Sabah 360 Ride with Mamat & Ajwad, 16-24th December 2023

Parts of the plan! Exactly during the school holiday, year end holiday is just the perfect timing. 

The decals for the ride! Stick it if you mean it! 

This is the 2nd time I rode to Sabah using my Honda RS150 along with Mamat also riding his RS150 & my nephew Ajwad with his Yamaha Y16.

Me & Mamat waiting for Ajwad to arrive. 

Day one! Leaving home before 4 a.m & meet at Petronas Taman Hussein, Kuching. Good morning weather in Kuching that day! The day has finally arrived after a long plan. Initial numbers of riders were 6, 3 chicken out & only 3 left, me, Mamat & Ajwad. 

Our first stop from Kuching was Petronas Lachau to fill up the fuel. Also stop to have Subuh prayer at the mini mosque at the Petronas itself. 

The 2nd stop at Petronas Layar in Betong area, didn't stop for any drinks, just filling up the fuel, Mamat getting a puff & we move on to Sarikei for brunch. 

Good menu!

3rd stop for brunch at Sarikei, it was around 9 a.m. The ride was awesome so far, no issues with the bikes and all & the weather is definitely on us! Alhamdulillah! 

At Sibu Shell station filling up before resume riding. 

This is at Selangau Petronas, as usual to fill up the fuel to continue our journey. I think I had my Zohor prayer here. Right before this Petronas there's a Shell Station but we need to ride a bit further inside the small town to get there while this Petronas just by the side of the main road. 

This is at Tatau Petronas, as usual filling up & getting some drinks to boost our energy to continue. Tatau is around 50 kilometers to Bintulu. The ride is getting better and better! No issues, great weather! However before Tatau we got caught by the rain for less than 30 minutes, stopping by the roadside to wear raincoat & continue riding. 

We didn't stop at Bintulu for fueling due to technical issues on mapping, only just at the roadside on Bintulu- Miri Pan Borneo route to refill the fuel using the one that Mamat & Ajwad stored in their fuel storage/gallons. After that we ride on to Niah Shell station using the Jalan Persisir from Bintulu to Miri as Niah is our only chance to fill up the fuel to continue our journey. 

From Miri the plan is to pass Limbang because we don't want to get checked at Malaysia- Brunei border anymore the next day, so we are going to ride the long way in Brunei land passing the 3+ kilometers bridge from Brunei to Lawas (longest in South East Asia). It was night time already plus the rain, so neither one of us managed to take any good pictures along the way. We managed to get to Lawas at around 10 p.m. We reached the Brunei- Lawas border at around 9:20 p.m that first day (nearly we have to sleep at the border that night!). It was raining in Brunei once we pass Sungai Tujoh Border at around 6 p.m. The day is Saturday & the border was cramped with people from Brunei & also Malaysians, well it's school holiday so what do you expect! Day one we rode for at least 16 hours.

The bed above is the first bed I put my body on for this ride! Feeling lucky getting this room because it's the only one left in the whole of Lawas town that night! 

We just exceeded the time to 2 hours, well that's more to our time up time including rest, fuelling, solat, eating. 

Good Lawas authentic menu! 

Another Lawas trademark! 

Ready to order our first dinner along our ride. Mamat is updating status in socmed or maybe reporting to his wife.

Fuelling for tomorrow! It's gonna be Lawas- Kundasang for the 2nd day! It will be tiring but not as the 1st day. 

The first place we stay in, Mexion motel in Lawas. We almost got no place to stay that first day because all hotels are fully occupied in Lawas due to school holiday, a lot of people from Brunei stay in Lawas that night & maybe locals too (Brunei & Malaysia share the same date for school break according to a Brunei guy that we met & talked with) 

Safe & secure! Our bikes are just a nose away from our room. 

The view in the morning from our room at Mexion Inn Lawas, it was Sunday morning! 

Beautiful & blessed Sunday morning in Lawas!

Getting ready for the 2nd day ride!

 

Ajwad getting his ride fixed, the coolant got drained while we are at Brunei highway, luckily we managed to get to Lawas last night. Good thing there's one workshop opened in Lawas on Sunday but we have to wait for turn. Ajwad bike finally fixed at around noon & as soon as that we continue riding! Well the riding schedule was a bit off because of this but it's okay, as long as everyone is safe & okay, that's good enough.

Before continue riding we took some pictures at Lawas Waterfront. 

 

 

Beautiful Lawas Waterfront, I've been riding to Sabah 5 times before but never got the chance to really see what Lawas is all about. I'm glad that we made a stop here instead of Miri.

  

Arrived at Sindumin, Sabah after passing the Lawas- Sindumin border!

One pose for the border! The rest of Sabah, here we come! Next is Sipitang! 

It's a hot day in Sipitang!

Looks like Beaufort is the part of Sabah that still celebrates Hari Raya Aidilfitri for that year! 

Beaufort beautiful mosque! Masjid Daerah Beaufort! 

Inside the mosque! 2 storeys high & the main praying space is upstairs. 

This is Kota Kinabalu everyone! 

Stopping by the roadside just to enjoy the view & breeze from the sea! 

One for the road! Next location is Kota Belud as we are on our way to Kudat. 

Kota Belud beautiful up on hill mosque! Masjid Pekan Kota Belud! 

Having something to eat before continuing our journey!

Street of Kota Belud Town. 

Hotel Mozart in Kudat, this place seems very new, a very suitable location for riders especially according to my friends in Kudat. 

Just beside the Mozart hotel there's this place to eat, open 24 hours known as Barakah restaurant, good food, good service! 

My bike waiting for the rim to get fixed in local workshop. I'm lucky because I know some friends in Kudat to help me with the rim & get it done in time! 

The night we got to Kudat maybe at around 8:30 p.m I was nearly involved in a terrible accident just as soon as we arrived in Kudat. On the way to Kudat town I passed Kudat hospital & while looking at the hospital on my left I was suddenly thinking about the Kudat Police Station just beside the Hospital, little that I can remember there's this small roundabout in front of the hospital & as soon as I realized that I almost hit one of the divider before the small roundabout with emergency braking, then I can't avoid the roundabout, hit it & my bike got on the roundabout. My front rim was bent but luckily I managed to control the bike without falling (thanks to my enduro training all these years). Mamat & Ajwad are far behind not knowing what happened to me. The tyre was completely out of air in seconds & I have to push the bike to the roadside, called a friend that works & lives in Kudat (Bang Ahmit) & tell him everything. Then he came to the rescue with all the tools needed but there's nothing that we can do about the bent rim since it really need a good welding & adjustments. So I asked Mamat to book the hotel first (Mozart hotel) & come back with Bang Ahmit in his car together with his RS150 front rim (since we are using the same bike) so I can take the bike to the hotel safely. The plan went well Alhamdulillah! 

Ajwad, Mamat, Bang Ahmit & Bro Dek that helps me with the rim. 

Missing one tyre but never missing the wonderful moments in this amazing ride! 

Now you wouldn't think that we are leaving Kudat without visiting The Tip of Borneo Simpang Mengayau wouldn't you! This is a must go place whenever you're visiting Kudat, this is the main attraction of all attractions in Kudat. My 2nd time with the RS150, my 7th time overall so far with my other bikes plus one time during my honeymoon with my wife using flight! 

Proud of ourselves? Definitely we do!

I hope the sticker is still there! Next is Kundasang! It's gonna take us the whole day because we started a bit late (after 1 p.m) from Kudat waiting for my rim to get fixed. Next destination of stay is Kundasang! 

It was Pesta Kubis day! 

We reached Kundasang exactly during the Maghrib Prayer, I still remember hearing the beautiful azan from the mosque up on the beautiful hill. As soon as we arrived, I immediately take out my phone & look for place to stay. During that day it was Pesta Kubis (Cabbage Carnival) at Kundasang & at the same time there are so many people there including foreign visitors, the place was crowded, so we have to be fast in looking for a place to lay our heads. The main mission now is to get a place to rest and I just can't recall if we had our dinner that night. I remember it was so cold that the 3 of us decided not to take any bath that night.

The not so good room, 2 double decker, lousy power socket. If you want to take bath, you have to go outside stepping up a bit because bathrooms are built separately (and you'll share them with other unlucky people). The water heater not working, some lights also not working. It's creepy & cold at the same time! 

OYO Mountain Resthouse, Kundasang

even my bike feels how cold the place is! 

So we got this place to stay, it's one of the final option since every single rooms in Kundasang that night are already fully occupied. The place is known as OYO Home 90430 Mountain Resthouse, one of the not so good place to stay to me. It's up on a hill & you are very unlikely to see it if you pass by that area, still in Kundasang area, maybe 15 minutes ride from the Cabbage statue.