Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Kota Kinabalu - Part 1

Just came back from my short trip Kota Kinabalu. My so-called low budget trip was something pretty much unplanned. Yet, I truly enjoyed every moment of it, even though I was going alone. And this city, definitely, has lots to offer.

From the beautiful sun baked sandy beaches,



Beach at Tanjung Aru
To the majestic islands scattered around,


Mamutik Island

And the bustling city life.


KK city center

I arrived at KK on a Saturday night via an hour's plus AirAsia flight. Since it was pretty late, I retired to bed pretty early at my dad's living squatters, which very much resembled hostel life.


The living squatters

A little tiding needed perhaps?

Had a hard time sleeping, due to the hard mattress, pillow and this...


Yeah, that's the airport runaway! Right at the backyard. The walls of the room were literally shaking whenever the planes landed or took off. The runaway was so near, I could throw a stone and hit one of the planes on the it.


Day 1
An early awakening as I had to go church with my dad at 7am. The morning mass was pretty much the same, but prior to the start of the mass, absolute silence was observed, something churches back here in Kuching sometimes failed to achieve.


Inside Stella Maris church

After mass, a breakfast of tasty dim sum.


Followed by a short walk around the Tanjung Aru town.


The town resembled the many outskirt towns back in Kuching. However, I observed something very different about this town.


People here do really place high bets on predicting numbers! Besides booths for RM100 bets, they even have specially allocated VIP rooms!


Shortly after that, my dad, his friend and I went down to the city for a short drive around before arriving at the jetty for the best part of my whole trip...the island excursion!


Jesselton Point jetty entrance + an unknown cam whore fella posing.



The jetty bay overlooking the city

There were 4 islands to choose from, Sapi, Manukan, Mamutik and Gaya, all within visible range from the jetty. These islands make up the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. Fares for the water taxi's differs for different islands. Beware however, as I found out the taxi and tour operators tend to con your cash and are biased to 'ang mo' tourists.


One of the water taxis'

We chose to go to Manukan island as my dad's friend said it was better and had a longer stretch of beach. Along the bumpy 15 minute journey to the island...

Buildings and hotels beside the sea

House of some rich dude

A short stop by Mamutik island to drop off some boat passengers. Shots of the island:



Soon enough, Manukan island, which was situated behind Mamutik island, was very much visible to us.


Manukan Island

Nearing the dock, fishes could be seen

More fishes!

Manukan Island certainly felt like paradise to me. Never had I been to such a beautiful island before. The island has everything to offer; sandy white beaches, crystal clear water, nature trails, babes, BBQ's, water sports, everything...was perfect! I'll let the pictures do the talking.


After spending the whole afternoon swimming, snorkeling, walking along the beach, I had sunburns all over my shoulders and face. But that didn't stop me from going to another beach. Haha! All the way back to the other side of the city, we visited the famed Tanjung Aru beach. Just in time for sunset!

Looks like an artist's impression eh?


Ending a perfect day;


BBQ chicken wings, satay and Avocado smoothie

End of Part 1. More on my trip will be posted soon.

1 Added Colors:

brendan said...

oh beach!!!
how much i love them.
tan, sand, waves, sun, sea breeze...ooh!!

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