My KK Story (Day 2)

My Borneo Story: Labuan & KK (Day 1), KK (Day 2), KK (Day 3), Sandakan (Day 4)

On Day 2, we decided to do some island hopping. However, we only stopped at Pulau Manukan.

Repeat photo? Nah....this jetty is also jetty to get to Pulau Manukan. So, we're back to Jesselton Point.
Tickets are sold in the building on your right at the entrance, just like bus tickets. All vendors will be shouting, it reminds me of Pudu. Haha!
Boat tickets to Manukan is RM17. You can opt for island hopping with an additional charge of few bucks for each island.
Additional charges: Life jacket and goggles RM15, Jetty charges RM7.20

A 5-to-10-minutes boat ride will bring you to Pulau Manukan! Woohoo...blue sea and white sand! Beautiful. From the jetty, you can actually see fishes in the water!

 Upon reaching at the jetty, you will first need to pass through this entrance where you will need to pay an RM3 entrance fee. According to local, this is because this place is now a preserved marine park and it is under the care of Sutera Harbour.

Manukan Island is claimed to be the dirtiest island around KK but has the most number of visitors. -.-"
We departed from Jesselton around 10 and requested our boat to come back at 1pm.

Fishes are everywhere in the water. Go near the jetty, you will find more fishes nearer to the shore. We were kind of swimming away from the fishes because some of them are really big. Whenever something touches any part of our body, we starts to get panic. Haha. Girls :P

Anyway, it is sad to see some of the corals are bleaching. You will still see colours, but you will see some white spots on them. Some have half of the white. It's sad to see that.

I promise, I'll love the earth more today. Preserve, Conserve and Reuse!

Before we leave, we had lunch at Manukan Island. We ordered Manukan Fried Rice. It's actually seafood fried rice. Sad to say, tasted awful! Seafood was not fresh! Kota Kinabalu is famous for its seafood and yet a 5-star resort selling this kind of food. Totally disappointed. BUT, the satay was GOOD! Probably because the chicken was marinated for a long long time, the satay was really tasty. Side dishes were so-so. And this plate costs RM22!!

 After leaving Jesselton Point, we traveled uphill to the Observatory Tower. Somehow a must-go when you go to KK. It's half way up the hill, you can walk there, locals jog there everyday though! The road is narrow there, cars need to be careful if you are not familiar with the area.

The view from Signal Hill Observatory Tower of Kota Kinabalu. A 5-minutes stop will do. :) Haha. Nothing much other than views. This is probably the second best place for sunset.
It was raining when we went there. So, dark clouds, not much pictures. :-/

We called it a day. We were totally exhausted after a half-day snorkeling at Manukan Island.

For more of My Borneo Story: Labuan & KK (Day 1), KK (Day 2), KK (Day 3), Sandakan (Day 4)

My Labuan & KK Story (day 1)

Finally, here comes my KK Story.

On someday in 2010, a group of 5 girls decided to go on a trip to Labuan and Sabah. Since we have a friend who studies in Labuan back then, we decided to pay her a visit at the so-claimed-pathetic-and-boring university. So we bought flight tickets from KL-Labuan, KK-Sandakan, Sandakan-KK, KK-KL at just RM45 including taxes. Anyway, the booking was made in Oct 2010 while we were expected to depart in May 2011.

After much anticipation, we ended up flying with just 2 members while others couldnt make it. One of them will be working as an intern in KK so she will only join us after work. Anyway, it's good that she's there in KK, because, we'll get free accommodation! Yeah!

Well, we got ourselves a morning flight to Labuan. Only one flight per day from KL-Labuan. Once the plane touches down, it'll take passengers from Labuan-KL right away. That happens everyday. So, we start off with McDonald's breakfast that morning. *Yawn*

 From the pitch dark sky, then dawn, then sunrise! We were there at LCCT. *Yawn* It was pretty awesome! Woohooo.

 Fly...let's fly with me...we witnessed it all from the cotton-candy-cloud view, to sea-view then landing! Woohoo. We flew more than 2 hours from KL-Labuan. We slept for 2 hours in the plane. Not comfortable but there aint anything else to do. :'(

We flew in AK5176! Thanks Captain!!

Due to the reason that the internship duration was forwarded, our friend in labuan has left her university to prepare herself in KK. So immediately after we touched down, we took a cab from the airport to the jetty terminal to catch the last ferry ticket to KK. Taxi fare from airport to terminal jetty was RM12.50. Last ferry to KK is at 1 pm daily. Ferry from Labuan to KK was RM34 each. Each ticket is registered with the passenger's name just like bus tickets in the TBS. ^^

The first thing to do in Labuan was to get duty-free products! Woohoo.
Where to get? According to my friend, the best will be the on opposite Terminal Jetty. From the terminal, look for Sykt Tai Seng, it's a corner shop; around 100m from the jetty and it is visible from the jetty. They sell liquor, cosmetics, cigar, fragrances and other duty free products.

We bought some liquor and chocolates. Please be reminded that duty free liquor permitted upon exit is only 1 litre. I am not a fan of strong liquor, so I bought 1 litre of Bailey's Irish Cream at RM55 and chocolates. 300g Daim was only RM13.50 (normal price is around 39.90-43.90).

 Hungry!!! Let's eat!
This is a very Sarawak dish. But was found in Labuan. I guess, good food is not limited by geographical borders. Haha. Anyway, it tasted awful.

 We were disappointed with the Laksa, but the Kolo Mee was much better.

3 hours later, we reached Jesselton Point, KK, Sabah. Woohoo? Not so soon. We were lost of direction, do not know where to go. Our friend who said will provide accommodation was occupied with her landlord problems.

We spent our time dealing with her landlord that day. Anyway, if you need cheap backpacker-style accommodation in KK town area, Lavender Lodge is a good choice.

We thought of renting a car to loaf around KK, but it is not advisable as the car rental expenses is not economical friendly. According to source, it costs RM100 a day for a kancil. O.o

end of day 1: miserable

for more of My Borneo Story: Labuan & KK (Day 1), KK (Day 2), KK (Day 3), Sandakan (Day 4)

Jalan-jalan: Sungkai Hot Spring

A bunch of us had decided to visit the Sungai Klah Hot Spring at Sungkai, Perak.

The journey begun with us travelling from Klang at 8am to Sungkai. It took us less than 2 hours to reach  Sungkai exit. Upon reaching, get yourself tickets to the hotspring at the ticketing counter. It has 2 entrances to the hotspring. One next to the Felda Residence and another a little further inside.

Yeah. We're some funny weird people. Malaysia is already hot and humid but we're getting excited about a HOTspring. That something I call "double boiling" XD

 TRAP: Taman Rekreasi Air Panas
Dont worry. No traps.

 Some springs are boiling hot. So, hold the kids tight.

Of course mountain spring are not hot. It's cold. Kids play happily here.

Hotspring's must have snack: Boiled Egg

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 It was superb! Get your eggs at the counter right at the egg boiling spring. It is 5 eggs (raw) for RM2. Some or mostly brought their eggs from home.
Leave the eggs in the nets provided in the egg boiling spring and wait. After 6-7 minutes, hard boiled eggs are ready. I just felt the eggs tasted different from those cooked at home. Hot Spring eggs are more juicy (the egg yoke is not dry, not that it's not cooked), and the white egg is 'bouncy', similar to delicious fishball and it has smooth texture that makes you want more >.<

 They also have private pools which they called it family spa. You can enjoy a private gathering with your family at RM75 per hour. Note: Be sure to book in advance. We didnt managed to enjoy it because it was fully booked by others.

Information:

FELDA RESIDENCE HOT SPRINGS
35600 Sungkai, Perak, Malaysia [turn left upon exiting Sungkai exit (EXIT 128, NSE)]
Tel: +605 438 8801 / +605 438 8803
Fax: +605 438 8805

[GPS coordinate: 3.994881,101.392779]

Entrance fees: 

Adult RM10

Child RM8

Review: Overall, it was fun. However, we were disappointed with the cleanliness of the springs. It was not cleaned, probably because of the packed visitor each day during school holidays. Other than than, RM10 is worth to every penny.

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