Our walking tour started at Malaysia Fountain which has been undergoing some renovations since we have been here. Yesterday we saw workers cleaning the fountain, but we have yet to see the fountain in action. Later on in the morning we came passed here again the fountain was actually working, so we will have to pop back tonight to try to get some night photos. We walked around the Town Oval and found the adjacent Chinese Temple which is the oldest building in Sandakan. We were allowed inside; actually no one even gave us a second glance when we found our way inside as they were too busy on the phone or smoking. Inside was decorated with all things Confucian / Bhuddist / Chinese. Large incense spirals hung from the ceilings, offerings were arranged on several altars with images of Confucius, Buddha and others. There were piles of boxes and other assortments scattered around the place, making the temple look as if it doubled as some sort of distribution enterprise for some local Chinese businessmen, but it was (relatively) peaceful.
From the temple we eventually found our way to St Michaels and All Angels church at the top of a nearby hill. We had to go passed a high school so were an immediate target for the kids to practice their English. On arriving at the church we noticed the door above the welcome mat was locked, as were all the doors. Tracy went and found a custodian who let us in. Inside was pretty much like most Anglican churches, with stained-glass windows and the occasional plaques on the walls, the main exception being this church was where some of the WWII POWs spent their last night before being interned in the camps, so has a special place in Australian history.
The significance is evidenced by the plaques of the military units sponsoring or friends of the church and the stained glass windows were installed as part of a “Remembrance Window” project, facts disappointingly overlooked by Lonely Planet.
After leaving the church we found the 100 steps, leading us up another hill at the back Sandakan. The weather today, like always is hot and humid and we were both soaked with sweat by the time we reached the top. We found the Rotary Observatory which would have had magnificent views over Sandakan when it was built, when the trees were a lot smaller. In order to get a better vantage we had to go higher, and the only place higher was the Agnes Keith Tea House. This place just doesn’t seem to fit in here; it’s a little bit of England a long way from home and somehow left in the 1920’s-1940’s period. There is a croquet field and wicker furniture in the lawn gazebos, an old brass Harbour Master’s telescope, a beautiful old gramophone etc. We ordered a cold drink each and before they had arrived we were offered refreshingly ice-cold towels to aid our cooling off. The uniformed waitresses delivered our drinks and as we sat we could have imagined what it must have been like in its glory days before the Japanese invasion.
We walked back down the hill and into the centre of town to find the Central Markets. Like many other markets, there was an abundance of smells, sights and movement; the ground floor was predominately fresh fruits and veges with some meats and fish, the first floor was a food court and clothes, bags and cosmetics, the top floor was exclusively another (underutilised by day) food court. After poking our noses around for a while we settled on a place on the first floor for some lunch.
The food was cheap(ish) and after a few mouthfuls, we found out why! We won’t be hurrying back there, although Tracy did manage to get an almost decent serving of tempeh on her second try.
We left the market and slowly made our way back to the hotel for the (now) obligatory siesta.
On our last night in Sandakan, you might think we would try somewhere different for dinner than the night market? You’d be wrong though. We just had to have one last meal there before we left. Scott had a huge piece of fish (bat fish?) with a watery, vinegary, chilli sauce; Tracy had gado-gado (fried salad with satay sauce). Sadly, our little roti seller was taking a night off so we didn’t get to have one last try of his fabulous wares. After our main meal, of course, we couldn’t resist another artery-hardening dessert!
As we wheel-barrowed our full bellies back from the night market to the hotel, we swung passed the Malaysia Fountain, which was still working and took a couple of night shots. Unfortunately the plethora of traffic and other lights makes it a bit hard to get really decent photos, but I did my best. We went back to the hotel for our last sleep in Sandakan.
