Priceless Paintings from W7

The last days on Sabah. We spent as much of day 9 on Manukan Island, and made sure to bring a sunburn home. Always a nice thing to have in early December. A quick return trip to Kota Kinabalu by boat, a restaurant meal and some farewell booze in the evening.

We had most of day 10 to spend in Kota Kinabalu, as the flight was scheduled for the early evening hours. The wife and I went to the Sabah Museum, a nice, large and modern place trying to show all aspects of past and modern life in Sabah in a bit of a hotchpotch collection, followed by the successful purchase of the new cleavers, lunch at the fish market (sea food noodle soup, RM 0.30), the purchase of many gifts and more spices for more Rendang.

Also fell into an uncovered manhole and cut my shin, but thanks to a very friendly and helpful crowd we managed to find a nearby ambulance, who could clean and dress the wound immediately, so no infections occurred.

For most of the trip we have been with the group almost all the time, so in a way, that last day of shopping in Kota Kinabalu was our best experience with the local people. As said before, we were absolutely delighted to see how very friendly people were. Helpful, friendly, but no pressure, no hard selling, no pestering. Most enjoyable.

What follows is the not quite so enjoyable 2 1/2 hours flight back to Kuala Lumpur, followed by a 13 hours flight to London, but you know what? I’ll be happy to sit through this very long flight once more, especially when travelling with the superb Malaysian Airways, in order to visit Malaysia once more.

Out and About Kuala Lumpur, london, Malaysia, Malaysian Airways, Manukan Island, sunburn;

A perfectly lazy day in a very lovely beach resort. A bit of snorkelling in the South Chinese Sea from this and a neighboring island, and the whole range of colourful coral reef fish to see which we previously only knew from pictures in books or television. Now we know each other in person.

Too bad the water was quite cloudy, and carried a lot of rubbish in places. The rainy season means that the rivers wash a lot of mud and general rubbish into the bay of Kota Kinabalu. To make matters worse, a part of a fishing village had collapsed during a spring flood two days earlier, and there was even more than usual rubbish drifting about – lots of plastic, wood, and even a dead chicken.

Snorkelling was fine as long as the tide was going out, and a general rest, small walk around the island, another drink, another ice cream, another nice meal – we knew how to kill the time there with ease.

An almost perfect way to finish off the holiday in style, and the last opportunity for us to catch a sunburn in 2007 – which we did. An island further out, or further away from the currents that bring all the waste, would have been a better choice, though.

Out and About Chinese Sea, Manukan Island, sunburn;