Kota Kinabulu (Sabah, Borneo Malaysia)

In Manila I met up with my friend Richard (ex-pat living in Palawan close to El Nido) and we scooted to the airport to meet my good friend Karen (who was one of my buddies in Korea) and her boyfriend and together we flew to Kota Kinabulu, the capital city of the state of Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo. Here's a little map of Borneo so you can get your head straight: Sarawak and Sabah are part of Malaysian Borneo and Kalimantan is actually part of Indonesian Borneo. Yeah...it took me a while the first time to find just "Borneo" on a map - confusing! Also remember there is Peninsular Malaysia (not pictured) which touches Thailand and Singapore and where the capital, Kuala Lumpur is located. Got your geography straight yet? I know, it's hard!

My first impression of Kota Kinabulu (KK) was one of surprise - how clean, how well laid out! I thought this was WILD Borneo!? I guess they got their eggs all in a row here after all. The city was very lovely (especially after Manila, blech) and the first thing we did was head to the Night Market on the waterfront. There was a whole section of tents set up cooking all kinds of seafood and Malay dishes. Richard and I shared a delicious red snapper - it was cooked in a spicy red sauce (food describer, I am not) and completely different that what I was used to in the Philippines. A nice change! A also had a crazy good avocado shake - mmm!

The next morning we left early for Mt. Kinabulu for our epic climb, but that gets a post all of its own! Skip ahead to post-mountain climb, when I was bone weary and huuuuuungry! Karen and James went a different way, but Richard and I went back to KK to eat a massive Italian lunch. Those carbs sure felt good!

The day was spent recovering, getting a massage from a lady boy (release mind from body!) and walking through the extensive markets. Some of the most memorable parts of the market were the rows of men clacking away on their sewing machines and the plethora of bloody fish in the seafood section. Even though I love to eat fish, it still hurt me to see some of my friends on the table - dead parrotfish, baraccudas, and even bat fish! Sigh. Actually one thing that really bothered me was that there were several booths selling big sea shells beyond your ordinary conch, and what looked like bleached out dead sections of corals. "No picture please" signs all over them...no kidding, you don't want an international reaction? Grr.

Malaysia is a predominately Muslim country, and it was a big change from mostly Catholic Philippines. There were a few beautiful mosques around the town, but there were also different houses of worship. I also noticed that there were degrees of conservatism as well, and this was most easily seen through what the women more. Many women wore no religious garment (perhaps they weren't religious at all!), some of the women wore a head scarf and jeans and a t-shirt, some women wore traditional dresses as well as head scarf, and some women wore the full monty - with dress, headscarf and veil covering the face. At least the fabrics were mostly light and colorful in the hot weather. Many of the men wore religious hats as well.

One and half days later, Richard and I flew to our next destination - Gunung Mulu National Park.