I was born and raised here, in the land below wind. It has been 8 years i never returned and i was only 11 years old at that time. One cannot comprehend how excited i were when i finally arrive in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. I had left Sabah at young age and i only remember some places and people in KK, the whole image and memory are not that vivid and clear. It wasn`t profound, as time passed by the images stored inside my head was slowly getting blur and losing it one day. But i didn`t lose it, this particular trip to KK made me recall most of the things had happened long time ago.

4 days 3 night, departed on last Wednesday and back on Saturday night. My family and i arrived at KKIA T2 at the morning, our arrival was welcomed warmly by Mr and Mrs Ooi. They have been the most generous host i have ever seen. I really appreciate for everything they had prepared for us and made the whole journey so interesting. Due to short period of stopover, the entire trip was hectic. In less than 5 days, we had scheduled to meet numbers of old friends of my dad and also visit some of the interesting spots. Driving in Sabah isn`t easy. Roads are narrow, rough and sloppy. Driving Sedans are not suitable in Sabah terrain, but we can see big and heavy lorries everywhere, as well as full range truck and SUV. These heavy machine did a lot of damages and some even drive at the crawling speed and slower. This is why, driving in Sabah especially interior part really consumed a lot of precious time and energy. It didn`t make me feel bad as i had well accustomed the rough condition that every driver had to face. To be a good driver, one has to be courage enough to tail gate really close and overtake them without hesitation.

I never stopped eating in Sabah, same applied to our stomach full and bloated all the time. Some of the things must be tried when in KK. First day, we went to a famous restaurant located nearby the Sepanggar bay, this restaurant has been operating for the last 20 years, the food was really good and the freshness level couldn`t be disputed but price hiked without looking down. It was really expensive, consider that the prawns and seafood could get beside the restaurant, but still charging very expensive and serving was limited too. The next day, we had our dinner at a town`s restaurant. We was again being served by 4 KGs of baby lobster, few KGs of crab and some rare shells. I was temporary allergic to seafood after that meal. But in KK wasn`t just seafood, many more nice local delicacies waiting me to try it out. Beef noodle is another local food, or local cooking style that people been to Sabah shouldn`t miss. Every piece of beef were sliced into very thin, it tasted soft and succulent. Plenty of international level seafood restaurants are there to serve the people`s appetite from all over the world. Along the beach, one can see a lot of club and western dining, making the entire atmosphere really happening.

On the second day, we went to Mountain Kinabalu, the highest peak in Malaysia. We didn`t climb as our present was clashed with the climbaton event. Many climber from all around the world participated in this competition. These people takes less than 3.5 hours to finish climbing up and down. Impressive, since i need more than 2 days to finish.There also a hot spring located nearby the area, the hot water contained with sulfur was sources from an inactive or dead volcano. Thanks to the strategic ex-volcano site, it still releasing heat even though it not longer active. The public water bath at the hot spring had gone through a complete restore. it looked better and cleaner, more tubs compare to last ten years. The entrance for both Kinabalu National park and Hot spring are the same, just need to present your conservation ticket and it can be purchase at any Sabah national park, only valid for one day.

Lets talk about one of dad ex-worker. He had been worked for my dad company for many years. He stopped when my dad quitted his business in Sabah and return to KL. Many years my dad wanted to look for him, searching for his contact is not easy, all the phone were not being used anymore. Eventually, we had to track him from his old residence, luckily his relative still there, and we were able to connect and contact the person. After the unwilling farewell, on the way home, my dad told some of his old stories, about the inception working at Sabah and starting to build business, this ex-worker really contributed a lot and we should be grateful and thankful.

Overally, i was expecting a major changes in KK, but city centre really looked the same, only outskirt did change a lot. Old shopping malls were still stood still, but more new and luxury malls were mushrooming up, same thing happened to Hotels and Restaurant. Another very obvious change was, the tourism dept in Sabah really doing their work, promote and maintain the tourist spots. Other i`m not so sure, the tourism industry potential in this land really huge, and very bright.

For myself, the sentimental value is there, although there city didn`t change, but i have changed after 8 years. Once everything looks very big and massive for me, now look ordinary and normal. I can`t stop thinking, what would happen in another 8 years time?

While i boarding on the plane, i started to compare, am i doing the right choice? What happen if i had not left Sabah to KL? Well, my heart told me, the move was right and welcome back to KL.