KK Fun

Missing for quite some time now.
I've hibernated long enough and it's time to post all those overdue updates.

Went to Kota Kinabalu last Christmas for our annual family vacay and I have to say this,
I am indeed head over heels for Sabah!

It has everything; islands, unique heritage, mountains, highlands, even the wildlife park which I went to is way better than the National Zoo. And the islands, I fell in love right after we landed our feet on the first island, Sapi. The sandy white beach, the crytal clear water, you can spot the all sorts of fish without even going into the water.

Arrived at KKIA Terminal 2 around 10ish in the morning but left the airport at 12pm due to a small incident involving my dad and AirAsia. Lulz. Not gonna write it down here, let it be the funniest inside joke for the family members :P
After checking into our apartment near UMS, we decided to grab something for lunch so went to 1Borneo and had chicken rice.
Then, later that night we went to one of the seafood restaurants in Kg Air, a well known place in KK for varieties of seafood. The prawns were so huge and there were so many types of fish that we have never heard of. But I was surprised that the lobsters were expensive, but my dad said probably because it's school and public holidays. So yeah, we skipped the lobsters.

The next day, woke up early in the morning and had our breakfast at one of the mamak restaurants nearby our apartment. After that, we went to Tuanku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, located at the KK Jetty. We took the 3 islands package and off to the first island, Sapi Island. It took 10 mins to reach Sapi Island with a speed boat. As soon as we stepped our feet on Sapi Island's jetty, we were totally amazed by the breathtaking scenery and the clear blue water. We could see schools of fish, swimming warily under the sea, right from the jetty. I became jakun for a while and went like "omg ikannnn ikannnnn!!! Omg ikan bilissss ikan bilissss!! Shit this place is so beautiful omg!!!" Lulz.
The kids straight away took off their outer attire and went straight into the water. I was playing by the beach and there were so many fish, some of them were between my legs. Baby Lisya was so excited playing in the water. My mom decided to stay away from the water and relaxed under the trees.
After an hour or so, we went to the second island, Manukan Island. The uncle told us that among the three islands, Manukan's the best. Manukan has more types of fish and the beach is even prettier. And indeed, Manukan was even breathtaking. They even got a resort on that island, and there was a beach wedding happening at that time.


We didn't get to visit the third island as we ran out of time. I simply love the beaches, the scenery, and the clear blue water. I'm so gonna come here again, real soon. After the island hopping session, we went straight back to the apartment and had a rest before dinner. After Maghrib, we went to Suria KK Mall, just to survey the stores they have there. But I personally think, 1Borneo is way better. After that, went to Restoran Getaran Jiwa & Katering near Menggatal, and had our dinner there. Love the ambiance and the setting of the restaurant. Among the food served there were ikan bakar, western, local and noodles.

The next morning, had our breakfast at one kopitiam cafe in the city. After that, we went to the State Museum and spent 2hours there. The museum was interesting as we were exposed to the Sabah culture and heritage and many other interesting facts and artifacts they have there. There were even models of traditional houses outside of the museum for the tourists to experience themselves how the people actually live. I just love the pond filled with water lilies they have there. Imagine having such beautiful, peaceful ambiance outside of your house. I could stay there forever. After that, we went to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park to see the Orang Utans and other animals there. We wanted to go to Sepilok at the first place but it was so far away, so we decided to go to Lok Kawi instead as it's nearer. The zoo was even better than the National Zoo. It's situated on a highland, so it was a bit cold and breezy. The highlights were obviously the Orang Utans, and the tigers and also the animal show.
After the tiring outings we went to, we went to Tanjung Aru beach to watch the sunset. It was beautiful, totally. We had dinner by the beach while watching the sunset. Tanjung Aru beach was a bit crowded as it was Christmas eve and people came to have dinner there. After dinner, I went to watch the Cultural Dance they had there. I have always been the most "artsy" in the family, but I suck at drawings. Lulz. So, when I heard that they had a cultural dance performance, I went straight to watch it after I was done with my meal. I found it very interesting, learning the culture of others. And the dancers were very graceful, the "warriors" even performed "menyumpit", and they ended with that dance with the bamboo sticks. Sorry I'm not quite sure the name of the dance, but it was totally interesting.
Soon after the dinner, went to the Philippines Market to "borong" pearls. I bought some for my colleagues and a few for myself. After done with our pearl shopping, went back and slept early for our last day outing before our flight the next day.

Woke up extra early the next day, as we need to reach that place as early as possible. Yes, we're going to Mount Kinabalu! The journey took about an hour plus and as soon as we reached half of the journey, there were kabus all over. It was cooler than Genting or even Cameron Highlands. Took many pics as soon as we saw the peak of the mountain. After that, continued our journey and finally reached the entrance. Took a few photos at the lookout point and had our breakfast at the lodge they have there. Too bad they didn't have english scones as it would be a perfect combo then.
After that, it was time to bid farewell to Kota Kinabalu. So far, this is the most interesting local trip I've ever been. And I'm planning to go there again, this time to conquer Mount Kinabalu with my aunt and my sister, insyaAllah by end of this year. So yeah, better start going to the gym to prepare for my next expedition!

Til then, toodles~

Pangkor Fun

Had an awesome weekend last week. The siblings (except Baby Lisya) and my Aunty went to Pangkor Island for a little getaway before KK trip this coming Christmas. Left the house at 9am, we had McDonald's for breakfast and head to Lumut after that. The journey took us almost 3hours before we reached the jetty in Lumut. Parking was troublesome, but luckily we got a spot in a swift 5mins. Bought the tickets, RM10 each for two way trip, quite cheap la kan? After that, rest for a while and had lunch at one of the stalls near the jetty. The food was quite blergh and a bit pricey for a small serving of nasi goreng. But we put that aside and queued for our turn to board the ferry which would take us to the island.

Reached Pangkor 30 mins later, and we took a taxi to our hotel. Couldn't get a chalet so we settled with a hotel room. Got ourselves into the room only to find this "fella" was waiting us on the bed to welcome us.

My aunt went straight to the reception and gave them some piece of her mind. Dah la tengah penat, and the floor was berpasir and then a dead lizard on our bed. So tah pape. Then they changed the bedsheet and swiped the floor. So after unpacking, we went for a stroll by the beach and snapped some pictures.


After maghrib, went to the ikan bakar place nearby but couldn't find an empty table and then it started raining. So we went to the nearby hotel and had dinner there instead. The food was okay, but we were quite frustrated as we really wanted that ikan bakar since we got there. Sigh.


Woke up early the next morning. Went for breakfast and it was the worst breakfast ever. The choice of food served was limited and the food wasn't that good. After that we went to the nearby sundry shop and bought bottles of mineral water and food for lunch, since we were gonna spend the whole day island hopping and snorkeling. Around 11am, we met that Pakcik Zainal who would be bringing us to Coral Island for snorkeling session. But since the tide was low so he dropped us on one of the small islands and told us that he'd picked us up later at 1pm and bring us to Coral Island. So we spent that 2 hours swimming in the ocean and playing by the beach. Memang gelap la right. Adik played with the sea cucumber. There were so many of them and it was so difficult to avoid those gamat. My aunt campak one of the sea cucumbers at my brother and he was screaming and jumping out from the sea. And there was this small boy asked my aunt "Kenapa kakak tu takut?" LOL! Kakak la pulak kan? Hahahha. Kesian Boboy.



Then Pakcik Zainal picked us up and we headed straight to Coral Island. By the time we reached there, the place was flooded with people. It was so hard to snorkel with people's bums and feet shoving your face and butt. And we could only see a few fish because the place was packed and the water was a bit keruh. I hurt my feet from hitting the corals. The tide was still low so it's hard to avoid the corals. We only spent 15mins there and called the day off. So the uncle sent us back to our hotel and there goes our RM170. As soon as we arrived at the beach, it was drizzling. A boy approached us and asked if we want to take a ride on this square sofa shaped floaties tied on his boat, which he'd drive off for 2 rounds. So I said why not? I could really use a thrilling ride after the disappointment from our snorkeling session. And I was right! The ride was so awesome we couldn't do anything but laughed and screamed our lungs out as the boat pulled the huge floaties around the beach. The energy and the adrenaline rush from the ride were just what I needed to end the day on a perfect note.

After that, went to the room to get some rest before dinner. Had dinner at our usual seafood restaurant near the hotel, but we had to wait hours for the food. And it was very disappointing that the butter prawns was not the usual butter prawns like we had every time we came to Pangkor. They usually served the best butter prawns I have ever tasted. After that, went to check out the karaoke place near the hotel but it was damn expensive we decided to call the night off.

The next morning, took a few pictures of the beach before sunrise. Then, we head home after breakfast. Can't wait for our KK trip in 2 weeks' time!!

This Saturday.

Can't wait!
*jumping frantically*

Tis the season to be jolly

Two more days to my favourite month of the year!

And yes, I'm talking about December :)

Can't wait for the long needed family vacation. Oh and of course my birthday which is coming very very soon. Tho I don't expect much but at least I have every reason to be happy on that day itself. Unfortunately I don't have the intention to apply annual leave on that day. Better save it for the trips.

On my birthday week, the weekend, I'm going to Pangkor Island with my aunt and the siblings (Baby Lisya excluded) for 3days. We've planned all sorts of activities to fill in during our stay there.

And then on Christmas eve, the whole family will be going to KK for our annual family trip. Can't wait to indulge in cheap yummy seafood there. I haven't been to the Borneo Island before so I'm prettyyyy excited for this trip. Oh, and I really hope I could persuade my dad to let me and my aunt climb the mount kinabalu, which I doubt that I'll succeed in persuading him.

And yes, I'm gonna be 24, finally! Seriously speaking, I have no expectation at all, not like the years before. It's been pretty chaotic for these past few months, and I totally understand if there'll be no dinner or any birthday celebration this year. I haven't been feeling myself too lately. I guess it's a good thing for me to lay low on this one this year, and try out a few new things on my own. Bought myself a birthday pressie yesterday.

Yeap, that's my baby right there. Fell in love with the smell when I got a sniff of the sample they gave me on their launching. And I know I had to get my hands on a bottle of Coach Poppy. And of course, I didn't stop there. Bought 2 pair of shoes from Charles & Keith, and a few tops. I wanted to buy a clutch but I just don't want to overspend and regret it later. So I'll save the clutch to next month's list.

Oh, just now we sent my sister, Niky, for a job interview at Tiamo, Sunway Pyramid. And she got the job! It's a part time thingy, considering she's gonna finish her SPM soon enough, so she's a bit too excited to earn moolahs on her own. She'll be working at Tiamo, The Curve starting next month. Congrats sayang!

Til then, toodles~