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Began our day early as we headed out to the Kundasang Highlands to visit the Poring Hot Springs & the Kinabalu National Park. The journey reminds me of going up Cameron Highlands, the twisty & winding roads up the hills. The journey to the hot spring took about 2 & 1/2 hours; with the dropping temperatures & scenic views along the way, no one’s complaining.

Majestic view of Mt. Kinabalu in the horizon. The only better photo captured; the weather turned cloudy & was drizzling when we got to the Kinabalu national park in the afternoon. Weather on the highlands can be unpredictable; sudden changes are more prone, the higher up you go in altitude, so the best time to be climbing the mountain and not get caught cold & wet in flash rainstorms is during the off-monsoon season, which is like now. Which also explains why we had to ditch our hiking plans coz the mountain accommodation at Laban Rata has been fully booked for the weekend.

1^st Stop: Poring Hot Springs

30mins away from Kundasang town. Poring: simply means bamboo in the local dialect; a plant that grows abundantly here. Been here once, seen it all.

Taking a cautious dip in the hot pool (best remedy for sore muscles, especially after the climb); as for the sulfur-smelling pool closer to the source, those are more suitable for boiling eggs.

The other attraction here is the Canopy Walk – the beginner’s equivalent of a tight-rope walk 40 – 50 meters off the jungle floor. They should build it higher (like 100meters or more), longer & it should sway more – to make it scarier.

Stop-over lunch at Fairy Garden Resort. Perhaps a 7-course lunch is too extravagant for a national park trip, which explains the steep Rm185 per pax pricing for the Kinabalu Park-Poring Hot Spring trip package.

@ Perkasa Resort

@ Kinabalu National Park

Stairways to heaven: Timpohon Gate – about 4.5km uphill from the park HQ main gate; the starting & ending point of the climb. It’s already freezing up here.

These guys can do it in under 3hours (return). An amazing feat considering an average person will take about 8-12 hours to reach Low’s Peak (1-way), minus the night-rest stopover at Laban Rata

Ice-cream break on the way back to KK

Verdict: Rm185 for the trip is rather expansive. Some operators provide similar package for as low as Rm150 (maybe with a cheaper lunch package?), but the best way I figure, would be to DIY your trip:

Budget breakdown (assuming a group of 5)

Transport: Rm180 – 200 (typical rental for a sedan for a day; self driven)

Tour guide: No need one (unless you can’t understand BM or English)

Park entrance fees: Rm20 at most for either parks (M’sian rate)

Lunch: stop over at the local mamak stalls should be quite economical

Navigation: should be easy armed with a map; no complex highway maze to confuse you

All for less than Rm100 per head.

Bak Kut Teh for dinner. This one’s the best in town. Finally found the yellow coffee shop along Jln. Gaya; had vague memories as the last time I’ve dined here was 3 & 1/2 years ago. The shop’s packed as usual, had to wait 15mins before being seated. Serving available 3 distinctively different flavors original, herbal & pepper:

Smoking piping hot pepper flavor – this one’s rock my tastebuds!

KK Nightlife – Part I

Chilled out at Upperstar – one of the most happening watering hole in KK situated just a stone throw away from our hotel along Jln. Datuk Saleh Sulong opposite the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu. No better place to take a casual sip of margarita & bourbon-coke, play some card games, enjoy the sea breeze & of course, check out the hot babes. The party revelers here generally have a good sense of fashion; & wearing the drabs that we showed up in, we’d get arrested by the fashion police… if there was one. Surprisingly, for a city as compact as KK that you could almost get around on foot, there’s plenty of interesting joints & places to hang out.