I decided to make a trip to this laid-back inland town called Tenom when I dropped by my "2nd home" at Keningau last weekend.
We were not quite sure when was the last time we visited this place until we tried to locate the wet market to look for the famous "Tenom Yong Tau Fu" and "Chun Kien (minced pork wrapped in egg omelette)" food outlet. Of course we also wanted to try the Tenom coffee as it was coffee that made Tenom famous. I was very certain I was at the right spot but the wet market was just nowhere to be found. Not satisfied, we asked the lady manning the little store by the building veranda. She told us "Ya, this used to be the wet market but it has been converted into a shopping complex with many stores selling all kinds of things - clothing, souvenirs, handicrafts etc". We were told to go further down the road to look for the new wet market and of course the "Yong Tau Fu".
Somehow, we didn't find the "Yong Tau Fu" and "Chun Kien" that were said to be fantastic. May be that was not the correct famous store! We noticed that by the time we arrived at late morning, some of the other stores had already closed up for the day. The one which was still operating at this late morning could be the not so good one!
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The Murut Cultural Centre where we stopped to visit along the way back to Keningau evoked many fond memories as well as many sighs.
At the Centre, the prominent feature that instantly drew our attention was the one-whole-tree-trunk pillars.
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| Mulut Cultural Centre. |
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As a family, we visited this place some 11 years ago.
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| Old timber shops at Melalap. |
We made a detour to a little outpost called Melalap between Tenom and Keningau to find this only row of old timber shop houses. I remember during its hey days, this place (when I visited this place with our church youth group way back in the 60's) was a thriving town as a rubber collection centre. Practically, all smallholders sent their rubber to this town. The rubber was then sent down by train to KK port for export.
The place is now almost abandoned. We don't see any initiative being implemented for it to regain it's glorious days.
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The trip ended with a durian feast. We ate so much we had to defer our dinner that evening!
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I like the big compound of this 2nd home which is good for evening stroll and contemplation. In the morning, the mist descended even to the compound of the house. Almost fairy-tale-like.
