Day 1 at Kota Kinabalu City, Sabah, Malaysia

Me and my girlfriend/travel partner decided to go and spend our 9th anniversary somewhere outside the Philippines and avoid all crowded nearby popular tourist destination. We were looking into a place where we can really relax and have a quiet atmosphere without the buildings, noise and pollution. So we immediately looked up certain both agreed to visit and experience Sabah, Malaysia.

There’s this really cool new airline here in the Philippines which is AirAsia that flies to Kota Kinabalu city from Clark, Pampanga. We booked our flights since we got lucky with a seat sale they always offer for advance bookings. All I can say was AirAsia may be one of the best budget airlines and the service is really good too! 🙂 It took us only about 2 hours to get to Kota Kinabalu City and arrival was really smooth from the gate towards immigration but we were too late to catch up with Kota kinabalu’s famous sunset.

It was a good thing that we already have booked for a really good hostel to stay for a week. I would really like to recommend Lavender Lodge located at Jalan Laiman Diki, Kg. Air,
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. They do offer great deals on rooms either you may be travelling single, couple or a group (with free cofee and toast for breakfast!). I love the place since their staffs are really hospitable..take note that their staff are all Filipinos! (awesome) You will really feel at home in this place. You can book thru (http://www.lavenderlodge.com.my/).

We arrived around six in the evening so we were already a bit hungry and therefore looked for some good eatery or resto’s around the area. We spotted the famous seafood foodcourt “Seri Selera” across the street and we found out that prices there are pretty much over our dining budget. So we decided to go eat (and DRINK of course) at Kota kinabalu’s Boardwalk where all cuisine are available. To our surprise even the staffs on the restaurants are filipinos! Prices at the waterfron would usually go around 15-30RM but this is already a full sumptuous meal!

After we had dinner and a few tiger beers, we decided to go and rest early since we planned an island hopping adventure to Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park…

Total expenses spent (for 2 people):
Roundtrip air fare thru AirAsia = Php7000
Phil. Travel Tax =  Php4000! (damn where does this go?)
DMIA terminal fee = Php700
Food and Drinks = RM36
Accommodation = RM 300 (5d/4n)

FUN = PRICELESS.

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