dot dot dot: Sabah

15^thof April 2015.

Kiram’s Village -- Stesen Minyak Kundasang -- Pekan Kundasang -- Kinabalu Park(Botanical Park), Kundasang -- J&J Hotel, Kota Kinabalu -- Signal Hill Observatory Tower -- Dataran Merdeka -- Pantai Tanjung Aru -- Grace Point -- Suria Sabah -- Pasar Kraftangan

Kiram’s Village -> Stesen Minyak Kundasang -> Pekan Kundasang

That morning, we woke up early and head out directly, nak tengok sun rise lah konon. Well, we managed to see partial sunrise and again, taken aback and mesmerized by the view. The sun shone down on Mount Kinabalu, the morning breeze was fresh and relaxing. We walked around the whole chalet area, taking as many pictures we can for memory keeping. But nothing can beat the feeling of being there. I just got soo overwhelmed and content by being there.

Later on, we packed up and took ~~few~~ a lot of pictures again. And head out. That’s when something happened.

I didn’t know why I was so certain that we should take the right turn. Sifa insisted that we take the left turn, but, I took the right anyway.haha. well, the good part is that we found a perfect spot for taking pictures and the view just got better and better until we got too deep inside.

We went past through a wooden bridge(which we do pass by on our way to kiram). So I thought this is right, but the road seems never ending and it got tougher, smaller and more uphill and we finally met the end of the road. The road in front of us was just gravel, with grasses 4ft high and it’s a one way road. To our left is an uphill dirt road so, we had to reverse towards the hill road and turn back to Kiram. Why didn’t I turn back before the end of the road? I don’t have the answer. Dahla all the way Sifa was scolding me that we should turn back. But being a hard headed person that I am, I continued anyway.haha, sorry Sifa. :p

Later on, we found out that we went deep int the village, even the auntie there couldn’t understand our Malay. But she tried her best anyway, thanks makcik :)

After our little adventure, we head out to Stesen Minyak Kundasang to refill our tank. The petrol station was downhill, and when I took the road, suddenly when I hit the brake, I felt like the car was sliding down. A split second scary moment, I let go and hit the brake again. And the car stopped at the right place. The station was old school (well at least for us). Tak pernah jumpa macam tu okay.

We decided to take picture of it, so I drove to park in front of the station and again, when I tried to stopped, the car slided and BOOM! We stopped. We stoopped by slamming into the wall of the station. Sifa and I looked at each other, dumbfounded. “Brake kereta tak makan. Kita kena mintak org tengokkan kereta apa masalah”, I said to Sifa. Once we got out, the attendant came to us and asked what’s wrong. I explained and he checked the car. He asked, “ Dari mana ni? Ni brek panas sangat ni” we were like..ouhhhhkayyyyyyy. Ni penangan sesat kat Kiram tadi lah ni. Tapi Alhamdulillah, nasib baik sedar kat situ not somewhere on the road. Tak ke naya.

The attendant reversed the car, and to our horror, the plate number fall pieces by pieces as he reversed the car. I went to look, and thank god,, only the plate number was broken. The car hit the wall exactly perpendicular, so only plate number was affected. Up until then, I think there were like almost 5 people who came and asked us what’s wrong. Damsels in distress sangatt.pui.haha.

That minor accident lead us to Pekan Kundasang to get a new plate number. We circled the pekan for about 3 times and couldn’t find the “Kedai Pakistan” that they always refer to. The last person we asked said “ Ouh itu di kedai Pakistan itu ada”. We sighed and like, “Tadi pun cakap kedai Pakistan, yg kat mana tak jumpa2 punn” *frustrated face* And that person answered “ Mari ikut saya” . Turns out, the shop was at the inside part of the circle shop houses. Ergh. Patutlah tak jumpa -.-

Arriving there, we stated our problem, dealt with the shopkeeper and went to KFC for brunchner.

Yeah, we ate only once a day during the trip,since we just need only one heavy meal per day. Tapi tu lah, pergi Sabah jauh2 pastu makan KFC,macam whutt…okay la tu, ada makanan kan.

FEE : Fuel for the whole trip = RM60, New plate number = RM18

The magnificent Mount Kinabalu, Kundasang *_*

view going down from our house

acah acah artistic :p

loving it

the road not taken

awal kesesatan jalan

the name of our house. Hortie sangat XD

road to kiram

old school petrol station plus the attendant

Kinabalu Park(Botanical Park), Kundasang -> J&J Hotel, Kota Kinabalu

Kinabalu Park also known as National Park is the starting point of people hiking the Mount Kinabalu. There are jungle tracks, small parks in it,but we only went to the Botanical Park to look for orchids. There’s fee being charged upon entering the Kinabalu Park, and also the Botanical Park. The Botanical Park has paved trail, and it goes round to where we start going in. There are a number of orchids there, you just gotta look up, down almost everywhere. And there are small sections for orchids. Once our task is done, we went out and head towards Kota Kinabalu(KK). At KK, we checked in our hotel and continued sightseeing.

FEE: Kinabalu Park = RM3 per person, Botanical Park = RM2 per person(student price), J&J Hotel = RM85 per night.

Entrance - you can either walk up or drive up

mandatory picture with signage

entrance of Botanical garden

Signal Hill Observatory Tower -> Dataran Merdeka -> Pantai Tanjung Aru -> Grace Point -> Suria Sabah -> Pasar Kraftangan

Initially, we planned to return the car after checking in. but then the person in charge, Zul said he could take us around. And so he became our free tourist guide for the evening. You can walk around the KK town but we preferred going by car.malas nak jalan jauh :p

At Signal Hill Observatory Tower, as the name suggests, it is where you observe the whole KK town. Took a few pictures and went down. You can see the whole town and even the sea from there. Dataran Merdeka is just on the way there, but we stopped by on our way down. According to Zul, that is where big events take place.

We head towards Pantai Tanjung Aru right afterwards as Sifa said she wanted to see the sunset. Konon lah kan. Sampai kat pantai ambil2 gambar, lepas tu nak balik sebab panas.haha. oh yea, at that moment, my ear was pekak2 from going down from Kundasang. Lama betul tak hilang, before going to sleep baru hilang that uneasy sensation.huu

Pantai Tanjung Aru is nice, people mostly play about, there are eateries, but I’m not sure if it’s a place to swim around or not….

After feasting our eyes at the beach, we decided to go eat , so to Grace Point we went. The food was good,for me, the Ikan Bakar was nicee, and the sambal belacan as well. Sifa loved the Kailan udang, sampai balik semenanjung pun duk teringat. XD

After eating, Zul dropped us off at our hotel and we did what we had to, and heads out to explore the town. Takde explore sangat pun la, sebab ngantuk,so yang berdekatan jelah pergi. Suria Sabah is actually a shopping mall, quite big, but the layout of it is not to our preferences. Went to Pasar Kraftangan, bought Kuih Cincin as a mandatory souvenir for family. Then we went back to the hotel, got some sleep before having an awesome day after that. :DD

Btw, you can see police officers almost everywhere, so it does give a sense of security to walk around town.