Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Because the Cherry Blossom cruise is a first for many onboard right now, each of us at the desk were put in charge of two ports that we had to gather information about for us to present to the team in order to be knowledgeable to assist with any passenger queries (now I’m sounding like a Aussie.. the signature line I hear… “I have a quick query for you” and believe me when I say, it is never quick.) Kota Kinabalu was one of the ports I had to present to my colleagues and my perspective from the information I found compared to the actual place was almost completely opposite.

I envisioned a city filled with fabulous shopping, beautiful sites, rich temples and interesting markets, what I found was that the capital city of Sabah did have beautiful temples and Mosques like Muara but that was about it. Many people claimed that Malaysia was one of their favorite places but so far, this was one of my least but I have been told that this wasn’t the best city to visit for first impressions on Malaysia.

I was more in shock then I was Muara when I saw the rivers in the city lined with ‘plastic fish’ as they called it (millions of plastic bottles since they do not have proper recycling and waste disposal) and the distinct smell of the markets that was enough for me to turn right around and get back on the bus as soon as I stepped off. Maybe it didn’t help that the temperature was a blazing 40C out?

Not all of it was a bust… I’ve got to love my connections with the tour office as yet again they sent me on an afternoon tour to see the city sights. There were two things I did really enjoy about the city including the interesting architecture and the museum featuring an original heritage village filled with bamboo huts. It was neat to see the bamboo huts which look like they could be knocked over with a gust of wind but the bamboo actually holds its structure in place. The huts were built on silts about a meter above ground to protect against the tide and wildlife and I could hardly believe that the flooring made of bamboo and leaves held up for the millions of tourists walking through.

After my first two Asia ports, although I didn’t fall in love with either, I know the best is yet to come; I have the Parkers in the next two ports so I know my adventures in Asia will only get better!