We started the day with a buffet breakfast at Bunga Raya Cafe. Breakfast is served between 7:00 to 10:00 in the morning. We went down to the cafe around 7:15 AM and surprisingly, the cafe is almost full. I think Malaysians rise up early to have the most important meal of the day.
After breakfast, we had a not-so-late morning walk at the stretch of Jalan Lintas. We walked for roughly an hour to burn our calories and had to stop in a mini bus stop because we reached a junction with 2 intersections where pedestrian crossings are nowhere to be found.
We took a minibas (small bus) to Wawasan Terminal. Each pax costs 1 RM (Malaysian Ringgit).
In the terminal, we instructed a teksi (taxi) to bring us to the KK Esplanade, but the locals have no idea where that is, so we ended at the Sabah Tourism Board (where all travel brochures are available for free). The receptionists are friendly too and gave us instructions on our planned itinerary.
Since the tourism office is within the city, we decided to take another short walk to the Jesselton point. It is a sea port less than a kilometer away from the Sabah Suria mall and is the gateway to the mini islands and famous resorts.
We booked a trip to Manukan and Mamutik Islands. We left the port at 10:00am and stayed at the island of Mamutik until 1pm. The boat ride is approximately 15 minutes from the port. Several restaurants are there and several activities are being offered. Since this was not part of our original itinerary, we didn't bring anything with us but ourselves. We just enjoyed the view and the beach. We also had a chance to take pictures driving the speedboat.
We left the island of Mamutik at 1:00 in the afternoon and sailed to the next island, Manukan, where we also had our late lunch.
Manukan island has a longer stretch of white beach compared to Mamutik. It also has several resorts within the island where you can stay overnight. There also is a trail where you can enjoy the Kinabalu jungle within an island.
Speedboat ride back to the city of KK started at 4:00pm. Next time, I'll make sure to have my ocean essentials when I go here. It was a good way to start our KK adventure with a relaxing day at the beach.
