August 13,

We were up by 0700; had our Javas; and proceeded to repack. Today we leave Sandakan and we fly to Kota Kinabalu- transition day. We were out by 1200. Jeff e-hailed a Grab to get us to lunch destination. We went to Pizza Hut! We shared a small Beef Pepperoni with stuffed cheese crust. I had a Coke and Jeff had a Spite. We took our time. The meal cost us 58 RM, or $13.78.

At 1320, Jeff e-hailed us a second Grab to the airport. When we arrived at the airport, the flight was delayed from 1505 to 1640. So we checked in our bags and sat in the airport. I walked about, and found a Borneo Big Five t-shirt! Jeff bought it for me! It cost 68 RM, or $16.16. Yeeah!! Finally our plane arrived and at 1645 we lined up to board. By 1703, we were backing up. Pretty impressive turn around. At 1710, we took off and at 1744, we landed. It was a very short flight!

We collected our luggage and exited looking for our car rental. Jeff had to call them. They arrived within 20 minutes and we were in our Axia tiny 4-door car by 1835, heading out of the airport. By 1900 we were in our place for five nights. It is on the 18th floor. We unloaded and went out to a convenience store for a quick snack supper. We picked out two of the many instant Ramen noodles and some water. We walked back to our place, attempted to eat… but the minisplit in the living space started dripping water!!! We also noticed it was barely attached to the wall! YIKES!!🤯Jeff turned off the unit and texted our host. We ate and the host texted back that someone will come to look at it tomorrow. Thankfully, we have another working minisplit so we have some air-con going! Anyway, we readied and went to bed!

     August 14,

I awoke at my normal 0700, having slept well. Nice Bed! Jeff said he’d been up since 0600. We both woke up around 0200, due to being COLD! The one working minisplit is blowing right on us. Hopefully, the other one will be fixed and all will be well! Anyway, we finally were able to see our daytime view. It is nice… we can see the ocean! I also saw how close the airport is! As the crow flies it should just have been a 10 minute drive, not umm… the 30 minutes it took us. I noticed there were even paddy type fields on the other side – this surprised me also. Back on the ocean/airport viewing side we do have a balcony. It was all wet though from a rain shower early this morning. I did not hear it, but Jeff said he had. So we did not sit out there, staying inside and had our Javas with breakfast of oatmeal with nutella and a drinkable yogurt, which was good. Sometime after we finished we heard from our host – the AC guy won’t be coming until 1500. So we went out. We needed stuff and to just get out.

We went to a mall that had a big grocery store. We arrived and walked about. It was a three story mall. They had a presentation that they put on four times a day, called the Magunatip, better known as the Bamboo Dance. It involved seven “youngsters”- twenty somethings. They jumped through bamboo sticks clapped together timed with music. I can remember doing this in Junior High School. It was fun to watch – so much energy.

Then we walked and found a Nando’s Chicken Restaurant. We found this chain in South Africa and loved it. We had ¼ Chicken with sides of Mediterranean Rice, Peri-Peri Fries, and Corn on the Cob; and Peri-Mac & Cheese Bowl with Pulled Chicken. I had a Coke and Jeff had an assortment. It was excellent and cost us 52.80 RM, or $12.53. After we finished, we went to the grocery store, bought our stuff and drove back to our apartment complex, called K Avenue.

We arrived at 1445. Unloaded and settled in. The AC man showed up around 1600. He got to business. I started blogging and Jeff watched, helped a bit, but mostly read. He did not finish until around 1700- he cleaned the unit while he was at it which added some time. After he finished we got around and went out again, but this time walking around. We explored a few shops around this apartment complex. It has all sorts of convenience stores and food cafes, which our place in Sandakan should have had but didn’t. We found some big 6 L waters, but they are still mineral water. But they have a bundled 12 pack of 1.5 L bottles. We’ll be back.

We went to a local, outdoor food court, called Funky Farm Food Court, down on the corner from us. We ordered a take-away Lamb Ka Prow for 18 RM ($4.27) at Thai Food 4 U. Then we ordered 8 pieces of Steamed Dumplings, and Onion Rings at Funky Mee Sup KB Original for 18.90 RM ($4.49). I waited for the food as Jeff went back and bought the water bottle and some ice. We met back at the elevator of our place. We only have one card that has to be used to go up the elevator. Anyway, we ate our take out and had a Chilean Cab. Sav. We finished our wine on our balcony watching airplanes come & go, and the city below.