Thursday, July 21, 2011

Fleeting moments at Kota Kinabalu...

Just returned three days ago, from a few days' rest at Sabah...
Had always been quite attracted to the charms of Kota Kinabalu city...
She is compact enough to discover by just walking around, which is what I like..
Being a coastal city, the breeze comes in thus making the walks quite pleasant...


We normally take Malaysia Airlines for our flights back to Malaysia...
At Kansai International, we caught a glimpse of the cabin crew scurrying away...

For the past few years on our travels, we have been asking for vegetarian meals...
Not just any vegetarian meal, but Hindu Vegetarian, that is...
The main course consisted of grated coconut with okra, curry chick peas, and flagrant rice...


KK, short for Kota Kinabalu, is quite well known for its food...
For example, the seafood Tuaran fried noodles...
I have heard about how good it is and was happy to be able to try it at a supposedly well known shop just behind the Meridien Hotel...
The taste? A little bit greasy, but not too bad...

Also tried the seafood tom yam noodles...
The dish looked very spicy, but it was ok....
The other thing I like to do while at KK is to walk around the market at the waterfront...
When the sun starts to go low, the hawkers set up shop...

Seafood (again) laid out over a net...
Would have liked to try these but dared not take the risk of having to dash to the toilet....

Sitting next to the hawker stalls are the vegetable vendors...
The different types of mushrooms caught my eye...

The mountain of tomatoes... 

Fresh veggies of the leafy kind...
and bitter gourds...
A kid helping out his dad to carry watermelons...

The salt fish market... not surprising as KK is a coastal city...
There are loads of stuff being sold here... 

Such as shark fins... they still sell these in broad daylight?

And sea cucumbers...
Later on, when we went scuba diving, there was not a single sea cucumber to be seen in the dive sites... guess we know by now where they all ended up...
And finally, stole a shot of a worker processing dried shrimps...

16 comments:

  1. Peninsular Malaysia is now very hazy.

    We are being smoked.

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  2. I'm glad you had the chance to walk and explore Kota Kinabalu. The market looks fascinating and it appears to contain just about every type of sea food imaginable. I liked your photos.

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  3. No wonder you've been quiet. You went on a holiday.:)

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  4. What a great series of holiday photos!
    I would like to walk around too in such a place.
    Everything is new for me here, though the only meal I would like to try is that Hindu Vegetarian.

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  5. rainfield61... is that so? Didn't know that as I only transited at KLIA...

    George... yeap, that marketplace is fascinating even for a Malaysian like me... am happy that you like the pictures... these were all taken with just a point and shoot camera...

    lina... and I went away 'quietly'... :)

    Maia... I'd am looking forward to walking again in that place... and the Hindu vegetarian was pretty good, I must add...

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  6. Wow love the Hindu vegetarian meal if got a chance to fly again would go for it. Only MAS or other airlines serve this meal? Wow you have had a great time in the land below the wind. Didnt hike up to Mt Kinabalu?

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  7. Bananazஇ... we will continue to go for the Hindu vegetarian for sure... besides MH, SQ and TG have them too...
    yeap, we enjoyed ourselves at Sabah but we did not climb mt. kinabalu... we are more into the ocean stuff...

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  8. That must have been a nice holiday. I have never been to East Malaysia...looking forward to my first visit in October.Any tips on 'must-see' or 'must do'in KK?
    Rosie

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  9. That must have been a nice holiday. I have never been to East Malaysia...looking forward to my first visit in October.Any tips on 'must-see' or 'must do'in KK?
    Rosie... we enjoyed ourselves very much indeed... I like KK's markets: the Sunday Tamu (market) is a fun place to be... I enjoy browsing the wares at the Philippine market by the seaside... next to it is the fresh produce market which I always go to whenever I am there... food in KK is a joy to me... the noodles especially...

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  10. Anonymous7/28/2011

    The Hindu Vegetarian meal looks quite delicious! And all the seafood and produce you saw...quite exciting! I like being near the water...as I am here in Florida!

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  11. Anonymous7/28/2011

    Love reading your blog. Fyi, it is legal to sell and consumed shark fins in Malaysia. Conservationist discourage it, but I'm not one of them. Looking forward to read more of your blog.

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  12. Theanne... I am hooked on the Hindu Vegetarian meal... I do not get tired of eating it...

    Anonymous... many thanks for dropping by... didn't realize that shark fins are legal in Msia... look forward to welcoming you in the future...

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  13. I was there two years ago and i was impressed. Unfortunately i had no time to visit around it very well because i was there for only two days, but i hope to visit it again very soon. I recommend this place, it is very nice.

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  14. casute de gradina... thanks for dropping by... good to hear that you liked that place... we shall be back again for sure...

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  15. I like the mushroom spread too. I have not seen such heaps of mushroom in the market in Klang valley. The jelly mushroom is difficult to get it fresh in the market... maybe some supermarket. When I stayed in Thailand, they have it at all markets. Miss that. Enjoy your holiday...

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  16. The Seasonal One... I would have loved to buy those mushrooms too... imagine stir-frying them with a little bit of sesame oil... ooh...

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