Trip Overview – 5 days at Kota Kinabalu

After almost 2 years of non-travel due to the Covid, we decided to make a short trip to our neighbouring country Malaysia since the borders were reopened and the Covid situation seems to be under control in South East Asia. Kota Kinabalu is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia, located in the northern part of the island of Borneo. It is a coastal city partly surrounded by rainforest and is most well known as gateway to the 4,095m-high Mount Kinabalu which attracts climbers from all over the world.

My trip to Kota Kinabalu, fondly known to the locals as KK, is not to challenge the mountain. It is for relaxation, do some sightseeing in the cool weather and scenic highlands around the Kinabalu National Park and enjoy the local food. As a coastal city facing West, KK is also the place to see the famous golden sunsets from the beaches and waterfront.

The following is the itinerary of our week in Kota Kinabalu.

Day 1 and 2 (4 and 5 July 2022)

We chose to stay at the Shangri-La Resort located at Tanjung Aru. The Sunset Bar located within this hotel is reputed to be the best place to watch the amazing Sabah sunsets.

 

Nothing beats relaxing by the beach, with cool sea breezes, cold drinks, good company and waiting for the evening light show to occur.  

For those wanting to dip or play in the sea, a marina within the hotel bring guests for a 15 minute boat ride to one of the islands on Tunku Abdul Rahman marine park for sea activities and beaches.

We chose to forgo the trip to the islands and just relax by the hotel’s spacious swimming pool by the sea.

Trip report:  Sunset at Tanjung Aru and a delicious seafood dinner at Welcome Seafood

Trip report: A day at Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort and seafood dinner at Suang Tain Seafood Restaurant

Day 3 (6 July 2022)

After 2 days at Tanjung Aru, we moved to a hotel located within the city. Le Meridien is a very nice hotel ideally located by the KK Waterfront.

This is the day where we sampled a few of Kota Kinabalu’s famous local food and also check out a local cafe called October Cafe Gaya. 

Seng Hin Coffee Shop offers a variety of local food but is well known for its Seafood Tom Yum noodles and Tuaran Mee.

My stay at the Le Meridien Hotel Kota Kinabalu includes access to the Club Lounge.  Situated on the fourteenth floor of the waterfront hotel, the floor to ceiling glass-walls in the lounge yields uninterrupted views of the South China Sea. The Le Meridien Club Lounge would have been an excellent place to enjoy the Kota Kinabalu sunset, except for the rainy weather during our stay! Nevertheless, we enjoyed the facilities, good service, buffet dinner and free flow of drinks at this lounge.

Trip report:  Sampling Kota Kinabalu’s Tomyum Seafood, Tuaran Mee and Sang Nyuk Mee and October Cafe Gaya

Trip report: Watching Kota Kinabalu sunset from the Le Meridien Club Lounge

 

Day 4 and 5 (7 and 8 July)

After spending 3 days in the city, we took a 2D/1N trip to Kundasang with a tour agency Amazing Borneo. It is about 2 hours drive from KK city. Many tour agencies offer day trips to explore the sights around Kundasang but we decided that the best way to experience Kundasang is to do an overnight stay.

Kundasang is a small town located on the foot of Mount Kinabalu offering panoramic view of the mountain. At an elevation of about 1900 meters above sea level, it has a much cooler weather. Kundasang is also famously known as the “New Zealand of Borneo” for its unique mountainous geographical terrain.

Canopy Walk at Poring Hot Spring, a breathtaking treetop walk on a 43-meter tall canopy walkway.

We did a very exciting Canopy Walk and enjoyed a dip in the hot natural spring waters at Poring Hot Spring on Day 1. On the way to Poring Hot Spring, we stopped by the Tamparuli Suspension Bridge, Nabalu town and also got to view the rare Rafflesia Flower.

Normally, a trek deep into the rainforest is needed to even get a chance to see the Rafflesia flower.

 

Trip report:  2D/1N Trip to Kundasang – Tamparuli Suspension Bridge, Nabalu town and viewing the Rafflesia Flower

Trip report: 2D/1N Trip to Kundasang - Canopy Walk and Poring Hot spring

Our trip included dinner and overnight stay at Kinabalu Pine Resort, one of the best places to stay in Kundasang.

Trip report: 2D/1N Trip to Kundasang – Our stay at Kinabalu Pine Resort

After waking up the views of Mount Kinabalu from the Kinabalu Pine Resort where we spend the evening, we went to Desa Dairy Farm to see some cows with the mountain range in the background.

Almost like New Zealand but not quite.

Trip report: 2D/1N Trip to Kundasang – Desa Dairy Farm

We did a quick stopover for a drink at Hooga Cafe before visiting the Kundasang War Memorial. This memorial is dedicated to the British and Australian soldiers who died in the Sandakan Prisoner of War (POW) camp and during their death marches to Ranau. I learned a little bit more of South East Asian and WW2 history through this short visit.

Trip report: 2D/1N Trip to Kundasang – Kundasang War Memorial

Our last destination in the 2D/1N trip to Kundasang is the Mount Kinabalu Park HQ. This is the place where climbers will begin their ascent of Mount Kinabalu. Our guide shows us the route to the summit and then bought us through a nice walk in the Botanical Garden located within the park.  

Here we get to see some exotic tropical plants, including the most expensive orchid in the world (Rothschild’s Slipper Orchid).

The extremely rare Rothschild’s orchid only grows on the slope of Mount Kinabalu between 500 and 1,200 meters in altitude.

Trip report: 2D/1N trip to Kundasang – Kinabalu National Park’s Botanical Garden

After lunch at the Kinabalu Park Restaurant. we made the uneventful 2 hours drive back to KK City.

Pubs and restaurants along the Kota Kinabalu Waterfront.

We ended our trip with early dinner at Welcome Seafood Restaurant and a drink at the KK Waterfront before picking up our luggage from Le Meridien hotel for our journey home.

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Sunset at Tanjung Aru and a delicious seafood dinner at Welcome Seafood

4 July 2022

I felt that the seats on the A320neo budget airline were designed to torture its occupants, with the awkward protruding headrest giving me a stiff neck. Thankfully, Kota Kinabalu was only a short two and half hour flight from home. We arrived on schedule, at about 11 AM, with nice sunny weather.

This was my first oversea travel after a hiatus of over 2 years due to Covid. Covid-19 restrictions had recently been relaxed for travelers to Malaysia, so we (my wife, son and I) breezed through the arrival procedures at the airport.

Our accommodation for the first 2 days in Kota Kinabalu (KK) is the Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort.  We chose this hotel because this is one of the best resorts in KK and the Sunset Bar located within this hotel is reputed to be the best place to watch the amazing Sabah sunsets. Nothing beats relaxing by the beach, with cool sea breezes, cold drinks, good company and waiting for the evening light show to occur.

 

Getting to the resort from the airport is easy. A standard rate for airport taxi service from the airport to any place in the city is 30 MYR. We used Grab taxi for about half the cost since Tanjung Aru is nearer to the airport than the city.

Our taxi ride to the hotel took less than ten minutes. Upon arrival, a bellhop took care of our luggage while we went to do our check in.

I was hoping to have early check-in but our room in the Kinabalu Wing was not ready till 2 PM. The lady at the front desk tried to so some up selling by offering us immediate check-in to a Sea View King Room in the Tanjung Wing at a slightly higher cost but I declined.

           

View of the garden from the lobby. The Kinabalu Wing is on the left of the picture above.

We had some time to kill before our scheduled check-in so went to get some pasta and pizza for lunch at Coco Joe’s Bar & Grill, the poolside restaurant in the hotel. 

Coconut for 28 MYR!

Food is pricey and the taste does not match the price we paid. Nevertheless, Coco Joe’s offers some nice views of the Kota Kinabalu promenade with the mountain range in the back.  

We finally got to our room in the Kinabalu Wing after lunch. Not much of the mountain (Mount Kinabalu) could be seen from the balcony as it was a cloudy day and the 4,095 meters (13,435 feet) mountain is often veiled by the clouds in the afternoon.

The rest of afternoon was spent at the impressive swimming pool at this seaside resort. One zone is dedicated for adults, whereas the other zone is family orientated and is next to a fun water slide and water play area that kids or even adult (I was tempted!) would enjoy. 

A bridge through the centre of the pool sort of divided the pool into two zones. This is the kids’ zone.

Water play area in the kids’ zone. The large blue pail will discharge tons of water regularly.

  

     Me relaxing at the adult zone of the pool. 

  

I was somewhat amused to see some hotel guests donning hotel-issued lifejackets while using the swimming pool. Some parts of the adult pool are actually between 1.7 to 1.9 meters deep in the adult zone.

After a shower and a change of clothes back in our room, we headed for the Sunset Bar at 5.30 PM. Kota Kinabalu could be in the list of top ten places to watch the sunset and the best place to do it is at this popular Sunset Bar located at Tanjung Aru beach.

 

Sunset Bar at the Shangri-la Tanjung Aru is the best place to watch the sunset.

 

At this time, the sky over Kota Kinabalu was rather cloudy. This is still monsoon season, so rain was forecasted every day. With luck, we could still watch a nice light show as the sun sets.

 

Tip: Make a reservation for a lounge or high table right next to the beach as this bar is popular!

 

My wife and son ordered Borneo-inspired cocktails, namely the Lepa-Lepa (Havana Club Rum, Mango Juice, Coconut Cream, Ginger and Coriander Leaves) and the Sabah Sling (Beefeater Gin, Rice Wine, Grenadine Syrup, Lime Juice, Lemon Grass Tea). I went for something simpler -  a pint of Tiger draft. And some chicken satay – BBQ marinated chicken meat on a skewer.

       12 skewers of perfectly cooked, juicy Chicken Satay to go with our drinks. 

The sun sets at 6.30 PM at Kota Kinabalu, so we did not have to wait very long for it. Due to the monsoon clouds, we did not get to see the famous red glow in the evening sky but the sunlight projected onto the monsoon clouds did gave some dramatic views.

We ended the evening with seafood dinner at a popular restaurant located in the city centre which was a short taxi ride away. Fresh seafood is abundant, and hence relatively cheap, in Kota Kinabalu as compared to back home.

Welcome Seafood is a very popular seafood restaurant in Kota Kinabalu for both locals and tourists. We chatted with our taxi driver on the way there and he said that choosing this restaurant for our seafood dinner will not be wrong.

This restaurant is indeed popular. And huge! It occupies almost the entire ground floor of the Asia City shopping complex.

Tanks of live fish, lobsters, prawns, mud crabs, flower crabs, shellfishes were on display. There are even exotic critters like the stone fish and mantis shrimps. The aggressive mantis shrimps were kept separated in their own plastic bottles. We are to pick our choice of seafood, get it weighed and the staff will recommend the best way to cook them.

We ordered 2 mud crabs cooked Kam Heong style, 2 large mantis shrimps to be fried with salt and pepper, a large grouper steamed with ginger and soya sauce and a plate of sambal kangkong. The mantis shrimps were the most expensive items we ordered at 280 MYR per kg. Mantis shrimps are not readily available back home. So this is a must-try dish for us.

Two Kam Heong Crab at Welcome Seafood Restaurant.

    Two mantis shrimps (0.5 kg nett) in salt and pepper .

Our dinner for three persons cost MYR365 (less than half of what it would have cost back home!). I will be back!

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A day at Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort and seafood dinner at Suang Tain Seafood Restaurant

5 July 2022

We finally caught a sight of the famous mountain of Kota Kinabalu from the balcony of our room in the Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort early in the morning. Mount Kinabalu is usually shrouded in monsoon clouds by noon this time of the year.

View of Mount Kinabalu from our room at Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort.

Day 2 of our stay in Kota Kinabalu was spent mostly within the resort. I was contemplating whether to make a day trip to one of the islands off Kota Kinabalu. A 15 minute boat ride from the Star Marina, located within the hotel, could bring us to one of the islands (Pulau Sapi, Pulau Manukan or Pulau Mamutik) in Tunku Abdul Rahman marine park. After reading the reviews about the islands’ dead corals and dirty beach on the internet, we decided to skip this activity and swim in the hotel pool instead. We also booked a sunset cruise from the Star Marina.

After a hearty buffet breakfast at the hotel, we spent the rest of the morning chilling by the massive hotel swimming pool.

For lunch, we tried the Grab food delivery service and it worked! One of the local dishes we wanted to try is the Tuaran Noodle or locally known as Mee Tuaran. Like Kolo Mee to Sarawak, Chicken Rice to Singapore, Mee Tuaran is probably the noodle representing Sabah state. Tuaran is a town in Sabah and this traditional handmade egg noodle is born in that Tuaran town.

Using the Grab app on my son’s mobile phone, we ordered Mee Tuaran from the aptly named Tuaran Mee Restoran located at Inanam, some 15 minutes away from the city center by car.

Our Tuaran Mee delivered to the hotel lobby by Grab food delivery service.

We ordered one topped with seafood and the other with chicken. The fried noodles are springy to the bite. Both tasted great even though they are not piping hot. It would have tasted even better when eaten freshly cooked at the restaurant. In any case, this beats the lunch we had at the Coco Joe’s the previous day by a mile.

It was about 3.30 PM when I received a call from a staff from the Star Marina. Bad news.  Apparently the wind had picked up and the sea would be choppy. Not a good idea to be out at sea in the evening. The staff also mentioned that there are low clouds on the horizon, so we would probably not get to see a nice sunset. With our Sunset Cruise torpedoed, we went to make a reservation at the Sunset Bar again.

We explored the vast grounds of the hotel in the early evening.  We could indeed feel the stronger sea breeze and see the more choppy sea from the beach.

Tanjung Wing of the hotel is next to most of the hotel’s amenities like the pool, mini golf course, koi pond, and main building with the restaurant and lobby. A better choice than the Kinabalu Wing but the rooms would cost slightly more as expected.

Koi pond behind the Tanjung Wing.

Playing games by the beach.

At 5.30 PM, we headed to the Sunset Bar for a sundowner. This time, we did not manage to get a high table next to the sea since we made our reservations late. Nevertheless, we still manage to get good views of the sea and sky and it was another relaxing and enjoyable evening with good sea breezes.

The Sunset Bar at the Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort is where we want to be at about 6 PM.

Watching sunset from the Sunset Bar.

A group of people with the Stand Up Paddle Board off the Tanjung Aru Beach.

 

Another evening with nice sunset to be viewed from the Sunset Bar, despite the cloud cover.

For dinner, we went to try out another popular seafood restaurant. The Suang Tain (Double Sky when translated from Chinese) Seafood Restaurant is not as crowded as the Welcome Seafood Restaurant.

Dining area at the restaurant

Once again, we picked our seafood from tanks of live fish, crabs, prawns and lobster, with prices per kg clearly stated. I noted that the prices are only slightly higher compared to the other seafood restaurant.

Live seafood area of the restaurant where we get to pick our dinner.

We skipped the lobster priced at 380 MYR/kg since it is about the same price back home. However the prices for the mud crabs, live fish and live prawns were very much cheaper than back home.

Delicious mud crabs cooked with salted egg.

Live prawns steamed with butter and garlic

Steamed “dragon tiger grouper” with ginger and soya sauce.

White clams cooked in radish soup.

 

Deep fried tofu with crab meat.

All in, our dinner for 3 persons above costs about 250 MYR!  Definitely value for money.

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Sampling Kota Kinabalu’s Tomyum Seafood, Tuaran Mee and Sang Nyuk Mee and October Cafe Gaya

6 July 2022

After 2 days of chilling at the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort, we moved to Le Meridien, located closer to the city centre. In fact, the hotel’s location is right next to the Kota Kinabalu waterfront.

Our plan for Day 3 is to sample the local Sabah cuisine. There are many “must-try” local food in my list that includes the Tuaran Mee, Sliced Pork Noodles (known locally as the Sang Nyuk Mian), Seafood Noodles, well known Yee Fung Laksa, Beef Soup Noodles (known locally as Ngau Chap) and Pork Bone Soup (Bak Kut Teh). However, we do not have the stomach capacity nor time to try them all.

After our early check-in at the Le Meridien hotel, we walked to the Seng Hing coffee shop located at a street just behind the hotel.

Seng Hing Coffee Shop was recommended by the locals for their Tuaran Mee and Tom Yum Noodles.

Kedai Kopi Seng Hing, as it is called locally, offers a variety of local food but is well known for its Seafood Tom Yum noodles and Tuaran Mee. And these were what we ordered for our lunch.  In addition, we tried a bowl of their Red Wine Bee Hoon Soup as well.

Tuaran Mee with good “wok hei”

Tom Yum Noodles with Tiger Prawns. It is one of the signature and must-try dishes in this restaurant.

Red Wine Bee Hoon Soup with Prawns.

Although we had sampled Mee Tuaran the day before using Grab food delivery service to our hotel, eating freshly cooked Tuaran Mee with its “wok hei” was so much better.  All of the dishes we ordered were delicious and the Tuaran Mee was what I enjoyed most.

It was slightly past 2 PM when we finished our lunch at Seng Hing. We went to look for the Kim Hing Lee Coffee Shop which is just round the corner from Seng Hing.

Kedai Kopi Kim Hing Lee is well known for its Sliced Pork Noodles (known locally as the Sang Nyuk Mian).

 

The shop closes at 2.30 PM and the shop was practically empty as we stood outside wondering if we were too late. The Chinese lady in the shop waved for us to go in and told us she could serve us the last order before closing.

We placed our orders for 2 bowls of their famous noodles and browse the history of the shop displayed on the wall. Like the earlier Seng Hing Coffee shop, the Kim Hing Lee coffee shop goes back a long time. 

Black and white photo of the coffee shops along the Jesselton Jetty in the old days.

The Sang Nyuk Mian is another icon food of Sabah. Sang Nyuk Mee literally means Raw Pork Noodle. However, this is a misnomer. The pork is not eaten raw. It actually means the dish is made from fresh raw meat. The thinly cut pork slices are fresh, smooth and tender. Melt in your mouth goodness!   

Sang Nyuk Mee is served in two styles - Noodle Soup or Dry style. We ordered the Dry style where the noodles (mee) are served in separate bowl and mixed in aromatic dark soy sauce and pork oil.  I found the taste of the noodles to be a bit similar to the Korean Jajangmyeon (noodle dish in a black bean sauce).

The Sang Nyuk is served in another bowl with light but tasty pork broth with pork slices, meatballs and internal organs (e.g. liver, intestines).

 

Although we were quite full from our meal at the previous coffee shop, the three of us managed to finish all the noodles and soup! It was that good.

We were suffering from “food coma” after two rounds of lunch at the two coffee shops. Next stop for us would be a cafe along Jalan Dewan for some caffeine/coffee. The four blocks of shop houses, also known as Australia Place, located along the street leading to Signal Hill has transformed from an old school printing hub into a cool hangout spot with many hipster cafes such as Nook Cafe, Biru Biru and Woo!

We chose to go to the October Cafe Gaya, based on the pictures of its interior we saw on the Internet.

Ordering our coffee at the October Cafe Gaya. Stairs leads to a loft.

 

The interior of the cafe is quite cosy and extrudes the warm woody feel.  There are wall murals done by visiting artists and other paraphernalia decorating the walls.

We ordered only drinks although the food is supposed to be good too.

A loft on the right side of the cafe adds seating spaces.

Although I find the wooden seats a little uncomfortable (some sofas with soft cushions would be good), this cafe is a nice place to chill and while away the hours till time to head back to the Le Meridien Hotel to watch the sunset.

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