Borneo Family Holiday - Rediscovering Sabah on a 2 weeks road trip. (Part 1 of 4)

(Written by: Itisha Ismail)

Part 1 of 4:

Date: Saturday 18 July 2020 to Sunday 2 Aug 2020

Timing: This was our first long getaway/staycation during the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) in Malaysia. The international borders are still closed up to 31 Dec 2020.

Planning/Itinerary: None to be honest. It was the type of travel the Swiss refers to as “fahrt ins blaue”. Which means “Mystery tour/trip”.  We had no room reservations. In fact, we did not even know where we were going to make our stop on the first day.

Participants and duties:

Daddy: Main road navigator and photographer
Mummy: Co-pilot; occasional map reader (when she is not car sick)
Olivia: Time and logistics coordinator/reminder “How many minutes till we reach the next holiday place?”
Emelyn: Constant music requester – favorite songs on repeat mode during the 2 weeks travel were “the Anna and Elsa song” from Frozen. “Do you want to build a snowman…….” ( I could already memorize the lyrics).

 

Number of luggage upon departure:

• 2 lightly filled waterproof hand luggage;
• 1 waterproof backpack for electronic goods;
• 1 small sized igloo for milk and soft drinks
• 1 two litters drinking bottle.

Number of luggage upon return to Lahad Datu:

• 1 huge luggage full of sweet #memorableadventures and lessons.
• 2 super snugly filled waterproof hand luggage thanks to my splurge on kids clothes and books in Kota Kinabalu. Thank you Odang Ismail for sponsoring the girls’ clothing.
• 1 waterproof backpack for electronic goods;
• 1 small sized igloo for milk, softdrinks and new addition - chocolates.
• 1 two litters drinking bottle.
• 1 green bag filled with snacks, rambutan, avocado cheese (newly discovered), mangosteen and dried mushrooms from Nabalu market.
• 1 green bag filled with bottles of different type of sambals bought along the roadside in Panampang and some from D’Villa Borneo in Kundasang.
• 1 green bag filled with large sized hammocks.

Note: Mission to search and purchase a few ceramic garden pots and sweet basil seedlings aborted due to “fatigue”! :P

 

Day 1: Saturday 18 July 2020 – driving to West Sabah from Lahad Datu

It felt like forever since we last went on holidays, but it was just 2 weeks ago when we went for a short weekend getaway to Tawau Hills Park. All of us were excited – us adults included. In fact, I was pretty organized that I managed and completed packing our luggage shortly before dinner the night before our journey

That early morning when we departed our home in Lahad Datu we did not know specifically where we would go. We just knew that we were going to West Sabah. A quick stop at a coffee shop just before the Bukit Piton junction, over fried nasi goreng kampung for breakfast, we contemplated whether we should make a surprise visit to our friends Wilson and Auther at their D’villa Borneo Guesthouse in Kundasang or Sabah Tea Cottage in Ranau. Considering that members of the family loves the water – river, sea, springs you name it, we decided to put up 2 nights at Sabah Tea Cottage and make our surprise visit to D’Villa at the last league of our travel.

The road was smooth and though we expected a few roadblocks there was only one police inspection that did not cause any bottle necks. It was about 280km from Lahad Datu to Ranau and expected travel time was around 4 hours and a half. As we were on cruising mode it took us much longer than that. During the ride we passed a few bridges and indulged our sights to the lovely landscape of the untamed rivers. Olivia who is currently learning Mandarin pointed out the “Xiao he” (small river) and “Da He” (big river). We did not cross the river but moved alongside a long stretch of Sungai Labuk on the way from Telupid to Ranau.

Upon reaching Ranau there were more cars on the road. As it was a Saturday, I supposed everyone is happy to be out and play! As we were about to enter Sabah Tea Garden and just before the bridge, I saw that families built fire for their bbq picnic just next to the river. The water was crystal clear with gentle flow over the brown shaded pebbles. This would definitely be a great spot for our family to hang out the day after.

 

………………..CUT !!!!!..................

 

Tuesday 27 Oct 2020 (the above was what I typed during our 2 weeks holidays and never really got a chance to finish it. I revisited this write up only today)

It’s been more than 3 months since we went on the family roadtrip to rediscover West Sabah in mid July 2020. Back then, we were under RMCO – Recovery Movement Control Order. It was the first breath of freedom after months of being cooped up at home. The sheer joy of traveling, dining out and being able to unwind with 4 pax in one car was much needed.  Like seriously it made us appreciate the small things in life even more.

Before we embarked on the 2 weeks roadtrip we went for weekend getaway to Tawau Hills Park. After rediscovering West Sabah, we were back in Lahad Datu and went to Tabin Wildlife Resort for 3D2N and shortly after we are once again back to square one with another partial lockdown from 28 Sept 2020 to 9 Nov 2020.  I believe in Lahad Datu we moved from Targeted Enhanced Movement Control Order (TEMCO) to Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) in Sabah. You can read more on the different types of Malaysian movement control order. For me personally it was keeping up with the different movement controls. There’s always the uncertainty on what we could and could not do. What’s clear is that we need to restrict our movements. Thus far, we have been staying at home. One of us will take turns once in 2 weeks to top up on grocery. Interstate traveling is obviously prohibited. No dining in, just take away permitted. Initially most shops were closed in the first 2 weeks but now most are already open.

Anyways, I know I can be too long lingered with my descriptions. I want to share in depth details but this has also been one of the main factors why some of my write up are left on back burner!!! Anyways, for this blog, I would shift the content with less words and more photos approach. Hope you find this entertaining if not informative :P

 

………………..Continue !!!!!..................

 

Day 1 to Day 5 Sabah Tea Cottage (4 nights)

Saturday 18 July 2020 to Wednesday 22 July 2020

We initially intended to stay at Sabah Tea Cottage for 2 nights and then proceed to Hot Poring Springs for 2 nights. Further down we will share why we decided to prolong our stay at Sabah Tea Garden instead. I know some friends from Kota Kinabalu would ask “what did you do for four nights in Sabah Tea?”

Sabah Tea Garden, located 692m above sea level area was established since 1978 (yea the year I was born! That makes Sabah Tea and myself about 40-ish years old). The plantation which spreads across 2480 hectare are 100 percent pesticide free. It is said that to be the only organic tea farm in Borneo. We are not sure if in between the time of our visit to current time if this information is still relevant in case if there are any other tea farms within the island of Borneo that is also practicing organic farming/plantation.

To be honest, Sabah Tea offered a refreshing start. Rejuvenating aura with beautiful landscape of tea plantation, slightly cooler climate, the nearby river (river or seaside are important elements to have for our family holidays), our cottage room was comfortable and had a cute little porch which saw us spending countless hours sipping on our morning coffee afternoon tea and occasionally replying to questions our guests had at our studio apartment in Leukerbad Switzerland.   

The cottage at Sabah Tea Garden was strategically located next to the kids playground equipped with seesaw and different type of swings. The restaurant overlooking Mount Kinabalu silhouette served great food with creative use of the tea leaves. A hanging bridge and a tree house, kept our girls entertained while waiting for food to be ready. That basically sums up why we stayed glued to Sabah Tea for 4 nights!

We arrived Sabah Tea Cottage in the late afternoon and spent our time just to unwind and enjoyed a lazy Saturday. The girls enjoyed trying from one swing to the other. During the Recovery Movement Control Order, we were notified that the restaurant at Sabah Tea closes at 5pm with last order at 4:30pm. We were not really in the mood to drive to Ranau town for dinner. So it was early dinner for all of us during our stay there before we retired in the quaint English-like cottage.

 

The Sabah Road trip that took our family to our first stop at Sabah Tea Resort in Ranau.

 

Sabah Tea Garden - Tea plantation as far as the eye can see, a landscape surrounded by rainforests and fringed by the majestic Aki Nabalu-Mount Kinabalu.

 

Nighttime at Sabah Tea Cottage – Simon and I spent many hours at this cute little porch as we sipped on coffee and tea while watching our kids at the playground and of course the beautiful scenery ahead of us.

 

Sunset at Sabah Tea Garden. Staying at the Sabah Tea Cottage gives you the opportunity to witness the beautiful sunrise and sunset.

 

Sabah Tea Garden, our morning walk for English and Malaysian breakfast!

 

Breakfast or dessert at Sabah Tea Resort Restaurant? Delicious warm green tea scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream.

 

Sabah Tea Resort Restaurant’s hot and spicy curry noodle!!!

 

Sabah Tea Garden – a great place for quality family time.

 

Sabah Tea Garden – the kids also enjoyed running around and exploring the tea plantation

 

When nature decided to hang out with Olivia at Sabah Tea Garden.

 

Sabah Tea Garden and its panoramic scenes!

 

 

Sabah Tea Garden – the private little spot for us to swim during our stay there.

 

Sabah Tea Garden – the river just before the entrance was a perfect spot for a swim. But be sure to put on insect repellent. Emelyn was badly bitten by the sandflies as she preferred playing with the rocks instead of going for a dip. We did not realize there were sandflies there until nighttime when the bites were more visible on her legs.

 

Sabah Tea Garden – the river water is rather chai latte looking only because it was raining the night before. It was crystal clear on the day we arrived. Still, the color did not stop us from having fun and quality family time together.

 

Sabah Tea Garden - Back to my roots in batik sarong, one of the oldest costumes in the Malay world. I can definitely understand why the previous generation Malays were always clad in sarongs as part of their daily wear. It is indeed comfy and suitable for our tropical climate.

 

Day 3 and Day 4 Poring Hot Springs, Ranau

Monday 20 July 2020

Our next destination from Sabah Tea Garden was Poring Hot Springs. Poring Hot Springs is one of the popular tourist attractions in Ranau. It is known for its therapeutic elements from Sulphur and minerals enriched water. Visitors generally come to Poring to soak in baths and swim at the outdoor pool. Other sight includes, tropical garden, the butterfly farm, orchid conservation center and trekking to the streams and waterfalls.

We packed our bags and intended to spend 1 night at Poring Hot Spring. We arrived at Poring around 12:30pm and got all the explanation from the friendly team at Sutera Sanctuary Lodges. By the time we were about to check in, it was almost around 1pm. We were told that the public hot bath area is closed during the Recovery MCO and that the private rooms hot pool would close at 1:30pm. Seeing that we potentially only have half an hour at the bath and that the park closes at 3pm, we would not be able to engage in any activities. As such we proceeded back to Sabah Tea Garden.
 

Tuesday 21 July 2020 Poring Hot Springs, Ranau : Second attempt

We proceeded to Poring Hot Springs for a day visit. Arrived at around 10am. I shall not go into detail but my recommendations is to arrive at the gate by 8am if you intend to do the following:

a)     go for a relaxing and a decent 2 hours soak at the private hot bath rooms. We managed to do this. But please note that the private rooms for the hot bath may be fully occupied upon your arrival. No reservations accepted, which means you would need to wait at the counter till a room becomes available. 

b)    do the Poring Canopy Walkway which is 157.8m long and 41m high at ease and without feeling the rush to reach the entrance gate of the canopy walk. We arrived the gate at 1:40pm and we only had 20 minutes to trek up and downhill to reach the canopy walk and return to the main gate before 2pm!!!!   It felt as if we were racing for amazing race! No time to stop and appreciate the scenery!

During the time of our visit to Poring Hot Springs that was during the Recovery MCO. The park permits only 100 pax in a day. Poring Hot Springs operating hours at that point was from 8am to 3pm. But last entry for most activities ends at 1pm (for the hot bath- private rooms) and 1:30pm (the last entry) for the Poring Canopy Walkway.

Recommendations:  Not too sure what’s the latest policy, so please check/call for information before your visit. 

 

Poring Hot Springs – we made it!