Thursday 28 February 2013

merakam memori..ke sabah bersama Dr.Sab...bahagian 3.

bismillah


Left Kampung Budaya at about 2pm for our next destination, Kundasang. Drop by at Jesselton jetty point for lunch. Dr. Sab brought me to a restaurant that serves Minang dishes.

 'Wow, this must be something special otherwise you won't bring me here', I whispered to Dr. Sab. 

This is not my first time here but I didn't tell Dr. Sab that this place is nothing alien to me. Actually Hamid, CM's brother-in-law and the group, Ardikal, John who brought Dato Nordin and me to this place. The second time here I brought Hj. Jilis, COO of SLDB. To my surprise Hj. Jilis never knew that there's a Minang restaurant at his backyard. That's not funny because normally outsiders who are food hunters know better than the locals. Every where is the same. I sometimes don't know many good eating havens in KL either but the outsiders do. Hj.Jilis said he'll recommends this place to his peers.

Lots of people are having lunch here. Minang food is to my liking because my other half is of Minang descendant. I was first introduced by my in-laws on all kinds of Minang food, prior to that I don't know much about their authentic dishes like gulai tunjang, gulai jering, dendeng, masak pedas cili api otak lembu, masak lemak cili api keli salai and so forth. It's totally a different world comparatively to Kelantanese dish which is more sweety even in gulai ayam or whatever. Ironically although Kelantanese people consume lots of sweety stuff, not many of them having diabetes may be due to the consumption of  budu as part of their daily dish, hence creates the process of neutralisation.

As usual I let Dr. Sab do all the ordering of food, everything is ok for me except that ulaman is a must have. I added pucuk ubi, jantung pisang, ulam raja and this will go well with a little bit of sambal. I like jering muda as an appetizer. Dr. Sab ordered some ayam kampung goreng, gulai tunjang, gulai nangka, paru2 goreng and dendeng. Wow, looks very yummy....well, who's driving after this .

While waiting for the food to be served, I wonder around the jetty taking some photographs for memory. This is an awesome place. Water is crystal clear despite close by to the mainland. We can even notice lots of small fish happily enjoying their swimming at the edge of restaurant corridor. The afternoon breeze is so calming as if consenting our beautiful lunch. I saw lots of passenger boats, speed boats lining up at the jetty waiting for the turn to ferry tourists for the nearby island snokerling. Lots of beautiful islands in the vicinity, most tourists go for island hopping which is only less than half an hour journey.
  
Sadly inspite of all the beautiful things mentioned, I just can't let my eyes go not to notice few blocks of buildings lining up at the beautiful waterfront. KK is so lucky to be blessed by nature, the beautiful clean beaches/waterfront, the signal hill as the backdrop and the distant islands that completed the whole frame. It's somekind of a beautiful piece of painting in a frame.

To me KK is a heaven for designers to roam with whatever creative pursuits in their mind. Why I said sadly?  Sadly because who ever the building owner or the designer is, I feel very sorry for them not to notice the beautiful nature's gift. Thing has been ignored blindly. Notice the buildings next to Jabatan Kastam, (is it Suria Sabah building?) how on earth the designer has forgotten the beautiful assets which no other city in Malaysia possessed, the wonderful waterfront. 

The frontage should be reversed to take full advantage of the waterfront,  all the activities should have been facing the waterfront not by blocking all the views as in the existing design. We pay more on the views if we check in at any hotels, why? People are willing to spend more on views. Property prices differ accordingly based on views. If plan and design nicely with some provoking thoughts applied on it this whole building can be very enchantingly phenomenal.

Look what effects Laguna Palace in Venice, Italy creates to the whole scene by producing designs that has an impact breathtakingly unforgettable. I notice lots of buildings in KK forego the assimilation, integration and cohesive unity between man made structures and nature's gift. I don't know may be the designers know well why they do that and there must be some reasons behind all these. Well, this is only my opinion and observation. Design is subjective, there's no cook book as to who's right or wrong. But I believe strongly that many will be in my squad.


At last things that we've been waiting for make their presence on our table. Dr. Sab really enjoyed the food very much. All in all it only costs us RM60,  it's fairly reasonable for such food.

Make a call and SMS to Dr. Adrian, my ex-classmate, but no reply. He supposed to take us for a ride to Kundasang on sunday. Since he can't be contacted, I think it's a blessing also to rent a car and have our free and easy journey, do whatever we like, drives at our own whim and fancies. If we follow him I don't think we can put up a night in Kundasang or Ranau because he would like to have a day trip.



We left KK around 3pm heading for the place that I've been longing for a long time. Fill up full tank and Dr. Sab is ever ready to pilot me for my dream destination. Dr. Sab has been to Kundasang while he was on training at BTN Ranau. I think I can put all the trust on him to guide me through the whole journey.

I am very excited about this time's trip. Have heard lots of statements from friends that Kundasang is a heavenly place to set a foot. Mount Kinabalu is one of South East Asia's highest mountain, and has been declared by UNESCO in year 2000 as the World Heritage Site. I've taken some photographs of Mount Kinabalu while on a trip to Kota Belud few months ago. To be at the foot of Mount Kinabalu itself will be an entirely a whole different experience.


















Dr.Sab confidently steering the Myvi with ease without any slight worries on his mind, as if he knows every turns and corners. I'm a bit worried of his heavy lunch. Driving on a hot sunny day can be very sleepy. In order to keep him always on the mood of driving I try my best not to fall asleep. We talk and jokes on over various topics and that makes him and me awake.





to be continued in part 4.....

No comments:

Post a Comment