The Kota Kinabalu You Didn't Know About (MALAYSIA) 🇲🇾
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ค. 2023
- In this video, I show you what it is like to travel and visit Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in East Malaysia. Eastern Malaysia is incredibly beautiful and underrated. Majority of travelers don't make it away from Peninsular Malaysia.
Sabah (2nd largest state of Malaysia) is home to incredible wildlife, nature, and a mix of ethnicities. You will find everything from local Malay cuisine & culture, to Chinese and Filipino.
Despite the hardships and setbacks caused form the Covid-19 pandemic, Kota Kinabalu is fighting hard to survive and revive itself for a future of tourism.
I hope this video can be helpful for you to see what the city is like today and my tips & insight will make your travel here smoother.
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📍Locations📍
Kota Kinabalu: goo.gl/maps/n74dZB29gnK6cCXY9
KK Waterfront View: goo.gl/maps/jpAknzpUPFyuN4nd8
Big Apple Donuts & Coffee: goo.gl/maps/fRPq8t9p229HNLA48
Jesselton Point: goo.gl/maps/F8auSbKiEfnaZesJ8
Pillars of Sabah: goo.gl/maps/1DwXHJFm1NJ5HAQF9
Signal Hill Trail: goo.gl/maps/SQvspYfKvUgtT1wS9
Atkinson Clock Tower: goo.gl/maps/gmsEs3opPAio2HPc6
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🔹2nd Channel: / @mattreardonvlogs
🔹Facebook: / reardonexplores
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🔹Video Chapters 🔹
00:30 Introduction
01:00 Waterfront View & Restaurants
06:55 Suria Mall & Big Apple Donuts
14:10 Homeless Situation in Kota Kinabalu
16:55 Jesselton Ferry Point & Tours
20:10 Friendly People Working at 7-Eleven
22:10 Abandoned Buildings in Kota Kinabalu
25:20 Pillars of Kota Kinabalu
28:00 Signa Hill Observatory Trail
32:45 Nature is Taking Back the City
41:15 Atkinson Clock Tower
43:15 Local Pastries & Overall Thoughts of Kota Kinabalu
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 68 | คู่เอก "พระจันทร์ฉาย vs โจนาธาน"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/F3IM3w-XchI/mqdefault.jpg)
Why do you think KK, Malaysia has such issues? What should be done?
Hai.. im from sabah and this is what happen when the biggest industries in your country is tourism.. i remember how it was before covid, the whole city is pack with tourists you couldn't even find empty spot in tanjung aru beach.. the 3 island is also pack with tourists. But its improve alot nowadays in 2024 hopefully it will improve more because the ringgit is cheaper 😅..
Im from putatan town, sabah, think the local govt should be more transparent
You think this is bad? compared to those homeless in Kensington Ave Philly? hahahahahahaha...or that Hooker Capital of USA, Cali?
I've lived all my life in KK and traveled extensively during my younger days to NYC,SF,Seattle,UK,Italy and other Asian country and comparatively these few years the Asian countries are far better off than those western ones. You can EASILY get mugged in the london tube or paris metro and i DARE you to walk out alone at midnight in the middle of NYC.
Watching you walking in places i grew up with gives me a good wierd feeling.
Hahahha glad I could get a taste of those places
Thank you for your honest insight. As a Sabahan (local) myself i truly appreciate your honest review about everything that you've said. And i truly hope that the local government saw your video and do something about it. Truly, there is a lot of room for improvement. Sad truth about Sabah, it seems to be normal for people to walk 10 steps and found junk of rubbish everywhere. Its happened everywhere here, that i believe it can only be solve if the people itself conscious about their action towards the enviroment.
Thank you for visiting Sabah, and hopefuly you'll come back and till the day come, may there is drastic and positive change for this Land below the wind.
Hi! Yes, I really hope the government will step in soon and make some improvements. If my video can be one piece of cause for the action, then that'll be great. They should hold community gatherings to clean up rubbish by incentivizing people to get out and earn something from...better knowledge about the environment or even providing a BBQ that day or vouchers to use around the city. Something like that. I'll be back though one day
I was one of the tenants of the mall years ago long before covid. it was largely because of horrible management & money issues. I would say it more of a private firm issue than government. The Pillars was actually an art space owned by Sabah Art Gallery, that allows artist to do public art exhibitions & they have been some amazing ones. The current underwater one that looks slightly abandon is due to internal politics(sad, I know). Homelss, litering, etc.. sadly the government are not caring. it's sadly common that those in charge are mostly focused on the profit side of tourism than preserving the beauty of it, there's so much trash and underdevelopment in so many places. but... I'm happy to say despite all that, there's still uncomparable amount of beauty here. everyone locals or tourists loves sabah and everything about it. that part is to be proud of, proud to be Sabahan. :)
Ahhh understand now. You are right! There is a lot of beauty there and I did enjoy my time there. I hope to return in the near future :)
Thanks for coming to sabah and im sorry if there any negativity in comment some people could not handle criticism for some reason
Right well at least I enjoyed the trip
Me as an absolute local Sabahan and knowing all the places you went in this video, I just wanna say I like honesty bro
Thanks for watching
Well, just too many illegal immigrant in Sabah came from Philippines and Indonesia and most of them lack of common sense in term of cleanliness. Most of them make a house on the water and throw all the rubbish into the ocean. Also if you notice, so many litter on the side of the road too. This issues endless problems for Sabah government, Malaysia government and also for original Sabahan too.
It is a tragedy of what is happening. I know there is a lot of dispute between Malaysia and Philippines for whose land is it really. Either way, people need to take care of the land. I've watched many locals litter in front of me and it never makes sense. THeir thinking is: "out of sight, out of mind" :(
Exactly. My observation : locals 30%, foreigners 70% are litter bugs.
Don't blame the real owners of sarawak ( Indonesia ) and sabah ( Philippines ) Blame your self "malaysian people"
Sabah owner is the sultanate of zulu.i still remember when malaysia is paying rent for sabah to sultanate of Zulu.
@@maganojrbut that sultan of sulu doesnt exist anymore
Hey bro, I'm very happy that you have visit KK ( which I'm am SABAHAN ).To be honest, don't really expect much of us, maybe when you walk past over the street or even any coner, you may see many of rubbish, which this is very bad. Maybe there many good place you can visit, but after those famous place, there really don't have anything to do.
Bro, I mean this most issue I guessed was gourvement issue, don't get me wrong. Right now, I feel like gourvement did't do too much to us, KL having LRT, but KK don't have, which our gourvement did't do any thing about this. Also there water issue, which they said was too many people go Malaysia, so no water-
But thanks you for your honest review, and Welcome to Sabah-
It was an opportunity to visit. Hopefully things improve for the future
wow.. i respect that thoughts... Salut! welcome to sabah.. greeting from Pitas, Northern Sabah.
Thanks and welcome :)
Great video!
I'm a local here.
I thought you were gonna film the islands- Manukan Island, Sapi Island and Gaya Island, which are just across the sea (visible in your video).
The best flora & fauna islands are Sipadan Island (world class diving spot), Lankayan Island & Mamutik Island just to name a few if you are a diver.
Anyways, keep up the good work!
Actually, I had planned to go to the islands by ferry or small boat but after going to the pier and checking out the situation, I figured i'd just stay on land and explore. Next time I will for sure! Thanks for watching! I def want to go back
Agreed with you. The government has to look more on this to keep it maintain and made the visitor or the tourist enjoying and have meaningful stay at KK.
Totally! Hopefully they start implementing some changes
42:00 the clocktower was "closed for upgrades" for a year or two and left cordoned off at the top area on the hill - people have even stolen the metal scaffolding used to cordon it off, it's taken so long. thankfully, the clocktower was saved by the community after it was slated for destruction (!)
oh wow seriously?! Can't trust everybody! I do think it's pretty well-designed to resemble the old days. Nice!
Welcome to Sabah!
I'm born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and live there since I was born. In 2018 (if I'm not mistaken), my all family member including me move to KL and COVID-19 hit and I got back to Sabah for Eid al-Fitr this year and too few things change like the pan-Borneo highway showing it progression, some new housing & some new mall again. But there is an issue, the politics stability on the state and the condition of the state itself for example the Sandakan city was like dead town but small town around it alive. The condition of road from KK to Sandakan was like 50%-70% bad, Sabahan call it "Road to moon" because it really bad.
Hello! Wow, I didn't know that. I wanted to make it to Sandakan but will save it for next time. It's unfortunate of how the government isn't putting money in the right place and making the correct decisions to improve the state's future. Let's hope the future is different!
@@Reardon_Explores Nah, the Sabah government said they didn't get enough budget from the Malaysian government (Peninsula). Plus, the Peninsula party was influencing the Sabah politic and also the Peninsula get oil from Sabah like 70% while Sabah only gets 30% which is wrong because it should be the opposite. For the Sarawak example, the Sarawak government use their autonomy right. That why, when you go to Sarawak, the condition of the state was in good condition.
Ahh I see! Well let's hope for a bright path ahead
I'm a local here in sabah but i live in the countryside, far from KK. It's nice to watch this video
Thanks for watching! How is the country side? I want to go there next time
Wonderful. Thank u for this video n for your explorations in KK.
I'm glad I had the chance to explore such a cool country! :)
@@Reardon_Explores Wonderful. 😄
Great review on the stuff you ate. Yea watch out for the mosquito there. Had some bad reaction from bites in the past.
Thanks! Yeah, definitely have to be cautious of them in some areas. Mosquitos are the worst!
Agree with you, covid19 pandemic affected tourism in Malaysia including Sabah quite badly.. Despite government given some aids but still there are not enough.. hope everything will rebound soon.. 😊
Let's cross our fingers for the best! Malaysia will come back stronger ❤️
@@Reardon_Explores absolutely, thank you 🥰
the row of warehouse facades with the grafitti all along it is actually part of the old go-downs (gudangs / warehouses) from back in the trading days. altho they are in disrepair, the owners are still thriving so it's likely they are just biding their time til development comes in the future (a hotel)
Ahhh that's interesting! I can see them re-using the land for something useful and big one day
Great vid
Thanks! :)
When are you visiting Japan? Can't wait for your Japan VLOG
To be honest, I don't know. That's a destination that requires more saving and planning as English is very limited
Kota Kinabalu is a MOST Beautiful City In Malaysia ( Tatap Bah itu ) but.... Now its NOT managed as it should be... Just HOPING it will change in the future....Sabah Tanah AirKU
I hope so too!!
25:00 the building with blue columns was originally the State Archive building which burnt down in a fire, maybe 20 years ago? Local artists began a collective effort to paint individual columns but after the pandemic the local authorities took over and now the current installation is all we have had for months grrr
Oh wow interesting story. The pandemic halted many projects that had great potential :(
36:00 this particular landslide occured around the same time as the pandemic and compromised the safety of the observatory. for some reason, the only action taken was to put down the tarps. a couple of years is a long time to wait for what should be urgent redress for the house up top, the observatory and the people below:(
I agree! More can be done but seems as if attention and money is being pushed elsewhere
Why were you kicked out of KLCC? New viewer by the way. Thanks for your honest review. :)
For recording a video of myself...😂
please do visit. The most beautiful sunset at tanjung aru beach .
Hi! I have seen the sunsets there at that beach the first night I arrived :)
I remember my parents were going to have the island
Really?
@@Reardon_Explores yep, I felt like emotionally
It's not just the illegal immigrant. Even local throw rubbish as their like! Idk, they're educated but when it comes to throwing rubbish, they need to be warn first.. And also, there's no trash/rubbish systems here. For me personally, it's becoming a huge problem. If the gov wont do anything about it, apa lagi rakyat. Tepi jalan banyak sampah, macam tiada sudah ni yg kena denda/kena tangkap kalau buang sampah merata..
True...I think many are a part of it. It comes down to people not having common sense and care of the environment around them
True...I think many are a part of it. It comes down to people not having common sense and care of the environment around them
Yepp!! I agree with this.
actually. the building you enter. it was a warehouse. now it was demolished for a new development tower. so no need to worry about it
Interesting! I wonder when it'll be built
first
second :)
That beggar is sea nomadic people, sometimes I give money rm10
Ahh interesting. island hoppers
nowday all people stuck in home play video game, 20 years ago that place everyday so crowded
Yupp many people are addicted to being inside and not moving away from the couch :/
Sabah in somewhat neglected part of malaysia. Hopefully things get better.
I agree. There is a lot of potential for the city but some things haven't improved and got the spotlight they need :(
I sm european, living in kk, is a really nice city, clean, safe, better than your us
Definitely...not. Sure some cities in the US are not as safe or clean, but KK is not really built up at all
@@Reardon_Explores actually kk is a very nice city, lack public transport but is very clean, safe and plenty things to do, eat, see and soon the bajau slums will be demolished, they will he evicted and some will be deported (the illegal ones)
There is no good city in USA
The government did try and help, even printed money and let people dig into their savings retirement funds and stuff. But pandemic affected Sabah especially hard because the state is so underdeveloped and has a very limited industry so most well paying sectors or educated workers tended to work in the peninsular. When tourism halted and then slowed down it negatively impacted a lot of places. Because not only were locals struggling so they're not spending as much but toursm hasn't recovered as much.
Ah yes that is what my Grab driver told me. He said the Pandemic knocked a big percentage of people and companies off their feet, in which the recovery process is very hard for most. True. It's sad what happened. Also, the pandemic was worsened by governments that didn't act properly and in a timely manner. Many governments squeezed their citizens for too long, sucking almost all the life out of them. :(
The government of Sabah should always have money. But hey, "Sabah Maju Jaya" right…😂 About the littering, sadly it's the lacking of mindset for respecting the environment by most of people living in Sabah. Even if every Sabahan had been taught in schools, idk why but it seems like those littering maybe didnt even do well in school, maybe 😢 Fyi, the Signal Hill project has been started since 2019 but not sure why is the project is so slow despite it would be a very good asset for KK tourism...
Right I agree to that. I hope the mindsets of such individuals change and help the environment out in a better way. KK has a lot of potential
That torn up building is over 20 years, its just left there as a memorial
oh interesting
i wish you would go to johor baharu
On my next visit, I definitely will. I'll go to South and East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia 😃
Sadly, we do have homelessness and beggars in KK. Mostly they are illegal immigrants, undocumented people from the Philippines. However it's still not as bad as the crime and homeless situation in San Francisco and in many other cities in the US for example. It's unbelievable people can just walk into Starbucks, steal something and walkout without consequences, shops have to lock their display etc. th-cam.com/video/-fKjS_ojYRc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=TXpNSG0oNjTsE2KI
Anyway, the government did try to help during the pandemic. Like the US, we also print money 😅Just Google malaysia government help during covid.
You're absolutely right! It doesn't make any sense how such a world is possible like that. That is why I always say the most dangerous place is the US. I can't even fathom how my country is turning, it makes no sense! But anyway, I hope KK has a brighter future!
0:10 I go to Suria quite often
but there isn't muxh there huh
@@Reardon_Explores true. Imago is much better
I like the cat tho. Welcome to Sabah? 😌
Hahaha thanks
I’ve just seen this vid in my recommendations and i saw u wrote in the description box saying cultures from malay, chinese and filipino
I have to correct u on that, in Sabah.. the only culture majority is the indigenous people (KadazanDusun, Murut etc) yes there are Chinese cultures too and malay but malay culture isnt really revolved here (yes lots of mosque but yk what i mean)
Filipinos on the other hand, mostly the ones here are illegal immigrants that dont have ID cards so from that ministers from Sabah arent able to deport them even if they get deported, they would still find a way back here (the Filipinos coming here arent usually from philippines itself but from sulu)
Yes sure I understand your part. If we speak on popularity and majority, of course. There will always be a small percentage of others everywhere. One thing for sure is I can say that you can feel a real difference between Sabah and Peninsula Malaysia.
Do you speak Malay ? No, but the locals speak english very well. Learn the language and you can ask for exactly how you like things . Its what i did and im English living here in Sabah... ❤ Sabah 11:02 11:02
Yeah I know I do that all the time...you can check other vids. not first time in malaysia
There is some thing bad happening in sabah it is so sunny that there is alot of wildfire and it is bad to the ecosistem
But are they natural fires or man-made
Mustapha change the name from jesolton to Kota kinabalu
Ah yes I saw at the ferry point
And when i try google search with keyboard language unchanged, it appears as 木薯打花
We know what happen with oceanus mall.. The building have problem
What was the problem?
Never call a building with anus in the name ....
Too many change of the govt is also contribute to the projects stop. New govt different rules is crazy🤷♀️ dont know about skater , it so rare 😂
Interesting. I thought seeing another skater would be rare haha
can you go to Labuan at ujana kewangan 🤑💰💲💵
WHat
Well, about the littering problem in the city. It could be locals, it could also be tourists. But there are also a large number of undocumented squatters in the city, mostly illegal immigrants. Last I've been there I came across one of their compounds. The surrounding waters are absolutely trashed and the whole place looks pretty much like a landfill. Locals see them as a nuisance. It baffles me why the local authorities still haven't done anything about these people.
RIght. I do believe some tourists litter but it is more likely people that live there long-term (same goes for all countries). The littering near restaurants, attractions, and bars...big part from tourism. But yes you have good points. Unfortunately, it seems as if local authorities aren't putting the money where it should go, making the situation much more worse.
Well, you have to understand that sabah Kota Kinabalu is being robed by semenanjung. Our oil and gas has been years of giving away to them. And till today, they dont wanna give us back our rights of MA63.
Oh really? This I never heard of
Sabah has just been owerwelmed with transient economic migrants fm philippines and indonesia.
..nothing works....job opportunities are lacking..now young sabahans have to go west malaysia(malaya) to look for employments!!!!
Yes very understandable of why they are fleeing to the west
I don’t care about the “differences “ between the Malay and Filipino all I know is the children were desperate and I had no problem giving them food and money…
children should always come first
use your own epf lel - gov
:(
😅 geez not a good time at Kota Kinabalu
Hahaha well actually, I had a decent experience overall. The food scene is excellent and there are many friendly locals
Not your country, not your business!!! Make no judgements. 🎉🎉🎉
Not your channel, not your right. Make no negativity!!!
Trust me, his country is 10x worst
Your video is boring why find out yourself
And you just wasted more time of your life by adding a comment...
@@Reardon_Exploresyour a scum
That building at 25:52 is remnant of The Land & Survey Office built by the British north Borneo administration in 1920s. Destroyed by fire in 1990s. As it was abandoned after so the City hall let artist to paint graffiti and artworks on it and make it a memorial for old building and Kk history. The are plan to restore the building to it's original condition in the near future by state government. The Atkinson clock tower area at 42:12 is closed for visitors. That's why there are zinc wall surrounding the area. It's a construction site now for building a concrete pavement for visitors to visit the clock tower. An upgrade for the area and will be open in late 2024 or 2025.
Ok ok ok. Thanks for the info. That'll make it better
I hope one day SABAH will be freed from the MALAYA colonialism!! SABAH is very rich in natural resources like oil and gas but poorly developed under the Malaya regime!
It is very poorly developed and there is a lot of rich biodiversity there as well
Dumb. Kerajaan sabah yg bodoh. Salah kn org lain. Kalau kluar malayisa blum tntu maju. Kalau perntah sndri yg korup. Ada duit billion2 pn xda guna . Kalau yg memerintah sabah pan masuk poket. Lepas tu salahkan orang lain. Salam dari sabah.
Yes! and it sucks to see that a lot of our netizen dont actually know where Malaysia's money actually came from. we never had the right share of revenue. Furthermore, mainland communities dont appreciate Borneo enough and give us the credit that we deserve... or even worst, some of them dont even recognise the existence of Borneo as part of Malaysia.
Sabah will be better off if we leave Malaysia.
@@Epheja3691 this is agreeable, but i also think this is pushing us to make a border with people again.
And you know from history what the western colonizer does to us all?
Making us enemies of one another.
If the whole South east asia (malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia for example) UNITE the western power will have less control.
Sister please don't be impulsive, there is much more going on.
Be wise.
I also feel like there are so many good things about sabah leaving Malaysia but we also need to see what might happen if we leave it.
Do you remember how the Philippines (i dont remember which group) attacked lahad datu?
I don't know the whole situation of our sabah military and so on but its dangerous.
If Sabah and Sarawak become one independent country from Malaysia that would be best.
But again, do we really want to make border and separate again?
Yeah there are many good things but also there are many problems that will arise.