March 27, 2020 - Flashback Friday - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

When I lived abroad in South Korea, I was blessed with a chance to fly south to Australia to visit my aunt and cousins. While planning this trip I decided to spend a few days in the country of Malaysia. I had two goals on this "pit stop". I wanted to snorkel and I wanted to see the amazing towers in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

Kota Kinabalu is on the island of Borneo and is the capital city of Sabah state of Malaysia. I had never heard of this area before my trip. I did a good bit of research and realized that this place has a good bit of everything. If I ever found myself traveling on that side of the world again, I would love to hike to the top of Mt. Kinabalu.

An amazing sunset

I believe I even bought my first pair of Krocs at a mall in this area on my first afternoon in this city. I remember walking around and finding a food stall. That part that really stuck out to me though was sitting down and eating with chopsticks while folks nearby used their hands to throw their meal down. That included rice, veggies and some chicken, I think. Now you are imagining something weird!

Check out the guy on the right 

I thoroughly enjoyed my few days in this area. I got to see the awesome mountains in the background while riding to the local rain forest. At the rain forest we got to participate in the "canopy walk", which is a walk that takes you about eight stories above the floor of the rain forest. The walk is about 150 yards as well. The snorkeling was awesome, and you didn't even have to swim too far away from the shore to see some awesome coral. I did have to help two Korean ladies who could not swim though. They would literally hold onto my back while I swam all the +100 yards or so in order that they may experience the awesome snorkeling at the reef.

A few interesting facts for you about Kota Kinabalu:

• This coastal city is partly surrounded by rain forest. 
• It has the highest mountain in Malaysia at over 13,000, Mt. Kinabalu
• It has some amazing coral reefs. 
• It has a village on stilts
• It has some great markets for shopping
• There is a great wildlife park
• There is a tea garden
• You can kayak in the sea



Mt. Kinabalu

• Yummy fish