What kind of place is Sabah? Is it really comfortable? Come and feel it for yourself.

Text & Photos /Peri

What kind of place is Sabah? What should we do next? As time passed in Sabah, my brother and I often asked each other this. Though we never reached a definite conclusion, we always ended up saying, “I don’t know? But it’s really comfortable~” Cozy and relaxed — isn’t that enough?

Since AirAsia had a special deal, let’s go to Sabah for a bit of adventure. In the middle of the night, I got an email newsletter — a flight + accommodation (backpacker inn) package for less than NT$6,000 for three nights?! Man, I couldn’t sleep if I didn’t grab this deal. I quickly swiped my card and called my brother to ask if he was in. Our Mid-Autumn trip was set just like that. *Later I found out that AirAsia’s promotional round-trip flights for NT$5,000–6,000 are actually pretty common — no crazy steal after all haha.

So, what should we do in Sabah? Actually, I had no idea at all. And it’s only a three-night, four-day trip like a fleeting dream anyway — so let’s just go with the flow and figure it out when we get there. The main point is my brother has never been abroad, so I seized the chance to take him out for some sightseeing. After that, I’ll just let him go explore on his own Up (Hey, when I want to travel someday, don’t you dare tag along as dead weight haha!). They say everything is difficult at the beginning, but the more you do it, the easier it gets — Up.

But. The most frequent character to appear on the stage of life is unexpectedness — totally unsurprisingly. Just as departure was near, an unavoidable meeting popped up. With no choice, I had to compromise for the sake of life, grit my teeth, change the tickets, and compress the holiday into a fleeting 36 hours (excluding flight time). At this point, all I could do was console myself that the most unsurprising thing in life is surprise. Though I was a bit worried about how my brother would manage going alone? Going abroad for the first time completely solo was a bit thrilling :P But hey, international roaming was on, so if anything happened, he could call — no news is good news Up. Courage is something that’s honed by unexpected events.

In a rush. Departing from Yilan, I took a bus to the airport, and midway, because the Da You Bus took a wrong turn and went around Taipei Guest House, I almost missed the check-in cutoff and broke into a cold sweat. When the outline of Borneo started to come into view, my first impression of Sabah — to be honest — wasn’t much. Maybe it was because it had just rained and everything looked grey ohe? Or maybe because the plane was landing in drizzle? It was all a bit of a blur. After disembarking, when I checked in at the hostel counter, I deeply felt I had arrived in a far, far, far away kingdom.

Finally saw my brother (he was sleeping when I opened the door). Since we last met (which was just last week), reuniting in a distant foreign land. Thinking about it. After parting, we promised to meet in a foreign country thousands of miles away — that’s also a kind of romance, existing in the process of keeping a promise. And the late-arriving sister, to show apology, sincerely took a cool-looking photo of my brother :P
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Let’s go for a walk around town, even if there’s no particular destination. How about this? When you don’t know what to do, filling your stomach first before making plans is never wrong.
The North Borneo Cabin where we stayed is right on bustling Jalan Gaya*, making it convenient for food, shopping, or heading out to sea.
Since my brother arrived a day earlier, he’s technically the Sabah veteran, so of course, I let him lead the way Up.
*My rice cake translator told me: Jalan = Street, Gaya = Style, so Jalan Gaya is a street full of charm.

The first stop was Fu Yuan Tea House. I casually picked up fried noodles, sausages, little zongzi-style snacks, and the most amazing shumai. Packed with fillings, three pieces for just 3–4 RM (NT$30–40)! Now I totally understand why there’s such a constant stream of people. (Ah, I actually visited three times myself :P)

After a meal at the packed Fu Yuan Tea House around 4pm, we managed to grab a seat at Yoke Kee Tea House just as it opened — go any later and seats are impossible to find. We simply ordered some bak kut teh (with ribs and tofu) and blanched greens, and the portion of greens was surprisingly huge. Sipping the jet-black bak kut teh, indeed, the best street food is the most authentic. Even though we ate at two places, since we were sharing, it didn’t end up being too much.
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Sabah is a city by the sea. Leaving Jalan Gaya and walking about five minutes, you can see the ocean. Though it wasn’t quite what I imagined. It’s a port. No beach. Watching the sunset over the South China Sea, I felt a bit disappointed.

While strolling at the harbor park, someone was selling brochures for island-hopping and water activity tours. After some haggling, we settled on a Palau Sapi & Palau M twin-island boat ticket for two people at 140 RM (~NT$1,400). It wasn’t the cheapest, and the next day on board they added a charge of 30 RM for two sets of snorkeling gear, but that’s another story — the deal was made.

Though it was still light out, it was already past 5pm. Vendors started getting busy, preparing for the upcoming seafood feast. For a moment, I felt like I’d been transported back to Su’ao Fishing Port.

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Being in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, Muslim women are naturally everywhere. Unlike in the UAE where everyone wears black, in Malaysia, tudungs (headscarves) come in a variety of colorful styles. Maybe it’s the warmth of the islanders in the south.

As someone who loves to imitate others, I really wanted one too — (this album records my history of pretending to be a local in various countries :P). I dragged my brother along to shop, picked out a headscarf, then got distracted by the dazzling array of pins… After all, it’s not easy to find cute pins in Taiwan. Later my brother asked me why I bought it? I won’t need it later? Well, someday if a friend goes to a Muslim gathering, they can borrow it from me. What? There won’t be such a party? Oh come on, I just want to build a wardrobe for traveling the world.
But the way Malaysian headscarves are worn requires tucking all your hair in and securing your chin too — your face ends up looking really round… Not wanting to face the fact that my face is big, I just posted a “holding-back” photo Up :P (Oh come on, I know my big face isn’t anyone’s fault XD)

*A Malaysian friend said, if you’re not Muslim, you shouldn’t wear a headscarf.
ISIS seems to be quite rampant there and kidnaps tourists, please refer to (ref).

Next up, a joyful holiday market and the blue, blue, blue, blue sea.
See you next time Up.
 

Ⅱ Fleeting Moments

A female engineering student who thought she’d grow up to study Chinese.
Talks too fast, writes too slowly; sounds like a comedian when she speaks, pretends to be artsy when she writes.
Loves to pack her bags and go for walks alone, drawing courage from the corners of the world, encountering the stars in travelers’ eyes.
Firmly believes that no plan is the best plan — beautiful encounters can’t be calculated.
Then, just keep walking straight ahead.
Peri