Mango Garden Restaurant - Rumah Terbalik, Tamparuli , Kota Kinabalu

To know more about this place, please refer to : Upside Down House or visit them at

Batu 21, Jalan Telibong, Tuaran, Sabah.

Tel: +6088 783 911

Fax: +6088 782 503

Facebook: Mango Garden Restaurant

Tam Nak Thai Restaurant, Api-Api Centre Kota Kinabalu Sabah.

Today I would like to introduce you to this amazing thai restaurant that has been around for more than 10 years :) and honestly, their food is still that delicious ever since I stepped into this shop some many years ago, and of course my most recent visit to this restaurant was on Valentine's Day :) - Tam Nak Thai Restaurant.

If I'm not mistaken the owner of this shop is actually a Thai too , which explains the various really authentic thai cuisines that is offered in the menu and their dishes are sure to not disappoint you.

In my opinion, this shop is rather unique it serving its rice to their guests. They actually used a silver pot and delivered their rice using the russian service. Whats interesting about this is that you don't see this service that much around places like KK and for RM 1.20 per person, you can get unlimited refills for your rice :) Their staffs are really attentive and are always polite and pleasant to their guests.

Gai Tom Kah - RM 13

This soup is definitely my favorite soup among the available thai soup that I've tasted since I don't take tom yam really well. This is like a less spicier version of tom yam soup and it is really tasty because they cook it with coconut milk , some lemon grass for appetizing , chicken and chilies for taste. I have tasted this soup previously during my visits to Thailand, and I must say that the soups are comparable to each other's in taste.

Nuer Yarng - RM 16

Next we had is the Nuer Yarng, which translate to " Grilled Angus Sirloin". The meat itself is a tad-bit dry because its sliced thinly and grilled, this dish is accompanied by its own thai sauce, which has a hint of sweet and sour taste to it.

Gai Pahd Med - RM 13

This dish is actually called " Chicken with Cashew Nuts" and yes, I love cashew nuts with any dishes that I've had so far and this combinations are perfect. The breast chicken is cooked with black soy sauce, spring onions, mushrooms and onions just to name a few and it tasted really sweet and easy in the mouth.

Tawd Man Pla - RM 15

For that night, our last main course was this Thai fish cakes. This dish is usually served as an appetizers back in Thailand but not for this shop.  The texture of this dish is firm and bouncy, made with red curry paste, some lime leaves and really fresh fish. The taste of the lime leaves and red curry paste compliments each other and dipping it with the fresh made chili dips made the whole dish tasted even better. It actually reminds me of the famous nyonya dish , otak-otak :), well some say its actually the same because their recipes are really similar.

As for desserts, my parents and I ordered different desserts. Each of this desserts looked quite similar, which actually is the crushed ice dessert, similar to our famous Malaysian dessert called the ABC .

Tap Tim Benj - RM4

Both of my parents opt for this , which actually is crushed iced top up with coconut milk, brown sugar syrup, sago, jackfruit and waterchestnut , I tasted this and I really liked it!

Saguruamuit - RM 4

and for myself I chose this instead of my initial choice which was the mango dessert because they ran out of it :( This is actually quite similar to the first dessert, just that it has more corns and mangoes in it . Well, look at the generous amount of ingredients they put in my dessert, I was really bloated when I'm done with all of it heh.

I highly recommend to everyone who haven't try out this amazing thai restaurant to pay a visit and savour their delicious cuisines because there isn't many thai restaurants available in town currently. You can find them at ;

Tam Nak Thai Restaurant

Unit 5/G5, Ground & 1st Floor,

Api-Api Centre, KK.

Tel: 088- 258 328

English Tea House & Restaurant, Sandakan.

Fancy a place to have a nice tea break session chilling, catching up with friends and family while taking a break from the hustle bustle of a city life? This is the place to be. Apart from serving fine teas from around the world, they also serve a variety of cakes and pastries along with a la carte selections of traditional English specialties and of course local Asian favorites,  they do not sell pork though.

 a place where you can also have a game of lawn croquet and its free for both adults and children

This place is able to accomodate up to 250 guests and its a perfect location to held a large garden parties, weddings and other business or personal events. They also do provide a range of wedding anniversaries and birthday packages that can be held in one of their gazebos which also opens for public when there's not function on anytime of the day.

my lil cousin who is so happy with her soft drink 

 they do serve juices too, and its fresh :) not packaged or anything close to that

a very rich chocolate filled dessert with a cherry on top!

 New york cheese cake, which is simply oh so delicious.

Tuna  Club sandwich , they do serve a varieties of Western delights and the portion is usually huge too, you can share it with another person definitely .

 Their home made burger, look at the thickness of the meat patty and the portion of the potato wedges!

and of course, a varieties of tea sets. 

This set is the most expensive tea sets among all that is available there which is the Royal Tea Set.

 

If you ask me personally what do I think about the price of the food and beverages here, I can honestly tell you that the price is actually quite reasonable for a coffee house / a restaurant but not for all the items. What I meant by reasonable is because they're charging the food at a higher cost but the portion is huge, service is considered top notch and the food quality is definitely there. It all depends on what you're looking for.

Been there twice and it's still my favorite place and I'm pretty sure its the same for the locals and tourists there too as they always have customers patronizing this place despite of its price.

Experience the lush, tropical greenery and cool breezes while you enjoy spectacular views of the town and bay. Relax with a cocktail in hand, socialize with friends and family under a gazebo or enjoy a wide selection of beverages at the long bar.

Award winning restaurant :) 

If you would like to know more about this place, do check them out at this link :) 

English Tea House , Kota Kinabalu

p/s: I don't know if some of you are aware of this restaurant in KK which is located near Jesselton but honestly, that branch can't beat the original branch that is located in Sandakan in my personal opinion. You really got to just try this place in order to notice the differences :)

Agnes Keith House or " Newlands" , Sandakan.

In 1934, she married Henry G. Keith, known as Harry. Keith, was an Englishman working as Conservator of Forests and Director of Agriculture for the government of North Borneo under the Chartered Company, and was also Honorary Curator of the Sandakan (State) Museum. He had worked in Borneo since 1925, and was based in Sandakan. Agnes spent an idyllic five years at Sandakan, sometimes accompanying her husband on trips into the interior of the country. Harry persuaded her to write about her experiences and enter it in the 1939 Atlantic Monthly Non-fiction Prize contest. 

It all began when Harry was ordered back to Borneo when war was declared on 3rd September 1939 from Canada. Almost a year later their first child, Henry George Newton Keith, known as George, was born in Sandakan on 5 April 1940. 

The Japanese invading forces landed in Sandakan on 19 January 1942. For the first few months of occupation, the Keiths were allowed to stay in their own home. On 12 May Agnes and George were imprisoned on Pulau Berhala near Sandakan, in a building that had once been the Government Quarantine Station, along with other Western women and children. Harry was imprisoned nearby. After eight months Agnes and George were sent to Kuching, Sarawak by a small steamer on 12 January 1943 and arrived on January 20 and imprisoned in Batu Lintang, Kuching. Harry later arrived at the camp and the camp was finally liberated on 11 September 1945 by the 9th Australian Army Division under the command of brigadier T.C. Eastick. All three members of the Keith family had survived their internment. In later years, Agnes and Harry had one other child a daughter, Jean Allison Keith, born on August 30, 1947, in Sandakan.

During the war times, although punishable by death if discovered, many inmates of the camp, both civilian and POW, kept diaries and notes about their imprisonment and thus all the information was used in her books and some pictures or old notes can now be found in this historical site. I found it rather interesting that they showed all kinds of equipments and furnitures used by the Keith's family in their house such as the fridge that mentioned they are the ones who introduced the first ice cream to the natives in Sabah, the doll that she made for her child during war to keep and hide all of her notes about their imprisonment which later was turned into famous books of hers, the settings of her house displays was kept like how it was before.

After the war the Keiths returned to Sandakan to find the house destroyed thus they built a new house in 1946-47 on the original footprint and in a similar style to the original. They named this house Newlands and lived there until they left Sabah in 1952. After nearly 50 years of gradual deterioration, first under tenants and then as an empty shell, the house was restored by Sabah Museum in collaboration with the Federal Department of Museums and Antiquities in 2001. The house is a rare survival of post-war colonial wooden architecture that was opened to the public in 2004 and is a popular tourist attraction. It contains displays on Agnes and Harry Keith as well as information about colonial life in Sandakan in the first half of the twentieth century, and is commonly referred to as the Agnes Keith House.

In this house you're also expected to see many old interesting historical images and there was also a theater room inside the house. One very interesting thing can be found in the bedroom of this house would be a book about Agnes's claiming she had seen something ( a presence of a local native woman ) around the house and one of the image shows that it was in the room when she was just awake and another one was at the staircase of her house. Too bad we're not allow to take any pictures when touring inside the house so be sure to have a lookout when you're actually there.

Apart from that, the Keith's was said to have planted a lot of Orchids back in those days around their house gardens and there were varieties of them. Nowadays, what's left are just those few that are still available in front of their house. 

 Outside the house

This place is definately worth a visit if you're interested and would like to understand more about the whole story of the Keiths family. English Tea House Restaurant is located just right beside the Agnes Keith House.

Address:
Agnes Keith House
Jalan Istana,
90000 Sandakan, Sabah.

Operation hours: 9 am to 5 pm daily

Admission fees: