On the Road

We started the road trip on a wonderful morning, bright sunshine, blue skies... but then it started to get real hot and no fun anymore after that :( I drove the first part of the journey up till Sipitang - a small seaside town in Sabah, and hubby took over from there. It was 2pm. I started driving at 7am. Overall it was an enjoyable road trip; passing the little towns, driving along the Crocker range, ferry trips across rivers and oh, not forgetting the hour we got lost at Lamunin in Brunei. Well, we decided to take the road less travelled... and I suppose it is less travelled for a good reason. We ended up driving in circles for a while. Oh well, at least we got some view of the Bruneian countryside... not much of it anyway. Very thankful indeed we had a safe and enjoyable journey. Kota Kinabalu was scorching hot and we spent most of the two days there eating, window shopping and watching movies. And I also caught up with an old college friend there, who was visiting KK for the first time with her husband. Here are some pictures, not many but we snapped some for the heck of it.

Yay! We have reached Limbang! Out of Brunei, into Sarawak again.

Limbang old airport - air strip actually. This is the old airport 'building'

Old Limbang air strip...just alongside the trunk road

Ferry service across the river after Limbang. RM8 per vehicle for a 15-seconds ride I think... I gotta buy me some shares in this company. It is making a lot of money
What?? RM8 and we have to fight for life jackets?

Optional : if you drive REALLY fast your car might be able to fly across this river

Hmm at least they didn't increase the price for the past 5 years...

Suspension bridge across Sungai Lawas. What a pretty river

Immigration checkpoint at Lawas/Brunei border. A shoplot...

Pretty green scenary along the road

Tune Hotel 1Borneo Kota Kinabalu - "pay only what you need" bed, aircon and room only. Ok at least the sheets, water and toilet paper were free

What? We have to pay for the bedside bulbs too??

Much awaited seafood dinner in KK. This is Luyang Seafood recommended by a friend's father. Our fish, prawns, seafood noodles, vegetables and drinks for two came up to RM59

Road Trip: Two Days to go...

The past few weeks had been good. Work was good, I had a couple of good things done and the holiday week of Gawai is coming up very soon! Gawai is the harvest festival, celebrated in Sarawak in early June every year. It really is a huge thing here, much like how Hari Raya or Chinese New Year is celebrated in West Malaysia. But over here, cities just shut down for about a week and a half and everything just goes quiet. Similarly, our office will be closed for a week, it is a compulsory holiday. Much better than Hari Raya or CNY huh... :P

I am already feeling festive! And gearing up for our road trip. We will start early on Thursday morning and planning to get to Kota Kinabalu by late afternoon; while planning to stop by lunch in Lawas by noon or so. The total driving time is anticipated to be six to seven hours or so, with multiple stops along the way for immigration and customs check. Why multiple?

Because the journey goes like this:

Miri (Sarawak) ---> Kuala Belait and Tutong (Brunei)
Tutong (Brunei) ---> Kuala Lurah (Brunei) ---> Limbang (Sarawak)
Limbang (Sarawak) ---> Temburong (Brunei)
Temburong (Brunei) ---> Trusan (Sarawak)
Trusan (Sarawak) to Lawas (Sarawak) to Merapok (Sarawak) ---> Sidumin (Sabah)

Click on the above map for a clearer picture of our route.

Every crossing from Sarawak (Msia) into Brunei and back into Sarawak and then to Sabah will require a stamping on the passport. So yup... no worries about not having enough rest stops. From Sidumin, it will be all the way through Sabah passing a few more small towns like Beufort and Sipitang. One of my favorite part of the journey is the route by the Crocker mountain range, where we drive by the endless green mountains until we reach Kota Kinabalu, sitting beneath the watchful peaks of Mount Kinabalu.

One more working day to go tomorrow... then we're ON THE ROAD! La la la!

Road Trip!

Hubby and I decided to relive our days of road tripping to Kota Kinabalu from Miri this coming Gawai. We'll have a week off from work then, before Hubby flies off for a 5-week course in the Netherlands (boo-hoo!!).

In about 2 weeks, we will be off, this time in a more comfortable ride. The previous two trips we drove my humble little mini car Kelisa. This time, we can take the Vios instead. Yay yay! I am brimming with excitement of what to pack, where to stop and all the quiant towns we will be passing by. It is going to be great... packed meals in the car, the ice box stocked with drinks and stopping by unknown little food shops. Brilliant ! I cannot wait!

Back Home!

I spoke too soon in the last entry. Now, as I lie in bed typing this, I AM feeling tired. I have spent almost the whole of today travelling back from KL. Even though it is just a 2 hours and 15 minutes' flight from KL to Miri, my trip started at 11.30am today to KL Sentral, then 28 minutes to KLIA, after which I spent some time waiting for my flight at 2pm. Then, it got delayed to 2.40pm, I was in the air for 90 minutes to Kuching, in transit for 40 minutes, delayed again and finally landed in Miri at 5.40pm. Disembarking, walking out the gate, taxi ride home blah blah blah.... finally closed the door at home behind me at 6.35pm !! And that, in Miri was almost dark.

I cannot believe I have been doing this almost weekly for 5 years...

Travels in Europe

I am reading this book again because it made me laugh out loud when I read it 2 years ago. It might even help me with the current planning of our Europe trip next year.

PRAGUE/VIENNA versus PARIS

Hmm the more I read about my options on the web, the farther I am getting away from Paris. Do I REEEEALLYY have to see the Louvre ?

Paris or Prague ?

Hubby and I are planning for a holiday next year - Paris or Prague. He will be in the Netherlands for a course for work, afterwhich I plan to join him there and begin our mini Europe holiday. I am so excited!

But hmmm... Paris or Prague ... ? Anyone ?