Selamat Datang: Kota Kinabalu Day 01

November 11, 2011

My 2nd travel outside the country and one of my most budgeted travel for 2011 (I think I spent much more peso in Coron than here). This trip actually tested me and my travel buddies' budgeting skills. This trip was also a DIY (Do-It-Yourself), we didn't booked with any agency and I only searched for the hotel to stay in thru Agoda. I personally contacted the hotel of our choice and had a reservation deal thru e-mail. And fortunately, we didn't pay any deposit and we only paid on the day of our arrival! :)

Booking for this trip was rather unplanned as I was only browsing though Cebu Pacific site when I saw that they have a seat sale. Still on the height of my travel hunger, I asked my office friends to have a DIY trip with me in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. July 14, 2011, the sale price that time was Php 488.00 base fare one-way. All in all, we paid only Php 2444.10 per head and this is already a trip going outside the country!

Originally, we were a group of 8 travelers but due to uncontrollable circumstances we were down to 6. Anyway, we continue and go on with our then discovered adventure with only a ticket, backpack and some Peso and Ringgit on our pockets.

We were already at NAIA 3 by 01:00pm as our scheduled flight was 03:50pm and we had plenty of time to just seat and wait for our flight. Basically, this day was our "relax" day. As when we reached Kota Kinabalu, we don't have anything to do but stay and have a good look at the hotel or stroll around the vicinity close to hotel, making ourselves familiar with the place.

My friend Irish won a merchandise from CP, yay! :)

We arrived at Kota Kinabalu International Airport at around 05:00pm and it was starting to get dark. Note: Taking pictures of the airport is not allowed. I was approached by an airport personnel when I was about to take some pictures. I managed to get some shots on the immigration but I won't be posting it, I hope you know why. Actually, our flight was delayed. Because of this, we weren't able to catch our hotel transfer courtesy of the hotel. We weren't able to advise them that the flight was delayed, so we took a cab. :(We paid RM 35.00 for the taxi ride but we actually enjoyed it as the taxi is well decorated)

On our way to the hotel and just like other countries, they are right-handed drivers

Decorative chandelier ng taxi

In less than 15 minutes, we're at the hotel, Megah D' Aru Hotel. We went to the reception area and paid for our hotel rooms. We paid RM 948.00 for two triple rooms (inclusive of breakfast) but before heading straight to our rooms and rest our tired bodies we opted to have some few shots of the hotel interior (Ground Floor).

Hotel Entrance

Hotel Reception

Our rooms are at the 3rd floor but our room numbers started at 2 which made us realize that the numbering of floors started at GF, 1st, 2nd and so on. All in all the hotel has 5 floors. We decided to have dinner outside and stroll around the place before knocking off but we settled our things first and have some shots of our room and most of the hotel interior.

We searched outside for a place to eat. There's a restaurant nearby our hotel but it was selling pure Malaysian food and as of that moment we're not yet ready to try it out. Fortunately, on our way to the hotel, we saw KFC nearby. I ordered 2-piece chicken with rice and drinks and paid around RM 08.00 for it. The taste of KFC chicken there is super different and they don't have free gravy like what we have here in the Philippines, as in NO gravy. But all in all its not that bad.

I was actually surprised to know that their crew members are actually deaf and mute. Its inspiring to see that even though they have disabilities, they were given an equal chance to work just like normal people do. I wish that we have the same mindset here in our country and that will make this world a better place. :)

After eating, we planned to stroll around some more but we realized that it is already getting late so we decided to go back to the hotel and rest.

As for Megah D' Aru Hotel, they have provided us good service except for the hotel transfer as we weren't able to catch it on our arrival. Near the airport and Tanjung Aru beach but not that far from places of interest. The hotel is nice, cozy, well-maintained and huge. The rooms are clean and nice and everyday they provide soap, shampoo and coffee, all are brand new. Wifi is free and connection is good but you can only access it completely at the hallway. You can choose your breakfast from their menu and all are delicious. All in all, we had a great time staying at the hotel and if ever I am going back to Kota Kinabalu, I'll consider booking in this hotel again.

That ends Day 01 and will continue for our Day 02!