We Back in Borneo!

We are shy of 2 months away from two years after our epic Ride Pusing Sabah in December 2021. How time flies!

And around this time last year, DocZul and I was on the dream excursion to KARAKORAM! (with DocZul as well).

Can't believe the "change" obly after a year....

lest we forget.... Zack, John & Izad with our guide Talha

"dreams are made of these..." @Karakoram

The planning for this North Borneo Ride Part 1 has not been easy. Originally, our intention was to do a second Ride Pusing Sabah within six month after our maiden ride venturing Sabah. But, eighteen months later, nothing seem to materialise. And in all that time, our friend Alinur has been burdened with looking after our Dom400 (our = DocZul's & mine's). So, I decided to do something about this - either ship the bike back to Semenanjung or take her to Saratok where my dotter & son-in-law is currently staying. With the first option, I could make full use of the bike; but it would leave all the plans to ride as many part of Borneo as possible to be a bit hard. With the 2nd option, there will be room to more rides around Borneo in coming months/years. However, the only snag is that the nearest airport from Saratok is Sibu, about 2 hours drive apart.

The Three Must-Keep-Steer or The 3 So-To-Just (ride) 😆

Idrus and I originally plan to do the ride cum taking both the Dom400s to Saratok in May. DocZul agreed for Idrus to use his green Dom400 as he himself could not ride during that period... DocZul has received his calling to perform hajj this year. However, as we were finalizing the dates, Idrus also received his calling. Alhamdulillah. So, the plan were put on hold. When both Pak Haji returned in July, DocZul suggested to do the ride in September or October. While being silent when DocZul and I were setting the dates, Idrus quitely bought his flight ticket after we bought ours!

dubbed "Lori Cargo" by his friends, this beast is most comfortable on long rides..

Since DocZul is also going, Idrus shipped his Kymco400 scooter to KK with intention to also leave the bike in Saratok for more rides in Borneo later 😬.

The route would be Kota Kinabalu - Brunei - Miri - Bintulu - Mukah - Sarikei - Saratok. So our return flight would be from Sibu, the nearest airport from Saratok. We bought flight tickets KL-KK for 12th Oct and Sibu-KL for 20th Oct. Hovewer, just over three weeks before the flight dates, DocZul informed us that he got the dates (for his vacation) mixed up. It should be one week later! Huhuhuhu... Thus, we changed our plans and flight dates (with some additional cost, of course 😅).

Waiting to board the MAS flight to KK

09:00pm, Friday 20th Oct was our flight. With luggage to check-in, I was just in time arriving at the airport due to, firstly left home not early enough, secondly it was raining heavily with rush hour. Alhamdulillah managed to drop the luggage (containing helmets, bike rack and topbox) in time 😁

We arrived KK International Airport around midnight with Ali already waiting to ferry us to our transit hotel just nearby the airport.

The 3-bed container accommodation at Grapevine Garden motel was comfortable, convenient and importantly with a very good rate!

By the time we hit the sack, it was already past one o'clock. Subuh is about an hour earlier in Sabah, so we were already up by five in the early morning. And Ali was already on the way to pick us up by eight, for breakfast and to bring us to the bikes (parked at his office near the airport).

At breakfast we were introduced to Shafiz whom will also be joining us on this ride.

First order of business before starting our journey on the morning of Day 1 was to install the bike rack and topbox (my Dom400). This new addition would give flexibility to carry more cargo!

Yours truly, Shafiz & DocZul

Our first night-stop will be in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, about 270km of ride distance from my calculation. And we need to have Brunei dollars! So, our flag-off had to be postponed for a bit to get some money exchanged - the money changer only opens for business at 10:00am! So, this and that, we finally flagged off around noon for the first leg of our tour!

First re-fuel stop at Petron Lok Kawi.

There are two main road going to Papar from KK, the seaside route (via Kinarut / Jalan Pengalat) or via Route A2 that we took.

We literally forgot to re-hydrate at the fuel-stop. Thus, made a quick stop just few km ahead for sip...

Part of our mission for today was to lunch in Papar, specifically at Aneka Nasi Ayam Puteri that went viral in the past months. Alas, it was not open that day. The consolation was, it is situated next to Mr. DIY - Idrus forgot to pack his riding glove for this trip - bought two pairs here!

It was already way past 1:30 when we finished "shopping" at this Mr. DIY. Some 3km and 5minutes away, we had lunch at Ikan Bakar Benoni, apparently a popular makan place in Papar.

Copyright Reserved - photo from the web (link above)

Wise decision to have ikan bakar plus telur dadar a few other dishes here...

It was a good call (collectively) to stop at the first masjid along the route and do jama' awal at Masjid Azizurahman, Kg. Baru Kimanis some 15km from the lunch place. Tho' it was already close to asar (3:25pm), we got there around 2:4pm - ample time still.

Our next stop would be Sipitang, Espalanad Sipitang to be exact some 90km away. We arrived around 4:45pm, and just good timing for a much needed break & rehydration.... + satay!

Dusk would be around 6:00pm and with more than 120km to reach Bandar Seri Begawan, we did not spend much time in Sipitang nor could we explore this small town.

Copyright Reserved - pics from Google.

Sindumin checkpoint is the border separating Sabah and Sarawak. Merapok is the town on Sarawak side. For Malaysians from Semenanjung, entry/exit between the two states require immigrational process. This also apply for Sabahans entering Sarawak and vice versa.

Welcome to Sarawak!

We were greeted by azan maghrib as we queued at the immigration booth. And we were greeted by a light drizzle as we cleared immigration and did this wefie. When asked each other, we unanimously agreed not to put-on our raincoats thinking that the drizzle will not escalate into rain. Hahahaha... In just about ten minutes later, it rained sometimes lightly but at times heavily. This continued even after we stopped for refuel at Petronas Lawas.

Petronas Lawas - Photo Courtesy of Google

We tried to wait it our for the rain to stop, but... it didn't..

It was getting late. With approximate one hour of riding still before we get to Sarawak/Brunei border, we agreed not to wait for the rain to recede. The heavier rain earlier has simmered down much. We are already drenched, so no point to don the raincoats.

Just after we passed the Labu (Brunei) Immigration Checkpoint around 8:00pm

Probably it was a small miracle. When we entered Brunei, the rain stopped. It would another 50km or so with about 45mintes travel via Jambatan Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien (SHOAS) before we reach our last stop for this Day 1 of the ride.

We rode at night, thus could not really see this picturesque view of the bridge...

By the time we checked-in at Jubilee Hotel, it was already past 9:00pm. All wet and cold, the first thing to do was freshen up and solat. Then the "hungry" kicked in! Small problem, most makan place is already closed well before 10:00pm here... adoiiii... Idrus, Shafiz and I tried our luck taking a stroll into downtown and found a 24-hour outlet selling Nasi Ayam Katok, a popular dish here in Brunei.

Nasi Katok Mama Express was our saviour for the night..

B$1.50 satu bungkus 😁

End of Day 1.

Starting Point: Bangunan DCA KK.. Total tine on the road+stops: 9hrs

Day 2, Sunday 22/10/2023

Not sure what time they went to bed, but I was already with Mister Sandman almost immediately after having my Nasi Ayam Katok. This family room is meant for four pax - with one double bed and two single beds in two rooms. Since there was five of us, we asked for an extra bed although Ali was set to sleep on the couch.