WESTON WETLAND

During a recent inspection tour to Lumadan palm oil mill and plantation near Beaufort, My team and I took the opportunity to visit the nearby town of Weston. Weston is a very small town, about 100 kms south of Kota Kinabalu. It is located along the "Pan Borneo highway". I have not been to Weston for almost 45 years. It was amazing to see that the row of old shops and part of the 100+ years old jetty were still standing.

The row of pre-war old wooden shops of Weston

Part of the remain of the 100+ years old jetty with water village in the back ground. The Weston Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary lodge.

Restaurant area: good "Feng Shui" (water & wind}

The host was very kind and provided us with a delicious a buffet lunchCruise along the Weston wetland river in search of wildlife Egrets, a common sight of the wetland. A Proboscis male monkey relaxing on a mangrove tree.This crocodile was spotted lying motionless beneath the mangrove tree - we were told that it was waiting for "lunch"!

Mangrove fruits of the Weston wetland.






A close-up of the fruit





Members of the inspection team - satisfied with the short tour.

The best time to go for the cruise is in late afternoon. Proboscis and other species of monkeys, like the long tail macaques and silver leaf can be easily spotted. If you are lucky, you could witness a crocodile attacking its prey.

At dusk, watch hundreds of flying foxes(fruit bats) leaving the mangrove area. Enjoy a good buffet dinner at the Proboscis monkey sanctuary lodge before leaving for home. If the weather permits, you could watch a fascinating "fire flies show" when they light up the mangrove trees just like christmas time

SABAH AGRICULTURE PARK - A colourful paradise of Borneo Flora.

Sabah Agriculture Park is is a colourful paradise of flora. This park is in Tenom, a small town located in the Interior division of Sabah on the island of Borneo. It is approx., 176km from Kota Kinabalu - about 2 and a half hour drive through scenic Borneo countryside.

It will be an exotic experience to visit this park as vistors will have the chance to witness some of the rarest Borneon plants/flowers which are only found in Borneo Island.

A Borneo jungle wild fruit treeThe giant yamExplore this Native orchid Centre to discover the numberous species of the Borneo orchids.

There is a good variety of orchids and plants














Visiting Sabah Agriculture park can be a day trip affair or you can choose put up a night in Tenom Perkasa hotel. This 3 star hotel is situated high on a hill over looking the town and the whole Tenom valley.

TEMPTING DELICACIES - THE FILIPINO CUISINE

Filipino food is a unique mixture of eastern and western cuisine. The Filipino cuisine is a fascinating blend of Malay, Spanish and Chinese cultures. The 'national' dishes of the Philippines include adobo, lumpia, sinigang, bistek and lechon. I went through the food court of the SM city Cebu and Ayala Center to sample the Filipino delicacies while my family was busy shopping.

Majority of the traditional Filipino cuisine can be found in the Food Court
"Lechon"

Filipino style Brinjal omelets

BBQ delights

Giant squids and fish

Seafood

Stewed pork and eggs

"JOLLIBEE" a franchise of the Philippines can be found everywhere in the city and most of them are opened 24 hours!
Walking out of the food court I found this "eye catching" cake shop.

I put on 2 kilos after 3 days of "sampling food" in Cebu city.

CEBU CITY

The city of Cebu is the capitol of Cebu island. The city lies on the eastern shore of the island. According to the official 2007 census, it has a population of 798,809 people. The whole of Cebu island which includes the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Talisay, Naga has a total population of more than 2 million people.

The Mactan International Airport, located in Lapu-Lapu City is about 25-40 minute drive away from Cebu city. Cebu city is connected to Mactan Island by the two bridges, one of them is the Marcelo Fernan Bridge (Mactan II Bridge)

We selected Crown Regency Hotel and Towers for our three nights stay as recommended by Lucy, a travel consultant with a Kota Kinabalu based travel agent. This 341 rooms hotel is located at the center of Cebu city, in close proximity to the major shopping complexes and recreation. We were allocated a Corner Suite on the 11th floor. Bed room 1

Bed room 2

Cebu city, just like any other city in the Philippines, the Jeepney is one of the most common means of transport. It was earlier used as transport just after the war. The Filipinos later converted the "troop carriers" left behind by the American, for passenger use. The design was modified over the years and now the modern Jeepney(s) are a common sight on the road. The Jeepney ride could be fun but not for us. We preferred to use taxi with air-con and "good driver".
One of the popular open-air food stall for the locals.

A fruit stall just like one in Kota KinabaluDown Town Cebu city where all the imitation goods, like DVD, VCD, watches and PC soft wares could be purchased along the side of the streets.

Freshly cut mangoes on a busy street.We spent most our time visiting shopping malls and sampling the local delicacies. Shopping was great. We covered all the three major shopping malls, the SM City Cebu, Ayala Center Cebu and Cebu Down Town. SM City Cebu is the largest shopping mall. It has a land area of 13.8 hectares and a gross floor area of 268,611 m² or 2,891,305 sq ft. According to their statistics, about 100,000 people patronise the mall on weekdays and 140,000 to 150,000 on weekends or National holiday.

Alaya Center Cebu is a also a large shopping mall. On an average day, about 85,000 people visit this mall on weekdays and 135,000 on weekends or National HolidayWe selected this Filipino Native restaurant for our dinner on the last day

It was a good choice. We enjoyed the Native gourmet of the Filipinos

After the dinner, my wife and daughter posed for a picture to remember this particular restaurant

Before we leave for the airport,I made sure we had a good lunch before boarding the 5 star Airlines The Check-in area at Mactan International A PR A340 was landing while our aircraft was waiting to enter the Runway Leaving Mactan International

Over the Sulu sea.
Final "approach" Home sweet home - Kota Kinabalu International

We had a good time in Cebu City. My shopping was only confined to these "Snacks" while my family bought a good collection of clothes and shoes.