This morning my grandchildren and I boarded the North Borneo Railway steam train from the Tg Aru train station in Kota Kinabalu to Papar, a town 38.5 kilometers away.
When they were toddlers, aged 3 and 4, we would follow, in my car, the train from Tg Aru station up to Putatan every Saturday because they loved watching the train puffing its cloud of steam and its whistle as it neared level crossings.
Now that they are in their early teens, I thought it would be great if we all take the train to Papar.
Along the way they would be able to see the small towns en route as well as rural scenes.
Indeed, they got to see mangrove swamps,
padi ( rice ) fields, two Buddhist temples
and best of all, how the steam engine turned around on the turntable so that it could pull the carriages back on its return journey to Kota Kinabalu.
Continental breakfast was served on board just as the train chuffed out of the Tg Aru station. Our cabin attendants were very friendly and cheerful. We had a small basket of croissants and Danish pastries served with honey, jam and butter and the local black coffee was very aromatic.
Lunch ( local food ) was served in tiffin carriers just before we left Papar en route back to Kota Kinabalu. This was a quaint touch.
It reminded me of the days during the fifties when tiffin carriers were commonly used to hold food and transported to customers either in their work place or homes. We also used tiffin carriers to buy cooked food from shops, either for lunch or dinner. We never used plastic or Styrofoam in those days. If we didn’t use a tiffin carrier, the food, if it were fried, then it would be placed on a banana leaf and wrapped up in paper.
What was inside our tiffin carriers?
Mixed local fresh fruit
Nasi briyani, mixed vegetables and 2 gravy covered satay sticks and a piece of fried mackeral. The children had a chicken drumstick each.
Except for the hot weather and intense noonday heat, the outing was an enjoyable one, a good experience for my grandchildren.
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