In Kota Kinabalu

We checked into the hotel promptly on arrival. We had separate rooms from Shaffik and on different floors as the hotel was apparently full. They however promised to move us to an adjoining room with Shaffik the next day as that next room will be available then. True enough, we got that room the next day. The kids could move around the two rooms giving them more space and it was convenient for all of us too.

This hotel is located at the seafront in a new development area of the city. Most of the buildings are new and modern. There are many serviced apartment buildings amongst them but they were all full during this period, heavily booked by holidaymakers from nearby states (Sarawak and Labuan) and Brunei too (we were caught in long queues of cars on our way into the city as per my previous entry in this blog). The Christmas festive ambience was felt throughout the area. Loud music could be heard while walking along the pavements and inside the shopping complexes. There were people everywhere, many with loads of shopping bags and oversized too. I had a good time people watching, many with kids in tow and having trouble keeping them in tow with all those shopping bags in their hands. All the outlets had some sort of festive offers to entice shoppers but I figured the price reductions are just nominal. You may gain a little more if you buy more, buy two get one free, or buy this item and entitle to buy another item at a discounted price etc. etc. but ………. think about it ……… do you really need that extra quantity or that other item? It has been the same whenever a festival came up and there are four major festivals in a year. Add to them the so-called mega sales periods the shopping outlets put up for tourist seasons they have sales almost every other month.

I have been to KK several times in the course of my work and every time I was just rushing through the shopping areas in the little spare time that I had to look for whatever was appropriate as souvenirs to take home. However this was the first time for Ram, and since we had all the time to spare we were leisurely walking around and spending time at various places around the city. We also visited the wet market, the dry market, the arts and craft market, the Philipino market and others.

You can get local food and handicraft products of all sorts at these markets and they were cheap too. By cheap I mean when compared to KL prices, or for that matter Bintulu prices even. They were generally about half of KL prices and some even much less. Imagine prices of lobsters and prawns that were about 30 to 40% of KL prices or vegetables and salads at half KL prices. Walk into a restaurant and check out the prices of food they serve. They were normally much cheaper than the charges in KL restaurants. I told Ram that we are living in the wrong area for our retirement!! The handicrafts were mostly indigenous types made from articles salvaged from the sea or the jungle. Similar items can be found in KL at exorbitant prices. However the cheap prices are usually for local produce while the imported stuff can be just as expensive as KL prices.

There has been quite a lot of development in KK since the last time I was here, which was quite a number of years ago. There are more highways, tall buildings, complexes and public areas while more of them are being built. The areas I visited appear to be more congested now, more cars on the road and more people moving around. I will not be surprised if in the next decade or so cost of living here will increase in tandem with the development. There is always a price tag to development, to pay for the cost of the facilities, infrastructures and their maintenance, and the funds can only come from the public. Already, the prices of accommodation are as expensive as KL prices and I assume property prices are similar too. It is inevitable then ….. prices can only go up and up. People will be finding ways to increase their income to meet the rising cost and these will continue to spiral…… My simplistic view on costs…..

MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Petaling Jaya