"Kota Kinabalu" a Kota Kinabalu Travel Page by syetan

KK's where I'm from...lived there till I was 18 and again for a year in 2000. It's located between the Crocker Range and the South China sea so really, it's a place that should snake between the sea and mountains. However, due to land reclamation and deforestation, t's not exactly a 'long' city and those who knew it in say the 1930s wouldn't quite be able to match it today. For example, the 'Sea View Hotel' (not quite a hotel these days, though it is an establishment with beds...) is not a place to see water these days, unless you turn the taps on.

Originally known as Api-Api, modern day KK can be traced back to British settlement in the late 1890s and early 1900s, though they settled first on Gaya Island (overlooking KK). Renamed Jesselton, it was originally more a trading rather than an administrative centre. Heavily strafed by the Aussies during WW2 only 3 buildings of note remained standing at the end of the war. The clock tower at the foothill of Signal Hill, the bomb shelter (duh....well, I'm told it was a shelter) and a building next to it. The 'building next to it' was subsequently used by the Welfare Dept until it burnt down about 10 years ago. It's remains still lie there though being close to the CBD, it surprises me no development has been undertaken as yet.

The population's about 300,000 and located mainly in the traditional 'suburbs' of Likas, Tanjung Aru and Penampang though heavy population growth and development in some parts has seen the population distribution become somewhat decentralised, especially out towards Menggatal and Sepangar Bay.

Mt. Kinabalu, SE asia's highest mountain is about 1.5 hours drive away (mind you, I believe this is a geographical definition - there are mountains in Indonesia and Myanmar higher, though the former is in the island of New Guinea and hence in Oceania and the latter's to be found in the foothills of the Himalayas and hence in South Asia. But sssshhhh, it's a selling point to tourists so don't say jack).

The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park is a collection of 5 islands just of KK's coast and is worth a visit. It's only about 15 minutes away by speedboat with Manukan Island the main visiting spot as it has the most facilities, while Gayana resort is on the part of Gaya Island that is part of the national park-the other part (facing KK) is inhabited by a conglomeration of nationalities and can be a rich source of photo opportunities. Both sections of the island are fenced off from each other so we have our own Berlin Wall as well.

The airport is located very near the city and a budget terminal (T2) has just started operations. The main terminal is undergoing extensive renovations and won't be completely ready till 2009 but remains the 2nd busiest in Malaysia.

Unlike the stereotypical Malaysian shopping paradise, KK probably isn't the place you want to be if you're a shopaholic for clothes, electronics and the like - go to KL for that. Choices are limited and even the average white man/woman would struggle to fit into clothes available there. I'm a Medium to Large in Australia but not all XL shirts in KK fit me too well at all. If you like to pick up souvenirs though, you're in the right place.

I suppose KK is more famous for ts nightlife, and so it should be - any number of dodgy clubs/pubs dot the landscape alongside ubiquitously named 'fitness centres' and the like. If in Amsterdam one visits cafes for coffee and coffee shops for ganja, so here you go to a gym for exercise; fitness centres would be obliged to offer gym equipment though since I suppose they have to keep up pretences. Ditto with hair salons open past midnight-I guess they are obliged to cut your hair if you ask...go to coffee shops and ask for 'three ten' deals which pretty much means 3 cans of beer for RM10 (or 11 these days-inflation..). These are smuggled beer and so they'll pour it in glasses so no one sees the 'duty not paid' stamp on the cans.