Day 4: Sandakan Market, Orang Utans and Prosbocis Monkeys!

Monday, 6 February 2012

I set my alarm to wake me 330am as some friends were to pick me at 345am.  I lazed around in bed just a for few more minutes, but just as I started to freshen up, the car arrived.  They are early, totally unexpected and I am "late".  So I hurry hurry and almost forgotten my camera, but of course, I did not!

We picked up a few more friends staying in another house and then we headed to Sandakan market, enjoying the fresh air, me with groggy eyes still.

Here are some of the things we saw.

Fresh shrimps so cheap and fresh!  I loooovvvveee prawns. How I wish I can just carry the whole basket off!  

Different kinds of seafood available at the market

Sabah chili.  I bought a handful, cost me only RM2, just for fun.  I'm not a chili eater, but I'm a chili sauce eater. 

Some kind of shell fish, but I don't know what it's called, or how to eat this.  Rather just admire them from afar

Saw some sharks.  Here are a couple that came in from the vessel, minus their fins.  So sad. 

This is a common sight at the market.  Baskets and baskets full of small and medium fishes, shrimps and all other kinds of seafood.  Apparently these are not for sale to customers like us as we don't have the volume.  Moreover, a lot of these baskets have been booked / sold to retailers. 

A vessel docked and unloaded it's catch.  I found out that our host's uncle owns this vessel and a couple more.  He got some of the seafood here.  RM8/kg for mud crabs, and RM2x/kg for tiger prawns.  So cheap!  The crabs cost the same as chickens here in PJ... haha! 

Part of the market outside.  Believe me this is my FIRST time being at a market this early in the whole of my 30 + years of existence, and 7 years of patronizing wet / fresh markets. 

This bowl of beef noodle soup is, in my humble opinion, one that can compete with Seremban's famous beef noodle soup!  I love it.  Not even the Tangkak beef noodle soup (which I find a tad bit too saltish) taste this wholesome!  Or maybe, was it that I was famished at 7am in the morning after walking more than 2 hours? 

Sunrise.  Scene from the staircase of Sandakan market.   : )  We were heading upstairs for breakfast.

After breakfast at the market, we tapau-ed some dried shrimps and anchovies.  Cost of it is almost half the price here in PJ.  I wouldn't know how to tell the quality or price difference, and it's all thanks to being with other very experienced home makers.  The dried shrimps is so fresh, you can even eat it on its own.  

Then we tapau-ed deep fried pork noodle (claims to be around since 1940s) and beef noodle for the sleeping gang who should have woken up by now.

We visited Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre after breakfast in a convoy of four cars.

How can we visit Sandakan and not check out the orang utans there?  Well, this trip is more for the kids. 

We saw only a handful of orang utans, and they gathered at one place only because it was feeding time, I believe.  Else, I think the small entrance fee and half hour walk in and out of the "jungle" would have been futile. 

Piggy back ride on Daddy...

After Sepilok, we went to Labuk Bay.  I was not prepared to take off my shoes and go barefooted, and so close proximity with the monkeys. 

Similar to Singapore Zoo, we got attractive tickets which is a brilliant idea, so we get to keep these as souvenirs. 

Seriously, if one was pregnant, I would not encourage her to come here, but we had no preggars in our group, so it was alright.  Too many monkeys around!  I have never taken so many monkey pictures before, haha!

Makan time!  It's great that we almost get to catch the monkeys during feeding time.  They group together, hey, just like humans... hahaha!

These were the pair of monkeys that came towards us, as we were snapping pictures of them from afar.  Then they stopped just near enough, posed like this, and stayed like this for long enough so that we can take as many pictures of them.  Seriously, I think these silver hair monkeys have been trained. 

My boy stepped on monkey poo and his sister sounded the "alarm"... haha... guess who had to bring him to the washroom to wash his legs?  Daddy!  Kekekekeke

There were silver hair monkeys all around.  A few on the rooftop, some on the fences, some running around, some posing.  I go near enough, but avoid them when they are too close.  The kids however were much braver, as usual.  Well, except for Vic maybe.  She preferred to stick with her friends, and didn't get too close to these mammals.  Smart girl.

From an estimate of 200m, we saw proboscis monkeys.  Again, meal times are the most exciting time of the day.

Do you see the big proboscis MALE monkey?  Look closely!  He is the leader.  There is another male leader but he's lost the last battle, so I heard, that is why the two males can never go too close.  Else, we see another fight! 

William gets first class seats on Daddy's shoulders.  Only applicable to those below 30kg. 

In the afternoon, we visited our friend's office, and within the vicinity, we saw another lion dance.

This lion dance ranks one of the lowest I've seen, because although it did prance around abit on the ground, it look a long time to drink up the Tiger Beers and peel the oranges on the floor, so much so I joked that it must have got a hang over or fell asleep. 

Close to 4pm, I realise that I have been up for the past 12 hours and my body was shutting down at this time, yet I still had to bath the two kids first. I knock off before them, the very moment I lay my tired body on the bed. If there was a fire, I would have just slept through... haha! Kiddin.

Initially intended to help out in the kitchen for tonight's home cooked dinner, also to snoop around and learn some secret recipes from friend's mother, but I overslept.

Here's what we had.

Yam with pork belly.  I know how to eat, but forgotten the proper name of this dish. 

"Lau Yue Mang" fish steamed with tau cheong and salted plum and garnished with chili.  Lovely!  I tried to replicate this dish at home, but the outcome was not the same as Aunty's cooking. 

Simple stirfried prawns with salt. 

Real kampong chicken.  Reared and bred by my friend's aunt. 

Assorted vege with marinated chicken. 

There was so much leftover, it could feed another 10 person I think. Whilst the kids played with Ipads and ran around here and there, we women chatted, and waited for digestion before the next serving...crabs!

Cleaned crabs that died a few minutes before this picture was taken.  We worked like a small factory line.  Two ladies did the killing, then passed on to another who brushed it clean, and the last lady untied and cleaned the crabs up. 

Honestly, I salute the women in our group who did not blink twice when they executed death on the crabs.  Steady hands, stern faces and a determined will - silently I was thinking how lucky their husbands were to have such capable wives, and maybe I should also warn them... hehehe

Believe me that is my arm holding the chopstick.  I attempted a couple of times before getting the angle right to kill it. This is my first time experience.  : ) 

Mmmmm.... this is my favourite! 

I'm a contented woman! 

Tomorrow we leave Sandakan back to KL.