Kota Kinabalu, Sabah 2017

Dates of Travel

5 - 8 March 2017

My family decided to go to Sabah, for my sister's and my birthday as our last family getaway was in 2013 I believe.

We stayed at The Pacific Sutera Resort and you can find the review soon.

Pasar Malam - Night Market

My mother wanted to buy dried salted fish and we headed to their local Pasar Malam which means Night Market in Malay. There's a whole stretch of Pasar Malam along Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens where you can buy dried goods to Filipino made handicrafts to a wet market!

fresh and dried goods

 In the wet market portion, goods such as fresh vegetables and fruits are being sold. Look at how beautiful and big the onions are!

Pasar Malam

 There's even an area where they sell non-food items.

wet market portion selling huge chunks of tuna

 Of course, the wet market area sells all types of seafood! The cockles and clams are almost as big as your palms.

selling squid

 We walked on and found a stall that cooks the seafood you've selected.

Clams Vs. iPhone 6

 We had huge clams almost the size of your palms or even about half the size of my iPhone 6.

lobster and prawns

 The stall also sold lobster which is bigger than the regular trays you see in the food court.

Parrot fish

I also had Parrot Fish for the first time. I've always seen parrot fishes whenever I go diving as they're so colourful and pretty, it was pretty weird to see them on the table being served to me for dinner.

We ordered a total of RM190 worth of steamed parrot fish, clams, vege and squid. I would say it is quite expensive for a place like this though it is for 4 pax. I felt quite apprehensive as the whole area was dirty and a little bit dodgy. It is still quite an experience to eat at a place like this as you're eating where the local Malays would eat, but you have to watch out for your belongings!

Island Hopping

Because we stayed at Sutera Habour, we just decided to go to the habour attached to the resort instead of going to another habour/port. This way we could save time on travelling and just sleep in. It is definitely more expensive of course, but we felt it was worth it.

Sutera Habour

There's two ways you can go island hopping. First way to is travel to Jesselton Point Habour. Go to any travel agent located in the terminal to purchase your island transport/ferry.

• Two Islands – RM 33 per adult
• Three Islands – RM 43 per adult
• Four Islands – RM 53 per adult

Beside the speedboat fare, there is also a RM 10 per person entry charges to the island. You can also charter a boat by paying RM 204 for a round trip.

The second way is at Sutera Habour itself! It was almost double the price as compared to if you were to travel out to the jetty. But since we were lazy bums and did not want the hassle of looking for a travel agent at the jetty, we just opted to go with Sea Quest which was located at Sutera Habour jetty. It is RM75 per person (min 2 pax to go) for 2 islands with rental of a mask and snorkel (RM13) and life jacket (RM13). We just rented a mask and snorkel as we knew we were swimming from the beach and it will be quite safe.

Sapi Island

First stop - Sapi Island! The waters were crystal clear and it was so beautiful! Once we disembarked from the boat, the Sea Quest staff will ask you what time do you want to take the boat to the next island. I gave myself 2 hours here and were even late by 5 mins. Good thing we paid top dollar, cos they made the boat wait for us! My sister did parasailing here & we both did jet ski!

Sapi Island Beach

Second Stop - Manukan Island! When we were reaching the island, we noticed there were flying foxes from Manukan to the island opposite! Yes! Flying fox over the sea! We wanted to try it for sure!

Manukan Island

We paid at the counter in the jetty, got allocated a time slot to bring us across to the opposite island and it wasn't easy getting up to the platform where we rode the coral flyer!

We had to carry out own harness & climb up steep slopes, steps and rocky path for about 10 mins! The view was worth it though!

Before you know it, the whole ride was over in about 1 min. The path down wasn't that easy either. Considering that we had to navigate through muddy, rocky and steep terrain in slippers, I would say we did well!

The path down!

Kinabalu Park & Pouring Hot Spring

How can you visit Kota Kinabalu without visiting Kinabalu Park or Mt. Kinabalu?! Of course I did not climb Mt. Kinabalu, I'm not ready yet and I did not train for it - obviously. Look at how round I am!

Mt. Kinabalu

 Of course, I have to kick my sister at every chance I have. I mean, what are little sisters for, if not for kicking. ;) I must say yoga paid off well. Look at how straight my legs are! Haha. We drove for about 2 hours to get to Kinabalu Park from the city.

The hike through Kinabalu Park was very refreshing and easy! It was cooling (bloody sister was cold so she took my jacket) and there were lots of flora and fauna to admire! We took about an hour and really just admire the beauty of the forest we were hiking through!

Next, we had lunch and proceeded over to Pouring Hot Springs where we had to hike up (steep rocks and stairs) to get to the canopy walk! If you're from Singapore, it's very similar to the tree top walk at Macritchie Reservoir - just not as short and not as safe...?

hauling my fat ass up

I think the entire hike took us about 20-30 mins and I was panting my head off by the time we got to the top. There are about 4 board walks to cross and once you're on it, there's no turning back!

 The canopy walk was very high (obviously) and it was SUPER SHAKY unlike the Singaporean counterpart. I have a teeny weeny bit fear of heights or things that are unsafe (but I do it anyway) and the way the canopy walk was shaking... I just left everyone behind and just walked on hoping it will be over soon.

canopy walk

 Basically it's just ropes, planks and a net..? The net is not even high. It was just about waist high so imagine a really large Caucasian man on it. The net will probably just reach till his... butt?

Getting down was easier, but not as fun. You have to watch out for the tree roots, rocks and weird insects that leap out at you. At the end of the trail, it'd lead you to Pouring Hot Springs which is basically tons of bathtubs/huge basins for you to soak in hot sulfuric water in the scorching hot sun. Erm, no thanks! I didn't even bother to take a picture of it!

Dad trying to be a hero

 Well, was it worth it? I'd say I'll hike through Kinabalu Park anytime. I mean, who doesn't like hiking through temperatures like that? It was so nice and cooling and made everything so easy to enjoy. But going for the canopy walk? Maybe I'll pass on that.

Rapids

 At least we saw some nice rapids on our way down!

Foggy

Somewhere in the middle of heading down the mountain back to the city, the fog came in and I just had to post this. It looks like something right out of a horror film!

Kama'a Rejuvenation & Wellbeing Spa

Kama'a Spa

 Well, a holiday isn't a holiday without a spa session! First, we were picked up from our hotel, driven for about 15 mins to the space location which was tucked away at a quiet corner of a shopping mall. The access though, was from the multi story carpark. If I were just wondering around aimlessly in that shopping mall, I would have never seen this spa. So, it was a good thing my mother found this spa on TripAdvisor and booked it!

soaking of the feet

The session started off with a questionnaire of how we like our massage to be. I like my massage light to medium for my arms and legs and really strong for my back, shoulders and neck (Office Lady Syndrome). Then, a good soak of my feet with lime-infused warm water. I know, sounds so hipster with the lime-infused water. It smelt great though!

Watermelon juic

 They even provided us with watermelon juice to refresh ourselves while we got our feet soaked! We all had hot-stone massage and it was absolutely amazing!!! It was one of the best massage I've had in my entire life. Sometimes you fill up those questionnaires about how you'd like your massage to be and halfway through the massage the therapist will forget about your preference and just use her brute force anyway. Not this spa though! I sometimes get ticklish when they massage my thighs, but I felt the pressure was just right for my legs and really really hard for my shoulders and neck, just how I like it.

After the massage, they provided hot tea while we waited in the lounge for our parents to finish up. They even dropped us off at a Bah Kut Teh Restaurant after that! Impeccable!

Yu Kee Bah Kut Teh

If the Malaysian, herbal style of Bah Kut Teh is your cup of tea, you should give Yu Kee BKT a visit! Super authentic BKT with a rich herbal taste!

By the time we got there, they had ran out of intestines! Super sad about that! Nonetheless, we had liver, pork belly and so much more!

all those food for 4!

 So if you're intending to try it out, go early! They'll even give you your own personal bowl of soup!

pork belly

 It will be a meal you'll never regret going for!

Pork Liver