Sabah : Perjalanan yang tak pernah jemu (Siri 1)

Sauh dilabuh, agar hidup kekal berpaksi

Kota Kinabalu bukan satu bandar asing untuk aku dan isteri. Memang, kami telah sampai ke sana malahan Kota Kinabalu menjadi tempat pertama pertemuan isteri dan family aku sebelum kami berkahwin lagi. In a way, Kota Kinabalu punya cerita sendiri pada aku dan isteri.

Namun, perjalanan kali ini berbeza sekali. Sungguh berbeza. Pertama, trip kali ini bukan sahaja aku dan isteri malah turut ditemani oleh dua keluarga dari rakan pejabat. Sungguh mengujakan bila mana kebiasaan perjalanan yang hanya berdua namun kali ini ditambah dengan 7 anggota lain. Bersama rakan, pengalaman percutian nyata berbeza.  Di tambah dengan kehadiran 3 anak kecil yang very cheeky, perjalanan tidak pernah jemu.

Us, at KK Airport Terminal

Baik, kami tiba di Lapangan Terbang Kota Kinabalu sekitar jam 11.00 pagi. Memang sudah dirancang dari awal bahawa kami akan terus ke Kundasang. Kebetulan tiada antara kami yang pernah sampai ke Kundasang maka percutian kali ini tambah mengujakan. Oh ya, cerita perihal perancangan, semuanya dibuat sendiri sejak dari Kuala Lumpur lagi. Asalnya tempahan sebuah Innova dilihat memadai namun melihat beg yang dibawa oleh mereka-mereka yang beranak pinak, Innova seems like Kancil. Itu cerita lain.

Ok, sebuah van disewa. Memang selesa. Anak-anak boleh melunjur kaki. Para suami boleh bergilir menjadi pemandu. Beng semua muat di bahagian belakang. Kaz even cakap van ini boleh ditukar jadi camper kalau keadaan terdesak. Hish, tak dapat nak bayang. Ok, jangan bayangkan.

Sepanjang perjalanan ke Kundasang dari Kota Kinabalu, cuaca cerah. Namun tiada kelibat Gunung Kinabalu yang kelihatan lantaran awan tebal. Cuaca sedikit sejuk namun tak cukup chill. Kami singgah di Pekan Nabalu untuk lunch. Sepatutnya pemandangan restaurant adalah mengadap Gunung Kinabalu namun kerana awan tebal, hanya kabus putih kelihatan. Ada drizzle sikit-sikit cukup untuk buat seperti berada di negara asing.

Kami tiba di Pekan Kundasang sekitar jam 3.00. Pekan kecil yang tenang. Tak banyak kenderaan. Gerai sayuran memanjang ditepi jalan. Ada kedai-kedai makan. Selebihnya hanya lembah yang nampak dari kejauhan. Menghijau di kaki Gunung Kinabalu. Rumah-rumah kecil diantara lembah berbalam-balam. Sekali angin menderu, dingin menyapa pipi. Tenang sungguh. Tenang sehingga kami masing-masing berimpikan untuk menetap di Kundasang suatu hari nanti. Itu cerita lain.

Sesampai ke sana, terus ke hotel untuk check in. Hotel memang sudah ditempah sejak dari Kuala Lumpur lagi menggunakan Agoda. Perjalanan dari jalan besar untuk ke hotel juga satu cerita menarik. Pheeww, bergetar lutut bila difikir kembali. Jalan berbatu yang curam, jauh ke dalam dan ke atas dengan kiri kanan adalah hutan dan lembah. Memang jauh dari kesibukan manusia.

Petangnya, setelah selesai kemas diri kami bergerak ke Dairy Farm. Fuhh, selain perjalanan yang juga curam dengan van yang nampak gagah namun gayat, pemandangan di Dairy Farm begitu stunning sekali. Bayangkan begini, lembah hijau dengan rumput berbukit bukit. Ada pagar putih kayu memagari dengan design petak-petak. Ada lembu hitam putih meragut. Background gunung dengan awan berarak. bau hutan yang segar dengan sikit-sikit bau lembu. Cuaca sejuk dengan titisan kecil air embun. Got it? Yeah, discription yang macam New Zealand namun ianya di Kundasang. Sumpah cantik.

Gunung Nenek Moyang

Selesai di Dairy Farm, awan yang menutupi Gunung Kinabalu awal tadi sudah mula cleared. And now di hadapan kami tersergam gunung yang sangat besar. Bayangkan cerita Game of Throne, ada satu wall besar putih. Yup, itu perasaan yang dirasa. Rasa chill campur goosebumbs tengok betapa tinggi Gunung Kinabalu. Very mystical feeling. Tak pelik la kenapa orang zaman dulu dari suku Kadazandusun dekat situ percaya semangat nenek moyang yang mati akan pergi ke Gunung Kinabalu. Sebab menang Gunung Kinabalu nampah gah. Hatta nama Kinabalu sendiri berasal dari bahasa Kadazandusun, 'Aki' iaitu Nenek Moyang dan 'Nabalu' iaitu gunung. Gunung Nenek Moyang. Dang, rasa tak goosebumbs?

On the way balik dari Dairy Farm, singgah dinner di satu restoran dedat Pekan Kundasang. Makanan di Kundasang bukan lah murah sangat. Berpatutan sebab portion dia besar. Sedap di makan cuma banyak pakai MSG (at least untuk sizzling mee). Sampai hotel, hari sudah gelap. Pelan asal untuk lepak di belkoni namun terpaksa pospone kerana masing-masing dah letih. Aku dapat dua katil single, so terpaksa re-arrange balik bagi jadi macam queen size. Dekat Kundasang kot. Takkan nak tidur single bed. Ok, itu cerita lain.

Good night,

Wira

12 Dis 13

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Of Mountains and Oceans. A Visits to Kundasang and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (Part II)

For those who have not read the first part, I would suggest you do so to grasp better understanding of what I'm about to write next.

So, after singing 'Flying Without Wings', had a fantastic breakfast and well do what we have to do (yup, the usual morning ritual, an appropriate stuff, not really suitable to share, you get the point) we went to Poring Hot Spring. It's not really hard to find, one can just follow the signboard or simply turn on the GPS or Waze or Google Map or whatever apps you're using to get from point A to point B and guess what, you'll eventually reach the place.

A tree aged more than a hundred years, a treasure

Poring Hot Spring... how do I put this in words... Yes, it's a hot spring. Sulfuric, hot (egg boiling hot!), and... it's a hot spring. But, there're many activities to do there. There's a Butterfly Farm (we didn't get in), waterfalls (we didn't take a dip), jungle tracking (we didn't do that either) and Canopy Walk (that we did). Seriously, the climb was tiring with wet muddy trail but once you get there, you'll be in for a surprise!

It was SCARY (if there were no Japanese tourists behind us, which blocked the way I had probably turn back). But my two girls are actually enjoying the climb as well as the long, wobbly walk across. My wife and I, well we don't really have any choice do we? But to press on and put up a 'brave' smile for the camera.

 My two girls having a great time, unlike the adults

While going up the trail was tiring enough, going down was even worst (for many of those who loves tracking it would be like a walk in a park, but not me). My wobbly legs after the near death incident crossing the Canopy Walk (yes I was that scared as I was attacked by a fly that tried to get in my ear) won't stop shaking making going down the trail just a little bit better than crossing the plank stitch by ropes and will definitely move to the slightest touch (maybe I'm a bit over the board on explaining this). But against all odd, my wife and I plus the girls (who pushes us to go faster while laughing all the way) made it safely down.

As my legs won't stop shaking, it's obvious that the next place we're going will not be as adventurous as the Canopy Walk. We decided to go to Sabah Tea Plantation. A more relaxed place where we can ease our minds enjoying a simple life's pleasure, a cup of tea (maybe a few more cups by my count). There we had lunch, which is simply delicious (to a hungry stomach) had a stroll in the compound, bought teas for family and friends back home and happily left for our next destination.

The blue sky is something that I'll missed the most

The last destination of the day was Kinabalu Park. It was raining when we arrived, meaning no outdoor activities for us. But we did stroll around the park with our trusted Urvan (that has been doing great so far). The view was stunningly beautiful, pity we didn't have the chance to explore more. As the rain stopped, we hanged out at the entrance of the park, taking some photos of the scenic views and left for the hotel.

A quick stop at Kinabalu Park, an opportunity to snap a few photos

We spent the night having a 'balcony party', Maggi in a cup was the best choice at that time, garnished with fresh veggies we bought earlier. Cold weather and hot Maggi is a match made in heaven (I do think that it's the best tasted Maggi ever, better than the ones I had in boarding school). So that wraps up the visits to Kundasang. We had an early start the next day, driving back to KK trying to catch earliest boat to Tungku Abdul Rahman Marines Park. I'll write about that part in my next post.

In a nut shell, Kundasang is a great place for family vacations with tons of things to do and much to see. The fantastic weather, the clean air (as apposed to KL) is somewhat a cure to boredom and stress. I'll leave you guys with that thought and cheers.

Thanks.

Yours truly,
Kaz
11 Dec. 2013

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Of Mountains and Oceans. A Visits to Kundasang and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (Part I)

Recently, my family and I, accompanied by my best buddies went to Sabah (Kundasang and Kota Kinabalu in particular). The 4 days 3 nights trip was (in a nut shell) AWESOME!

The Air Asia flight (RM63/person) was cheap enough for the whole family, so we bought the tickets, book the hotel online via Agoda and Wira (the other author of this blog) booked our transportation. We took the morning flight as we have to drive to Kundasang from the KK Airport.

The drive to Kundasang was mesmerizing to say the least though we drove an old Nissan Urvan (the tires were almost wear off by god knows how many trips up and down the mountain) through the mountain road. It took us around two and half hours to reach the Celyn Resort. Please note that we'd safely arrived taking into consideration the condition of the van. Whew!

My two little girls, upon arriving at Celyn Resort

The Celyn Resort was located a few kilometers from Nabalu Town. For only RM180.++, which also includes breakfast, the place was fantastic with good looking rooms and not to mention the fantastic views, including the great Mount Kinabalu. The food was also good (one can choose between English breakfast or a traditional).

The great Mount Kinabalu and all its splendors

So we checked in our stuff (I carried the most, more than half the stuff is for the girls) and head straight for the Dairy Farm, which located near Nabalu Town. There we (again) enjoy the views (I'll probably repeat this from time to time as the place really is BEAUTIFUL). Though some of the areas smell like cow piss and dunk (I mean what do you expect? It's a dairy farm, ain't gonna smell like roses), still it's a must go place should you ever visits Kundasang. We bought few cartons of fresh milk and pop corns for the night 

The happy bunch at the Dairy Farm

The weather at night was chilly, and yes it leads to a wonderful world of dream and fantasy and well... a good night sleep (even sharing the cramped queen sized bed with my wife and the two girls didn't spoil my sleep). Thank god I woke in time that morning to catch the breathtakingly beautiful sunrise, which reminds me of West Life's flying without wings. It goes something like (This was really how I felt, looking at my wife and the girls at that time):

"Well for me is waking up beside you, 

To watch the sun rises on your face, 

To know that I can say I love you, 

In any given time or place..."

Sunrise at the Celyn Resort, so unforgettable  

There're more to share but I guess it will make this post too bloody long and boring (At least for the readers, and I have no more ideas on how to describe the place other than using the same phrases over and over again).

So I'll stop here with the hope that more ideas and words will come pouring out while I continue with my daily job. Cheers!

Thanks.

Yours truly

Kaz

10 Dec. 2013  

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