OK in KK

The last few days in Sabah, East Malaysia, were really nice. Well, mostly nice. There was a LOT of rain, when I was in Sandakan, but otherwise it was beautiful. Sabah is a special place, with lots to see.

The entire purpose of going to Sandakan, was to go see the Orang Utans in the Sepilok Sanctuary. The day I had set aside to do this, was VERY rainy. When we got to the sanctuary, it was raining so hard, that it was impossible to stay dry. It was one of those tropical rain storms that seem so violent, and there is no shelter when you're caught in it. The sanctuary feeds the apes twice per day, and that is the time you can easily spot the animals. They all come to the feeding platform, to get their daily ration of bananas and oranges. When the 10 am feeding was taking place, the rain let up for a short time, thankfully.

The apes were wonderful to watch. Although, it was so crowded with tourist taking photos, it felt like a zoo. Oh well, it was still fun. Orang Utans are special creatures. I learned that the name Orang Utan means 'people of the forest' (or something like that). All along, I thought it had something to do with them having orange hair. I took lots of photos, but they were so far away, it was challenging to get anything good.

After Sandakan, I flew to Kota Kinabalu. KK, as it's known, is a pretty nice place. I stayed at a beautiful resort on the harbour front. It was certainly the nicest place I've stayed in Malaysia. It was a large complex with thousands of suites and many pools, a beach, golf course, lots of restaurants, etc. Really, there was very little reason to leave the place. The pool was pretty quite pleasant to lounge around.

Unbeknown to me, there was a huge Badminton tournament taking place in KK when I was there. And many of the star players were staying at the same resort. There was quite a lot of fuss and attention paid to them. I don't know much about badminton, but in Malaysia it is the ruling sport. Gil was quite excited to see many of the players, and he knew them all by name. He knew their standing, their history, everything. All his favourite players where there. In the restaurant, the players didn't have a moments peace, because everyone wanted to have their photos taken with them. They were sports celebrities. But not to me.

Yesterday, Gil and I attended the first round of play for this tournament. It was fun to watch, even if I don't know the game. Of course, it looks pretty simple: hit the bird, get it over the net, in the court. Though we could not stay for all 4 days of the tournament, we did get to see some of his favourite players compete.

I am in Singapore now, back at the Scarlet hotel. I've stayed here many times, because I cannot find a nicer hotel in the area. I will be meeting up with my friend Luke today. Luke and I have known each other for many years now, and keep meeting in Asia or North America, as often as we can. I am not too sure how long I will stay here in Singapore (yah, I know...I never plan more than a week in advance). But Christmas is just around the corner, and I have to decide where I will be for it. I am pretty sure Bali and Jakarta are next on the list. Just not sure when.