Saturday, June 12, 2010

Top 5 of Kota Kinabalu


Top 5 Kota Kinabalu

1. Night Market (incl sunset)
2. Mari Mari Cutural Village
3. Makan Makan (eating!)
4. Visit one of the islands
5. Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre Rasa Ria

6. Go to Mount Kinabalu! (oops!)


Night Market

I find the waterfront one of the nicest places in KK. I started at the roundabout where the Shark statue stands high and pride. At this area they build a few benches where I sat down and watched the sunset and had a nice view on the Islands, they are close to the edge of KK. After this beautiful view I walked to the left along some small markets. One of them is the Handicraft markets. They sell a lot of souvenirs originally made in Sabah.



I walked a bit further and then I saw the fascinating night market on your right. First I saw only fruits, but all the way at the back is the fresh fish market located. I just followed the delicious smell of grilled fish and I found my way. On the left and right are market stalls with fresh fish like: prawns, lobster, squid, snappers etc. And don’t think it’s just a little fish, no it is BIG! They also offer fresh chicken wings & sateh. You can choose your own one and they grill it for you and put some nice sauce and lime on it. The Sabahan people love lime. If you order fish you will get it served with rice, chili and chilled water :-). 





After this satisfying meal I walked a little bit further where you can buy lots of vegetables, fruits and chili’s. Take a walk on the fresh fish to buy your own fish and cook it in your hostel/hotel!

Anyway, don’t you just like foreign markets? I seriously love them!






Mari Mari Cultural Village

After 30 minutes of driving I arrived at Mari Mari Cultural Village, after passing some local villages and see the ‘suburb life’. This cultural village has opened in 2008, so this is relatively new! I got totally emerged in the culture of the different tribes around Sabah. If you go there you will explore their original longhouses, discover a lot of their traditional habits and don’t be shy, because you will be involved in their traditional dancing as well! This all will be leaded by a guide.


I find this little village so stunning, because it is just beautifully set up. The houses are beautiful, made of bamboo and surrounded by green nature; furthermore every ‘resident’ wears their original costumes. So you really feel as you are back in the old days.

There is so much more to tell about this Mari Mari village, but I guesse you just have to explore that yourself! Trust me, it is a must-see!

Costs: RM150 with a Touroperator





 Eat Around

Try restaurants where locals go! The restaurant might not look the same as it looks in your own country, but if there are a lot of local people the food should be fine, as I discovered!

Here are my 3 favorite dishes:


Kopitiam

This restaurant is located next to Borneo Backpackers, close to Gaya Street. A must-try here is the Pandan Chicken Rice! Pandan is a nice leaf and the chicken gets cooked with the leaf, so the taste is fabulous. You will get a sambal with it, which tastes even more jammie! After 4 months here I am really addicted to this!


Costs: RM 6,95



5 Star restaurant in Gaya Street


Here you will get nice served duck with noodle soup and the most delicious vegetable! The vegetable is called Siu Park Choi with oyster sauce.

Costs: about RM 7,00

Kuja

At the end of the waterfront restaurant, just in front of BED club, there has a big guy called Kuja a small local shop/restaurant. Try the fried Dumpling over there! It is so nice!


Costs depends on how much you dumpling you want


AND!

Try just anywhere mee goreng with seafood!

Costs: about RM 6,00




Visit one of the islands

You must definitely visit the islands when you like to snorkel and just want to relax. These Islands have white beaches and crystal clear water. Till now I have only visited Manukan and Mamutik island. I prefer Mamutik island, because it is much smaller than Manukan, so there are less people. Both are great to snorkel! I want to visit Gaya Island soon, because it is the biggest island and has a small jungle that you can explore. A really good treatment for a jetlag! Sapi Island is known for their Monitor Lizards! Big ones! =)



PS don’t book this with a tour operator, because they will charge you a lot more than it actually costs! Costs: RM 17 transfer per jetty, RM 6 tax, RM 10 for snorkel equipment (if you don’t have it yourself) and RM 10 entrance fee for the park.
 
Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre Rasa Ria



I don’t think a lot of people know about this, but It is really worth it! Especially when you maybe don’t have the chance to go to, the more famous, Sepilok Rehabilitation centre. Rasa Ria is a resort, about 40 minutes from Kota Kinabalu. If you are not staying at the resort you should book it 1 or 2 days in advance. You can choose for the feeding time at 10.00AM or 14.00PM. We were at the resort around 11 and we first chilled a little bit at the luxurious pool, enjoyed the sun and this paradise for a while. Finally it was feeding time an after a short movie you will walk a bit through the jungle. On a platform they will call the Orang Utans to come for food and something to drink. We saw 3 Orang Utans and really close! It was such a wonderful experience. These cute little fuzzy animals look so sweet and look really vulnerable. You see it, in their face, that they really enjoy it here.

In this rehabilitation centre only are staying the young Orang Utans. When they reach a certain age they will be transferred to Sepilok and at the end they will be set free.



More information to help the Orang Utans and fight for their habitat: http://www.orangutan.org.au/

Costs: non-guest from the resort will pay RM 60



Officially Mount Kinabalu is not located in or around Kota Kinabalu, but please try to visit this mountain or at least have a good view at it! It is so worth it! So this was my sneaky nr. 6 ;-)

 

7 comments:

  1. lovely! thank u for sharing.. both cumi & ciki love sabah as well:)

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  2. Love it! Can't wait to go there in September. We are hiking Kinabalu for sure. Hopefully I can convince my wife that we need to get to the orangutan rehab center... Thank you!

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  3. Thank you Cumi & Ciki!

    Joe, I think convincing is not a problem, if you want I can sent you more pictures haha. They all look so sweet, that a woman in my opinion can't say no to that! Hahaha! Good luck =)

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  4. i still cannot get over the beauty of the 1st and last shots! lovely:)

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  5. hahahah thanks so much *blush blush*

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  6. hey~ great site, nice photo! I must say!

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  7. Thanks Linah! Appreciate it =)

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