Tuesday 10th August

I thought I would sleep longer after my big day yesterday, but I woke at about 6am and after a couple of hours watch-watching (given I haven't worn a watch for 5 years, I'm loving this watch!) I had a shower. Hmm ... I wish I could take a picture to show you the size of this shower. I don't think it was even 1m x 1m for the whole shower room. When the door opened, it basically touched the back of the shower room! I somehow managed to shower and not get my towel or clothes wet, and quickly retreated back to my dorm to finish getting ready. Given there was no mirror in the dorm - the only mirror is in the 1 girls' toilet here - I made use of the mirror on my travel brush to do my make-up. Goodness only knows what I looked like ... !

The hostel offers free breakfast, so I loaded up on toast with .. strawberry jam! (Yes Mum and Dad, I ate strawberry jam, did you faint?) I also filled my drink bottle with the free cold filtered water and headed off for my first day of exploring. I'd been told that Kota Kinabalu was very boring and was just to be used as a stepping stone for Mt Kinabalu or other nearby attractions. That was indeed correct. I spent a couple of hours exploring the town on foot and found absolutely nothing of interest. By 12pm, after losing about 5kg of my body weight thanks to the high humidity, I decided to treat myself to a hot stone massage and scalp massage for the grand total of ... $20! Lunch followed at a tiny place I found in a shopping centre. It was called a 'tuna and cheese waffle' although it was absolutely nothing like waffles as we know. It was extremely delicious though - like a spicy onion and cheese tuna crepe is the best way I can think to describe it.

Another hour of walking and I was still unimpressed with the city, so I made my way to a cinema complex and watched 'Ínception'. I'm not sure if it was T.A. Tuesday but the ticket was only 7RM (less than $3). Very interesting movie.

From there, I walked along the waterfront and took in the beautiful sunset, before returning to the hostel, where I sit now. The high heat and humidity eliminates your hunger, so dinner hasn't really crossed my mind.

That's all for now, I'm having issues getting my photos up on this computer so I will try again when I'm next on.