Trip to Sabah in August 2019




Trip to Sabah with my beloved family in August 2019.

For this trip, I finalized the booking for flights and accommodation at the beginning of March 2019.  There were 5 of us who would be traveling. Eventhough booking for accommodation made in March, most of the best rating resorts in Kundasang were all fully booked. So make sure if you want to visit Kundasang, early reservation is a must.

On 1st August 2019, we took  Air Asia flight from KLIA at 8.35 am and arrived in Kota Kinabalu at 11.15 am. As I have arranged for car rental earlier on before our departure date, so the car was ready waiting for us at the airport.  We rented a Proton Exora for RM150/day, and we had it for 3 days.  The driving to Kundasang from Kota Kinabalu took us approximately 1 ½ hour.

Upon arrival at Kundasang, we checked in at J Residence. It is located 13 miles from Ranau and 300 meters away from the entrance of Kinabalu Park. J Residence is a simple accommodation lodge with a beautiful view that would paint a smile on your face every time you wake up from a deep slumber. It was nothing extraordinary, the rooms were fairly basic, but the green scenery along with the calming fresh air that brushes your face as stand over the wooden balcony would make you wish you stayed there longer.  The average temperature here was 23° C.

This is an entrance of J Residence. Very small road and very steep to get to the hotel.

Two friendly cats welcomed us to J Residence.


A view of Mount Kinabalu. 



On the same day, we went to explore Kinabalu Park. This park is famous for having the highest mountain in Southeast Asia and it is also well known as a botanical paradise. We did not go hiking as it was a little too late to do so by the time we reached there plus we were all not fit enough to hike the mountain.



Our 2nd day in Kundasang, we went to Desa Cattle Dairy Farm, which also known as the little New Zealand of Sabah. Located at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu, the farm covers an area of 199 hectares. From here, we can see the full view of Mount Kinabalu. A definite must place to visit if you want to take pictures with an amazing background to share with your family and friends. We enjoyed the breathtaking view of Mount Kinabalu along with the chilling weather. We even got the chance to bottle-feed adorable calves and.bought a few cartons of fresh milk and ice cream that tasted very yummylicious.







From Desa Cattle Dairy Farm, we went to Poring Hot Springs. Hot spring is just a small part of Poring as there are multiple pools and outdoor bathtubs that one can dip their body into.  If you explore the area,  you may also find rafflesia flowers that only bloom during a specific time of the year, waterfalls, cave, canopy walk, rainforest, orchid farm, butterfly garden etc.  We walked through the rainforest to the Kipungit Waterfall.  It was clearwater with lots of tiny fishes inside. My family and a bunch of other tourists enjoyed having our feet bitten by those little fishes as if we were at a fish spa.






Our 3rd day was our last day in Kundasang and it was my eldest son’s birthday.  After we checked out from J Residence at noon, we drove back to Kota Kinabalu.    In Kota Kinabalu, we checked in at Marina Court Condominium. We booked a 3 bedroom apartment to accommodate 5 of us. We visited the Kinabalu City Mosque. It is partially surrounded by a human-made lagoon and also known as "The Floating Mosque".


In the late afternoon, we returned our rented car.  The owner came to collect it from us at Marina Court Condominium.  From our place, it is just a walking distance to the Philipines Market where you can buy affordable exquisite gifts like Sabah pearls, handicrafts, souvenirs, and for most of Malaysians, we would also purchase anchovies for our families back home, etc. Before we ended our day, we sat by the KK waterfront in complete awe as we watched the panoramic view of the sunset with its skyburst of colours.


On our 4th day in Sabah, it was raining heavily since dawn.  We have no choice but to proceed with our initial plan to Sapi Island. We took grab car to Jesselton Jetty and bought return tickets to Sapi Island at the jetty sales office and had our brunch there.

 It was a quite rough sea, and it was not a joyful boat ride for me. The water was not crystal clear due to the heavy pouring rain earlier on, but we did enjoy ourselves on the island.  We spent a few hours on the island and then we went back to Kota Kinabalu. 





In the evening, we had a seafood dinner at Kampung Nelayan Floating Seafood  Restaurant but unfortunately, we missed their famous traditional dance performance due as we arrived at the restaurant late.

Our 5th day was our last day in Sabah.  We took an Airasia flight at 3.20 pm from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur. I love Sabah, and although this was not my 1st trip here but to my children, this was their 1st holiday in Sabah. They were absolutely delighted and looked forward to coming back here again.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Janda Baik

Image
FAMILY DAY AT RUANG, JANDA BAIK  (14/12/19 – 15/12/19) It was the last trip with my family to end the year of 2019.  There were 23 of us, including children. Everybody was looking forward to this trip from the moment I secured the booking with the owner of Ruang.  We had made various plans and arrangements prior to the family day from teams’ shirts, food, telematch game, etc. We booked 7 rooms at Ruang, called Just Is, Bathe 1, Bathe 2, Bathe 3, Outpost, Lookout, and Workshop.   I stayed in Bathe 3 and what I love the most about this room was that whenever I opened the wooden door, I’d have the perfect view of the river as it was right in front of my room and I’d wake up to the sound of the river flowing in a peaceful melody.  If you want to feel the thrill, you can stay in Lookout.  It was on a higher level with a unique design. So instead of a door, a blind curtain is used. There are 2 roo...
Read more

I-City

Image
STAYCATION AT I-CITY RESIDENCE Every time I plan on taking my mom for a holiday, I will make sure that the road trip will take no longer than 2 hours. Hence, this time I chose I-City.   I-City is a technology park located in Shah Alam where at night, the place comes alive as man-made trees brightly illuminated with millions of colorful lights were turned on. The whole surrounding of I-city looked like a scene from a fairytale movie, it’s an absolutely beautiful place to walk around and I can guarantee you that seeing the sparkling bright lights will elevate your mood. I booked at I-City Family Suite, and it is just a walking distance to the theme park, snow walk, waterpark, 5D cinema, and many more attractive activities for family fun. I-City family suite that I booked has 2 bedrooms and can accommodate up to 7 pax with Netflix and unlimited wifi. Fully equipped kitchen with microwave, rice cooker, toaster, refrigerator, kettl...
Read more

Westlife

Image
WESTLIFE IN MALAYSIA I am a fan of Westlife, by that, I mean I’ve been a massive fan of them ever since I was a teen. I love most of their songs, from their old hit songs up until their latest album. When I got the news about their 2 days concert on 8 th & 9 th August 2019 at Malawati Indoor Stadium, Shah Alam,   I told Ellisha, my daughter, to buy me 3 tickets. I was very fortunate to get all 3 tickets for the concert on 8 th August 2019.    The tickets were for my husband, Ellisha, and me. On the event date, we checked in at Acapella Suite Hotel Shah Alam, which is about a 10-15min walk to the stadium. The room was spacious and clean, with nice furniture and design. We stayed in a Deluxe Queen Suite. During checked in, I was informed by the hotel staff that there was also a group of people who stayed here and were also going to the concert.   The hotel has arranged for the shuttle service to take all of us to the stadium by...
Read more