Some general observations during my Kota Kinabalu trip:1. Pay travel tax first before checking in.
2. The Malaysians really look like us most of the time. And they are definitely warmer to tourists than I expected.
3. I really cannot do a Discovery Travel and Living documentary on Asian food. I’m THAT averse to eating spicy food so help me.
4. No lost in translation moments. 60% of the people we met are Filipinos (coming from Mindanao). I felt like we just went to a random island in the Philippines when I got there.
Once again, a big thanks to Cebu Pacific for the cheap airfare. This is my second international flight this year and is less planned compared to my Hong Kong trip. I was so busy during November that I did the itinerary and costing (that’s just the OC travel person in me talking) just a few days before the actual trip.Carms almost did not make it to the flight. Eds, Daene, Dale (my brother — I get to say that phrase a number of times during my trip), and I had a panic moment while waiting for our flight. But in true Cebu Pac fashion, the flight was delayed and Carm made it 30 mins before the “planned” take-off. Also traded stories with the people (juicy ones, hehe) since we haven’t seen each other for a while. We also drew theories from the “party of 3” idea…well we’re disillusioned, no party of 3 exists (it’s a party of four) and that’s as far as we would like to go, haha.
We stayed at Lavender Lodge for this trip and I got a 2/2 from scoring value-for-money accommodations. The place was spacious and the people are so friendly (big shout out to Daniel and the staff!), and it was great that my “tripmates” are even more sociable than I am so they did the talking most of the time. We asked their opinion regarding our itinerary and they offered alternatives and arranged for our transportation (apparently, public transpo there is not reliable so though it tweaked my budget a bit, it was worth it).
Dropped by a nearby mall to grab dinner and that’s when we realized that there are a lot of Filipinos around. There was a short brownout while we’re eating (welcome to Kota Kinabalu!) which was a bit scary given that we’re in the basement of a mall that we don’t know about hehehe. I ordered a coke float and the ice cream was surprisingly chocolate instead of vanilla…weird, but it tasted great, hehe.
It’s Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park Day! This is the primary reason why we went to Kota Kinabalu in the first place – to soak in the sun. Luck was on our side (at least in this sense) and the day was sunny. Daniel said that it was raining the day before we arrived so seeing the sun was a big sigh of relief.We did the three-island-hop. Went first to the Mamutik island which for me was the best out of the three islands as they have better fishes, great sand, less people. Daene, Dale, and I snorkeled and found the same culprits Daene and I saw in Dive and Trek. They were trailing us (probably trying to gauge if we have food), too bad we don’t have an underwater camera. We then went to Manukan which was the most popular I think and it has the most people. It’s mostly perfect for the “tampisaw” experience…I mostly just ate and listened to my ipod (reflection time) since the fishes were a bit scarce. The we went to Sapi Island where we saw a komodo dragon (I think) and Eds had a Koreanovela moment, too bad it wasn’t documented.
We ate at a nearby restaurant that Daniel recommended…that curry lhaksa and beef rendang was freaking spicy…I’m so happy I ordered a different dish, hehehe. Eds, Dale and I watched Twilight with Malay subs…vampire in Malay is Pontianak. Sorry I just HAVE to say that because I was having a hard time containing my laughter at that moment.
* pictures from Day 1 and 2
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