Day 4 in Kota Kinabalu on 3 Jan 2010 (Mangrove fishing and Little Italy Restaurant)

I'd decided to do a bit of luring (using lures ie fake baits) from 1pm to 5pm at the Papar area. The cost was about RM 200 for 4 hours on a simple boat with minimal shelter up and down the river (not Papar river).

Despite changing lures a couple of times and even resorting to the boatman's famous dead-fish bait to target Mangrove Jacks and estuary cods, it was a zero fighter trip - not even a bite or tug at the lures or baits. So it was just 4 hours of crusing up and down the river in the hot sun (ugh) which had quite a no of other people fishing in it too (maybe the river has been been overfished). Still, we got to see where the river meets the ocean - look at that picture below! That's one of the reasons why I feel that any fishing trip I go to (fishless or otherwise) is never a waste because of the beauty of nature that one is privileged to behold on such trips.

After fishing, we got back to the hotel about 5pm and set off to have some durians as usual. These are the last two durians that I polished off on this KK trip.

For dinner, we decided not to have seafood for a change and to go to the much advertised Little Italy Restaurant located at Hotel Capitol (near Gaya Street). This is a picture of the restaurant which I took on the first day. The restaurant was really crowded and one has to queue for a table. We waited about 10 mins before being ushered to a table and given the menus. The staff there are really friendly and speak good English. The restaurant was patronised by a mix of locals and foreigners (caucasians) and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

I ordered the Arrabbiatissima which is described on the menu as the hottest of the new spicy hot pasta (tomato base with hot chillis). This is how it looked when served. The Slog Reviews: 5/10. Yes, it was hot and spicy but surely, a dish should come with some ingredients, even a light sprinkling of minced meat? Well, this dish had no ingredients which meant it was just a carbo-dish with some veg (tomato and chili) and I did not finish most of it.

We also shared a Hawaiian thin-crust pizza. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. The pizza was fabulous - the crust was delicately thin and done just right (no burnt edges, no parts doughy) and the plentiful ingredients were spread out evenly with just the correct amount of cheese melted in to the mix. A must-try at the restaurant, I would say! Eating this left me craving for more pizza when I got back to Singapore.

My companion also ordered this dish to share - I thought it was squid/calamari (sotong) at first but I turned out to be wrong. I am not sure of the name of this dish but it is a mix of the most delightful ingredients comprising largely of cheese and cream. There were 6 pieces and I had only one because it was so sinfully rich. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. Cheese-lovers will enjoy this creamy concoction. "Yummilicious"!

After dinner, I was much too stuffed to move but my companion and his friends wanted to have coffee and supper and talk about old times so we adjourned to a corner coffeeshop at Gaya Street where my companion had reunited with a noodle-seller from Sibu in the morning. The store sells mostly specialities from Sibu.

I am not sure what the name of this dish is but it is particular to Sibu (the name is written on a yellow plague on the wall behind the store - the dishes are obstructing the view). The Slog Reviews: 7/10. A thick warm soupy combination much like Singapore's mee hoon kway but without the egg.