Dining at Equitorial Restaurant

CARMEN: Last night, we brought our cousins, Sean and Sabrina, and their family to have dinner at a new restaurant, Equitorial Restaurant,at Tanjung Aru Plaza, not far from KK City.

TESSY: The food was delicious, especially..., especially..., the pork leg, one of the..., one of the..., restaurant's specialties.

CARMEN: I did not paid too much attention to the food coz I was busy playing with Sabrina. Even Sean joined in with the girls. I guess he has got over his shyness.

TESSY: And boy..., was he hyper.

CARMEN: Actually, the Equatorial Restaurant is famous for its crocodile meat, which I guess, they obtain the meat from the Tuaran Crocodile Farm. But we did not order that. The grown-ups really enjoyed the food. Uncle Dennis looked pretty delighted with the sweet and sour pork.

TESSY: The restaurant looks really..., looks really..., neat and comfy.

CARMEN: Give it a try when you are in Kota Kinabalu. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Sabrina's Birthday

CARMEN: Sabrina celebrated her 8th Birthday today, in Sabah. I think that's cool.

TESSY: Didn't do anything fancy tough.

CARMEN: Yupp, coz Sabrina just wanna hang around the resort in the swimming pool. That's her day and she calls all the shots.

TESSY: Really? If it was me, I want to celebrate my..., celebrate my..., birthday in the library.

CARMEN: Huh...?

TESSY: Never mind Carmen.

CARMEN: Anyway, I just hope Sabrina will always remember her 8th Birthday..., in the Land Below the Wind, far far away from Oregon, and spending it with her Sabah cousins.

Lok Kawi Wildlife Park

CARMEN: Yesterday we took Sabrina to visit the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park, about 45 minutes drive from KK City, along the old Penampang-Papar road. Our niece, Te'a also tagged along.

TESSY: Sean didn't come coz he is shy...

CARMEN: The Lok Kawi Wildlife Park just opened is door to visitors and not really completed yet, but there are still a lot of things to see.

TESSY: It's like..., it's like..., a mini zoo and wildlife education centre. We really..., we really..., learnt a lot.

CARMEN: What animals were on displayed? Let's see...

TESSY: The orangutans, proboscis monkeys...,

CARMEN: And..., deers, rhinos, tigers, clouded leopards, ostriches, sun bears, gibbons, civets, and birds.

TESSY: The Aviary was great. There were a lot of..., a lot of..., big birds that..., that..., nearly attacked us.

CARMEN: Oh..., and how can we forget the elephant. We rode on an elephant (for RM1 each). Sabrina and I rode first, and Tessy and Te'a after us, and it was so much fun.

TESSY: It was cool... We went up on a much bigger elephant before, at the..., at the..., circus few years ago, but.., but..., we never took a ride until..., until..., yesterday.

CARMEN: And Te'a got horned by the goat too just before we rode on the elephant.

TESSY: Yeah..., she poke her finger up the goat's nose. Serves her right, eh Carmen?

CARMEN: You have to excuse her Tess. She's only 4 years old.

TESSY: But it was so hot.....

CARMEN: Sabrina got sun burnt. She was so red, especially after spending the whole morning at the pool. But the important thing is, she had the fun of her life, riding the elephant for the first time, and enjoy the mini rainforest and man-made river stream, and squashing the rubber with an old rubber roller at the Botanical Information Centre. Cool...

TESSY: And got a good tan too.

CARMEN: Tessy also had a crush on a young boy named Sean also - same name as Sabrina's brother.

TESSY: Carrr....

CARMEN: It's ok Tessy.

TESSY: We suppose to blog about Lok Kawi Wildlife Park here...

CARMEN: Hemmm, anyway, there is really a lot of things to see, learn and do at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. We spent more than 4 hours there, and the entrance fee is only RM5 for children (RM10 for adult). Non-Malaysians have to pay twice as much, but both Sabrina and Te'a, being Americans, looked more locals than foreigners. So, they got in cheap.

TESSY: The place's so big and we walked..., walked..., like for 10 miles or maybe more. I was worn out and hungry too but..., but..., it was really fun and..., and..., exciting.

CARMEN: The elephant ride is available at 11am and 3pm, and on weekends only - although the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park is opened every day.

TESSY: We are sure you will have..., have..., a great family vacation outing there, just like we did.

Our American cousins, Sean and Sabrina, here in Sabah

CARMEN: Earlier in the afternoon, we went to the airport to pick up our cousins from the States, Sean (age 10) and Sabrina (age 7). They are visiting the Land Below the Wind for the first time. Their grandparents (Uncle Dennis and Aunty Anna) and mom (Debbie) are here too. They are staying at Magellan Sutera Harbour Resort. It was a cool moment as we met for the first time, and far cooler, we can get along straight away with Sabrina.

TESSY: Sean was shy...

CARMEN: Their mom, daddy's first cousin, is a "Chirish" (Chinese plus Irish - that's what she called herself), so, Sabrina and Sean is a quarter Chinese.

TESSY: Quarter Chinese, Carmen? We don't call..., don't call..., ourselves half Chinese.

CARMEN: So...? "Chisun"? "Chizan"? "Duchi"? "Kadachi"? "Kachi"? "Kuachi"??? Your pick.

TESSY: We are simply Sino-Kadazandusun, Carmen.

CARMEN: Arghhh..., ok! I give up!