Precious Living

We arrived at Kinabalu Pine Resort at about midnight. I had called earlier to warn we would be arriving late, so our keys were safely kept for us by the security guys.

Nic was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful this resort is. It looks and feels like a five-star hotel but costs only RM135 per night. Our room is incredibly spacious with comfortable twin beds and a large patio with a view of Mount Kinabalu for us to hang out.

After we had settled down however, we discovered that the water heater wasn’t working! Since it is absolutely freezing at 2000m above sea level, I had to abandon showering again!

We woke at about 10am and enjoyed a good breakfast at the resort restaurant. The food was surprisingly light and delicious. I ate scrambled eggs, toast, sausages and baked beans while Nic had a plate of fried rice (Nasi Goreng).

We enjoyed the cool mountain air but the restaurant did not have a good view of the mountains. We couldn’t extend our check-out time either as the resort is fully booked for the next group of customers who could be arriving at any time.

After packing up and checking out, we hung out for a while more to snap photos of ourselves all over the place.

We had originally planned to go from Mount Kinabalu to Kota Belud, Kudat, and Tanjung Simpang Mengayau but since the hotel’s hot shower was not working, we decided to stop by the famous hot spring in Pedas for a bath.

The hot spring didn’t look like what we had expected at all. There wasn’t any natural earthen hole with sulphuric water springing forth. It was more like many tiled swimming pools that you can fill up with sulphuric hot water out of a normal water tap!

Since there wasn’t too many tourists around, Nic and I quickly found a pool for ourselves, filled it up with spring water, and soaked. I played around in the water for a bit. Nic looked visibly relieved when I finally suggested we leave. *hugs*

I scrubbed myself thoroughly in the proper shower room with a creamy and fragrant L’occitane shower cream that Nic’s older sister had given me before the trip. On the way out of the hot spring, we stopped the car to buy a coconut drink!

Mmmm… what an excellent cool down after the steaming hot bath, although a pina colada would have topped that!

We headed back to Kinabalu Park. After examining the driving map closely, we discovered that Tanjung Simpang Mengayau is more than 300km away so we abandoned the idea of journeying there.

For the rest of the day, we just enjoyed the beautiful views of the mountains.

Our photos didn’t do the place justice though. I realized how awesome it is when Nic wondered out loud if he could bring his keyboard here to compose orchestral music!

We wished there is a nicer cafe or tea house where we can hang out at while soaking in the view, similar to the one in Cameron Highlands. It was rather challenging for Nic to enjoy the view while driving and keeping his eyes on the winding road.

We did discover a local cafe in a nearby village in the end. The tea that was served was rather bland but we were just glad to have a place with a view to relax.
In the evening, we drove back to Kota Kinabalu, shopped quickly at the Philippino market, then drove to the airport. The car rental guys came to collect on time, we checked in and arrived home in Singapore at about midnight.

I had such a memorable trip and feels so thankful to have the perfect gentleman to share my holiday with. I do look forward to many more shared holiday experiences with Nic.