Kota Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu, capital city of Sabah, the Land below the Wind. It has seen tremendous changes over the years. When I set foot here forty years ago, it was just a small town with narrow trunk roads. Today it can boast of flyovers and dual carriage ways.

Where previously shops were located in double storey shophouses along the streets, today there are several large modern shopping malls, with more in the pipeline. There is the UMS, the university which has an enrollment of more than 10 thousand students, both local and foreign and many colleges have sprouted to cater for the demand for higher education.

The standard of food has also improved. I remember when I first came to Kota Kinabalu or by its moniker KK, there was only satay kerbau, no satay ayam. I found the food hardly palatable then but today, there are a few commendable restaurants that serve delicious fare and also offer fresh seafood. Some hotel restaurants have fare to titillate your tastebuds.

There are also many hotels to cater to those who have different

budgets, from 5 star to 1 or no star. Many tourists come to KK

because it is a beautiful small city with lovely beaches and closeby offshore islands where they can

indulge in water sports or even walk underwater, holding onto a rope to watch the denizens of the sea and the beautiful corals.

The proximity ( about one and a half hours' drive ) of the highest mountain in South East Asia, Mt. Kinabalu, a world heritage site, offers a different kind of experience altogether. Those who are fit can climb the mountain and view spectacular sunsets from the peak. In fact, there is a mountain race each year where participants come from different countries. I believe the record is less than 4 hours to run up and down the mountain. The ordinary person will require 2 days to climb up to about 12 thousand feet and spend the night in the resthouse before ascending the summit in the early hours of the morning. After watching the sunrise, he will then descend the mountain with a certificate that vouches for his conquest of the mountain. There is also a golf course on its slopes for golf enthusiasts. Tight fairways and hilly terrain make for challenging play. Make sure you have plenty of balls before you begin your game!

Within Kota Kinabalu itself, there are 3 golf courses where tourists can play, the Sabah Golf & Country Club, the Kinabalu Golf Club and the Sutera Harbour Resort. In fact the Japanese, Koreans and Taiwanese have said that it is much cheaper to fly to Sabah to have a holiday and play golf than playing in their respective countries, so prohibitive are the costs of the sport. No wonder we see so many Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese tourists.

They come for the golf, the food and the beaches. Travelling by air is very affordable now with the advent of low cost carriers that compete for the tourist dollar. Some offer free seats while others offer very low fares. It is the customer's market as he can pick and choose the airline with which he wants to fly.

Every Sunday, the main street, Gaya Street, is turned into a pedestrian mall (from 6:00 am to midday) where one can choose from a plethora of goods to buy. There are a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, flowers, clothing and bags, plants, herbs, puppies, kittens, birds, aquarium fish, local cakes and pastries, gardening tools and fertilisers, top soil, different types of rice grains ( hill rice, brown rice, etc ), trinkets, antiques, seashells and pretty white corals, handicraft, music cassettes, cds, etc., etc.....

There is even a station along the five foot way where nurses will check your blood pressure for a nominal sum that goes towards some fund. Coffee shops along the street do a brisk business as people go for their favourite local breakfast of noodles, cooked in different ways.

For those who have not been to KK, this is a lovely place to visit and to relax. It will be a holiday you will not forget for a long time.