Category: Land Below the Wind – Kota Kinabalu

Final part of KK trip. Hmmm… Time to hunt for ticket for the next destination.

Kinabalu Park on the third day. Stopped by this building that looked like battery hahah… Yayasan Sabah Tower. Lucky that the sky was clear to see the mountain when we were on the way to Kinabalu Park.

We arrived Nabalu Town for a rest. Clear blue sky with the view of magnificent mountain. Lovely! Bought the pineapple there, a-must to try. This is the only pineapple I can eat, sweet and juicy, didn’t sting or made my tongue itchy. I never like pineapple.

Left: After the brief stop, we headed to Kinabalu Park. We’re only at the visitor centre. The air was so cooling… Miss this kind of fresh cool breeze… Was just wearing a sleeveless blouse, feeling the breeze on every inch of my skin, not cold at all but just nice.

Right: Next, to Poring but we had lunch first at Nongling Restoran Poring before going for short hike, canopy walk, and dipping in the hot spring.

Let’s see if I can identify any food I ate haha… Overall food was average but at least you can feel the freshness of the ingredients. Was stuffed! Quite a lot for 5 of us (a Chinese lady joined us in our tour).

Left: Fried rice. Not bad.
Right: Corn soup, too sticky, too thick. Not my kind of soup. However, taste wasn’t bad.

Left: Mixed vegetables, ok also.
Right: We tried hard to figure out this dish, sweet and sour fish? Couldn’t taste any fish but flour. Two thumbs down.

Left: Chicken meat cooked with not-sure-what hahaha… Just average.
Right: The curry prawn was spicy but not too spicy. This is acceptable.

Left: Very fresh vegetables but too bad we had difficulty finishing it, felt very wasted. I don’t know the name.
Right: After lunch, we went to the hot spring. A stream just right below the bridge we walked.

We went on a hike to reach the canopy walk. A very easy hike, just a matter of how much stamina you have. Finally we reached the canopy walk. Thought it will be very scary but actually it’s not. The harder you hold on to the rope, the shakier it will be. No need to be nervous, just walk gracefully. Each time, only 6 persons can walk.

Left: Cold water pool. The water is from the mountain, cold! Took a lot of courage to dip ourselves in there. Brr… After got in, it’s not so bad.

Right: Hot spring. Hot! Have to mix with the cold mountain water. Can feel the slipperiness on your skin when you dip in there. Sure has curing properties which consist of hot sulphuric minerals. The lady who followed us was bitten by mosquitoes throughout her 3 days trip and after she dipped in there, the redness subsides and no longer feeling itchy. Me too. I’m always a mosquito magnet anyway.

We didn’t spend much time there, quick dip only as I requested the tour to include Desa Milk Farm. The views on the way to Kundasang. Passed by Kundasang War Memorial Park. A memorial built to remember heroes who have suffered or perished during the tragic ‘Sandakan Death March’. There are three gardens, Australian Garden, the English Garden and the Borneo Garden.

We’re here! You can see them milk the cow and the pack the milk.

This is the building where you can see the milking of the cow, packing of milk, and buying the dairy products produced by the farm. The ice cream (RM5) wasn’t creamy and milky enough, still better than Sunny Hill’s. The yogurt (RM3) was great on its own, not too sour. While the milk (RM3.50) was fresh, I like the milk. Finished the whole container of yogurt before the dinner and almost 500ml of the milk in a night after very big dinner. Luckily no “colon cleansing” that night.

The New Zealand of Sabah heheh… Sure has has the feel. The breeze was cooling. The view was amazing!

That’s the end of our tour.

At night, we went for seafood at New Luyang Restaurant (Shop No. 1, Luyang Phase 1, Jalan Kolam 838300, KK, Sabah) famous for crab. I have no idea of most of the food as I wasn’t the one ordering it, I contributed my stomach only ;p The total bill came up RM130.50, considered quite reasonable.

Left: I have no idea what’s this, I didn’t pay attention.
Right: Another vegetable that I don’t know the name hahaha…

Left: The signature crab, Kam Heong Crab. Very fresh crab and the lots of roe in there. Oh my cholesterol ;p Very aromatic indeed. Dried shrimp is one of the ingredients. I suspected that I had allergy attack right after eating it and developed itch that lasted 48 hours. I used to have allergy from eating crab when I had too much. It’s been almost 20 years I’ve not suffer from this. It’s ok… Not that bad actually, could stand the itch without needing any medical attention ;p Just rolled myself like a sushi in my blanket when I slept when I got home to Kuching. It came out full force the night I got back to Kuching.

Right: Deep fried pomfret, really big for us to finish. Fish was fresh, should get them to steam it instead of frying.

That’s the end of our final night in KK.

The next morning, we decided to walk around town as our flight was in the afternoon. Had not eaten Sheng Rou Mien since coming here so tried hunting for it in Chinese coffee shops.


Couldn’t find it and we tried our luck at Seng Hing Coffee Shop (Block E, Lot 10, Sinsuran Complex, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah). They didn’t serve that but we had sat down and ordered the Tuaran Mee (left) and Balsam-pear aka bitter gourd Beehoon (right). Don’t quite remember the prices, total was around RM12 inclusive of a canned drink. The two noodle dishes were just normal to me, nothing to wow. I’m just not a fan fried noodle.

We’re told Sheng Rou Mien can be found just at the next row *LOL* After we got out of the coffee shop, then I looked to the left as I was waiting for my mom who went to the toilet. Oh! There it is! Kedai Kopi Kim Hing Lee (Blk F, Lot 7, Sinsuran Complex). Saw the signboard saying “KK first sheng rou mien” at the back alley. We did walk there but from the front, didn’t notice because it’s pretty hidden. This photo here is the front, not obvious what’s more I didn’t do research on where to have this in KK 😛 Even if I did, I still missed the shop.

Since, we’re full, so we ordered just one bowl of soup sheng rou mien to try. It’s RM8 per bowl (if not mistaken). Very different from the sheng rou mien in Kuching. The Kuching version has clearer soup. It was good, still I prefer the one in Kuching even though it’s originated from KK. The soup in Kuchinng is improvised to suit the taste of Kuchingites I guess.

Done! That’s the end of my KK trip. Where next? Thinking of going back to Perth this year end, the flight ticket is so cheap! Well… We’ll see…

Second day, Island Hopping Day! Supposed to be going to Kinabalu Park but the guide called up the night before to inform us that it’s better to go on the second day because of the weather condition.

The tour guide came to pick us up from our staying place to Jesselton Point to take a speedboat to the islands.

Blue blue sea…

Departed at around 9.45am with another group of Malaysian tourists.

First island was Sapi Island. Seriously, you must go snorkeling or at least play at the beach. Otherwise there’s really nothing much to do. The snorkeling gear was included in the boat fare. Goodness! It’s was so bright and hot, at around 10am. I snorkeled for about an hour… Very tanned now 😛

Off I changed and get ready to snorkel! My first time. Took me quite a number of attempt to master the technique. I never thought that I’ll be doing this and I did! Awesome experience. Maybe scuba next… Need to sign up for the course hahah… We’ll see…

Left: Can see the fish already even if you don’t snorkel. However, if you snorkel, then you will see even more interesting ones. I had fun. Very exciting to see those fishes swimming around you and you’re swimming along with them. You must wear the life jacket when snorkeling. If you do not know how to swim, you still can do it. Not a problem at all. Don’t ever ever try to walk in there, the corals aren’t soft at all! I tried standing and accidentally kicked one, wow… Painful! That’s why a life jacket is a must, save you from hurting your feet as you’re floating.

Right: Around 12.15pm, BBQ lunch was served. Have to queue up with other tourists to be served at the buffet line. Full! Everything was great except the fried rice and bee hoon hahah… The satay was nice but very small, tasted much better than the one we had at Tanjung Aru.

At about 1.15pm, we went to another island, very small one, nothing much there, Mamutik Island. Due to unforeseen circumstance, I had to changed back to my dry clothes before lunch at Sapi Island, no snorkeling for me here. Was planning to wear my swimsuit all the way here and snorkel again. It didn’t materialize. See how pristine the water is?

The islands were really nice! However, the toilet and changing room facilities made me cringed -.-” Oh dear… Yuck…

My advise is that, wear your bikini/swimsuit inside, reach the island, just take off your clothes at the beach. Don’t bother going to the changing room. After playing in the water, just shower off the salt water from your body. Continue wearing your swimsuit with an outerwear to another island. When it’s time to go back to the main island, just wear your clothes back, your swimsuit will dry from the sun and wind, don’t wear anything thick. For my case, because of the material of my swimsuit, it’s not easy to dry ;p So, choose easy to dry material. Head back to your accommodation after island hoping to clean up and get ready for dinner.

We left the island around 3 something.

Left: The drink we bought at the jetty. Seaweed drink great for thirst and cool down your body after being under the sun for hours. Tasted quite refreshing.

Right: We were sent back to your staying place and the evening was our free time. We decided to go the market near our apartment because it’s only 5pm and hunt for dinner. It’s Filipino Night Market. Lots to see there.

Bought some langsat there only. We didn’t dare to eat the food there afraid of getting stomach upset ;p Just looked around only. The Handicraft Market is also there, bought nothing. They’re similar to what you can find in Sarawak.

After the market, we decided to just walked over to Oceanus Mall for dinner at Nando’s 😛 That’s the end of Day 2. It was really tiring but fun.

One week ago, flew to Sabah, Land Below the Wind. Bought the flight ticket on impulse last year in October. Then about one month before the flight, bought another two tickets for my parents. It’s just too cheap to resist. I didn’t do much research on this trip. Just looked for places to go and look for tour guide. Way too lazy to do research *LOL* Good thing I have friend who recommended a tour guide for us and I booked him for 2-day tour. If you need a tour guide in KK, pop me a message and I can introduce them to you. Managed to get in touch with a few when I was there.

We took the first flight out. Had to go to the airport at 3.30am. Once we reached there, we went to Kuo Man Restaurant (Lot 5, Jalan Tuaran, Batu 1 1/2, 88450, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah). Fish for breakfast! A restaurant with at least 30 years of experience.

Right: fish paste dry noodle.

Left: Fish meat soup with noodle.
Right: Fish paste soup with noodle.

Right: Prawn soup with noodle.

All these cost us RM40+ including drinks. I heard the noodle is home made. I have no idea of this place. I did not research on any place to eat in KK *LOL* Good thing dad’s friend picked us up and bring us here. The food was nice, could taste the freshness of the fish and prawn.

After breakfast, we went to visit Sabah Theological College (didn’t take any photo). The view that greeted us along the way. Magnificent mountain view!

After a brief visit, to Signal Hill we went. Took some photos and left to join a church service at Christ Church Likas.

Around noon, finally we check-in to our accommodation, Promenade Service Apartment (Api Api Showhouse, Jalan Coastal Off Jalan Centre Point, 88000, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, 88000). Wasn’t sure where it was apparently it’s behind Promenade Hotel and Marina Court Resort. Just next door to Hong Leong Bank. The place is kind of run down.

The place needs major makeover and maintenance even though the photo I took looks all right. However, the location is very strategic. Do not expect that the apartment is only in one block or can access directly via lift from the lobby, it’s not. There’s many blocks, it’s scattered. For our unit, we had to walk a distant to our block. You’ll be sharing the entrance, corridor, walkway with tenants there but not to worry as there’s security guard stationed at each of the entrance. It was quite cheap, cost us less than RM400 for 3 nights, can sleep 4 adults, spacious enough to add extra beds. It was good enough for us even though was a bit disappointed with what we got. Well… What you pay is what you get, don’t expect too much.

After rest for a bit, my friend called me up saying that she’s going to Tanjung Aru and asked me whether I would like to go with them. Of course I agreed in an instance. I didn’t have to crack my head on where to go anymore. I was trying to figure out how to go to 1Borneo that time and the call came in time. Phew…

Since we had not had lunch, we had ours at the food court there. Full! I didn’t take any food photo ;p We had satay, corn, guava, keropok lekor, and coconut juice. Only the keropok lekor was good. All the rest was rather disappointing. You can “fool” the foreigners but you us, the Malaysians. *LOL* Even my friend, a Sabahan, agreed that the food was below standard.

We decided to pay a visit to Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru. Pretty! Wish someone is here with me… Enjoyed the sea breeze and the view. Really nice place. If I have the budget I would stay here, only in my dream hahaha…

Back to the city after that. Tried figuring out how to go to 1Borneo but found out the free shuttle bus has ceased service since last year. Forget it then… We just walked around the area not sure where to go ;p Tried to find places from my phone but hopeless haha… No sense of direction at all. We went back to our accommodation for a rest while figure out where to go for dinner.

So we ended up at Little Italy (Ground Floor, Hotel Capital, Jalan Haji Saman, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.) by taking a taxi which cost us RM12. Can walk but cannot walk anymore. What’s more, no sense of direction. Didn’t want to think anymore, taxi it is. Everyone asked me to try this place out so here I was.

Left: Ordered salad, Insalata di Rucola (RM20) which consists of lettuce, rucola leaves, cherry tomatoes and Parmesan cheese with balsmic vinegar dressing. Very sour but refreshing.

Right: Ordered pizza of course. Proscuitto E Funghi (large, RM29.90), basic pizza topped with sliced mushrooms and turkey ham. Nice aroma! We should have order the regular one instead of large. Took us quite a fair bit of effort to finish it up. It’s topped with loads of ingredients, very tasty. However, the more I ate, the saltier it got, that’s why it was hard to finish at the end.

Very filling meal. Cost us RM70.55 inclusive of one drink, service charge, and government tax. Verdict? It’s Ok. Environment not bad, food above average. Didn’t get to try other food so can’t really comment much.

Since it’s RM12 to come over, there’s no way for us to call it a night just like that. We walked to Suria Sabah Shopping Mall for window shopping. Then, we took a taxi back which cost us RM15. Basically, if you are to take taxi to Gaya Street area, it’s between RM12-RM15. If you are to walk from where we’re living, Jalan Api-Api, it’ll take about 30 minutes provided if you don’t lost your way hahaha…

That’s the end of day one. Tired… Woke up so early and ended the night at 10pm. Island hoping the next day.