Kota Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo (February, 2014)

We arrived pretty late to our hotel in Kota Kinabalu (Hyatt Regency Kinabalu) which we booked using 5,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points per room (regular rooms) that we got by transferring points at 1:1 from Chase Ultimate Rewards.  We had 3 rooms booked (one for each family) and they were a steal for 5,000 points per night.  The Hyatt was right on the water and in the main part of the city.

Once we got off the plane in Kota Kinabalu, Loni was very sick.  It took us a while to get out of the airport because we hadn't exchanged money to get any Malaysian Ringitt, and there was only 1 working ATM in the whole airport.  She headed to bed once we got to the hotel.  Fortunately, her sickness didn't last too long.

From what we saw in Kota Kinabalu, it was definitely a place we could spend some time. It was beautiful.  Unfortunately, we hadn't scheduled any time for Kota Kinabalu (we will have to return someday) as it was just our entry point into Borneo and we were spending the bulk of our time in Borneo in the Danum Valley rainforest and around Sandakan.

We hit up a late dinner at Burger King and then put the kids down for bed since we had a very early flight to Lahad Datu to catch in the morning.  Cody, Scott, Kyle, Whitney, Ezra, and Jovi went out to wander the boardwalk outside the hotel until about midnight  There was an array of seafood and other interesting things, almost like some kind of food festival.  Tons of people were seated at picnic tables and were feasting while others cooked the fresh seafood on barbecues a few feet away.

We didn't stay out long as we needed some rest for our early morning flight to Lahad Datu and subsequent drive into the Danum Valley Rainforest.