Mabul Island - A colony of Dive Resorts

Our friend Sun Yong introduced readers to Mabul Island in issue 52 some years ago and we felt in favour of spending our next holiday there for a short getaway.

7 ~ 9-1-2012 (Saturday/ Monday)

We took a morning flight from KLIA and reached Tawau, Sabah some two and a half hours later. The taxi we hired took us to a nice and reasonably priced hotel for RM115 per night’s stay as introduced on the internet. The travel agency across the hotel arranged our trip to Mabul without much fuss.

Next morning the coach fetched us from the hotel to Semporna, a trip of one hour covering 115km. Speedboats are easily available to the island which took only 30 minutes a ride.

Mabul, Sipadan, Kapalai and Mataking are islands facing the Celebes Sea and world-famous dive spots. The island of Mabul covers a land space of 200 hectare, it is home to a reef of marine treasures. From the water resorts, it was possible to watch the beauty of marine life. The crystal clear waters beneath made it pretty perfect to gaze at corals, jellyfish and colorful fishes. You can check out another innovative accommodation for the keen diver at SeaVentures Dive Resort which was originally an oil rig recycled into a space living condition for a totally different experience.

Our trip costed RM200/- per person for the to and fro journey from Tawau to Semporna and a lunch at Sipadan Water Village Resort,Mabul Island, but if you have time to discover more of Mabul, then you should try the arrangement of RM698 per pax inclusive of travel arrangements, three meals daily and the lovely accommodation set (4D3N package recommended).

For details, please contact:

Sipadan Water Village Resort Sdn Bhd

Tel:+6089-751777

www.swvresort.com

Speed boat at Semporna jetty.

It took 30 minutes ride to Mabul island.

Arrive after 30 minutes.

"SELAMAT DATANG!" A warm welcome by the staffs of Mabul island.

Welcome to Sipadan Water Village Resort of Pulau Mabul (Mabul Island).

A beautiful scene of Mabul Island.

Deluxe rooms.

There is electricity for usage but no air conditioner.

The former oil rig turned into an innovative accommodation.

Rather rejuvenating looking at Celebes Sea.

Rather nice buffet served.

A deluxe room which can be shared by four persons.

Need a change of scenery, replenish your spirit here.

Luxurious spa pampering for tired souls.

Self dive till 6 p.m only.

It’s so easy to dive in Mabul and everything is well set-up, many tourists stay on for half a-month.

The waters are warm, thriving and filled with amazing marina life.

A healthy population of fishes.

Fishing village on the island.

Fishermen home with their catch. The island’s beautiful resort and the stark contrast of a fishing village still fitted well into a picture.

Can this shack withstand stormy weather?

Village kids love the lollies.

Kerosine container used as a stove, grilled small fishes for lunch, dishes very untidy being laid out everywhere in a lack of water environment.

Gift shop on the island.

Speedboat at the jetty.

Staff bade us goodbye.

LOCATION MAP OF MABUL ISLAND (lower left corner).

Street Food : Bak-Kut-Teh (Part 1) - Y3K Recipes issue no.65 (3/4-2012)

Bak-Kut-Teh Trail in Klang

by Contributor - Irene Chua

Mr Richard Er and wife Catherine Chia visited me in Klang and our conversation centered on the most popular Bak-Kut-Teh eateries in Klang. It can be quite a task to unravel of who’s the best as each individual has his or her own discretion.

Of course we gave the challenge to our Feng Shui Master B. E. Loh who is a foodie at heart. He may not be a Klang resident but over the past 20 to 30 years, he has had been savouring this brew very, very often.

Gastronomically speaking, Klang is hugely famous for seafood and Bak-Kut-Teh. Klangites are generally Hokkiens so the soup is darker in colour and often served with an oily rice. But in Kuala Lumpur, Johor or Singapore, white rice goes well with a light soup and has a more Teochew flavour.

Many people embroiled in the issue of how Bak-Kut-Teh originated. The pioneer could be the old Lee Boon who served a traditional home-town pork soup with fried lard rice. Some coolies (labourers) brought in some herbs and in it went into the porky soup. The new recipe was born and underwent many changes later on to become the herbal soup of today. It has become very much a sought after food for many tourists.

Originally the different huge cuts of meat were served in big bowls individually with the herbal soup and rice separately. But slowly over the years, the claypot combination was introduced with vegetables, beancurd, offals and mushrooms being packed into a lighter version herbal stock. And recently the Dry Bak-Kut-Teh version was created thus a new specialty has been added on.

There may be well over 400 plus stalls selling this herbal soup all over Klang area. Isn’t that rather difficult to track down who serves a better herbal soup.

Well, Bak-Kut-Teh range can be divided into different sections of the town:

1. Taman Rashna and Taman Berkeley.

2. Jalan Besar ( under the bridge or next to the police station). There are two shops here wanting to be known as the Bak-Kut-Teh pioneer.

3. Jalan Teluk Pulai.

4. Pandamaran New Village.

If you want something good, follow Master Loh on his gastronomy Bak-Kut-Teh trail from the next Y3k issue onwards.