Okay, one last check in from Borneo. It’s Friday early morning, I’m still in the city of Tawau and I got couple more hours before I leave for the airport. Got the new Keecap album in the headphones (fire), just finished a cup of coffee blacker than my soul, feeling good in this motherfucker. These past 5 days have been quite eventful so let’s get to them.
I’ve been staying in a hotel called Check Inn Tawau which is situated right in the city center. This has made many things quite convenient. I have found some restaurants happy to accommodate my veganism, I found a scooter rental place about 100 meters away, there’s a supermarket across the street… I’ve been working this week but due to time difference, my classes wouldn’t normally start until about 2pm. Which gave me quite some time to explore shit. Tuesday morning, I did rent a scooter and started my adventures. Sea around here is brown and not appealing at all so I steered my attention inland. I found this random forest waterfall on maps about 30km from the city and I took it there. That was definitely the toughest mission I’ve gotten on. The last 8km of it was pure gravel, stones and puddles. To the point I contemplated turning it around couple of times. The scooter did not like it one bit. I made it tho and it was bizarre as fuck. A couple of centuries back, it probably was a tourist spot. There was a locked gate (which I climbed over), decorations and statues were covered by plants and dirt, and there was also something that looked like an abandoned accommodation facility with bunk beds from a horror movie. Not a single soul around. Checked it out, snapped some pics and wrapped it up. On the way back, I found a vegetarian restaurant Zheng Teck which became my lunch spot for the following 3 days. Since it’s located about 6km away from my hotel, the scooter came pretty handy. Nice people, delicious food, happy days.
On Wednesday, I woke up early (as I always do) and took it to Tawau Hills park. Now, that one is official. Got there after 7am but since they open at 8, I had to wait a bit. Walked around, watched some monkeys being monkeys and eventually got in. You pay 20 MYR, you get a map and you get to go. They also offer accommodation and if you have enough time and energy, you can do a pretty challenging hike to Mt Magdalena about 17km away and climb it up. I didn’t have that much time plus my only shoes here (apart from slippers) are Chucks which kinda disqualifies me from shit like that. I walked at least 10km in that park tho. Went to check out the tallest tropical tree in the world (88 meters), enjoyed fresh breeze by the river, saw a beautiful waterfall – happy I got to do that. And again, almost no people. You can tell that tourism here really focuses mostly on sea activities and island hopping. Oh, and I’ve seen maybe like 4 white people throughout the week. Almost none. I’ve also been photographed with the scooter rental people, with people in restaurants, parks, markets… I’m sure I’m all over local social media at this point. Anyways, after my little hike, I took back for some veggie lunch and then dived into work.
Thursday, I hopped on my scooter once more and went to the Lion Hill about 50km away. Pretty short but quite challenging climb up but the views were totally worth it. I still had some time left after so I took it to a place called Tagal Kampung Kijang. Yet again, everywhere it was just me – no other travelers. When I arrived there, a woman showed up, I paid 2 MYR, got a ticket, she opened up the gate and I drove down to the river. In a minute, her, a kid and another guy followed me. The guy was documenting it the whole time like I was fucking Justin Bieber or some shit. They were nice tho. I was told that I was the first non-Malay person they’d ever seen there – that’s why they were a bit baffled. Found myself a little gem. The water was crystal clear and there were so much fish in it. We fed them, we chatted and then I took it (you guessed it) to my little veggie place.
What else… Right next to my hotel, there’s a restaurant where I often go to get a coconut or some quick food as they normally have different types of veggies and tempeh. I found another spot not too far owned by this Indian dude with good English who is happy to arrange stuff off the menu and everything I’ve had here was delicious. Work has been going well but mentally I’m still halfway on the Pom Pom Island. Slowly touching down tho.
I’m trying to dose news very cautiously. Have caught up on The Daily Show and some Josh but that’s about that. I had to return the scooter yesterday as they don’t operate of Fridays so I’ll spend my time before the flight in the area. Happy I got to see this town, happy I got to do some cool shit, happy I got to spend some time by myself. I hope you guys are well, too! Keep it light, keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!
Highlights:
- Tawau Hills Park.
- Zheng Teck Vegetarian Restaurant.
- Lion Hill.
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