K.Kinabalu & Kundasang 29 Aug - 2 Sep'15 (Part 8)

Hello!! Continued the story on the 4th day of the trip. We had seen the largest flower in the world, Rafflesia, visited Poring Hot Spring & seen the canopy of trees in the Borneo rain forest during Poring Canopy Walkway so, we had headed to Kota Kinabalu on the same day. 

Bright sunny day with the clear blue sky & windy breeze in the afternoon when we were arrived at Kota Kinabalu which was a perfect day for our next 4S  mission. What are these 4S missions all about??? It's SCENERY, SNACK, SUNSET & SOUVENIRS... 

The Reflection of Masjid Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu

Masjid Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu is the common destination among the tourist as well as the photographers as it is the hot spot tourist location in most of the tours. My advise - pls wear modest clothing (long slack/skirt & t-shirt) to respect the muslims whom come here during their prayers. 1st mission - SCENERY was checked!! 

Masjid Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu - The Floating Mosque

On the way to my 2nd mission, we had passed through the jogging/cycling trail for the residents which connected us to the nearby hawker stalls & beach side cafes. We had ordered the refreshing coconut juice & banana fritters grated with cheese & chocoloate while relaxing at the same time waiting for the right time to move to the next pit stop. 2nd mission - SNACK was checked!! 

Tanjung Aru Beach - The Jogging & Cycling Trail

Tanjung Aru Beach - The Coconut Juice & Banana Fritters

The Sunset @ Bukit Bendera

Bukit Bendera is the best place to viewing the greatest sunset in the evening when the sun slowly sets into the horizon. The picturesque view of the sunset was really amazing & magnificent!! I can see the sun rays spreading clearly through the clouds & the surrounding areas. 3rd mission - SUNSET was checked!!

After watching the sunset, we had went to Pasar Kraftangan, Kota Kinabalu. There were a lot of souvenirs & I can't pick any of it!! There were saltwater & fresh water pearls, t-shirts, fridge magnet, local delicacies, dried seafood & etc. You named it - most of the things that you're looking for to bring home are there!!

Pasar Kraftangan Kota Kinabalu - The Varieties of Souvenirs

During this trip I have experienced a lot of things - places, peoples, foods in Sabah & at the same time cherish the time & memories that both of us had spent together. I can't describe how much this trip meant to be.

In short words - LOVE YOUR LOVED ONES & MALAYSIA, TRULY ASIA!!

Photographed by: Irwan

Narrated by: Jaja

Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3 : Part 4 : Part 5 : Part 6 : Part 7 : Part 8

K.Kinabalu & Kundasang 29 Aug - 2 Sep'15 (Part 7)

This was the story on our 4th day of the trip. On the way to the location of our interest, we were hoping we may view the largest flower in the world. Anyone has any idea on what is the name of the flower is? It's Rafflesia!! Yup, we managed to look for it as 1 of the local landlord have several Rafflesia buds & 1 of them was currently blooming at their orchard. We need to pay for the charges to view the blooming Rafflesia, it's about RM10/pax.

The Location of Blooming Rafflesia @ Erry Rafflesia

After walking deep into their orchard through the hilly land, passing through a small water stream with our t-shirt damp due to sweat FINALLY, we managed to see the blooming Rafflesia. HOORAY!! Indeed it takes a lot of effort to see a Rafflesia but the reward was worth it.... 

The Rafflesia that we managed to see was around 90cm in diameter. It had a very unique smell - like rotting flesh. Hence, this odour attracts a lot of insects especially flies & in the end all of them were found dead at the center of the flower. 

  

The Blooming Rafflesia - The Largest Flower in The World

Before we went back to our guest house, we had stopped by at the Poring Hot Spring. As our feet were really exhausted, we took some of our sweet time to relax at this well-known hot spring before continuing with the next adventure. Some related tourist informations can be retrieved via this LINK.

Poring Hot Spring - The Entrance

Poring Hot Spring - The Path to The Hot Spring

Poring Hot Spring - The Welcome Entrance of Hot Spring Area

The water of the hot spring was really warm. There were a lot of shelters & some pools for the tourist to have bath or just sitting having their feet soak in the lukewarm water. Both of our feet went red after spending several minutes in the water & all the fatigues due to looking for Rafflesia had swept away & we were ready for the next mission - PORING CANOPY WALKWAY.

Poring Canopy Walkway - The Tourist Information Board

Poring Canopy Walkway is 157.8 meters long and is 41 meters high. There is a fee for the entrance ticket & if you bring camera or need to take video different additional charges will be applied as in the above figure. Please wear comfortable hiking shoes and carry some water & it's better to bring your umbrella just in case it rains. 

The canopy walkway is narrow and only can support approximately 6-peoples load at a time. It is a suspension bridge constructed with ropes, steel cables and a series of aluminium ladders bolted together. Laced with polyester ropes, the open rungs of ladders are covered with walking plank & netting added at both sides for extra safety & security. 

Poring Canopy Walkway -  That's ME!! 

There was 2 security guards to watch out the condition at this area & they will do some inspection before we started our adventure. At the same time there were several branches of trees felt down before the adventure began. It made me chilled & worried at the some time as we would need to go through 3 tree-top platforms to complete it. Yeah, I was smiling but deep down my heart was beating faster than normal especially when looking down the walkway. In overall, it was the best adventure at all!!

Poring Canopy Walkway - The Huge Canopy

Poring Canopy Walkway - Another Tree Canopy

Photographed by: Irwan

Narrated by: Jaja

Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3 : Part 4 : Part 5 : Part 6 : Part 7 : Part 8

K.Kinabalu & Kundasang 29 Aug - 2 Sep'15 (Part 6)

A bit busy a little bit recently for the past 2 weeks... As I had promised in the previous updates, this post will share the guest house that I had rented during this trip. We had stayed at Kiram's Village Cabin, Kundasang for 3 days & 2 nights, total payment was RM250 (1 of the night had been charged based on public holiday rate). Kiram's Village Cabin is located at Jalan Cinta Mata Mesilau. Our cabin's name is Pineapple, suitable for 2 persons with water heater, electric kettle & basic kitchen utensils. 

This was the 2nd time we had stayed at Kiram's Village. The reason why I love staying at Kiram's Village is I love the surrounding which have numerous varieties of flowers including the roses, daisies & lilies that are planted around the walkway to the cabins. The 2nd reason is the Kiram's Village team is very friendly to cater for our needs. Other than that it's nearby to a golf course as it's just beside the Kiram's Village....   

Q: Is this guest house suitable for family?? 
A: Of course it is!! I would recommend this place for family gathering / vacation.

For those who have thoughts to bring the family along, this will be the right place as you may do the BBQ activities with your family members too. Additional charges may apply to rent the BBQ set from Kiram's Village.

Kiram's Village Signage

The Green Garden View of Kiram's Village

Kiram's Village - The List of Available Cabins

Kiram's Village - The Famous "Hanging Shoes" Tree 

  

Kiram's Village - The Pineapple Cabin

Kiram's Village - The Blossom Daisy

Kiram's Village - The Bushes of Lilies

Day time temperature at Kundasang is around 22°C, at night the temperature can drop to as low as 13°C. While we're at Kundasang, we had watched a lot of spectacular scenery while enjoying  the cool & breezy climate by walking to the nearby area within Kiram's Village. We had a mission while we're at Kundasang - CHASING THE SUNRISE!! So, let's check-out the scenery of Kundasang during sunrise.

Kiram's Village - Night Temperature, 17°C 

Kiram's Village - The Pine Trees Forest

Kampung Mesilau - The Sunrise View

The View of Kampung Mesilau

Mt Kinabalu Golf Club - Another View of Mt Kinabalu

Mt Kinabalu Golf Club - The Sunrise View

Photographed by: Irwan

Narrated by: Jaja

Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3 : Part 4 : Part 5 : Part 6 : Part 7 : Part 8

K.Kinabalu & Kundasang 29 Aug - 2 Sep'15 (Part 5)

Hello Everyone!! It's still the 3rd day of the trip. Hmmmm, anyone have been sipped a cup of organic tea or having fish massage recently? If not yet, let's check it out below!!

The Route to Sabah Tea's House

We had arrived at Sabah Tea Garden by noon from Kinabalu National Park. The 1st thing that we did when we arrived was "ambush" the tea bushes.... Exhausted hanging around in the tea bushes, we had rest for a while at the Sabah Tea House by sipping Pandan & Geranium Iced Tea. It was totally different from the normal tea that I have tried before this. The flavor was really good but it's really thick & somehow I can't finish it at all. 

Sabah Tea - A Picturesque of Tea Plantation

Sabah Tea - The Traditional Longhouse 

Other than drinking the iced tea, both of us had also visiting their traditional longhouse. It can be rented & if you need more information about this longhouse, please click this LINK. It was the 1st time both of us visiting the inner part of a longhouse. As it is a longhouse, there are many rooms in the house while both of the washroom & the kitchen are at the outside but still within the same building. Each of the room had also been decorated with the culture of the ethnic group in Sabah. 

Sabah Tea - The Main Hall of The Longhouse

Our next location was Tagal Sungai Moroli at Kampung Luanti, Ranau. There were some charges for the entrance about RM5 / pax. "Ikan Pelian" or Malaysian Mahseer from the family of Cyprinidae have been breed by the villagers to perform the feet massage activity. The session per group is only allowed for about 15 minutes. Fish food can be bought from the entrance for 20 cents if you need it & only 1 pack per person is allowed. After you feed the fish, a school of fish will come to you.... I was really exiting & relaxing while I was there playing with the fish. We had also took a video as in below link. Have fun watching the  Malaysian Mahseer fish video!!

Tagal Sungai Moroli - The Bridge to View The River from The Top

The Bridge @ Tagal Sungai Moroli

Tagal Sungai Moroli - The View from The Bridge

I believe everybody must be wondering where I was staying while I was in Kundasang, Sabah. If you want to know more about it, do check-out the next post.

Photographed by: Irwan

Narrated by: Jaja 

Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3 : Part 4 : Part 5 : Part 6 : Part 7 : Part 8

K.Kinabalu & Kundasang 29 Aug - 2 Sep'15 (Part 4)

It's the 3rd day of our trip!! We had our breakfast with a bowl of cornflakes with the Desa Dairy Farm packed milk. It was a well laid plan for the breakfast due to I would like to taste how good the Desa Dairy Farm product with the cornflakes rather than just drinking it like that. How does with the taste of the milk? Well, I love it very much even though I just couldn't drink milk as much as I could. It's creamy but not that light like Dutch Lady milk.

After we had the breakfast, we had packed our stuff & headed to our next destination, Kinabalu National Park. We plan to go for sightseeing & had no intention to go for hiking or climbing as we're not ready yet in terms of physical & mental. For those whom interested in mountain climbing, you may check it via this LINK for more details. 

Kinabalu National Park - The World Heritage Site

However, I would really want to have a short distance hiking as I had reached at Kinabalu National Park & plus I saw a short trail for approximately 100-230m in distance before arriving at one of the main entrance for the mountain climbing. Thought of it might be suitable for both of us & after persuaded Irwan to join me for that short distance hiking, it was really worth it as we managed to capture Mt Kinabalu & the scenery of the mountain was really taking my breath away. 

Kinabalu National Park - The Waterfall View

The weather was really cool as it's still raining during that time nevertheless, the scenery of Mt Kinabalu is rapidly changing from time to time depending on the weather. There is also a waterfall running down of Mt Kinabalu & we can see it clearly from our location after hiking for about 120m. Meanwhile you may need to walk more if you would like to see the view of Mt Kinabalu which is after hiking for 230m.

Kinabalu National Park - Mt Kinabalu @ Aki Nabalu in Kadazan

Kinabalu National Park - One of The Climbing Entrance

Kinabalu National Park - Do's & Don't & Latest Mt Kinabalu Climbathon Wall of Fame

Kinabalu National Park - The Route Map of Summit Trail

Kinabalu National Park - The Pondok Timpohon

We had went to the Pondok Timpohon to have another sightseeing of Mt Kinabalu. There was a scurry of tame & cute squirrels running around actively looking for foods. Instead of observing the scenery of Mt Kinabalu, our focus had been diverted by these squirrels....

Pondok Timpohon - The Scenery of Mt Kinabalu

Pondok Timpohon - The Tame Squirrel Near the Deck

Photographed by: Irwan

Narrated by: Jaja 

Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3 : Part 4 : Part 5 : Part 6 : Part 7 : Part 8

K.Kinabalu & Kundasang 29 Aug - 2 Sep'15 (Part 3)

Hello!! Continued the journey on our 2nd day trip.... So, managed to guess our next pit-stop? It's Desa Cattle Dairy Farm, located at the foothill of Mount Kinabalu. If anyone of you has never been in New Zealand yet, this is the place which looks similar to New Zealand, well-known by their milk products.

For those who are curious & wondered how milk is produced, this is the main attraction which is a MUST to have in your travel itinerary.... Some of the main activities are feeding the calves with bottled milk, feeding the goats with grass & observing the milk process from A to Z.

Desa Dairy Farm - The Entrance

Desa Dairy Farm with The View of Mount Kinabalu 

Desa Dairy Farm - The "Welcome" Stone

Desa Dairy Farm - A Herd of Cattle Welcoming Us

Desa Dairy Farm - The Main Building

Desa Dairy Farm - The Landscape of The Farm

Desa Dairy Farm - Tourist Feeding The Calves

Desa Dairy Farm - The Milk Processing Area

I had tried feeding the calves with the bottled milk. At 1st, I was afraid as I imagined that it will bite me but it sucked the milk very quick & within a short period of time the bottle was empty. Seems to me the calves was extremely hungry...

Ooops..., forgotten to share the price of the entrance ticket. It's RM5 per person & there are some charges applied if interested to feed the calves & the goats. 

Photographed by: Irwan
Narrated by: Jaja

Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3 : Part 4 : Part 5 : Part 6 : Part 7 : Part 8