[D-3 & 4] Kota Kinabalu Road Trip.

source : virtourist

So, here comes Day 3 and 4 of the Kota Kinabalu trip. We woke up quite early on the third day, at around 7.30am-ish. I think we finally recovered from the long road trip. We decided to go to the city for the third day and so off to Wisma Merdeka to get breakfast at KFC. Yes, we initially thought they had the a.m meal but turns out they only offer that at their 24 hour branches so we had a really simple KFC meal. After breakfast, we went to a souvenir shop to get some souvenirs for families and friends. One of the reason why we wanted to go to Wisma Merdeka was because it was right next to Suria Sabah.


Yes, we were planning on spending our day at Suria Sabah. So after shopping for souvenirs off to Suria Sabah! We only travel by foot cause it was really close, it was like next to Wisma Merdeka. From the outside, Suria Sabah looks so small but honestly, you shouldn't say that. It's big, no, it's huge. But most of the shops in Suria Sabah, you can also find them at 1Borneo so I took the chance to get things I wanted at 1Borneo but didn't get. Haha. At first, we entered the Cotton Place cause mum and I really like cotton clothes but we finally found the bag. After that, we went to Times Bookstore.

Can I just say, can we have this type of bookstore in Brunei? I mean, there is no pressure for you to buy at all! And there is a lot of variety of books. It's like book heaven, I'm telling you. One of the things which turn me off at local bookstore is that whenever we go in, they would be looking at you, like pressuring you to buy something and when we ask if we have this so-so book and they don't have that, they start recommending other books. At times I feel like shutting them down but yeah. Anyway, back to Times. Seriously, I love this book store! They have this little space where you can spend time reading a book cause there are times when you are not sure whether you really want the book, so you could spend some time looking through the book. Kids can also play at a space. So, it really is amazing. I also love how they had place and organise their books. Seriously! Bookstore is my thing. Haha. Yes, of course, bought lots of books from this place. Haha.



Next, we went to Brands Outlet, grab a few graphic tees here. There was a sale going on, so obviously a lot of people were there. Haha. We went to couple of other places but I can't quite remember what it was because all I can remember was that, we had lunch at Kenny Rogers again. Haha. I kinda miss Kenny Rogers right now cause you can't find them here. I think I prefer KR than BK. Haha. Anyway, after that, we went back to 1Borneo because Mum and Dad wanted to get foot massage. So yeah, while Mum and Dad had their massage at Zouk Spa, brother and I went around 1Borneo again to get some things before we leave tomorrow. We went to get some Famous Amos and Donuts from the Big Apple. After the massage, we also went to Karamell Almondo where we had ice-creams! Mine had almonds in it so I'm happy. Haha and it's vanilla too! That is definitely a plus!

source / courtesy of

Anyway, that night, we had dinner at Fish & Co who is famouse for having 'Seafood on a Pan'. So, we had seafood platter for two that night. Seriously, the portion was not for two. It was for four! Haha, because they had shrimps, calamari, fish, WAIT. Let a picture do the talking. Just replace the chips with rice. That is how it looks like. So yeah, was really full that night because we also ordered carbonara. Should not have cause we couldn't finished that cause we were busy eating the seafood platter. Haha.

So the next day, we woke up early and thankfully we had packed the day before so we weren't really in a rush. We checked out early from our apartment, at around 8.30am and had Breakfast at Alamesra which is situated right opposite 1Borneo. By 9.30am, the place where we had breakfast was surrounded with Bruneians and cars from Brunei was like bersusun. Haha. Anyway, at 10am, went to the city and grab some Burger Kings for the sister and brother in law. And by 10.30am, we took off from Kota Kinabalu.

Now this where, super-looooooong ride start. At 4.30pm, we were still waiting at Temburong for the ferry. Seriously, I think we stayed at a spot before moving front for like 30 minutes because when I woke up from my ONE HOUR nap, we weren't moving that much. Haha, we moved like 10m (approx) and that is it. So, imagine the long hours in the car. It was totally tiring. Kuala Lurah also had a really long line but thankfully we managed to arrive home at 7.30pm. Alhamdulillah.

As I walked in my house, received two different texts from Zimah and Mar asking where I was and if I was okay and that was when I knew about the accident. Obviously, we were very shocked and I couldn't even begin to imagine the incident, it was just scary and it really did made me speechless. All we could say,

Our deepest condolences to the families relating to the bus accident. Semoga roh mereka di cucuri rahmat and Hopefully everyone else is now okay. Amin.

So, that is it. End of trip. I'm glad I finished this post. So, see everyone real soon because I am planning on updating more because I realised I've been neglecting my blog for a while.

till then

-wai

[D-2] Kota Kinabalu Road Trip.

Hello again. Now, it's time for Day 2 of the Kota Kinabalu road trip. We mostly spent our day 2 at 1Borneo because it was such a large shopping mall. I mean, it was a lot of floors, atriums, wings so we pretty much had to spend one whole day at 1Borneo. For your information, going to 1Borneo from the city centre will take you at least 20-30 minutes because, it is away from the city. If you were to go from the city, just look for the University Malaysia Sabah sign and that is where you are going. Yes, 1Borneo is next to the UMS. During the first day, I admit we had difficulty trying to find 1Borneo but after a while, you actually kinda get where 1Borneo is.


Anyway, taking into account that it is only our second day and the day before were really tiring, of course we woke up late. Everyone woke up at around 8.30am which is kinda early-late. Haha. Made some hot Milo and ate some crackers before going down to 1Borneo at 9.45am. Stores at 1Borneo actually opens at 10-10.30am. So we were actually still early because we were hoping to eat breakfast early at Old Town. But before going for breakfast, we managed to take our 'tourist' picture without many distractions cause no one was around. Haha. So, at 10.00am, we went to Old Town to get breakfast. Unfortunately, they couldn't serve us any rice / noodle related food so we end up eating their Western breakfast meal and the toasts! But then come to think of it, Old Town IS famous for it's toast so yeah. Both me and Syahmi had OLDTOWN Enriched Chocolate Freezy which, can I just say, Totally refreshing and awesome.



After breakfast, we then started shopping from 11am till 1.30pm. One of the things I advice you to have / wear for a day shopping is definitely SLIPPERS. Yeah, well maybe you guys are fine with wearing heels or flats but seriously after three hours of shopping, it really gets to your feet. So everyone, pack up your slippers, use them to your advantage. Anyway, I did not forget to bring my slippers, I just left them at my workplace so the first thing I really needed that morning was to find a pair of good slippers! You can actually find slippers everywhere, Adidas, Nike, Hush Puppies, Bata, Crocs you name it, they have it in 1Borneo. But since one of the stores we went to were Factory Outlet Store (F.O.S), I managed to find a good pair of slippers there for both me and mum. I also managed to get some scribble tees, so I think F.O.S was a good place to find slippers! Syahmi also managed to find his favourite hat there so yeah. F.O.S was really a good place to start with.

After going to F.O.S, we decided to go to Optical 88 because I really needed new pair of glasses. They took around 30-45minutes to prescribe my degrees but I'm not complaining cause they really did take good care of me. I mean, usually stores would just ask you to recite the numbers, pick the right lens and that is right. But it turns out, my eyes are not at the same lens because I have this problem with the red-green / silau problem. WHICH explains why I can't see very well with my contacts lens. It also turns out after I wore those contacts, my degrees went up. *nods Not a good thing. Anyway, if you need new glasses, Optical 88 is a good place to go to. They finished mine in one hour, they have good service (They gave my mum, dad and brother, water when they were waiting for me), good and honest opinion, really good choice of glasses too. So I was very satisfied and happy.


After Optical 88, off to shopping again! Went to Doss, to buy new cute slippers for everyone. Managed to get two new slippers which I really adore at the moment. We also went to Adidas and a lot of shoe / sports store. Seriously! We also went to Harris bookstore where I managed to grab a few books, pencil case and school bag for my brother. Then it was 1.30pm. Our stomach was grumbling, I was hungry so we stopped at Kenny Rogers for lunch. Seriously, what happened to Kenny Rogers in Brunei? It's so healthy good-awesome food! Haha.

Anyway, after lunch we went up our apartment to refreshen ourselves and get like 20 minutes to rest before continuing our shopping spree at 1Borneo. The first place we went to after resting was Parkson, seriously, the only reason why we spend two hours there was, there was a lot of things to look at and a LOT of queuing going on. But after Parkson, I manage to fulfill one of my wishlist I had since I was 16! Alhamdulillah.


So that is it for Day 2, yes, we went to lots of other places and ate dinner but I think this much of writing is enough. So, next will be a combination of day three and four, I think and that will be it!

till then

-wai

[D-1] Kota Kinabalu Road Trip.

Hello everyone! Is everyone enjoying your holiday? Well, for those who are having their holiday, how is your holiday treating you? Alhamdulillah, mine have been. Well, mixed with all sorts of things. Holiday for me well, let's just say time is flying super fast. I mean look at the calendar now, it's only a few more days to go before work will start for me! Haha.

Anyway, so I'm here to write how my road trip to Kota Kinabalu with both my parents and little brother went. Alhamdulillah, we arrived safely at Kota Kinabalu on 17th December 2011 around 4pm. You have to know, it's our first looong-faaar road trip together. Remember, the last time I went to KK, I actually only went with my older sister and couple of my cousins. As for my parents, the last time my father and mother went to KK was probably in 1995-1997 with their two daughters using the airplane. So, it's officially our very first long and far road trip together. We were obviously very nervous with yes, a lot of worries. But Alhamdulillah, we went and came back safely.


So, the above picture is taken while we were queuing at Kuala Lurah. It was approximately 6.35am when this picture was taken. We actually spent one hour here before reaching Limbang. Yeah, we went through one hour of queuing at the Immigration office but you know, I don't think there is anything we can do about it. It is that time of year where everyone is going to KK. So yeah guys, the only way to overcome this is patience and if you went to Kota Kinabalu recently or during December 2011, I think everyone know how long it took for everyone to get on that ferry at Limbang to Temburong.

Well, to explain that in numbers, we checked out from the Immigration in Limbang and started queuing at 8.30am and finally got on the ferry at 10.48am. Yes, we took two hours just to get on the Deli Ferry at Puni (if I am right). It cost BND$ 4 or RM8. Pay them using any currency you like. Honestly the two (Kuala Lurah and the Ferry) is the only thing which took a while because the rest went smoothly including all the other immigration counters (e.g Merapok)

Oh yeah, since we had no experience at all, going to Kota Kinabalu by car, this map really came in handy. However there are a lot of things which had changed. For one, there's no more ferry at Trusan and no more immigration office at Lawas. Then there are tonnes of changes with the road, new round-a-bouts are build but, the map still get it's point and it did help us go to Kota Kinabalu safely. Anyway, after the long drive, we finally arrived in Kota Kinabalu City Centre at around 3.55pm. However the traffic was so bad, we finally checked-in our apartment at 4.30pm. But thankfully, the apartment staff and place welcomed us with smiles and we were really happy with the place we were staying at.

During the three nights trip, we stayed at Borneo Holiday Homes which was situated at 1Borneo Shopping Mall at Tower B. There is a lot of plus sides staying at this apartment. One of them is they provide safe parking space. Yes, you need to have an access / parking card to park at the designated park space. You also need the access card to enter Tower B. In other words, safety is a real concern with the owners / staff of Borneo Holiday Homes and Tower B itself. There is actually a lot of company providing services to stay at Tower B and Borneo Holiday Homes is one of them. However, I would recommend you to stay over with them because one, the safety reasons, two, if you need them or any help, you could just go to Room 21-16 and they are there. Yes, their office was right next door.


Another reason why you should stay over Tower B is because once you go down the elevator, you arrive at 1Borneo, well not exactly. You have to go out using the access card, go through the reception then yeah, shop! Haha. Yes, you go out and there is 1Borneo Shopping Mall and I believe you can find everything here from food, shoes, bags, books to obviously everything. My family and I spent almost two days trying to cover the whole mall and seriously, there was a lot of things to look at! Obviously.

However that night, around 7.10, we took a taxi over to the city centre because we wanted to go and look / shop at Pasar Malam. What do people usually say about Pasar Malam? Well, it goes something like this

"If you can find it at the shopping mall, you can definitely find them at a cheaper price at Pasar Malam!"

So, from 1Borneo to Pasar Malam, it will cost you, well it cost us RM30. We didn't want to drive around because it was night and we still didn't really quite figure out the roads from 1Borneo to the city centre. I think we all know it actually cost around RM25 if you were a local but we just were not in the mood to argue so, from 1Borneo and to 1Borneo back, it may cost you RM60. We didn't buy anything much at Pasar Malam because everyone was selling practically the same thing. Just a couple of souvenirs, cheap shoes and that was pretty much it.

We went back to 1Borneo for dinner at The Chicken Rice Shop. Thankfully service was good and fast even though there was a lot of people dining in. I recommend you to order the family set. Lots of thing to eat plus that one jug of revive seriously helped us with our thirst! It was a tiring day and night, so after dinner, we went off to the apartment. Basically, that was our first day! Anyway, will be writing more soon, Insya-Allah. Just pray that I will have the time and words to use for the next three days. Haha.

till then

-wai

오랜만이야

Wow, it's been a while since I last blog and so many things had happened while I was away from this blog. Graduation, working, weddings, challenges, renovation and so much more. Well, Alhamdulillah, I finally graduated from our local university and am finally working officially. Graduation was to me, amazing. From rehearsals to the very day. It felt surreal and when the day ended, it finally made me realise that I was and am a graduate from UBD. :)

I actually think I forgot how to blog and I think I did. I can't really remember how I come up with things I posted up for my blog, it used to come up easily. Well, for all I know, nowadays, I've been spending time on mostly works and just listening to music. Yeah, works been giving me a headache and been taking up most of my time. I think any work or occupation will take up time and I will eventually get use to this lifestyle. Back in Uni, my life was a little more care-free than now so I definitely miss that. I definitely miss my mates too. Don't get me wrong. I do have friends at work but I use to have a group of friends, where nowadays it's more to a one-two person basis.

Oh, and I'm currently the youngest at work. Haha. 20 and an educator, How do I feel? Like a kid. Surrounded by people who are older and with more experience than me can be very overwhelming. Whenever I'm overwhelmed with works which are given to me, I wonder how my older colleague were able to get through everything for more than a year. Without even noticing, I find myself observing every single person in my workplace, looking at how they do their work, how they manage to handle everything and I have to say, it's been really interesting. There are things which I need to follow and things which I think should be left unsaid but everything is interesting.

So, life has been interesting, work too. I'm still in the process of learning. So yeah. :)

till then

- wai