Tuaran

as a prominent landmark.

Nearby tourist attractions are the "Mengkabong Water Village" and the "Penimbawan Water Village", with stilt houses built by the Bajaus over the shore. There are three big resorts in Tuaran District: The Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort, the Mimpian Jadi Resort, and the Sabandar Resort. In addition, there are several small 'resorts' offering accommodation, food, and water activities.

The town has the great advantage for being a stopover town for travellers from the north towns (Kudat, Kota Marudu, Kota Belud, and Tenghilan) to the state capital, Kota Kinabalu which is 34km to the south of Tuaran. The town has been expanding fast and but is now limited by the Tuaran river which borders the town on three sides, almost circling it.

Every Sunday morning, Tuaran town holds a big natives' open market known as "Tamu" by the Sabahans. Harvests of produce from nearby villages and valleys are brought to the market, such as fruits, vegetables, handicrafts, fish, homemade traditional cakes, traditional homegrown tobacco, and so on. The tamu supplies many great photo opportunities for tourists. The variety of goods to be seen is very impressive for the visitor. The Tuaran tamu is second only to the one in Kota Belud in terms of size and exotica.

The name Tuaran is believed to have come from the Malay word "tawaran" which means 'bargaining' or 'sale'. This presumably reflects on the town's earlier role as a market where natives from the hillside villages brought their produce for trading with the coastal Chinese and other indigenous peoples.

Local Drink

Tuaran is the home of the Lotud who is famous for their unique traditional liquor, called "bahar" (toddy made from coconut sap mixed with a special kind of tree bark known locally as rosok which makes the sap colored red). This drink has been confirmed by chemists to have a high content of anti-oxidants. It is unfortunate, however, that this drink would taste very pungent and unpleasant to the uninitiated, and it goes bad very fast, becoming sour within a day.

Local Cuisines

Tuaran mee, literally known as 'noodle of Tuaran' is a famous hawker dish of Sabah. The noodles is specially made from batter of egg yolk and flour, which gives the aroma of egg when fried. Frying usually takes about 5-10 mins in high heat that leaves a texture of golden crust at the bottom of the noodles. Local vegetables such as "sawi" are added in during frying. Before serving, the dish usually garnished with slices of "charseow", i.e. the Chinese sweetened roast pork, and fried egg rolls.

External link: [http://hinching.com/2006/03/19/authentic-tuaran-noodles/ Authentic Tuaran Noodles - Hinching]

Photo Gallery

References