Where and how are you? KK! Day 1 (Part 2)

Day 1

 

Despite sleeping at 4am, I was already up and about at 8am. Probably, aging was a factor. They say, the older you become, the lesser sleep you need. And there were also some noise coming from the alley where my window was located. There were matured ladies speaking in a language I couldn’t understand (I later found out that they were Chinese).

 

Just enough to leave room for the feast to come

My accommodation comes with free breakfast. But being in a budget hotel, I knew that my breakfast would be of the budget kind as well.  Actually, it was a normal breakfast of toast, butter, jam, fresh fruit and coffee. If you’re in KK, light breakfast is advisable because there are loads of cheap but good-tasting food choices available soon as you step out of your hotel.

 

This trip was only known to a few relatives and friends. You can just imagine the surprise of the others when they learned that I had slipped out of the country. So I spent the next hour catching up with them. In the span of 20 minutes, I had Facetime sessions with friends and family from the Philippines, Australia and Japan, and with other chat sessions on the side.

 

Still clad in my favorite daster, I went down the reception area to inquire about a possible tour outside the city.  My initial plan was to have the tour on Day 1.  But the tour I wanted to join regularly leaves  at around 7am. Obviously, I wouldn’t be able to join said tour as planned because of my arrival schedule.  So I asked if there was another tour the following day heading to Mt. Kinabalu and I was informed that they need to check it first because it was Hari Raya and the services might not be available.

 

To maximize my time, I went out of the hotel and explored the nearby places.  I checked out where I could buy souvenirs as well as the directions to the restaurants and sites I would like to visit.  I also had to find a money changer. By the way, I already bought a few MYR at NAIA 3 before I left because I needed the local currency to pay for my taxi fare. I suggest you do the same especially when your arrival time is during unholy hours, i.e. airports money chargers are closed.

 

Still in my daster, I went to to Centrepoint Sabah to purchase some MYR. There are also other malls where money changers are available. Some say rates are even better.  However, I do not see the point of exhausting myself just to get the best deals when the differences are immaterial.

Yep, that was my lunch

When it was almost lunchtime, I decided to go back to the hotel. The weather was getting hotter and it has gotten more humid so instead of having my lunch at one of the restaurants, I decided to order take-away and have it in my airconditioned room.  Most of the restaurants were carinderia-style, open air. There were several options in the area but I opted to go for Chinese at Wong Kok Restaurant. What I loved about the place was that their menu on the wall had English translation and that their cashier spoke good English. So for lunch, I ordered their Duck and Roast Pork Rice .  For the drinks, I bought canned Winter Melon drink at a nearby mini-grocery. I was almost near the hotel when the smell of waffles reached my nose.  Of course, I had to sample it.  I got a set of 10 Kaya Balls (round waffles with Pandan Kaya filling).  It was one of the decisions I’ll never regret.  This kaya ball from Golden Fish has become one of my favorite food for this trip. I spent the whole afternoon snacking on it. If we were to convert my lunch expenses to Php, that much food with merienda to spare was under Php200.

Duck and Roast Pork. I heard them say Itik!

Winter Melon Forever

At the height of summer, 12-3pm are best spent away from the sun.  It is something I practice even when I’m overseas.  That was why I opted to spend the next hours in my hotel room. The wear from the previous day’s travel also finally caught up with me.  This old woman had to take her rest. After all, this trip is designed for me to relax.  Actually, this was the best part of traveling solo - being able to relax, no other schedules to consider, no stress.  I owned my time.

 

10 balls per order? Kayang-kaya!

With nothing to watch on TV and tired of watching from my mobile, I decided to look out of my window and see what was causing the noise. They had been at it since I woke up.  What I saw was an interesting set of dynamics. Let’s just say that the matured women (some might be older than me) in the alley belong to the oldest profession. Behind my curtains, I watched how these women dealt with one another and their prospective customers. During my brief stay, I have noted that unlike in other places where work starts at night, their working hours were between 5am-5pm. I had to laugh when I was able to relate this to the joke, “Ang aga ng manliligaw mo, Instik ba yan?” As I have mentioned earlier, I was informed that the ladies were Chinese.

 

By 5pm, I went down the reception to once again check possible tour options. I was told that there was a tour available the following day but I have to join a bus full of other tourists.  However, they won’t be able to take me to Desa Dairy Farm, the one place I really wanted to visit.  They gave me the option to hire my own taxi but it would cost me at least MYR250 and the price still did not include the food and entrance fees.  This kind of trip takes one whole day.  The overall cost would be too much for me so I decided not proceed with the tour.  Another factor I considered was the Gaya Street Sunday Market. If I take the tour, I would have to miss this once a week market. You might be wondering why I chose the Sunday market over the opportunity to see the sights (and have some photo ops).  You see, I am more of a culture and heritage type of gal. I love being around locals. I don’t want to just see places, I want to experience them.  The Sunday Market may also be a tourist destination but still, a lot of locals frequent the place.

Rain, rain go away!

With the tour issue settled, I went out to search for dinner. It was at this point when I realized that my trip has become a food trip. I was planning to go to the Waterfront and Seafood Market but it started to rain.  Changed my plan and opted to get dinner nearby. I have a list of food places I would like to try and one of them was The Royal Coconut (TRC).  However, their place was closed when I got there. They had a cute note saying something like, “Don’t panic, we’ll open tomorrow!” Not one to be easily put down, I decided to check out the tents which I saw on my way to TRC. My curiosity was actually piqued by the locals I saw carrying plastic bags full of food and drinks. It was there that I discovered a gem of a bazaar, the Ramadan Bazaar! There were loads of stuff to choose from because this was where some locals bought their dinner when it was time to break their fasting for Ramadan. I actually had to walk back and forth, about three times, so I could decide on what to buy.  With lots to choose from, my dinner became a “buffet”. There were no tables at the bazaar so I had my dinner in my hotel room.  Check out my bazaar finds. Once again, I shelled out less than Php200 for all of these.  Amazing, right?

 

No trip to Malaysia will be complete without this.

 



First time to try it and it was good.



Rice is life!

Put them together and you get  the drink Cendol Gula Melaka

Interesting combination. 
There's something about this place and its affinity to lime.

I was so full. How full?  Let's just say that I managed to walk hours under the heat of the sun and in between throngs of shoppers the following day without having any breakfast and with my next meal happening at lunchtime already. Yes, I had that much energy stored from my dinner!

Done with Day 1.

Where and how are you? KK! Day 0 (Part 1)

My favorite photo of KK. Looks like two different
areas but it's just one place.

 

 

Immigration Officer:  Where are you going?

Me:  Kota Kinabalu?

Immigration Officer:  Where’s that?
 

So, I had to make an extensive explanation of where the city is as if I were a geography teacher. ‘Not really sure if he was just testing whether I know where I was going or he really did not know where it was or knows the place but does not have much information about it.  I’m inclined to think of the latter. Why?  Because when I told friends where I was, they were all, “where’s that?”
 

I guess one could say that my #travelgoal since last year is to visit areas that are still pretty much under the tourist radar. Again, another why?  Tickets are usually cheaper if not cheapest.  This was why when I saw the promo rates for Kota Kinabalu (or KK as it is usually called) during the Eid holidays, I sealed the deal right away.  Got a round-trip all in ticket for Php3,273.94. Not bad.  I actually tried to tell Reyna Elena about it so she could join me but probably because KK is not your usual tourist destination; the idea did not fly with her. I also asked my mom, Donya, to join me but she said she didn’t like the flight schedules which were past midnight. So off I went for my first solo travel this year.

 

Day 0

 

Flights to KK are not daily so you really have to plan your schedule.  In my case, it was departing late Friday night and arriving early Tuesday morning.   This was perfect because the Monday in between was a holiday.
 

 

The Wings Dining Area
Source:  The Wings website

 

Because I still had meetings that Friday, I went straight to the airport from the office.  Thankfully, I was able to catch a bus and a dependable Grab taxi.  I was already at the airport 6 hours before my scheduled departure so I decided to stay at the lounge of The Wings NAIA 3.  Coming from the office, traveling from the province, I needed to rest and of course eat.  For that night, the menu was (everything unlimited) congee, pansit, chicken sandwich, cookies, pastries, juices and coffee.  So I had both my merienda and dinner at The Wings. I also managed to take a nap.  I needed to rest so I could keep my wits since my arrival time was during the wee hours of the morning.

 

Our flight arrived a few minutes earlier than scheduled but the line at immigration was long and only a few booths were open so it was almost 2am when I got out of the airport.  Taxi service from my hotel was up to 12am only so as suggested by the hotel manager I took the airport taxi.  Taxis are run by operators.  I still felt safe traveling during the wee hours of the morning in a foreign land. I went to the airport taxi counter, paid the fare and was given a coupon which I brought to the taxi queue.  Fare from the airport to the City Center is MYR30. But if the trip is during my hours, a surcharge of MYR15 is added.

Surcharge of 50% - Night Differential

 

The taxi assigned to me was driven by an elderly Chinese.  Because I looked like a local, he spoke to me in the local language.  Never in my life had I thought that I would say the line, “English only, please.” But, I did.  Actually, that was the case during my entire trip.  Using his limited English, he still described to me the places we were passing by.  Though it was my first time in KK, I’ve been to mainland Malaysia several times already and one of the things I’ve taken note of is how proud taxi drivers are of their country and what it has to offer.  They have so much passion that they’re more than taxi drivers; they’re more like tourist ambassadors.

Nothing fancy but homey
Source: Hotel Victoria

 

 

After 10 minutes or so, I reached my hotel. If you’ve read my previous posts, my foremost requirement when it comes to hotels is location.  It has to be near the places I wanted to visit or at the very least, near transportation stops.  For this trip, I made a booking at Hotel Victoria through Agoda. For Php3,800, I got a three night stay in a Twin Room with ensuite toilet and bath. The rate also came with breakfast. This is already cheap considering that in some hotels this rate will get you a bunk bed in a hostel where you also share the T&B with other occupants. My room was nothing fancy.  The small television did not even register viewable channels.  I did not have any issue with that since I was not there to watch TV. I actually had a better “source of entertainment” from my window. The hotel is also located near convenience stores and kopitiams (restaurants). There’s also a night market just outside the hotel and every bit of the city center was just a walk away. Having a Filipina receptionist was also an advantage.

 

Pantawid gutom program

As always, I was famished when I arrived at the hotel. And because there were convenience stores and 24-hour restaurants in the area, finding food was not a problem. The stalls in the night market across the hotel were all closed except for one or two.  One of those that remained open was a stall selling “shabu-shabu”.  I was reading the menu and not actually comprehending it since it was in another language when I was approached by store owner and asked me in Malay what I wanted to have. So, I said my famous line, “English only, please.” In response, she asked me where I was from, and when I answered Philippines, her eyes lit up and continued with, “Beh, Filipina din ako! Anong gusto mo dito?  Ito ganito yan....” Simply said, I was able to make good choices and had a satisfying midnight/early morning feast.  I actually felt sad when she told me that their stall won’t be available during the coming Hari Raya because they will be taking a holiday break. Until now, I can still remember the good food and the wonderful chat we exchanged.

 

It took me longer to get to sleep because a portion of my forehead and right eye accidentally hit a cabinet’s corner when I was trying to charge my phone. I had to observe an observation period. Thankfully, except for a swollen eyebrow (which by the way made my eyebrow more fab than ever), nothing else hurt. Now, you know why Donya does not want me to go gallivanting on my own.  Had I been traveling with Senyorito Lakwatsero, the kid definitely wouldn’t  mince telling me, “You’re so clumsy!”

 

At 4am, Day 0 has ended.  Well, okay, I went to sleep.