosperity is still forthcoming.

The rest of the party had gone to the seminar venue but as my slot would only begin at 11.00 a.m. Saturday morning, I decided to get up late and roam around the town on my own. However, I did not venture very far as I had to walk! For one thing, I really enjoyed the breakfast I had… 

Gosh! The kolo mee special was absolutely delicious…with the usual char siew and minced meat plus some roast pork belly (with nice crusty skin) and braised pork, some chicken wing and some wantan (kiaw/pian sip) as well. I also ordered some wantan soup to go with the noodles…

 

…and what is most unbelieveable is that I only had to pay RM6.00 for all that! Gee! Sometimes it is much nicer to stay in small towns…where life is slow and easy and everything is so much cheaper!

Too bad I did not have much time to explore further! I did not even get to see the beach…but then I was not supposed to be there on holiday, so perhaps one day, I may just make my own way there…and I would definitely have that kolo mee special again, that’s for sure!

Here we go again…

I left for Kuching at 3.50 p.m. on the dot on Friday…but it turned out to be a MASwings flight, a Fokker 50, that is. I think this is the 1.45 direct flight from KK which would arrive at 3.20 on transit to Kuching. It didn’t matter as I am quite used to flying around in small aircrafts and thank goodness the flight was full, or else it might be an indication of the forthcoming demise of our national airline! I heard that the 5 something Boeing flight was cancelled and the passengers were asked to take the one at 11.00 a.m. instead.

Upon arrival at Kuching International Airport, I was met by the company’s “chauffeur-driven limo” which took me straight to Lundu…  

We checked in at the hotel; it was supposed to be twin-sharing but I had warned the officer that he must put me with a roommate who would be quite deaf or could sleep through a storm…and in the end, I got a room all to myself! LOL!!! After freshening up, we went for dinner. Being a seaside town, of course, it consisted mostly of seafood. We had prawns…

It was prepared with thick chilli and egg gravy…the way I used to have crabs a long time ago in Singapore. Very nice! And we also had clams…

…and fish (black pomfret or bawal hitam) curry…

…and I loved the ulam! As a matter of fact, I ate all that by myself…and had an easy time the next morning. Hahahahaha!!!

We also had king crabs but I did not see what there was that could be eaten. I did try a bit but it was not to my liking.

The others sat around to chat…but I went back to the hotel earlier as I knew the following day would be a long, long one…..