Kinabalu National Park, Sabah (Day 3)

We woke up at 8, packed all our stuff to leave at the hotel and went out for breakfast. S will only arrive later in the morning so we had to kill some time. Breakfast was at Kedai Kopi Kinabalu. It was a typical rustic kopitiam, with typical KK food, beef noodles. The best part was it also sold Sarawak laksa :) Yes, I miss Sarawak and it's food. Childhood memories you may say. 

We needed to do a bit of shopping before departing KK town. VL wanted to go to the Filipino Handicraft Market to buy freshwater pearls. Filipino Handicraft Market is the structure just next to the salted fish market. Yup, follow your nose. It is the same place where the Night Market is held.

The sun was beating down on us so was totally not in the mood to take photos. Trick to the Filipino Market is that the deeper into the market you go, the better prices you will get. I got a pearl bracelet for RM5.The storelady claimed that it was real freashwater pearls from the Philippines. She also sold real saltwater pearls and those cost in the hundreds depending on the size. Since it was rose colored and only cost RM5, why not? I was not going to do a pearl test and rub them on my teeth to test the grittiness and I don't think the lady would have liked to have my drool on her merchandise. VL went for earrings. The price of earrings varies depending on the size of the pearl. Prices start from RM10 onwards.

There was this freaky thing we saw being sold at every market in KK. Dried bullfrog pouches. Real bullfrogs, dried, emptied out and then made into pouches with feet, legs and warts. I wonder who buys these sort of things.

Anyway we headed back to the hotel at 11.30 by cab (RM10) because it was too hot for VL to walk (-_-) and gathered our stuff. S had reached the hotel during our shopping romp. Our cab came around 2pm to pick us up for a 2 hour long journey to Kinabalu National Park. The cab cost us around RM150 for a single trip to Timpohon Gate. That is where the entrance to the park is as well. I mostly slept along the way since I can forsee the lack of sleep for the oncoming nights. 

The next thing I knew was that we were at Kinabalu National Park! Mt. Kinabalu is set at 4000m  and the park HQ is already at 1558m. So you don't really climb the entire 4000m. This mountain is a strange one. It raises up away from sea trenches and no points on continents colliding. No hot spot either unless you count Poring Hot Springs but that is not enough to raise a mountain. Mt. Kinabalu is also relatively young at 1.5 million years old and it continues growing 5mm every year. So if you keep putting off your trip, you may find fin yourself hiking a little bit further each passing year. 

The temperature has dropped considerably and I was thankful that I had the senses to keep my micro fleece with me. The taxi driver, Amin, left his card with us and told us that he will be back to pick us up in a couple of days at the same place. We checked in at the main office, sorted out with them our porter, John, and a van took us to Nephentes Lodge. 

We were very surprised at the size of the lodge. It was a double story structure with toiletries in every bathroom and coffee/tea making facilities in the kitchen. It even has cable TV and a working fireplace! We did not bother unpacking because we will be leaving early next morning anyway. Instead, we went out to look around.

At 7pm, we called for pick-up to ferry us over to the buffet at Balsam Restaurant. Although 7pm is the time where we normally have dinner in the city, it was as if it was 10pm at night with darkness falling so quickly and the restaurant virtually empty. The restaurant was built in the 1970s where you can imagine early trekkers sat around hot steaming mugs of coffee. Now it serves intercontinental and local foods. The dinner buffer ends at 9pm. You have to remember to bring a voucher from the main office to eat here. Otherwise, get ready for a really pricey meal.

An and I carbo loaded. The next few days are going to be tough and I needed to conserve as much energy as I can. The cold weather made everything nicer. Tom Yum soup was great! It rested in my gut and gave off a warm, fuzzy feeling. 

We got back and started fiddling with the fireplace. The park maintenance guy came by and helped us light up the fire using some gel type fuel (like those you see places under steaming plates of fish). But that did not work for too long because the fire started sputtering out! S and I started tearing up paper towel to keep the fire going and blowing air at the base of the flame. Highly suspect that the wood was a bit too damp. In fact the whole house felt damp. So we huffed, and puffed and smoked the entire house until An had to open the glass doors. After 1 1/2 of fighting, it was alive!! 

The house warmed up considerably after that. So it was really a matter of drying all that wood before the fire caught hold. I did a last round of checking whether windows and doors are locked before turning in. You know those horro movie, where a lone girl goes to check the house after hearing some unusual sounds... *yesh, I heard creaking* then a crazed psychopath appears from behind her prior to clamping her mouth shut? Definitely had those thoughts in my mind. So I left all the lights on.