The wheels on the bus go round and round and round...

Yvonne and I!

Yvonne has been complaining about not being in my blog anymore so here is a picture of the two of us!

Having forgotten to book my flight from KK to Sandakan, I suffered from a false sense of economy and failed to remember that RM 180 is still only about $60 and well worth it to avoid a seven-hour bus ride. So I got in the taxi to the bus station at 9:30, where I was berated by the driver for not getting up earlier. I told him to shove it (in a very polite manner of course) as it was too late for advice now! I also knew that buses leave for Sandakan so often that they may as well be Bourke Street trams. Getting out of the taxi I had one of the most horrible experiences of the trip. I had the door wrenched out of my hands as ten hawkers tried to sell me tickets, shouting at the top of their lungs 20cm from my face. It was quite a shock since this hasn't happened anywhere else in my whole trip, even the KK ferries the people were at least standing behind counters. Luckily my taxi driver came to help and told them all to buzz off, telling me to go with one particular guy. I didn't care if he got commission as it was only 30 ringgit which is cheaper than I thought it was and the others went away. The bus was air conditioned and very comfortable. We stopped at Ranau (about 3 hours into the journey) for a rest stop at a revolting place. There was not only no paper in the toilet (no worries, I come prepared nowadays) but no water anywhere at all to wash your hands or flush the toilet. You can imagine the mess. I reassessed my need to eat at this point and got a carton of Milo and some pre-packaged fruit cake instead, even then I waited until I was on the bus to eat it.

My fabulous steamboat hosts

Four hours later I arrived, another taxi to the hotel and finally it was over. Nazmi, who we met in Lahad Datu, is in town for a meeting and had left a message at the hotel (my phone won't work) so we organised to meet for dinner. He and his friend arrived at 7:30 and took me to a fabulous steamboat restaurant up on the hill with a view over Sandakan. I was unfamiliar with the steamboat concept; you choose a soup base (the boys chose Tom Yum) and then you go to the buffet and collect all manner of uncooked delicacies like meat and fish balls, vegies, and even whole fish and prawns. You toss it into the soup and cook it, then scoop some out and eat. Repeat until full! I was quietly congratulating my choice to not eat lunch, especially when I discovered Nazmi shares my love of ice-cream and it was also part of the buffet :)

Then I got a great tour of Sandakan. They drove me to Agnes Keith House (which was closed as it was night, but there is a great view), around the waterfront, and to a market where we picked up something for (second) dessert. This stuff was fabulous, and a heart attack waiting to happen. It was a long deep-fried sugar donut cut in half, spread with butter, spread thickly with kaya (coconut egg jam) and then closed up and covered in kaya. Delicacies such as this, and the fact that every drink is drowned in sugar, make you understand why diabetes incidence in Malaysia is skyrocketing. We took it back to my hotel and sat outside with some juice and enjoyed the evening.