Memoirs of the land below the wind

Destination: Kota Kinabalu
Date: 18th - 22nd Feb 06
Participants: Anson, Jennifer, Joanne, Li May, Hazel, Kin Fei, Esther, Yeh Ying, myself
Day 1:
We left the airport very much in excitement, especially for Kin Fei who was on his first flight. It was a long wait, as there was a delay (apparently as usual). The group gel instantly as we chatted nonsensically at the terminal. Finally we were taking off and on our way. It didn't take long to arrive at the KK airport terminal 2 (it looks more like a bus station) but we almost went crazy with nothing to do on the plane. I took upon myself to try Hazel's electronic Sudoku. Upon arrival, Dr Serena was there to meet us. Toy was on the other end of the door too. After 4 years, it was certainly pleasant to meet again!! After a quick check-in at the friendly waikiki condo (we were known as the Annie group), we dived head first into a world of seafood. Though it was slightly more expensive, but the variety was a real eye opener. There were things of the sea that I've never imagined before. Our first nite was quite interesting. Roaming around the room, chatting, bathing, getting comfy. With too few beds I opt so sleep on the harder bottom half of the bed - and as predicted didn't get much sleep.
Day 2:
Some of us dragged ourselves out of bed in the wee hours of the morning (sun rises earlier in Sabah) to the Dayak market. Being too blur we barely did anything but walk and had breakfast. We all attended SIB skyline (Serena's church) on this bright Sunday morning and was enthralled by their antics and ways. After which, we went our separate ways. The rest of them headed for Pulau Sapi for the day while Hazel, Serena, Yeh Ying and myself jumped into the car and headed pass Beaufort, Papar and to Kuala Penyu. The journey took 2 hours to the jetty that would soon ship us to the mystical Pulau Tiga a.k.a. Survivor Island. I never actually saw that episode but who doesn't know Survivor. We did a lot of photo shots, a lot. I've never quite liked looking at myself through the lense of a camera but I actually liked a few of them. Quite pro! A speedboat then sped us off to the open sea where I stared out in oblivion at the growingly rough seas and was drawn to it like a bee to honey. It was refreshing, but Serena and Hazel fell asleep sitting straight. Upon docking and dumping our bags in our chalets, we rushed to snorkel. "Sun is setting, Good luck," someone said. Snorkelling needed some getting used to. I found it hard to stabalize myself in the water and there was far too much salt water. The depth of the ocean, the chorals and fishes intially scared me and threw me off balance even more. You could almost touch the chorals and hey, they're alive. The night did not offer anything to do except the bustering scene before us, the calm ocean sights and the sounds of other guests' karaoke singing. We sat taking in everything a while before succumbing to return to the comforts of our chalet with a game of PayDay. It ate one hour into the night leaving us at 10pm. We decided to turn in early as we had not enough sleep previous nights anyway.
Day 3:
We arose early to the beeping of my handphone and dragged ourselves out of our comfy beds. After breakfast we went crazy with the camera. Posing here and there, taking in the entire scenery before us. After some time we headed for the Mud Volcano. I will admit that the thought of it disgusted me at first, but caught my interest later. The walk was 20mins through mosquito infested jungle was led by our two energetic doctors, who were the first to test out the mud pool. The mud pool was covered with fallen twigs, leaves, seeds, larvae eggs and God knows what else. Swimming in it was even more beyond description - squisshy, cold. Imagine swamp thing crawling out of the swamp. As soon as the mosquito started attacking us, we hurried our way back down the track towards the beach. I was one of the last, trying to make my way through slippery paths barefooted. It was a real challenge for me. All the way I kept wishing i was almost back. Feeling like heroes who just survived a most atrocious ordeal, we began our photo mania again as the mud hardened against our skin. Washing off in the sea was quite an effort, as my shorts had collected a lot of mud in its pockets. Soon after we gathered our gears and headed for open sea again to snorkel. With the sun up, this time we saw a wondrous sight. No longer afraid, we chased the abundant tropical fishes up and down. It was awesome to behold the sight of the ocean bed. Tired out, we finally bathed and lunched on the resort's main deck while awaiting our ride back to mainland.
We went back to Serena's place and treated it like our own. And i left quite a few things back at her place too. The night dawned upon us fairly soon and we went to have another bout of seafood. Thinking of it is luring out my saliva. I met up with Alice and John for yumcha and we chatted away into the night like old times - old times, the term itself tells that we've aged.

Day 4:
We had nothing scheduled to do on this day and so slept in. The day passed by so slowly. We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant and then returned back to our condo. With absolutely nothing to do, we sprawl around the condo talking and complaining. I was ready to go out of my mind. I wasn't in the mood to dwell in one of my thoughts or indulge in any daydreams. The rain finally lifted and we went for a walk to Tanjung Aru Resort and along the beaches for a change of scenery. It was quite refreshing but we finally return to base to our resident pool where yeh ying and hazel went for a dip. I watched and held the camera. That night we went for yet another bout of seafood at a famous spot in KK. It really was good, and coming from me, you know it really is. Our group was complete again on the final night. But as some of the mountain climbers opt to sleep, the rest of us headed for KK's famous bubble tea hangouts and exchanged stories and experiences. Then later back at the condo around the round table, again we indulged in stories into the night.

Day 5:
Dragging ourselves out of bed in the wee hours again, we joined Alice and John for breakfast at a 'san yuk min' place. Food was good but we were too beat to have a decent conversation. Btw, Thanks Alice!! Heading back, packing and waiting for the rest really took a lot out of us and we were jus falling asleep all over the place. I bought tiger prawns home and we all headed back to the terminal to face yet another delay which bored us to tears. Finally we were on board the new Air Asia and ready to go home. Everyone slept on board. Home sweet home.

For more pictures, click here. or visit Hazel's blog.