Kota Kinabalu 3 Nights 5 Days Trip: Oceanus Waterfront Mall, Jesselton Point, Blue Mosque, Old Sabah State Building, Filipino Night Market (+ Souvenir Shops)

City Islamic Mosque

Oceanus Waterfront Mall

Malaysia 88000 MY Sabah Kota Kinabalu Fuan Stephen Jalan Tun Razak 2nd Floor Lot 28,29,30 Postal Code: 88000

Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal

Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal, Jln Haji Saman, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Kota Kinabalu City Islamic Mosque

Jalan Pasir, Jalan Teluk Likas, Kampung Likas, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Old Sabah State Building

88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Filipino Night Market

Jln Tun Fuad Stephens, Pusat Bandar Kota Kinabalu, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Travel Dates: 2024.01.20 – 2024.01.24

Places Visited: Grandis Hotel, Suria Sabah, Oceanus Waterfront Mall Korean Restaurant, Jesselton Point, Old Sabah State Building, Filipino Night Market

Kota Kinabalu 3 Nights 5 Days Travel Day 4-5

Last breakfast at Grandis Hotel!

The watermelon seems to be the best?

Even the grapefruit tasted way too bitter despite removing the skin.

Suria Sabah

Last shopping before leaving…

There was a huge advertisement for Ji Chang-wook, and as a Korean, I felt strangely glad.

Checked out some cosmetics too.

I also indulged in the bubble tea I was curious about.

I had black milk tea with pearls, and honestly, it tasted just like the ones from Korea.

Not worth the trouble to buy.

On the last day, it felt very much like a package tour.

Pretty much went to a souvenir shop stamp collecting.

The guide was emphasizing a lot of precautions since there seemed to have been many complaints.

The package explained that it was a shopping center, so I thought we could freely browse.

But it turned out to be more like stuffing people into a room to heavily promote products.

At first, I was wondering what this was… it reminded me of a multi-level marketing pitch.

After over 30 minutes of listening, we were allowed to experience the bed and pillows outside.

The pillows were indeed comfortable…

But they were too expensive for me to consider buying.

Since I had no intention of buying, I stepped outside to rest.

The manager or someone came over, asking why I was out there and if someone pressured me, saying that they were the most pressuring of all…

I honestly felt that if someone is indecisive and weak-hearted, they would be pressured into buying.

It seemed like they said “buy it” in earnest about 20 times and asked not to feel pressured while giving the most pressure…

Other people from different groups said they heard complaints about buying too.

It was just a place that left a bad feeling.

Lunch was at a Korean restaurant called The Korea located in Oceanus Waterfront Mall.

The menu wasn’t exactly Korean; it was a dish called steam boat, which could be thought of as Malaysian shabu-shabu.

They say there are places with both spicy and clear broth, but this one had clear broth.

As in Korea, they also made porridge at the end.

The taste was… just average.

It was quite bland, and the quality of the basic ingredients was definitely lower than in Korea.

I’ve missed Korean food so much…

Jesselton Point

Visited the tourist site, Jesselton Point!

They say you can also book activities here, but we just came for sightseeing.

We were given about 10-15 minutes for photos and then left.

It was super hot, so there weren’t many people around, and we quickly rushed back to the bus for the air conditioning.

This viewpoint is found when you come to see the City Islamic Mosque.

The water looks brown, but from a distance, you can see the boundary where freshwater and seawater meet.

It’s really interesting to see it so clearly.

However, there was a lot of garbage around the beach area as well…

But the road was very pretty.

It’s commonly known as a mosque.

However, the term “mosque” is said to be a somewhat derogatory term for an Islamic place of worship.

The guide advised us not to use the term mosque!

It’s very green, making for great photo opportunities.

But there was really a lot of wind.

Kota Kinabalu

We also visited the old Sabah State Government building.

There are claims that it is leaning like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but that is not true.

At the photo zone, you can also take pictures with an orangutan, lol.

On the way to the second souvenir shop, we saw the mosque again…

It looked even more beautiful up close.

There was a warning on the wall about not crossing over the fence.

They say you can enter and take pictures in traditional clothing if you pay an entrance fee, but I couldn’t go, which is a pity!

They sold various souvenirs here, including noni and Malaysian ginseng, Tongkat Ali.

Out of curiosity for noni oil, I tried it and almost threw up…

Even after scrubbing with soap in the restroom, the smell wouldn’t go away.

I planned to buy some chocolate here, but since the next souvenir shop was a chocolate shop, I bought nothing here.

The employees here spoke Korean very well and were very friendly.

The browsing process was also very structured.

We lined up to taste different types of chocolate and then chose the ones we liked.

The cheese-flavored chocolate was so delicious that I impulsively bought it…

It wasn’t cheap, so I couldn’t buy a large size.

The last stop was the Filipino Night Market.

The guide first passed around coconut drinks and then gave us free time.

I wanted coconut milk, but it was all coconut water. Haha.

Then, I immediately found an Instagram hot spot, a mango place…

I was so surprised to see the Korean writing on that box that I screamed.

“Oh my, Instagram!? Instagram!!!!!!😲😲😲”

And the mango guy confirmed it was from Instagram. Haha.

(I wrapped it up when I was leaving after walking around the market.)

There were many food stalls, including grilled chicken wings and tiger shrimp.

However, there was a somewhat unpleasant smell due to the durian. Haha.

The grilled shrimp looked so delicious that I sat down at one stall.

We had walked around and came back to this stall.

When I ordered, they suddenly quoted a price much higher than what they initially told me! What???

I said it was fifteen ringgit! When I spoke in Korean, they lowered the price back to what they originally said.

Be careful of overcharging, everyone! (It might already be overpriced, haha.)

We got one medium-sized shrimp each and honestly,

it was the most delicious food I had in Kota Kinabalu….

If I were on a free trip, I would probably eat every meal at the night market.

It was so, so tasty, but I was full and couldn’t eat anymore, which made me sad. 😢

For dinner, I ended up at that Korean restaurant again.

There was an originally designated time, but since the timing was a bit ambiguous,

we waited inside the building and were told we could eat now.

The side dishes generally had a somewhat sour taste, which I didn’t like,

but the main dish was okay to eat.

Really, I need to eat Korean food…

Of course, it wasn’t as delicious as the shrimp I had earlier.

Now, with about an hour left before heading to the airport,

we decided to kill time at a nearby cafe.

All the menus were patched in Korean. Haha.

The coffee tasted just like in Korea. 😮

This place is Kota Korea…

While saying goodbye to Kota Kinabalu’s night view…

We took the bus to the airport.

It only took about 15 minutes to reach the airport.

Had a bite of the mango I bought at the airport. Haha.

It was incredibly sweet, to the point of making my tongue feel numb.

It had a bit of honey flavor, just like its name, Honey Mango. 👍

I had a 3-4 hour wait before my flight.

So, waiting was really tough. 😢

I had put away all my toiletries in checked luggage,

making for a rather uncomfortable flight.

Since the flight was around 1 AM, when I went to the restroom near the boarding gate,

everyone was washing their faces and brushing their teeth, it was quite a scene. Haha.

I woke up during the flight and saw a beautiful sunset,

but the window kept reflecting, making the photos not as nice. 😢

Upon arriving in Incheon, I headed straight for Korean food. Haha.

The kimchi stew was absolutely amazing.

It was very well-cooked, and I finished a whole bowl from breakfast!