Destination: Kota Kinabalu Part 2

Day 2
Date: 13 September 2008

So this is where I had my breakfast at the hotel. I got myself upgraded to a Club Room and this is the Club Room's coffee house. Nice right?

At that time, it was totally empty. I think that's about 6.30am. I was already hungry. I asked the staff if I could eat again before breakfast hour is over and they said yes. I could even go down to the actual coffee house where everyone is having their breakfast. So it's like, I get to eat 3 times!!

That's the view for when I had my breakfast. Lovely!

Nice?

This is one of the breakfast that I ordered. Most of the cooked items can be ordered from a menu and presentation wise - it's good too. The ones that were at the buffet table were cereals, cheese & crackers, sandwiches and... I forgot.

Even the juices were freshly pressed. The ones at the coffe house at ground floor were just packed juices. I feel so previleged!

This was the rest of the hotel grounds that I covered this morning.

This is where one could book their 'island hopping trip' which I didn't book as it was too expensive. Not too sure if they are managed by the hotel though.

One of the pools at the resort.

I decided to take the hotel shuttle bus that would take me to the city.

One of the malls along the way. I got down at one of the further stop.

This is another err, river.

The city was really small so I thought, why not rent a car and drive all the way to the foot of Mount Kinabalu.

On the way, I spotted a sign that said 'Nexus Karambunai'. One of the most talked about beach front resorts in KK. I turned in and decided to check it out.

After I parked my car, I walk to where the beach was.

And yet I was silly enough to not take photos of the beach!!! This is the entrance from the beach to the resort.

Why oh why didn't I take pictures of the beach?

Another photo of the resort.

This is the main entrance of the resort. Nice roof!

It was a very quick 20 minute tour of the resort. Now I'm heading back to the car!

So I drove and drove.

OMG When am I going to reach the foot of Mount Kinabalu? It was already a 40 minutes drive to Nexus Karambunai and I was already into the 20 minutes drive out.

What is this?

Ah there you go. That's Mount Kinabalu. Reminds me so much of when I took the photo of Mount Fuji when I was in Japan earlier this year.

After another 30 minutes, I arrived. I had to pay around RM5 to have myself and the car enter the foot of Mount Kinabalu. Temperature was about 23c. It was like an air-conditioned park!

I didn't trek much because I was wearing slippers that day. I just had a short walk and then check out the hostels available there.

Anyway, that's the car I rented. A Myvi.

So after the foot of Mount Kinabalu, I headed to the Hot Water Springs. OMG it was another 20 minutes drive. Sorry for the complaints! I was driving alone and feeling bored!

The funny looking entrance of the Hot Springs. I had to pay around RM2 or was it RM5 for a ticket.

So I'm going to turn left!

Going down the stairs. A little dangerous walking with my slippers!

The canopy walk! I like this.

One of the mini waterfalls here.

The hot springs. It smelled bad. Sulphur.

The sign said that we can put in an egg to get it boiled and then eat it after! That's how hot the water is.

Waterfall, again.

It was already getting a little dark when I decided to leave the Hot Springs and back to the hotel.

Why do sunsets look so much better in Sabah?!

Destination: Kota Kinabalu Part 1

Day 1
Date: 12 September 2008

Born and bred in Kuching, I can ashamedly say that this is the first time that I've step foot in Sabah.

I didn't really do much today as I arrived at around noon.

I decided to explore the resort's ground. Amazingly it was huge.

It is situated by the harbour so, there isn't any beach front.

This is the closest to sand that I can find around the resort. LOL

Dad, can I have one of the boats please? Ah, this is the harbour that I'm talking about.

Nice greens that I saw.

A better view of the harbour. The buildings with the red roofs are The Magellan Sutera Resort - also part of the Sutera Harbour Resort but I hear that it's supposed to be double of The Pacific Sutera Hotel.

Seriously, I would love to have this view from where I live but unfortunately, no. I could just stare into the sunset everyday!

Hotel Review: Sutera Harbour Resort - The Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel

Date: September 2008

Apologies for the dated review. I was staying in Sutera Harbour Resort's The Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel on my trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

It was one of Citibank's credit card promotion, hence I chose this hotel. I believe it was RM299++ per night and it was a really good deal back then as rack rates were around RM450++ and above per night. This comes with breakfast.

When I saw the superior room, I was a little disappointed. It looks dated and yea, it's dated. Furnitures, curtains, yup!

This is what I see when I first opened the room door. I upgraded myself to the Club Room. That's another RM195++ on top of the Citibank's promotion price.

Although the decor was dated but it was clean and comfortable.

Oh, and it has a balcony. Cool, right?

Oh, not forgetting the bed.

Okay, blue pillow - you have got to stop sleeping on my bed!

Awesome right? The sunset is so beautiful!

Now, this is the Club Room's breakfast area. For that 2 mornings, I think I was the only one having breakfast here. No crowds and there's a menu! The juices are freshly squeezed/made, not the usual ones that we drink off the pack - that was served at the coffee house. I feel so privileged!

I like the juice glass.

These were what I had on the 2nd morning. It's yummy. Presentation wise - love it!