The Sun Set With No Storm To Follow

After our busy day trip to Sandakan, our remaining days in Sabah were spent relaxing and unwinding in Sabah at the resort, before returning to busy Singapore.

Coco Joes Bar & Grill at the resort.

We had been saving Coco Joes for a nice night, when the weather wouldn't interrupt our outdoor dining. Sneaky Sabah's weather snuck up on us... as per usual, and we had to seek refuge in the main dining room.

Luckily, on our last night we were rewarded with perfect weather to grab a few drinks at the Sunset Bar, jutting out into the ocean, directly facing the sunset. That night there was no storm following the setting sun, just a bright moon in the sky and stars could even be seen twinkling.

The next day, leaving Sabah was tough. I had barely touched the surface, and had seen so many places that I couldn't wait to visit.

On my list of places to visit I have Mount Kinabalu as a must. I never got to climb the mountain, but I made a promise to myself that I will return soon enough to explore, not relax and unwind.

Sandakan Day Trip Part 2: Planks, Temples and Incense Sticks

Sim Sim
Sim Sim is a fishing village, accessed by wooden walkways over the ocean. The sea breeze blowing beneath the houses up on stilts acts as an air conditioner would, keeping the families cool inside their homes.

Our tour guide took us out onto one of the planked walkways, telling us a little about the families and the life of the locals. Little children sat on their verandahs watching us, waving and calling out 'Aloha' as we walked by. Large trays of rice lay out in the sun, drying out for dinner time.

Each house had very distinct features from the others. All different colours and sizes sat on top of the twig-like wooden stilts, holding up the houses from the sea beneath.

Puu Jih Shih Buddhist Temple
Inland is the Puu Jih Shih Buddhist Temple, that has panoramic views of Sandakan Bay.

Up here we took our shoes off and went inside the temple. Intricate patterns and drawings covered the walls. 

Giant statues majestically towered before my eyes. Nobody spoke as they stared in awe at the temples beauty. Only the sounds of a radio coming from inside a small room could be heard.

Burning incense sticks to make peace offerings. I made a wish.

I blew out the incense stick handed to me by the tour guide. Closing my eyes I made a wish and placed it in the altar overlooking Sandakan bay.

Exhausted, sweaty and overwhelmed, we headed back to Sandakan airport for a short flight back to Kota Kinabalu.

Yep, you guessed it. On our jet plane ride home, a frightening thunderstorm carried us across Sabah back to a very wet, very stormy KK.
You should have heard my mum shrieking on the plane.

Sandakan Day Trip Part 1: Feeding Time

My alarm went off at 5am. Outside it was humid and the rain was pattering on the roof of the resort entrance. The 4 of us collected our packed breakfasts and hopped into the cab that took us to the Kota Kinabalu airport for our 7:30am flight to Sandakan!
Getting up early isn't difficult when you have a day of exploring ahead of you.

The Sandakan airport was unlike any other airport I had ever visited. There was no arrivals gate, only a large open air walkway leading to the street where our tour guide held the sign reading "McGrath".
We came to Sandakan to see the Orangutans roaming freely through the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre.

Every colour of the rainbow was printed onto my pants, with patches of paisley and swirls stitched together. It was no secret I was a tourist.

When we arrived at Sepilok, we were guided through the boardwalks hidden beneath the canopy of rainforest. The trees shook as small monkeys scrambled towards the railings, stopping and staring at us as we walked by. The tour guides repeatedly announced to us all, “Please turn off the flash on your cameras.” A simple flick of the switch is all it takes, but many tourists didn’t bother. So my tip to any Sepilok planners is do the right thing, turn off your flash.

At the viewing platform the sun belted down on us, and I stood waiting for the Orangutans to come swinging in on their ropes for feeding time. The wooden barriers separated us from the 43 square kilometers of protected rainforest, that is home to more than 70 Orangutans. Looking up, there were long ropes tightly intertwined between the trees, creating aerial paths for the ‘wild men’ of Borneo to navigate their way around the forest.

A ranger appeared from the foliage beneath. Climbing up a ladder which was carved into a tall tree where the platform sat, he placed bananas into a large bucket and filled small dishes with milk. Our private tour guide explained that the rehabilitation program provides these orangutans with a monotonous diet of milk and bananas. This bland food is given to them in order to encourage the orangutans to forage for their own food.

The sound of bickering tourists echoed through the Sepilok National Park, as we waited impatiently for the orangutans to arrive. Suddenly, the forest erupted with shrieks sounding from deep within. The ropes leading to the feeding platform vibrated. Someone was coming. I scurried to the front to see who would arrive first.

A large blur of bright orange came swinging off its long, pipe-cleaner arms, making the rope bounce ferociously up and down. From the viewing platform, she appeared to be very large. 

Mimi is one of the dominant females at the park. She has a long face and round belly.

Mimi on the feeding platform.

A small baby orangutan emerged from behind her, climbing up and wrapping it's arms around her neck.

Another large orangutan came swinging in on the rope for feeding. 

We were lucky. My tour guide tapped me on the shoulder whilst I was busy watching Mimi and brought my attention towards four small fingers grasping onto the floor of the platform behind us. An orangutan scrambled to the top of the railings and sat in the corner observing the tourists as they all fixated their attention towards Mimi. 

This orangutan was quite close to me, so I remained calm and simply turned to watch him without bothering him.

He remained at peace, resting on his long outstretched arm.

Contemplating his next move.

Not long after I had noticed his presence, the rest of the tourists fluttered over, surrounding him, giggling, laughing and fussing over him, just a few metres away from us all.

His kind smile shifted into a smirk. As he bared his teeth, he raised his arms and shrieked loudly. The attention was too much for him to handle. I could almost see him planning a large leap into the crowd, but the guide swept through and grabbed him by the arm, whisking him away while he gnashed his teeth.

Feeding time was up - we had only seen three orangutans. Mum and Dad were disappointed but my aunt was convinced we would see more orangutans on the way out. 

When you visit Sepilok, you must remember they are wild, so it isn’t guaranteed that many orangutans will come for feeding. A lot of tourists leave disappointed. 

But as we headed back to the tour bus I realised that nobody should leave disappointed. Everybody should appreciate the success of the rehabilitation program, which ultimately proves that the orangutans no longer rely on being fed by humans.

Orangutan Encounter

On day 3 in Sabah, we took a 2 hour bus trip to another Shangri-la  resort further up the coast. Shangri-la Rasa Ria's unique feature, besides the beautiful beachfront and resort facilities, is the opportunity to come face-to-face with orangutans in it's orangutan education centre, next to the resort.

Rasa Ria resort view from the outdoor dining in the entrance.

A very steep walk up through the rainforest, along a windy path of wooden steps covered in moss, takes you on a tour led by a guide to a viewing platform. Here the Orangutans swing past you and gaze right at you from the branches above your head.

Up here, I discovered a new found love for these wild orange creatures. The educational DVD and information given to us by the Rasa Ria tour guides really opened my eyes to the harsh reality of what happens to these animals in the wild.

The orangutans came very close to the people standing on the viewing platform, but never reached out to grab or take anything. They came and went as they pleased as the people took photographs and videoed them.

When we headed back down the hill, we all thought the tour was over.
The tour guide came out from behind a tree with a very small orangutan hanging from his arm. The baby orangutan held him close, and clutched at his arms like a child would to its mother.

Baby Ten-Ten

Before Ten-Ten fell

I purchased a souvenir from the shop that told me a little more about Baby Ten-Ten, who is now approximately 3 years old.

Baby Ten-Ten

On the bus ride home I became so excited for the next few days in Borneo. Soon my dad, mum, aunty and I would be flying to Sandakan for a day trip to see the Sepilok Rehabilitation centre and various other tourist attractions Sandakan has to offer.
I couldn't wait to meet more of these endangered animals and explore the other side of Sabah.

Sunburn and Sunderstorm's

In Sabah the term Sunderstorm came in handy.
Sunderstorm: A storm that spontaneously breaks out in the heat of day, without warning, with sun still shining in the distance.

A storm brews off in the distance, obstructing any view of Mt Kinabalu

On our second day we spent the morning in the resort pool, lazing on the deck chairs and floating in the water. I'd been to Bali a few years back, so I was aware how strong the suns heat is and how badly sunburn strikes. But it didn't cross my mind that Borneo was a little closer to the equator than Indonesia.

Around lunchtime we headed up to our rooms to get dressed and take a short taxi-ride to Kota-Kinabalu city centre, where we would explore the markets and the shopping centres.

Sunset from the marina in Kota Kinabalu

There isn't much in the way of shopping centres or a 'mall.' But whatever you find will be cheap to say the least!
The locals around town are happy and friendly, all going about their own business.
If you need directions, we were lucky enough to have asked the right people each time, all who answered happily and IN ENGLISH! (To the best of their ability)

On our way back to catch a cab from a nearby hotel we wandered past the late afternoon fresh seafood markets and the stalls where you can buy literally any little trinket you can think of.
Yes the markets smelt a little odd, and my mum still swears she saw a rat run past my feet and through to the next isle... But that all adds to the mystery of the unknown city.

Seafood markets before the storm.

Deja-vu... A storm was brewing outside. The winds began to pick up and the breeze carried through the stalls and caught our ankles underneath the benches.

Storm's a brewin'

We hurried around town hunting down a cab. The rain began to pour, while the sun was still peeping out from the clouds.

Within minutes we were all drenched, the rain washing away the sweat that had accumulated on our pale skin through the damp markets.
My shoes filled up with water after unluckily putting my feed in a puddle off the side of a curb where we chose to hop into a cab.

Yet again, before we knew it, the rain stopped and cleared up for a night-time stroll around the resort.

Kota city lights in the background behind the pool.

Gym Fanatic Fantasy

(Note this blog post will be focusing on the gym facilities)
On the afternoon we arrived at our hotel the weather was showing us it's worst, so we decided to take ourselves on a tour around the Shangri-la and see what facilities the resort has to offer.

My one and only hobby back home is the gym. I go morning and evenings up to 6 days a week. So when I stumbled across the gym at the resort, I had opened the glass doors to heaven.

Outside the gym, the large glass windows give the tred-mill users a front row glimpse of the islands beyond the water. The gardens outside the window shelter a small pond where large fish swim.

In Singapore, the gym facility I was offered at the hotel was smaller than my bedroom. (Not a large bedroom) So I found myself hurrying down to the Shangri-la gym whenever the weather turned sour late in the afternoons or early mornings before our large buffet breakfast.

The TRX came in handy and the cardio equipment were more up to date than the equipment at my local fitness first in Sydney.

Keeping my workouts simple overseas

Beginning with cardio I wandered off to the back of the gym to see what they had to offer.

I did weighted lunges, squats with a medicine ball and used resistance ropes to add resistance to single-legged squats. (Similar to a CX works class)

On other days I did push ups with my feet in the TRX and did other basic abdominal exercises on the yoga matts.

Benches, dumbbells and seated curls kept me feeling tight, with some seated tricep dips on the side.

It didn't take long to work up a sweat. Even early in the morning the temperature would quickly rise to 27 degrees around 10am. But the air-conditioning wasn't bad at all.

Feelin' Sassy In Sabah

On Arrival in the entrance hall in Kota Kinabalu's Shangri-la Tanjung Aru, I looked out over the gardens and the pool. An enormous black cloud was looming far off in the distance.

Winds picked up and began tossing flower arrangements that were perfectly placed together in neat bundles before the storm picked up.

Flowers greeted us at the entrance to the Shangri-la.

Before I could pick up my bags and carry them to my room, the rain began to spit through the blinds, as the people in the lobby desperately tried to tie them down.


It was like Sabah wanted to greet us with a grand entrance, wind, rain, hail and sunshine. The lobby gave me a front row seat of the storm. I felt like I was a storm chaser, and I had struck gold in the centre of it. Little did I know that storm wouldn't hit the top of the list...

The calm after the storm.

Weather Warning

Late September in Sabah marks the early beginning of the monsoon season for the typhoon belt. So when you look up the weather, don't be alarmed or throw a tantrum when you see 'Chance of Thunderstorms' labelled under storm clouds with lightening bolts jolting out from underneath. The weather man is just being kind enough to be honest with you, and give you the heads up that around 3pm, there may or may not be a thunderstorm. (Let's go with yes)

Sabah is commonly referred to as 'The Land Below The Wind' because it is located just below the typhoon and monsoon belt.

I believe we were given false guidelines by the travel agent who said that October-March mark the wet season, and that April-September mark the dry season.
If I were a meteorologist/scientist/weather-woman I would title September as 'not-so-wet.'

To be totally honest, looking back now, I don't think we had one day without a little rain. But that isn't so bad. After sweltering in the heat, traipsing around the markets and having the sun burn into the back of your neck on a walking tour of the landscapes, a little rain is a gift from the heavens.

How's that for a view.

View from the left wing of the resort.

I'm a bit of a thrill seeker myself, so these severe weather warnings gave me something to look forward to when the day had been lazy and un-eventful relaxing by the pool.

In my opinion, the excitement of waking up and not knowing what to expect makes the trip so much more thrilling and much more memorable.