KOTA KINABALU – Day 3B - Museum & Mosque

My frightening experiences with the bomb scare when we arrived at the airport and with the guard dogs were replaced with so much love and ease as I strolled around the city. This is just a small, simple, peaceful city. I love it here. I feel at home here in KK. Foods are cheap, most are even cheaper than in Pinas. People are warm too, and very helpful with tourists, though many of them cannot speak an English statement and might give you the wrong direction. This happened to me many times, because they don't understand much with English words. I'm glad I am Pinoy. Yahoo!

With this problem, I got a clue. Ask questions from the ladies, students or from decent-looking individuals around, especially those wearing uniform or ID. They at least know how to speak English, or they work in an office or they have had English subject in school.

Borneo Backpackers, the hostel where I stayed is located at the city center and very close to everything - malls, markets, restos, internet cafes, pharmacy, taxi & bus stations, hotels/hostels, banks with ATM's, plaza, city hall, post office, hall of justice, police station, etc.
This city is highly influenced by Chinese, besides the Malay culture. In fact, due to the Chinese New Year 2011, the city now is so peaceful because many stores and establishments owned by Chinese are closed. February 2-6 will be a holiday here and a long weekend.

I was looking for a souvenir shirt and some ref magnets or keyholders for “pasalubong” but I didn’t see anything from Suria Sabah. It was 3:00 PM when I went out from the hostel and it was a sunny day. So I decided to go to Sabah State Museum and Sabah State Mosque.  I stopped a city bus and it costs only MYR0.50 towards Wawasan Terminal. Then from Wawasan Terminal I took another bus going to the museum for only MYR0.80. The Wawasan Terminal is not yet paved, so it’s dusty when the winds blow. In front of the terminal is a big mall, Plaza Wawasan.

It took me 3 times to transfer a bus towards the museum because I was misdirected by the people I asked about what number of bus I will ride. The first one looked like a dispatcher in Pinas told me it’s Bus No. 1A. The bus left and when the conductor came near me, I asked to re-confirm the route but he said I was in a wrong bus. He said I should ride Bus No. 16. So he stopped the bus and I jumped out and went back to the terminal. I asked the driver of Bus No. 16 and he said that the bus going to the museum is Bus No. 14. I went down again and transferred to Bus No. 14. There’s a decent-looking teenager and I asked him to confirm and he said yes. The lady who also sat beside me, confirmed that it’s going to stop at the museum.

I took some photos outside the museum and paid the entrance fee of MYR8. The actual entrance fee is MYR15. They gave discount that time due to off-peak season. No cameras are allowed inside the museum. Upon entering the museum, you can see a skeletal bone of an elephant. The museum was carpeted, airconditioned, very clean, organized. There were guards who randomly went around to supervise. I didn’t stay too long inside because I still needed to go to the mosque. So I signed the visitors’ logbook and went out.

Passing through the cemented stairs at the back of the museum was the short cut going to the highway and then to the Sabah State Mosque. I crossed about two main roads and crossed an overpass bridge to get to the other side.

I took some photos of the mosque afar off too. When I almost reached the mosque, a security guard waved to me. I thought he was driving me away but he just wanted to take some photos of me with the mosque as background. He realized I had no one with me to take photos. His name was Abdul Salif, born in KK but with Filipino parents from Tawi-tawi. He knew how to speak Bisaya and Tagalog because some Filipino friends taught him. He toured me around (slippers and shoes off please), and even up to the upper floors. He is staying there and he plans to visit Philippines someday but afraid of what he saw on TV about bombings and massacre. Both of his parents already died, so he is living alone now. He has relatives in Tawi-tawi but he doesn’t know them too.

I took a van at the bus stop just outside the museum that goes directly to the terminal in Wawasan. The fare was MYR0.50 and transferred to the city bus to the city centre for MYR0.50. That was an enjoyable day for me, despite the dog incident in the morning. I bought a packed dinner and ate again inside my hostel room.