One of the nice things about working in the retail industry is that you get to visit a lot of places. Often these are what we call flying visits, that is we zoom into town, do what we need to do and go off again. But we do get to see some nice places, taste some of the local food and get to know the people staying there.
G-Mart stores are located prominently in little towns and away from the city. To operate in a community, you have to a part of it, providing benefits to the people, creating employment and business opportunities. We have people from all walks of life, making it an interesting working environment. The more you get to know people, the more you discover how people are basically the same. They have the same needs and aspirations.
- Sipitang Waterfront
G-Mart Store In Sipitang
G-Mart Sipitang has been in operation since March 2009. It is easy to get to since Sipitang isn’t a large town. Located at the waterfront, it is a nice place to take the family out to. You get to do your shopping, and then get something to eat at the waterfront.
- G-Mart Sipitang
G-Mart Sipitang carries the usual range of food stuff, fresh produce and merchandise you would find at any modern supermarket.The supermarket takes up the ground floor, and the clothing and household departments are on the first floor.
Sipitang Town
Sipitang town is about 150km south from Kota Kinabalu city. The main industry in Sipitang is timber related, while the locals are also involved in farming and fishing. I have read that the population is Sipitang is less than 60,000, mainly malays and other bumiputra (local races). The Kadazandusun and Chinese makes up perhaps 15% of the population.
It is also the nearest town to the Sarawak border, the nearest town is Sabah is Beaufort, some 45km away. Traveling time from Kota Kinabalu to Sipitang is 2 hours. The route is easy to drive on, and you drive through mostly undeveloped land. I always find the journey interesting. I am not aware of any tourist places to visit in Sipitang. The most famous one being the Klias Wetlands near Beaufort. This is a wonderful place to take a river cruise and see the Proboscis monkeys. While you are there, take an evening cruise the experience the sight of a million fireflies.
Staying there
There isn’t any hotels in Sipitang. Whenever I travel there, I stay at Billion Motel, about 2km from the town centre. Nothing fancy, but it is clean and costs RM60. The other motel is SFI Motel, slightly further down the road, but I’ve not been there before. As for the other motels in town, I really advise you to avoid them. I’ve stayed in one of them once, and left at 6.00am to check into Billion Motel. It was a cleanliness issue. Overall, unless you are there on business, there isn’t really much to see.
Do you know any other nice hotel or motel in Beaufort?
Man-D, I always stay in Melda hotel, across the road from G-Mart. A good price, clean rooms, firm bed and a powerful shower. That’s about all I care about after a long day.
The other place is Jasta-Ria. At least, I think that’s the name. It’s new and I’ve yet to stayed there.
OK, thanks for the info…