Tag Archives: Simpang Mengayau

Malaysia, Travelinds

Jainnes Apin – Celebrity Chef

1 Comment

15 February 2014

On a trip to the Tip of Borneo (Simpang Mengayau) in Sabah, we were privileged to meet Chef Jainnes Apin.  Fellow travellers at our lodge recommended the restaurant to us not knowing the name of the restaurant or the chef, but said the cuisine was excellent and worth the short walk up the hill.

The restaurant is called Merrimas and is part of the Merrimas Villas complex at Simpang Mengayau (Tip of Borneo).  The menu is varied and delicious and, in fact, we returned a few nights in a row to sample a few more scrumptious dishes from their menu.  The pan-fried fish (red snapper) and a variety of the ‘set dishes’ were top quality Rungus cuisine and reasonably priced compared to the few other restaurants along the Tip of Borneo.  The quality and presentation of the food was head-and-shoulders above any other restaurant in this area.  Since we enjoyed our meals, we asked to meet the chef and that is when we were introduced to the talented and humble celebrity chef, Jainnes Apin.

He introduced himself as Chef Apin, “but you can call me Jainnes.”  He is a charming man with a passion for preserving and perfecting the Rungus cuisine in particular; it’s evident that his cultural Rungus heritage was of utmost importance to him. It was lovely to be able to enjoy his cooking on the Tip of Borneo, get a taste of the Rungus cuisine and culture, and to hear some of his interesting stories.  One of his family members was sitting at a table doing some of the intricate beadwork for which the Rungus of Borneo are so famous.

Chef Apin, keep up the great work!

Malaysia, Travelinds

Tip of Borneo Accomodation

14 February 2014

After a week at the Tip of Borneo, the following accomodation in the area seemed worth a look. Since not all seemed to be available for online booking, Travelinds thought they’d mention a few options to those looking to spend a couple nights in this beautiful place:

1. Tommy’s Place (mid-range, email booking)
  • We stayed here for the 5 days and loved the vibe of this chilled out lodge.  The food was decent (breakfasts were delicious!), it’s right opposite the beach, ten minutes walk from the Tip of Borneo monument and lookout, managed efficiently and generally clean.

    Tommy's Place
    Tommy’s Place
2. BorneoTip Lodge (mid range, email booking)
  • Right next door to Tommy’s Place, wooden bungalows and a lovely pool seems to be in the making (a long way from finished though).  Popular with bikers going up to the Tip for the weekend. Also right across from the beach and ten minutes walk to the Tip of Borneo.
3. Merrimas Villas (mid to high price, online booking available)
  • Beautiful villas here and it is right on the tip. five minutes walk down to the beach. Great restaurant (see blog on Chef Jainnes Apin) and friendly staff.
4. TipofBorneo Villas/bungalows (mid to high price, phone/email booking)
  • The last lodge before the tip itself. Seemed like simple but comfortable bungalows (different sizes available) but mid to high prices. Cheapest beer at this restaurant. Five minutes walk from the beach.
5. Tampat Do Aman (Howard’s) (mid range, online)
  • This seems to be the most well-known (well marketed) lodge in the area with its rungus-style longhouse and rustic living experience. The information is available on their information website and you can read more in the menu of Tip Top restaurant (Howard’s) while you are there. http://tampatdoaman.com/

This area is largely untouched with hardly any urban development noticeable. It provides a great base to relax, enjoy the beach, swim, surf, explore beautiful local beaches (with absolutely no people to crowd out the long white stretches) and just enjoy a bit of an authentic Sabah experience.

It is so worth the trip!

Tip of Borneo beach
Tip of Borneo beach
Malaysia, Travelinds

Tip of Borneo Restaurants

13 February 2014

 

After spending a week at the Tip of Borneo (Simpang Mengayau), here is Travelinds’ take on the few restaurants in the area:

Ranked at number 1:

Merrimas Villas Restaurant – try the fish dishes (all of them) and enjoy the reasonably priced “set menu” especially the “fish ginger.”  Read Travelinds’ piece on Chef Jainnes Apin – the very talented chef at Merrimas whose quality food was most certainly the best in the area.

Contending for overall second place:

Tip Top (Howard’s) against Tommy’s Place restaurant.  Both serve a very similar menu, both are priced about the same. Nothing unique about the dishes, presentation or prices but it did the trick.

Last place:

Borneo tip lodge restaurant: A menu similar to Tip top and Tommy’s, but so many mosquitoes, bland food and very, very slow service.  Pricing the same as Tommy’s and Tip Top.

Breakfast spot:

Tommy’s Place offered a great breakfast menu (highly negotiable and can be suited to your preferences). We had oats with hot soya milk, fresh fruit, toast with jam, coffee. There were also eggs available (omelettes etc). A much better variety (price and nutrition) than most other places we stayed at in Sabah.

Cheapest beer:

Although we didn’t eat here, we did find that the restaurant that is the closest to the Tip itself (I think it is called Tip of Borneo resort/villas resto) had the cheapest beer out of all the restaurants (RM 5). We went here for the gorgeous sunsets and we enjoyed a beer as the sun went down on Simpang Mengayau.  It is on the other side of Merrimas Villas, closest to the Tip itself.  Although, if you pick up a bag of trash and do your part in cleaning up the Tip’s long white beach, you can get a free beer from Tip Top Restaurant – so it’s up to you!

In reality, the food is NOT the important part of a holiday to this part of Sabah.  It’s a place of such beauty that it is the perfect place to just relax and unwind! But Bon Appetit!

Malaysia, Travelinds

Tip of Borneo

4 Comments

12 February 2014

 

Simpang Mengayau, the Tip of Borneo, is often described as the most beautiful place in Borneo itself.  On the map, it is the tip of the ‘left-ear’ of the Sabah ‘dog’ and is the northern-most point of Borneo itself.

Tip of Borneo

What is there to do?

This is the perfect beach destination.  You can do nothing but relax. Read, sleep, sunbathe, walk along the 2km beach, explore on your rented motorcyle, eat local food, read some more, sleep some more and swim in the warm South China Sea.

Getting there

The Tip of Borneo is about 3 hours drive from Kota Kinabalu (Sabah’s capital city).   There are a few different ways to get there but after chatting to a few tourists along the way, each method is a bit of trial and error and doesn’t always work out exactly as described in the brochures.Tip of Borneo

By Car – hiring a car from Kota Kinabalu and driving up is possible. We met someone who did this (at RM90 per day) but ended up stranded that night as the car died and nobody was able to assist until the following morning. It is only a three hour drive, scenic, but with potholes and roadblocks along the way.

By Bus – there is a ‘big’ local bus once a day (sometimes) which can take anywhere between 3 to 6 hours. It costs about RM 30.  You take a bus from near the ‘Shangri-La Motel Bus Stop’ (it is behind the city hall, it is NOT the express bus stop on the beach-side of the city hall).

By Taxi – a taxi from the airport (and back) would be anywhere between RM 250 to RM 350 depending on your negotiation skills. For four people wanting to only do a day trip, this might be worth the cost to have a personal driver.

Tip of BorneoBy Shared Taxi – This is the option that we used and it went very smoothly both ways. From Kota Kinabalu, go to the same place as the bus stop (above) and find a shared taxi (5-7 people). It costs RM30 each and you have to wait for the taxi to fill up before it will leave. We waited no more than an hour for both trips to and from Tip of Borneo.  Beware of unlicensed taxis.

In Kudat, you go to the centre of town, there is a waiting place there with shared taxis which take longer to fill up than in Kota Kinabalu (you need to get transport from Tip of Borneo in to Kudat town to catch this taxi – we paid RM20 each for our lodge to drop us there).Tip of Borneo


By Plane – this seemed like the quickest option for some travellers that we met. But you still need to take a taxi/hotel shuttle between the Tip and the airport in Kudat. Flights could be found cheaply and the small plane experience is apparently very scenic and gives impressive views of the mountain and the northern bays.

You can also apparently fly from other cities (Sandakan, Tawau etc) to Kudat, so this is definitely worth a look if you are coming from the south of Sabah and don’t want to take the inevitable route in and out of to Kota Kinabalu.

Check out some places to stay here and restaurants in the area here.

Tip: Make this a stop in your itinerary – it is worth it, if only for the stunning coastline and magnificent sunsets.Tip of Borneo

Malaysia, Travelinds

Tip Top – Tip of Borneo

05 February 2014

Tip Top restaurant is right on the beach road of Tanjung Simpang Mengayau (the Tip of Borneo).  It is also known by the names Howard’s or Tampat Do Aman restaurant.

It has a very relaxed beach vibe; sandy floors, wooden benches, bean bags and some chilled out tunes playing in the background.  There are also some books to read and a lot of locals and tourists to chat too.  The food is competitively priced with the rest of the area and there are some local dishes to try like ‘Hinava’ – raw fish marinated in citrus juice.

Inside the menu itself, there is a whole stack of information about the owner’s many business ventures, the sustainability focus and many community projects.  There are so many ways that you can get involved in projects in the Kudat area through either volunteer work or donations; like turtle conservation, beach clean ups, volunteering in the local community, survival courses etc.

Personally I was very impressed with the detailed explanations of the different projects that are currently up and running in the area.  I hope to get involved in some of these in the future.

Enjoy!

Check out more information on Tip of Borneo restaurants.