Borneo time

Recently, I went to east of my country which consists of two states, Sabah and Sarawak. Sometimes we call it as Borneo. Whatever it is, it still in Malaysia. Down under the both states, lies Kalimantan. I spent about 2 weeks over there to see and observe the culture and uniqueness of their people. In term of culture and people, they have various races which are different with the peninsular Malaysia. For example, peninsular is famous with 3 major races, Chinese, Indians and Malays though there is presence of java linkage however it does not show much difference on these races. On the other hand, in Sarawak itself, they have like Melanau, Iban and Orang Ulu while in Sabah, there are Kadazan, Dusun and several others which I forget their names.

The journey from KLIA 2 to Kuching took almost 2 hours by Air Asia flight. Why Air Asia? Because it was the cheapest compared to the other flight fares. But in my view, if you are able to fly with Malindo, please do that. It is more comfort and worth. We spent only 3 days in Kuching due to nothing-ness in Kuching. Well, that was my friend’s. For me, it is a good place to stay for those loves peaceful place. No traffic jam and Kuching folks still have good manners on the roadway. Kind of like in oversea. We did nothing much in Kuching, just wondering and browsing around. First advice, don’t go to Damai beach, it is overrated place. Culture village is a must-go-place (don’t forget to bring local university student ID to get concession ticket for MYR15, while oversea student ID for MYR30). The village is just opposite the Damai Beach. To get there, renting a car is a must because it is situated about 50 km from the Kuching city. Then, there are several other interesting activities such as caving, trekking, hiking and bowling. During the night, I would like to suggest Topspot food court. It is on the UTC building. It was pretty hard to find for the first timer, so it is suggested to search UTC building in google map instead of Topspot food court. They served seafood in which there are a lot. After choosing the seafood, then we can choose whatever type of cook that we want. Mine was Thai style and oyster style.  They were superb and very fast. On the bad side, Kuching was never meant for a city boy. They still have mall but a small one. Don’t expect to see second Mid Valley Mall in Kuching. All in all, it was still a nice place to go.

Before I forgot, make sure go to any cake house to buy ‘Kek Lapis’.

After 3 days in Kuching city, we packed our bags and made our steps to airport. Due to big size of Sarawak state, the journey from Kuching to Kota Kinabalu took one and a half hour. It was quite long for me because I had flight from Brisbane to Sydney and it only took 1 hour.

Here comes the real journey…

1^st day in Sabah wasn’t a big deal. We had the chance to tour the city and had dinner in one of the seafood stalls. We spent several days later in house watching movies and dramas. The real Sabah visit came when we made our way to Kundasang. It wasn’t so far from Kota Kinabalu. I could say 2-3 hours journey from Kota Kinabalu without any traffic difficulties. Unfortunately, due to expanding technology and city, traffic jam could not be avoided and it was like one in federal highway to Kuala Lumpur. In Kundasang, we went straight away went to Kinabalu park. The fee for the trekking till Layang – layang hut was MYR5 for Malaysians and might be more for foreigners. It was 4km trekking with about 1000m ascending. We took 4 hours to finish the trekking. We didn’t plan to go up to the mountain because it had to be booked early and the fee itself is about MYR500. Thus it needs a well-prepared planning. The other place that we did go was Poring Hot Water. Actually it did only have hot water, but a swimming pool, 2 waterfall track, canopy walk (MYR3 fee and MYR5 for a camera) and Ladang kupu – kupu. Next on the list, Ladang New Zealand (New Zealand Park). It was like a farm in New Zealand with polka dots (white black) cows. The best thing was that my friends were studying in New Zealand, thus nothing to be impressed of because they could see the original scenery in their places and I bet it is much more beautiful compared the one in Malaysia. Bhahaha.  One more thing, just my personal advice, please careful when driving because sometimes the fog can be very thick and limit the driver’s sight distance.

In my person view, what makes Sabah differs with Sarawak is the nature. Sabah has a lot of things to see like the beautiful reef in Manukan Island, Semporna, Mount Kinabalu and several others. They also have more advanced malls. But in term of manner, Sarawakians win. In overall, it is subjective thing and it depends on the environment and culture itself. 

*akhirnya, habis jugak checklist pergi melawat semua negeri di Malaysia.

**kalau nak pegi lagi sabah sarawak, pastikan ada tour guide dr negeri tu sendiri untuk elak daripada ditipu oleh orang tempatan. orang tempatan selalu akan dapat barang murah lagi daripada orang semenanjung dengan oranng oversea

***will update for pics