The Land Below The Wind (Part 2)

Today, we went down to town for some shopping and sight seeing. First stop was at the Gaya Street Sunday Market which is about 5 mins walk from Padang Merdeka.

Padang Merdeka

Entrance of Gaya Street

A great place to practice bargaining!

Then it was off to Suria Mall (which is a 10mins walk) from Gaya Street for lunch, continued by a walk towards the central market and handicraft market which took another at least another 20 minutes.

Suria Sabah Mall

The view from the food court

The central market. Lots of fresh stuff sold here for those intending to took their own meals

Sea cucumbers galore

Waiting for the shuttle back to the resort

We were so tired by the time we walked back to our pick up point. What we thought was supposed to be a mere 15 mins walk turned out to be much longer. Also shopping at the handicraft market was only so-so, most of the stalls there were identical, selling the same stuff and not only that, the price over there was double (some even triple!) compared to prices at Gaya Street.

And as for the rest of the day, we just relaxed by the beach with the gorgeous view of the ocean and sunset.

The Land Below The Wind (Part 1)

The cab arrived just on time. If we would have waited for another 15mins, then I'm sure that we would be late. Apparently there had been some sort of miscommunication and they waited at the wrong house bla bla bla... :S But it was soon resolved and we were fast on our way to the airport.

LCCT in the morning was as busy as any other part of the day. We checked in our baggage then made a quick stop at McDonalds and immediately proceeded to the boarding gate. But as we were approaching the gate, my little 2 year old started screaming " I don't want to go!" and I panicked. Luckily enough, he quickly got distracted and was an angel throughout the entire 2 hour flight =)

Boarding at LCCT

Descending towards Kota Kinabalu Airport

                

After disembarking the plane and going through immigration, we took our shuttle(already waiting at the main entrance) and headed towards Nexus Karambunai Resort & Spa. The resort is located quite a distance from the airport and town and takes approximately 45 mins to get there.

One the city's popular landmarks

The junction into Nexus Karambunai Resort & Spa

Finally, we arrived at the resort and were greeted and welcomed by the friendly staff who ushered us towards the poolside for our welcome drinks and then gave us a short introduction of the place. We were told that the main lobby is located 2km away from where we were, which then made me realize that we were in a separate lobby which is only catered specially for guests staying in the spa and pool villas.

The resort's lengthy 6km beach

We hopped in to the shuttle again and arrived in front of our pool villa in less than 5 minutes. What can I say? I'll let these pics speak for itself  =)

The porch

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

Dining Area & Kitchen

Lap Pool

Living Room

Patio

Overlooking the sea

Back View of Villa

Merdeka Break

Our national day is just around the corner and we're all excited about our upcoming trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Just a little info on Sabah for those who aren't familiar :- It's the 2nd largest state in Malaysia and is located on the northern part of the island of borneo, sandwiched between the South China Sea and Sulu Sea east off the peninsular. It's also given the name "Land Below The Wind" due to its strategic location, which is below the typhoon belt. The kadazandusun are the largest ethnic group making up 1/3 of the population ( a mixture of 32 types of ethnic groups and other non-indigenous groups) and not forgetting is the home of the famous Mount Kinabalu


View Larger Map