Kota Kinabalu Day 2 (19.05.13)

Plans for the second day of the trip: Gaya Street Sunday Market, Sapi Island, Sunset at Shangri La and dinner at Filipino Night Market but not all went according to plan cos it rained in afternoon and we decided to push back Shangri La to the third day.

The market on a Sunday morning is much more than interesting than the one we saw the last night. You can expect to find things like souvenirs, tidbits, accessories, food, clothing and also foot reflexology by blind masseurs. Managed to settle our breakfast with nasi lemak, curry puffs, mango mochi, and dorayaki.

 

After Gaya Street, we pop back into the hotel to gather our bags for the beach and walked to Jesselton Point about 5 minutes walk away. We randomly went to a counter and booked our tickets. Wanted to go to 2 islands but was advised to just stick to one because the change of island is happening in an hour or so. Decided to go to Sapi Island and paid for the rental of the snorkeling tools.

A large part of the sheltered area is reserved for tour groups (which I believe is highly expensive) for their meal time. We packed some breads and tidbits for our lunch as we didn't want to pay for overpriced items on the island. 

Sapi Island!

 

We agreed on going back on the 2.15pm boat ride with the company beforehand so it was time to leave after some snorkeling and lots of chilling at the beach. Back at KK city, it was drizzling very lightly and we went to the graffiti walls near our hotel before going back. The graffiti walls are just opposite Suria Sabah, beside the HSBC building.

After washing up, we went to Suria Sabah for a walk and came out with new shoes :) late tea time at Secret Recipe before walking to Filipino Night Market for our BBQ seafood dinner!

Managed to see the sun setting into the horizon when we got ushered to our seats. I love sunset so I went forward to take some photographs, leaving boyfriend at our semi sunset view seats

After dinner, we walked further down and saw the massage parlor I want to visit the next time! I couldn't resist one so we went in for an hour of foot reflexology which include a 10 minutes shoulder massage. Walked back towards hotel after the massage and went to Old Town for some coffee and roti :)

And with that, we call it a day. Day 3 is super nua, grow fat day. Coming soon!

Kota Kinabalu trip - Day 1 (18.05.13)

 

The trip which we have booked since last July (super kiasu!) finally arrived! We didn't do any sightseeing, just alot of eating and relaxing. Fun wouldn't be a word I use to describe this trip, HAPPY will be the best word :) Slow paced life and yummy food, what is not to be happy about? 

Our flight to Kota Kinabalu is scheduled at 5pm on a Saturday so I actually went for my drama class in the morning, had breakfast with the teacher before coming home to rest and finish up my packing. And we took the train to Khatib before taking 858 to Terminal 1. Despite only going out at 2pm, we still had plenty of time to spare so it calls for a late lunch at Aston and some window shopping after check in.  

After clearing immigration at Kota Kinabalu International Airport, we went to look for the taxi counter. It is a flat rate of RM30 to the city. Just tell them the name of your hotel, pay and they will give you the receipt to get the taxi. There isn't any prominent signage for the taxi area but the people there are very helpful in pointing out to us, the lost birds. Haha!

We stayed at Hotel Eden54 at Jalan Gaya and absolutely loved the location. But because we booked rather near our travel date, we only managed to get the Compact Room (which is smaller and cheaper). For the sum we paid, there is nothing to complain about except the reception has this weird fishy smell. The staff is really helpful and that was the main reason I decided to stay there. I was initially quite worried that our hotel is actually part of a row of shophouses (SECURITY???) but were more at ease when we came back at about 11pm to find that there is a guard at the first level and the main door is locked.

 

After putting down our things and a really really short break, we head out because we were famished! Bak Ku Teh, here we come!!! Yu Kee Bak Ku Teh is just a few minutes down the street and the reception informed us that there is some festival going on at Gaya Street as well. Yippie!

Lots of locals visit the store and we were quite lucky to get a table immediately and managed to order quickly. For the whole trip, people keep talking to us in Malay or Cantonese which will followed with blur stares and a "Can speak Chinese?" from me. Boyfriend understands a little more than me, so I tried as much as possible to push all ordering to him. HAHAHA! We had pork ribs (RM6), meatballs (RM6.5), pork liver (RM6.5) and veggies. I love the meatballs and boyfriend enjoyed the pork ribs and veggie very much. I think he wished we could have dinner here every night, but sorry... too much food to try in KK!!!

I read that Yu Kee is opened from 4.30pm to 11pm but when we walk past at 10.45pm, it is already closed. So do not go too late to avoid disappointment.

We strolled along Gaya Street after our meal. There were some stalls selling things and people playing traditional musical instrument and at the very end, there was this beauty pagent or something going on (not that we could really understand)

Along the way, I spotted Party Play Cafe and that's how we ended our night - with lots of sweet stuffs and beautiful songs.There were many young locals at the cafe sipping on alcohol but we decided against it. I have read about their Chocolate Fondant Cake (RM15) so it is a MUST order and indeed, the chocolate lava is so flowy! We also had Waffles with Berries (RM15) which is really lovely when eaten together. The cafe only closes at 1.00am on Friday and Saturday night but we had planned for a early start the next morning..

beautiful voices duo

the order that came wrong

Day 2 soon, I promise!