Jaguar's "Go Kota Kinabalu" 13-16 Nov 08

Share your trip photos, tracklogs, experience & tips. Ask the locals info about your planned destination.

Moderators: Moderators, Regional Mappers

Forum rules
1. Be nice to each other and respect the moderators. Post in normal font size, color and weight. Follow Nettiquette
2. NO out of topic. Discuss matters pertaining MFM community and forum only.
3. NO abuse, profanity and insults
4. NO spamming, cross posting and opening of duplicate topics
5. NO advertisement post or link
6. NO post/link to warez, cracks, serials or illegally obtained copyrighted content
7. Each message posted is owned by and is the opinion of the original poster. Neither mfm nor its owner or moderators are legally responsible for anything posted on the forum
Post Reply
User avatar
jaguar
Valued Contributor
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:41 am

Jaguar's "Go Kota Kinabalu" 13-16 Nov 08

Postby jaguar » Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:32 pm

Hello eberyone … good morning….. I have not written for a long time… :mrgreen: .. I’ll see if I still remember how to write a travel story….jaguar style.. =D>

Here is me and my neighbors’ short 3 day trip (first for all of us) to Kota Kinabalu….. none of the pictures are as good as brother Naim’s :mrgreen: as I use only a simple point and shoot…. But who cares… :D

I know you will swallow whatever I tell you (base on hear say) lock stock and barrel…. :D :) 8-)

13th Nov 2008 (Thursday)
7:30pm. We were at Changi Terminal Airport Terminal 1 queuing at the Air Asia counter. There were 2 queues, but when we reached the counter, a ‘Counter Closed’ sign was suddenly placed for our queue. The pretty wawa just walked away. Whoa ! We kept our cool but everyone at the back was getting ‘heated’ as we have queued for more than 1 hour. Anyway, we got through. Rushed to the gate and boarded. Now, the fun part. I was sheepish when the AirAsia wawa shook her head upon my request for a beer. They no sell beer on this airline !!! Huh !!! how to survive the next 2 hours !!! :nutz:

14th Nov 2008 (Friday) : Day 1 in Kota Kinabalu
12:30am. We arrived at Kota Kinabalu airport, collected our bags and were ferried to Hotel Le Meridien. We called a number (given by Bro Berngps) and there was a van and a mpv waiting to pick up 15 adults and 2 kids. RM80 cash… :D
Image
Image

After checking in, some of us went downstairs to a kopi shop for roti prata. Taste damm good… something in the flour or their sweat :mrgreen: .. they slapped the prata with both hands piping hot. Slept around 2:30am. :rock:
Image

9:00am. I was sleeping soundly, but my neighbor came into my room and placed 12 cans of bery cold tiger beer (which he just bought from Chinese kopi shop for RM4 per can) on my tummy !!! Bloody murder !! Grrr……. He said “WAKE UP ! unless you don’t wanna go island hopping” :ko:

I looked out my window and snapped this scene from my 9th floor. Ooooo… so inviting…
Image

10:00am. Left hotel in 4 taxis for Jesselton Point.
Look at the beautiful gate….. and who is peeing besides it… =P~
Image

I didn’t ask, but I am sure he stayed focus :shock:
Image
Top
User avatar
jaguar
Valued Contributor
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:41 am

Re: Jaguar's "Go Kota Kinabalu" 13-16 Nov 08

Postby jaguar » Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:33 pm

Ee booked a boat to ferry us to 2 islands from this counter. Sapi and Manukan.
Image

The rest of us browsed and played outside the few shops
Image

Each of us (including the baby) donned a life jacket. They said we have to pay additional RM5 each if we intend to take the jacket into the water….. I couldn’t understand what that meant at this point…. I thought a life jacket is meant for the water…. :nutz:
Image

This is the single engine boat we were assigned…. I didn’t ask if it has a capacity limit… act blur… but took a risk…. [-o<
Image

Nearing Sapi island… so beckoning.. so blue… The sea was calm and sky was bright... my skin burnt a little bit… \:D/
Image

Oh cheese... the first thing I felt is : this place is also PAP. :mrgreen: pay to enter, pay to bring life jacket to shore (which they say is recommended for snorkeling), pay for this, pay for that… lucky no need to pay for public toilet :mrgreen:
Image
Image

Beautiful setting ya ? :D
Image

Detail Map of Sapi island
Image

Oh… they so smart… Looks like they glued 3 banana boats side-by-side and called it ‘flyfisher’ or something like that… basically, they drive fast until your boat’s fore angle up at about 30 to 40 deg C.. then they make a sharp turn… and you cling on for dear life while your float slaps on the sea….. boatman comes around to check that you are ok… then he say “now level 2” “now level 3” :mrgreen:
Image
Image
Top
User avatar
jaguar
Valued Contributor
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:41 am

Re: Jaguar's "Go Kota Kinabalu" 13-16 Nov 08

Postby jaguar » Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:34 pm

Some of us did not go for ‘flyfisher’ rides. We changed quickly and joined fun on the beach and snorkeled near the shore……
Image

You can feel the fine sand and great smell of the breeze… superb ! =D>
Image

Hey wawa… please dont block me la… I want to capture a nice pic of the jetty… :thumbsup:
Image

That’s better… yes… move more to the left… thank you… :-'
Image

Who is he ? No.. he not a lifeguard.. Just a normal hunk waiting for bait… =P~
Image

I have no time for you la… me and my baby go dipping…. \:D/
Image

By the way, you can actually see (even without snorkels) yellow tail fishes swimming around your body. About 25cm long. Am told they are called ‘lai man you’ in Cantonese.. a rabbit fish series… Am also told these fishes are smart enough not to bite the wee wee :mrgreen: You can buy a bottle of stuffed bread at RM3 at the jetty to feed the fishes.
Image

About 100 metres behind our bench, there is a cage and 2 baby komodo dragons (about 1 metre long) wandered about slowly. I carried my little boy quickly…. And walked slowly away… don’t excite them… [-X
Image

1:00pm. Around this time, we left for Manukan. Sky was getting cloudy.
Image

We walked past the entrance and saw these beautiful chalets.
Image

Beautifully landscaped gardens…
Image
Top
User avatar
jaguar
Valued Contributor
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:41 am

Re: Jaguar's "Go Kota Kinabalu" 13-16 Nov 08

Postby jaguar » Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:35 pm

Beatiful walkway…. :mrgreen:
Image

Shady area… wow… you will love to sleep and laze here…. Feel it yet ? :wink:
Image

Hmm.. saw a few of these battered trunks… don’t’ know if it were due to the years of pounding by the waves or just ‘burnt’….
Image

At this point, we were looking for a place to lunch. We came to these yummy looking pots and chose a table to get seated….
Image
Image
Image

But, when found out the boufet costs RM90.00 a person. We settled for a la carte next door. It was an easy decision. =P~
Image

We asked him to hurry, but he took his time asking her to describe each dish…. [-(
Image

She single handed arranged the tables , but since it was beginning to rain, we moved inside….
Image

Simple Manukan Cha Kuay Teow.. =D>
Image

These chicky wings … shiok ah !!! doesn’t look like kampong chickens =D>
Image

Chicken rice … local style…
:D Image
Top
User avatar
jaguar
Valued Contributor
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:41 am

Re: Jaguar's "Go Kota Kinabalu" 13-16 Nov 08

Postby jaguar » Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:36 pm

Giant chicken burger :wink:
Image

After lunch, we snorkelled a bit. Who poured sea water into my breathing apparatus ? Grrr…. Visibility under water was no good as the sky was very cloudy with the rain.. We left the island around 4pm.

Arriving at Jesselton Point again, you can see how tired this bugger is….. :rolleyes:
Image

Took 4 taxis (RM10 per taxi) back to our hotel. Mind you… no meters in the taxis….

7:30pm. We walked about 600 metres to Ocean Seafood Restaurant. Brother Berngps , my buddy, had reserved 2 tables for us. Food was great, but a bit pricey… about RM750 in all…
Image
Image
Image

Memorable dish was the large size 'lai liew har' and clams.
Image
Image

They kept all the live seafood here..
Image
Image

That is the end of Day 1….. very satisfying…. Enjoying… and shiok… eat full full…. See you tomolo !! =D> =D>
Top
User avatar
tlchuan
Polygon Mapper
Posts: 2010
Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:15 am
Location: Subang Jaya (x10 & Oregon 300)Garmin 255w sgmy, 2575RLM, Wayway 5035
Contact:
Contact tlchuan

Re: Jaguar's "Go Kota Kinabalu" 13-16 Nov 08

Postby tlchuan » Wed Nov 19, 2008 10:07 pm

Wao, RM750 for 2 table sea foods, Dem expensive man. :frus:
Image
Top
User avatar
jaguar
Valued Contributor
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:41 am

Re: Jaguar's "Go Kota Kinabalu" 13-16 Nov 08

Postby jaguar » Wed Nov 19, 2008 10:52 pm

Berngps and Tecrc then tells me KK is most expensive town in all of Malaysia.... :mrgreen:
Top
User avatar
jaguar
Valued Contributor
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:41 am

Re: Jaguar's "Go Kota Kinabalu" 13-16 Nov 08

Postby jaguar » Wed Nov 19, 2008 11:34 pm

15th Nov 2008 (Saturday) : Day 2 in Kota Kinabalu
8:00am. Ee managed to book a 25 seater van for the day (RM750) through the concierge. Beautiful van from OIB ( http://www.onlyinborneo.com.my ).We left for Kinabalu park and Poring Hot Spring. First stop at Pekan Nabalu.
Image

Many small stalls selling local instruments, fruits, dried stuff and souvenir t-shirts…. \:D/
Image

Naturally captured honey… O:)
Image

Being tru blu Singapoeans, we could not resist a durian.. =D>
Image
Image

And of course the trusted banana….. to help clear our heavy bowels (some of us has yet to putt putt after the heavy of last nite) :mrgreen:
Image

The friendly mountain dog…. :D
Image

Weather is very good today…. Can see the top of Mt Kinabalu … got no spirit to climb it today… :lol:
Image

Ee and our OIB guide, Jackson yakking by the road.. :$$:
Image

The road less travelled… :thumbsup:
Image
Top
User avatar
jaguar
Valued Contributor
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:41 am

Re: Jaguar's "Go Kota Kinabalu" 13-16 Nov 08

Postby jaguar » Wed Nov 19, 2008 11:35 pm

Oh my baby… we share a cracker all the time… :thumbsup:
Image

On the way, our guide explained it will take 2 days and 1 night to climb to the top of Mount Kinabalu. Kina stands for grandfather. Nabalu is something like 'people believe that their spirits will go to the mountain after death'. The first part of the climb is about 6 hours. Then a rest for the night. Start climbing again at 3am to reach peak at 6am and watch sunrise. After a rest of another 2 hours, you will descend. Each year, there is a competition. The record is held by a local boy. He climbed up and down in 2 hours 38 minutes, so claimed our guide. He advised us to start out training now to participate in the ‘climb challenge’ next year….. I say ‘my foot’… :mrgreen:

We soon arrived at Kinabalu Park. :D
Image

The Guide took us on a guided tour at the Botanical Garden @ Kinabalu Park. :D
Image

I checked this out. They do have a very clean toilet. :peace:
Image

Here is a pic of a tiny pitcher flower plant. Am told it can grow very large and it ‘eats live insects’ :shock:
Image

Now, this story is interesting. Jackson showed us the female umbrella tree. Said, if the women drink juice made from this root everyday, she can avoid pregnancy….. :peace:
Image

Another 50 metres away, he pointed out a male umbrella tree. For the men, they will take the juice from the male root for a year.. and if he has luck, he will be able to produce an offspring. I asked if we can drink in higher concoctions to produce a male… ka boom !!!… :-k
Image

Soon, he pointed out a larger pitcher plant… \:D/
Image
Top
User avatar
jaguar
Valued Contributor
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:41 am

Re: Jaguar's "Go Kota Kinabalu" 13-16 Nov 08

Postby jaguar » Wed Nov 19, 2008 11:36 pm

Ah, here are some green young bananas…. He said not to eat too much, or else you will really have tummy upset and cannot putt putt… :ko:
Image

Here are some ferns that the orang utangs love to eat… why ? I don’t know… :ko:
Image

I then pointed out that this must be a male banana tree… hee hee … look closer…. =P~
Image

After a short tour of the Botanical Garden, our bus took us to the next destination, Poring Hot Spring. Along the way, I captured these shots of the country side…

A crowded small town…
Image
Image

Traditional hawker….
Image

Somebody’s ole house… don’t look so old to me…
Image

Small padi field…
Image

A large pond beside the padi field.. probably used for irrigation… or to feed water to the field…
Image

Soon, we reached a junction. Right is a long way to Sandakan… Left is to Poring Hot Spring.

1:00pm. Arrived at Poring Hot spring. There is this hut at the end of the road where you can pay to go see the blooming rafflesia … :lol:
Image

We had lunch at this place… :thumbsup:
Image

This waiter… he is wearing a very seductive t-shirt… =P~
Image
Top
Post Reply

Return to “Holiday & Travel”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests