My first trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah! This is a photo diary of the events over 3 days from Oct 14-16 2010.
Our arrival at the KK airport. We'd taken an AirAsia flight, promo price.
Beeda came to get us at the airport & took us to a nice seafront spot (Tanjung Aru) for a drink. We had a cooling coconut drink & chit chatted before she dropped us off at our hotel (Kingston Hotel) at KK Time Square.
After showering & resting for a bit, we were taken to dinner at a seafood restaurant called WELCOME (how apt! lol). There, Beeda introduced Allan & I to her students and friends.....Mr & Mrs Thien, Ivy, Woo, Michael & Josephine. We had such an engrossing conversation going & food was so delicious that I totally forgot to photograph the seafood dishes to share in this blog....! sigh..... It was simply delicious. I was told the price is very reasonable too.
Updated 18 Oct: This photo is courtesy of Michael & Josephine.
Look at the spread of food we had!
Deee.....leeee....cious!
The night being still young, we adjourned to the marina at Sutera Harbour Resort for drinks & more fellowship.
From L to R: Ivy, Beeda, myself, Mrs Thien, Mr Thien, Michael & Josephine
Parking for yachts.....a playground for the rich....sigh....what a lifestyle!
A view of the lounge from the marina.
Next morning, Beeda had plans for us before the big event in the evening, which was the 8th Anniversary Dinner & Dance organised by Antarabangsa Dance Group.
She took us for brunch at a famous noodle shop called Houng Kee. It's basically noodles served with a variety of condiments like the ones shown in the photo below. You select what you wish to have in the bowl. The selection included regular stuff like fish ball, fish fillet (either fried or steamed),
wantan and so on. And also less regular items like fish skin, fish stomach and other fish spare parts. I stuck to the less adventurous path lolol!
Allan's vermicelli
I chose egg noodles (which looked very like the noodles used for wantan mee)
Beeda skipped the noodles & had only soup with fish fillet, wantan & fish balls.
After brunch, we walked around to let the food settle & digest a bit before the next activity on the day's itinerary..... a visit to one of many islands in Sabah.
The jetty, with the ramp in the foreground leading to the boats & speedboats
that'll ferry passengers to whichever island for which they had purchased tickets.
I've been on quite a few small boats rides but nothing prepared me for the boat ride that day! We boarded the speed boat run by Aparu Holidays, put on our life jackets and started out to the open sea. The moment we passed all the buoys and markers, the sea started getting choppy. Combined with the speed at which the little boat was going against the waves, we had a very bumpy ride!
It was the first time I've experienced anything like this.....the bottom of the boat hitting the crest, 'flying' into the air before hitting the water again with a thump! My heart was pounding! Involuntary screams could be heard from the female passengers at the back. But I kept a calm facade so that others wouldn't see how scared I was. Poor Allan, I held so hard onto his hand that it got numb from lack of circulation! :)
All in all I had to 'endure' 30 minutes of thumping & bumping as the boat first took us to Sapi island, then Mamutik, and then our destination....Manukan island. But at Manukan, the sight of the fish just below the water surface (around the jetty) made me forget the 'harrowing' trip I just had.
Front view of the boat I was on
A banana float being towed back to the beach (on the right)
& if you look closely, that's Mount Kinabalu in the background
(just slightly left of the centre of the picture)
I was fortunate to get a clear shot of Mount Kinabalu from the boat
Fortunately, the boat ride back was smooth. Perhaps it was because we were going with the current instead of against it.
Evening.....party time!
Event: ANTARABANGSA Dance Group's 8th Anniversary Line Dance party.
Line dancers doing what they do best!
The group from KL
Mr & Mrs Thien
A lion dance performance by the first all ladies troupe in KK
A welcome song by the committee & group members
With Teresa Liu & the Jester mascot
With KT Toh (front row, center)
with Emily Mah
Celebrations included the anniversary cake complete with
Disney characters!
Getting in touch with the child in me.
At one point in my childhood, I'd wanted to be a mouseketeer! lol
M - I - C...... K - E - Y......
M - O - U - S - E!
Leading one of my dances. I think it was Mi Amor.
The other 2 dances were What U Waiting For &
Misery (Let Me Be)
And this is Wildcats Go!
With Beeda & her group
Allan's new found friends in KK....Michael & Mr Thien
Will they inspire him to line dance? We'll see...... :D
After all the excitement of the night, my active brain kept me awake till 4am although my body was screaming for rest! I gave up trying very hard to fall asleep and turned on the TV instead. The movie Hot Chick was playing on Astro. After that I flipped to the Discovery Channel and some real case detective case was being analysed & re-enacted. Slowly, the drone of the commentator lulled me to sleep......
The next morning, I lazed until it was time to check-out. Then Beeda brought us to a very nice little shop for lunch. They served a special noodle from the Tuaran district and it was yummy!
After lunch, we headed to the hall for my sharing session with Beeda's students & line dance friends.
Group photo
With Mei Ching & friends
Mariana Geoffrey (extreme left)
The 2 gentlemen danced really well.
We headed back to Beeda's condo unit for a rest and shower before leaving for dinner & thereafter to the airport for our flight home.
Sunset
(taken from Beeda's 5th floor unit)
I had a great first visit to KK. Thank you everyone for making it such a memorable trip! I hope it won't be long till I see & dance with all of you again.
