{"id":19276,"date":"2016-02-23T22:04:25","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T12:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=19276"},"modified":"2016-02-23T22:04:25","modified_gmt":"2016-02-23T12:04:25","slug":"a-week-in-kota-kinabalu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=19276","title":{"rendered":"A Week In Kota Kinabalu"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=18495\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-18495\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18495\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tagtravelwide1.jpg\" alt=\"tagtravelwide\" width=\"1000\" height=\"75\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tagtravelwide1.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tagtravelwide1-300x22.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IqidOc6CqJ8\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<span class=\"dropcap\">I<\/span>t&#8217;s been fifteen years since I moved to Australia but any trip to South East Asia feels like coming home.<\/p>\n<p>The sights. \u00a0The sounds. \u00a0The smells.<\/p>\n<p>The food. The people. \u00a0The culture.<\/p>\n<p>I love and miss all of it terribly.<\/p>\n<p>Any time that I&#8217;m back in this part of the world I feel completely absorbed in memories of my childhood and in a warm, happy place.<\/p>\n<p>This February I was lucky enough to spend a week in Sabah\u00a0with the Halligans. \u00a0Jim, Karen, Sarah, Matt, Jen and I. \u00a0We ate lots of roti and ikan pari, watched movies together and got up to a lot of fun in the sun.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19278\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19278\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19278\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/halligans.jpg\" alt=\"halligans\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/halligans.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/halligans-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/halligans-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In 2016, when I want to revisit life as I remember it in Brunei, it&#8217;s nice to go to Kota Kinabalu. \u00a0Modern day KK is more in line with the culture and lifestyle I remember of Brunei in the Nineties.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The city has absolutely blown up in size over the past decade and is a wonderful place to visit. \u00a0There is so much to see and do. \u00a0Most people are familiar with the major tourist attractions &#8211; the orang-utan sanctuaries, Mount Kinabalu and the tropical islands dotting the coastline.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">But there&#8217;s so much more nowadays.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I think the city has struck a fine balance accommodating both contemporary shopping malls and keeping the more earthy local shops and markets where you can pick up knick knacks, curios and trinkets unique to this part of the world. \u00a0There&#8217;s plenty of cool stuff on offer if you explore the city centre.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Kota Kinabalu also has a burgeoning food scene. \u00a0It&#8217;s already heaven for anyone craving a good honest roti chanai and an aisu milo but\u00a0the city also has an ever expanding array of other cuisine types. \u00a0They have good Mexican and Italian places now. \u00a0On this particular trip I even dined out at <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Chilli-Vanilla-Cafe\/147177555364821\">a Hungarian restaurant<\/a>\u00a0(the curiously named\u00a0<em>Chilli Vanilla<\/em>)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I can&#8217;t speak highly enough about this part of the world. \u00a0The people are super friendly, there are endless activities to do that cost practically nothing and culturally its like a mix of everything I loved about South East Asia as a kid (the climate, the food etc) but with the perks of a modern city (there&#8217;s wifi everywhere, they have a Nando&#8217;s).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19279\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19279\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19279\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahcar.jpg\" alt=\"sabahcar\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahcar.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahcar-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahcar-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Driving In Malaysia<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The biggest difference about this particular holiday over any other I&#8217;ve had in Malaysia is that for the first time in my life, I hired a car and had my own wheels. \u00a0To the untrained eye, this might not sound like a big deal but for a <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/theawkwardblog.com\/what-its-like-to-be-an-expat-kid\/\">third culture kid<\/a><\/strong> who didn&#8217;t get his drivers license until he was 30, it&#8217;s a pretty massive.<\/p>\n<p>The car I hired was a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Perodua_Axia\">Perodua Axia<\/a><\/strong>, a car so common in Malaysia you can see an identical one parked in the background of the photo above. \u00a0Google tells me that a brand new Axia will set you back about $7,000 AUD which is probably why there are roughly a million of these things on the roads of Kota Kinabalu. \u00a0It&#8217;s cheap, compact, fuel efficient and seems to have a top speed of about 70kph if I floor the accelerator. \u00a0Sure, it wasn&#8217;t the flashiest car in town but it did the job and got us around.<\/p>\n<p>Driving in Borneo felt\u00a0<em>really weird<\/em> to begin with. \u00a0All of my memories of being on the road in Brunei as a kid were from the vantage point of the backseat of my dad&#8217;s trusty Daihatsu Feroza. \u00a0And now here I was out on the road. \u00a0Me! \u00a0It felt like a real moment of &#8216;adulting&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, driving in Malaysia wasn&#8217;t as scary as I thought it would be. \u00a0I remember being a bit iffy about some of the driving I saw here in the past. \u00a0The locals seemed pretty lax about indicating when changing lanes\u00a0and most drove either 20kph above or below the speed limit. \u00a0But you get used to it pretty quickly. \u00a0KK has dozens of round abouts everywhere. \u00a0Traffic jams are a regular occurence in the city. \u00a0You just have to stick your nose in everywhere to have any chance of getting out.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, having a car gave me a new-found sense of freedom and I was determined to make the most of it. \u00a0Although we were only in town for a week, I was determined to cram in as much stuff as possible. \u00a0So there were plenty of days where we were getting up at 6 in the morning so we could drive to our first activity for the day. \u00a0It was absolutely worth it. \u00a0We went snorkelling, zip lining, white water rafting, train riding, hashing, shopping and dancing. \u00a0We did everything we wanted on our check list.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19280\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19280\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19280\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahmarimari.jpg\" alt=\"sabahmarimari\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahmarimari.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahmarimari-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahmarimari-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Mari Mari Cultural Village<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/marimariculturalvillage.com\/\">Offical Website<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>One of our first stops was the Mari Mari Cultural Village. \u00a0I&#8217;ve actually been here before but I enjoyed it so much I wanted to go back and share the experience with Sarah and Matt.<\/p>\n<p>The village is a three hour interactive tour that gives you a snapshot into five indigenous tribes of Sabah. \u00a0You get to walk through a hut representing each of the tribes (including two headhunters) and have a sample of the food and drink they live off of.<\/p>\n<p>The Mari Mari Cultural Village experience is highly interactive and well paced. \u00a0You get fed plenty of local delicacies, get to sample rice wine and participate in cool activities like using a blow pipe and dancing with some indigenous locals. \u00a0Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. \u00a0Best of all, the experience ends with a twenty minute musical number and then a buffet. \u00a0I wish more Western cultural exhibits would do that.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19281\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19281\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19281\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahlido.jpg\" alt=\"sabahlido\" width=\"1000\" height=\"431\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahlido.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahlido-300x129.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahlido-768x331.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Dining In Kota Kinabalu<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><em>The Lido Square Food Court<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the best eating spots in Kota Kinabalu, it&#8217;s hard to go past <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Lido-Square-Food-Centre\/196037500430377\">The Lido Square Food Court<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0It&#8217;s the best place to go if you want to gorge yourself in seafood. \u00a0There are hawkers selling fresh fish, slipper lobster and sting ray (ikan pari). \u00a0Be warned though! \u00a0We were in KK during Chinese New Year and The Lido was so popular that some of these stalls were selling out of their stock early in the evening.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19282\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19282\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19282\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19282\" class=\"wp-image-19282 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahroti.jpg\" alt=\"sabahroti\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahroti.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahroti-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahroti-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-19282\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Roti at Mohideen Curry House<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Mohideen Curry House<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For roti, we go to Beverly Hills. \u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Mohideen-Curry-House-Beverly-Hills\/331446610208474\">Mohideen Curry House<\/a><\/strong> is the classic South East Asian restaurant that I know and love from my childhood. \u00a0The roti is made to perfection, they do an excellent aisu milo and they have a tv in the corner that shows pro wrestling. \u00a0I have always wondered what the origins were of Malaysians and their love of wrestling. \u00a0Its the only part of the world that I know of where its common to air it at eateries.<\/p>\n<p>It costs about five bucks a head to stuff yourself silly with roti and curry chicken at Mohideen&#8217;s. \u00a0The Halligans are a bit fancy and like to order roti telur (it has egg mixed in). \u00a0I&#8217;m more of a roti canai (roti classic) man myself.<\/p>\n<p>I took a lot of photos when I was in KK but that table spread of rotis and dipping sauces is one of my favourites. \u00a0There&#8217;s plenty of places in Brisbane that do roti now but its never as good as back home.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19283\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19283\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19283\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19283\" class=\"wp-image-19283 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahicemilo.jpg\" alt=\"sabahicemilo\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahicemilo.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahicemilo-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahicemilo-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-19283\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aisu Milo (or Milo Ping) &#8211; Nectar of the Gods<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Chilli Vanilla<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As I mentioned earlier, we ate at a Hungarian restaurant on this visit. \u00a0We intended to go to El Centro, a popular Mexican restaurant but it was booked out. \u00a0I am the last person in the world to be talking to when gauging the authenticity of Hungarian dishes but I can definitely recommend the chicken roulade. \u00a0The service was friendly and the beer is cheap. \u00a0Definitely worth it if you want a break from Asian cuisine. \u00a0Their Facebook page can be found <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Chilli-Vanilla-Cafe\/147177555364821\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19284\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19284\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19284\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19284\" class=\"wp-image-19284 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahwhitewater.jpg\" alt=\"sabahwhitewater\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahwhitewater.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahwhitewater-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahwhitewater-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-19284\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">White water rafting at Padas River<\/p><\/div>\n<h2><strong>White Water Rafting at Padas River<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazingborneo.com\/package\/white-water-rafting-padas-grade-3-4\"><em>Official Website<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re going to do white water rafting at Padas River, be prepared to set aside most of the day. \u00a0You need to get up at the butt crack of dawn and drive to Beaufort which is about an hours\u00a0drive from Kota Kinabalu. \u00a0Then you board a train which takes another ninety minutes to get you to Padas River.<\/p>\n<p>The train ride is crazy. \u00a0It&#8217;s not anything like a conventional passenger train you&#8217;d get in a Western country. \u00a0It&#8217;s more like the trains you see in old movies that people hop onto when they run away from home and join the circus. \u00a0The entire contraption is made of metal. \u00a0Most people sit on the floor. \u00a0The entire side compartments of the carriage open up for circulation and you can basically sit there and dangle your feet over the edge (the train goes slowly enough that this is more or less safe). \u00a0It was quite the experience.<\/p>\n<p>We did white water rafting with a group called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.riverbug.asia\/\">RiverBug<\/a>. \u00a0As with virtually every other activity we experienced, our hosts were terrific. \u00a0They were friendly, full of fun and enjoyed a good sing song. \u00a0Our guides pretty much sang the entire time we paddled down the river and they were very accommodating of my constant need to jump out the raft and paddle around.<\/p>\n<p>The journey down Padas River runs for 9km and takes a couple of hours to do. \u00a0It&#8217;s an absolute blast. \u00a0There&#8217;s about nine different &#8216;rapids&#8217; that you go through and then there are some peaceful stretches of water when you can get in the water and just enjoy floating downstream.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the river you get a buffet lunch and beer (just like the Mari Mari Cultural Village). \u00a0You&#8217;ll appreciate it because white water rafting is thirsty work.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19287\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19287\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19287\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19287\" class=\"wp-image-19287 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tigercelebrate.jpg\" alt=\"tigercelebrate\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tigercelebrate.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tigercelebrate-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tigercelebrate-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-19287\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">*clink* Cheers! Enjoying a beer at the end of a 9km journey down the river<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19285\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19285\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19285\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahsisters.jpg\" alt=\"sabahsisters\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahsisters.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahsisters-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahsisters-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19286\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19286\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19286\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahhash.jpg\" alt=\"sabahhash\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahhash.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahhash-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sabahhash-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Chinese New Year Hash<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Matt and I ran the Chinese New Year Hash with the Kota Kinabalu chapter of the Hash House Harriers.<\/p>\n<p>To be blunt, the run was absolutely brutal.<\/p>\n<p>The course took us through the thickets of the jungle in the steep, hilly part of I Don&#8217;t Know Where. \u00a0Then, when we finally reached a clearing, we came out at the back of some Chinese guy&#8217;s house where his seven dogs chased us, barking at full volume. \u00a0The course then followed the main road back to the host&#8217;s house where he was having a big Chinese New Year party. \u00a0There was mahjong, karaoke, a buffet dinner, beer and lots of friendly new faces to meet. \u00a0They all knew me as &#8216;Don&#8217;s Son&#8217; and had lots of stories to tell about my dad. \u00a0He is still remembered very fondly in this part of the world.<\/p>\n<p>As you can see in the photo above, I took some pride in wearing the only hash shirt I have in my possession &#8211; a shirt commemorating the combined 1800th runs for Gordon Nicol and my dad.<\/p>\n<h2><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VBeHvy_887A\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<strong>Island To Island Zipline (Sapi Island)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.coralflyer.com\/www.coralflyer.com\/home.html\">Offical Website<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Gaya to Sapi island zipline is as awesome as it sounds. \u00a0You basically take a flying fox twenty feet over the water and zipline from one island to the next. \u00a0It lasts about thirty seconds and is an adrenaline ride (not to mention a great way to view the island paradise you&#8217;re in). \u00a0It costs a grand total of $20 bucks AUD per head. \u00a0Well worth it.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aMqiz56cwAY\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Snorkelling<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BorneoDream\/posts\/10153265916166269?pnref=story\">Borneo Dream Travel Facebook<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The last activity we did was snorkelling around Sapi Island. \u00a0We did this Borneo Dream, a very reasonably priced tour company. \u00a0We had a day trip on a private boat where there was only our gang and one other British couple (John and Diedre). \u00a0Our guide Basir was excellent. \u00a0He took us to some very secluded spots to do our snorkelling and thanks to his experience, he knew exactly where to go to find the most exotic looking fish, interesting corals and in one fleeting moment &#8211; a shark (it was only a couple of feet long though).<\/p>\n<p>Basir can also hold his breath for an improbably long period of time and he was responsible for taking our GoPro camera and shooting most of the underwater footage you can see in our holiday video. \u00a0Some of the footage he shot of clown fish, stingray and schools of barracudas were absolutely amazing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A week long holiday in sunny Sabah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1804],"tags":[191,2433,1736,2434],"class_list":["post-19276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-blog","tag-holiday","tag-kota-kinabalu","tag-malaysia","tag-sabah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19276"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19310,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19276\/revisions\/19310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}