I was in KK for a short holiday about a month ago with my family. Airasia had a free-seats promotion in February 2009 and I booked us return tickets at SGD 70 per person (airport taxes, admin fees etc) from 16 to 19 November 2009. 9 whole months away but I figured that if anything came up and we or any one of us couldn't go, the loss wouldn't be that much anyway. We were supposed to depart about 9+pm and reach KK about 11.50pm and return about 6.45pm and reach SG about 9pm but closer to the date, Airasia informed us that the flight timings would be changed to 5pm and 2.45pm instead. I ended up having to take half a day leave extra on Friday. That's the risk one runs when one books with a budget airline, I suppose.
Airasia operates out of Changi Airport's Terminal 1 but the gates assigned to Airasia are usually at the furthest end of the terminal. I'm not complaining because it beats the budget terminal where Tiger Airways operates out of - at the budget terminal, there aren't any trolleys after clearing customs (which means one has to carry or lug one's cabin bag around) and one has to walk out from the gate across the tarmac to the aircraft (which can be a hassle if it rains). The shopping at the Budget Terminal is also quite dismal compared to Terminal 1 - there aren't any branded goods shops at all like Ferragamo or Coach.
Still, our Budget Terminal is heaven compared to KK's budget terminal. The shopping there consisted of 2 shops selling local products at marked-up prices and 1 shop selling seafood products outside the customs area. It was raining when we arrived so we took out our umbrellas from our cabin bags to walk across the tarmac to the terminal. We bought coupons from the taxi counter at the airport (the cost from KK airport to the city center is RM30) and got into a rather decent-looking cab. However, as we didn't have dinner onboard the Airasia flight because of the prices of the meals (it just wasn't worth paying so much for ordinary fare one could eat in SG) and because we wanted to save our stomachs for KK's local fare, I asked the cab driver to take us straight to New Gaya Seafood Restaurant instead of the hotel. He didn't know where it was so I had to call the restaurant and pass the phone to the driver to get directions. The driver told me that as the restaurant was out of the city center area, the cost would be RM40 instead.
When we got finally got there (yes, it was way out), we had lots of stares as we were carrying our big luggage bags and cabin bags with us. New Gaya Seafood Restaurant has many tables with outdoor and indoor sitting and looks more like a coffeeshop with an air-conditioned section. We ordered fishmaw soup, fried beancurd, kangkong, butter prawns (RM 28) and the restaurant's signature dish - deep fried crab with egg yolk. There was an extra RM 10 charge for the egg yolk for the deep fried crab but it was worth every cent.
I wouldn't recommend the fried beancurd but the butter prawns and crabs...they are a must-try. Not only fresh, but tasty and cooked very well. The crabs are on the smallish side though. The total cost for this meal (and 3 bowls of rice) was only RM90+. The Slog Reviews: 8/10 for the food and service - Really cheap prices for delicious food. The portions are sufficient and the service is good (the Captain speaks fluent English, major credit cards are accepted and they change your plates for clean ones every half hour). The only drawback is the location of the restaurant and its appearance for those used to finer dining.
When we wanted to get to the hotel after dinner, we were faced with a huge problem. No cabs at all. This place isn't anything like Singapore where one can just call a cab company for a cab if there aren't any plying the roads. KK in this sense is more like its sister state, Terengganu which I visited in August 2009 (I'll leave that for another entry). Quite desperate, we asked if any of the employees could send us to the hotel for a fee - it was almost 10pm anyway and the restaurant was closing. In the end, we paid RM30 for one of those "moonlight cab drivers" for a ride to our hotel next to 1Borneo Hypermall.
The next morning, we checked out of the hotel at 9am and shopped at 1Borneo which was linked to our hotel until about 2pm. The Mango outlet there is rather small and the prices aren't cheaper than Singapore's Mango stores. There aren't any high-end branded good shops like LV, Prada and the like at 1Borneo. However, there are lots of restaurants and other shops (Watsons, Sasa, Crocs, Giant, cinema etc) in the mall. We had a light breakfast at Old Town White Coffee Cafe before setting off for The Hyatt Regency where I had booked us a sea-facing room for the next 2 nights. There is a free shuttle bus service running from 1Borneo to Warisan Square at the City Center every half hour and after some consideration (my mother wanted to take a taxi which would have cost RM25), we lugged our bags up the shuttle bus leaving at 2.30pm (do note that one has to take a queue number for each person taking the shuttle at 1Borneo's information center first before one is allowed to board the bus).
The journey from 1Borneo to Warisan Square took 20mins by the shuttle bus. There is a bus stop opposite Warisan Square and we waited 15 mins for a local bus there to take us 2 stops to The Hyatt. The bus was packed when it arrived but we were determined to get up with our big luggage bags and the people on board shuffled around until there was space for all 3 of us. I asked the driver how much the fare was and to let us know which stop to get off at but as my command of the Malay Language was terrible (despite having obtained a certificate for Elementary Malay at the NUS language center this year), he barely understood me and gestured for us to get off at the next stop which was in front of the Central Market. We didn't have to pay anything but the fare would have been about RM1 per person at most. From the Central Market, we asked around for directions some more and lugged our big luggage bags along The Waterfront to The Hyatt which was about a 10mins slow walk away.
The receptionist (a plump Chinese male) spoke fluent English and checked us into a room at level 5 which faced the Tungku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. I have to say that the room at The Hyatt wasn't quite what I expected - while spacious, it was in serious need of renovation (there was renovation going on in the hotel when we checked in). However, the view from the room (the hotel's pool was right beneath our window), was spectacular. I took this picture from the room.
Here are some other photos taken from and in the room.
The service at this Hyatt hotel (unlike the one at London where we stayed in May 2009) was surprisingly slow - there were 3 of us and they took forever to get the make-up bed and other essentials(bathroom, bottled water, towels etc) for the third person. We gave up waiting in the room and went to have lunch at the Tanjung Rias Cafe located at the lobby of the hotel. We had the hotel's signature dish - the oxtail assam pedas and also, a bowl of curry chicken. The cost of lunch was about RM70+ if I remember rightly. The oxtail stew's gravy was very thick and delicious, as was the curry chicken. The rest of my family were squirmish about eating the oxtail so I had most of the soft tender meat to myself. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. The quality of the oxtail soup is superb. If you love thick stews and curries, this is a must-try.
We had learnt from the receptionist when checking-in, that durians would be sold under the bridge at the Segamat area till 5pm so right after lunch, we decided to head there for durians. There was a KFC, Burger King and some kind of western pub just opposite the left side of The Hyatt. After a slow 6mins walk and asking around (in my broken Malay), we managed to find the durian stall which was indeed under the bridge next to KK Plaza. We had 3 different types of durians, 1 of which I've never seen before in West Malaysia or SG - a rambutan-look-alike durian (see the picture below of it on the weighing machine and of the meat in it). The meat of this durian smelt and tasted strongly of bananas but was creamy and delicious like the rest of the other durians. The cost for the durians - RM 20 only!
We were too stuffed to eat dinner that night so we headed back to the hotel about 7pm after shopping at KK Plaza and Wisma Merdeka whch was next to our hotel. The bakery at The Hyatt had a 50% sale on its cakes and pastries and 30% sale on its bread (but not cookies) from 7pm so we bought a few slices of cakes and pastries for breakfast the next day.
The next day was a Sunday and we went to the Gaya Street Sunday Market which opens from 7am to 12noon every Sunday only. The weather was scorching hot but thankfully, the place was only about a 6mins walk from our hotel. There were all sorts of stuff sold there but most stalls sold T-shirts with pics of KK/Sabah on them. Bargaining is a must and so is comparing prices. A white t-shirt with some simple print below should cost only RM10. My sis bought one at RM15 from a stall and found it selling at RM10 a few stores down. Some of the other stuff sold here include seashells, conchs, sarongs, wrap-around batik wear, sunglasses, keychain souvenirs, local foodstuff, wooden carvings, fruits and even rabbits.
Near the Jesselton Hotel on Gaya Street, which I must say, looks to me and has been reviewed by many as a pretty good hotel to stay in, massage services are offered by the visually handicapped. I had a nice big strong man called Des (he is seated at the end of the line and is easily the biggest-sized man there) who spoke broken English and between my broken Malay and that, I learnt that the cost of seafood at KK is expensive and that I should go to Sandakan instead for cheap and fresh seafood. The massage which he gave was excellent and I gave him RM 30 instead of RM 20. I have utmost respect for the disabled members of our society who make their living the honest way.
After the massage, we walked back to the hotel to leave our purchases in the room. From there, we hailed a cab to take us to Sedco Square. The cost of the cab was RM 10 for a 6 mins journey which was terribly expensive - we could have walked there ourselves but the weather was boiling hot. There was only 1 restaurant opened for lunch at Sedco Square - Twinsky Seafood Restaurant. They had a wide enough selection of seafood, all of which were displayed in neat rows (in tanks of course). Crabs, fish, clams but unfortunately for us, no prawns in the afternoon. We selected what we wanted from the tanks (2 crabs and a 800gm lobster), which were fished right out for us before our eyes,weighed and sent to the kitchen. The lobster cost about RM 160 alone and when the manager (who spoke Chinese) sensed my hesitation, he offered to waive the 10% service charge on our meal.
The food didn't take long to come but probably it was because we were one of three families having lunch there. Most people have seafood dinners, not lunches. The reason why we were having this lunch was because my mum wanted to have the famous Yu Kee Bak Kut Teh for dinner and that stall is only opened in the night. Anyway, we had the seafood beehoon which had some prawns in it, the lobster (which was the first dish served), black pepper crab, steamed crab and kangkong for lunch.
The lobster which was done in the restaurant's special style was exquisitely sweet and succulent. The sauce (wet butter, milk?) and the lobster's meat were individually sweet and when put in one's mouth together, ahhhh, I think my taste buds went crazy tasting 2 kinds of sweetness together. I remember clearly the thought that went through my head "THIS makes life worth living." and it is worth a picture on its own (this is how the dish looked)
The Slog Reviews: 10/10. The cost of the meal was fairly decent - about RM 400-500. I think each crab cost about RM 50 - RM 80. The service was good too - the manager waived the 10% service charge and the plates were changed more than twice. There may be better seafood restaurants out there in KK but The Slog thinks you won't have any complaints with this one.
We ended lunch about 3pm and decided to walk it off at the Centerpoint shopping mall. That mall looks a lot like our Lucky Plaza and absolutely nothing like Singapore's Centerpoint. The largest shop there was The Reject Shop on the 4th floor (top floor of shopping) and there were many handphone shops around on the ground floor. Mostly local shops. We were done in half an hour and because of the heavy lunch and dark clouds gathering, we decided to go to The Coffee Bean along the Waterfront to take a rest. At about 6pm when the rain had almost stopped, we made our way back to Gaya Street which we were at in the morning to have the Yu Kee Bak Kut Teh. The restaurant was crowded with a capital C. And I mean, really crowded. Not an empty table in sight and many pp milling around waiting for seats.
I used my broken Malay to ask a helper there for a table and was told to wait. As I was tired (not hungry), I wanted to just forget about eating there altogether but my mother was insistent. How often does she get to go to KK anyway? So I found another helper and in my best possible Malay, asked for a table. There were some folded up tables along the wall which I gestured to and he opened them for us. Phew. We got glares from the pp around who had been waiting. We placed our orders but after 20 mins and not being served despite having asked twice, we just took the food which was brought to our table wrongly - the young Malay chap seemed unsure if he had the right table and my sister and I just lifted the bowls of bak kut teh off his tray onto our table and helped ourselves to it. He got a scolding because he was meant to bring it to the next table. Again, I couldn't care less. The cost of the meal below was RM 26. The Slog Reviews: 6.5/10 - Not worth the queue. Nothing special about the soup, much less the small portions. Then again, The Slog has never been a bak kut teh fan and may be totally wrong given the number of pp who flock there to eat.
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