Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

This is my first ever visit to Sabah. This is not a planned trip, found out that Air Asia got a cheap flight to Kota Kinabalu and I just booked it. Stayed for 4 days 3 nights. Stay at Sri Iskandar Hotel, recommend to book the place thru Agoda, I got the family room for RM84 per night (Actual price RM130). The hotel condition is great for the price and they just renovate the place, highly recommended to stay there. The hotel is just a walking distance to Filipino Market (700 meters) and the daily night market is just in front of the hotel.

I never ate lobster before, people says it is cheap in Sabah, so for the first day my mission is to eat the lobster. The seafood here at Todak Waterfront are very cheap and the price include the preparation of the dishes as well. We ate there while watching the sunset.

Day 2, we go for Island hopping, you can go probably up to 4 islands, but 3 islands are consider hectic enough. We just go for 2 islands, The Island of Sapi and The Island of Manukan. I prefer the Sapi, the clear sea and coral are more beautiful, great for snorkeling. Manukan are great if you want to have a family day, got better facilities and guest houses.

The cost for Island hopping is RM23 per person for an island, every extra island is RM10. RM3 per person for the conservation fees plus GST. Overall, for 2 islands we paid around RM40. For Island hoping you can go thru Jesselton Point or thru Sutera Habour jetty which is more expensive.

Day 3, we rent a car and drive to Kundasang about 95km (2 1/2 hours) from Kota Kinabalu to see the majestic Mount Kinabalu. First location is Desa Dairy Farm. This where most of the tourist come to take a picture with Mount Kinabalu at the background. Unfortunately, the weather that day not very nice and we unable to see the peak of the mountain.

Along the way down back to Kota Kinabalu we stop at couple of destination, The Kinabalu Park and the upside down house at Tamparuli.

We also made a short trip to Sutera Harbour. I always want to see the jetty and all the private yacht there.

The last day, we made a last minute shopping at Craft Market also know as the Filipino Market.

Our flight was scheduled at 3.30 pm, unfortunately it was delay for 4 hours!!!

Overall, we had blast in Kota Kinabalu. Social media app like Facebook (where I got the contact number for car rental service), ride hailing app like Grabcar and Waze made our trip a lot easier. 

All images captured with Panasonic GM1. Lenses used, Panasonic 20/1.7, 12-32mm and Olympus 45/1.8.