Travelogue 14: The Land Below The Wind

February 2018, We chose Sabah!

Unfortunately I had a meeting in KK a day before. It was just day trip meeting in KK then return back to KL. Next morning went back to KLIA and flew back to KK with my family.

I purposely composed a laid back itinerary as I just want to enjoy the beach . We went to Sabah (composition of we: me, hubby, Kimi, Hafiey, Angah, Adam, my auntie-Mak Ida and my cousin -Uyi) for 4 days via Malindo.

Stopped by at KK Wet Market and Filipino Market, we bought dried stuff i.e. anchovies, amplang and fresh food i.e. prawn, fish and squid for our dinner.

We stayed at Sabah Beach Villa and Suite in Karambunai. The accommodation shares the same beach with the high rated-expensive Nexus Resort & Spa Karambunai. Our villa is an apartment styled Spa Suites, fully equipped with the kitchenette. Ensuite bathroom comes with bubble long baths and steam bath (god I love the steam bath, it's so cool) . Fantastic beach/ocean view the private balcony and it's so close to the beach that we can hear the sound of the wave and wind clearly.

Different color and taste of Durian

Next day, we started our day early in the morning, after our home made breakfast as usual, we departed to Kundasang. It is worth to highlight that the road to Kundasang from Karambunai or KK is quite winding and challenging. The first stop was Nabalu Fruit and Native Craft Centre in Pekan Nabalu. We stopped by to buy fruits and to view Mount Kinabalu.  Mount Kinabalu can be seen clearly from Pekan Nabalu.

Took few photos with the magnificent Mount Kinabalu, then we proceed to Desa Cattle Dairy Farm. Desa Cattle Dairy Farm is located at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu in Kundasang. The view was not that enticing as they hanged the red lantern on the pine trees for Chinese New Year celebration. The farm is well known as New Zealand Malaysia. Hmmm but from my opinion there's lot more to do to be at par with New Zealand or even hold the title. It was so frustrating to see the level of cleanliness at the main attraction in Sabah. We cannot help to reduce the smell of the animal as it is an animal farm but at least it should be clean.

First thing that we did as we arrived, we bought the ice cream! Freshly made from the cow's milk owned by the farm. It's delicious indeed. There were many big and beautiful granite boulders in the farm but with lantern everywhere, it kind of turn off a little bit. You tried to capture the nature beauty as natural as possible but hmmm...Next we straight away went to the calves/kids pen. They allow visitors to feed the animals with milk in the bottle or grass at your own choice(sold at the counter). You can buy grass (RM1 per bunch) or milk (RM1.50 per bottle) to feed the animals. The kids were excited except for Hafiey. Hafiey is still scared of animal after the Langkawi tragedy (group of rabbits fell on him as my post in Travelogue 8 in 2015).

Next we went to the cow barn where there were hundred of milk cows that we only can see them from a distance.

There was a view room for visitors to see milking process through a big window. Too bad that we arrived at the wrong time and of course we cannot wait as our agenda is quite tight.

Next destination, Poring Hotspring and Canopy Walk. All of us dipped our leg in the soothing sulphur bath in the Japanese-styled open air tubs. Poring Hotspring has a proper compartmentalize tubs with a tap in every compartment. My major concern, the wild dogs were everywhere and it took long time to fill in the tub as the water pressure was quite low. Getting bored, we tried the next adventure, the canopy walk. Abah, Mama, Angah, Hafiey and Adam did not join us as they prefer to wait in the van. The canopy walk is  a further walk (around 30 minutes) inside Poring Hotspring, this little Nature Reserve is the perfect place for a more relaxed jungle experience. Poring’s canopy walkway presenting the glory of a 100 million year old rainforest from a 175m length walkway suspended 40m above unspoiled flora. There are 4 suspension bridges all together and we managed to conquer Kimi's fear! Proud parents..lol.We were so excited to see Kimi being able to cross the bridges.

Brave kimi on the suspension bridge

We had a late lunch at Restoran Syah Adilah on the way back to Karambunai. The price was damn cheap. RM150 for 7 adults and 3 kids with prawns, squids, fish, crabs on the table.

The boys at the Grainery

The next day, we visited Monsopiad Cultural Village after had fun at the beach. Nestled besides the Penampang River are the many traditional buildings that make up the Monsopiad Cultural village. Monsopiad was a fearsome warrior who lived in the village of Kuai nearly 200 years ago.


At the Village, we visited the Tangkob or Grainery where the padi is housed. Monsopiad's Main House is dedicated to the life and times of Monsopiad and his descendants. On display were ceramic jars, padi grinders, bamboo items as well as the costume of Bobohizan Inai Bianti, direct descendant of Monsopiad and very senior high priestess. Listening to the explanation from the guide was like reading Tombiruo book series by Ramlee Awang Murshid.

















Other interesting exhibits include the massive monolith which invokes a dozen legends, the traditional restaurant and of course the House of Skulls, where all 42 'trophies' of Monsopiad hang from the rafters. We enjoyed the traditional dance as well!

We chose to have early dinner at Floating Fishing Village Seafood Market Restaurant. They served steamboat and ala carte seafood chinese style. We chose ala carte and it was superb. There are amazing cultural performance on the stage, from shooting blow pipes, bamboo dancing, and even there was a fire show. We enjoyed it to the max!

Our last day in Sabah, we went to Tamu Tuaran which only 20 minutes from our accommodation. The Tamu was very huge selling big fish, vegetables, food and even frogs! That's mark our last day and sayonara Sabah. Till we meet again...