Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

So it’s been a while since I blogged. I should probably do it more, but I don’t.

Anyway, since last I wrote, I’ve been a few places. The first was Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia located on the north shore of Borneo. It’s a nice little city, recently most famous for an earthquake that killed 18 hikers on the nearby mountain that shares the same name. I’ve long wanted to hike there, but that wasn’t the goal on this trip.

Instead, I flew there with a friend who had won tickets for a free weekend at a resort. I went a day early to check out the city, and I’m glad I did. After arriving I went to a local market called Pasar Philippines to find dinner.

The main draw here is fresh fish from the day’s catch.

I wandered around and chose a stall that had some seating and picked my fish.

After some consultation with the cook, I singled out a particularly alluring parrot fish (which I knew was not an endangered species) and had a tasty dinner.

Beyond nice food, the city also has an interesting central street that houses a number of hostels catering to hikers and snorkelers.

It also has a shore-front promenade, boasting some nice statues.

Notice the "no docking here" sign, which everyone was ignoring. 

 

The area is also well known for its orangutan population. These two were at the zoo.

Once I had spent a day in the city, I made my way to the resort located on Gaya Island just offshore.

It was a great resort. I went kayaking through mangroves.

Ate a lot of food.

Enjoyed the scenery.

Anyway, I also realized that resorts can be nice, but you have to be in the mood for relaxing. It’s very different from my regular travel plans. The resort staff took care of everything. I didn’t even have to worry about when or where to eat…. It also meant that I didn’t take my camera out much. It was nice. I can imagine enjoying such things a little more in a few years.