Tag Archives: Kota Kinabalu

Jungle Trekking at Gaya Island

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Malaysians do not like jungle trekking, so I bet 99% of you didn’t try the jungle trail on Gaya Island. Gaya Island is the biggest island of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park and it got the biggest island forest too. The jungle trail of Gaya Island is 4 KM long and need at least 2 hours to finish. You may start at Gayana Island and complete the trail at Hornbill Beach, or vice versa. I started from Hornbill Beach and ended at Gayana Resort, so I didn’t need to wait for a boat to pick me up at the Hornbill Beach.


Click Here to see the photo gallery of Gaya Island jungle trail >>

FYI, there is no leech in the trail, their staff says only the area more inside the island got. They also say if you are lucky, you can see wild boar, snakes, monkeys… Well, I saw some bugs only. It was so dark in the forest, making photo-shooting very difficult. I used a head lamp but still not bright enough to light up the subjects, sigh… I think there are thousands of cicada on the island and they are so loud that we can hear them from the resort. Just click this link to hear them sing. Turn your speaker to maximum volume and that was what I heard in the jungle. No kidding…


Click Here to see the photo gallery of Gaya Island jungle trail >>

To go to Hornbill Beach, you need to take a boat from Gayana jetty and you can arrange it with their staff at the arrival hall. If you are the resort guest, it is free. I paid RM5 and the boat ride took less than 30 seconds. Please note that you need to pay Sabah Parks a conservation fee to enter (RM3 for Malaysian adult, RM10 for non-Malaysian). But there was nobody there that day, so I didn’t pay. Hahaha… The Hornbill Beach is also a nice place to swim, dive, camp and BBQ.


Click Here to see the photo gallery of Gaya Island jungle trail >>

In the jungle trail of Gaya Island, you won’t feel that you are walking on an island. The jungle looks like a typical dense tropical rainforest. Plenty of hundred-feet tall trees, ratan, mushroom, fungus, bugs, lizards. I think I also heard the voice of hornbills. I know coz I have seen a lot of them in Sepilok forest before. The trail is not a flat path all the way. Half of the time I needed to climb up and down, very tired… I tried to find something interesting for photography, then I realised that I walked less than 1 KM after an hour (since 1 PM). So I walked quite fast later, probably missed out something cool too. I will come back again next time and start earlier (and carry a big lamp)… By the time I got out of the jungle, it was already 4 PM, but quite worth the time and effort.

FYI, Gayana Resort was used to have a Mangrove Forest trail. Due to poor maintenance, the broadway is out of order for a long time, though they still advertise this trail in their leaflet. Too bad…

Click Here to see the photo gallery of Gaya Island jungle trail >>

Gaya Island

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Ok, you guess it right, now I blog about the last island on the list, Gaya Island. No sure why some people call it Gayana Island, it once made me confused, probably it got a Gayana Resort on it. FYI, boat to Gayana Resort is available daily at 8AM, 9.30AM, 11AM, 12.30PM, 3.15PM, 6PM, 7.30PM, 9.30PM and 11PM. Two-way fare costs RM15 (less than USD4) but subject to change.


Click Here to see the photo gallery of Gayana Resort >>

So I went to Gaya Island on last Monday. The resort is built on the sea water, which is clear and shallow. When you walk on the broadway, you can see many fishes, corals, seaweeds and other sea life such as sea cucumber and sea urchins… under your feet. Most visitors are there to stay, hang around, relax, and eat. Not many are doing watersport such as snorkelling, swimming, diving.. I find this place is less attractive for such activities, if compared with other islands.


Click Here to see the photo gallery of Gayana Resort >>

I am poor so I can’t afford to stay in the resort. But judging from its appearance and words of mouth, it should be good. Each house got a balcony, where you can sit, relax and watch the sea. I also like the wooden houses with atap roof, giving a touch of nature. Many couples like to stay here for a romantic vacation.


Click Here to see the photo gallery of Gayana Resort >>

There is also an exhibition hall (Marine & Ecology Research Centre) at far end of the resort. Many corals, clams, fishes and other sea life are displayed. The entrance is free for the resort guests. For Malaysian adult, it is RM5, non-Malaysians, RM10. Below is the opening hours info.
Opening Hours
Mon and Thu: 6PM – 8PM
Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun: 9AM – 12PM, 1PM – 4PM, 6PM – 8.30PM
(I was there in Monday morning, but they let me enter.)

Ya, ya, I know most of you, especially the locals, already knew what I mention above. I post the info just for fun and for foreigners to know more about Sabah islands. Do introduce my site to your friends overseas, please? I also create an interactive 360° panoramic view for you to explore the resort.


Click Here to see the photo gallery of Gayana Resort >>

Likas Sport Complex

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Today 2 PM I was on the way to KK City Bird Sanctuary. When I passby Likas Sport Complex, I decided to change my destination to there. I took some pictures until 4 PM. Due to the cloudy sky, the sunlight was soft but sufficient for some ideal close-up shoots for small objects such as insects, and nobody around to distract me.

Last week I just resumed jogging that I have stopped for nearly a year. Likas Sport Complex has been one of the popular jogging sites in Kota Kinabalu, due to its beautiful and nature surrounding. However, usually people just come and go quickly. I think I could explore it a bit to find some “surprises”.

Most of the pictures were taken near the pool side, usually the most active spot of the bugs. During the photo shooting, always got something crawled under my trouser, some got many legs, some are very cold. I didn’t check so I don’t know what they are, haha…

Click Here to see the photos >>

Old Face of KK City

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There is an exhibition about the history of Kota Kinabalu city, at Palm Square of Centre Point Sabah. If I am not mistaken, it will open until 5th of March. You can check out the model below (1:500 scale) if you are curious about how KK looked like in 1930.

Haha… the public toilets of KK city were on the sea. Interesting… just imagine the fishes opened their mouth wide under the toilets. This is the only thing I learn from this exhibition.

The fishes in 1930 were fatter, right? No, no, no… today no difference also, you forget the generous contributions from Gaya Island?

KK City After Work

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I took the picture below last year. It was about 6:20 PM and everyone was heading home. I was already waiting on the new sky bridge since 5:30 PM, busy snapping photos of cars passing the road between Karamunsing Complex and Wisma Tun Fuad. The sunset and city are so beautiful…

🙁 This photo is a “half-baked” work coz I didn’t use longer exposure time to get a “golden river” effect from car light. Hehe… lazy to carry tripod (regret).. Later I tried to come back but the weather turned bad until now. The bridge also closed for construction last time (I even sneaked inside twice). Sad lah, now they are building the flyover in the middle, blocking the view. This scene will become a history soon.

The Beauty and Lifestyle of KK City

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DBKK organised a photography competition named “The Beauty and Lifestyle of KK City” last year and I submitted a few of my photos to join. The photo exhibition and prize presentation were held on Feb 2 (KK City Day) in Palm Square, Centre Point Sabah. I won a consolation prize that came with a trophy, certificate and a small Ang Pow. FYI, the award structure is like this; Gold Medal x 1, Silver Medal x 2, Bronze Medal x 2, Consolation x 10.

Actually I was a bit surprised that the photo, which I least expected to win, won a consolation prize. I didn’t highly expect I would win anything coz I am not a professional photographer. Luck was a big helper to me. In fact, I also feel a bit “shy” seeing my photos being exhibited together with others’ professional artworks. Hehe… lack of self-confidence but still happy lah anyway. I will improve my skill and join again this year.

During the exhibition, I was introduced to some of the famous local photographers. They are very friendly and all the contestants seem like already knowing one another very well. Probably that’s why they were curious to find out “Who is this new guy?” They do a lot of photography outing in Sabah. When they talked about taking pictures, their eyes were sparkling.

Before I started to love photography last year, I was an amateur graphic and web designer so photo-shooting naturally became a nice complement to my hobby. I also find that many art design concepts also can apply to photography. Maybe both are art. Scientists say the born left-hander is usually a born artist or someone more creative. According to mom, I was a left-hander, then she whacked and forced me to become a right-hander when I was 5. Fortunately, that did not bury my creativity, haha… yeah I am right..

Scary Fun Fair

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Yes, guys, I know it is “out” already to talk about the fun fair thing. Guess many of you had tried it. I only went there on Thursday (ya, the same day I got food poisoning), coz I wanted to avoid the long queue.

Undoubtedly, I am a serious guy so I was looking for serious fun. So I “shopped” around…

The Mushroom Ride looks just like a Merry-Go-Around. I played it in Canada before and felt really stupid riding on it. NEXT!

The Apollo looks cool but everyone is so relaxing on it. I guess it is hardly thrilling unless you got height phobia. NEXT!

Finally, the Air Force 1. I heard many friends highly recommended it. From the scream volume of those people, could judge that the ride was a horrifying experience. But very expensive lah, RM10… Until I see…

So I decided to try. Actually, I looked down its scary level coz it just swinged up and down in low height. I was death wrong. The momentum and G force were so strong that I had a near-to-death feeling. Under the high speed, all my internal organs were like turning upside down in my body. I didn’t shout but I was really terrified. Goodness… I will never forget that feeling. The friend sat next to me said, “I feel great to be alive.” Ya… I also felt great not shitting in my pant, consider I got diarrhea earlier that day. When it was over, I could not stand still already. I also got serious air-sick that made me wanted to throw out. BTW, the fun fair opens until Feb 4, if you haven’t been there. To have an orgasm romantic time with your love one, don’t forget to try Air Force 1.

Newly Added (Jan 9, 2007)
Click Here to watch the video clip of people being tortured by AirForce1

Chinese New Year Carnival 2006

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Yes, I was there at Gaya Street on Jan 22, 2006 night. It was really people mountain people sea (crowded). They all waited for something (see 1st picture). At 8:47 PM, hundreds of lanterns were lighted up after the launching ceremony. You can click this link to see the short video clip of lighting up ceremony. Such a cool view! Due to my shaky hand and no tripod support, many of the photos turned blur. I post a few “good photos” to share with you here. I want to go back to take more photos but unfortunately it was raining for 2 following days…