Reign226's Guide to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (The Only Definitive Guide for Undergraduates headed for UMS)
Malaysia Students
(The Only Definitive Guide for Undergraduates headed for UMS)
Version 1.0
Well, I've come up with something to do to tide my own anxiety with the
impending university entrance which is going to be announced in about
three week's time. I thought why not write a few entries on life in KK,
Sabah, for the benefit of people who are going to study in UMS (god
forbid). Of course, studying in UMS is fine...it is a fine place. Just
that I am biased towards getting off KK. But I am digressing already:
Introduction:
KK is a nice place. Small, quaint, relatively safe and as a result,
immensely boring. Of course, parents would probably delight in having
their sons and/or daughters enrolled in the city below the breeze
(that's our motto) because life here is very relaxed and slow. However,
there are a few things that most people have a misconception of and I
am here to fix it. Feel free to preuse this section in order to brush
up on your local trivia.
First of all, we do not live on trees. I know, I know, it's a cliched
thing whenever a Sabahan writes about the 'misconception' that people
in Sabah still lived in trees. But I feel the need to mention it
nonetheless. What is not a misconception is that if you are coming from
a big city, be prepared to be surprised by the lack of good public
transportation. For one thing, we only have one flyover in the heart of
KK, and there is on-going construction of a highway (a real one) in the
heart of the city, which makes hell out of the roads there. If you are
planning on driving in Sabah, please don't do so until you have
familiarized yourself with the hellish roads here. Ride in a local car
first.
Also, the people here speak malay differently. I'm not really clear on
the difference but it's mostly to do with the intonation. Note that the
lexicon is also different. For example, people in Sabah refer to
'pantat' whenever we want to mention the backside. I was made to
understand people in Semenanjung say 'pantat' to mean the female
genitalia. Hell, I don't know if this is true or false, but I hope I
wasn't bullshitted to. We have a few words such as 'om' and 'pilak'
which refers to the illegal immigrants here. It is said that the
illegal immigrants here emit a distinctive odour that any Sabahan or
people living here long enough will learn to pick up. I am not
bullshitting here.
On the subject of illegal immigrants, yes, it is a worse problem over
here where we border Kalimantan and Indonesia. But the situation is
largely under control. However, as a result, riding on the public
transportation becomes much of a hassle because sometimes, the busses
will refuse to travel certain routes whenever the police is conducting
traffic checks. This, fortunately, is not often done. A few years ago
there were a few pretty serious crimes involving illegals but the
situation has calmed down a lot recently. It's not really a big deal so
Don't Worry About It (DWAI).
I guess I should end the introduction here and head on for the meaty
stuff.
UMS
Aaah, UMS. A pretty nice place. Supposedly the design won a few awards.
It cannot be denied that it's one of the most, if not the most
beautiful public university in Malaysia. I have been inside a few times
and the university, in a word, is HUGE. Not only that, it is HILLY! You
do NOT want to ride a bicycle inside the campus because you'll tire out
very quickly. However, cycling TO university (if you live outside) is a
viable strategy, but still not advisable because where the heck are you
supposed to park it? The internal bus routes is good enough, for all
practical purposes.
The road outside of UMS seems to be a bit dangerous. There have been
accidents involving undergraduates here. It's probably nothing to worry
about, and a coincidence that accidents usually involve undergraduates
as it's the only road leading to UMS. Just exercise proper caution when
on this road, like every other roads.
I am not really an expert on UMS because I've been inside only a few
times. However, what catches the eye is the 'twin towers' sitting on
top of a hill in the middle of the university. I'm supposed to say
something about what it is, except that I have no clue. I believe, if
memory serves, that it's the hostel, and there is a KFC outlet there.
Other notable stuff of this university includes it's excellent location
which is just in front of the beach (not sure if students are allowed
to go there though) and being next to 1 Borneo, which is a new megamall
opening in 2008, thereabouts.
Accomodations:
Kingfisher Park is a HUGE housing estate that is sited about 2KM
(around 3 minutes car ride) from UMS. It is a sprawling suburb that has
it's own little commercial center that has some of the best food that
the east coast of Sabah can offer. There is a huge variety including
chinese, indian, malay and western treats inside of the commercial
center and is probably the best place you can stay outside of UMS. My
friend rents a house here, and the rent averages for about RM1000. It's
a pretty decent house. Two stories, about 4 or 5 rooms not including
kitchens and toilets. He managed to stuff eleven people in it, and it's
still got space in the living room.
Wong Kwok recently launched the University Apartments that's supposed
to be an alternative to Kingfisher, but I don't have any information on
this place. I'm not even sure where it is. But all I can say is, don't
bother, just try your best to get a place at Kingfisher and you'll be a
happy person.
Entertainment:
Unfortunately, as Sabah is a pretty sleepy town, do not come here
expecting a lively nightlife. However, if you know where to look, there
are enough things to keep your life as an undergraduate far from
boring. More importantly, UMS is about 6 minutes by car from the city
center. Six minutes! That's pretty darned close if you ask me.
Damai
Damai is a complex of shoplots situated a few minutes from KK. If you
are going to Damai from UMS, take the Highway (seriously, this is what
the locals here refer to the road. It's the first highway here
connecting Luyang to Likas) as it will be closer than driving to KK
then down. But who cares...since the difference is negligable. Anyway,
the peak hours of Damai is from 5pm to about 10pm. Expect to see a lot
of pretty girls here as there is a pretty large Coffee Bean nearby.
This is also the site of the infamous Cyber X, arguably the city's
largest and best cybercafe. Cyber X never closes and is close to
impossible to get seats. Your best bet is to come here during 6pm when
even gamers have to retire for dinner.
Describing the actual layout of Damai is an almost impossible task.
Suffice to say, if you come from the road, the block to your right is
Cyber X, and if you go straight and to the left, you arrive at one of
the best places for 'makan malam' in KK, as long as you keep it before
11pm. The place I am talking about is usually referred to as 88 or, as
my friends call it, Damai Super Corridor. It can get pretty packed here
and it consists of about 5 different coffeeshops located back to back,
not including the mamak and a-piang stalls. The prices range from cheap
to average (about RM4) and the drinks here are really kau.
This concludes the Damai section. There's a place to game and a place
to eat. What more do you want?
Lintas
Aaaah...Lintas. It's located further away than Damai, but that's
speaking relatively as it's only at most 4 minutes away. Lintas peaks
at about 12am and lasts all the way to the early morning, depending on
the situation. It is the location of the infamous Salim group of mamak
coffeeshops that serves some of KK's best indian dishes. There is also
a pool parlour here and it's usually vacated, unless you come here
reeealy late. Has great tables, large, air-conditioned and relatively
free from smokers.
A little secret: There is a moving Lok Lok van here that likes to
appear around 12am. It is, to my knowledge, the only Lok Lok van in the
whole of KK.
Lintas used to be a great place because of it's vibrant illegal racing
nightlife. Nothing funnier than watching a Kancil roaring across the
road, only to realize it's all sound, no speed. But there can be some
pretty cool cars driving around. Unfortunately, it has mostly
disappeared because the residents around the area have complained
heavily about the noise. On lucky days, you'll be able to see people
racing. More often than not, they have relocated.
Kota Kinabalu
KK has three great cinemas. GSC is a fairly large building and is
easily recognized from the movie banners hanging from the walls. It has
a decent screen and a decent pricetag. An average cinema. Then there is
Mega Pavilion, which is classier and as a result, more expensive. I've
only ever been there once, but they set the air conditioning too cold
and it's not worth the extra few Ringgit I paid for, which is why I
still stick to Growball, the third and hardest cinema to find because
it's located in the 8th floor of Centre Point, the shopping mall here.
As for shopping, Centre Point is a behemoth and has almost everything
you want. Growball operates the cinema, pool parlour and arcade here
and there's always an event going on in both the ground floor event
hall and also the 5th floor Palm Square. The local PC Fair is always
held in the grand ball room but is much smaller than the ones in KL.
Karamunsing is the equivalent of Lowyat Plaza and has more computer
shops per capita than anywhere else in Sabah. Prices here can vary
wildly so be prepared to do some proper surveying. KK Plaza is the one
I least go to, because in a way it's like a smaller, lesser version of
Centre Point. As you can see, the shopping here is not really all that
good, but if you come one a week anyway, it's not that bad.
Misc Talk:
If you are planning on grocery shopping, always head to Servay
Hypermarket Likas, which is closest to UMS. It has everything you could
possibly ever want, and then some more. If you can't find it in Servay,
just a short drive to Likas Supermarket will probably fix that problem.
Postscript:
This is a work in progress. I will update this post with relevant
information and pictures when I have the time to go out and grab them.
If you would like to know more about UMS and Sabah in general, do
comment and tell me what I should write about. Thank you!