Sorry to those of you who read Day 2, without Day 1 being posted! My intent was to post them both at the same time, but it just didn't happen. So, anyway...for Thanksgiving this year a group of teachers from my school decided to go to
Kota Kinabalu.
KK is in Borneo Malaysia, a large island to the East of Mainland Malaysia. We left right away after school and headed for the airport.
Originally, our flight wasn't supposed to leave until 9:30 Wednesday night, giving us plenty of time after school. However, about 3 weeks ago, we
received an e-mail saying "you're flight has been moved up to 5:30. Sorry for any
inconvenience!" So, we rushed to the airport, only to find out our plane was delayed. Go figure! We arrived in
KK around 8:30 Wednesday night and got a cab to our hotel. We got settled and decided not to try to make any plans until morning. On Thursday morning we got up and headed into town. On our drive in, I saw a tourism shop, so we stopped to see if they had any good packages for sale. As it ended up, she was the most helpful travel agent I've talked to in Asia! She helped us plan our Friday day trip to the mountains, hire a private van and driver, and gave us a list of how much things should cost (a lot less than the "deals" they were selling at other places.) She also said that there were ferries that went to the smaller islands on a regular basis for only 23 RM (Malaysian
Ringet...which is like $7US). Kristin and I decided we wanted to spend the day at the beach, and the other girls decided to stay in town and do a little shopping.
Kristin and I jumped into a taxi and headed to the jetty. We got there at 1:03, not really knowing what we were doing. We had decided to go to
Sapi island because they had Sea Walking, and it looked interesting. The guy at the ticket counter told us there was a boat leaving at 1:00, but not to worry, it would wait for us. So, we rushed through the terminal, paying our different taxes at the different counters, and headed to the docks. When we got there, they checked our tickets and said "Oh, your boat isn't ready yet, just wait here." All that rushing for nothing!
We got
someone to take our pictures while we waited! Our boat came shortly after that, and we got on with 7 other people. It was a speed boat, and it felt like riding a roller coaster as we sped through the ocean waves to the island. I really enjoyed it, but I'm not so sure that the older British man next to us did! When we were almost to the island, the boat hit a pretty big wave and stalled out. We just floated for a few minutes, and then it started back up again.
Sapi Island was pretty small, but it was beautiful. In one direction you could still see the outline of the city of
KK, but in the other directions, it was open water and green islands. There was a small beach where people were snorkeling. Kristin and I decided to check out the Sea Walking, but it was already closed for the day. So, instead we decided to have lunch.
We found a small cafe where they served a variety of local foods. I ordered chicken with vegetables and rice. Here's a picture of my Thanksgiving Dinner!
After lunch we
hung out on the beach for awhile, and took a dip in the ocean. It was very pretty, but I could feel myself starting to get a sunburn, even with the gallon of
sunscreen I'd applied and reapplied. So, I decided to abandon the beach and explore the island a little bit more. There was a sign that said from point A to point B took 45 minutes, and to point C it took an hour. The only problem was, I couldn't find point A, B, or C. I found point F, and started hiking up. Up, up, and more up! I got to what I thought was the top (I later found out I could go higher) and decided to go down the other side.
On the other side was a beautiful view of the ocean, no city skyline this time! The only problem was that once I got to the bottom, the trail was washed out, and I had to climb back up to where I had been and keep going. From the top I could see the coast on either side. I walked to the end of the trail where it started heading back down. I checked my watch and realized I'd been walking for about 45 minutes. But, since I hadn't started at A, B, or C, I didn't really know how long it should take.
As I headed back down, there were times the trail got a little iffy, branches had fallen over the trail, and I had to duck to make it through. I finally got back to the bottom of the hill, and found a sign that said "Trail" pointing the way I had come...always a good sign!
I turned the corner and could see the jetty in the distance, which was a good thing, because it was after 4 at this point, and my boat was scheduled to leave at 5. I should have been almost back when . . .
there was a giant tree down in the middle of the path. I thought about trying to climb over it, but I was afraid I might fall over the side of the cliff instead, so I backtracked a little ways, climbed down to the shore line, and walked along the shore. This worked great for awhile.
It was fun to feel water crashing into my legs and see the ocean so clearly. The only problem was that eventually, the shore line ran out. The rock met the water, and there was no place to walk, so I had to back track a little ways again, and climb back up to the trail. By this point I was almost back to the beach, and hadn't seen any form of life (other than a few bugs and ants) for over an hour. However, all of a sudden I heard a rustling and looked down to find. . .
A giant monitor
lizard! He was probably about 4 feet long. He crossed right in front of me, and then headed back into the water. I made it safely back to shore, took another quick swim, and changed to head back to town. Kristin and I hopped back into the speed boat and sped across the ocean back to the
KK jetty where we stopped for ice cream, and a few more pictures.
We walked back to the city center and met up with our friends who had been shopping. We all decided to have supper at Kenny Rogers. I had a baked potato with mashed potatoes and gravy, pasta salad, and fruit salad for my Thanksgiving supper. The other girls ordered roasted chicken.
After supper we went to the night market. We were disappointed that there wasn't more variety, but I did manage to get a couple of Christmas gifts. It had been a busy day, so we headed back to the hotel where Crissy and I sat up playing Canasta
until almost midnight!
Kristin and I jumped into a taxi and headed to the jetty. We got there at 1:03, not really knowing what we were doing. We had decided to go to Sapi island because they had Sea Walking, and it looked interesting. The guy at the ticket counter told us there was a boat leaving at 1:00, but not to worry, it would wait for us. So, we rushed through the terminal, paying our different taxes at the different counters, and headed to the docks. When we got there, they checked our tickets and said "Oh, your boat isn't ready yet, just wait here." All that rushing for nothing!
We got someone to take our pictures while we waited! Our boat came shortly after that, and we got on with 7 other people. It was a speed boat, and it felt like riding a roller coaster as we sped through the ocean waves to the island. I really enjoyed it, but I'm not so sure that the older British man next to us did! When we were almost to the island, the boat hit a pretty big wave and stalled out. We just floated for a few minutes, and then it started back up again.
Sapi Island was pretty small, but it was beautiful. In one direction you could still see the outline of the city of KK, but in the other directions, it was open water and green islands. There was a small beach where people were snorkeling. Kristin and I decided to check out the Sea Walking, but it was already closed for the day. So, instead we decided to have lunch.
We found a small cafe where they served a variety of local foods. I ordered chicken with vegetables and rice. Here's a picture of my Thanksgiving Dinner!
After lunch we hung out on the beach for awhile, and took a dip in the ocean. It was very pretty, but I could feel myself starting to get a sunburn, even with the gallon of sunscreen I'd applied and reapplied. So, I decided to abandon the beach and explore the island a little bit more. There was a sign that said from point A to point B took 45 minutes, and to point C it took an hour. The only problem was, I couldn't find point A, B, or C. I found point F, and started hiking up. Up, up, and more up! I got to what I thought was the top (I later found out I could go higher) and decided to go down the other side.
On the other side was a beautiful view of the ocean, no city skyline this time! The only problem was that once I got to the bottom, the trail was washed out, and I had to climb back up to where I had been and keep going. From the top I could see the coast on either side. I walked to the end of the trail where it started heading back down. I checked my watch and realized I'd been walking for about 45 minutes. But, since I hadn't started at A, B, or C, I didn't really know how long it should take.
As I headed back down, there were times the trail got a little iffy, branches had fallen over the trail, and I had to duck to make it through. I finally got back to the bottom of the hill, and found a sign that said "Trail" pointing the way I had come...always a good sign!
I turned the corner and could see the jetty in the distance, which was a good thing, because it was after 4 at this point, and my boat was scheduled to leave at 5. I should have been almost back when . . .
there was a giant tree down in the middle of the path. I thought about trying to climb over it, but I was afraid I might fall over the side of the cliff instead, so I backtracked a little ways, climbed down to the shore line, and walked along the shore. This worked great for awhile.
It was fun to feel water crashing into my legs and see the ocean so clearly. The only problem was that eventually, the shore line ran out. The rock met the water, and there was no place to walk, so I had to back track a little ways again, and climb back up to the trail. By this point I was almost back to the beach, and hadn't seen any form of life (other than a few bugs and ants) for over an hour. However, all of a sudden I heard a rustling and looked down to find. . .
A giant monitor lizard! He was probably about 4 feet long. He crossed right in front of me, and then headed back into the water. I made it safely back to shore, took another quick swim, and changed to head back to town. Kristin and I hopped back into the speed boat and sped across the ocean back to the KK jetty where we stopped for ice cream, and a few more pictures.
We walked back to the city center and met up with our friends who had been shopping. We all decided to have supper at Kenny Rogers. I had a baked potato with mashed potatoes and gravy, pasta salad, and fruit salad for my Thanksgiving supper. The other girls ordered roasted chicken.
After supper we went to the night market. We were disappointed that there wasn't more variety, but I did manage to get a couple of Christmas gifts. It had been a busy day, so we headed back to the hotel where Crissy and I sat up playing Canasta until almost midnight!
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