The Ultimate Cuti-Cuti Sabah Blog Entry

I know this is a long due entry. Having loads of fun back in Malaysia. Unfortunately I had to return to London not long after that. I would have been in Malaysia longer if not for the late notice by the medical school that our term was only going to resume on a Thursday instead of a Monday.

Anyway, here is a quick run through of what else had happened during the holiday!


Kampung full of Kelapa sawit!
I have always loved to go back to Sandakan area, because I have a lot of relatives there. Seeing the green palm-oil tree plantations running in both sides of the road is pretty cool. I bet the villagers can easily be rich because at the moment for 1 tonne of palm oil seed, they are paid RM700+. Imagine if they produce even 10 tonnes, that’s already RM7000 every month. Talking about money growing on trees!

Hanging out with cousins!
Went out clubbing in KK for the first time. I don’t think it’s fair to compare KK to London’s scene (although I like the latter), because the different size and huge difference in the average income of the population. Went out from 8am and came home around 4am. Hoho. Kena ‘sound’ jugalah.

I think to go clubbing as a local earning in ringgit is pretty expensive. 1 glass of alcoholic beverage is already RM15-20, and if you’re the ‘kaki arak’ type, you’ll probably drink at least 5 glasses. Then if you belanja orang lagi, lagilah banyak kau belanja. Easily in one night, RM150 would have been wasted. And if you’re earning the average Malaysian income which is probably around RM1500, that’s already 10% of your income. So, if you want to fit into this kind of lifestyle, you must be either: very rich, very little financial commitments, or … the club belongs to your family.

And otherwise, just met a lot my family members!

The KK outing
Kota Kinabalu city has pretty much changed since I last went home 1.5 years ago. It now has opened several flyovers, avenues and shopping malls. More housing development projects are running too. Beautification of the seaside with the esplanade development project, of what said would be the longest esplanade in Asia, take place(although the stinky smell from the dirty sea is still there). Also the new Airport terminal was opened in the 3rd week of August. It looks a lot like KLIA.

I also noticed how intense the cleanliness campaign happened. DBKK used the HUGE billboards on the main streets of KK telling the people along the line of ‘they are being watched. So, don’t throw your rubbish out of the window of your car, or you would be fine’.

There are couple of food I would miss: the Tuaran mee, teh-c-ping, kaya ball and Yoyo!

Conquered mount Kinabalu!
It proved to be a challenging activity as I struggled with high altitude, thin air and cold weather. But it was worthwhile when I finally reached the top. Must say, it was not the greatest view (very misty). 10 minutes later, it started to rain heavily and I was forced to descend from the top. My gloves were wet. My hands become painful and numb. The wind accelerated this development. The descent felt to be more dangerous as visibility in reduce to 1-2 metres, slippery and steep terrains all over the place. Thank goodness the weather improved and I could actually see the path we actually took during the ascent. Pretty deadly if you didn’t heed the advice of the guides of holding on the ropes tightly.
Went all the way down to the Timpohon Gate (where I first started) on the same after resting few hours at Laban Rata.

And for the next few days, leg muscle sores were inevitable. It was especially painful if you have to bend your knees, e.g. climbing down stairs. But that was pretty good fun!

Island hopping!
15 of us hired a boat to go to Pulau Manukan, Pulau Sapi, and Pulau Mamutik.

Had nice tan. Doiiii….being sooooo westernised. Hoho.

Tip of Borneo!
Never knew Sabah would have a nice place like this

Marriage
3 cousins kahwin

Parents’ 25th anniversary – silver one. Makan-makan at NewYorkNewYork (it’s ok-ish. My food was no longer hot as I waiting for everyone's food to arrive. The waiter should have served all meals together). Then they had a studio photoshoot.

Missed my KK-KL flight!
I was supposed to fly on 22nd. Just didn’t quite understand why I thought it was on 23rd all those times I was in KK. I guessed I was not ready to fly lagi. Well, learnt to be meticulous about my plans in future. I still had to buy a new flight – much, much more expensive. It was indeed, figuratively and literally speaking, a costly lesson.

KL outing!
I don’t really like KL because of its terrible traffic jam and appalling public transport system. I was wishing really hard the public transport would be as efficient and effective as London. Wishful thinking.

I love the shopping malls in KL, though. Beautiful and plenty of options.

Incidents
Sabah's beloved hypermarker, Servay, was burnt to collapse. The very first hypermarkert in Sabah, was burnt due to short circuit that occurred in the stock room. I was quite sad actually with this news because I grew up with this shop, seeing it grew, from a small store to its occupation of the entire lot of the row of building in Bandar Penampang Baru. I would imagine many people would be moved by this unfortunate incident, as evident by the headline it made (twice) for New Sabah Times and Daily Express, the main newspapers in Sabah. Those who lived around Penampang, like myself, went to the ground-zero-site of what once used to be a place of happiness for shoppers. 'Paid' my last respect.

Another story: Saw an accident in KL happening right before my eyes. It involved a bus with a motorcyclist and his passenger. Scary. I should have done something, since I think I have enough medical knowledge to help the victim out. But I didn't, too shocked, probably. I didn't even called the ambulance. Thankfully, the were policemen at that time to handle the situation.