On a rainy day, the former South China Sea and Gaya Island were part of a glittering silver landscape. Photographed from our Kota Kinabalu apartment hotel Marina Court with the late Bernard Khoo (blogger Zorro Unmasked) blowing smoke from his pipe, next to me. I told Bernard the landscape may soon become gold. Bernard passed away on 4th April 2014. The hotel can be seen in the previous post.
#kk #sabah #kotakinabalu #borneo #southchinasea #landcape #pulaugaya #monochrome
I am glad Jugjet Singh Randhawa remembered the name of the hotel the NPC entourage from KL stayed in while in Sabah. Finding a forgotten hotel is like reuniting with a long lost friend. Because of the big entourage, we were put up in an apartment/condo style hotel. It is near The Klagan @ Riverson featured earlier.
I have forgotten the names of many hotels I stayed because I didn’t keep mementos or records. Entire hard disks were also lost in crashes. After the introduction of blogging and social media, at least there are some written records or pics archived in the cloud somewhere. Many times, we lose touch or are no longer friends with the people we traveled with. So it is hard to even recall a name.
In a stroke of bad luck, both me and travel partner lost all pics we had from an extensive tour of Vietnam. She too cannot remember the names of all the hotels we stayed.
This hotel brought back some fond memories. My apartment mate was the late Uncle Bernard Khoo, better known as the blogger Zorro Unmasked. He left for heaven in 2014. The late Bernard, being fatherly and naggy was put in charge of the beer inventory. We carted so many crates to Sabah. Bernard was annoyed by people who came to our unit to drink and left unfinished cans lying about. It as a cardinal sin for drinkers according to Bernard.
Marina Court Resort Condo hotel is impersonal but functional. A chartered bus picked us from the guardhouse daily. I don’t recall a lobby or reception area. There are some things I like about it. Main thing was the location facing the ocean. the then South China Sea and Pulau Gaya. What does that means? If you stay on a floor high enough, you get a spectacular view, especially during sunset.
I will follow with a couple of pics if I can find them. This post is in memory of Bernard Khoo (1940 to 1974).
Book or see Marina Court Resort Condo Hotel.via this link. http://www.mycen.my/marina-court-resort-condo-hotel-kota-kinabalu/
Members of the NPC National Press Club went to climb Mount Kinabalu on the trip we made. Members from Bernama, Malaysia Nanban Tamil daily and NST, among others, were up on the peak or summit here at 4,095.2 metres or 13,436 feet.
FB friend Jugjet Singh Randhawa of NST had his turban ‘photo bombing’ Low’s Peak in perfect alignment. 🙂 Another iconic geological formation, the Donkey’s Ears Twin Peaks were destroyed in the 2015 earthquake.
Jugjet,can you or anyone remember the name of the hotel in KK we stayed?
If you are a Mont Kinabalu climber, you can search for many budget hotels in KK at MyCen Hotels http://www.mycen.my/.
#kk #mountkinabalu #kotakinabalu #mountain #borneo #sabah
Since we are looking at Sabah hotels, I dug up some pics from a trip to KK with the NPC or the National Press Club. Don’t wear red life jackets or red safety helmets in case you encounter a charging water buffalo mid stream. The dangers are not just from hidden rocks and sudden drops. I shot this from the famous wobbly suspension rope bridge high above the Kiulu River.
The Kiulu River white water rafting site is about one hour or 50 km by road to Kota Kinabalu. It is a beautiful place surrounded by lush rain forest and enchanting wildlife. One hour away, you can indulge in luxury hotels such as the Hilton, Hyatt and the Shangri-la.
For hotels in KK, see my previous post on The Klagan http://www.mycen.my/the-klagan-riverson-kota-kinabalu/
#sabah #kk #whitewaterrafting #buffalo #borneo #kiulu
Admittedly, the average West Malaysian knows so little about hotels in Sabah. If not for an anonymous user booking the Klagan at Riverson Hotel & Residence at MyCen Hotels, I would not have known about this new hotel at KK Times Square, facing The Magellan Sutera at Sutera Harbour. For this city, I have only stayed at the Hyatt Regency, the Tanjung Aru Beach Resort (built for sunsets) and a couple of others.
Links to the Klagan and major KK Hotels here: http://www.mycen.my/the-klagan-riverson-kota-kinabalu/
