My Very First Blog

You thought my KK series is over, didn't you?

Well, almost. This will be the last post.

After spending a really nice time at the beach, I was reluctant to leave Manukan Island. But I had to leave, otherwise I would miss my flight back to KL.

The speedboat ride back to KK was not a pain in the ass, unlike the ride to Manukan Island earlier. That's because I sat at the back.



Leaving Jesselton Point, the ferry terminal was a little sad for me. But as I bade farewell to Jesselton Point, KK welcomed me back!



Before I went to the airport, I had my lunch at the Olde Station Kopitiam at Warisan Square. I did not plan to eat anything on board the plane so I had to make sure I was full before boarding. Haha!

I ordered their asam fried meehoon dish with curry chicken which was excellent! Also ordered roti kahwin, which is simply bread with kaya and butter. And also had their very good thirst quencher (not in the photo) - the 3 in 1 drink with kat chai, ham moi and lemon in it. Totally refreshing.



I reached the KK airport wondering why their screen monitors detailing the flights and time of departure were so small I could hardly read anything on them. Or maybe my vision had deteriorated over the years.

So that's it! I took the flight back to home sweet home!

Oh, let me show you two souvenirs I bought in KK.



On the left is a bottle opener which I like, and on the right is a fridge magnet. The bottle opener also doubles up as a fridge magnet. Nice?

There are a few interesting things I noticed during my KK trip. Two of them I have already mentioned in the earlier posts, that is, the sun rises and sets very early in KK which I don't really like. And the weather can change from sunny to rainy in an instant.

The third thing I noticed is the large number of Filipino people in KK! They were everywhere from the people working at Lavender Lodge to the waiters and waitresses at restaurants. And of course not forgetting KK even had a Filipino market selling handicrafts and souvenirs!

I guess KK is quite near to Philippines, right? Wait, let me have a look at the map. My geographical knowledge simply sucks! Haha!

Anyway, one night as I was walking along the darker streets in KK, a Filipino lady passed by and said hi to me in the most friendly way. I was a little startled, but quickly realised she's looking for customers. Well, if she had not looked that plump, I might have just considered...haha!

Guess the Filipinos are working in all kinds of jobs in KK!

Oh, and do you know KK is home to a number of famous musicians? Singer songwriters Pete Teo, Mia Palencia, Jerome Kugan, acoustic guitar virtuoso Roger Wang and Australian based R&B singer, Che'Nelle are all from KK.

Also from KK is famous TV personality Daphne Iking and the first Asian-born member of the Australian Cabinet, Penny Wong. Didn't know that, did you?

Well, that concludes my post on my KK trip.

If you have missed some of my earlier posts on KK, you may read them by clicking on My KK Trip.

Continued from Part 1

After a 20 minute bumpy ride on the speedboat, we reached Manukan Island. Despite the pain in my butt, I enjoyed the ride. I could see that the Korean lady who "ouched" all the way from Jesselton Point was eager to leave the boat!



Getting off the boat onto the jetty, I saw this 'No Fishing' sign.



Looking down into the waters from the jetty, I could see lots and lots of fishes!



But we were not allowed to fish! Looks like they have lots of different kinds of fishes here as they had put up this signboard for anyone who is interested.



I just love this view of the sea taken from the jetty walkway. I am not a good photographer - just a novice - so what you see here actually looks much better in reality. I instantly fell in love with the place even before I stepped onto the island!



At the entrance to Manukan Island, I had to pay RM3 entrance fee. Non Malaysians were charged RM10.



I spent the first hour walking round the island snapping photos of the beautiful beaches.



Isn't this picturesque? I could just sit here and look at the sea forever!



Lots of rocky beaches here!



These trees provided a nice shade from the sun.



I liked that the beach was not overly crowded. Maybe it would be more crowded during the weekends.







Besides, the beach was very clean!



It's no wonder! Look at this man driving a tractor. He's actually collecting rubbish from the beach. Sometimes he would get down from his tractor with a rake in his hand and removed plastic bags and other rubbish from the beach.



There were lifeguards there too in case of emergency.



There were swimmers, snorkelers and beach tanners all enjoying the beautiful nature of Manukan Island.



I just love the view of the jetty from here.





There were a few beach resorts and chalets on the island. There were also a few eateries and even a badminton court.

This is a stairway up to the Manukan Lodge.



The Manukan Lodge building is mostly for backpackers and those on shoestring budget.



As I love jungle trekking, I took the opportunity to walk the jogging trail. Along the way, I passed by this resort facing the beach.



Definitely it is the more expensive beach resort for those with more money and prefer more luxury.



Walking along the jogging trail proved to be quite interesting as I came face to face with a giant biawak or monitor lizard. It was huge, about two feet long. I tried to take a photo but it hurriedly scurried away into the bushes!

I only managed to snap this photo of a baby monitor lizard instead.



Look! This was another baby lizard that was camouflaged as its colour was almost similar to the stone it was standing on.



Besides monitor lizards, there were many butterflies flying around. I managed to capture one when it rested on the tree leaves.



Looking up the trees, I snapped these photos. I just like to look at the sun light streaming down between the trees.





The jogging trail was quite long. I think I took more than 30 minutes to reach the end. Maybe if I jogged, it would have been much faster. Anyway, the end of the trail was a dead end! It was a small area with a shelter.



In fact, this spot is known as Sunset Point. It is supposed to be the highest point on the island to see the sunset.



Well, too bad it was not sunset yet. Anyway, this is the view from here.



I thought the trees were really blocking my view of the horizon! The other side did not have much of a view!



Anyway, since this Sunset Point is a dead end, I had to turn around and walk back the way I came.

I returned to the beach and went for a swim. Actually more like wading in water cos I do not know how to swim! Then, I bought myself a nice coconut drink, found a nice spot on the beach and just sat there with a good book I bought the day before at a bookstore in Warisan Square. Oh, this is bliss!! How nice if my life is like this every day!

I think I am a simple person. All I want is just to sit down beside the sea with a good book and a nice drink, and enjoying the sea breeze and listening to the wonderful relaxing sound of the waves.



In 3 hours, I would be at KK International Airport waiting for my flight home. Within the next few hours, I would be back at home in KL. And the very next day, I would be back at work as usual.

I really think I could cry.

My last day in Kota Kinabalu (KK) was spent lazing away on an island.

I woke up very early at 7am to check out of Lavender Lodge. I know to some of you, 7am is not considered early, but to a night owl like me, it was just too damn early! I had to check out early because I was afraid I would not be back on time. Their check out time is 12pm.

Leaving my luggage with them at the counter, I left by foot to Jesselton Point. It was a brisk 15-20 minutes walk from Lavender Lodge to this ferry terminal to the islands surrounding KK.

After passing the Royal Customs Office on my left, I saw this big welcome entrance to Jesselton Point.



The ticket counters were inside the building on the immediate right after the entrance. Walking around, I saw these very unique telephone booths!



I don't believe I have seen these phone booths anywhere else in KK. Unless I am wrong. Any resident from KK reading this? Please confirm if this is true.

There were also many restaurants here. As I looked around, I could not help but noticed that the sky had turned dark. Oh no! Please don't tell me it's going to rain! It would surely be no fun going on an island trip in a storm! I was thinking of cancelling my island trip. Maybe I should just visit some other places instead.

But I could not think of anywhere else to go, so what the heck! No rain was going to stop me from enjoying my day at the beach! With my mind made up, I went into the ticketing building.

Now, there are five islands which made up this popular marine park known as the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. The five islands are Pulau Gaya, Pulau Sapi, Pulau Manukan, Pulau Mamutik and Pulau Sulug. The largest is Pulau Gaya, but the most popular is Pulau Manukan.

Since I would be leaving KK in the evening, and I had to reach the airport by 3pm, I decided that the time was too limited for me to go island hopping. So following the recommendation of those nice people at Lavender Lodge, I opted to go Manukan Island.

But I was in for a surprise when the friendly staff at the ticketing counter told me that the ticket is for a minimum 2 pax. In other words, if only one person were to go, he would have to pay the price of 2 people! I guess this must be one of those disadvantages of traveling alone!

So I forked out RM34 for the ticket (RM17 per person) and RM6 for the tariff fee. I don't exactly know what this tariff fee is for - anyone knows?



I was expecting it to rain as I walked out of the ticketing building, but surprise! The sky was blue and the sun was shining down hot. Where did those dark clouds go? They were there just a moment ago! It was then that I came to my second realization since my trip to KK.

My first realization is that the sun rises and sets earlier in KK than in KL.

My second realization is that the weather in KK can change in an instant. One moment it would be hot and sunny. The next moment, it would be raining like nobody's business.

I think reading the weather forecast is practically useless in KK. Maybe because of its close proximity to the South China Seas? I really don't know. Anyone who knows, please enlighten me.

At the jetty, a man checked my ticket and led me to a speedboat. There were already many people sitting inside the boat waiting for it to fill up.



The photo above was not taken during my boat ride to Manukan Island. Instead, it was taken on my way back from the island.

I did not have the opportunity to take any photos during my boat ride to the island as I was not sitting at the back. All the seats at the back were already taken, so I had to sit at the front (head) of the boat.

And, oh boy, if you have ever sat in the front of a speedboat, you would understand how it feels like!

The entire 20 minutes ride was a painful experience! At least that's how it was to my poor ass. I was practically thrown up and down like a toy!

And I was not alone. A Korean lady sitting next to me kept shouting "Ouch!" every 20 seconds. I am not joking! Some people sitting at the back were laughing aloud over her shouting. I myself could not help smiling even as I winced from the pain as the boat continued to bounce up and down mercilessly.

I could not believe I did this, but guess what? I counted how many times the Korean lady shouted "Ouch!" and it totaled 47 times!! LOL!

That was really a heck of a ride and I promised myself that on the return trip, I must make sure I sit right at the back! I really doubted my poor, sore ass could take a second beating! Haha!

To be continued...

After enjoying my walk along the busy Gaya Street, I decided to head over to the Central Market to find that elusive tarap fruit.

If you have read my post on the tarap fruit, you would have already knew my story.

Along the way, I passed by this orange colour building on Jalan Pantai.



It's The Town Inn, a budget hotel for shoe string travelers. The building stood out because of its colour. Its location is pretty good as it's very near to the famous Gaya Street.

Walking towards the Waterfront, I passed by Hyatt Regency Kinabalu, where our Prime Minister Dato' Seri Najib Razak stayed last week during his trip to KK for a walkabout to meet the traders at the Waterfront markets.

From the hotel, I could see the ikan todak (sword fish) in the middle of a roundabout ahead.



This sword fish is a famous landmark in KK. It is located along Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens near the Segama Waterfront.

But, wait! There's a policeman there! What was the policeman doing there?

Only then I realised there was some kind of procession going on along the main road. The policeman was there to divert the traffic.



A marching band!



What instruments were that? I think they were tubas.



I only took photos from the back as I was just too lazy to walk up to the front in the hot sun to take pictures.



There were many policemen in uniforms around. I wondered what occasion was that all about.

Only much later, when I came back from my KK trip, did I googled about the event and found out that it was a rehearsal for an upcoming "Freedom Of Entry To City" event organised by the Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) and the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) on April 18th.

Anyway, I was not very satisfied with the pictures I took of the sword fish. So I went back the next day and took this photo.



The fish looks very much better at this angle, no?

What happened next was a visit to the Central Market to search for the tarap fruit which you would have already read. If not, you are welcome to read it here.

After I left Central Market, I was so thirsty I decided to get myself a drink somewhere. Passing by this coconut stall, I decided to drink coconut water!



This stall was located at the fruit market near the Filipino handicraft market.



This is my coconut drink. It was quite huge and at only RM2.50, I thought that it was pretty cheap! They also provided a spoon for me to scrape at those flesh inside the coconut, but I did not bother to do so. I just wanted to relief my thirst, and boy, was I relieved!

It was close to noon time by then. After all those walking the whole morning, I was hungry. I decided to stop by this Hong Kong char chan teng (restaurant) for lunch before going for my proboscis monkey tour at 1pm.

The Sin Wang Hong Kong Restaurant is located at the ground floor of Warisan Square.

I ordered the sweet and sour fish meal with rice and omelette. And a glass of ice cold Chinese tea.



I thought the food was pretty good! At RM11.90, it was reasonably priced.



After this satisfying lunch, I returned to my lodge and rested for a while before I got ready for my next trip to see the proboscis monkeys. Was my holiday fun? You bet!

Coming up next - My Manukan Island Trip