Kota Kinabalus is a city--nuff said. If I've learned anything these past few months it's that I'm not a city person--or maybe that's just when I'm traveling. I like the things cities have to offer like Broadway plays and symphonies and art museums--culture. I like culture. Ok, maybe cities aren't that bad but I would still prefer to live just outside of one, not actually in one. I would much prefer to enjoy the outdoors.
Unfortunately KK is somewhat lacking in the cultural side...Ok, thats not true, it's lacking in the entertainment type of culture...being amongst the locals is always a cultural lesson in and of itself if you take the time to pay attention. That's about all I've done here in KK, wonder aimlessly around the city and watch the people. Today I went down to the central market which is basically a huge fruit and vegetable market. They had all the usual stuff that I've come to recognize by name throughout all of southeast Asia--rambutan, lychee, mangoes, avocado, a million different kinds of bananas, guava, custard apples. I love fruit markets :) They also had a separate section for all the dried fish, ick. I'm glad it was in a separate section.
Speaking of food, I have yet to try Malaysian food. I'm surrounded by it all day every day and I just haven't convinced myself to sit down and eat some. To be honest I've been living off whole wheat crackers and ginger snaps since Monday--I did splurge once and buy myself a packet of top ramen to cook here at the hostel. That was less than satisfying and I decided I would rather stick with the crackers. Then my friend Candace chewed me out and made me promise to eat some meat and vegetables today. Instead of going for the Malaysian food I opted for Burger King, how's that for healthy? I mean you've got your meat, your vegetables--tomatoes are a fruit right? I would say it was a very well balanced meal. I know, I should embrace the local culture but I just haven't seen anything that looks very appetizing and it's so much harder when you don't have someone placing it in front of you telling you to eat it.
Well, that's pretty much what my time here in KK has consisted of. To be honest, other than the few hours spent each afternoon wondering around the city, I've spent most my time here at the hostel doing work for my dad. I don't mind though, KK was only supposed to be a transitional hub anyway, it's just taken me longer than I thought to figure out my next move. The scientist field station out in the middle of the jungle that I wanted to go to fell through and so I had to come up with something else. I've decided to go and stay at this other place out in the middle of the jungle instead called Uncle Tan's Cabin. They have lots of jungle safari's and night trips up the river and what not so it should be pretty cool. I'm hoping to see some of the orangutans that Borneo is famous for out in the wild.
From there I think I'm going to head to the east coast to this spot that is one of the top ten places to scuba dive in the world. Unfortunately you have to be certified to dive it so I won't be doing that but I still think it would be a cool place to hang out at for a couple days and do some snorkeling. I dunno, we'll see how it goes. All I know for sure is that I have to be in Brunei (different country) on the 7th to catch my flight to Kuala Lumpur.
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