Borneo In Nature - Day 1

“Ayang, tido awal…esok u jugak yang bersiap lambat…pack sume barang siap-siap…” hubby membebel.

I walked up and started to pack my things. Each of us brought one cabin-size luggage. After finished packing, we then off to sleep.

We woke up around 4.30am and started to load our bags into hubby’s car. I fed Kiki and gave him a goodbye kiss before we off to LCCT. We had to park our car there for 3 days since we have to get there super early in the morning…(plus minus harga sama je dengan cab + midnight charge or bus + lrt return).

After checked in, we headed to Departure area. At the entrance, a staff warned us that we should only carry in less than 7kgs hand luggage. Macam la kitorang tak tau. You know what she did? She hand lifted every bags and with her “brain weight detector”, she able to tell you whether your bag is more or less than 7kgs. Hebat kan? Hahaha!

Waited and waited, at last we got on board. We sat next to each other as per hubby’s seat number. Mana la nak tau, Air Asia skarang dah tak free seating!!! I quickly checked my boarding pass, and sebulat-bulat mata terpegun tengok seat number I BUKAN next to hubby’s!!! Alamak!!! Lucky me, I convinced the guy sebab the guy who supposed to have my seat, willing to swap his seat with me. Sebab kawan-kawan dia pun duduk sebelah my designated seat. So lesson learned, ALWAYS REQUEST FOR YOUR SEAT NUMBER DURING CHECK IN TIME (on available basis je la, kalau tak, kena la bayar masa beli tiket ye…)

With 2 hours flight journey, I spent 1 and half of my time with…sleeping. Hehe. (Ngantuk la awal-awal pagi dah kena bangun). We touched down at Terminal 2 around 9.30am and straight away walked to the arrival area, looking for someone to put up my name on a card. Chewah! (Ye la, kitorang sewa kereta kan…). And there was a small counter with my ugly-written name, owned by KK Travel, who we booked during MATTA Fair ‘09 at PWTC with a very good deal (RM120 per 24hrs with additional of insurance charges).

Here we go, A VIVA AUTO! Slightly smaller than my Black Crow but yet, faster (sebab lighter la). We loaded our bags in (muat-muat dua beg besar kat blakang tu) and off to our first itinerary, Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. Headed to the left side of Kota Kinabalu, we reached at Lok Kawi around 11am. Paid RM10 for entrance fee, we walked in towards the main area that having tiered waterfall. Snapped few pictures and started to look around. Not to fancy much of the animals there, (cuma ada burung yang pandai bercakap slang Sabah, kahkahkah!) hubby’s main purpose was just to meet the noted proboscis monkey. (Nak tengok hidung panjang monyet tu la tu!)

With a park map in hand, we walked through the journey. Nampak hornbill yang sangat cantik, lay down by the cage, harimau, honey bear, and few other familiar animals. Cuaca agak panas, dengan straw hat dan dress nipis ala Lolita Jepun, I redahkan juak. The good thing about Lok Kawi Wildlife Park ni, they provided FANS (kipas) AT EVERY STOPS (ada hut) during the animal sightseeing. GILE BAGUS! Psychologically, you akan rasa selesa dan tenang menikmati angin dari kipas itu sambil melihat-lihat binatang yang tak brapa nak ramai ye kawan-kawan. An “A” rated for Lok Kawi Wildlife Park service, period!

Jalan ke depan lagi, baru la nampak kelibat proboscis monkey a.k.a monyet belanda (mesti Dutch people tak puas hati kan nape monyet tu macam diorang…hahaha! Tah-tah kat Holand, takde pun monyet tu…). Not really a big family they have, cuma kelakar tengok hidung diorang, sebab dari kecik dah mancung je. Dah besar, panjang plak. And the most kelakar thing, ketua monkey tu, “sex engine” dia sentiaaaaaaaasa tegang!!! Eiiii!!! Merah plak tu!!! Kahkahkah!!!

Then kitorang tengok “orang utan” yang sangattttt pandai dan cerdik. They were always ready to be shot in different moves and styles. Ada yang lepak relax je dalam hammock sambil “konon merokok” using getah paip mana tah dia kutip. Some tengah hanging and switching from one place to another. Some tido je…

Next monkey yang kitorang jumpa, was gibbon. Tak brapa nampak sebab dia duduk dalam celah-celah pokok buluh. Muka putih, bulu hitam. Comel gak! Binatang lain tak tengok or can I say, malas nak tengok? Sebab sama je. Lepas tengok harimau and honey bear (pegi balik akan lalu tempat diorang), kitorang keluar. By this time, dah ramai budak sekolah datang visit Lok Kawi ni. Semua cakap sepatah haram I tak paham. Tapi pakai handphone kelas youuu!

Patu lapar. We tried to find any restaurants with mix rice. Kebetulan jumpa Restoran Sri Keningau. Sedap seh! Everyone was given a small bowl of soup kosong yang sangat sedap! Terkejut jugak ada this kind of extra meal. An "A" rated as well for this special service. The food? Macam masakan semenanjung. I rasa Indon yang masak kot. Tah la…most of women in Sabah who wear tudung, mesti pakai macam anak tudung and selitkan ke atas kiri and kanan telinga dorang. Macam orang Indon, tapi putih. Orang ape tu? Lu pikir la sendri ye…

After lunch, we went to Petagas War Memorial, just opposite the KKIA Terminal 1 (more or less). There was a monument with names, whom died during Japanese occupation in WW2. They were called “Kinabalu guerilla” who fought the Japanese but unfortunately, they were imprisoned and tortured to death. Sian kan? They were also buried in the compound area, which covered by grass with no tombstone, yang mana tiap-tiap ari makcik ni sedap je dok siram air kat rumput tu. Hehe! A "B" rated sebab takde ape, tapi bersih. 

 
Lepas Petagas, we started to look for Atkinson Clock Tower and Signal Hill Observatory. We did turn into the wrong way that consequently lead us to stuck in a quite bad traffic jam, but due to that agenda, we had a chance to see all the backpackers lodges. Oooo kat sini la ek. Banyak gile! Though we had passed by both of the intended places earlier, we had to make another turn to get back to Padang Merdeka before we reached the Signal Hill Observatory. Takde la best sangat…sebab takde la tinggi sangat…ok la. 

Then we drove down the hill and stopped by the Atkinson Clock Tower. That place was full of “ulat” who stayed in their car, listening to the Sabah radio. Rupanya, dekat dengan balai polis…patut la. We snapped few pictures sampai pakcik kat situ pun heran, apa la yang diorang ni nak sangat bergambar dengan clock tower tu. Haha! Tak la hebat sangat, but since this clock is listed in Sabah - Places of Interest, WAJIB la pegi kan! Hehe! "B" rated for both itineraries.

“Mana lagi?” hubby asked me…and I looked in our very own special Tour Cookbook – Sabah, The Borneo In Nature Edition.

“Sabah State Mosque and Tun Mustapha Tower. Eh bukan masa sampai tadi tu Sabah State Mosque ke?” I pondered as I managed to snap one picture of a masjid right in front of a roundabout.

“Haah, yang tu la…tapi Masjid Terapung lagi best. Nanti kita cari.” hubby replied accordingly, sebab dia penah datang Sabah kannnnnn!

So we drove back towards KK town and stopped by at Tun Mustapha Tower. What a beautiful and fascinating tower by the sea. We parked the car at one of a dead road and snapped few pictures. Since the tower right before the sunlight, all images were bit silhouetted. Takpe la, janji ada. Then we continued to visit the floated mosque and stopped at another dead end. Biar jauh skit, sebab I tak bawak tudung, plus I wore sleeveless dress. Tak sesuwai youuu! Tapi cantik gak la mosque tu. Cuma takde reflection on the water je, so gambar quite dull. So, "B" rated sebab cantik tapi tak masuk. 

Sekarang barulah kita boleh check in hotel ye. This hotel was located at 1 Borneo (local calls it 1B) and it is quite secluded from KK town. Kira outskirt area la, but good, tak la jam. We booked Mercure Hotel during Matta Fair ’09 (again) with a very excellent price, RM140 per nite. It is a new hotel and the advantages of staying at new hotel issssss semua barang dia baru la kan. An "A" rated for the hotel (except for parking, "D" rated ok! On available basis!) Next to the hotel, there were another 2 hotels, Novotel and Tune…and all these hotels are linked to 1B shopping complex, the largest living style in Sabah! So senang la nak shopping! (Tapi tak shopping pun…).

Lepas check in, buat “apa yang patut” and siap untuk ke Nexus Resort for sunset viewing. Perjalanan agak jauh dan hari semakin gelap. We passed by the marine area, kampung air, and the rest, gunung-ganang je la. Rumah kat sana, if tak atas bukit, mesti atas air. Semua kayu. Very kampung living style but seronok tengok sebab tak penah tengok kan. Macam kampung nelayan ada, kampung orang asli ada. And people there, semua stock jalan kaki tau. From one point to another, yang mana sangat jauh, diorang selamba je jalan kaki. And the buses, kinda van-typed vehicle. Sebab bas besar tak larat panjat bukit. Hehe! Sebab tu la diorang sume pakai 4-wheels!

Sampai kat Nexus, tak bleh masuk. The guard told us it was closed at 5pm daily. LAAAA SAPE YANG CAKAP BLEH TENGOK SUNSET KAT SINI NIIIII??? NI YANG NAK MARAH NI!!! "D" rated la camni! Yeah, we can only view the sunset via the hotel. Not even a lorong to sneak in to the beach tau. Punya la kedekut! Nasib baik la sunset tak cantik sebab awan banyak! So we drove out the Nexus Karambunai area, and headed to one big gulf with lovely scenery next to one kampung air, full of maritime vessels/boat/ships. Lagi cantik kat sini! Siap ada orang berkayak macam kena ragging je. Haha! 

It was just 6.30pm but the darkness already covered the atmosphere surrounding us. Unlike peninsular, the night and day comes early in Sabah. And then we started to feel hungry! Dinner at seafood restaurant, as per listed in our itinerary! As per recommended by hubby’s Sabah clan, we drove to Salut and find the seafood resto. Salut Seafood Restaurant. It was also written in Chinese so I thought it was a Chinese resto, but hubby told me that almost all signboards in Sabah have Chinese language. Common. To support it, I saw few ladies with tudung, having their dinner there. Ha betul la kot kan. Tawakal je la. Seafood lagipun. (But they served beer la…). Along the way towards the resto, there were more than 10 big ponds. Kaya seh tokeh kedai ni! Ternak sendri tuh!

Looking at the menu list, not as variety as what we can get at peninsular. Anyhow, they serve many types of kepah, kerang, siput and oyster. One thing that I had never seen, soft shell crab. Kecik je, tapi mahal nak mampos! RM60 per kilo! One advise, this seafood restaurant is not suitable for packs of two! Nak makan, datang beramai-ramai sebab minimum Kg that allowed to be ordered was half per item. Half kg for crab was like 3pcs. Half kg for prawn was 30pcs. Ha banyak tu kalau nak makan berdua. Dengan ikan lagi. Oyster je boleh amik pcs, sekor RM3, itupun fresh tak masak pape. So kitorang amik udang, ikan and sayur je. More than enough for two of us. Rasa? So-so. "B" rated.

Dalam keadaan yang kenyang, lepas makan, kitorang lepak tepi pantai on the way to hotel. There was a place called Taman Awam apetah. Ramai orang melepak macam tepi Padang Kota kat penang tu. Bercinta, bersembang…nothing to do, we ended up talking to each other tatkala tikus berkeliaran keluar masuk dari bawah longkang di tepian jalanan…jom balik la ayang!

More Pics here :

Day 1