Our First Family Vacation Together

~: A HarmonyUs Undersea Adventure :~

As our end of year 07 vacation, we unexpectedly returned to KK. We actually had no plans yet to go abroad for our December holidays but since Syazwan’s Family had invited NorMala to join them on their trip to attend a relative's wedding there, We thought it would make a good chance for Us to go there again and do the things we’ve planned on doing the next time we went. This meant going SNORKELING!! Normala had dreams of pursueing an Island marine underwater adventure since she had noticed the service availability advertised in their tourist leaflets gotten from their last trip. So, this was the chance to see it come true. Plus NorMala just couldn’t turn down Syazwan’s offer to pay for her tiket! hehe.

So on the day of our flight, We set off in the morning with a bunch of the Family to the airport where others had already been waiting to send us off. Syazwan’s Mum, Lil’ bro, Cousins and Grandma had joined Us on the plane ride while his uncles and aunts took the road trip. We were all excited to set of on our vacation and could'nt wait to finally relax and have some fun after a whole years' toll. However, the morning took a funny turn when our names where being called in for boarding. We had'nt realized that we had been waiting at a misinformed gate! So, we quickly hurried along in embarrassment passing the passengers in the isles while laughing at ourselves and rushed to our seats. Then after a vitual 20 minutes we thankfully arrived KK safely.
Kota Kinabalu Vacation - Departed & Arrived!!

We took some taxis to our apartment and checked in after unloading our luggage. We stayed at the Prominade Apartments during the whole stay in KK. It is a large area of apartments conveniently situated close to the town centre and brilliantly faced on to the sea shores where we could spot the Islands that we had planned to go to. Inside the apartment, there were 3 separate rooms, 2 bathrooms, one kitchen and a living area with a mini veranda. There was plenty of space for all of us and it was very clean and cozy; just simply accommodating and perfect for a family trip. We rested for some lunch and then headed off to the shopping malls to walk around and have a look as well as get some essentials for our stay at the apartment. At night, We continued walking around the city for some drinks and before going up to retreat, We made bookings to hire a van.

Kota Kinabalu Vacation - 1st Day

The next day, we woke up early to go to the Jesselton Point dock for our visit to the Islands. We woke everyone who wanted to join Us; including all the youngsters; and met up downstairs at the waiting bay. The van was already there waiting for Us, so without wasting much time, we drove of to the dock. There, we met a tourist guide, Saiful, who showed us the way to the ticket booth where we purchased coupons to access the Islands and paid for our snorkeling equipment. Gratefully, Syazwan offered to pay for everyones tax and equipment.

While waiting for everything to be ready; we took lots of pictures and then boarded our boat. We had to take a short 20 minute boat ride to the Islands and put on our life jackets for safety. NorMala held on tight to Syazwan during the boat ride, as the waves were plundering hard against the boat with the wind breezing in. It was a little bit scary since we never really get on boats all the time but nothing was to top the scary feeling of going out into the sea to snorkel for the first time. NorMala’s mind was on the jelly fish stings all throughout hehe. But this was an adventure that absolutely no one was going to miss; opportunities as such should be experienced at least once, We think. As we reached the chosen Island we wanted to go first to; which was the Manukan Island (an Island famous for its beautiful marine life) We loaded out our stuff at a sandy shore seating area and everyone got changed to put on their equipment to prepare before the swim. Thanks to Nabilah, we were able to leave our belongings on the shore without feeling worried that it might get stolen, plus she took wonderful pictures of us too, love ya darling!

So without our flippers, knowing that they would just slow us down since we didn’t know how to use them; we made our way to the coral coast. The tiny sand became tiny gravel which soon became tiny coral that spiked on our feet- but not too painfully, thank God. And as soon as we got deeper towards the sea, we met more fishes. Gladfully again, We had bought some fish food at the nearby shop earlier, adviced by our tour guide to allow us the experience of feeding the fish when we got in the water. It was a different yet fun experience. The fishes would swim to you in groups and nibble on the food from your fingers- you can even feel their skin on you! This did however manage to flash us to that split second scene of piranhas munching in the movie 'Piranhas' and gave us chills but it was all good and goodness no one left fleshless. After that, Saiful took us to the deeper ends into the coast where we could find more beautiful fish and coral. We swam altogether afraid to get separated by the waves and took 5 minute breaks to catch our breath. And of course, Syazwan never let NorMala go as we swam cos We didn’t dare to let lose anyone of Us.

We must say, again, it was great to have experienced it together. For Us, it was our first underwater experience, a once-in-a-lifetime thing that we thankfully had the privilege to go through together and we were both very happy to have made it there. When we floated above the coral, we were careful not to step on any of them as some of them were quite sharp and edgy, also not forgetting very poisonous. And although there were many pointers to be careful off; we were forever captivated by the beauty of the undersea. The water was so clear that we could see right through it as far as the eye can see, there were fishes everywhere right til the very end. It was exactly like what you can see on tv, like in finding nemo perhaps hehe. There were fishes of all sorts of sizes and colours, corals, sea plants and creatures in all sorts of shapes and texture. The tour guide, being an excellent diver, picked up a sea cucumber and some star fish for us to touch and hold. NorMala immediately said no to touch the sea cucumber as it shrug her. Shortly after, we reached the sea anemenie and successfully found the clown fishes. Something we had ventured out to look for hehe. They were absolutely cute! All of us couldn’t wait to rehearse scenes and lines from the ‘Finding Nemo’ cartoon. As soon as it was getting pretty close to noon and everyone had started to feel tired, we swum back to the shore, got our belongings and head for the showers. We treated ourselves to some ice cream before leaving for the next Island and traded our wet life jackets for dry ones.

At the next Island, we walked around and sat at the beach to enjoy the scenery of the clear aqua waters. We continued to take pictures and noticed many fishes there too. We couldn’t stay longer as we had to return for Friday prayer; so we set sail back to the dock where we were promised to be fetched back by the resort van. Syazwan and his cousin, Hadi, took turns having a go at steering the boat back but only for a while. Everyone had a heap of fun and brought back a treasured memory of our first underwater adventure together. It was totally captivating and a very much worth it experience that We agree would only be best described when gone and tried for yourself. We totally recommend it! Go on. Go for it!

Kota Kinabalu Vacation - Snorkeling!!

Later that evening, we went shopping some more and enjoyed coffee at the nearby starbucks café, sipping our warm white chocolate tall lattes while trying to upload our adventure pics on to Syazwan’s blog. Kota Kinabalu Vacation - 2nd Day!! And the next morning, we set off in the late morning to attend Syazwan’s relative’s wedding reception held at the local hall. We both wore matching maroon fuchsia ‘Baju Melayu’ to attend as a couple. Unlike the customs in Brunei, we came and were immediately told to hit the buffet straight away. There, guests are not obliged to stay throughout the reception but are welcomed to leave at any time they preferred. Many had only stayed to eat and paid respects to the bride and groom for a minute or two, but we stayed for quite a while to wait for the bride and groom to arrive and take some pictures. After the event, we returned to the apartment to rest then continued looking around the city.

Kota Kinabalu Vacation - The Wedding!!
Kota Kinabalu Vacation - 3rd Day!!

Since it was Our 9th Monthsary the next day, we took the chance of celebrating it earlier and privilegely abroad in KK. So, we scheduled Us a date at the Secret Recipe Restaurant for some dinner where we had lots of fun and enjoyed our exquisitely tasting orders. After dinner, we went to the bookstore to checkout some reading candy and then headed off to the waterfront to meet up with the Family. Before we went back; we had our last Star Bucks coffee outting.Kota Kinabalu Vacation - 9th Monthsary Celebration!! The next morning, we left for the airport after checking out and later landed in Brunei that noon where our Families were waiting to fetch us home.

This was our first Family Vacation together and indeed it was a fun one at that, especially with having Our Snorkelling Adventures to top it. Besides being a great way to spend Our vacation together; NorMala got the chance to spend more time and meet with Syazwan's immediate and distant Fam- as well as had the experience of travelling with them, something Syazwan is yet to go through with NorMala's Fam. Perhaps next time yea? We were both more than happy to have gone with the Fam and spend time with our beloveds. We look forward for our next Fam Vacation together =)

103~ Our First Getaway

~: Mountain Top Paradise :~

Our first ever getaway as a couple was during our vacation to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia with Our BFF's. We had gone together with a bunch of them and their family and enjoyed a short 4 days and 5 nights in the city above the sky. We took the RBA morning flight and reached there at noon to which later we had waited for our pick up shauffer from the hotel for some time. We stayed at the Ceylen Hotel and Resort, a miracle hotel we thought; since we had found it on the last minute when most hotels where already fully booked during the period of our stay and the room rates where ridiculously cheap for a four stars hotel with great service. They were a few years established but only in the rural areas where the Mountain was accomodating for hikers and the mounts visitors, and now had recently franchised out to the town. And luckily we were one of the first guests there, so you can imagine the spick and span impressions everywhere, we totally loved our stay.

As soon as we reached the hotel that evening, we rested for a bit and started walking around the mall, which the hotel was situated nearby. We walked around, got some fast food and bought some essentials like snacks and water for preparation. We had planned to stay over at the resort in the mountains if it was possible to transfer between the two without any trouble and thankfully enough, it was possible. So the morning after we early birds packed our stuff and left from the hotel at 7.30am. We hired a van and a driver to send us to the resort up in the mountains and during our journey; there were occasional showers and alternate sunshine with a lot of fogs and cloudy winds, which was probably when the phrase ‘land above the sky’ first really stood the most of its meaning hehe. Meandering around the cliffs was a bit scary with the unfriendly weather and we held on to eachother tight. Around us was a lot of vegetation and small rural houses with a few sheep and cows here and there. There were also many other resort stops along the way.

When we reached our resort, it was nearly noon. It was situated in between the valley hills view and the mountain peak view which we chose to our room to face. As soon as we checked in and settled down, we took in the cool mountain atmosphere and looked around in amazement. We could see the peak just outside our veranda. The room was charming and homey with a KK cultured theme, there were these cute Sabah patterned robes which we felt were great and breakfast service in the mornings were definitely a bonus. As happy as we were with our room, nothing could ever captivate us more than the peak mountain view of the Kota Kinabalu grande. We couldn’t stop taking it in- we had our lunch in the veranda facing it and kept the doors open most of the time. It was certainly a site that takes your breath away all the time and we were deliriously happy and subdued in our serenity being together.

HarmonyUs Sovereigns at Mount Kinabalu, KK, Malaysia

Later we tracked around the area taking lots of pictures and further appreciated the countryside by visiting a nearby farm. That night we enjoyed a put together feast by the kitchen chef for dinner and retreated to our rooms to get enough rest for our second day in KK. The next day, we got up early to appreciate the dawn of the mountain tops and it was another whole different elevated beautiful feeling all together. An experience you would have to live out yourself to really know. With the clouds that surrounded you, you’d feel like you were floating with the birds that were chirping their tunes to you in the cool dew dawn; feeling royally treated by nature. We absolutely loved it. After breakfast, we took a van ride to the hot springs where we soaked ourselves in the earthed naturally warmed waters and also visited the nearby forest tracks. There was a butterfly farm too, which we glimpsed on nearby. We returned to the resort to take the rest of the day off playing in the garden hill top and later on enjoyed a massage therapy session also provided by the hotel. We thought it would be a lovely treat to add to our already great vacation.

For our third day, we returned to the hotel in the city and spent the day shopping, sipping coffee at cafes and dining at the infamous secret recipe restaurant. And on our last day, we continued our shopping and took some time to visit a beautiful bay resort overlooking some islands near the seashore. We headed off to the airport just before the late afternoon came, checked in our luggage at the departure hall and shortly parted of from KK and our first ever getaway together.

It was our first ever HarmonyUs Sovereign getaway and it was simply perfect. We are thankful that we didn’t have any trouble with anything and we are absolutely happy with it because we totally loved the whole trip. We couldn’t have had a better time together in KK where all we can bring back home was the best memories spent together that could never ever be forgotten by either of Us :)