If you arrive
early in Kota Kinabalu, take your sweet time to go for
sightseeing. There are a lot of places for you to go around and buy
some souvenirs. Here, I will give you the places that you should go
around Kota Kinabalu.
Your travel to
Sabah is not complete if you do
not go to the places that I recommend here. And the good news is; all
of the places that I mentioned here is in the city centre and just a
walking distance from one another. Plan your schedule well and you will
get the most out of your sightseeing.
Gaya
Street and Sunday's Gaya Street Fair
Originally known as Bond
Street, this is the main street of Kota
Kinabalu. Fully rebuilt in 1950s and 1960s, the shophouses were used in
the traditional way, with shops on the ground floor and residential
units on the upper floors. Today, Gaya Street has the largest number of
legal offices, banks and financial institutions of any street in Sabah.
It also has many eateriesopen during the day and night.
Every Sunday
morning, Gaya Street is closed to traffic for the Gaya
Street Fair. For a small fee, traders set up stalls for the
morning to
sell almost anything - fruits and vegetables, fish, cut flowers
& plants,puppies, rabbits, books, clothse, toys, souvenirs
& handicrsfts, antiques, home-made local cakes &
kuih-muih, food, the famous Tenom coffee and traditional medicine.
There are also mobile health clinics offering minor check-ups and even
politicians who set up desks to meet their constituents. It's amazing
what you may find at the Gaya Street Fair.
Sabah
Tourism Building
Situated
at 51
Jalan Gaya, the building was constructed in 1916 to
house the Printing Office and later the Treasury, Audit Office, Town
Board, the District Office and the Attorney General's Office. It was
one of the only three buildings still standing after Allied bombongs at
the end of World War II. From the 1950s until September 1986 the Post
Office occupied the building. Fully restored, it was gazetted as a
heritage building and officially became the Sabah Tourism Building in
January 1991 and now serves as a Tourist Information Centre.
If you plan to
stay long in Sabah after climbing Mount Kinabalu,
spare
your time to go to this building. They have all the information about
tourist spots in Sabah and you can plan your trip around with all the
information provided. You will be amazed on the number of places that
you can go and spend your trip in Sabah!
While in downtown Kota
Kinabalu, do walk to Australia Place, where the
Australian soldiers camped when they landed in Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu
old name) in 1945. This is now a quiet street of print shops,
the
downtown Police Station, two popular backpackers hostel and the Dewan
Merdeka.
Although times and landscapes have changed, old memories
linger and the site continues to be known as Australia Place to some.
Atkinson
Clock Tower
Building a
British colonial empire in a faraway Borneo had its share of
sifficulties and challanges. One of these was tropical diseases. The
first District Officer of Jesselton, Francis George Atkinson, died of
malaria at the young age of 28. His mother, Mary Edith Atkinson of
England, built the Atkinson Clock Tower on Bukit Brace (Brace Hill) in
1905, in the memory of her son. While the original merbau wood used to
build the Clock Tower has been replaced over the years, the building's
overall structurehas been retained. As late as 1956, the lights of the
Clock Tower were used as a navigation aid by local ships coming into
port. However, the tower can no longer be seen from the sea due to the
tall buildings. The Clock Tower was gazetted as a heritage building in
1983.
Filipino
Market
Situated a bit
further than the above places, Filipino Market is a huge
souvenirs and local handicrafts centre in Kota Kinabalu. It has more
than 100 sellers that is placed under one roof. The building is made of
wood and situated very near to Kota Kinabalu wet and fish market. The
place was well known to the Peninsular Malaysian traveler, which they
usually go there to buy souvenirs, especially pearls, baeds and
crystals. I know it because my mom do not want to go back to Peninsular
without me bringing her to that place before she goes home!
And, I do not know why, you
will not find this place on any official travel brochures
locally and internationally.
what about the crime rate in kota kinabalu..it is really safe to travel there?
Gie Penang
Posted at 5:24pm on Friday, July 4th, 2008
I've plan to visit there this 14th July...hope our holiday will be really nice with my little girl..
muranda kuala lumpur
Posted at 7:02pm on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
i have never been there
Alex Chong Jesselton
Posted at 11:27am on Saturday, March 29th, 2008
Good website!
Lily Malaysia
Posted at 11:44am on Monday, July 23rd, 2007
If you are travelling in a big group i.e. 6 and above,consider Marina Court next to Promenade Hotel.Very satisfactory facilities and it's just opposite the beach.Also very close to Warisan Square and the Craft Market.
Sam Peninsular Malaysian traveler
Posted at 4:28pm on Wednesday, June 20th, 2007
Budget suggestion: Check Holiday Hotel.Middle of alot attraction.
sam bangkok
Posted at 12:44am on Saturday, June 2nd, 2007
hi..i'm one of those who are interested to visit kota kinabalu this coming october with my mom..but there are a lot of questions popping out of my mind..if we are going there, how much will it cost us for staying for atlest 2 days and three nights..
