32
From Abroad
Malaysia
TRAVEL
Three Days in Kota Kinabalu
Written by Sesetu Holomisa
O
ne of the reasons I decided to live and work in Korea was because of its close proximity to other beautiful Asian countries, one of them being Malaysia. On February 10, I had the privilege of traveling to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah, Malaysia. I decided to travel to this seaside city because of the spacious, solitary islands it boasts and its warm beaches. I arrived in the early hours of Tuesday and, because I could not check into my hotel until 2:00 p.m., I wandered around Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), had a McMufffin with orange juice at 4:00 a.m., and eventually asked the airport staff if there was anywhere to rest before I actually began my journey. I was kindly told that there was a rest area on the first level of the airport called NapZone. I made my way to NapZone, stored my luggage, and napped in a hostel-like cubicle in a dorm room. The facility had a bathroom, a shower, and a charging dock as well. So, if you ever need to kill time at KKIA, I highly recommend taking a rest there. After resting, I made my way to the arrivals and tried to download Grab, an app similar to Uber that is used in Malaysia. However, I was led to a version of the app
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that required a Malaysian number and, as I had not purchased a SIM card upon arrival, I just got a cab. In hindsight, it was not the best idea because they charged me 30 Malaysian ringgits (30 RM), which I thought was reasonable, as it is around 8,500 Korean won. However, I later discovered that I would have only been charged 8 RM had I downloaded the internationally friendly version of Grab. We live and we learn! Regardless, I made it to the Inkk Hotel, a cozy and clean boutique hotel just a couple of minutes from the airport. The hotel had a friendly staff, and they were willing to help me when it came to sightseeing and navigating around Kota Kinabalu. The hotel is in a shared building that has a convenience store, restaurants, and a massage parlor. After cleaning up and unpacking for my three-day stay, I decided to raid the convenience store on the first floor of the building and bought some Malaysian snacks. I love spicy food, so I tried their ramen and crisps, along with some other stuff to satisfy my sweet tooth. I was overwhelmed by having traveled alone outside of Korea and decided that I had done enough for the day so that I could ease my anxiety.
4/24/2020 4:15:36 PM
