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.