Enough of that. Back to the trip.
When we got into KK, we grabbed a taxi and took the short ride to our hotel, the Hotel Eden54, which we obviously picked because of Lauren and Matthew's daughter Eden who was born the same day as my nephew Ian. KK isn't the biggest town in the world, but it was definitely bigger than Sandakan, and had much more of a vibrant day and night life, which we were excited about after 4 days of quiet time on the waterfront.
We had several great meals while in KK, but that didn't start during our first night, which was spent at an Italian restaurant which was highly recommended in our books, and had a 50% off deal. Well, there's a reason they offered such a discount because they didn't offer such great food or drink. Tania's pina colada was not really a pina colada (that's what she gets for ordering a pina colada in Malaysia). The wine was garbage. And the food was not even close to the standard set by Anna Marie's famous Italian. Luckily, though, we kept exploring KK eateries and found an incredible sushi joint that we visited several times, and some other decent restaurants that revamped our impression of food in KK.
Our first day we grabbed a speed boat out to two of the several islands just off the coast of KK for some R&R time on the beach. It was a nice day of grabbing some sun, only interrupted by a swarm of Japanese tourists snapping pictures of girls in bikinis, and a hellish wind storm that forced us to the other side of one of the islands where the wind was being blocked. We got in some good snorkeling in that quiet area, and I even braved the windy side of the island where the waves were 3 foot choppy, but paid off with incredible views under the water. Gorgeous fish and choral of all shapes and colors.
Where did these tourists come from, and where are their bathing suits?
Shallow water snorkeling on one of the islands off of KK.
Our other big activity in KK was a bus tour up to Mount Kinabalu. We were grouped with a fun set of people from all over the world, and got to take in the breathtaking views of the country's tallest mountain. Snow capped the peaks and clouds skirted the edges, so we snapped some beautiful pics of the views. We also got to enjoy a nice lunch, walk through a tree-top canopy park, and soak up the natural hot spring water before jumping back on the bus to return to KK.
Mount Kinabalu
KK seems to be where Malaysia as a whole is going in the future. Catering to tourists, they're building a ton of malls (because it's so incredibly hot most of the year), opening nice restaurants, and expanding the city limits to allow for new developments perfect for prospecting home buyers. Let's hope they grow gradually so that the worst scene we saw (more garbage floating in the water at the docks) doesn't start showing up over more parts of the city.
Think twice about buying that case of water bottles next time you're at Costco.
We were delayed at the airport, so I walked around and snapped the below picture of a group of Muslim women dressed in a wide array of beautifully colored burkas. They humored me and allowed me to take their picture as long as I sent them the picture to their email addresses.
Women in beautiful burkas at the KK airport.
This Muslim country has its supreme differences from the US, but many similarities, which we hope bodes well for the middle east and west one day learning to live harmoniously together.
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