More Sabah

After our excursion to Mt. Kinabalu, we headed back to Kota Kinabalu to regroup. Vacationing in the tropics wouldn't be complete without some beach action, so we decided to take a boat to the nearby islands. We decided to go to Mamutik island because it had the best reviews from most people we talked to. To get to the island, we had to take a boat along with about ten other people. The weather was beautiful and the boat ride was really fun. It felt good to be on the water again.

When we arrived at Mamutik, the beach was packed with people. We were planning on camping out and we were a bit disappointed, but at 4PM when the last boat left for the mainland, we were the only people left on the island. Aside from five local staff, we had the run of the entire island to ourselves. The snorkeling was simply amazing. This part of Borneo is world famous for the quality of it's coral, but having never snorkeled in the tropics, I had nothing to compare it to. I don't have an underwater camera, but it was beautiful. My favorite part was bringing bread out into the coral and letting it go. Hundreds of fish would swarm all around you, trying to get their share of the food. It was a wonderful experience.

We went back to KK the next day in the early afternoon. The week was starting to wind up, so we decided that we had to go out to the bar at least one night. In case you don't know, because of the large Muslim population, alcohol is highly taxed in Malaysia. Borneo is nothing like the party free for all that can be found in Thailand. With that being said, there are some bars to be found. We first went to a place called The Cock & Bull...It was easily one of the worst bars I've been to in my life. It didn't take long for us to try another spot, Cocoon, and this one was much more fun. We stayed out late, drinking Johnny Walker with some local students, listening to a live band playing every cliched cover you've ever heard.

With that, I had one more day in KK. Tyler and I bummed around town for most of the day, catching a movie (for only $1.25) and spending lots of time at the arcade. Tyler is machine when it comes to Tekken. My flight back to Taipei left at 7AM, so another English teacher from Taiwan who was staying at our hostel and I shared a cab to the airport.

Overall, the trip was awesome and I couldn't have asked for more, except for some decent weather on the mountain. While the party scene is much more scaled back than other southeast Asian countries, the outside activities were top notch. Most people spoke English, and those that didn't spoke some Chinese, so communicating wasn't a problem.

Sabah, Borneo

It's been a while since I've written anything here. That's a shame. I've been quite busy, so it's not for a lack of topic that I haven't written. I think it's that it's difficult to put into words the daily experience of life overseas. The sights and smells, the tastes, and the emotions are all so different and indescribable and yet become so mundane within only a few months or even weeks. I'll try to slowly bring you all back up to speed over the next week. So first things first.

My trip to Borneo was amazing. I met up with a good friend there and we spent the whole week exploring jungles and beaches. He had been traveling throughout southeast Asia and was finishing up his trip in Borneo.

I came in on a Saturday morning and the first thing I noticed was that IT WAS HOT! Kota Kinabalu is only a stone's throw from the equator and it felt like it. I immediately began sweating as soon as I stepped off the plane, and I didn't stop until I finally got back to my apartment in Taipei! Because of the temperature and the flora,Taiwan a tropical feel, especially the further south you go. But Taiwan was nothing compared to Borneo. With lizards, palm trees, and giant bugs everywhere, there was no doubt that I was no where near the temperate climate I had grown up in.

The food in KK was amazing and quite cheap, although nothing compared to the prices I've been told you can get in other SE Asian countries. I only had one lousy meal the whole week. The city itself is pretty boring. The city center was pretty compact and had a few shopping centers. Centrepoint was had a few good arcades and a dirt cheap movie theater. Tyler and I ended up watching to films and spending more than a few hours playing Tekken. The Wisma Merdeka was a brand new shopping mall that is brand new but only about 1/5 full. A strange thing about KK is that they had more than a few Kenny Rogers Roasters. If you've ever seen Seinfeld, then you know the place. I had no idea it was actually a real place though.

Tyler and my first trip was to Mount Kinabalu. We took a minibus to a town near the moutnain. On the way we met to middle age, married hipsters, traveling throughout Asia. They were originally from Pennsylvania. When we arrived at the town ,Kundasang, I felt like we were going to be in for a boring night. It felt like a logging community on the far fringes of civilization. Big trucks driving up and a down a 'highway' that was little more than a dirt road. Luckily, quite a few people spoke English, so we were able to get some food and realize that the town was not exactly where we wanted to stay for the night. The chicken soup we ate was delicious...some of the best I've had in a long time. It may have been the fact that we had been up all morning and afternoon, only eating fruit and granola.

We hitched a ride with some guy who was heading back towards the mountain. Hitchhiking was pretty easy. Although we only had to go 2km but we had to pay about $2. What a rip off! We stayed at a cheap hotel that was about 1.5 km from the entrance of the National Park. The room was frugal, with shared facilities, but since we were the only guests in that particular building, I only had to share with Tyler. We just relaxed the rest of the night, reading and watching a movie. We had a big day ahead of us and we needed our rest.

We woke up in the morning at sun up, maybe around 6:45AM. The hotel made something that resembled an English breakfast...but failed miserably. Although it was unimpressive, it was food so we scarfed it down and drank the free coffee while they prepared our box lunch.

The hotel was situated on the edge of a cliff and I took this time to really soak in the beauty of the place. The staff was kind enough to have a soundtrack to the beginning of our adventure up the great mountain. During the entire breakfast, the haunting sound of the traditional Chinese flute and lute filled the air. It was enchanting and, looking out over the beautiful Kundasang valley, I was really thankful for the experience.

(although the music uses some modern instruments, and thus wasn't quite 'traditional', I made sure to write down the address so you can hear exactly what I heard - Hoa Mai )

I promise I will make a new post tomorrow, but for now, we'll treat this as a two parter...