The Trip to the Tip Of Borneo
Sin Choon and Nancy , our college mates ,
told us they would come
to Kudat and asked us to
get them prawns , fish , fish meat and egg
rolls to bring back to Kota Kinabalu
and we gladly obliged.
a
It's holiday time and it's Harvest Festivals
, so most of the hotels
here were fully booked.
so was the famous Marina Hotel - course ,
as it is the most luxurious
hotel in Kudat , so they
postponed their visit.
At last they drove along to Kudat
, all bright and breezy , and
enjoyed their drive through
green country scenary .
This morning we met to eat tau- foo
and egg rolls in a restaurant ,
the famous one in Kudat .
After a rather substantial breakfast , we
set out in a borrowed
four -wheel vehicle for
the Tip of Borneo , a place about 50 kilo
meters away from Kudat town .
We passed through the green coconut
estates , the rustic plank
houses, schools and
reached the untared gravel paths which
wound its way through
kampung houses .
At last we saw the blue ocean
from far and smelt the salt
of the sea .
Like squirrels we scampered down from
our vehicle to stretch
our legs . We looked down
the rocky cliff and sighed a sigh of
satisfaction to see the crystal-clear water
,glimmering in the
bright tropical sun . We
could see the ocean floor and the marine
life in it.
I thought at first that we would
be satisfied just to admire the
sea from above the cliff
as the descend seemed to be steep and
risky . Then Nancy and her nephew were
already half
way down the cliff , standing casually there
to look up to us and
smiled their pleased smile.
Everyone started their awkward descend gingerly
.
When I was the last one left on top
, my friends all asked me
not to miss the chance of a marvelous
walk on the stony platform
down there . So on four , I crawled
down trying not
to be so scared of the heights
on my descend.
At last I was down below and it was worth
it , to be standing on
the big slab of flat rocks , with
the sea within reach. The sea
water gently lapped on the edge
of the rocks , sometimes splashing
sometimes still . We were thus brought
close to the elements ; to
see the sky and the sea
merged in the distance , with not a care in
the world. Some families were already in the
water , taking their cool
morning dip
.
Without wasting any time , we took picture
after picture just to
show off the place and our trip
to friends later on.
Our cameras kept clicking all the time to
capture the place , the
scenes and the moments ; while
we poised here and there to be in
the pictures .
Since the sun was too warm for staying down
below too long , we
called it a day and started
to climb up again.
It was an enjoyable trip for all of
us . For lunch , we paid the
restaurant to cook the fish, prawns
and shells which we bought
in the market that morning .
Agatha Lai
