Kota Kinabalu: Kiulu River White Water Rafting

DAY 3 (Part 1) - Kiulu River White Water Rafting

As an adventurous tourist, you gonna do something different every time you travel. So I tried something new in KK! White water rafting! And it goes to my "FIRST" list. At first, I thought it would be a scary experience. River, Boat, Speed. Being someone who panic very easily, I was quite afraid the day before. Of course, I have to pretend strong in front of my friends. Personal image is very important. Haha!

So early in the morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast - Roti Bakar at Restaurant Fook Yuen, and headed to Kiulu. Kiulu is a small town in north western part of Kota Kinabalu, and being the second most beautiful village in Malaysia. (Didn't know that until I do my research >.<). Kiulu river is classified as Class I-II river, which means it is suitable for beginners. If you are an advanced paddlers, consider Padas River, a Class III-IV river.  

We were being separated into group of 5 and we had our safety equipment on! They had briefing for us before we start. Pretty informative and interesting. I learnt some survival skills! (Just saying) 

Kota Kinabalu: Upperstar Cafe & Bar

After dinner at Little Italy Restaurant, we went to meet up with another friend. Initially we wanted to try a cafe at Signal Hill but it was closing when we arrived. So we changed to Upperstar Cafe & Bar at Damai. I saw plenty of Upperstar Cafe & Bar branch around Kota Kinabalu (KK) city. Seems to be famous. 

We were full with dinner so we just ordered drinks. Their cocktails are of reasonable price, RM10+ to RM20+. So tempted to try. However, my experience ordering drinks in the cafe wasn't great. I ordered 4 times in order to get an AVAILABLE drink, others were out of stock. =.=

The environment in the cafe is good. Quite cozy and comfortable, a good place for friends to hang out and have a chat. 

They have lots of photos hanging on the wall. Look very old-school.

Kota Kinabalu: Dinner at Little Italy

Continue from Island Hoping post. 

We met up with our senior, who is working in Queen Elizabeth hospital, for dinner at an Italian Restaurant. I heard about this restaurant from lots of friends before I fly to Kota Kinabalu (KK). Friends told me they serve pretty good Italian food and hence I'm really looking forward to try it. 

How's my experience here? Look at the photos and read the caption. =D

The menu of the restaurant. They have a variety of food. Appetizers, Salads, Bread, Pizzas, different type of Pizzas, Desserts. Their menu is available on the website - Little Italy.

The restaurant was packed when we arrived. Luckily our senior helped us to make reservation the day before. So we got a table for 11. =) The environment is good and the waiter/waitress are all very cheerful. 

Kota Kinabalu: Island Hopping -Sapi, Manukan, Mamutik

DAY 2 (Part 1): Island Hopping 

We woke up really early the next morning to go for island hoping at Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. Hence, we parked our cars at Jesselton Point car park and went to get a nice deal for our island hopping. 

Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal. Huge sign to tell you that you're at the port and here's where everyone depart to different islands. 

Different travel agencies available for you to choose! 

They will try to offer their best deals to you. We, as a group of smart tourists, found a nice deal after asking several agents. We got a deal of RM50 + per pax, personal boat (means we can choose our time to stay/leave each island), hopping 3 islands with safety equipments.  Sound good isn't it. 

Which 3 islands did we went? Sapi, Manukan and Mamutik Islands. =D

Kota Kinabalu: Sea Food Restaurant & Filipino Market

In the evening, we were lost while searching for "roti bakar" with Waze. We got so hungry then "accidentally" went into a famous and cheap seafood restaurant for dinner. That restaurant is called Sea Food Restaurant (大茄来海鲜餐厅) and they have a few branches in Kota Kinabalu. Seems to be a must-go dinner place for tourists. We ordered 3 kg of crabs, 1kg of prawns, with some vegetables, meat and toufu. Surprisingly, the bill is only RM190! =O 

Didn't manage to capture all our food as we finished them as soon as they arrived. Too hungry. So share with you the photos of crabs! *slurpssss*

TAAAA--- DAAAAAAA!!!!!

Kam Heong Crab

Butter Cream Crab

After having a satisfying dinner, we proceeded to Filipino Market to do some shopping. Filipino Market is located along the waterfront in Kota Kinabalu, opposite Le Meridien Hotel. There's a lot of things here - fresh fruits, vegetables, an area with hawker food, souvenir stalls and also dry marine products. Plenty to see and plenty to eat! 

Kota Kinabalu: Monsopiad Cultural Village

Continue from previous post. 

Travel is all about learning new culture, eating new food, meeting new people and experience new things in life. After we unpacked and took a quick bath, we drove to Monsopiad Cultural Village. 

Monsopiad Cultural Village is a living museum located about 1/2 hour from KK CBD. It is a showcase of Kadazan culture, the largest ethnic group in Sabah aka Borneo. Monsopiad is a fearsome Kadazan warrior nearly 200 years ago, who made head-hunting as his hobby. They have guided tour, cultural dance performance and rice wine tasting, all included in the entrance fee.

However, we reached Monsopiad Cultural Village too late and missed all the shows. We get to have a guided tour and rice wine tasting for RM15 as entrance fee. Much cheaper price as compared to normal entrance fee. Though lesser things to see with heavy rain in between, we had a great experience there, especially the story about the village.

So let the photos guide you through my experience in Monsopiad Cultural Village.

Registration counter - where we bought our entrance ticket and met our guide. Look at the feather pen. So cute! XD

Kota Kinabalu: Gaya Street Sunday Market & Lunch

Now, I'm going to introduce another lovely place in Malaysia. Foreigners call this place Borneo, locals call it Sabah. Not my first time exploring East Malaysia though. But this trip gave me a different kind of feelings. What happened? Keep reading. The whole trip will be summarize in several posts. So be patient. 

After Hong Kong trip, I rest at home for 2 weeks and continued with Kota Kinabalu (KK) trip with a bunch of friends. Kota Kinabalu trip was my graduation trip with my beloved pharmacy kids. 10 of us rented 2 Myvi and we started our journey on a Sunday morning. We booked our flight a year earlier and hence it is a little bit cheaper.

View of Sabah from our flight. Photo Credited to JieMin.

7 of us waited in KK airport for an hour. While waiting, we did some last-minute tourist "homework" at KFC. We decided to go Gaya Street Sunday Market as our first stop. So our journey begins once the other 3 kids and the cars arrived. 

Here's some descriptions about Gaya Street Sunday Market. Gaya Street is quite a happening street in KK Central Business District (CBD). They have Sunday Market every Sunday, from 6am-1pm. There's a lot of things to see, especially for foreigners. Things ranging from souvenirs, clothes, arts, craft to fruits, seafood, and pets are available in the Sunday Market. Gaya Street hence will be closed off every Sunday morning for people to open up their stalls and for people to shop. More information you can check here.

Hong Kong Yuen Long: Tai Lam Country Park 大棠/ 大榄郊野公园

Friend's auntie suggested to her that we can go Yuen Long to search for maple leaves. And since I've visited quite a number of must-go tourist spots in Hong Kong, I decided to go for this maple leave hunting with my friend. 

Yuen Long is located in New Territories West, Hong Kong. It took us about 1.5 hours to travel from Central to Yuen Long. We took train and then another bus in Yuen Long to travel to Tai Lam Country Park, the place where a lot of bloggers mentioned about maple leaves. When we were queuing for bus, we think we are heading to the right spot.  The bus stop was filled with a lot of tourists and locals holding their professional cameras.  

So, being a not-so-professional tourist, we followed the path of others. When we saw the signage below, we were really happy. Right spot to hunt for maple leaves. Yesshhhhhhh......

There's signage showing where to find maple leaves. So we were more relax that time. But we need to walk for another hour to reach our destination. Half-way through, we found a huge barbeque spot. So we stopped by to take some photos and enjoy the fresh air. *breath breath breath* 

The place where people can barbeque and enjoy some family time. =D

It was getting dark when we continued to walk to find maple leaves. Before we found maple leaves, we saw sun-setting. Hence, we walked a little faster so that we could take some nice photos. 

About 15-20 minutes after the barbeque space, we found maple leaves and a lot of people! Oh! Such an amazing place! So romantic and pretty. =D Too bad we went there a little too late and hence the photos aren't very awesome. But it's my first time surrounded by maple trees with red maple leaves. <3

So many maple trees!!!! 

Me and the maple leaves. So pretty!! Autumn feeling in winter. =)

My favourite photo taken by my friend. You're such an awesome photographer. <3 <3

Different experience in different country, with different weather. That's why I love to travel.

More information about Tai Lam Country Park with directions can be found here.

Ahhh!!! Don't forget to get some Yuen Long Lou Poh Peng (老婆饼) on your way to the park or on your way back home! Heard them from TVB dramas? Why not try them yourself? =)