Borneo Lady: April 2019

Have you ever tried beef broth using fire wood in the city? It's not easy to find one in

Singapore, UK, USA and other first world countries.

Army soldiers or those on expeditions and the scouts would have used fire wood to cook their meals in the woods? But in the city?

Beef Broth cooking in big deep pots for hours using fire wood.

Years ago, North Borneo used to have no problem with woods because of our thick jungles. But nowadays wood are harder to find because of their shortage or restricted suppliers due to our country policies for protection of our forest. One of reasons is due to habitat destruction.

Even though certain trees are considered endangered species, deep in the forest/jungle/woods on certain part of Borneo and many part of the world, in the middle of no way, cooking using fire wood still exist.

In the city of KK (Kota Kinabalu), I came to know a place recently which sells Rojak and Soto using fire wood in the city. My childhood classmate was the first to introduce me to this special place. Since then, I came back occasionally for this food. I was surprised at the location because all these years, I didn't even know it exists and it's only 5 mins from our International airport! It's the Munajat Soto (soup) Stall.

Such food reminded me, cooking as a child with my mother using fire wood.....in those days that's what we used, nothing else but wood. Then later to kerosene stove, gas stove and now induction cooker.

The advancement of technology in cooking stoves made cooking easier and cleaner. No scrubbing of pots' bottom like I used to do with ashes in the 60's so that the pot looks good and clean. But the taste of food using fire wood is a lot different compared to other stoves because fire wood enhances the taste of food.

Munajat Soto Cafe

Puan Asma, owner of the cafe, has moved to this village since 2002 to continue this kampung(village) style business . It was passed down from her mother selling the same menu in a different village. Puan Asma has 7 children, whom 5 of them run the cafe together. The stall is popular in that village area and nearby government offices. They have their own regular customers. During lunch time, seats are full.

The stall opens at 7.30 am every morning till 2 pm and closed every Saturday to put out the wood to dry under the sun. The wood has to be dried so that they're less smoky and burnt easily during cooking.

Even though the number of customers has increased, Puan Asma is worried for the future. She knows that wood is getting harder to find. The prices of wood are more expensive than before but she carries on with the business because most of her customers come back for her food.

Wood for "sun bath"

Dried fire wood ready for use

Authentic Smoking area surrounded by trees. Seating area made of tree trunk

Soto daging - Beef broth with rice noodle and sliced beef garnished with spring onions.
Soto Ayam - Chicken broth with rice noodle and chicken.

6 Ringgit small bowl and 7.50 Ringgit for big bowl

Rojak Daging - Yellow egg noodle with cucumber, fried bean curd, slices of beef with sweet peanut sauce accompanied with a small bowl of beef soup.

Rojak Ayam - Yellow egg noodle with cucumber, fried bean curd, slices of chicken with sweet peanut sauce accompanied with a small bowl of chicken soup.

6 Ringgit small bowl and 7.50 Ringgit for big bowl

There is no bus or train to bring you here. You need a car or use "grab"/taxis

11.30 am

Lunch time

A simple village style cafe selling only Rojak and Soto

How to locate.......

The next junction, after the junction of RTM (Radio Television Malaysia Broadcasting Building), turn left and then first left again then first right.

In google map, the place is called Warung Kayu Api means Warung fire wood but the stall name is Gerai Soto Munajat

As I was browsing Utube in July 2023, I happened to see a video on utube posted by Sjane World. There u can see more clearly about this stall.

I was pleased to see this video. As an elderly I won't be able to do this. Younger generations are more productive for such technology. 😁 You can also subscribe into her channel that linked from her video. I, myself subscribed too😁

Fort William to Fort Augustus then Edinburgh

A continuation from Part 1........

It's almost 12 noon, we had to leave Fort William for Fort Augustus
(51.5 Km / 45 mins drive)

Ben Navis is part of the Grampian mountain range

Ben Nevis snow capped mountain and Loch Lochy at Fort William

Country side road, leaving Fort Willliam .
This road reminded me of our Tambunan road in my hometown, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The drive from Fort William to Fort Augustus only takes about 45 minutes. It's a lovely relaxing drive and during the journey, we passed by so many of those snow capped mountains and peaceful scenery of the country side.

We spent a few moments on this spot, admiring the breathtaking view.

The beautiful panoramic scenery looked like a painting on the wall

We watched the changing of the clouds around the snow capped mountain and the sudden appearance of the clear blue sky, all within seconds.

These shots were taken in seconds and they were all with different views

Zooming my camera for closer view of the snow capped mountain, on April fool's day.

Excellent spots to enjoy the panoramic views of the snow capped mountain with country side surroundings.

Arrived around noon at Fort Augustus ,

The Famous Loch Ness

Fort Augustus, Loch Ness Cruise

Loch Ness :37 km long

Loch Ness is one of the world's most famous lake.
A popular tourist attraction in Scotland because of Nessie

When I was in Mount Kinabalu National Park, I saw a notice which I never forget...

It says Take nothing but photographs, Leave nothing but footprints.

But here, I am afraid, is the opposite. Short and sweet.......

Take something (souvenir) and Leave something (£££) at Loch Ness 😁

We spend at least 2 hours at Loch Ness. Had a cup of tea, enjoying the scenery before heading down to Edinburgh (255.8 Km about 3-4 hrs).

Passing by another view of snow capped mountain

Route A86 was quite rough and scary especially the steep hills. There was no guardrail along both sides of the road.

My husband, being an experience driver, has no problem at all but it did scare the wits out of me. If only you knew how tightly I gripped hold of the safety belt! It's like a roller coaster road when we were going down the steep hills and I could feel goosebumps on my skin. 😂 I can laugh now but at that time, I was not.

One of the beautiful Lochs in Scotland

There were numerous sights of picturesque mountains from Dalwhinne to Pitlochry. We drove pass so many snow capped mountains on the way to Edinburgh. It was indeed a scenic drive.

It was already dark when we arrived at Edinburgh. Because of the darkness, the GPS in the car had made our arrival at Haymarket Tune Hotel Edinburgh easier and possible by 7.30 pm. We stayed for 3 nights. (£96 per night). The twin bed were very comfortable and clean. The biggest pluses about this hotel is the location. It's in the centre of Edinburgh and facing the bus stop, trams and railway station. Tune Hotel has been well known for it's en-suite shower.😂

After a long journey, we were exhausted and all we could think of was a good comfortable quiet place to rest and unwind. Restaurant and pub were just next door. After we had settled, we had a pint at the pub, while listening to live music and then called it a night by 9pm.

Since our destination ends here, we decided to take our sweet time in whatever we plan to do the next day two days. We had all the time in the world now😜.

2nd April 2017 ( Sunday) - We had a good sleep. The room was so quiet that we slept through without realizing it's almost noon! Our itinerary of the day was slow and easy- A drive to the seaside.

We parked in Granton road and walked to the seaside and saw this beautiful white furry cat

Hubby said it's a good Omen

Look at her! She's such a beauty.

Walkway to Granton Seafront, Leith

Granton Waterfront facing Granton harbour.

After the long walks at the waterfront, we drove to Arthur's Seat.

Arthur's seat - Edinburgh's ancient extinct volcano.

On the right of this photo is the Arthur's seat, Edinburgh.

Those who climb to the top of the hills, can see the spectacular views of Edinburgh.

Climbing the hill takes an hour to reach for most people who visited the site.
Initially I thought, no big deal, it's only a hill, not a mountain. I was wrong. I was only half way or may be 1/3 of the way, I was already puffing away, so I gave up😜

Youngsters reaching the top.
I envied those youngsters who passed by me so easily. 😂

Climbing up was not my only problem but coming down was really frightening. It was a challenge😰😱 The steepness of the slope made it very difficult for me to come down easily. I felt like I was falling off the hill!

Red Mail Box is an icon of UK

Bought this coin collector from a souvenir shop at High Street

Red mail box has been UK cultural icon which has been in use till now since 1852

3rd April 2017 (Monday)- Last day in Edinburgh

For easy access to the town centre, we purchased a 1 day unlimited bus/tram bus for £4 . Worth it because it's a whole day pass to be used for trams and bus except airlink buses. With that we could easily get by Edinburgh town until late at night and saved the hassle of parking.

We took our long leisure walks as planned at Princes Street garden at the valley of Edinburgh castle and visited the market. We bought some small souvenirs. By evening, we went to a posh La Locanda Italy restaurant at Cockburn Street for our dinner. I had the best Italian spaghetti in my life! It's exquisite! So yummy yummy!! Thinking about it makes me drool😋

Beautiful fresh flowers at Princes Street Garden.

High Street is part of the Royal Mile.

There is a small cobble stoned path to the left of Castlehill Street that lead us to the other side of the castle. The clear view of the castle was stunning.