School Hols (Assignment)

(Scenery at Mount Kinabalu)




(Me on the boat to Mamutik Island)

Last holidays, my family and I went to Kota Kinabalu. For the uninitiated, Kota Kinabalu is the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah. On 30th November, the SilkAir Airbus touched down on the quiet, humble airport of Kota Kinabalu. I was surprised at its simplicity of the airport, vaguely resembling a mini shopping mall. We entered the city of Kota Kinabalu with our tour guide.

I was struck at how much Kota Kinabalu resembled Singapore. The city was small, but it contained a large variety of shops, even though there were only a handful of shopping centres. There was also a bazaar and shops facing out to sea. We stayed in the Berjaya Palace Hotel. The first time I saw it, I was reminded of a Rook, the chess piece, standing majestically upright, a hundred times its normal size.

The next day, we went to Mount Kinabalu, Sabah’s main attraction. Mount Kinabalu, at 4095 metres, is the highest mountain in Southeast Asia. On the way, our tour guide gave us some insight into the culture of the inhabitants of Sabah. (aka, the HEADHUNTING tribe! Nice welcome...) The temperatures on Mount Kinabalu were a big drop from the temperatures at sea level. At sea level, the days were sweltering hot, whereas temperatures on Mount Kinabalu could reach 10 degrees Celsius.

We visited other places, including Mamutik Island off the coast of Sabah, where we went snorkeling. The island was small, smaller than Pulau Ubin, but we had fun swimming and resting at the beach. The waves were strong, so when we tried to sit down in the sea we were knocked aside like bowling pins. I saw many types of fish there, and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

We were disappointed when we had to leave Kota Kinabalu on the 5th of December. My parents reassured us that it wasn’t so bad as we still had the fond memories. Now that I’m writing this blog entry, I agree with them fully.
Below is the video I took of the sunset at Tanjung Aru beach. Watch it and you may want to visit Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

"Sunset At Tanjung Aru"


(Yes, the sunset was so fast and beautiful I could record it!!)