It’s easy to like El Centro, a new cafe and bar in Kota Kinabalu, where you can go have a bite to eat, indulge in delectable cocktails and have actual conversations with the people you’re with.

So Fresh it still smell of Wood

El Centro, opposite Wisma Merdeka on the block between Kinabalu Daya Hotel on the 1 side and Millemewa on the other, is a welcoming cafe and bar where the furniture are made of re-purposed drift wood, the decor is minimalist, and the emphasis is on people.

Possibly the first non smoking bar in Kota Kinabalu, there’s no smoking inside the restaurant, so if you have to puff, then off to the sidewalk for you.

But with the wide open storefront this is actually quite a social place to be, as you’re not cut-off from the restaurant or the vibe inside.

And now for something a little different

The food is unique amongst Kota Kinabalu’s restaurants. Katie, the owner, has been to interesting corners of the globe and have collected her favourite recipes from her travels, which she is now sharing at El Centro.

There’s tacos, salads and hummus, sandwiches, soups, various sides and desserts.

In her bag of tricks, Katie also has the skills of a bar tender. Bar tenders know cocktails, but Katie knows awesome cocktails.

In May, a delicious flood of tasty cocktails are coming to El Centro and Katie’s friends know what’s in store. Her Bloody Mary has a well established reputation, and already legend of her margarita is rising.

Sunday Brunch

The menu is still evolving to the tastes and feedback of customers, but a few mainstays are well worth having.

Anything with chips is a winner, because El Centro has the secret for the perfect french fry. From amongst the tacos, the Steak Taco is king, and the large Greek Grilled Chicken Foldover or Salad are the most value for money items on the menu.

On Sundays, you can wrap up the weekend with a tasty Sunday Brunch. Fresh, hot breakfast tacos to fill your stomach, and a spicy Bloody Mary to ease you off whatever hangover you might be having.

An easy end to the weekend, and a beautiful start to Sunday morning.

See you at El Centro!

Celebrating a coal free future for Sabah, the Power to the People Party taking place at First Beach in Tanjung Aru next weekend, promises power, and party, for the people!

It’s a serious intention by people who love Sabah to get down to party and celebrate the people’s victory over coal in the state.

The party will be epic, says the organisers, and you must be insane to miss it. They promise all sorts of chaos like an urban market place with absolutely everything.

There will be organic veggies, solar panels, cup cakes, art, all sorts of dancing, capoeira (what’s that? come find out!).

Also, Ultimate Frisbee, Zumba Latin-inspired dance fitness with Michelle Koh, local and wholesome organic food and drinks by Hinompuka Catering.

There’s more: displays with NGOs and Citizen Movements, Green Surf’s Green Energy Campaign celebration of the launch of Project XXX – an exciting new initiative for Sabah, Borneo and the Pacific Rim.

All this to slamming beats curtesy of DJ Fine China, Asian Duo, DJ Phat Brown and Papi Johntoy.

What does it cost? Nothing. It’s people power baby, so be at First Beach Tanjung Aru this 1 April from 17:30 onwards.

Here’s to the People’s Dubs Dubs Dubs!

SabahBah went to Bella Italia Pizzeria & Ristorante the other Monday to sample the all-you-can-eat Monday Pasta Madness promo. At RM30 it really is madness.

The Monday Pasta Madness deal is that you pay RM30 and you can order as much as you can eat from the special menu created for this promotion.

The catch is, you have to finish your plate before you can order the next dish. This is all good and well, but the drawback is that you have to wait a while for the next dish, which could take some time if the restaurant is busy.

Moving on, the Monday Pasta Madness menu is fairly concise with 3 choices each across 4 sections, which are Soups & Salads, Tomato Based Pastas, Dry Style Pastas and Cream Based Pastas.

A quick bit of math and you’ll notice you have a choice of 12 dishes in total.

In the time we were there, between 2 people, we managed to have a soup, a garden salad, and 3 pasta dishes.

The soup was Minestrone, which came out nice and hot and was quite tasty. We also had the Garden Salad, which was crisp and fresh, although the dressing was a tad too tangy for our palates.

A must-have pasta dish for SabahBah is always going to be the Aglio e Olio, which is a fairly basic pasta dish with lots of olive oil, garlic and chili. Bella Italia’s version didn’t disappoint, although they were careful with the chili, perhaps because a large portion of their clientele is westerners, who don’t always appreciate chili as much.

The 2nd pasta dish was the Marina; a pasta with mixed seafood & chili. Again the chili was light and the tomato was prominent, but overall not bad.

The final pasta dish, by which time we were already filling up, was chosen from the cream-based section. For the sake of a balanced review, you see? We chose the Salmone, a rich dish with homemade smoked Salmon and parsley. If you’re a fan of smoked Salmon, you’ll love this dish, but beware, it’s quite heavy, so perhaps not on a nearly-full stomach.

Between the laid back pace of us eating, and having to wait in between courses for the next, we actually filled up good, and positively struggled to finish the last dish.

Bella Italia’s Monday Pasta Madness is value for money and compliments their regular menu, which is well worth checking out.

What’s the Borneo Headhunters Hat? I’m glad you asked. Come on in and I’ll tell you all about it.

But Ultimate players don’t use Frisbees, because that’s the trademarked name for a toy. Ultimate players don’t play with toys; they play with Ultimate discs, usually made by Discraft.

On a playing field, which is roughly the size of a football field, you have 2 teams with 7 players a side. Off the field teams can be as big us up to 30 players a side.

The field is divided into 3 parts. There’s the playing field proper which is a 64m long central playing area, and on each side of this area there’s an 18m end zone, which is where opposing teams score their points.

To score a point, a player of an opposing team has to catch the disc in the other team’s end zone. And that’s the basics. For more detail, read about Ultimate on sabahultimate.com.

Borneo Headhunters Hat

Back to the Borneo Headhunters Hat: it’s an Ultimate tournament, and the Borneo Headhunters Hat 2011 consists of 5 team of 15 players each.

It’s called a Hat, because traditionally individual players would put their name in a hat, which would then be drawn to form new, random teams with.

The principle remains the same, but we have to adjust the teams based on how players rated themselves to ensure a more even balance. It’s not perfect, but usually the teams come out reasonably balance, which makes for great play.

The Borneo Headhunters Hat 2011 takes place this year on 26 February and everybody is invited to come and watch this exciting game.

Check ou the event’s page for more details.

Santa Clause and Santa’s Little Helpers, the Elves, will be scaling Mt. Kinabalu on 13 & 14 December.

But shhhhhh, don’t tell the kids, it’s actually a staff team from Raleigh Borneo raising funds for their Host Country Venturer Programme.

Raleigh Borneo is the local chapter of UK-based Raleigh, which has had a permanent base in Kota Kinabalu since 2002.

Over the years, Raleigh Borneo has facilitated over 3,000 volunteers from around the world to help rural Sabahan communities build basic necessities, such as gravity water feed systems, kindergartens and community halls, in nearly 100 projects.

The Host Country Venturer Programme

The Host Country Venturer Programme enables local youngsters to join Raleigh Borneo by subsiding the cost of their participation and enabling them to make a difference in their own communities.

“So far only RM 13,000 have been raised”, said Yolanda Graham, Raleigh Borneo’s Recruitment, Support & Media Coordinator (and one of the Elves climbing the mountain). “It will help fund just 2 Malaysians in 2011, but we’re hoping to raise enough funds to sponsor 10.”

Yolanda says the focus of Raleigh expeditions are to help youths discover their abilities and develop their confidence, benefitting communities and the environment as they go.

“In short”, she says, “our challenging and purposeful expeditions help make better citizens. And better citizens make a better country.”

More Donors Needed

Donors who have made contributions include Borneo Divers, Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort, Popular Express and JR Pharmacy.

Sutera Sanctuary Lodges have offered lower accommodation fees for the climbers and Sabah Parks has waived entrance and permit fees.

“We are pleased with the encouragement so far. It shows that people are aware of our efforts and believe in our work. We hope more donors will come forward to support our youths and ultimately contribute to the good work throughout Sabah,” said Yolanda.

To make a contribution and donate to this worthy cause, contact Raleigh Borneo at raleighstreamyx.com or call +60 13 880 2134.