Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

A sale in AirAsia is the main reason why I booked this trip. Usually I plan my vacation outside the Philippines 6 months ahead so I have ample amount of time to plan it and book a very cheap airfare ticket. It only costs P1,902 or $42.68 for a roundtrip ticket: Manila to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. I asked my colleague Elsie to join me for this trip and she enthusiastically agreed. Elsie flew in first from Malaysia. We spent our first night together just roaming around Kota Kinabalu where we met a lot of new friends. 

Kota Kinabalu is the capital of Sabah, Malaysia which is located an hour flight from Manila Philippines. It is a popular destination for travellers visiting Sabah and Borneo. Island hopping is one of the most popular activities in this island where you can visit 3 to 4 islands beautiful islands in one day. 

Accommodation 

1. Cititel Express Kota Kinabalu Hotel (3 days/2 nights) 

If you want something simple, clean and affordable, Citadel Express Hotel is the best place to stay. Located in the heart of the city, this hotel is near the supermarket, bus station, airport, port and restaurants. The room is quite small that it can only fit up to 2 people as there are no more space to for an extra bed. It has a television, air condition, bottled water, usual toiletries set and clean towels. That’s it, plain and simple. Convenience and affordability is the main reason why we book this hotel.

Around the Island: 

Day 1: Bar Hopping

Our first day in the island was spent on a night out. Since my flight was delayed, I arrived at 1:00 pm instead of 11:00 am. We just went to the port where all boats are located for island hopping. We were supposed to go island hopping that day but then the boatman said that it was too late already. We were advised to start at 8:00 am the following day.

There are a lot of bars and clubs in Kota Kinabalu, you just need to walk around the area and near the port, you will see all the clubs, bars and restaurants lined up. The good thing about travelling to a new place is you also get to meet new faces. You can ask advise from them where to go and or what is the best thing to do in the island or place you are visiting. 

Me and Elsie just love to have ciders and talk a lot :-) 

Met some new friends from Korea and US, who also like us are exploring the beauty of this island 

People following Elsie and her famous steps 

Day 2: Island Hopping

It is always more expensive to book a tour in a travel agency online or even in the hotel. The best and cheapest way to book one is in the main place itself, in this case in the jetty port. During our research most of the tours online (island hopping in Kota Kinabalu) costs about RM140 to RM200, in the hotel it cost  RM160. When we went to the jetty port the tour costs about RM50 for all 3 islands!

From our hotel we travel by taxi to the Jesselton Point Port. This is the place where you can inquire about island hopping in Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. The Marine park is consists of five islands namely Pulau Gaya, Pulau Sapi, Pulau Sulug, Pulau Manukan and Pulau Mamutik. We did not go to all five for we have a tight schedule but we manage to visit three out of five islands. In my opinion it is such a rush if you go to all five islands in one day. It is better to visit 3 islands per day and soak yourself in the beach and explore the underwater.

Pulau Sapi (Sapi Island) 

First stop is Sapi Island, a place famous for snorkelling and scuba diving. Upon our arrival we paid RM20 for environmental fee for all the islands, take note that you have to show this in every island that you visit. If you lose it, then you need to pay another RM20. The beach does not really appeal to me, if you have been to Nasugbu Batangas, then this place is the same as that. The problem with this beach is it is densely populated. We saw some tourists going to the rocky place in the island and being two curious ladies, we did follow them. They led us to a smaller secluded beach where one could just chill with their friends and listen to good music.

Ready to conquer the beach 

Sapi Island: secluded beach away from all the people who are in the main beach in Sapi Island 

We got the beach all to ourselves 

Snorkelling area in Sapi Island 

I can see the future already. Me and my future daughter will definitely have matching outfits 

Pulau Manukan (Manukan Island) 

The second largest island in the tour. This island has lodging and recreational facilities. In my opinion it has the best beach among all the three islands we visited. There are again two beaches in this island, the first one would be the main snorkelling area and dining area where a lot of tourists are and the second is the secluded beach where the hotel/ lodging facility is located. You are allowed to stay in the latter beach as long as you do not eat there. We stayed there for more than an hour as we were the only ones in the beach area. The water is so clear and the sand is very fine like that in Boracay. For me, you should stay longer in Manukan Island to relax and enjoy the amazing view of the island.

The very clear water in Manukan Island 

It is better to buy food in the main island for it is cheaper. We just bought eggs and borrowed the canteen’s utensils. 

Beautiful Manukan Island 

Sun-kissed beauty 

Clear and clean waters 

Elsie and Me :-) 

Boat Ride 

 Mamutik Island 

Our last stop is the Mamutik Island. It has small beach area overlooking the South China Sea. The beach is very small that it can only accommodating less than 100 of people. The beach is rocky and there are some floating branches in the water, so one must be careful of falling branches. We found a number of sea urchins in the beach as well besides the big rocks and corals. One must be really carful in swimming in this island.

Mimetic Island 

It’s time for us to go snorkelling 

Our time in Kota Kinabalu is really fun but due to time constraints, we did not manage to explore KK. I know that KK still has a lot to offer that is why I am thinking of going back there again and staying for more than 3 full days.

Address and Contact Information: 

Cititel Express Kota Kinabalu Hotel
Jalan Singgah Mata, Pusat Bandar
88000 Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysia
Phone number: +60 888521 188
Website: www.cititelexpress.com/kk/

Jesselton Point Port
Ferry Terminal, Jalan Haji Saman
88000 Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysia

Travel Cost:

Boracay, Aklan, Philippines

Boracay is known for white fine sand beach and crystal clear waters. Located in the Philippines, it is a popular destination for relaxation. Unlike Palawan, Boracay is more of a beach party place as most of the tourists here are young adults. Its name is derived from the local word “borac” which means white cotton in relation to Boracay’s white powdery sand beach. Natives of Boracay’s main income is from tourism. Most of the them either own an apartment, restaurant or recreation place in the island to cater the vacationers. 

White Beach, the main beach, is approximately four kilometres long lined up with resorts, hotels, restaurants and recreational facilities. At the back of the beach is the main road where you can hire electrical tricycles (like tuktuk of Thailand) to take you to other beach areas such as Puka Beach and Bulabog Beach. 

The famous White Beach of Boracay. The beach’s sand is so fine that you can walk barefoot

Getting to Boracay 

Boracay is 315km south of Manila

Option 1. Ferry Ride (15 hours travel time) 

Option 2. By Flight (1hour) from Manila to Kalibo          

- Airline Companies: Cebu Pacific, AirAsia, Philippine Airlines 

- From Kalibo we rented a van to take us to the Caticlan Jetty Port (1.5 to 2 hours) 

- 15-minute boat ride from Caticlan to Boracay 

Van transfer to and from Airport/Town Proper-Caticlan Jetty Port 

Boat transfer-- approximately 15 minutes from Caticlan Jetty Port to Boracay 

Accommodation 

We stayed in Patio Pacific located on Station 1 which is a 5-minute walk to White Beach. Since this is a family trip, we opted not to stay on beach front resorts/hotels for we found out that it is usually too noisy during the night. My family truly enjoyed our stay in the resort as they provide good service and accommodation. It is awarded as the Best “Triple A” Resort in Western Visayas by the Department of Tourism in 2007 as well as the Excellence award in Economy and Ecology for medium enterprise by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI). So we know that we are in good hands. 

We booked the Suite Room (3 beds good for 5 people) and the Premier Deluxe Room (good for 3 people), both of which are clean and comfortable. The Suite Room of course is bigger than the Premier Deluxe Room but both have the same room feature such as bathtub, typical bath set, clean towels and robes, refrigerator, television and Wifi. 

Unlike any other resort or hotel, Patio Pacific do not only offer the use of their swimming pool but also gym, wall climbing facility and yoga classes for free. 

Our happy beach bum family 

The best welcome drink we ever tasted. Pandan Shake to beat the heat 

Suite Room (2 double beds and 1 single bed)

A very big toilet and bath in the suite room. (I did not manage to take photo of the whole of it) 

Breakfast is served in the Garden Cafe. Yes I did eat a lot of bacon and fried rice. :-)

Around the island 

1. White Beach 

    It is the main beach in Boracay where hotels, restaurants, bars and recreation facilities are located. We mainly stayed on this beach during our first day. Most of which end up relaxing on the beach while drinking fresh fruit shake and reading a good book. Some of the sun loungers are only for resort/hotel’s guest use but some can be use if you buy some food in their bar or restaurant. My sister and I just went snorkelling (it is not really a snorkelling site) during our time there. 

This place is mainly for relaxation. Just watching other people create sand castles and play frisbee make one entertained. Unlike the day time Boracay transforms into a party place during the night. Sun loungers are replaced with dining tables and chairs for tourists to have their dinner while fire dancers are entertaining them. 

I met previous and new friends during my stay on this island. Angela and her sister were one day earlier than us. I found out that they are in Boracay because of her facebook post. Since we didn’t know where to go we end up following the PubCrawl people. PubCrawl is an event where you need to sign up and pay P650 to P750 for you to join their bar hopping experience in Boracay. Tourists sign up in this event to drink in five bars in Boracay and mingle with strangers. We did not really sign up as we only found out about this event when they were in their 2nd bar already. Nontheless we had fun drinking and partying with them. My second night in Boracay was spent in massage centres and me drinking alone in a bar where I met thee amazing people from US. We went from Red Coconut Bar to Club Paraw where we danced. I must say that this island do bring people together. 

White Beach

My sister and I having fun in White Beach 

Locals play frisbee during their spare time in the island 

Red Coconut Bar where I met new friends 

Jillian and Golnoosh. Two sweet girls who asked me to join them after meeting and chatting with them in Red Coconut. 

With Lei and Angela. We followed the PubCrawl people to know the in place in Boracay 

Fire Dancers 

2. D’ Talipapa
 
Boracay is also popular for its fresh sea food where you can buy freshly caught sea creatures in the wet market and then chose a restaurant where they will cook it. Since you already paid for the meat, you will only need to pay for cooking charges as well as rice and drinks in the restaurants. You also have the option to order from their menu if you are not a sea food person. They also have other types of meat.

This is also the place to shop for souvenirs like bracelets, hats, and shirts. My mom as usual bought some decoration for our house.

Fresh sea food. :-) 

the best place to buy souvenirs where you can haggle 

3. Puka Beach 

    If you want a beach which has less people in it, go to Puka Beach. Located in Barangay Yakap, Nort of Boracay, Puke Beach is well known for Puka Shells found on the white sand. Locals use these shells to create accessories and sell it to tourists. For tourists this beach is great for relaxation as it is quiet and peaceful. I end up sleeping for I can only hear the gentle sounds of the waves touching the sand. Unlike White Beach, this place is not suitable for swimming as the water is too deep and the waves are quite rough. If you want to see sunset then this place is where you can take instagram worthy sunset photo. 

Welcome to Puka beach 

My brothers and tito having fun because of the rough waves hitting their faces 

A great place to relax with your family 

4. Bulabog Beach

Also known as the Sport Beach, Bulabog beach is well-known as a kite board sailing destination. It is the second largest beach on the island. Other than the kite board sailing, you can also learn windsurfing, jet skiing and sailing in this part of the island. It is advisable to wear a wet suit once you do your preferred sport. You can swim in the beach but it is not recommended due to ongoing different sports activities as well as the sea urchin and jelly fish present. The main strength of this area is the strong winds.

Kite surfing 

Address and Contact Information

Patio Pacific Boracay

Travel Cost
- Food and souvenirs not included