Appreciation over Expectation

After spending about a week in Kota Kinabalu, we got into quite a good rhythm of work, exercise, eat, sleep, repeat.  I taught mornings, and Kolja would go for long runs outside (preparing for his 100km race that was quickly approaching) and I would go to the pool and relax in the afternoon when he would work.  Then, we’d finish our evenings more often than not at Nando’s or being adventurous and switching to the sushi place very close by, depending on our mood.

The days started to all blur together and we had forgotten that we were given this once in a lifetime opportunity to yes work nomadically, but also a chance to explore and experience a new place yet again. So, we concluded that there was no more time left to waste, it was our privilege and duty to explore some of what Kota Kinabalu had to offer.  This city is in the north on the island of Borneo and is known by the locals as Sabah (lots of names, I know, but all in Malaysia nonetheless). We had heard that most people came for the easy access to beautiful islands, so we wanted to see for ourselves.

We planned for our next free day to be spent at one of the many islands close by.  At first we were pretty unsure of which one to choose, but after some research we decided that Manukan Island was where we wanted to check out first.  So on a Tuesday morning, we set off early (okay maybe not that early, around 10 am) to the Jetty Port, which should’ve been only 5 minutes away from our apartment, but again the horrible city design led to having to go a mile in the wrong direction, in order to switch lanes, and then head back on the other side of the road.  However, after about 10 minutes, we arrived and were immediately greeted by a flock of tourist salespeople.  We had read ahead of time that we would be bombarded with choices but that ultimately they all were the same, so we quickly chose one without much thought and followed the tour guide into his shop. Inside, we explained where we intended to go and were told in order to do so we just had to simply purchase a boat ticket, entrance ticket, island ticket, tourist ticket (you get the point, there were tickets on tickets).  From there we waited for about 30 minutes for our boat to arrive (the waiting game in Malaysia goes without being said), and were told by some locals that we’d be blessed with a rather empty island, because normally the islands are chaotic and overly crowded with tourists (this emptiness due to the fact that COVID cases were ramping up worldwide and the number of tourists in Malaysia were decreasing rapidly). 

So off we headed toward the island of Manukan, dropping off other passengers to other islands along the way, and finally arriving at our little slice of heaven. Blessed is an understatement, we were absolutely stunned by the fact that there were hardly any people on the island, and at how beautiful the hues of blue looked from the dock. Upon entry we were again forced to buy some kind of island entry ticket (thought we already bought it, but didn’t feel like arguing), and went in search of our own little place to camp out for the day.  

Walking around the entire island took a whopping 10 minutes, and during this little adventure we learned very quickly that we were definitely not going to be alone. Instead, some very large prehistoric lizard/crocodiles were clearly going to be intruding, as they were often seen slowly crawling around in search of food and shade.  They clearly were used to tourists though, not being spooked at all by the old white couple who were having a blast taking photo shoots with them. We chose to keep our distance though, just in case!

           

           

The day was absolutely wonderful. We spent hours on the beach, taking dips in the water when we were hot, and even getting to enjoy our own little canopy set up, with some shade to lay under.  For lunch we ate at the only restaurant on the island and enjoyed massive coconuts to hydrate. Unfortunately, time flew and 3:30 pm came way too soon which was when we were told to be back at the jetty to meet our boat driver. So reluctantly we packed up and headed back to the dock to join other passengers journeying back to the city.

Pardon my French, but what a shitshow that was. Luckily for us, at that point in our trip we had been in Malaysia long enough to drop all expectations that anything would be happening on time.  Malaysia and everyone living here are on permanent island time, and it was absolutely hilarious for us to hear other foreigners openly and loudly complaining about the lack of organization and punctuality (as if complaining would help). It seemed they had expected their boat to arrive at 3:30 sharp to whisk them away safely back to their 5 star hotels, but the boat drivers simply had other plans for them. One British family in particular really gave Kolja and I quite a laugh.

             

With a little bit of drama but none to write home about, we made it back safe and sound. But for some reason, we decided we hadn’t had enough adventure for one day, and chose to walk home (3+ miles). Needless to say after spending over 6 hours outside in the sun, feeling sandy, crispy, and a bit overheated, we did not actually make it home.  We did however, stumble upon a massive fresh market where we FINALLY found a place to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. I’ll be the first to admit though that I wasn’t the cheerful, energetic human I usually am and after trudging behind Kolja as he made several purchases, and grunting a few times yes and no to an array of foods, we exited and immediately ordered a Grab taxi.  

By the time we got home we were completely exhausted, and after showering we debated just eating downstairs at a very small store that sold a few simple meals and local dishes. But HOW could we betray our beloved Nando’s?? So in the end yep, you guessed it, we had ourselves a delicious chicken dinner AND a large side of sweet potato fries.


Kota Kinabalu February 21- March 4, 2020