Exploring Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

19th November 2019 (Tuesday)

It was in August 2003 when I first set foot in Sabah. It has been 16 years since. It was towards the end of the SARS epidemic and in order to encourage people to travel, Malaysia Airlines was offering very cheap tickets to Kota Kinabalu and other destinations in Malaysia.

The plane left Sibu Airport at 7:45 a.m. and touched down at Kota Kinabalu Airport at 8:50 a.m. I had not prepared myself well in advance for this trip, unlike what I would normally do before I visited other countries. I had only read this morning that Grab car would only pick up passengers at Pillar 5 of the airport. As I stepped out of the domestic arrival hall, I went looking for Pillar 5. I turned left and walked. Pillar 5 was near the very end of the airport building at the domestic arrival hall.

Using Grab, I called a JustGrab to Hotel Traveller, where I was putting up. The fare was RM9. After checking in, the first order of the day was to look for breakfast. Although KK Restaurant was next to Hotel Traveller, there was no hawker food, except for a chicken rice stall. I walked around the vicinity and found a noodle stall. I was looking at the menu at the stall when a waitress approached me. I ordered Sau Nyuk and she asked me the options that I would like to have, giving me the names in Cantonese. I did not understand her and she led me to the pots to show me the options. I chose the stew pork. It was really good. The pork was tender and savoury.

After having my breakfast, I decided to go to the water-front and walked north, to retrace the steps that I took 16 years ago. In particular, I wanted to go to the Filipino Market, where I hoped to have my dinner later that night, like I did then.

By 11:25 a.m., I was done with the river-front and went in search of Kedai Kopi Yee Fung, a coffee shop famed for its Laksa. Unfortunately, it was closed. I strolled around the vicinity, but could not find anything I liked. I decided to go back to the hostel and checked out KK Restaurant.

That evening, I decided to go to the evening food stalls for dinner, which I had marked as a waypoint. It was located at Jalan Kampung Air 4. There were no evening food stalls on the street as I had thought. Instead, there was a seafood restaurant. It was about 5:30 p.m. I walked into the restaurant and out the other end and to my surprise, I was at Pasar Tani Asia City. It was a Muslim food market. The hawkers were just starting to get ready to open for business.

After strolling around Pasar Tani Asia City, I decided to walk to Asquare Container Night Market for dinner. Walking along the esplanade to Asquare would be a walk down memory lane. It was not to be. The esplanade was no longer the esplanade I knew. It has been taken over by an unbroken row of restaurants and eateries, blocking out all view of the sea from the road. Tall building occupied the most strategic locations, and one walking along the road would not know the sea was right there. What a dramatic change after 16 years.

Asquare was a disappointment. Most of the stalls were closed and there were just a few patrons. I decided to walk back to the hostel. Then, seeing the Filipino Market, I decided to walk over. Instead of being replaced by modern building, it had grown many times over. I liked it. During the day, the sea front was empty and smelly. Now, it was filled with rows and rows of fish mongers selling fresh sea food and crowded with people. There were many food vendors too. Finally, I had my dinner of Mee Goreng here.