Tawau/Semporna - Day 1 (Tawau Town)

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This is our third trip to Tawau. To travel to Semporna island, you need to fly to Tawau Airport and then take a car to the Semporna Jetty. We chose to spend one night in Tawau instead of driving immediately to Semporna Jetty from Tawau Airport. So we woke up at 6.30am, took a Grab ride to Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) at 7.15am, boarded the plane at 8.45am and took off at 9.05am. After 45 minutes, we landed at Tawau Airport.

Kapalai Dive Resort has already arranged for a van to pick us up after landing. We waited for around 15 minutes and instead of going directly to our hotel, we decided to have our brunch at Kedai Kopi Yuan Yuan. This shop is around 30-minute drive (27km) from Tawau Airport. When we arrived at the shop at 11am, the line was short. It's our third visit to this eatery. I went with my usual order of soto fish ball with fish paste, whereas my partner ordered soto with fresh fish, fish ball, fish paste and prawns. The shop still maintains the consistency of the soto broth and chili paste. This time the vermicelli texture is perfect, delicate yet not undercooked.



Our pick up van from Kapalai Dive Resort to Kedai Kopi Yuan Yuan


Kedai Kopi Yuan Yuan


Chinese tea and teh ping less sweet


Chili


Soto fresh fish, fish ball, fish paste and prawns


Soto fish ball and fish paste


Address:
Kedai Kopi Yuan Yuan
TB 10749, Lot 8, Batu 3.5,
Jalan Apas, Taman Megah Jaya,
91000 Tawau,
Sabah, Malaysia


Grab ride from Kedai Kopi Yuan Yuan (Grab fare - RM 9) to LA Hotel was cancelled after 15 minutes of waiting. Ended up we tried Maxim which is even cheaper (Maxim fare - RM 7.50) and more reliable. LA Hotel is around a 12-minute drive (5.7km) from Kedai Kopi Yuan Yuan. We arrived at the hotel about 12.35pm and were able to check in at 1pm. Our superior king room pricing is RM 159 per night, which includes breakfast for two people.
 


Tawau Town (view from LA Hotel)


Tawau Town (view from LA Hotel)


We leave our belongings in the hotel room and proceed to Indo Cafe, which is only a 7-minute walk from the LA Hotel. To our dismay, the shop is close but luckily there's a second branch nearby, so we grabbed a Grab taxi over there (Grab fare - RM 6). The second branch is around a 10-minute drive (4.5km) from the first branch.

This time I had avocado sago and it's delicious. The smoothies is creamy and not overly sweet. We ordered their signature pisang goreng cheese, fried chicken wings and rojak. Their pisang goreng cheese is crispy but does not taste nice because unripe bananas are used. Apart from that, fried chicken wings doesn't taste as delicious because they use frozen chicken with blackened bones. Fruit rojak consists of cucumber, pineapple, jicama, and green mango tossed in rojak sauce and topped with crushed peanuts, with way too many cucumbers and a weak sauce.



Indo Cafe II


Iced water and avocado sago (small) - RM 6


Mango sago large - RM 8


Sayap goreng 1 set


Fruit rojak


Pisang goreng cheese - RM 7


Address:
Indo Cafe II
Unijaya Commercial Center,
KM 5, Jalan Sungai Tanjong,
91000 Tawau,
Sabah, Malaysia


Tawau Hot Spring is a deserted hot spring about a 6-minute drive (3.6km) from Indo Cafe II. Two Grab drivers cancelled our trip and luckily we got a third driver to take us there (Grab fare - RM 6). It began to rain when we arrived at the hot spring, and there was no shade for us to walk into the hot spring area! The entrance fee is RM 10 per person, and we were the only ones there. We can't wait for the rain to stop, so we sprint beneath it to the hot spring area.

The hot spring is designed for whole-body soaking and has a strong sulfur odor. There's no proper place for you to sit and soak your legs. The place is not well-maintained and there's four dipping pools with varying degree. The hottest dipping pool has no roof and it's still raining when we left the hot spring.



Ticket counter


Taman Rekreasi Airpanas Tawau entrance ticket - RM 10 / adult


Hot Springs Tawau


Hot Springs Tawau


Hot Springs Tawau


Hot Springs Tawau


Hot Springs Tawau


Hot Springs Tawau


Hot Springs Tawau


Hot Springs Tawau


Hot Springs Tawau


Hot Springs Tawau


Hot Springs Tawau


Bus stop in front of Hot Springs Tawau


Address:
Hot Springs Tawau
91000 Tawau,
Sabah


We couldn't find any Grab driver and ended up with Maxim again. We waited over 18 minutes for our driver to come and arrived at Traulsen Recreation Park before 5pm (Maxim fare - RM 10). The park is approximately 14-minute drive (8.1km) from Hot Springs Tawau. The rain had stopped, so we went for a little walk in the park. We decided to walk back to our hotel since the weather was cooling. It took us twenty minutes (1.3km) to walk back to our hotel. We came across a large monitor lizard inside the drain along the route.



Traulsen Recreation Park


Traulsen Recreation Park


Traulsen Recreation Park


Traulsen Recreation Park


Bulatan Ikan Marlin


Traulsen Recreation Park map


Traulsen Recreation Park


Spotted a large monitor lizard inside the drain


Roundabout


Good View Seafood Restaurant is approximately 12-minute walk (900m) from LA Hotel. We ordered steamed fish (sou mei fish or also known as humphead wrasse - RM 320/kg), steamed prawns, paku pakis (ferns), steamed ginger scallops, clams and kam heong style crab. Seafood is fresh and tasty. There's still some blood on the bone of the steamed fish, but the chef says he can't steam it any longer because it will overcook the fish. He was right because the underside of the fish is slightly tougher than the top. Stir fried ferns are young and flavourful. Besides that, the steamed prawns are sweet, succulent and firm. Kam heong style crab is one of my favourites and it tastes great. Overall the food is good.

Total bill - RM 593.20



Good View Seafood Restaurant


Coconut drink


Prawns


Paku pakis (ferns)


Steamed ginger scallops


Clams


Steamed fish


Kam heong style crab


Address:
Good View Seafood Restaurant
Jalan Chen Fook,
Taman Sabindo,
91000 Tawau,
Sabah


We stopped by Tai Yang Departmental Store after dinner to get some beer and snacks before heading to the Chester Night Market. The market is roughly a 9-minute walk (650m) from Good View Seafood Restaurant and is open from 7pm to 12am every Friday and Saturday. There is local food, clothing, toys, and souvenirs available. The majority of the stalls sell the same products. It was a fast stroll, and on the way back to our hotel we stopped by a dessert shop.



Chester Night Market


Chester Night Market


Address:
Chester Night Market
No. 135, Jalan Chester,
Bandar Tawau,
91000 Tawau,
Sabah


Nothing beats a sweet reward at the end of the day. So I ordered mango shave ice, which comes with mango cubes, vanilla ice cream and gula melaka palm sugar. The dessert was first fairly sweet, but the sweetness level gradually decreased. Gula melaka palm sugar has a light caramel flavour and it enhances the flavour of the dessert, but the mango cubes are not particularly sweet. Overall, not the best dessert to round off the evening.



Dear Friends


Restaurant ambience


Restaurant ambience


Mango shaved ice - RM 13.90


Address:
Dear Friends
TB224, Ground Floor,
Jalan Bunga, Fajar Complex,
Bandar Tawau,
91000 Tawau,
Sabah

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