Telok Melano - Sematan - Lundu - Kuching

We checked the Internet last night. Sunrise was at 6.30 a.m. ... and we wanted to be in time to watch the sun rising in the horizon. I woke up at 4.00 a.m. and could not go back to sleep. My friends, too, woke up one by one. We were teachers, so we were all used to waking up early ....

We chatted till about 6.00 a.m. .... I went to wash my face and brush my teeth. I had not bothered to bathe. I thought the water would be too cold.

2 single beds in the living area .... 

2 bedrooms

A single bed in the small room on the left, a double bed in the room on the right .... 

A double mattress that I slept on 

By the time I walked to the beach, the sun had risen .... 

The sun hiding in the clouds 

But I loved the colours! 

I asked my friend to help me take a photograph .... our antics were caught on cam by CYP. Heh.

We walked back to eat breakfast .... 

Fried beehoon with cabbage and sausages

Belacan fried rice

I liked the rice more than the noodles .... the rice was stir-fried with pounded anchovies, chillies and belacan and it was so appetising. We also had ... 

Beehive cake 

Steamed fruit cake

Nek called this Kek Buah Pala or nutmeg cake; she said she planted the nutmeg herself and that she had 200 nutmeg trees in her orchard. I couldn't really taste the nutmeg, but I liked the cake.

Kueh Bom filled with grated coconut

Keropok

The keropok was bought at Temajuk, but the rest were all homemade. I had a pretty good appetite that morning. Heh. I helped myself to a lot of rice and noodles.

The new homestay next door

Grass is always greener on the other side ... 

The homestay next door was run by Nek's son and his wife. They were both teachers, teaching in Kuching. That day that we were there, the homestay were also rented out to a group of teachers. 

We did our final packing. Nek presented each of us a souvenir. We said our goodbyes and left. We stopped at the house near the jetty to buy peppercorns. 1 kg of white peppercorn only sold for RM30. I bought 1/2 kg for Mom. 

On the way back to Sematan, our boatman brought us past Pulau Talang-Talang. We needed permission to go to the island ... so we did not dock. We could see turtle hatcheries from afar .... 

Leaving Talang-Talang Island .... 

He also brought us to see coral reefs at one of the islands ..... I peered as hard as I could into the green water, but I could not see anything ... 

Approaching Sematan 

 After saying goodbye to Encik Sarip 

We went to buy buns at this coffee shop called Kwong Sun 廣新 ...

 Butter, red bean paste and coconut buns ... all at RM0.50

I bought 4 pieces each of butter and coconut buns for the folks. We sat down for a cuppa .... 

 Kopi 

SC ordered kolo mee ... 

I had a mouthful and thought it was yummy.

Opposite the coffee shop, we saw a van selling fresh corn .... I bought a bag for RM10. There were 10 pieces inside. Shortly after, we went to collect our cars. We stopped by the market .... 

Pretty decor made from seashells 

Fresh produce

Clams, 8 pieces for RM3.00

Durian flowers 

Deep-fried crabs 

Only RM2.50 per piece

I picked out 2 pieces of crabs to bring home. Later on, I did find the crabs to be fresh. They were not too big, though, so not much meat to eat. I actually thought the crabs were slightly overcooked so that the meat was tough. It would have been nicer if they were steamed instead of deep-fried. 

We also bought some fritters to snack on ... 

Our next destination was Pantai Pugu .... 

This is the latest / newest beach which is opened up to the public

It's a very big beach .... but it was too hot to stroll .... so we merely sat in the shade ... 

We next headed to lunch at Fung Ling Seafood .... 

Tasty belacan made by C 

We snacked on these while waiting for our orders ..... 

The proprietors knew W by name .... he's a local from Lundu and he frequents this restaurant

Very yummy lime juice

We ordered 2 big jugs of this lime juice 

It was sweet, sour, salty - very refreshing. I must have drank at least 3 or 4 glasses of this .... 

Stirfried flower crabs with egg

Only flower crabs were available that day ... the crabs were sweet, but overall, the seasoning for the egg was a tad salty ... nonetheless an enjoyable dish ...

Salted vege soup

I did not care much for the ingredients, but the soup was tasty as it was tangy

Signature tofu

What I liked about this dish was the gravy, which had the aroma and flavour of cooking wine ... yums

Kung Pao Cuttlefish

I did not like the cuttlefish as they were chewy; overcooked, I think. The kung pao sauce also did not have much flavour 

Stir-fried pork with lemongrass

A bit salty, but I liked the flavour of the lemongrass on this dish; this is the signature dish here and you could customise it by having pork belly instead of lean pork 

Stir-fried midin with garlic

Another dish I liked; crunchy vegetables in garlicky sauce ... yum .. 

Our final stop before we left Lundu was the ferry point ... there were many stalls here selling snacks ...

Who could resist these? 

The prices varied from stall to stall .... 

We patronised one stall when the vendor decided to sell us at RM1.20 per pack 

I picked and choose what I liked and ended up buying 7 packets. I picked mostly banana chips .... heh. 

Top - banana chips

Bottom, L - R  - Kuih Tangga and yam chips

I'd never seen Kuih Tangga before ... It was flat and there was a filling of mashed raisins in between the crispy pastry. I tried it when I got home, and wasn't too crazy about it. The banana and yam chips were yum though. 

After our final stop, we drove straight on to Kuching ..... I managed to reach home before 4.00 p.m. It had been a fun short holiday with my colleagues going to no man's land at the Western tip of my home state. 

Kuching-Sematan-Teluk Melano-Tanjung Datu

Tanjung Datu. Huh, where?

My friends started to seriously talk about visiting this place about 3 months ago. They asked if I was interested to go ... but huh? I'd not heard of this place and to tell the truth, I should be ashamed of myself!

Tanjung Datu is the Western tip of the Borneo Island, also known as the Beginning of Borneo. It was represented by Tok Nan in the State Legislative Assembly from 2006 till his death in 2017. The constituency is now helmed by his widow, Datin Patinggi Datuk Amar Jamilah Anu.

We decided on the date of our travel, recruited people, and thereafter, our plans were put in motion by W. He arranged our transportation, chartered our boat, booked our accommodation. He was in constant contact with our boatman, Encik Sarip, from Persatuan Nelayan Kawasan Sematan/Lundu. And based on recommendation from Encik Sarip, he drafted our itinerary. Another colleague, YC, took care of the finances - collecting money, keeping an account and making payments.

This trip, there were 13 of us - all teachers past and present. 10 from my school - of which 2 are retirees. 2 from another school, and G, who is W's son, a 24-year-old lecturer currently teaching at Segi College. We would drive to Sematan in three cars. There were 4 of us in my car - C, M, AL and myself. Our driver was C. She waited for us at school, and we were on our way shortly after 6.15 a.m. 

We headed to MJC to have breakfast .... none of us were familiar with the shops at MJC, and so we stopped randomly at a coffee shop called Chong Hua Cafe. Soon after we arrived, our friends in the other car came to join us ..... 

It was so early and Chong Hua Cafe had just opened. Some stalls were still closed. So choices were pretty limited .... 

Top L - R : Chong Hua Cafe, hot kopi 

Bottom L - R : yam kueh and png kueh to share

The coffee shop tauke was friendly, asked where we were heading to, and sang praises for the yam kueh and png kueh sold at his shop. The kueh for the yam was floury - there was more flour than yam. But I did like the topping which I found to be rather balanced in its flavour - salty, sweet and spicy. I liked the texture and flavour from the chye poh and dried prawns, and the punch from the chillies and also the refreshing taste contributed by spring onions. The png kueh was chewy in and out - the filling was flavoured generously with dried prawns ... but the whole kueh lacked texture. 

Fried Kueh Tiaw 

The fried kueh tiaw was very tasty. I liked the smoky flavour of the noodles. We later found out that the vendor is our former colleague, Mr. L's sister-in-law

From the Foochow stall, we ordered ... 

Fried Bai Guo 

Tasted prominently of red wine and that was it .... 

Fried Zaocai Beehoon

Tasted better than the baiguo, not enough zaocai for my liking .... big portion, though. 

We drove quite leisurely to Sematan after breakfast and arrived after 9.00 a.m. I believe it was my first visit to this small coastal town. 

A row of shops at Sematan  

Sematan jetty

W had already arrived ahead of us. We unloaded our bags at the jetty, while W brought the cars to his friend's house. We would park there for the night as it would be safer. Soon after, we boarded our speedboat for a 45 minutes ride to Telok Melano. The morning sun wasn't too hot but I was still glad that the speedboat had a roof. After putting on our life jackets, we sped off along the beautiful waters. Not many people come out here, and there was a sense of wilderness about the place. I totally enjoyed the ride.

 Approaching Telok Melano

We were thankful for the beautiful weather. We were able to make it in 35 minutes. 

This was the speedboat we used. W was paying the boatman, who was in the pink t-shirt. Looking on was his 13-year-old son, his assistant for this trip. The strong young boy was in-charge of the 7-kg anchor which was at the bow. 

Our chartered boat cost us RM1,200. There was an overnight charge of RM360. So in total, transportation by boat cost RM1560. 

Beautiful beach at Telok Melano; it was a hot and sunny day and the beach was devoid of anyone

Us walking towards the village

Me caught taking a selfie of myself. Heh. (Photo by CYP)

There are many homestays at this village ...

One of the village houses cum homestay cum cafe

Black pepper drying in the sun 

We walked to our homestay. It was a detached double-storey wooden house belonging to a 75-year-old grandmother. We addressed her as Nek. All 13 of us would put up in the first floor. There were 2 rooms, and a large living area and a balcony on the first floor. There were 3 single beds, a double bed and a double mattress distributed across the space, and so some of us would have to be sleeping on the floor. It was very hot, but very quickly, they provided 4 stand fans for our use.

A side view of our homestay (Photo by CYP)

Our homestay cost RM80 per pax, inclusive of 3 meals. When we arrived, we were a bit disappointed because the place looked a bit shabby. But very quickly, each one settled in ... looking for his or her own space in the house to camp for the night. Heh. Our 3 men took the balcony. AL and YC took one of the rooms, MY took another room. We let our 2 friends from the other school take the single beds. SL occupied part of the double mattress on the floor, C, M, MM and myself took the floor space next to the mattress. 

We were glad that there was 4G coverage for all major telecomms network. We were glad for 24-hour electricity. We were glad for clean mountain water to refresh ourselves. We were glad for modern toilets at the back of the house. We refreshed ourselves and got ready for lunch .... 

Fish head curry, anchovy sambal in the saucer, blanched kangkong and tapioca leaves

Cangkuk manis and pumpkin lemak

My platter 

I was still full from breakfast; so I merely ate a little .... 

All the dishes were homecooked by Nek and her daughter, and assisted by 2 more ladies. We did enjoy the simple village fare. Shortly after lunch, we headed to Tanjung Datu National Park, about 10 minutes by boat. 

Lovely beach and waters ...

We landed at the southern part of the national park, and from here, it was a 5-minute walk to the park headquarters ...

Plank walk to park hq

Park entrance fee was RM10 per pax.

Right in front of the park office ....

 Turtle Conservation Project

Tanjung Datu National Park is a natural landing site for sea turtles where turtle eggs are conserved.  

Fenced up to keep the eggs safe from predators - both animals and humans

The hatchery

The beach in front of the hq


The other side of the beach in front of the hq

Saw this boat in the shade ....

We hanged out at the park headquarters while my friends went to make our payments. We weren't interested in swimming in the sea nor sunbathing .... but there were trails to walk from the national park. We were given a map. 

The park map

There were 4 trails. We could trek back to Telok Melano which was 3.7 km up away. No one among us was interested. There was the Belian trail which led into the jungle where the Rafflesia bloomed. We weren't sure whether the flower was blooming at that time. We did not ask as we did not plan to take the trail. The Pasir Antu Laut trail led to the direction of the lighthouse .... but according to the boatman, the lighthouse was inaccessible even at the end of this trail. 

So in the end, we walked the shortest trail, a 20-minute walk to the viewing platform. 

Ascend the blue trail ....

The unfit ones among us were huffing and puffing all the way, even though this trail is relatively easy. Me included. Hehe. At the end of this trail was a viewing platform .... 

View of Tanjung Datu from the platform ....  

We rested at a shade here. We drank our water. We ate some snacks. We took photographs. We chatted away. Going down the trail was fast and easy .... we headed back to the boat .... 

(Photo by CYP)

Buah tanglung, said the boatman. These were inedible fruits. Else they would not be still hanging on the tree. Lol. It made sense.

The boatman brought us to Pasir Antu Laut - the Western-most tip of Borneo, where the lighthouse was. We could catch a glimpse of the lighthouse from the boat ... 

Heading to Pasir Antu Laut ... 

Reaching Pasir Antu Laut

Docking 

Despite its name which literally translated to "Sand Ghost Sea", this small strip of beach was lovely. The water here was so clear and in a beautiful shade of light blue. I also loved the rocks here ..... 

Interesting rock formations (Photo by CYP)

 Boulders rounded from years of erosion (Photo by CYP)


Some lovely vegetation on the beach (Photo by CYP)


Grains of sand along the beach (Photo by G)

Salted fish drying in the sun

I was surprise to see a small campsite here. There was a lady here at the campsite, and those were her salted fish. She told us that she was from Temajuk, that border village of Indonesia. She was here with a group of men. She managed the camp while the men were on maintenance jobs at the lighthouse. She said that they would camp there for a week.

I looked at the trail to the lighthouse. It looked very steep. I climbed about 20 metres up, changed my mind and turned back. I knew my limits. I wouldn't be able to make it. So 7 of us stayed at the beach while 6 made the ascent .... 

Halfway up .... (Photo by CYP)

I was glad that I did not go up because my friends said that it was a difficult trail. They took 30 minutes to ascend. Our friends told us that there were in fact 4 lighthouses up there. 

 2 of the Malaysian lighthouses (Photo by CYP)

The white one was built by the British, but it was no longer working. This was the one that the men were painting.The taller Malaysian lighthouse was also not functioning anymore 

There was another one built by the Dutch ...

 Young G climbing up to the old Dutch lighthouse (Photo by CYP)

There at the platform, they found ....

Inscripted on the floor of the lighthouse (Photo by C)

One foot in Malaysia and another foot in Indonesia ... 

Those old lighthouses were not in use anymore. 

The current lighthouse built by Indonesia (Photo by SC)

My friends paid RM20 to access the lighthouse .... the caretaker asked for it, and so my friends relented.

And this was the one we saw as we were approaching the tip ....

The lighthouse, perched at Mount Batu Datu at 536m

Meanwhile down at the beach ..... 

We snacked on this buns, purportedly the best charcoal-baked buns from Sematan

The buns were chewy, and generously filled with a mixture of grated coconut and chopped peanuts. They weren't too sweet, and made very delicious snacks. Each bun sold for RM0.50. 

While waiting for our friends, some of us visited the lady at her campsite .... there were makeshift beds where she and the men slept. There was a small kitchen where she cooked for the men. She told us that there was a grave behind the campsite ... it was of an unidentified man who drowned in the sea. 

Fresh mountain water next to the camp 

This was their source of drinking water and their shower area .... 

While waiting for our friends, the men had finished their jobs and had descended .... the lady served them hot coffee and deep-fried tapioca. She also offered us food and drinks .... but we declined. Our boatman joined the men, and chatted with them while they played cards to kill time .... 

We bought salted fish from the lady at the campsite - 5 pieces for RM10.00. Heh. We were aunties who could even shop at the most unlikely places. Lol. 

When everyone had gathered, we returned to Telok Melano. We dumped our things at the homestay and went to the beach .. 

Our homestay, view from the front

The police station 

The road led to Temajuk, the Indonesian village. 

Both the locals at Telok Melano and the Indonesians cross the borders daily. Intially, we wanted to visit Temajuk on our second day. We would hire the locals to bring us on their motorcycles. The trip would cost us RM30 per pax. 

However, we were advised against going there by the boatman. Because we were not local to the area, the Indonesian authorities might detain us or ask for money ... and since 10 of us were women, we thought it wasn't safe to go there. 

The small canteen at Telok Melano beach, and a burger stall next to it

Many children and youths were out swimming at this time. We did not swim though. We found Telok Melano to be unappealing, compared to Pasir Antu Laut. We thought we'd watch the sun set .... but then the sun did not set here. Heh. Telok Melano was facing the east. 

We merely hanged around and took some photographs ..... 

 Lovely hues in the sky in the dusk

Some youths playing by the beach

The jetty

As we were heading back to our homestay, a few of us deviated. We strolled along that path to Temajuk ... and after a few hundred metres, we reached the police post. 

The police post

One friendly policeman came out to speak to us and gave us an overview of the surrounding. He said that the turning on the left of the police post led to Temajuk in Indonesia. The border was about 1.5 km away. He also told us that Pan-Borneo was just ahead in 100m. I absentmindedly asked him what's Pan-Borneo and he asked where I was from. Lol. 

The road leading to the construction of the Pan-Borneo Highway

Lol. Of course I knew what Pan-Borneo was. My brain was just not working properly. I asked if it was ok to go see the highway .... 

The Pan-Borneo Highway links Telok Melano to Sematan ....

We did a bit of calculation and thought 1.5 km was not too far away - we could actually make it in less than 20 minutes. So we then asked if it was ok for us to go to the border. The policeman not only assured us it was safe, he volunteered to escort us. He went back to the police post and changed into sports shoes. He also brought his rifle along. We saw the gun and got cold feet actually. Lol. 

It looked dangerous and we felt like we were going to enter enemy territory. But it was too late to back out from our plan. As we were setting off, another of his friends joined us. So the 8 of us walked to the border, escorted by 2 policemen and their rifles. We felt privileged. 

Actually, the guns were protection from wild animals. According to the policemen, there were sometimes wild boars in the vicinity. Plus, 4 days ago, they shot a cobra. Phew! So glad to have guns with us in case! 

We walked past rubber plantations ...

Another police checkpoint along the route ...

It was getting dark .... but we made it ... 

Yay! The border!

Welcome to Indonesia

Down to road to Temajuk ... as far as my eyes could see

We took some photos and hurried back ... we walked very fast because it was getting dark very fast. The policemen were amused. We thanked them profusely when we reached the police post. 

I was hungry so I was glad that dinner was ready by the time we got back. Nek cooked for us .... 

 Curried brinjals


Coconut shoots masak lemak

 Deep-fried fish

 Sambal kedondong

My platter

I loved the deep-fried ikan gelama. I ate 3 pieces. I also liked the appetising sambal kedondong. 

After dinner, we took turns to bathe. I thought I'd find the water too cold .... but luckily the cold was acceptable to me. I felt so refreshed after the cold water bath. At 9 p.m., we turned off the lights as some of my friends were already sleeping. 

Bertandak and bermukun

Bertandak means dancing, while bermukun means recital of pantun, accompanied by the gendang

Nek was singing the pantun and playing the gendang enthusiastically, while neighbours and house guests dance away. We did not know how to appreciate this traditional entertainment ... so none of us went downstairs to watch. Only our 2 men represented us and stood around for a short while ..... 

I tried to sleep on the floor but found my lower back aching .... so I shifted onto the double mattress next to my friend SL. Even then, I could not sleep because it was too early, and the singing was too loud and noisy, and I was feeling hot and uncomfortable .... 

So finally, I went downstairs to join my friend W and CYP. CYP's Agoda account was hacked and there were 2 bookings which weren't made by him ... so we sat around the table to solve the problem. We changed the password to his Agoda account, called the Agoda hotline, called the bank .... later in the night, SC and MY came downstairs to join us .... we chatted till till 1 am before I was ready to turn in.