So you guys know that I moved to KK, right? In case if you didn’t know, yes I relocated myself to Kota Kinabalu, a small resort town in the Borneo Island. While I’m less traveling and more home-living, I thought it would be worthwhile to document my not-so-exciting daily life here in KK.
This is Runaway Diary.
Apr 19, 2014
#KKLife
I finally moved into my apartment! I signed the contract right before my Oman in Focus photography tour after a week of apartment hunting. It was not an easy thing.
There were lots of variables in finding the right place to live in KK. One thing is that there are not many options for the public transportation. There are buses, but the routes are not to extensive, and the schedule is irregular. No subways also. Most of the locals rely on their cars. Also, KK is quite spread out. There is the city center, where we call Kota Kinabalu with the beautiful waterfront. But most of the residential areas are 15-20 minutes away by car. That’s what locals call ‘suburb’.
There were two options: get a cheap apartment in the suburbs and rent (or buy) a car, or find a place near the city center for more expensive rent so I don’t have to get a car. At first, I was quite strong about paying a cheap rent, but since I’m not a fan of driving or a vehicle, decided to spend more at rent and stay with no car. So, I moved in at Grace Ville, a residential area near the city center. Only 5 minutes away by car, and 20-40 minutes by foot depending on where you’re going.
After I came back from Oman, I finally moved in with all my luggage (two backpacks). It is fully furnished, but doesn’t mean that it literally has everything. On the first night, which was two days ago, I went out to the local supermarket and bought some vegetables, wok, and a knife. But I had to sleep on a bare mattress for two days. There was no place to buy a bed sheet here, and I didn’t want to get cheap stuff since it will touch my skin. I would need a new pillow too.
Today, while I was out in the city, I was determined to get a bed sheet and pillow. Sleeping on the bare mattress is like lying on a raised floor on a street. Now, let’s talk about pillows. Who knew there are this many choices for a PILLOW. Among all the super, pure, allergy-free, cotton, polyester, and some other fancy names, I found the one at the third mall I went. Suria was too expensive, a store at Center Point only had really cheap stuff, but Parkson at Wawasan Square had extensive options. I hugged and squeezed as many as pillows I could, and picked out luxurious 41RM one. I mean it’s not feather filled, but pretty close. When Stephen gets here, he can do this all over and choose his own. Can’t wait to do this again! Now, the sheet. I’ve only heard of some hundreds and thousands of thread counts. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who is counting the thread count, or maybe the subject didn’t come out. But I know the differences, and it matters to me now. Even between 350 and 400, the differences are huge! I can proudly say, my new bed sheet is 450 thread count, made with blended cotton.
The ultimate question while shopping for myself, quality or quantity, would never end. I struggled between 8RM and 11RM toilet papers the other day (ended up with 11RM soft roll, because I decided I was worth it), and this choices between pillows and sheets were the same. Everything depends on deciding what is more important and how much. As I’m getting more mature (don’t want to use the ‘o’ word), I’ve been realizing there are certain things that I cannot be cheap, like healthy eating, and using high quality products when it’s needed. I’m quite happy with luxurious pillow and middle range bed sheet I picked up today.
I will celebrate with home made noodle dish, made with a brand new frying pan I bought at Suria, sauce pan from Wawasan.
Oh and you know what’s the killer today? This is worth reporting. I was 90% sure I wanted to take a taxi home (it would take me 35 minutes by foot from where I was), but I felt stubborn at the end of the day. I struggled so much to save a few ringgits and it didn’t make sense to spurge on a stupid taxi. And I knew I had to haggle hard to get the right price with all these luggage. So, I walked up to the bus station at Wawasan, and found a bus to Grace Ville. Do you know how much it cost?
70 CENTS!
Now, I think this is a report of quite a successful day. KK life is shaping up.
