Day 5 - Trip to Kota Kinabalu (Part II)

Monday, 14 May 2012

My KK trip of Part II is finally done!...pheww!

"...hallo...reception?.."
"..yes, miss."
"...o hi, i need to go to the main resort now. could you please arrange a shuttle for me?.."
"...sure miss."
"...thx.."

Stroll...After our prayers and a good rest, we decided to go for a stroll around Nexus resort. Shuttle arrived and we headed on to the main resort. It took only about 5 minutes drive.

me at the resort's gallery

hubby's pointing at...err...

the garden across the gallery seems well maintained...
hang on!...am not ready!...aaaa..eh..

Chess??...Playing on board games was something I have not done in many many years!...hee...now that I had came across one chess board over here, I have just got to step on it!...GAME ON!!!!...

ok...let's take our place and start the game!

moving one square to my right...clock off!

watch out Queen...am catching ya'...clock off!

...woohoo!...check!!!..hahahaha

Little Borneo Spa...along the hallway of the resort, I came across a sweet little decor of white and grey pebbles, few medium large potted plants of dracaenia stages...the extension of the Borneo Spa of the resort. Borneo Spa is located about a stone's throw away from the main resort.

the hallway at the little borneo spa

lil borneo spa sweet decor at the spa entrance

from the main resort towards to the beach

hubby backing the main resort

me at Sunset Bar, bar located just next to the beach

Penyu Restaurant...since I arrived here in Nexus, both me and hubby have not taken our lunch yet...so, we headed on to this restaurant for our early dinner.

view of the restaurant from the hallway

hubby at the stairs up to the main resort's lobby...
just outside of the Penyu Restaurant

me, by the fountain outside the restaurant

the view at the swimming pool area from Penyu Restaurant
where we had our dinner

When asked, the buffet dinner only starts at 6.30pm. Noooo...too long of a wait...an hour and a half to go?...no-no...tummy needs input noww!!...huhu...so, we digged in on ala carte...

Fish n Chips...hubby's choice today...
crispy on the outside...so moist on the inside...hmm

tiger prawns for me...butter with garlic...nyum2...

mushroom soup...
so creamy with fresh soft chunks of mushroom

After our dinner, we walked back heading to the main lobby. Passing by the Kingfisher Restaurant was really with a to-die-for sight!...waaaahhhhh!!!...It came with a sight of a whole lamb on roasting mode!...woohoo!...looked well marinated, full of spices, lamb juice dripping while being roasted giving me the vision on how succulent and moist the meat must be...haaaaaa...gulpp!...see below...and since i had my dinner stuffed in me a while ago, I had to "dive" into this lamb just by looking and inhale as much smell of it as i could...huhu...

the whole of roast lamb on the go!...huhu...
saw this when we passed by Kingfisher Restaurant, where buffet dinner is served...

Along the way, came across few chefs stirring on something in a large wok...passing by nearer, my hubby went on...

"eh...kacau dodol??..."
"aah..ya...dodol...dodol durian.."
"...oo...buat untuk buffet serving?.."
"iya..."
"waahhh...buffet sini ada dodol durian...bagus ye.."
"iya...kami buat tiap2 hujung minggu saja.."
"brapa lama nak kacau ni?"
"lagi 1 jam mungkin...abang nak cuba?..."
"eh...boleh?...ok..."

apa lagi???...hubby's moves on dodol durian...hee

dapat "reward"...keja bagusss...eating time!!!

durian dodol boliauu (dissapears)!!!

Breakfast on morning 14 May...the room includes breakfast for 2. At the time when we checked-in, I was told that Nexus serves breakfast by the pool down the suite block...hmm...nice...less trouble to get myself to the main resort by shuttle...On the morning when I rang the reception, she said I have to go to the main resort and she shall arrange the shuttle for me...

"...kenapa tak buat di sini?.."

"..tak dapat buat di sini..ya..."

"..owh..ok.."

Didn't really answered my q...didn't wanna ask further. I guess probably there were not many occupants at this time that they found it was not reasonable to have another buffet spread at the suite site...

Arriving at the main resort, Penyu Restaurant served variety of spreads for our breakfast...mushroom cheese omelette was my "kick off" start...

"...mushroom..err..huh?..no mushroom?...hmm..ok, all then...lots of cheese ya.."...while showing on to the ingredients spread the cook had them ready...


me with my cheesey omelette...jemput tengok...hee

cheseey omelette...

hubby dived into fruits platter...his first course everytime...

orange juice for hubby

hubby's next course afta his fruits..rice congee wt salted egg as well as the century egg

i tried this...noodle soup...just ok...

hmm...what's next...

no idea of what else to dig into...pose laa...

hmm...this was truly a succulent piece of meat...beef steak...so juicy and tender...so moist...repeated course for me...hee

another of my fav...beef bacon...nyum2...


restaurant full with the koreans...excluding the most upfront guy...my hubby..he's a malaysian..heheh

the atmosphere in the restaurant...

not many locals at this time...a room full with the koreans...

After breakfast, we return to the suite to stroll and relax by our private beach...Great breezy and cool weather...

get the seat ready...haa..lapik dulu...

hubby enjoying the full ocean view
while err...eh...munching on kit kat?...ooo...heheh...skit leh?

Other views captured on shots of the surroundings...

After a while relaxing here, it comes the time to say bye-bye to the resort...huhu...bye Nexus!

Can you help me sire??...

Pit stop at petronas for gas, on our way heading home from the airport just few kilometres away, i wonder why the black pouch bag wasn't with me...i always carry it around with me...

"...no, it's ok sayang...i have."...says hubby, as he knows why exactly i was searching for my bag for the money to fuel...

Realizing something wasn't right...
"...err..honey, i guess i had left my bag on the trolley at the airport..."
"...we will turn back..."

Adrenaline gushed....rushed...whatever you name it!...I had actually realized that i had left it...big time!...sigh***...thinking over and over again...how could I ever left that out of my sight??...darn!!!...

Could I ever get it back?...
Could i ever get all of them back?...
Safely tucked in, entirely, as how i hd left it?...
Prayers to Allah was all that came clouding me at the time...

We were just reaching the first gas station sighted after leaving the airport, to fuel, when i came back to my senses....arrgghh!...

Upon arriving at the airport, my hubby approached a policemen-uniformed man seated at the arrival gate.

"assalamualaikum...saya ada hilang barang. boleh saya check di kaunter Lost & Found?"
"ada bawa surat?"
"surat?...tak ada. saya baru hilang barang tu setengah jam tadi. boleh saya check di kaunter Lost & Found?"
"tak boleh ncik. ncik dah keluar, tak boleh masuk ke situ balik. ncik kena buat surat"
"kalau saya tak boleh masuk, boleh tolong tanyakan pada kaunter tu kalau ada orang tinggalkan barang baru2 tadi?"

After a long-stretched "Q & A" session...sigh***...the officer finally did some action and took the phone receiver up and was dialing while saying...

"kawan saya yg in-charge bhgn ni ncik. kawan saya tu kluar minum kejap."

Knowing this is endless and pointless...the sense of "helping" wasn't felt at all, my hubby just left him. We went on our own way on how to get to the right people that could offer us a help or at least guide us with the right steps to undertake. We asked a group of men, looking like the airport staff. They were handling the luggage trolleys. They told us to make a police report and request to view the CCTV. Great!...thanks guyz!...finally somebody cared enough to tell us what to do...pheww!...

But before we head to the police station located nearby from the scene, the officer in the policemen-uniformed earlier waved at us, giving us a sign to come over to him. With him was the "friend" whom he had said in-charged of this kinda case.

"saya ada tertinggal barang baru2 tadi."
"encik dah buat repot polis?"
"belum. baru jadik. saya nak check di kaunter Lost & Found kalau ada brg tertggl yg org hantar kat sana. dlm setgh jam tadi tertinggal di trolley kat luar."
while spreading his smile to us..."...situ tempat public enciiik..."

This is just going nowhere...even with the claimed-to-be officer in-charge. Why must the officer made such a statement ("...situ tempat public enciiik.")...Is this relevant?...This guy wasn't helping us at all!

"encik...boleh tolong just bagitau saya apa yg perlu saya buat sekarang??."...
Breathing in hard, taking charge of my "emotional volcano" avoiding it from enormous "eruption" at any point of time then...aaaand stabilizing the panick mode I was in at the same time, I just had to pull this guy's focus back at where it should be...o dear!

Taking the trolley handlers guys advice earlier, we headed on straight to the police station there. While approaching to the main door of the station...

"...sayang, it's there. syukur alhamdullillah."...says hubby to me.

My hubby saw my bag on the police desk from the station's side glass panel. Pheww!!...it was such a relief hearing that!

In a time of urgency like this, all we need as a civilian is just an assistance from the right people. Please, at least, share our concern, help and guide us through on the actions we should take...be alert, be focus with the procedures and steps to act...instead of dragging us through and passing us an irrelevant remarks...

Thanks to the trolley handlers guyz (if i may addressed them by that...hee)...for your concern and guide!

Day 5 : Trip to Kota Kinabalu (Part I)

Monday, 14 May 2012

Afternoon of 13 May...Heading on to Nexus Resort & Spa, Karambunai upon checking-out from Novotel 1Borneo.

"...hallo, reception?...yea, could you please send someone up to help me with the luggage?...I wanna check-out...thanks!"
...room door bell ringing..."miss, your luggage..."
"..o hi..yes, over here...yea, that's all...and could you help me to get a cab to Nexus please?..."
"...Nexus?...ya, sure ma'am.."
"..thanks.."

Done checked-out...hopped into the waiting cab.

"...nexus karambunai pak...berapa ya?"
"ya, 60..."
"eh...napa mahal pak?...bukan biasa dalam 30 ke 35? boleh kurang pak?..."
"ooh, memang harganya begini. ada ditulis di papan itu.."...showing me the rates board at where cabs await for passengers in front of the hotel.
"oo, kalau gitu pak, tak apa. maaf pak ya?...saya ambil teksi lain...maaf ya?.."
"ya, boleh, ndak apa."

Cab charge for a 20 minutes drive away at MYR60??...Whaatt the...??...I negotiated with another cab driver in front of the hotel and got it at MYR45...phewww!...even if it was more than MYR35 (was told by the city cab driver the other day when asked), but it was much way down from the MYR60 initially!...thanks pak!

Arriving in Nexus Resort & Spa, Karambunai...

the main lobby of the resort

me on pose with "nexus"...hee

hubby on pose while waiting for check-in...

Spa Suite...the block for the suites are located about 10 minutes drive away from the main lobby. the resort's shuttle van then took us to our room...woo hoo!...

Resort's shuttle van commute schedule to and fro to resort's main lobby. Just place your request by dialling the reception. 

As we were on our honeymoon trip (something like that...actually, it's my 1 year wedding anniversary...yea, time flies fast huh...), we were greeted with a complimentary small cake and fruits...thanks Nexus...you are soo sweeettt..heheh...

complimentary honeymoon cake from nexus...

a complimentary fruits for the honeymooners too!
tea peeps??...

I just love travelling...and when you travel, you would want to make the right selections on the place to stay. Worth of your every ringgit spent! However, I realized that sometimes I could not decide. There were limited pix provided in certain hotel or resort's website on the whole view of the room, the bathroom or even to know if the room comes with a private balcony.

Just to share with you travellers out there on this suite I had been in on my honeymoon trip recently.

Concept?...1 bedroom suite
The occupancy?...2 adults and 2 kids
Facilities seen upon entrance?...kitchen with table top, 4 bar stools, jug kettle, microwave, fridge and electric cooking stove.

We stayed on the topmost 5th floor, Suite 353. The 5 storey block serviced with a lift. Stay cool u olls...hahahah, yup...stairs is a no-no huh!...hee...

main entrance...kitchen...

electric cooking stove and microwave...

kitchen...living hall...
the door next to the main door is the 1st bathroom

The second door adjacent to the main door is the 1st bathroom.

Let's hop in and I shall tour you around...it could be of a help to those travellers who would wish to select the suite for their stay during their trip here...

living hall with a balcony...

the balcony...with a sliding door

The balcony was with another sliding door, apart from the sliding door that separates the balcony and the living hall.

set of table and chairs and a wooden towel hanger

the inside view from the balcony

view from the entrance

dining light

From the living hall to the bedroom...overlooking the full view of the ocean and the swimming pool. No balcony in the bedroom but only covered by a glass panel.

door to the bedroom

super king size bed

comfy firm pillow and mattress

seater by the bed to rest and enjoy the ocean view...

From the bedroom to the suite bathroom, fully equipped with spa system facilities...a great total rejuvenation after a tiring day out...

bedroom...overlooking your way to the suite bathroom equipped
with spa system facilities

the bath tub and the toilet section

tub with spa hydromassage system facility...

tub full of water with the hydromassage system on... 

tub that provides a total relaxation

There is a note provided fixed on the wall, a step-by-step instructions on how to operate the system.

It is a must have for those who has been spending their time all day long shopping and sight-seeing out there...

It is as easy as A...B...C guide to operate it...just follow the instructions and you are on your way to a perfect harmony on your vacation...

Another spa facilities provided...the steam bath...

Other views of the bathroom...

The views from the balcony and the bedroom...awesome views I can tell you peeps!...just take a stroll down and see them for yourself...many people, many different tastes and opinion, yes...as for me, it was just a view that I could screen on for hours and definitely superbly breathtaking!

view from balcony-1

view from balcony-2

view from bedroom-1

view from bedroom-2

view from bedroom-3

view from bedroom-4

Hang on for my journey next on Day 5 of KK Part II...