Our honeymoon at Kota Kinabalu

Really thank God that with the limited budget that we had, we were able to get so many treats and indulgence throughout our honeymoon. We got to go to so many places, staying in luxurious hotels and traveling comfortably throughout. By the way most of the places we went and the food we ate were either being recommended in the Internet forums or by our friends.

It took us quite a while to decide on which airline we should travel by. In the end, we decided to take a MAS domestic flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu. We did a 3 months online advanced booking for our flight and managed to get tickets with a price comparable (maybe lower) than the budget airline from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu. So we took a bus from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and stayed there for 2 days to take the opportunity to do some shopping. We stayed at Impiana Hotel KLCC. They upgraded us to a Junior Suite because we arrived a bit late and the type of room we booked was unavailable =) Their staff were very friendly and hospitable, just like how the online forums reviewed about them. The hotel is located right at the city centre so we did not need to travel around by taxi or bus. We had our dinner at a nearby restaurant called Padi House. Their curry was nice and the pricing was quite reasonable too. Then we walked to Suria KLCC to do our shopping. There is a famous bakery shop at the basement called Roti Boy. They have this cream stuffed bun with coffee-flavoured toppings that melts in your mouth. The queue can be rather long but it is a must-try. The next day, we had our complimentary breakfast at the Tonka Bean Café. One shortfall of the hotel was that their complimentary breakfast was not that great. We then walked to Bukit Bintang area to do our second day of shopping. Early the next morning, we made our way to the airport. The hotel staff were nice enough to pack breakfast for us.

At Kota Kinabalu, we stayed the first 4 days at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. This time, we were early for our check-in. But the receptionist told us that our room was not ready so in order to compliment us for waiting, she let us have a free buffet lunch at the Tanjung Ria Cafe. Both of us found that their fried noodle was very delicious. They had a wide variety of nice desserts too. We realized that the cost per pax was rather expensive. We were so blessed that they gave us for free! However, the hotel itself looks old and they were doing some renovation so there were some inconvenience especially their lift. We had to take a lift which was much further away to reach our room because the nearer lifts were being upgraded. After putting down our stuff, we went sightseeing around the town of Kota Kinabalu. We walked along Gaya Street, visited the Atkinson's Clock Tower, the Padang Merdeka and the old library, all within walking distance (to us). Then we walked along Sinsuran to Centerpoint Shopping Center. Before we returned to the hotel, we went to the Esplanade. The sunset view from the Esplanade was very beautiful. The view from our hotel room was very captivating as well. We believe you can't get this in Singapore anymore.

The next morning, we visited the Gaya Street Sunday market and in the afternoon, we went shopping at 1Borneo shopping centre. It took us about 30min to reach 1Borneo by taxi. Initially we wanted to try the Mahattan Fish Market there but in the end decided to go back to Gaya Street to try the bah kut teh there. We managed to find the famous Yu Kee bah kut teh shop. You can easily recognize it by the large number people crowding the shop and the aroma of the soup. Very tasty and cheap too but don't expect the staff to be very friendly though.

After a good night sleep, we were ready to head towards the nearby island for snorkeling. We took our breakfast at a coffee shop along Gaya Street. We had laksa and beef noodle. The laksa was very different from the ones we had in Singapore. You can give it a try if you feel adventurous. Overall, the food there was not bad. Just before noon, we walked to the Jesselton Ferry Terminal to take our boat to the nearby island. Initially we wanted to do island hopping but the Tourism Board lady told us that actually visiting one island would suffice. So we bought tickets to the Manukan Island as recommended by one of our friends. The boat journey took about 15min. We rented the snorkeling equipments from the boatman as well (You can also rent it at the island itself). And so that was Dar Dar's first time going for snorkeling. Some of the corals were very near to the water surface. The water was a bit murky but we can still see the fishes and corals quite clearly. Just an advice, please refrain from agitating the fishes. Dar Dar was bitten by two. One on his finger, one on his thigh. Before leaving the island, we spent some time picking up seashells along the beach. By the time we returned to the mainland, it was already evening time so we took our dinner at Nasi Padang Ibu restaurant which is located near the ferry terminal. The kampung fried rice and fried noodle we ordered were both very good.

The next day, we checked out from the hotel, had our brunch of dim sum at the hotel's Chinese Restaurant. After that, we made our way to our next destination, Kundasang, which is near to Mount Kinabalu. We booked a room at Celyn Resort Kinabalu. Online reviewers recommended this resort for the beautiful view of the mountains and valleys. We hired the hotel's land rover to bring us there instead of taxi or bus. We thought that the hotel land rover would be more comfortable and safer, though it might be more expensive. But to our surprise, things turned out to be even better. The hotel driver was very helpful and friendly. Along the way, he described to us some of the places of interest and he drove extra carefully. It rained almost half the way and the whole place was covered with thick fog. We didn't realize that Celyn Resort was that inaccessible. From the main road, we had to turn into a small lane. After traveled for about 10mins we reached a steep slope (almost 45 deg!). It was raining quite heavily and we can see water gushing down along the slope. Thank God we took a land rover not a BMW which the hotel wanted to provide us initially. So the driver took us up the slope and to the resort and umbrellaed us to the room. And he charged us a fare that is about RM10 lower than the usual taxi fare. I heard of taxi drivers that just left the passengers at the main road and expected them to walk up to the resort by themselves (I advice that you do not walk up to the resort unless you're planning to do trekking. You can call the resort to pick you up at BCCM). So I can't help but to give the driver a good tip for his hospitality.

So finally we reached Kundasang. It took us 2.5 hours to reach there. The rain caused the place to be misty and we can't figure out where is Mount Kinabalu. And it was quite cold there. Fortunately, the next morning, the weather cleared. Our room was directly facing Mount Kinabalu (We took the Mountain View room). The view is magnificent. We spent part of the morning relaxing at the balcony, drinking coffee and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Behind our room, we can see the various ranges and valleys weaving across the land. After taking our breakfast, we hired a taxi to bring us around Kundasang. We first headed to Kinabalu Park, where we spent the morning strolling around, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. We didn't climb the mountain. It will be too harsh for a honeymoon. We also visited the Botanic Garden which houses some very rare and expensive orchids. Then we made our way to the Kundasang War Memorial. In the afternoon, we visited the Poring Hot Spring at Ranau. It was about 45min ride from Kundasang. During our visit, we trekked to the nearby waterfall as well. We spent the following day doing nothing. We just walked around the resort aimlessly looking at the mountains and valleys, and resting in our room. Next morning, we took the same taxi back to Kota Kinabalu.

During our last 3 days in Kota Kinabalu, we stayed at the Shangri-la Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa. We told them that we were on honeymoon, and they upgraded us to a suite! This was the third time we got upgraded to a suite since our wedding day. They even made us a heart shape using rose petals on our bed. We spent the days lazing around in the room, strolling along the beaches, swimming, golfing and eating. The package we took has daily free laundry, complimentary daily breakfast and dinner. We had both of our breakfast and the first night's dinner at the Cafe Tatu. Their food was not very fantastic but they do have a lot of variety, ranging from Indian to Japanese cuisine. The last night we went for fine dining at Peppino, a famous Italian restaurant in Malaysia. Their pasta is a must-try and the traditional Italian ambiance set the mood for a romantic get-away. However, the pricing is quite high (Well, ours is a complimentary free dinner though =)). The next day, after our breakfast, we packed up and took our flight back to Kuala Lumpur and from there, took a bus back to Singapore.