Take off to Kota Kinabalu
Okie, finally I start to blog on the beginning of the trip, after a long introduction. Meanwhile you can take a look my bro Aaron's blog on the trip.
The eight of us, separated into 2 groups boarded our booked cabs @ 4.15am at Woodlands MRT and Ang Mo Kio MRT. In the Woodlands cab were Audrey the SME from MOE, Jeremy from 9.38 Live aka my shifu, Prema the only Indian and me the Blogger. In the other cab were Aaron the PR Man, Grace the Ballerina, Kelvin the Quiet one and Mel the Potato.
We passed the customs and reached the bus terminal, where 2 Malaysia cabs were already waiting for our arrivals. My cab reached the terminal first and then the other cab. I remember that everyone was excited and happy when the 8 of us gathered. I thought things like "Yeah", "Finally" and "We are beginning our adventure!". We were so engrossed in talking that I noticed the Malaysia cabbies were impatient and restless.
From there, we travelled for about 45 mins to reach Senai Airport. I remember the journey on the way to Senai Airport was errie. JB was a like ghost town, not much street lights, very few cars and not a single human was sighted in the streets.
We checked in almost immediately when we reached the airport and then while waiting for our flight, we had some food and played daidee at Mary Brown.
The flight was about 2 hours long and the process at boths airports were smooth. Upon arrival we picked up some the precious map. We purchased 2 taxi tickets @ RM20 each from the airport counter and took the taxis to the Kota Kinabalu Central Business District, where we had our first overnight.
About KK
Kota Kinabalu Central Business District is a vibrant and laid-back town that occupies a small area. It is very easy to get around by taxis or your own legs. Hotels, backpackers lodges, shopping places, street-markets are easy to come by. The cost of a taxi ride is very affordable, as any destinations within the CBD is just a flat rate of RM7. Booking of taxi at hotel receptions is free.
It is very safe to walk alone in the day. I would suggest you to bring sunglass, as it is very sunny. Sun block may not be necessary, unless you are visiting Tunku Abdul Rahman Park.
The population consist mainly the indigenous people, Malays, Chinese and I saw only one Indian hehehe throughout. You would come in frequent contacts with the indigenous and Malays. Most of them would prefer to converse in Bahasa Melayu, as they can't speak English well . Basic Bahasa Melayu peppered with some English words would be very useful throughout the holiday.
The Attractions
Want to see beautiful sunsets? Do make visits to the coastal area in the evening where South China Sea is. It is also when the local people at the Wet Market start to setup their business stalls.
Many things like food and souveniers are over priced, so make sure you bargain before making any purchase. Handicrafts are the main selling as souveniers for tourists and they are mainly found at Handicraft Market. Funnily, some of the handicrafts can be found in Phuket, which sells them at a much lower price.
Seafood there is plentiful and is found at Wet Market and Evening Food Stall. Again, make sure you bargain when buying the yummy seafood. Seafood at the Wet Market are fresh and bbq on the spot, but are over priced. Someone tried to sell me a simple-made fish for RM40!
There are a few shopping centres there, but Centre Point was the shopping centre that we visited the most. There are many shops located in there like, hair salons, Giordano, Nike, Mcdonalds, BK, super market, apparel departments, handphone shops, photo shops, money changers and an internet cafe. Do remember to log out any applications after using the internet.
There are many attractions listed on the map, but we didn't have enough time to explore all of them. Some of the attractions we visited were Handicraft Market, Central Market, Wet Market, Pulau Manukan and Sunday Market.
updated on 26-3-08
Finally I'm back to continue this blog... My apologies for this long long long M.I.A. This time i have added KKKakis' theme song, Underneath It All. Read On!
Roaming The Town
We check-in at our first accommodation place, Step In Lodge that is located along Jalan Datuk Chong Thian Vun. FYI, KKKakis lived in different accommodation place every day. We had a rich life in KK haha... Step In Lodge isn't a bad place to be put up at. Breakfast is provided every morning and it has all the facilities that you will need. The surplus would be the internet terminal that you just pay cheaply to use and the security implemented doors. The only complaint we all had, was the damn water supply! The landlord very stingy lor... The current of the water was so weak that I need 20 minutes to wash the shampoo of my hair!
We had 2 dormitory air-con rooms that have 4 beds each. Just nice for the 8 of us, 4 ladies and 4 gentlemen. The ladies got their rooms first, as the gentleman's room wasn't ready till 1 hour later. So for the time being, we put our big backpacks at the ladies' room and we had our first meal of the day at a coffeeshop, which is just a pebble's throw away. I like the setting at the coffeeshop, as it was the first time the KKKakis had their first meal together and thinking back, that simple round dining table seems to have a meaning for us. All of us had tom yum noodle that tasted more like to laksa to me, except Prema who had chicken rice that tasted like chicken rice you find in Singapore. Poor choice Prema~ Hahahaaha!
An hour or more later, we went back to our lodge. We changed into our comfy clothes, style our hairs, contact lenses on and gave answers to nature calls. As for the 2 sleep sisters, Prema and Audrey, would be sleep... zzzZZZzz...
The rest of KKKakis greeted good night to the sleep buddies and off we roamed the town of KK! There was no thought of work in Singapore and it was carefree and relaxed again... WEEEEEE! For the first part, we wondered aimlessy from the area around our lodge to KK Plaza, cam whored at the pier, window shopped at Handicraft market and Central Market. Look out for the preserved frog's skin purse at Handicraft Market. I find it hard to digest my digestive juice at the first sight.
We cam whored ourselves throughout. I like the part when we took pics at the pier. At mid-afternoon, we chilled out at a cafe in KK Plaza and that was where we heard the song “Underneath It All”. It was this phrase “um um um Underneath it all” that made us caught on it. We had some laughter over some statements and jokes and the most memorable one would be “orh leng joo”.
After the chill out, the sleep sistas woke up and walked to join us and so the KKKakis were together again, together this special group 8 people walked towards the direction of Signal Hill. We scaled the overhead bridge at KK Plaza and cam-whored at the fountain of Tugu Peringatan Malaysia (Malaysia Memorial Monument). We wanted to go up to the Signal Hill Observatory to catch the sunset, but looking at the map we thought it would take half of our lives to reach there. We made an enquiry at the police station situated along Jalan Balai Polis and the Cikgu Police told us there isn't a shortcut to there. And so we decided to play some games at Merdeka Field.
It was crazy... weren't KKKakis supposed to conserve energy for conquer Mount KK? They didn't care and KKKakis had lot of fun playing at the field, which has a signboard that says a permit is needed to use it.
Firstly it was Frisbee and first of the first, it was a 4 vs 4 match. I can't remember well who was in which team, but I think it was Aaron, Audrey, Grace and Kelvin vs Jeremy, Mel, Prema and me.
Secondly of the firstly and also the lastly of the firstly, was match between the handsomes and the yandaos, as Aaron and Kelvin pitted against Jeremy and me. As for the ladies, they were at the side cheering for us and oogling at us (the blogger disclaim and has no responsibility over this information). Secondly, which comes after firstly, was a walking competition between Aaron and Prema. The rest of us were seated at the side enjoyed seeing how Aaron outwitted Prema, even as she was given a good 30 metres head start. Lastly, which comes after secondly that comes after firstly, we had yoga sessions haha.
We had our first part of dinner the Wet Market. The lovebirds (Grace and Kelvin) decided to have their own dinner at Kenny Rogers in Centre Point.We visited the Handicraft Market on our way, as we show Prema and Audrey the frog skin pouch. Prema was also looking to buy the tongkat ali cup for her friend, but it was not sold.
When we arrived at the Wet Market, there were food stalls already set up, while some are in the process of it. These food stalls operators make their catches at the nearby South China Sea in the day and sell them in the evening. The Sea creatures such as fishes, prawns, crabs and squids are bbq in the open and then displayed for sale. If i remember correctly, we bought 1 fish, 1 squid and 2 giant prawns. Although they were cooked without any seasoning, they were tasty. Do remember to bargain with the stall operators, as they sell the food at a cut-throat price.
After our food tasting at the Wet Market, we strolled to Center Point, to meet the couple at Kenny Rogers for our real dinner. Within minutes I sat in this restaurant, I began to stone... The lethargic effect started to kick in... I stoned, as I ate the chicken thigh...
We made a last minute shopping for our items. We bought mineral waters and additional batteries for our headlamps from the supermarkets and some socks.There are many cheap salons in the shopping mall and I was very tempted to dye my hair. Jeremy then suggested for us to go into the arcade and we pitted each other in Daytona.
It was after 10pm when we got back to our lodge. We prepared our stuff and did some planning for the next day. We would be embarking on our ascent on Mount KK the next day. I still remember the toruring experience at the stupid lodge.
Well its was a very pleasant first day into the trip anyway~ Good night my friends....
updated on 13 May: I stop here for now.. haiz.. the first day isn't completed yet. Pictures and videos would be uploaded another time. I be back!
