When my mom asked me what we were planning on doing in Kota Kinabalu (aka "KK"), I told her that we were just going to eat seafood and relax...and we did just that! We quickly found the promenade with its ocean side restaurants and bars. We ate and drank there several times during our stay in KK - just enjoying the view and the nice ocean breeze. Our first day, I had a dark Irish Kilkenny beer which I had not had in a while. I guess I will not have it again - until I forget again that it is in fact a dark beer. 
Across the street from our hotel there was a huge night market which has a large variety of fresh grilled seafood. When we asked the hotel staff about it, they all tried to deter us from eating there. We decided to stay away from the ice and proceed anyways. Boy it was over whelming! Some of the seafood we knew but other things we had to inquire what they were. Our first night we settled on a 12 inch shrimp, stuffed squid, tuna steak and for our first time - sting ray - all for around US$15 including a side of rice and 2 drinks! (I love Asia!) There were two types of sting ray on offer and we settled on the wing, which was a white and very light meat - yum! 
One day we took a day tour to Poring Hot Springs. A few hours outside of the city we started gaining elevation, so much so that at points we were driving through the clouds! We made a short pit stop at a viewing station of Mt. Kinabalu.
Then, we finally arrived at Kinabalu Park (our first real destination) for a nature walk. We were pretty high in the mountains and it was down right cold. It didn't help as periodic clouds would float in with gusts of wind. There were beautiful wild orchids everywhere, which are small and less colorful than the cultivated types. The area is mostly known for its "pot" plants which attract insects and traps them with a lid. 
The guide proudly told us we were having Chinese for lunch - what a (huge!) let down as Malaysian food is very good and we were looking forward to the variety (and a break from Chinese food!) After lunch near Poring Hot Springs, we took a short hike up the mountain to the Poring Canopy Walkway. It was a little concerning when the guide told us that the limit on the bridge was strictly 6 people. I almost asked if that was 6 Americans or 6 Asians...As soon as you step on the 12 inch wide plank it begins to sway from side to side. I didn't think about it while I was up there but those canopy bridges would not have passed a basic US safety test as the rope side rails barely came up to our waist. The view was spectacular as it looked out upon a near by valley and really gave you the tree's eye prospective.
After trekking uphill to where the canopy walk was, we were ready for relaxing in the warm hot spring's water. They had numerous tubs with two taps - a hot and cold one. Yes - cold! The hot spring's water was so hot that you needed the cold water to make the water tolerable - but it was relaxing never the less. 
At the source of the hot springs it smelled awful as the sulfur smell was so strong! The water at the source was so hot that they had a sign telling people not to put their hands and/or feet in the water and more importantly - not to put eggs in there either (just in case you brought some along for cooking in the water I guess). We laughed at first but then remembered that we did see hot spring boiled chicken and quail eggs in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Another night for dinner we went to another area of town for some...seafood - this area was recommended by the hotel and cost us more than 3x as much as the night market across the street. Oh well, I guess I got to say hi to the fish before they cooked it for us. Before we chose a stand we walked around admiring all the exotic fish. One stall had stone fish that begged to be poked, but had an ominous warning sign about it being dangerous. I guess the locals know not to touch as the sign was not in Malay, only English and Chinese.
Once we selected a stall, we picked out our fish and shrimp and how we wanted it cooked. We had our shrimp cooked in a local way with egg. Since we picked off the shells it really didn't taste all that different, oh well.
After eating Melissa built up the courage to pick up a horse shoe crab. She was fine until the lady decided to tickle it and it began squirming around.
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