Kado Ulang Tahun Misterius!

Gue dapet kado khusus di bulan special: Februari 2015 ini. Kadonya ialah jalan-jalan lima hari, tapi nggak tau kemana! Nah loh, suami gue nih emang kelakuannya suka ajaib. Gue disuruh bawa baju 2 macem untuk gunung dan laut, bawa passport -siapa tau ke luar negri- dan ikut ke airport terminal 3 jam stengah 5 pagi.

Gue bener-bener nggak tau mau kemana sampai detik terakhir gue denger pas kita lagi beli kopi: “Panggilan terakhir boarding ke Kota Kinabalu’ – baru deh ketauan.

It was as surprise ‘February – special month- trip’ from my husband, so i didn’t know where were we going until 10 minutes before boarding the plane. i was told to bring 2 kinds of outfits and i was told to bring my passport for ‘just in case’, and then he brought me the airport at 4.30 am. We were buying our morning coffees when i heard –> “last call boarding to Kota Kinabalu” and he smiled. Ah, that’s where we’re going! 😀

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our flight: from sunrise to bright sky

 

Dia berhasil kali ini bikin gue clueless tentang lokasi jalan-jalannya. He is the best! 

Tapi masalaahhhnyaaa… selama ini gue yang selalu atur ini itu soal jadwal dan kegiatan kalo lagi jalan-jalan. Nah kalo begini kan gue bingung, nggak tau tempat, belum pelajarin apa-apa dan bener-bener nggak ada gambaran. Yang gue tau cuma satu, di situ ada Gunung Kinabalu yang gue udah pengen banget daki dari dulu! Tapi masa iya kita mau mendaki gunung, gue nggak siap sama skaliii, udah lama nggak olahraga dan nggak bawa peralatan apa-apa.

I love surprise trips like this, but then it means i haven’t really prepared for anything. I am always the brain behind our traveling wherever that is. I am always the one preparing everything, so this time i am caught off guard. I have no clue about this city. I know only 1 thing: it is where Kinabalu Mountain is located and I’ve been craving to climb it for years. So is he taking me on a mountain climbing adventure? I am so not prepared. I packed a bikini, not a trekking outfit!

Di pesawat 2,5 jam gue nanya mulu. “Ini perjalanan ke Kota Kinabalu, enter pas lampe kita disana kita ngapain aja?”, “Kamu tau kita bisa ngapain aja?”, “Kita bakal mendaki gunung ya? Tapi aku nggak siap”. Gile cerewet banget. Asli.

Suami gue tenang-tenang aja, dan jawab: “Kita nggak bisa mendaki dulu untuk sekarang, soalnya untuk mendaki musti daftar dulu minimal 6 bulan sebelumnya, nggak bisa langsung”, “Nanti disana kamu aja yang atur kita ngapain aja”….. and then mendaratlah kita berdua. Ini baru nih begini buat gue, dateng ke satu tempat untuk liburan tanpa perencaaan apa-apa. Panik tapi seneng. HA~

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Kota Kinabalu Airport


We flew for 2,5 hours from Jakarta and landed at KK, that’s what the locals call the city. I couldn’t find any free wifi at the airport while we were waiting for our bus to the city. Argg. “Do you know what can we do here?” I asked. “Are we climbing the mountain?”. And he said “It’s your job to find out, and we are going to the mountain but no to climb it”. Apparently, to climb Kinabalu Mountain we have to book it 6 months earlier with special permits ect. So, no chance there. I took some brochures at the information desk, and it was all there: things you can do in KK. So many of them, I got instantly confused! HA!

Sambil nunggu bus ke kota di airport KK (//baca: keikei) (sebutan orang lokal untuk Kota Kinabalu) – gue nemenukan beberapa brosur tentang aktifitas apa aja yang bisa kita dilakuin di ibukota Negara Bagian Sabah – Malaysia ini. O my goshhhh ternyata banyak banget pilihan aktifitasnya. Lima hari cukup nggak ya?

Perjalanan dari airport ke kota ternyata bentar banget, nggak nyampe 15 menit. Deket abis. Kita diturunin di stasiun bus dan dari situ kita berusaha naik bus lain untuk sampai ke hotel. Gue kan nggak tau apa-apa nih tentang KK, jadi ngarep suami tau kita harus kearah mana. DAN….. yak! Kita berdua nyasar abis. Hampir satu jam kita dibawa muter-muter sama bus umum entah kemana. Sampai satu titik dimana kita yakin ini udah jauh banget dari kota (hotel kita lokasinya di dalam kota) kita akhirnya nyerah dan naik taksi. Ha! Taksi di KK bisa dibilang agak jarang kalo bukan di tengah kota dan semuanya sistem tembak/bukan argo, jadi jatohnya mahal banget. Bisa sekitar Rp.80-100 ribu an untuk sekali naik jarak deket. Walau begitu, ujung-ujungnya kita naik taksi mulu kemana-mana dan sempet nyewa mobil juga, karena transport publik di KK menurut gue kurang bisa dimengerti. Hahahaha.

perjalanan ke kota kinabalu
route is clear…but somehow i don’t get it. HAHA!

 

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suasana Chinese New Year all over town

 

The trip from the airport to the city central only took less than 15 minutes. It’s very near. First impression, KK reminds me of some other places in Malaysia I have been to, like Penang and Langkawi. It has the same vibe – in my opinion. The bus dropped us at the station, and then we got lost for the next 1 hour trying to locate our hotel using the public transport. We gave up eventually and took a cab. 😀 Cabs in KK is expensive and pretty hard to find if you are not in the central area. They usually ask for RM 25 for quite a short drive. We ended up taking it quite often because the public transport is somehow confusing for us – we got lost every time.

perjalanan ke kota kinabalu
can you read the sign?

 

perjalanan ke kota kinabalu
one corner at Kota Kinabalu

 

perjalanan ke kota kinabalu
the famous MARLIN statue in KK

 

surprisekinabalu

Lima hari berikutnya tinggal di KK, gue agak kaget betapa gue menyukai tempat ini. Kita berdua menikmati banget alamnya yang luar biasa menarik, nyetir di jalanannya yang mulus dan teratur, pemandangan pegunungannya yang kayak bukan di Asia – sangat bagus – terus makanannya (terutama seafood) yang enak abis dan juga nyobain buah-buah an yang belum pernah kita makan sebelumnya, nikmatin malem Valentine’s Day di bawah ribuan bintang di tempat terpencil yang penuh jutaan kunang-kunang, ngerayain ulang tahun gue sehari setelah Valentine dengan cara paling nggak bisa gue lupain, nyebrang ke pulau kecil, dan trekking di seputaran Gunung Kinabalu yang eksotis. SUKA!

Makasi sayangku buat kadonya, perjalanan ke Kota Kinabalu yang sangat seru!

kadoulangtahun

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During my 5 days stay in KK, I had a blissful experience. I ate some amazingly good food – some I never had before- , I went to places with beautiful scenery, I got to put on my bikini in a short distant island, had a road trip with my hubby to a cool place, enjoyed a Valentine’s day’s date night under millions of stars in a remote area, celebrated my birthday in a very very interesting way I may say, trekking in Mount Kinabalu surrounding, and other fun stuff. Oh yes, KK is very recommended.

Thanks for the special trip, babe!

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the best birthday gift is a quality time with someone you love!

-olivelatuputty.com @shiningliv

(2) Comments

  1. Elies says:

    Olivee..so romantic!
    Just saying how lucky you are!!!!

    Hug

    1. Elies thank u…..big HUG to you!!!♥

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