I booked a flight going to
Kota Kinabalu a year ago and I didn't expect that this would be a grand adventure. We planned a Borneo trip from
Clark, Pampanga to
Kota Kinabalu to
Labuan Island to
Brunei to
Kuala Lumpur to
Melaka, back to
Kuala Lumpur and returning home to
Manila (whew!). It was a 7 day challenge and it turned out pretty well. I experienced being a backpacker that time and it was one heck of an epic experience.
Borneo is located just south of the
Philippines. It is just below
Palawan, and so, the weather there is similar here. I packed my backpack with a little less clothes compared to my
Korea trip since I would only need some shorts and shirts in a tropical country like ours. I am off with a backpack and a small bag for my camera to a 7-day adventure to these places.
Since we booked our flight with
Air Asia, we need to go to
Diosdado Macapagal Airport in
Clark Pampanga. You can go there by riding the Philtranco Bus that pass from Pasay to SM Megamall to Clark. It costs PHP400 on a one way ride there. It was not bad since they will drop you off on the airport itself. The trips has specific time departures and it is better to call them up. Below are the bus schedules:
PASAY TERMINAL (Central station):
EDSA Corner Apello Cruz St.
Pasay City, Metro Manila
Telephone: +63 2 851-8077, 851-8078, 632 851-8079
Fax: +63 2 851-5812
E-Mail: reservation.philtranco@gmail.com
We boarded the 11am bus and we got there at around 1pm. It was a 3hour comfortable ride and we got there hours before our scheduled flight.
The airport was just small and there are a few choices to dine in. Also, airport food is very expensive, but since we haven't had lunch yet, we looked for food in a small food area outside the main airport. As soon as we're done eating, we went inside at around 2:30pm. The counters for boarding pass are already open and so we got our boarding passes, travel tax and terminal fee settled so we can go to the boarding area to sit and rest. Yes, as you can see below, travel tax and terminal fee here in the Philippines are much more expensive than the actual fare cost (
sigh!).
Air Asia one way ticket to Kota Kinabalu - PHP 360
Additional check in baggage fee - 450 (*shared PHP900/2)
Travel Tax - 1,620
Terminal Fee - 600 TOTAL 3,030
Our flight is at 4pm and at around that time, we are already waiting for the gates to open and board. We wanted to board already since it was a bit uncomfortable in the waiting area. There are a few food stalls but the place was just crowded with passengers waiting for their flight. It was a bit small and not comfortable for an international airport which asks us a sum of money for terminal fee. But so much for the rants, we got in the aircraft and after about 2 hours, we reached Kota Kinabalu International Airport.
We got to the immigration and out their budget terminal. We need to have some money first and so we looked for a forex booth. After we had sufficient funds, we hired an airport taxi to get us to our pre-booked inn in town. It costs around RM30 for that ride and an additional RM5 for the tip to the driver who was really friendly on talking with us.
We checked in our inn and paid the overnight stay at the counter. After that, we went to our air conditioned room to get our stuff down and rest for a bit. It was around 7:30 pm when we decided to go around town for dinner and also to explore the town of Kota Kinabalu.
It was drizzling for a bit and we need to walk going to the town. We looked for something to eat and after that, explored the town until late night. Here are some of the places we went on that night.
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| Atkinson Tower (sorry a bit blurred, it was raining :P) |
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| the street where there are a lot of restaurants |
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| tourism office |
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| Suria Sabah mall |
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| Kota Kinabalu sign at City Park |
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| Jesselton Point archway |
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| herritage village |
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| Sabah museum |
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| Archway to Sabah museum and Heritage village |
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| Australian Place |
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| port at Jesselton Point |
After touring around, we decided to go back to the inn and rest for our adventure the next day. We woke up early and had breakfast in the inn the next day. We planned to tour the morning and get to the 1pm ferry going to
Labuan Island in the afternoon. Just to be sure, we went to
Jesseltom Point to by tickets before heading to the Museums. We toured the museums and went back to the in at lunch. We grabbed a quick meal before going to the port and spent the time there waiting for the ferry. At 1am the ferry departed and it was a 3 hour ride going to
Labuan Island. It was quite a long ride but I was glad I was back on land.
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| Labuan Island Map |
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| shores at the water village |
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| houses at the water Patau-Patau village |
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| Mosque |
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| Peace Park |
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| Sunset at the beach |
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| Chimney |
My friend's friend met with us there at around 4:30 pm. She was the one to tour us around the area. We went around in her car and after that, we settled in her home for dinner with her other friends. Late at night, she brought us to the bars there where we met Filipinos. We were drunk and tired when we got back to her house and we all went to sleep.
The next day, we woke up quite late. We hurried on packing our stuff and eat breakfast. We went back to the port to catch the earliest ferry going to
Brunei. We were in a hurry because the earliest ferry is leaving and we are the last passenger to arrive. We were running at the port to catch it. We bid goodbye to our new friend and to
Labuan Island.
At around noon, after an hour of ferry ride, we reached
Brunei Darussalam. We were fetched by another of my friend's friend there. We were so thankful with him because he toured us around and introduced us to his small country. Also, because we find it difficult to see public transportation there that is why we are thankful for the ride and tour.
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| View from our inn |
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| Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque |
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| University of Brunei Darussalam |
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| The Empire |
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| sunset |
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| mall near our place |
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| Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque
|
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| Water Village |
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| their fishing area |
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| Brunei Museum |
We toured checked in first in a
Youth Hostel which is pretty cheap (BND10 per night). After that, we went for a quick lunch and we were returned to the hostel to rest. Our friend was a Muslim and since it was a Friday, he needs to attend to his obligations in the mosque. We rested for an hour ad he came back and picked us up. He toured us around until late afternoon. We got back to the hostel and rested again (because he needs to attend to other religious obligations again). At late evening he went back and picked us up for dinner. The next day, we were on our own in the morning and before noon, he came back again to tour us for the rest of the morning. He was really kind and we definitely enjoyed our stay there because of him.
We went to their airport at around 2pm to catch our 3pm plane to
KL. We bid goodbye to our new friend and we boarded the plane going to
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
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| National Mosque |
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| Structures around the mosque |
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| Stone Hedge at the Planetarium |
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| National Museum |
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| dioramas in the museum |
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| Bird Park at KL |
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| Merdeka Square |
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| Batu Caves |
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| Goddess Statue at Batu Caves |
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| Petronas Tower at day |
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| Petronas Tower at night |
We arrived at around 7pm in
KL and we went from their budget terminal using the train system. We arrived at
Fern Loft Inn at around 8pm. We planned to see the
Petronas Towers that night but we were so tired, and so, we just went looking for something to eat around. We went back to the inn and rest. The next day, we went around
KL and tour the places around there. We went to the museums and their famous landmarks. We went to
Batu Caves and the
Petronas Tower. It was a packed day and we went home tired.
The next day, we went to
Melaka. It is a 2 hour bus ride from KL. The province is just small but there are a lot to see in it. We roamed around the place and took photos.
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| bus going to Melaka |
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| Church of St. Francis Xavier |
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| Melaka Church |
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| Melaka Tourism Office |
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| windmill at the town |
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| some land marks |
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| Large ship, this is a museum |
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| naval ship in a museum |
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| some landmark |
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| Port Santiago |
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| St. Peter's Church Ruins |
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| inside the ruins |
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| clock tower |
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| Mr. Universe statue at Jonker Walk |
After that, we went home and spent the last few hours of the evening at the
Central Market looking for souvenirs. We continued the shopping the next day at
Kasturi Walk and
Petaling Street.
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| Kasturi Walk |
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| Central Market |
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| Petaling Street |
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| Petaling Street in the morning |
In the afternoon, we checked out of the inn and went to the airport. We are going back to
Manila and our adventure has ended. We were all tired but the memories of the adventure, food, places, people and the learning we had will forever be remembered.
Below is a copy of our itinerary. By the way, if you are curious on how much I spent in this 7-day adventure, I only spent PHP13,000 (minus the air fare) all in all including the food, transportation and the accommodations and the souvenirs.
| 12:00 PM |
|
Lunch |
| 1:00 PM |
|
Rest at Hostel |
| 2:00 PM |
|
Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque |
| 3:00 PM |
|
University of Brunei Darusalam |
| 4:00 PM |
|
The Empire |
| 5:00 PM |
|
The Mall |
| 6:00 PM |
|
Back at Hostel and rest |
| 8:00 PM |
|
Tour around town (Sultan's Palace) |
| 8:30 PM |
|
Walk around town (Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque) |
| 9:30 PM |
|
Dinner at Break Wate Café |
| 10:30 PM |
|
Head back to Hostel |
| 11:00 PM |
|
Rest at Hostel |
|
|
|
| Day 4 |
|
|
| 6:00 AM |
|
Wakeup Call |
| 7:00 AM |
|
Walk around town in the morning (Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and Water
Village) |
| 8:30 AM |
|
Breakfast at De Royale Café |
| 9:00 AM |
|
Back at Hostel, Meetup with Amiru again |
| 9:30 AM |
|
Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque (enter the mosque) |
| 10:00 AM |
|
Brunei Museum |
| 11:30 AM |
|
Lunch at Mangrove Paradise Resort |
| 12:30 PM |
|
Check out at Hostel |
| 1:00 PM |
|
Souvenier Hunting |
| 2:00 PM |
|
Go to Airport |
| 3:00 PM |
|
ETD to Kuala Lumpur |
| 6:00 PM |
|
ETA Kuala Lumour |
| 6:30 PM |
|
Airport Transfer to Inn |
| 7:30 PM |
|
Check in at Fern Loft Inn |
| 8:30 PM |
|
Dinner at Petaling Street |
| 10:00 PM |
|
Rest at Inn |
|
|
|
| Day 5 |
|
|
| 6:30 AM |
|
Wakeup Call |
| 7:30 AM |
|
Breakfast at Inn |
| 8:30 AM |
|
KL National Mosque |
| 9:30 AM |
|
Planetarium |
| 10:00 AM |
|
National Museum |
| 11:30 AM |
|
Walk around Bird Park |
| 12:00 PM |
|
Back at KL Natonal Mosque |
| 1:00 PM |
|
Lunch at Kasturi Walk |
| 2:00 PM |
|
Merdaka Square |
| 2:30 PM |
|
ETD to Batu Caves |
| 3:00 PM |
|
Batu Caves |
| 5:30 PM |
|
ETD Batu Caves |
| 7:00 PM |
|
KLCC Suria |
| 8:00 PM |
|
Dinner |
| 8:30 PM |
|
Petronas Towers |
| 10:00 PM |
|
Back at Inn, Rest |
|
|
|
| Day 6 |
|
|
| 7:00 AM |
|
Wakeup Call |
| 8:00 AM |
|
Breakfast |
| 8:30 AM |
|
Train to Bus Station |
| 10:00 AM |
|
ETD Bus going to Melaka |
| 12:00 PM |
|
ETA Melaka Sentral |
| 12:30 PM |
|
Cab to Melaka Town, walk around |
| 1:00 PM |
|
Lunch |
| 2:00 PM |
|
Continue walk around town |
| 4:30 PM |
|
ETD Melaka Town |
| 5:00 PM |
|
ETD back to KL |
| 7:00 PM |
|
ETA KL, take train back to Inn |
| 7:30 PM |
|
Central Market and Kasturi Walk |
| 8:30 PM |
|
Dinner |
| 9:30 PM |
|
Back at Inn |
| 10:00 PM |
|
rest |
|
|
|
| Day 7 |
|
|
| 7:00 AM |
|
Wakeup Call |
| 8:00 AM |
|
Breakfast at Inn |
| 9:00 AM |
|
Petaling Street, Kasturi Walk and Central Market |
| 11:00 AM |
|
Check out at Inn, leave bags |
| 12:00 PM |
|
Lunch at Central Market |
| 1:30 PM |
|
Back at Inn to get stuff |
| 2:00 PM |
|
ETD KL to Airport |
| 5:00 PM |
|
ETA KL LCCT |
| 6:30 PM |
|
ETD Going to Manila |
| 10:00 PM |
|
ETA Manila |
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