It’s been a while. Travelling from KL to Miri

It’s been a while.. The most anticipated trip is finally coming our way! To be able to fly again after being locked down for like… eternity… really makes us appreciate having our freedom to go anywhere (though not many places open their border, but it will eventually).

As usual, the “majestic” moment when we first set foot in at the KLIA international airport, a photo at the entrance is a must!

To not bore you with our long story telling at the airport, here are some of the shenanigans we do while waiting to board our flight.

Miri

Here’s a fun fact, when you plan to visit a friend in Miri, the most valuable souvenir that you can get for them are different flavors of gardenia bread!! I kid you not! Here’s proof!

It is quite interesting to know that in Miri, some of the flavors and variations we can easily find in west Malaysia is not available here. So before departure, we too grab some gardenia breads as snacks for our hiking later on.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the hotel guide with a small tour bus to bring us around Miri town as we come in a huge group.

First Stop – Chang Man Café

Food!! The Chang Man Café. Unfortunately, due to the timing, most of their signature food are unavailable, and I forgotten to take photos of the food we ordered so please forgive me.

Second Stop – San Ching Tian temple

A bit of the backstory on this temple, it is popular and the largest Taoist temple standing in South East Asia. From the tour guide’s sharing while we’re on the way to the temple, the carvings are all imported from China.

What we did there was mostly spending time walking around, pray inside the temple and of course, take as many photos as we can!!

Third Stop – The Grand Old Lady aka Canada Hill

This is the first drilled oil well which taken place in the year of 1910 by the Shell Company. Why Canada Hill? This is because it is named after the Canadian drillers that stayed there in the early years. Hence, the name, Canada Hill.

Another trivia from the tour guide when we’re on our way up the Canada Hill, we will be able to see the very famous “Nodding Donkey” when we’re at the top of the hill. On top of my head, thinking of an actual donkey on top of the hill. However, when we’re at the top, it is not what I thought it was. So, what is the “Nodding Donkey”? It is a model machine that used to extract crude oil from the well and it makes a noticeable donkey sound which is very loud in the early years according to the tour guide. Unfortunately, we did not take a picture of it due to the scorching hot weather. So I scour the interweb to show you how does the “Nodding Donkey” looks like below:

Fourth Stop – Tamu Khas or Tamu Muhibah

Tamu Khas or Tamu Muhibah, a small local market where ethnic vendors sells local ethnic products. There are also different Tamu nearby Tamu Khas in Miri (Although I’m not really familiar with it) but the one we went is the Tamu Khas where my wife and friends main agenda, to shop for sarong there.

Fifth Stop – Coco Cabana

Coco Cabana is another one of the most visited tourist spot within the city center. With the iconic seahorse being the signature of Miri facing the seaside. Fun fact, the iconic seahorse is actually a working lighthouse overseeing the sea.

There are a lot of stalls selling food with a very nice place to chill by the seaside enjoying the view of both the sea and the seahorse. Also, it is a place where almost every corner is great for photo taking! Basically we spent most of our time there enjoying the breezy seaside with a nice view, taking photos everywhere we find nice, and chit chat there while waiting for another 2 friends to join the gang!

Last Stop – Checking in Miri Marriot Hotel, Sunset View and Dinner

After checking into the hotel, we head on to the restaurant situated in Miri Bintang Megamall nearby the city center. The restaurant’s Cantonese name is “Yi Hah Hai” seafood restaurant. Simply put, it is Yi (Fish) Hah (Prawn) Hai (Crab) on the nameplate of the restaurant.

Opposite the restaurant, we spend some time enjoying the sunset, taking some photos before dinner.

Unfortunately, I did not take any photos for the dinner in the seafood restaurant. But what I know is when you’re there, you better put Midin in your order list! Midin is a type of local vegetable fried with local red wine and you will never regret ordering it.

That pretty much sums up our first day in Miri. Some of our friends have second round after the dinner but we’re both too tired so we didn’t join them for second round and head back to the hotel to rest and get ready for day 2.