This will be a short post today, I think.

Most people tend to enjoy going to the beach. Today we had a day trip to an island off the coast of Kota Kinabalu, the city we’re staying in.

My friends and family know that I don’t go swimming unless it’s really hot. But look at me!

Sarah took this shot of me as I was about to go snorkelling in the South China Sea.

What can I say? The South China Sea is really warm.

Unfortunately I didn’t see any fish, though other people did. I put my name down for parasailing but it didn’t go ahead, as I was the only one who wanted to do it.

But some of us did sea walking. I wish I had’ve gone with them!
Basically, they plonk a helmet over your head, pump it full of air and off you go. They put fish food in your hands which are holding the helmet in place, so the fish come right up close to you.

I’m definitely doing this one day.

A monitor lizard came down to the beach to sun itself.

I wasn’t really looking forward to this day, but it ended up being quite nice. I was in the shade reading half a Kate Atkinson novel, we had a very nice seafood lunch and I went back in for another swim.

When we went back to the hotel… the Hilton, daaaarling… I arranged to meet Bron and Jason to go exploring. We decided to go to Australia Place, where Sarah said there’d be art.

These are very small, slightly bigger then bookmark width. I think they’ll look great in a frame together, without the words showing, of course.
Altogether, they cost me 10 ringgit, or $3 AUS.
It’ll cost far more for the frame, but at least, for once, I’m not paying a fortune for my art.

I saw these sun bear socks in other shop. You all know how much I love my useful souvenirs.

It turns out that Bron also lost her father recently, in somewhat similar circumstances to Dad’s death, so we had a good old debrief as we walked the streets of Kota Kinabalu. Jason, her husband, wisely walked a little ahead and let us talk.

Later, we all convened for our Farewell Dinner, even though we still have a full day to go. Maybe the restaurant was booked out on the appropriate night, who knows?

I took this shot on the way to dinner, through the bus window. A floating village, with modern skyscraper apartments in the background. I like the juxtaposition. 

It was an authentic Borneo meal, and it was absolutely delicious. A few people were scared of the spices and didn’t eat much, but they were missing out. It wasn’t too hot (as in spicy) and the Rendang was the best I’ve ever had. The pickled mango was amazing, too.
The dessert had banana in it – you know, the Devil’s food – but just as I gave mine to someone else and prepared myself to sit back and watch everyone else eat dessert, a plate of watermelon was put in front of me. Sarah had remembered that I hate bananas.

Oh! For anyone wondering about how good TripADeal is if you get sick, yesterday one of the men in the group was feeling very unwell. When we were having drinks in the rooftop bar, his wife came and joined us.

“ You can’t fault the treatment from TripADeal,” she said. “They paid for the taxi to and from the medical centre, and the doctor’s visit only cost $60 for the consultation and drugs.”

Not that I ever intend to get sick when I’m on holidays, but that’s good to know.

Dad joke of the day:u