The Lim boys flew to KK, Sabah

Isaac & Ivan really love aeroplanes & to certain extent, helicopters too. There are plenty of aeroplanes & helicopters that fly pass our house in the mornings for some strange unbelievable reasons (although our house is nothing near the airports). So whenever we go cycling in the mornings, we would catch a few sightings of these air transports. With their growing interest in these air transports, both Sze Weng & I planned to bring them for a ride when we could afford it.

Blessing came knocking on our doors in early Oct 2010. Due to God’s unmerited favor, I received a special bonus which is enough to bring the whole family for a short weekend holiday to KK, Sabah. After some research, reviews & sourcing around for deals that fits into our budget, we decided on Nexus Resort Karambunai, KK, Sabah. It was part of airasia.com deal and for Rm4,008 we could even bring my parents along! Quite a deal for 4 adults, 2 children on a 3D2N stay in a 5-star resort in KK…that was what we thought..only to find out more later..hehe.

Isaac & Ivan's 1st ever plane ride...*so fun!!*

First of all, we weren’t aware & was not prompted by airasia online booking system that we needed to pre-book our luggages online. If we did that, we could have saved Rm60 in total..! Did I miss the fine prints!? Or did airasia conveniently made the fine prints EVEN finer!!

2^nd on the list, well, all along I knew that Nexus Resort was located very far away from KK town, 1 Borneo & other places. We were ok about it coz the main purpose was to enjoy the beautiful beach, scenic surroundings, marvelous nature setting and spend some quality time with the boys & my parents. When I eventually found out that getting around cost SOOOOOO much, I nearly fainted! A 20min 2-ways taxi ride from Nexus Resort to Gayang Seafood Restaurant (which is located in a very ‘kampung’ area, which we wouldn’t be able to find had we hired a car!) cost us Rm90. We comforted ourselves that though hiring a car is much cheaper but we would spend more time on the road finding the place than anything. So being chauffeured around always comes with a price lah! Plus with the 2 boys, we need to make sure convenience & comfort are not compromised when we travel. All in all, transport to & fro airport plus all the return ‘getting-around-rides’ (to Gayang & to KK town) cost us Rm421. Certainly not cheap!!

Thirdly, I was told Gayang is the place for ‘BUDGET’ seafood, well we found out the hard way. Fishes & lobsters there cost more than in KL…to our utter surprise! Not wanting to pay such exorbitant prices for seafood which we could get cheaper in KL, we opted for seafood like some clams & shellfish called ‘Tung Fung’, had lamb in pepper sauce, a vege and finally a chicken dish. All that for Rm124. This price is definitely not kampong price lor…very similar to eating out in KL. A friend who now resides in KK said, eating out in KK is pretty pricey now.

Our 1st dinner in KK @ Gayang Seafood Restaurant

The worst & most unimaginable thing happened after dinner. The cabbie that dropped us off there said to call him half an hour before leaving so he will have enough time to come over. We called him from 7pm onwards…could not get through. We must have tried 50 times but all failed to get hold of him. I was so angry, I called up the hotel’s front desk & gave them a ear-ful of the poor quality of service. It was only about 7.40pm that I finally got through the cabbie & was told both his mobile phones’ battery went dead. He came ½ hour later…which meant we waited for an hour plus for him! Despite all that, overall trip has met our initial intentions of :

- Taking the boys for a plane ride - Bringing them to a beach resort with big & spacious swimming pools - And of course to spend quality time together

Jump...the waves' coming

The boys having a blast at the beach, built sandcastles..err in Ivan's case, more like destroying..haha

Pool time - the boys learnt to swim without floats..which is really awesome!

The Lim boys resting after spending an hour in the pool on Saturday morning

Di di Ivan discovering the art of jumping & kicking the grass..

Ivan's totally in his own world, enjoying his apple whilst others are busy talking to one another

Isaac asking gong-gong for 1 more chipsmore..after eating half the pack!

Pictures taken at KK town areas; Waterfront & KK Observatory Tower

With alignment of objective/intention, this trip has been fantastic! It has met all our expectations in those parameters. But of course, we wouldn’t say we enjoyed KK a whole lot..just that it was a great getaway lah!This blog post would not be complete if I didn’t mention anything about Nexus Resort Karambunai. It’s a huge resort with beautiful nature surroundings but kinda a tad old. Saving grace is that it is well maintained & overall service within resort compound is rather commendable. There is this Manager of The Kingfisher Restaurant, Mr Fizzy, who is extra friendly & especially great with kids. Our usual shy & socially unfriendly son, Isaac, really opened up to him & seems to enjoy being around Mr Fizzy a lot.

Our sons have grown quite a bit during this trip. Kor kor, Isaac, is much more friendly now & less shy in front of strangers. He greeted strangers with a casual & friendly ‘HI’ at the swimming pool area. We were pleasantly surprised as it was a tough task getting him to do that to friends in church which he sees every Sunday *lol*

As for di di, Ivan, he’s grown up a lot too. He’s a lot more confident & independent now. Often times, he appears to be the kor kor instead esp. when he generously gives in to Isaac’s request of wanting something.

They are both great blessings in Sze Weng & my life, we thank God everyday for them.

It's time to go home now..we are on board the van that shuttled us to the airport

*****