3D2N : Kota Kinabalu - Kundasang, Sabah, Malaysia

Travel Date : 12 -14 January 2018

In 2018, my adventure start in Kota Kinabalu - Kundasang, Sabah. It was a very refreshing journey. Normally, I will survey and plan the itinerary before my travel date. But not always stick to the itinerary. For me, itinerary just for our guide. We can refer to it and enjoy the moment. Let it go with the flow.

Okay, enough talking. Lets begin our journey to KK - Kundasang. Presented below is a simple short itinerary. Oh by the way, for ground transportation, we rent a car to explore the places.

DAY 1: KUALA LUMPUR (KL) - KUNDASANG

10.20 am : Arrive from KLIA2 to Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA)

10.30 am : Waiting for friend who arrival at 11.00am; fly with MAS

11.40 am : Travel to Kundasang

12.50 pm : Upside Down House (1h 7m)

2.40 pm : Lunch

4.40 pm : Arrive at Ayana Holiday Resort (2h 5m). Rest and plan for tomorrow journey

7.30 pm : Wander around Pekan Kundasang. Dinner @ KFC

8.30 pm : Back to resort. Rest & chatting

1.00 am : Light off

Breakfast : my fav oden & onigiri @ Family Mart, KLIA2

Arrived at KKIA. Waiting for our rental car. Proton Bezza RM120/day.

At Upside Down House, we purchased a deal ticket to 5 places at RM39 + add-on of RM24.40 for 3D Wonders Museum.

This is one of first upside down house. The concept of the house is based on Bajau ethic in Sabah. No photo is allowed inside the house due to some privacy to the owner. The lady narrator is informative and have sense of humor.

It is 3D wonders museum yo! a.k.a Trick Eye Museum. My first time visited this kind of place. I know, in Peninsular Malaysia also have this kind of place but i yet to visit them. My bad. I wonder how we suppose to take a photo because most of the scene is at upside down position. So there is the trick. You need to be creative when you take a photo. Also, there is some guide that help you some idea. Hahaha, i'm so embarrassed (knock my head).

Lunch at food court near Tamparuli, Ranau.

So cloudy.. So cold.

Our room at Ayana Holiday Resort. Simple & clean. No air conditioner in the room. We booked the room via agoda with price at RM98.08/night

Plan for tomorrow's journey.

DAY 2 : KUNDASANG - KOTA KINABALU

6.30 am : Check out from resort. Buy some food at Pekan Kundasang.

7.10 am : Travel to Desa Cattle Dairy Farm (32m)

9.05 am : Travel to Sabah Tea Resort (1h 2m)

12.11 pm : Tagal Luanti Fish Massage

12.27 pm : Travel to Kundasang War Memorial (1h 17m)

2.27 pm : Travel to Chantek Borneo Gallery (1h 24m)

5.00 pm : Check-in Iskandar Hotel at Kampung Air, Kota Kinabalu. Take a key and continue journey to other destination

7.00 pm : Dinner @ Todak Waterfront Hawker Center

8.45 pm : Rest at hotel. Wander around nearest places

11.30 pm : Light off

We requested to check out early to start our long journey.

The farm gate is opened to visitor at sharp 8.00 am. We arrived the farm early and need to wait outside the main gate. We take the opportunity to take a tons of photo. The weather is so breathtaking 😍

That morning is not so cloudy. We are lucky to see Mount Kinabalu clearly.

I love to explore and try a new things.. At the farm, they sell 2 flavor of gelato which are yogurt gelato and chocolate gelato. We buy both. The price is RM5.30 for each flavor. I tasted it and i like the yogurt than chocolate. Also, they sell few flavor of milk; fresh milk, chocolate, coffee etc. The taste is different from other milk in the market. Because it is so fresh and the "cow's milk" taste and smell is obvious. They sell few types of cheese too.

We only managed to visit calf's cage due to we need to move to other destination as planned. Besides, at that time, cow's cage still yet to open to visitor as the worker still clean up the area. So, we pass this.

Monument at Sabah Tea Resort

After 1 hour 2 minutes drive, we reached our next destination; Sabah Tea Resort. The ticket that we bought earlier is opt-in with tea factory guided tour (8.00 am to 12.00 noon). If you purchase the ticket on the spot at the Sabah Tea Resort, the ticket will be RM14 (as i remembered). Each of us get 1 pack of tea's powder as a free gift at the end of tour. Too bad no photo is allowed during the factory tour. I gained a lot of knowledge from the tour. I learned the process of making the tea's powder and the correct way to serve a tea. So worth it.

Tagal Luanti Fish Massage is located near to Sabah Tea Resort. You can see the river at the way up to Sabah Tea Resort. 1 session for each group/person is only 15 minutes. The fish is so big! And it in the river, not in the pond. So the fish is live naturally in the river itself.

From Fish Masaage, we drove down back to Pekan Kundasang to visit Kundasang War Memorial. Its take us 1 hour 27 minutes to arrive here. The garden is so refreshing and the flower is blooming beautifully.

Our last pit-stop of the day is Chantek Borneo Gallery. The entrance fee is RM15 for adult and RM10 for kids. But we use our deal ticket. So it save our money. With RM39, we can visit 5 places. This gallery is a costume miniature gallery. We learned Sabah's culture and heritage from this guided tour.

We rent the cloth with price of RM5.00. The cloth is represent Kadazan ethic.

Monument at roundabout near Jalan Tun Fuad Stephen, Kota Kinanbalu.

Our lunch.. Before it been cooked.. So fresh and yummy..

Some of monuments at roundabout in Sabah

Both of us exploring the surrounding area at Kampung Air.

At Kundasang War Memorial, Pekan Kundasang.

DAY 3 : MANUKAN ISLAND - KK - KL

7.00 am : Check out from hotel

7.15 am : Breakfast @ McDonald, Api-Api Center

9.00 am : Take a boat from Jesselton Point to Manukan Island (33m with 1 pit-stop at Manutik Island)

2.00 pm : Return back to Jesselton Point

2.30 pm : Shopping @ Pasar Filipina

3.30 pm : Lunch @ Nando's, Oceonus Waterfront Mall

8.20 pm : Depart from KKIA to KLIA2

The room is simple. No elevator and we are stayed at 4th Floor. T__T

Boating to Manukan Island, Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. The return boat fare for 1 island hopping is about RM30.00/person. And there is entrance fee charges to enter the park. You only pay 1 time entrance fee, but you need to keep the ticket if you wish to hop another island. There are 5 island with stunning beach in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park which are Mamutik Island, Manukan Island, Gaya Island, Sulug Island, and Sapi Island. Gaya and Manukan is the biggest island in the park. You can relaxing, sun-bathing, diving, snorkeling, swimming and do water activities here. But we decided not to go snorkeling. So we just relaxing and sun-bathing.