So, during my last mid-semester break ever I went on a magical unicorn trip with my friend Erica to Sabah, on 12/4-16/4. It was beyond what I imagined, a thousand times better. So, without further delay let me take you on a magical ride on my unicorn through my experiences.
We started planning this trip in early February before it finally happened in April. There were many obstacles encountered, for instance when my choice of airline decided to suspend itself so all flights for April were suspended as well. And then I had to buy new tickets which were 2x as expensive as my original tickets. In which if they suspended themselves earlier, I could have gotten even cheaper tickets that my original tickets. Anyway moving on.
DAY 1
I arrived at about 3pm, and so did Erica. As soon as we exit the airport, we got on the shuttle bus to the city. Once at the city, we checked in to this place called The Bunk on Gaya Street. I saw people raving about this place online, so I decided to give it a try. We walked around the city center in the evening, and managed to catch the last sliver of sunset just as it was emerging on the other side of the globe.
Our first sunset!
So we went back to get some sleep. But that place was so hot. Okay, that's not really a huge issue so I just sucked it up and went to bed right after the loud ass China people went to bed. Then I was woken up in the middle of the night to the loud ass sound of a white man trying to flirt with the female receptionist who was pumping the leaking shower water. I looked at the time, and guess what? It was 2 FUCKING AM in the fucking morning. He was flirting with her the whole time talking about congested sewage water. Dude... you could bring your loud ass downstairs and flirt with her there.
DAY 2
We woke up early for some sang nyuk mian, and oh man they were good.
Pork pork pork pork pork
We then walked to Jesselton Point to catch a boat to Pulau Sapi and when we reached the pier of the island I went OH MY GOD because the water was so so so so SO blue and clear! I have yet to see such beautiful clear sea in my life until now (and yes I am very well aware that there are clearer seas in Thailand or the Philippines, I'm almost there!).
Looook at thaaaat ooommggg
We had our snorkeling gear and when we found a secluded spot after doing some steep slippery rock climbing falling and screaming multiple times, we reached out little private space. The water was so tempting so I went inside and OH MY GOD the sea was SO SALTY my eyes were burning!
My private little tree trunk
Afterwards, we got back to the Point at 3pm to go to Kundasang. But we had a problem with the car rental. The car rental made empty promises so we had to look for other car rentals and we found a legit car rental place at the last minute so we took it. It was a manual because manuals are cheaper and I can drive manuals so I agreed. But I vastly underestimated the road to Kundasang, because the road was winding, serpentine AND uphill and I couldn't go beyond 3rd gear for fear of the car rolling down backwards. AND then it started raining and then at some parts of the UPHILL AND WINDING ROAD IT WAS FULL ON FOGGY. Like my field of vision was legit limited to 2 meters in front of my eyes, no joke. It was as though as if I drove straight into Silent Hill. I couldn't even see the car in front of me, let alone oncoming cars from the opposite side. I was screaming to Erica the whole time because ERICA I'M BLIND I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING but in the end we made it to our place for the night, Jungle Jack Backpackers.
Oh my, Jungle Jack Backpackers' was such an amazing place. We had a couple as roommates, and everyone there were so so friendly! I love how social that place is. Later on we met two other travelers, Lancy and a crazy Slovakian (this is the second crazy Slovakian I met). Did I mention the weather was 16 deg C ? The weather was 16 deg C.
DAY 3
The sun rose at 5+ and by 6 I was already up because it was already bright. The moment I opened our cabin door, I was awestruck. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes (and the door) was the majestic Gunung Kinabalu right before my eyes. It was such a unique experience, to be able to see the highest mountain in SEA as soon as I wake up. This experience definitely is on top of the list next to the feeling of waking up in a foreign country.
My view from the front door. How blissful.
So our plans today were to go to the Desa Cattle Dairy farm to see some cows and drink some cow milk, so we did that. The scenery there was so beautiful, the pasture green dotted with the occasional cow dung.
It's me, Erica, and our NY friend Lancy!
The next place we went to was Kinabalu Park, where we took a short tour around the Park. Nothing special there, but we still spend an hour there despite running short on time to our next destination.
Our most awaited destination next was Ranau, where we had planned to paraglide. The waiting time was so long that we had to extend our car rental but it was 100% worth it!!!! It was such an amazing experience because paragliding feels just like flying without wings. I was fueled with adrenaline the whole time I was up there in the sky, and even when I crashed on the ground during landing. I highly recommend paying the hefty sum for it, and this is definitely an experience to repeat. I absolutely loved spending every minute in the sky, and I discovered that I don't have a fear of height.
Fun fact: this instructor was a really cool dude from Kuching!
Because it was already late when we finished flying, we drove back to KK late as well. This time it's driving downhill, and it's equally as challenging as driving uphill because since I didn't want to exhaust the brake, I was trying to drive at 2nd gear and even at such low gear, the speedometer went up to 60kph. ON 2ND GEAR!!! What the fucking fuck it shows how steep the road is. Again, I entered Silent Hill where I couldn't see anything, but this time a car broke down in front of me. A CAR BROKE DOWN. IN FRONT OF ME. IN SILENT HILL, THE FOGGIEST PLACE IN THE WORLD. I couldn't see oncoming traffic, neither could they see me, so I trailed some dude with huge ass balls that overtook the broken car despite being temporarily blinded in this area, because my train of thought was that if there was really oncoming traffic, he'd get hit first not me. I'm so smart sometimes but anyway moving on.
We reached KK at 6+, so we were still early to return the car. All is well again when we returned the car, cause the car was in tip top condition despite me being so panicky that I'd dent it. Some food later we were back at this new hostel called H2 Backpackers where there weren't any obnoxious China people anymore. I took the top bunk and let me tell you, it was HELL to climb up because the ladder was a vertical 90deg ladder. With absolutely no support that a normal bunk bed has.
DAY 4
We went for some Tuaran Mee in the morning before heading to two islands, which are Pulau Mamutik and Pulau Manukan. Pulau Mamutik has nothing much to offer because it was crowded with China people and there weren't any private areas like Pulau Sapi that we could retreat to, so it was pretty boring. We then made our way to Pulau Manukan, and it was worse. There weren't many people, but there wasn't anything to see in the sea either. It was such a boring little island but I got a sweet tan so it's all good.
Tuaran mee!
Legs for only maybe 2 days
Lancy contacted me to go for dinner right after we had dinner so we agreed. Then after dinner, since we checked out of H2 Backpackers and didn't have accommodation for the night, we went to her hostel. The receptionist gave us a 4 bed female dorm, and when we entered, someone already set their stuff on the bottom bunk. Just as Lancy was telling us about her experience of sharing a dorm with a male despite requesting for a female dorm because she was suspecting that our roommate couldn't have been a girl, guess what? A blond curly haired German dude walked in. Wow. Not that I'm complaining, but this was supposed to be a female dorm? And Erica slept on top of him. Literally.
DAY 5
We didn't have much to do today after breakfast, so we went to Suria Sabah mall before going back to the hostel to check out, then going over to Centrepoint for ice cream. However, Erica was running short on time so she left first and then it was just me and Lancy. We caught The Jungle Book (a really good children movie!) then ate some vegetarian buffet with sushi for RM10 per person! And then it was my turn to leave. So I made my way to the airport with over 3 hours to kill before my flight at 11pm.
This whole trip has been such an amazing experience, and it was a trip where I had many firsts. It was my first time paragliding, it was my first time seeing Mount Kinabalu as soon as I woke up, it was my first time seeing such clear blue sea, and it was my first time driving in such a challenging situation. It was also my first time travelling with Erica, and it has been a very magical unicorn trip. This trip only further fuels my desire to wander the world, and now my wanderlust is uncontrollable.
I look forward to more trips in the future with you, Erica. You have been a good company with your constant snapchats and perving on me when I least expect it, and I hope this trip does not deter you from sitting in my car next time. Love you !
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