Cliff(y) Goes Travelling

[BI822] BKI-BWN (40m) Airbus 320 ETD: 8.50am (GMT + 8)  ETA:  9.30am (GMT + 8) As mentioned previously, I'm going to combine the trip report onboard BI822 from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia to Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, as well as BI683 to Manila, the Philippines into a single post. That was my second time being airborne for around 20 minutes only. Still, that's not the shortest commercial flight in the world.

Level 2 (Near Gate B3),  Kota Kinabalu International Airport, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Daily: 6.30am - 1.00am I wonder how many Plaza Premium Lounges are there across the globe. The independent airport lounge group operates two separate lounges at Kota Kinabalu International Airport, one at level 2 for domestic departures and another at level 3 for international departures.

Jalan Lapangan Terbang (Baru), Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Located approximately 8 km away southwest of the city centre, Kota Kinabalu International Airport is the second busiest airport in the country. It was originally a military airfield built by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II known as Jesselton Airfield.

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Kota Kinabalu, formerly known as Jesselton, is the capital of the state of Sabah, Malaysia. As one of the major and commercial centres of Malaysian Borneo, it's no surprise that Kota Kinabalu is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. All the pictures taken in this post, as well as those in the previous post on Signal Hill Observatory Platform , were taken within less than 24 hours.

Jalan Bukit Bendera, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Daily: 8.00am - 12 midnight Upon returning to Kota Kinabalu from the mountainous region, my BFF and I immediately put some of our belongings at Dreamtel Kota Kinabalu before starting our exploration since we only had one full day there. Our journey began with a short trek from Padang Merdeka to Signal Hill, which is the highest point in the city.

Jalan Ranau - Tamparuli, Ranau, Malaysia As my BFF and I would be catching the earliest minivan back to Kota Kinabalu the next morning, we decided not to spend the second night at Sutera Sanctuary Lodges . Instead, we booked a room at J Residence (2*), a humble property surrounded with greenery that's approximately 300 m away from the entrance of Kinabalu Park .

Kinabalu Park, Ranau, Malaysia To end off the series of posts on Kinabalu Park, I'm going to write about Kiau Gap View to commemorate the victims of the 2015 Sabah earthquake. My BFF and I visited the monument on 9 June this year, just a few days more than two years since the earthquake of magnitude 6.0 struck the region on 5 June 2015.

Kinabalu Park, Ranau, Malaysia Daily: 9.00am - 4.00pm After stuffing ourselves at breakfast at  Balsam Buffet Restaurant , my BFF and I decided to check out the Kinabalu Natural History Gallery. It's a small, yet informative museum that gives a good introduction to the geology, flora and fauna, as well as ethnology of the regions surrounding Mount Kinabalu.

Kinabalu Park, Ranau, Malaysia Sutera Sanctuary Lodges (3*) offers a number of accommodation options, from hostel to villas, inside Kinabalu Park. Upon seeing a good deal online, my BFF and I decided to stay for 2D1N in the two-storey Liwagu Suite, inclusive of dinner and breakfast the next day. 

Kinabalu Park, Ranau, Malaysia For those not going to climb all the way up to the summit of Mount Kinabalu, there are quite a number of trails available for you at Kinabalu Park, ranging in lengths and difficulty levels. The longest is Liwagu Trail at 5.62 km, while the shortest is Mountain View Trail at 150 m.

Ranau, Malaysia Kinabalu Park is Malaysia's first national park established in 1964. It's also the country's first area to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 for its role as one of the most important biological sites across the globe with over 4,500 species of flora and fauna.

5 Jalan Padang, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia "Dream, Believe, Experience" - Dreamtel Kota Kinabalu is a 20-minute drive away from the airport. It has got a total of 160 rooms, but with neither a swimming pool nor a gym. My BFF and I stayed at the hotel on two separate occasions, before going to and after returning from Mount Kinabalu.

BWN-BKI (40m) Airbus 320 ETD: 9.30pm (GMT + 8)  ETA:  10.10pm (GMT + 8) After a long wait, the flight bound for Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia was finally ready for boarding at around 11.20pm, thanks to the delay as mentioned in the previous post . I didn't expect that there'd be lots of people waiting at the gate, sending a signal that it was going to be a full flight.