Friday 28 February 2014

No Mount Kinabalu...

The main purpose of choosing Sabah as our once in a blue moon family vacation is to view the spectacular majestic Gunung Kinabalu (there are other more famous majestic mountains elsewhere but we don't have the luxury to go elsewhere) and of course to sample the equally famous much talk-about seafood of Sabah....

but alas... this is the view that greeted us on a  wet early morning at Mount Kinabalu Heritage Resort & Spa in Kundasang, this hotel most possibly not a resort I presumed got lousy reviews from past guests. 



and what to expect when our journey to Kundasang was in this kind of weather?????


We checked-in in the late afternoon at the hotel  it was still drizzling and to my horror we have to climb flights of steps amid tall pine trees to reach the chalet.  Beg-beg kena angkut sendiri naik ke atas padanlah hotel ni dapat lousy reviews from past guests such as one of the reviews below;

We booked a chalet and it was terrible. Very expensive but you don't get anything for the money. There was no cabinet or shelf in the room. No space to put your clothes. On top of that, there is no hot water at all. Room was very run down and smelly. Chalets are very noisy. Staff is not friendly or helpful.
Even the food and drinks are very expensive.
The only good thing is to be out in the nature and the nice view.

Stayed September 2013, travelled as a couple

To reach the chalets we have to cross this swaying hanging bridge first before climbing the stairs.


 The tall pine trees with the mist surrounding them made me recall the Twilight Saga movie...can just imagine the vampires fleeting among these pine trees. 




The look-out balcony infront of the chalets...nothing interesting to view except for the foggy view

We stayed in two chalets and  I was given the government rate at RM160.00 per chalet (kita kerja gomen satu masa dulu, baru saja pencen), anyway it was not the peak season.   Menginap one night saja di sini, the hot shower was not working in the chalet I stayed and the water was ice cold!  Mula-mula masuk bilik tu I noticed there was a kind of animal droppings on the floor below the window...apa kah!  Nak telefon ke reception di bawah nun sana there is no telephone provided in the chalets, mujurnya masa check-in kita ambil extra bedding (kena caj lagi at RM70.00 per mattress) so when the staff came bearing the mattress complete with pillows and blankets we asked her to remove the droppings.  Her reaction was like...oh tak ada apa itu hanya kepompong rama-rama.  She came back later with a broom and dustpan and asked us to sweep it away....well so much for the hospitality haha...Memang sebijik macam review di atas...the chalets smelled musty and there's a lizard in the bathroom and I am so anti-lizards!!!  Maintenance chalet di sini memang ke laut....
 Beg-beg angkut sendiri naik dan turun tangga, chalet kami di paling atas sekali, kononnya tu get the best view of Mt. Kinabalu.

Sarapan sebelum tinggalkan resort ini, hendak sarapan di luar tak tau di mana kedai makan yang sesuai so isi perut di sini sajalah walaupun agak mahal.

The hotel rooms that got lousy reviews/complains.."funky smell, shower that doesnt quite work. dim lighting in the bathroom, the list goes on. One of the crappiest hotels I've ever stayed in. Surprised there wasn't any insects crawling around the room though! The room was massive however, but aged and just overall in dispair.
Stayed June 2012, travelled with family"

The management should buck up and upgrade  the facilities since the location is already superb with cool refreshing mountain air.

 A snapshot of the cloudy mountains

On the way back to Kota Kinabalu we made several stops...

The natural fish spa and the fishes here are big.  A lot of giggling from those in the water...memang geli sebab ikan-ikan tu slippery.

Cucu taking a dip too..

Kalu oghe Kelate kato...beghiok ikae ssini termasuk ado ikae keli saeko, mari manolah ikae keli tuh.

Bersih dan tenang Sungei Moroli

Singgah di Sabah Tea Garden sekejap
Not much going on here and I bought a book at the souvenir shop 'Land Below The Wind" by Agnes Newton Keith.  Her husband H.G. Keith was the Conservator of Forests and Director of Agriculture of North Borneo in the 1930s and her book depicted her Borneo experience and impressions of that time.  Makes good reading for me on the flight back.

It started to rain again when we reached Mount Kinabalu National Park.  The road going uphill to reach Timpohon Gate reminds me of the road leading to Boh Plantation in Sg. Palas.
 Walking in the rain...



Dah tak boleh menikmati pemandangan Gunung Kinabalu kita tengok gelagat tupai ni sahaja lah di Mount Kinabalu National Park.



Sunday 9 February 2014

Rumah Terbalik di Tamparuli, Desa Cattle Farm

A run through with pictures to places we go on the third day of our trip to Kota Kinabalu...

Tidak sahkan kalau tak singgah di Rumah Terbalik di Batu 21, Kampung Telibong, Jalan Tamparuli-Ranau.  

Ok we were there at Rumah Terbalik...boleh google baca blog lain nak tahu pasal rumah upside down ni.  Nothing spectacular to me ie...semua barang-barang dalam rumah tu diterbalikkan itu saja..gambar tidak benarkan diambil dalam rumah tu nanti kena denda RM100.00 dan gambar-gambar dalam kamera or handphone di 'delete'...well so much for that.

Our journey continue to another famous site with a famous song...Jambatan Tamparuli

The famous hanging Tamparuli Bridge...we have to cross the one-way traffic bridge below with swift running river below to reach the other side , I think this bridge will be under water if it floods.  

That's us on Tamparuli Bridge...takut nak jalan ke tengah-tengah, ada papan yang reput, dengan body extra large semua ni memang tidak disyorkan berjalan sampai ke seberang sana hehe..

Tengok keadaan jambatan walaupun di bawah papan itu ada dawai besi but no way jose I'm going to cross it all the way, nama lagi jambatan gantung dan dengan air sungai yang mengalir deras di bawah tu huhu...dasar penakut that's me!

 Our next stop...Desa Cattle (Sabah) Sdn Bhd...jalan masuk ke tempat ini amat tidak selesa, jonkang jongkit atas van..
The rain started on the way to this place...rugi yang amat sangat sebab ramai orang kata when it is sunny the place is like when you are in New Zealand...sedey sedey...

The view that we get to see on a rainy day...cian sungguh!

No cows were grazing on the wet field that day as they were all here, mungkin tunggu giliran nak perah susu ke hapa...

ini first time ke Ahmad Daiyan tengok cow in the flesh???

boleh tengok aktiviti perah susu pun jadiklah...

dan makan aiskrim vanilla yang lemak lagi berkrim...its not sweet though

a wet day at the Cattle Farm...


Sunday 2 February 2014

TIP OF BORNEO!

There we were on a wet drizzling day at the Tip of Borneo, 8 adults with a 15 month old baby in tow.   Call me a dolt or whatever but I did not know this place where two seas meet existed (cannot remember geography lessons 40 tahun dulu ada ke terselit Tip of Borneo ni) and it was not a big deal to me when my eldest daughter who had planned this trip since last year insisted that a visit here should be at the top of our itinerary aside from going to Kundasang to view Gunung Kinabalu.  Folks like us only can afford to Cuti-Cuti Malaysia saja and thanks to AirAsia jual tiket murah so boleh sampai ke tempat cantik ni.  Trip ke Kota Kinabalu bermula 18 Januari hingga 22 Januari 2014, one thing about going on vacations ni (which is very rare for us) I prefer going with the whole family, if possible with all my five children (son-in-law included) in attendance and now with a grandson completing our entourage. Tapi trip kali ni anak bongsu kena tinggal since his college has just started the new semester. Joining us on this trip too were my two sisters....lagi meriah!

Dini, my eldest daughter had earlier on booked an apartment with three rooms at Marina Court for three nights @ RM330.00 per night.  To ferry us around while there we rented an Urvan (van baru lagi) for four days @ RM240.00 a day, comfortable for all of us with the baby and his ummi hogging the last back seat.  Tiga orang pemandu (my sil, my son and hubby) silih berganti pandu van.  One thing that dampens the whole journey...it rains all the time and nak enjoy scenery Gunung Kinabalu habis ke laut....

Memang pada mula-mulanya tidak jadi hendak ke area Kudat (Tip of Borneo) sebab hari hujan.  Pagi 19 Januari (hari Ahad) kami ke Gaya Street dulu (famous kan Gaya Street ni, cuma pada hari Ahad saja hingga pukul 12 tengahari ada bermacam-macam gerai menjual bermacam-macam barangan...murah-murah pulak tu), so not to be missed if you are here on a Sunday.  Dini telefon tuanpunya van (Encik Ariffin, orang Kelantan bermastautin di sana) if it was possible for us to go to Kudat even though it was quite late at 11 am.  He advised us not to go since it is already late and we are not familiar with the roads further more the roads will be dark and foggy on our way back to KK.  But what the heck, since that is the only opportunity we had and semua pemandu kata boleh cuba so off we go and reached our destination after three and a half hours on the road (using GPS tracker Waze all along)...worth the trip and the view is breathtaking and spectacular!


Dah sampai .....

Spectacular view where two seas meet...The South China Sea and Sulu Sea

Apa lagi anak-anak ber'selfie' sebagai kenangan...

Its not a public holiday nor a school holiday and we have the place to ourselves...just marvelous!

Uphill path leading to the Tip of Borneo

just breathtaking!

Daiyan's Giant Caterpillars (Part II)

                                      CEO of RapidKL's tweet inviting Daiyan to visit LRT depot...                          ...