It was still raining when we left the Fatt Choi Coffee Cabin early yesterday morning. Not fair, we thought. Usually, it rains overnight, and clears up in the morning.

But at least it wasn't hard rain. Up with the umbrellas, then, which dance along above backpack and frontpack for the 40 minutes it takes to get to town. Quite sad to go. We'll miss the birdsong, and the misty hills. And the ever-complaining cats...

Tenom is well kitted out for departures. Buses go from the Padang, and there are plenty of covered seats there to keep you and your luggage dry. So you can make camp, and then radiate out to fetch pau (stuffed steamed buns) from across the road, secure your ticket from the little green hut, and visit the adjacent toilets once they've opened. And, of course, you can listen (with great nostalgia) to the hooting of that adorable little train...




Minivans go from the same spot. One of the drivers ambled over to suggest we might want to go to KK with him. No, we said, politely; we'll stick with the big bus, thanks. What we thought, but didn't say, was: We know this big green bus, and it's a pretty good thing to ride in. We don't know your van, and although it would probably be cheaper, past experience suggests it would also be massively more uncomfortable...

The big green bus (with the horse on the side) left promptly at 0800; we followed the same route through the spectacular Crocker Range; and I listened to a fair chunk of a new story.


We had a brief unscheduled stop because we were boiling over a bit, but still, 3.5 hours after departure, we were back in the metropolis (it took a little longer this time, possibly because Monday's public holiday meant lighter traffic through KK).

Lunch brought a Tuaran mee taste-comparison opportunity in the shape of a visit to the Seng Hing Coffee Shop, which has these noodles as one of its specialities. Pork this time. Very tasty again.



We're staying at the Mercure this time. It's handy for the Suria Sabah mall, as well as the cafes we were frequenting a few days ago.






Accor hotels always do pretty good breakfast buffets. Here you get plenty of hot dishes and salads and fruit to choose from. And you also get bread-and-butter pudding (that wonderful bit of British heritage that lingers tastefully on in Singapore and Malaysia). Bread-and-butter pudding, people!

It was pretty rainy in KK today (in general, we've been surprised by how much rain we've had here). So we spent it in a mall, a cafe, and a museum.

The mall was Suria Sabah, whose size allows you to easily rack up a fair few paces.

For lunch we went back to Woo -- a cafe we visited and liked on our last visit, although it has had such a radical makeover that we didn't recognize it:




The food is really innovative:



The real treat of today, however, was our visit to the Sabah Islamic Civilization Museum. It's not as eye-popping as its huge KL counterpart, but you can very pleasantly spend an hour or so here.

The building is lovely:



And there are plenty of treasures to feast your eyes on:









*_*_*

All up, we've had a very good day-and-a-half back in the Big City.

Tomorrow, if all goes to plan, we'll be taking a bus and a boat, and we'll be leaving Sabah, and entering the Federal Territory of Labuan. Still Malaysia, but a different jurisdiction.

But we have another Mercure breakfast to enjoy before that... Maybe there'll be bread-and-butter pudding again...