3D2N Sabah staycation trip ft. bestie

Hello kawans! In my previous post I mentioned that my next post would be beauty related but I just really felt like writing this now so please bear with me😚! If this isn't your first time stumbling across my tiny little online journal, you probably already know how much I like writing about the places I've been to(no matter how long ago my trip was lol). These kind of posts kinda help me preserve my memory and I guess I try to keep em as informative as possible for anyone reading. Well, last September(not too long ago right😅?) my bestie and I went to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah for a short super chill staycation and here's a short travelogue post on it! If you're interested to see how we spent our staycation, do keep reading! :D

Morning flights are so tiring but if it means we can save over a hundred bucks, I can roll with that. For this trip, we flew via Malaysia Airlines because the prices were ok and the overall flight was pretty good. Our flight to Sabah was at 8A.M. so we arrived at the airport around 6a.m because we wanted to grab a bite first. By the way, for Malaysians(in case ya'll don't know la), you only need your IC to travel to Sabah. 

I had nasi lemak on the plane, it was pretty good but also slightly too spicy for my liking(I have really low heat tolerance lol)

Checked in at Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabalu.

About 2 and a half hours later, we arrived at Kota Kinabalu airport and we collected the keys to the car we rented from this company called Global Lepa Car Rental. I think we rented a Bezza but got upgraded to an Alza instead so that's good since we were going for a road trip to Desa Dairy Farm which is kinda on top of a hill. After we checked the car condition, our Sabah holiday officially begins!! For the trip, courtesy of the bestie, we stayed at Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabalu and like all Hyatt hotels, it's a nice place.

This trip I was more focused on actually 'chilling' than taking photos for my blog so all the photos you see here are superrr casual(literally taken using my phone instead of my trusty G7X) and there were even certain moments with no photos/videos taken. I didn't capture any photos of the room we stayed in but I did found this from my IG stories archive so there you have it a quick semi-room tour in GIF format. By the way, I will be throwing in a few gifs here and there in this post, so I apologize in advance for loading times haha.

Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabalu: Hyatt Regency Kinabalu, Kota Kinabalu, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Here's the view from the club lounge! The water is so blue omg.

Lunch at Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap.

For lunch we went to this place called Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap. It was after I posted a photo of my bowl of noodles to IG only a kawan told me they have a branch in KL hahahaaa. By the way, if you're driving, there's an indoor carpark right below with ample parking lots so you don't have to worry about the whole 'got parking ah?'.

Nonetheless, I liked it so I supposed it was worth eating it all the way in KK? To put it simply, this is a bowl of beef noodle soup with mixed beef parts. It may sound a little unappetizing to some but I loved this. Especially because the beef is so tender and there's also lobak inside!

Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap: 2-0-10, Lorong Taman Nosoob Jaya Phase 2, Kolam Centre, 93450 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

After a hearty bowl of beef noodles we stopped by this mall to pick up some snacks. Ended up buying Borenos fried chicken and some chocolate drink from Yoyo. Also since it was still my 'birthday' season hahahaha my 好朋友 requested for a birthday cake for me!! My first time having a slice of cake sent to the hotel room lehh omg :'D

Around early evening we went to the hotel's club lounge for their evening cocktail and I swear Hyatt's food selections never disappoint. We had plans to eat seafood for dinner but as waisekmao as I am, I'm always up for 2 dinners hahaha! A glass of wine overlooking the sea during the sunset, is this what they call tai tai life???

Do you like my ham dan wong 咸蛋黄(salted egg yolk)?

Dinner at Welcome Seafood Restaurant 大茄来海鲜餐厅.

For our 'main dinner' we went to this place called Welcome Seafood Restaurant. It's only about 5 minutes drive away from the hotel and I think parking isn't limited but it's still a tiny bit of a challenge because it's such a popular restaurant. We got there about 8:30pm and I think it took us 1 or 2 rounds to find a parking lot? 

I'm gonna be honest, I knew this place was a very touristy seafood restaurant but what I did not expect was for them to have like 3 or 4 shops...? It's basically one whole row of shop lots combined la so even though there were a lot of people eating there, we got a table almost immediately. Oh and food was served pretty fast too.

I was so busy eating, I either did not take any photos or I lost em. I went through all my SD cards and I just can't seem to find any camera taken photos from my Sabah trip except for 1 or 2 photos you see in this blog post. Well it's okay, I'll just have to make do with this GIF I converted from an IG story I took.

Back to the food, we ordered 2 medium(I think) size crabs, some fried calamari with a pretty tasty thai chilli dip(?), a plate of tiger prawns cooked in creamy butter milk, and lastly a bowl of clams. I do not remember how much we paid exactly but I remember that we both agreed that the bill came up to be much cheaper than what estimated(or maybe eating seafood at PJ area is just super expensive haha). Usually touristy restaurants tend to get very pricey but this was not the case for Welcome Seafood @ Kota Kinabalu. So if you're at Kota Kinabalu and you love seafood, I highly recommend checking out Welcome Seafood because on top of the reasonable pricing, the seafood were also pretty fresh and cooked quite yummy too! If we weren't so lazy, we would've went back here on our second night!! That's how much we liked the place.

Welcome Seafood Restaurant: G15-18, G/F, Komplek Asia City | Phase 2A, Jalan Asia City, Kota Kinabalu 88300, Malaysia

Day 2 at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Next morning we woke up superrr early to start our road trip to Desa Cattle Dairy Farm. It's a 2 hour drive up-hill so we first went for a mcd drive-thru then this spectacular view was pretty much our scenery for an hour++? For those considering to rent a car to drive up to Desa Farm or even Kinabalu Park(our worth-it impromptu stop), the drive was actually not bad(or at least according to my bestie la hahahaha). Yes you're going uphill but at least the roads were surprisingly very smooth and well maintained.

Impromptu stop at Kinabalu Park.

Mini story time! While we were driving to Desa Farm, we kept seeing this extra tall mountain that stood out way too much among the crowd of somewhat tall mountains and being the curious passenger, I just kept asking Peggy if that's Mount Kinabalu😂😂. It's pretty funny because even though it was my first time at Sabah, for various reasons, it never really struck my mind to check out Mount Kinabalu?? We only had 2 full days and I'll admit, other than what to eat, we didn't really plan anything so we just went with the flow.

Surprise, surprise. Who knew the flow would take us to an impromptu stop at Kinabalu Park hahaha! I mean, when we planned our road trip to Desa Farm, it never really occurred to us that we'd even see Mount Kinabalu😂, talk about taking a photo with it.

Now, I don't remember much of this but I think on the way to Desa we kinda saw a Kinabalu Park road sign and since it didn't seem like it was too big of a detour on waze, we kinda just went for it. Plus, the weather was pretty nice so it doubles as a nice little stop to stretch our legs! Entrance fee to the park was only RM3(Malaysian), and I assure you, if you've already made it that far, it would be a RM3 well spent.

Hello Mount Kinabalu! I've heard so much about you back in primary school, I never thought I'd see you with my own eyes. My photography skills can't even justify it's beauty. The views are definitely much muuuuch muuuuuuuucchhhhh more spectacular when you're physically there.

There weren't many people around and since we can't find anyone to take a photo of us, I guess we'll just have to selfie. You know, the funny thing is, I kept taking photos of this super tall mountain in the car before we even saw the Kinabalu Park road sign and I didn't dare to tag it as Mount Kinabalu until I actually saw the info sign confirming that this was indeed Mount Kinabalu😂.

This stop wasn't part of our 'itinerary' but I was so glad we decided to make a quick stop. I'm not an athletic person so I would never think of climbing Mount Kinabalu but seeing it with my own eyes and being close enough to take a photo with the highest mountain in Malaysia, that's already crossing out a bucket list goal there! PS. it's actually really cold up here especially when the wind blows so bring a cardigan or something!

Kinabalu National Park: Mt Kinabalu National Park, Kinabalu Park, 89300 Ranau, Sabah

Day trip at Desa Cattle Dairy Farm.

We got to Desa Farm at about 9:30AM?? 10?? but the sun was already burning lol. Thank goodness for the cold hilltop air though! We got our entrance ticket at the entrance itself, I didn't take down how much it was but I think it was RM5 per person and we parked our car at their outdoor parking area. There were a lot more tourists here so we managed to find someone to help us get a photo. I think if I just posted this photo online without any context, you probably wouldn't think we're still in Malaysia right?

PS. even though getting a photo with Mount Kinabalu in the background at Kinabalu Park was nice, you can also get pretty nice shots from Desa Cattle Farm as well!

For a moment when you're surrounded by so much green, colourful flowers, some black and white cows with a slightly colder than Genting weather, yes, you tend to forget that you're still in Sunny hot Malaysia.

We also met our long lost family here😂😂😂(any 97s babies?) and yes, I'm terrified lol. This was the day I found out how scary it was to feed cows and baby goats LOL. If you have a lifelong dream to feed a cow, some activities at Desa Cattle Farm include buying a bunch of grass to feed the cows or a bottle of milk to feed the baby goats. For more info on activities at Desa Farm, here's Desa Farm's fb page.

As you can tell, I'm like a born scaredy cat. I bought a handful of grass, fed one cow and ended up getting Peggy to feed the rest away. Then I bought a bottle of milk to feed the baby goat but after seeing like 5 baby goats coming for my lil bottle, I chickened out and passed the bottle to Peggy 😅.

Just before we head back down to the city, we each bought a cup of Desa gelato. I don't remember if there was another flavour but we got the original flavour to try. I actually thought this was going to be a milk flavour soft serve, turns out it tasted more like milk flavour yogurt softserve. Not what I was expecting but still good👌. It was a huge cup so I wish we knew that earlier and just shared one instead.

Desa Cattle Dairy Farm: DESA Dairy Farm, Sabah, Desa Dairy Farm,  Ranau, Malaysia

Trip to Manukan island.

Here's the part where we got kinda lucky haha. By time we got back down to the city it was already 1pm. It's pretty hot but we still wanted to visit Manukan Island so we quickly went back to our hotel to freshen up. I changed into something more comfy and covered myself head to toe in spf before heading to Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal. 

By time we got there it was around 1:20pm and when we went to this one counter to purchase our boat ticket to Manukan Island was when we were told that the last boat to Manukan Island for the day had just left. The option to take a private boat ride there was simply too costly(I think they quoted us RM250 or something) and I didn't want to go for another island either. Our flight back to KL was on the following afternoon so going to Manukan on the next day might not be a good choice either(thank god we did not because it was raining in the noon LOL). Just when we were so close to giving up and yes, we looked super bummed out, the same pakcik gave us a little help.

We were in luck because the pakcik took us to another counter and somehow we managed to get a ride to Manukan Island without the hefty price of a private boat LOL(not sure what's standard price either but we paid about RM25/person which seems reasonable enough). Usually the boat only moves once it's full(about 10 passengers?) but we were pretty lucky since we got to visit Manukan Island with a super empty 3 passenger speedboat(that 3rd guy wasn't even going to Manukan lol). Because the boat was so empty, our ride there was super bumpy but I took a motion sickness pill just in case so I'm good😊. Thankfully, our return boat had more passengers, that's when I learned that when a boat has more passengers, the weight is more evenly spread out which makes the ride 100x more pleasant hahaha. The pakcik would never be reading this, but thank you!

Sabah has always been known for island hopping and I'm glad the bestie convinced me to visit Manukan Island because it's beautiful but also the weather was still super hot😂.

Late lunch @ Upperstar, KK

We got back to the city early evening and we were starving. If I remember correctly we were at Suria Mall's Upperstar restaurant. We were so hungry I think we ordered food enough for 3 haha. We had their spaghetti bolognese(i think), carbonara, and lamb chop. Spaghetti Bolognese was just ok, carbonara and lamb chop were good though! The pricing at Upperstar was also very reasonable, plus their portion sizes were pretty big. 

Upperstar restaurant @ Suria: G35, Suria Sabah hopping Mall

Rainbow latte @ Mosaic Cafe, Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabalu.

We had so much for lunch that we ended up eating something light for dinner at the hotel club lounge. After dinner, we remembered that the hotel gave us a voucher to redeem a free 'rainbow latte' at their Mosaic Cafe and woahh, I was not expecting to find something so cool during our stay. 

I have seen so many videos online on this super cool looking rainbow latte and I've ALWAYS wanted to try it but I have no clue where to find it in Malaysia so obviously I was all 'woahhh' when the barista crafted this right infront of our eyes!! Not only does it look good, it's also a good cup of latte. If you've never had rainbow latte and you're somehow visiting Kota Kinabalu, remember to check out Mosaic Cafe at Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabalu💖! I also recommend staying there because the location is convenient, staffs were friendly and if you manage to get a room facing the sea, even better!

Mosaic Cafe: Hyatt Regency Kinabalu, Kota Kinabalu, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Brunch #1 at Fook Yuen Cafe & Bakery.

Last day at Sabah! Our flight is at noon but we managed to squeeze time out for 2 brunches before heading to the airport. First place we went to was Fook Yuen Cafe & Bakery. The toast here isn't like mind-blowing but not bad. I recommend trying their steam bread though, it was so warm, so soft and so fluffy!! I also liked their two-layer milk tea! If you're looking for a place for some kopitiam toast, you can consider this place. PS. parking around this area wasn't easy but there's a multi-storey carpark nearby.

Fook Yuen Cafe: 53, Jalan Gaya, Pusat Bandar Kota Kinabalu, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Brunch #2 at Seng Hing Coffee Shop.

Here's our final stop, Seng Hing Coffee Shop. We were here because I wanted to try tuaran mee and after going through several food blogs, this seemed to be a popular place to try it and true to the reviews, I think it was not bad. The best way to describe this dish is 'yong chow chao mien'. Imagine having yong chow fried rice, but instead of rice, they used noodles😂💖. Very interesting indeed! After having this, it was time to bid farewell to beautiful Sabah😢. 

Seng Hing Coffee Shop: Block G, Lot 10, Sinsuran 2, Sinsuran Complex, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

We saw this group of aunties taking turns to pose here so we did the same and the photo turned out pretty good right? Or maybe I just found the right insta-bestie😏😂😝 to travel with? To those reading, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing and editing it! I have a few more travel posts in my backlog to share and I also can't wait to travel with my bestie again but for now let's save some $$ and focus a little more on my final project first😂!

That's all I have for today!

ciao ciao!

-candy-