Diary of Sabah trip by Eunice

We stayed at Megallen Wing Delux See View room for 6d5n. The view from the balcony is marvelous. The sunset is one of the best I've every seen, but because of the weather I can only enjoy it once.

1st day: We went to the Centre Point and the Filipino Market (walk towards the sea from the Centre Point and to the direction away from Sutera Hotel). There are shops selling local crafts in the Filipino Market. Money exchange at Centre Point is better than at the airport. We then went to 海皇城 to have dinner. It's between the Wawasan Plaza and the Hotel Pxxxxx (sorry I forget the name, but its name in green light at the top of the building). They have no menu, you just chose the seafood and ask them to cook it in the style you like. We ordered 奶油老虎蝦, golden spicy crab, 馬拉盞薯仔菜 and 2 bowls of rice. It cost RM$90. We then went back to the hotel and explored around. We found bowling at the 1/F of Marina Club. It cost RM$6 for each game, RM$1.5 for shoes (+5% tax & 10% service charge).

2nd day: We slept till late and had a big breakfast in the Five Sails restaurant at the pool side. The view is very nice, so as the food. Acutely we were so full after the breakfast we needed not to have lunch (we only have one lunch during our stay!). The Seaquest has a counter at the lobby near the stair to the Five Sails restaurant, it's very obvious. For the other travel agents, their counters are at the opposite side, we only found them on the 3rd day. The staff at the Seaquest counter is very helpful. We discussed our plan with him, he then made all booking for us. They did not charge for the service. We went to Sapi island in the afternoon. You may remember that I've asked friends of She.com where should I put my belongings when I go swimming on the islands. There was no problem at all. We put all valuable things in the 夾萭, changed at our room, wrapped our body with towels borrowed from the pool side counter. We only brought along a small amount of money, sun block lotion and cameras (one digital camera put in a water resistant bag HK$130 bought in MongKok and one under water camera HK$57 again from MongKok). The pier is between Marina Club and Pacific wing. RM$35 for round trip to one island, RM$10 for additional island and RM$10 for entrance at the island (if you go to 2 islands at one time you only need to pay once). There were so many fishes swimming with you, remember to bring a disposable under water camera. We had buffet dinner in the Pacific Wing, RM38 + 10% service charge.

3rd day: Again slept late, had a big breakfast and went to Manukan Island. It's bigger, with clearer water and more fish. I'll recommend Manukan if you are only going to one island. We played para-sailing RM$80 for 15min, exciting. Again no need for lunch and had our dinner at 「味雅」海南雞飯. We went there by shuttle bus, sit at the left side of the bus and you can see it after the bus passed Centre Point, it’s near Wisma Merdeka. Bowling again that night.

4th day: Relax in the morning and went to see "big nose monkey" the Proboscis monkey and firefly in the afternoon. Only two of us joined the tour. It takes 2hr to travel to the site. The monkeys are OK but there were not much firefly. The guide said April is the season for firefly. RM&185 for one person is not worth I think, except for the high staff to tourist ratio.

5th day: Relax, relax and relax :)

Tried my first massage. I didn't enjoy it, because I do not like people touching me. I was so tense and the staff kept asking me to relax and asked me whether I want to skip that part. May be I should not go for massage in the first place, but it's a special experience. Worth trying. Dinner at Five Sails, RM$35 + 10% service charge. It's much better than the Pacific wing, cheaper and more food.

6th Day: Nothing to do checked out after breakfast. We've bought some wooden frogs. It's sounds like a frog when you scratch it back. A piece of beautiful cloth for wrapping the body when go swimming (I don't know how it is called). Some local food: coconut cookies, triangular durian cakes, dried mango and durian ice-cream. Some tips: shops at the Hotel is cheaper than in the city, local food was bought from a shop in the Centre Point at the G/F near Burger King, durian ice-cream from a shop at the air-port, just opposite to the boarding gate No. 5, HK$70 for 24 ice-creams.