will i am's delayed diary

Time to bid our farewell to beautiful Sabah. A pretty short trip, with not enough time to eat everything, haha. First breakfast was Beaufort Noodles at Restaurant Beaufort . Basically stir-fried noodles with thick gravy, minus the egg drop. Second breakfast was ngiu chap at Kedai Kopi Cheng Wah . Wasn't impressed. Drove over to KKIA to return the car. While KH was settling the grown up stuff, I got to cuci mata with  Sabah Stan . Pretty hairy legs. He was the best thing at KKIA.  All in all, it was a great trip. Easy to get around. And lots of attractions. Will return to visit the other parts.  

The next morning, we did some exploring around Jalan Gaya. Grant recommended that we try an old pastry shop called Keng Wan Hing that was famous for its buns. Most of the customers were senior citizens who probably live nearby. Eat, kopi , chit-chat in Cantonese, then leave with several plastic bags filled with old school buns, probably for their grandkids. After breakfast, KH bought more 4D at Diriwan, another local brand.  We took a long link bridge from behind our hotel to the wet market. Typical PasarPride stuff. Outside, near where the boats pull up was the seafood market. Some exotic stuff like sea grapes, Moray eels, and parrot fish. Typically, tourists come here to pack frozen seafood in styrofoam boxes to hand carry back to West Malaysia. Back at the hotel, KH and I put on our swim trunks and went swimming. Truth be told, my first swim after 2 years! Really helped us work up an appetite. Fish noodles is a famous dish in KK, and Fatt Kee is one of the famous shops serving...

Believe it or not, KH and I woke up at 2:30 AM to have sex . Our slumber was interrupted by a power outage! Pitch black, except for the lights from the motorcycle of the maintenance guy. We went out to the patio to take a look, and were rewarded with a sky full of stars. KH's smartphone did a better job of capturing the night sky. In half an hour, the power was back on, and we went back to the warmth of the bed, and each other bodies.  Actually, our room booking was inclusive of breakfast, but KH kinda missed that detail. Still in our jammies ( not tanktop and jockstrap la ), we walked out the main entrance to a few shops that were located on the other side of the access road. The Poring Station Restaurant served breakfast to the staff at the Poring Hot Springs. We had a delicious plate of fried noodles with a piece of fried chicken. The local coffee was Sabah standard ( read: diluted ).  KH and I decided that we weren't going to soak in the hot springs. For one, the tubs wer...

With no concrete plan for the day, we headed to Mount Rosary on a whim. Took a short hike in the blazing hot sun. Along the trail were wooden crosses used by pilgrims as a prayer stop. In the end, we were greeted by a locked gate. The locals suggested that we try the main entrance, but that was locked too. Disappointed, and drained, we headed to Ranau. Looked around the Church of St. Peter Claver ( lively youth group here ), and then headed for lunch at the  Ranau Hakka Food Court . Super popular judging by the crowd and the chaotic traffic and parking situation. Not impressed by the food and the price though. The Mee Tuaran was disappointing and the guy from Gerai Abang Sado was not  sado  lorrr. Sabah Tea Resort is the poor cousin of West Malaysia's Boh Tea Plantation. Our arrival was greeted with the deafening sound of cicadas, much louder than what I experienced in Hokkaido during the summer. The parking lot was vacant, but at least the cafe was open. The cafe gave a ...

Woke up before 6AM to catch the sunrise. Had to be dragged from beneath the covers. Our room had a balcony with an amazing view, but the horizon wasn't very clear. We weren't the only ones up and about, our PRC neighbours were also awake. And some fella was already banging away, starting on renovations ( the horror! ). Once we were satisfied with our photos, we freshened up and made some coffee. Took a short tour around the grounds after that. When it was time for some proper exploring, I realized that the rear tyre of our rental was kind of flat! Gosh. Drove down to the Shell station at Pekan Kundasang to get it inflated before hunting for a place to get it patched. It was a Sunday, so we had to pray hard.  Made a stop at Kinabalu Park, paid the conservation fee, and pretended that I was there to climb Mt. Kinabalu. Circled the grounds on foot, and surprisingly KH was not in the mood to explore the mini trails found along the way. At the main entrance, a whole bunch of hikers ...

In early March, the general populace was still very cautious about traveling although most COVID restrictions had been loosened. KH jumped on the opportunity and got us a couple of flight tickets to Sabah. A mere RM300 for MAS return tickets. At the boarding gate, I realized something strange~ our fellow passengers were lugging around large plastic bags of bread! Did a quick check on Google and this headline popped up:  "Did You Know Gardenia Products are Sold For Almost 3x the Price in Sabah and Sarawak?"  No wonder. But still, I didn't verify this fact while I was in Sabah. While boarding, a Sabahan made small talk with a tourist who was planning to explore the whole state in 3 weeks. She was obviously amused. We cleared immigration using our NRIC. I stuffed the white immigration slip deep into my wallet because losing it is a big hassle. KKIA was pretty quiet, and some areas of the arrival hall wasn't well-lit. The first thing we had to do was collect our car from ...