Tawau local-style

I'll have the mantis shrimp thanks.

Yvonne slept in until about 11am this morning and then we went off for breakfast - roti pisang (banana roti) at one of the local joints. Back to the room to pack (which took a surprisingly long time, even after our laundry party last night) and then we checked out. We had 9 hours to kill before our flight, so we went walking to find a post office (Pos Malaysia). After asking at the Polis we finally made it (go straight, then straight, then straight, then left and it's behind the Mosque) but apparently Pos Malaysia does not have Australia Post's enterprising spirit and does not in fact sell postcards. Nor does anywhere else in Tawau. In fact you can't buy a souvenir saying "Tawau" anywhere except the airport. I might start a business. Then again, given our celebrity status based on the colour of our skin, perhaps I won't. Not too much tourism in Tawau! We spent some time walking, wandering, drinking nice drinks.

Our wonderful hosts Ancu and Lyn

As we were sitting at one cafe I recognised the Kapalai (Pulau Sipadan) logo and remembered that their office was in Tawau. Because Veronica, who runs the business, was so nice to me when I was at Kapalai, I thought I would go and say hello. We talked about where I'd been (and my disappointment with Scuba Junkie!) and she actually organised an airport transfer for us, as she had people that needed to be picked up! She then asked whether we had tried the Malaysian satay (which we hadn't), and said to come back to the office at 5pm. We did, and Ancu and Lyn picked us up, took us to the most delicious satay meal ever. There was chicken, beef and goat satay (the goat was fabulous actually!) as well as two rice dishes, one in banana leaves which I loved. Then we went to their house and met their beautiful children, and they brought us to the airport. It was such a nice evening that we weren't expecting at all.

The flight was late but not too bad, and I talked to an American man who was here working with conservation projects. We got to KK around 10:20, and took a taxi to the backpackers. But by then I wanted a comfy bed so we walked around all the different hotels looking at their rates, and we've ended up at the King Park hotel. It's nice except I forgot to ask for non-smoking so it smells a bit. We'll live. The shower is HOT, like actually hot and not just warm, so we are very happy.