I was browsing for air tickets in mid-November 2022 and ended up buying return ticket to Tawau. It usually costs a lot to fly all the way there so I was chuffed when I managed to bag the ticket for less than RM480. The only ‘drawback’ was the early departure out of KUL of 07:30. It took me a while but I managed to get my nephew and niece and dad’s caregiver to help out in the end. Alhamdulillah.
My niece kindly agreed to send me to KL Sentral in the early morning of Sunday, 5 February 2023. I went to bed early the night before but sleep eluded me. I was already up at 03:45 and after a quick shower, we left. I bought bus ticket to KLIA and we arrived at 05:55. I went in immediately and headed for the lounge (I upgraded myself in mid-January) to perform prayers and then have some food.
I rushed to the gate and was the last to board (there were people ahead of me still boarding). I had my book with me and read it during the flight. We were given earphones to tune in to inflight entertainment (different earphones for iOS and Android) and we needed to use our own devices to access the inflight entertainment.
We landed at around 10:20 and after the immigration process, I browsed my options. I decided to take Grab to my hotel and the driver was already at the airport so I didn’t have long to wait. There were fruit sellers along the road and the fruits sold included durians! Not long after leaving the airport, we came upon a roadblock. I guess it was set up to weed out illegal immigrants.
We continued on and reached town centre after about 25 minutes. There was a Sunday market so there was heavy traffic leading to City Garden Hotel. We finally reached the hotel just after 11:00 and I was relieved and thankful that I managed to check in immediately. A RM50 refundable cash deposit was required at check-in. After a brief rest, I ventured out to check out the Sunday market (it would last until around 14:00). It was getting very hot, so hot that my bucket hat wasn’t sufficient. Alhamdulillah, I had the presence of mind to pack my small brolly and it helped somewhat to ward off the fierce Tawau sun. I noticed some van buses in front of Grace Plaza and found that one could ride in it to the airport and Semporna (fare cost RM25 and RM20 respectively even though Sempurna is much further). I returned to my room just after 14:00 to perform prayers and rest.
I went out again after 17:00 and seeing some smoke, headed there. There was an evening ‘open air food court’ near Jalan Persisiran and trust me, you won’t starve in Tawau! I continued on to the Tawau signboard (the name of town spelt wrongly in Jawi as Ta Wau instead of Ta Alif Wau Alif Wau or ﺗﺎواو). There were two people dressed up as Mickey Mouse and Pokemon and you can take photos with them and donate too. Ingenious way of earning money.
I walked from one end of Sabindo beach to the other end. There were anglers, people on rented bikes, there were people selling fruits and water, there were the visitors all out to enjoy the evening walk, and there were also some homeless people there (I suspect they were foreigners). The traffic on the road by the waterfront was also heavy. I then walked across the road to Masjid Al Khauthar before walking to the State Library, Tawau. The latter was a somewhat odd-looking building.
I had dinner at a restaurant diagonally across the street from my hotel. The moon was beautiful that night.
On Monday morning, I left the hotel and walked to Tanjung Market. The market sells everything from pots and pans to spices to Sabahan snacks, with sections for vegetables, fruits, poultry, fresh seafood, eggs and coffee on the ground floor. Dried seafood can be found on the first floor, and clothes and souvenirs can be found on the second floor. I spent an hour there.
I then walked to a pearl shop and spent about twenty minutes browsing but left empty-handed. I had spotted a beauty centre across the street and headed there. I told the girl at the counter that I wanted to do blood cupping and opted for ten cups (with two complimentary cups). Despite doing it when I went to Bintulu in June 2022, I still had a lot of ‘bad blood’ ;’(
After that, I went to find Mee Tauhu. I had seen a few restaurants advertising this on the way to the hotel the day before. I didn’t do any research and was expecting a bowl of noodles in clear soup with tofu in it. Well, I couldn’t be more wrong! After lunch, I headed back to Tanjung Market to buy some anchovies and coffee before returning to my room to perform prayers and rest.
I ventured out after 16:00 and braved the intense Tawau afternoon sun. It was insanely hot and bright. I wanted to find Pasar Gantung but it must’ve relocated and even after asking a couple of local women, I wasn’t satisfied. I returned to the open air food court, walked a bit along the waterfront but decided not to walk all the way along the waterfront. I must’ve been bitten by sandflies the evening before and was starting to get itches. I stopped at a small market and had some pandan coconut drink and beef balls. Dinner was had at another restaurant diagonally across the street from my hotel. It was better than the previous night’s dinner but my dining pleasure was interrupted by an annoying hovering fly. I didn’t sight the moon this evening – it was probably hiding behind the buildings.
On Tuesday morning, I left early and headed for the market again to buy some amplang. I then went to find breakfast and finally had a bowl of Makassar chicken soto. I then returned to my room, finished packing and checked out. After getting back my deposit, I walked to Grace Plaza for the van to the airport. We left after 15 minutes (after there were seven passengers). The driver stopped for petrol and we were stopped at a roadblock and one passenger was told to get down when he confessed he left his MyKad behind.
I didn’t remember there being a junction to the airport. Well, there is and it’s another three km from the junction to the airport. We reached the airport at 10:20 and after getting my boarding pass, I immediately went through security check and immigration.
