Saw this old tool of the trade at the Frankincense Cafe and it brought back some memories ...

A basket full of goodness. A man carries a load of rice and yam wrapped in leaves or linopot to be served at the Tamparuli Kaamatan fest.

The ''real'' Tamparuli noodles in Tamparuli. Yumz is the word!

Seafood haven

As their land where the South China Sea and Sulu Sea converge at its northern tip, Sabah fishermen have always returned home with bountiful harvests.
It is no wonder that the state has developed a reputation as a seafood mecca.
And it's easy to see why. Freshly landed fish prawns, fish, crabs and all manner of shellfish are not only in the realm of seafood restaurants but can be found grilled and ready to serve in open air markets.
But be prepared to dig deep. The grilled tiger prawns on display at this stall in the Kota Kinabalu market were going for RM20 each.
As the saying goes, good things don't come cheap...

A tale of two bridges

Tamparuli is like one of the many smaller towns around Sabah. It started as a small settlement where traders and indigenous farmers meet regularly at the tamu to barter trade goods. A township evolved as shops and markets were built in the area.
It is also the last town travellers heading up to the Kundasang highlands or to Kiulu, now known as one of the white water rafting sites in Sabah.
Coming back to the bridges. Other Sabah bloggers have written about these structures, among the most informative is this piece by Ben Godomon.
This is my take on the low lying bridge. I was talking to an Englishman who had worked in Sabah many years ago. He was talking about the low lying bridge and said "only an Irishman could design something like that."
I asked him why he said that and his reply was that only a person of Irish descent would design a bridge that was impassable after a heavy downpour due to floods.
It was interesting to see the disdain some Englishmen have for their Irish counterparts reaching a small town in Borneo

Interesting reading.

This is for those who always felt that Malaysians are finding themselves between the devil and deep blue sea.

A hazy period.

The dense primary rainforest at Gaya island off Kota Kinabaluis shrouded in a haze that enveloped the state capital.
Air quality and visibility dropped as a burning smell permeated throughout the city.
The haze is said to be due to open burning as part the opening of large tracts of land in Borneo.