In the morning I had a scary experience: the girl on the bunk bed dropped her clothes when she was getting dressed and dropped them on the first floor where I was. I noticed it, but I didn’t know what to do about it, on the other hand, it was a very scary experience. I pretended to be asleep or something, but when I saw her hands reaching out and trying her best to take her clothes, I imagined a horror movie and was really scared at 6:00 in the morning. So I put on a good wake-up act and made her think I was awake in a roundabout way, then put her clothes on the bed above me.

I have a regular meeting today, so I went to Starbucks

Well, today is our regular meeting! Today is the last day for one of our members, Mr. Tanaka. He has been accepted by a front-end company and will be working there. So, he said thank you very much for all the support he has received so far. The atmosphere today was very special. For the president, Mr. Tanaka was the person he could rely on the most, and I think he always consulted him about his problems. That is why it would be very damaging to have such a big name leave. It is a different story for someone like me, who has been with the company for less than a year. But since it was a chance encounter, we thanked each other one by one and said goodbye. It was a very good meeting.

After the meeting, I went to Starbucks to do the rest of my work. 2 hours later, I went home to do laundry to get ready for tomorrow’s trip to the countryside.

I hand-washed the laundry, hung it up, and walked to the bank, HSBC, a Malaysian bank, where I could withdraw money since there were no fees and the rate was very good. I had to pay 500 rupiah for an arrival visa to enter Indonesia, so I withdrew the money from the bank in Malaysian ringgit and exchange it into Indonesian rupees.So I decided to withdraw the money in Malaysian Ringgit and exchange it into Indonesian Rupiah.

Indonesian Rupiah

I was also able to find a money exchange place as I walked around and was able to exchange my money for Indonesian rupiah, losing only 60 yen. The rate was really too good to be true, and I was only surprised.

Drink coconut shake recommended by Sufi

After exchanging them for Indonesian rupiah, I went to a store that sold coconut shakes, which Sufi had recommended, and had a coconut shake there. The taste of it was just vanilla, perhaps because there was vanilla ice cream on top, but it was just plain delicious.

Return to the hostel and finally buy a return ticket

I went back to the hostel and learned that I had to buy a return flight to enter Indonesia, so I bought a ticket to Nagoya from Denpasar, 24,000 yen, so it seemed very cheap. I think it would be crazy price if this is summer vacation.

That’s why I’m going to study at home during the summer vacation and resume my travel after the summer vacation is over. What a great idea! I have been researching about Bali, researching about Jakarta, and doing all kinds of research.

In the evening, go to the seafood stall recommended by Sufi

I left the hostel again and decided to go to a seafood restaurant recommended by Sufi. On the way there, there were many bazaars selling fruits and dried goods. I bought a cute monkey-like figurine as a souvenir.

The inside of the market is like a maze

Cute monkey

Wholesale large amount of accessories

I don’t know if Kota Kinabalu is famous for dried fish, but I get the feeling that it must be quite famous, since they even call the dried fish “village” in Malaysian language.

Besides, fruits were in large quantities, including mangoes and bananas.

The seafood stall was crazy

When I arrived at the seafood stall, I was surprised to see a large number of shrimp, crabs, shellfish, colorful fish, and other seafood items on display. There was also the typical Southeast Asian sight of flies buzzing around. If it were in Japan, I would not want to buy them, but it is a common sight in Southeast Asia, and the fact is that they do not matter at all once they are cooked.

As I was heading to the restaurant recommended by Sufi, a man spoke to me and he spoke some Japanese. So I wasn’t going to take the ride at first, but when he showed me the menu and I learned that Sufi recommended this restaurant, I decided to eat there. Besides, he recommended the fried rice I wanted. So, for only 10 ringgit (300 yen), I was able to have the seafood fried rice. I was the only customer in the restaurant, he was Indonesian and showed me his passport. He told me that he was working in Kota Kinabalu and that he had a friend who was half Indonesian and half Japanese. I thought he is really friendly, but he was shy and immediately went away. I was so, ordered a glass of water and waited for fried rice.

Sufi recommended this restaurant

The fried rice was an amazingly large portion, with a mixture of shrimp and squid. As for the taste, it was unbelievably good. To an emotional level. I couldn’t believe that this was available for only 300 yen. For me, this was my first meal of the day, so I finished it quickly. So, 11 ringgit ($2) in total. It was great.

When I was leaving, the Indonesian clerk I was talking with outside offered to take a picture with me. Normally, I would be the one to ask for a photo, but here it was the other person who asked me to take a photo, which is a rare occurrence lol. Then I asked him to take a picture with my iPhone as well. Then, we exchanged Facebook messages, and he told me to come by anytime. I thought he was a really nice guy. We shook hands at the end and I left the place.

Once again, I feel that people in Kota Kinabalu are very friendly, open and nice

I felt very happy. It was the time of sunset, and the plane flying in from the other side of the island was very beautiful. I was enjoying my life in Kota Kinabalu, a place where other Japanese people rarely come. It was a moment when I could really feel that.

Move to a cafe, write a diary, post an insta-post, etc

I walked to a cafe called CHAGEE, where I posted my Instagram and wrote my diary. Kota Kinabalu has become my favorite place in Malaysia.

KL seems busy and everyone seems to be working hard. There are not many clean places. And Penang seems dirty and unsafe.

But in Kota Kinabalu, the word “dangerous” doesn’t exist, and the atmosphere is very comfortable. The people are very open and nice, the beaches are nice, the sunsets are beautiful, and the food is very good and cheap. So, I think this city is my favorite in Malaysia.

After all, there are many things you can’t understand unless you go on an adventure. I am convinced that you should never judge a place only by the information on the Internet. Today, too, was a day of very good, new discoveries and encounters.

On the way home, I stopped by a food stall and bought 3 ringgit (90 yen) fried noodles

I finished my work at the cafe and decided to go back to the hostel. Kota Kinabalu at night. I’m walking around listening to music, but I don’t feel unsafe at all. The nearby food stalls are crowded with people.

I went to one of the stalls and bought some yakisoba-like food. It was sold by a Malay girl of high school age. It was too cheap.

For such a cheap and poor place, the people are so warm and incredible. Kota Kinabalu is my favorite city in Malaysia.