As I did more research to draft out my itenerary, there was this place that I wanted to go badly. The Tip Of Borneo, or the locals called it Tanjung Simpang Mengayau, is the northern tip of Borneo whereby the South China Sea meets with Sulu Seas. It is located in Kudat and is said to have stunning view as one could look out at the vast sea towards the north. If you google pictures for it, you’ll be amazed by it too. However, having said that, I did enquire about the transportation and the thoughts and suggestion / feedback I received from the accommodation staff did not sound pleasing at all.
To get to the said place, there are two modes of land transportations; bus or rented van / taxi. I opted for the latter mode as it’s faster than bus. In order to catch the earliest ride, I woke up at about 6.30am so I could be at the long distance taxi stand by 7am to scout around for good offers. After much discussion, I literally had to pay RM25 for a close to 3.5 hour ride to Kudat. Moreover, the van that I sat in was a Toyota Unser which was shared amongst 7 strangers who were heading towards the same direction. The journey… let’s just say it wasn’t the most comfortable ride I’ve ever been as the road was bumpy… real bumpy.
Upon reaching Kudat, the same driver, who took me there, asked me where I wanted to go to. With offers and bargains exchanged, within minutes, the driver willing to settle at RM60 to take me there and back to Kudat city. I was expecting around that price as it wasn’t as near as I told it would be.
With the un-tarred roads, it took us approximately 30 minutes or so to reach to Tanjung Simpang Mengayau. I was surprised at the road condition. Surrounded by coconut trees and palm oil tress, it did not look like it was heading towards a tourist attraction area. It was so appalling that I would turn back (cancel my plan) if I would to drive there alone.
I was cursing my luck as the weather was pretty bad. Storm was brewing and it looked like it’s going to rain any time soon. To make matter worse, there was not a single soul at that place except for me and the driver. It was kinda spooky experience as I could hear the waves splashing roughly, thunders were roaring and the clouds were dark. Something like a scary scene from a movie, I would say.
So, instead of bringing out my DSLR, I took along my compact camera and walked along the pathway.
It didn’t take long for the rain to pour. Not knowing when it would stop, with heavy heart, I was ready to leave. But the driver was kind enough to wait for a while as he said that the rain tends to leave quite fast. So, we hung out at the cafeteria nearby.
It was about 15 minutes later the rain subsided. Slight drizzle and all, we went back there again. This time, there were a few tourists too. Though the weather wasn’t the best I hoped for, the view / experience was definitely worth the trouble of getting there.
In the middle were the big globe and Malaysia flag.
And behind the globe, there was a map imprinted on it.
At the edge, there was nothing but rocks, sea and cool breeze. I was told that the wind can be really strong at times. And at low tide, one could walk to the end of the rock as it signifies the ‘tip’ of Borneo.
The view looking back from the ‘tip’.
On the left was the clean beautiful beach of Pantai Kalampunian. That was the first time that I saw the beach was unoccupied. That pretty much explained the cleanliness.
It was about 1pm or so that I decided to head back to Kudat city. It was yet another bumpy ride out of that place to the city. While waiting for the van to leave, I took the opportunity to grab my much needed lunch nearby.
They called it Mee Basah. My own interpretation of it was Kudat’s version of Cantonese Fried Mee. With fried noodles, the chicken meat was rubbery and the broth was tasteless and starchy. I ate half of it only. Blergghh…
The streets in Kudat were pretty empty. And all the shops were more or less the same. IIRC, we reached Kota Kinabalu at about 5.30pm. Luckily, I managed to occupy the front seat and so, I managed to take a short nap once in awhile. Not knowing what to eat this time for dinner, I took a stroll again to the Filipino Wet Market.
Seafood was definitely not in my list. This time, I went for snacks instead. First up was the ice kacang. It was kinda tasteless yet heavy on milk in it. Best of all, there were macaroni in it!! -.-“
Then, I tried out the chicken wings. Unlike in peninsular, at RM1.20 per piece, you can literally buy a lot with RM10. Though they looked tasty from the outside, it wasn’t so at all. Though moist, the meat was bland as they didn’t marinate them properly / long enough. But then again, it costs RM1.20 only, so yeah…
My last snack was Martabak. It was literally a fried roti canai with vegetable fillings (consisted of carrots, cabbages and onions) in it. There was no meat in it! I got conned or maybe I assumed wrongly it was the same ‘type’ as Murtabak offered by mamak stalls. I finished 3 / 4 of them and I discarded the rest as it was so oily and no meat in it. No meat, I repeat, no meat! Gahh…
I walked around a lil more and off I went to Warisan Square to grab a drink before I headed back to my ‘crib’.
Chronicles of Sabah Trip 2009 :-
- In Sabah – Day 6
- In Sabah – Day 5
- In Sabah – Day 4 (Part 2)
- In Sabah – Day 4 (Part 1)
- In Sabah – Day 3 (Part 2)
- In Sabah – Day 3 (Part 1)
- In Sabah – Day 2 (Part 3)
- In Sabah – Day 2 (Part 2)
- In Sabah – Day 2 (Part 1)
- In Sabah – Day 1
- In Sabah – Prelude
